Today is Friday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2004. There are 308 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2004. There are 308 days left in the year. On this date in 1933, Germany's parliament building, the Reichstag, catches fire. The Nazis, blaming the Communists, use the fire as a pretext for suspending civil liberties.
In 1801, the District of Columbia is placed under the jurisdiction of Congress. In 1807, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is born in Portland, Maine. In 1902, American author John Steinbeck is born in Salinas, Calif. In 1922, the Supreme Court unanimously upholds the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees the right of women to vote. In 1939, the Supreme Court outlaws sit-down strikes. In 1960, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeats the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif. (The United States goes on to win the gold medal.) In 1972, President Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai issue the Shanghai Communique at the conclusion of Nixon's historic visit to China. In 1979, Jane M. Byrne confounds Chicago's Democratic political machine as she upsets Mayor Michael A. Bilandic to win their party's mayoral primary. (Byrne goes on to win the election.) In 1982, Wayne B. Williams is found guilty of murdering two of the 28 young blacks whose bodies were found in the Atlanta area over a 22-month period. In 1997, divorce becomes legal in Ireland.
February 27, 1979: Lindy Lauro, football coach at New Castle High School since 1960, takes out nominating petitions for Lawrence County commissioner, but isn't sure he'll file them.
Mrs. Percy Squire is elected president of the Protestant Family Services board, succeeding Yvette Stanley. Other officers are Mrs. Mary Johnson, Mrs. Lonnie Simon and Mrs. Chester Bailey.
A Youngstown patrolman is suspended for 30 days by Police Chief Stanley Peterson and will be reassigned for his involvement in an alleged scheme to sell accumulated overtime to three other patrolmen. An informal practice in the department allowed officers to transfer accumulated time to fellow officers in need. In this instance, the time was sold for $2 per hour.
February 27, 1964: A 24-year-old North Side man is shot in both thighs by a Youngstown policeman after he fled from an attempted theft at the Robert Hall clothing store on Belmont Avenue. The policemen fired after the man continued to run away, ignoring orders to stop and a warning shot.
Sixty-five percent of the Kent State University faculty falls into the "underprivileged" category commonly used to describe Americans with annual family income between $4,000 and $5,999, according to the KSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
Official figures show that Americans put more new cars on the road in 1963 than in any previous year. Statistics show 7.5 million new cars were sold, eclipsing the record of 7.1 set in 1955.
February 27, 1954: Ohio Secretary of State Ted W. Brown raps the Trumbull County Board of Elections for "taking lightly" the widespread violations of elections laws and other irregularities uncovered during a two-day investigation by Brown into the 1953 primary and municipal elections in Warren.
Dr. Carl W. Bracy, chancellor of Nebraska Wesleyan University at Lincoln, Neb., is named president of Mount Union College, the sixth to hold the position in the 108-year history of the college.
Youngstown's former police chief, Edward J. Allen, who is serving as Ohio's chief liquor enforcement agent, is under consideration for chief of the Cleveland Police Department.
February 27, 1929: An unnamed Vindicator reporter takes an eight-hour ride with an unnamed rum runner, bringing 72 quarts of Canadian whiskey and Nicaraguan rum from Detroit to Youngstown. Harry explains that the run is not without its perils, but pays well: about $250 for this delivery.
Work on construction of the Meander Dam has been halted because of high water in the Meander Creek basin, according to Gale W. Dixon, engineer for the Mahoning Valley Sanitary district.
Frank Fuller, organist and choir director of St. John's Episcopal Church, will present a 15-minute organ recital at Stambaugh Auditorium preceding the address of Dr. Samuel Schmucker, noted scientist, who will speak on "Science and immortality.