YEARS AGO FOR DEC. 25

Today is Monday, Dec. 25, the 359th day of 2017. There are six days left in the year. This is Christmas Day.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

On this date in:

A.D. 336: The first known commemoration of Christmas on Dec. 25 takes place in Rome.

1066: William the Conqueror is crowned King of England.

1818: “Silent Night” is publicly performed for the first time during the Christmas Midnight Mass at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

1926: Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

1931: New York’s Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire live opera over radio for the first time: “Hansel and Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck.

1940: The Rodgers & Hart musical “Pal Joey” opens on Broadway, beginning a run of 374 performances.

1961: Pope John XXIII formally announces the upcoming convocation of the Second Vatican Council, which opened in October 1962.

VINDICATOR FILES

1992: The city of Flint, Mich., which has seen General Motors employment drop from 80,000 in 1983 to 43,000, will lose another 4,000 jobs when a V8-engine plant closes in 1997.

The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor will get $635,000 from the state to provide storage and a research area.

The Brookfield Township firehouse is filled with nearly $15,000 worth of food, clothing and toys donated by community residents to help needy families. Volunteer firefighters and community residents dressed as Santa will deliver boxes to 105 families.

1977: Alden Cummins, director of the Health Systems Agency of Eastern Ohio, says Warren’s three hospitals, Trumbull Memorial, St. Joseph and Warren General, will be asked to eliminate as many as 100 beds.

Christmas Eve finds area malls and shopping centers busy providing gifts for last-minute shoppers.

The Denver Broncos eliminate the Pittsburgh Steelers from AFC play-off contention with a 34-21 win in Denver.

A sign is installed at I-680 and Meridian Road identifying Youngstown as the home of Frank Sinkwich, the Chaney graduate who was the 1942 Heisman winner and 1944 National Football League Most Valuable Player.

1967: William Kuzman of Girard, a traffic violator nine times since 1958, spends Christmas Day in Trumbull County Jail awaiting at least 22 charges from four departments and the state highway patrol.

Mrs. Norma Jean Gaul, 26, and three sons, David, 5; Mark, 3, and James Jr., 10 months, die in a fire at the home of her parents, 119 Cleveland St., which was apparently started by a Christmas tree.

1942: Three Youngstowners, Robert Ross, Paul Ashton and Chaney coach Ches McPhee, leave by train for Pasadena, where they will root for Georgia in the Rose Bowl. The Bulldogs have three local boys, Heisman winner Frank Sinkwich, George Poschner and Dick McPhee.

U.S. Rep. Michael J. Kirwan, who has been in St. Elizabeth Hospital since he broke his right elbow and wrist in a fall on ice at his home, has developed pneumonia.

Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau adds the copper penny to the list of war casualties. New Pennies will be of zinc-coated steel.

Applications of three Youngstown firms – Union National Bank, Dollar Savings and Trust and Youngstown Automotive of Warren – for permission to pay Christmas bonuses have been approved by the National Labor Board.