Today is Friday, April 4, the 95th day of 2008. There are 271 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, April 4, the 95th day of 2008. There are 271 days left in the year. On this date in 1968, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 39, is shot to death as he stands on a balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; the killing sparks a wave of riots across the U.S. (James Earl Ray later pleads guilty to assassinating King, then spends the rest of his life claiming his innocence and attempting to withdraw his guilty plea; he dies in prison in 1998.)

In 1818, Congress decides the United States flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state. In 1841, President William Henry Harrison succumbs to pneumonia one month after his inaugural, becoming the first U.S. chief executive to die in office. In 1850, the city of Los Angeles is incorporated. In 1887, Susanna Madora Salter becomes the first woman elected mayor of an American community: Argonia, Kan. In 1945, during World War II, U.S. troops on Okinawa encounter the first significant resistance from Japanese forces at the Machinato Line. In 1949, 12 nations, including the United States, sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington. In 1975, more than 130 people, most of them children, are killed when a U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crash-lands shortly after takeoff from Saigon. In 1981, Henry Cisneros becomes the first Mexican-American elected mayor of a major U.S. city: San Antonio.

April 4, 1983: Ezell Armour, retired director of the Mahoning County Welfare Department, says that if he had his way the welfare department would be abolished with the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services providing payments to anyone without a job.

The Ohio Edison Co. says it will begin shutting off the electricity of customers who have ignored their electric bills through the winter months.

Joseph F. Damore assumes the position of vice president of administration for the North Side Hospital and Tod Babies and Children’s Hospital.

April 4, 1968: Fringe benefits ranging from improved hospitalization to longer vacations are approved for all full-time city employees by Youngstown City Council.

An 18-year-old Himrod Avenue youth is shot dead by a Youngstown police sergeant as he flees from a stolen police cruiser in N. Fruit Street.

A 20-year-old Youngstown Marine, Lance Cpl. William Blunt, is driving the most important jeep on Highway 9, the one carrying a 106 mm recoiless rifle, on the road to Khe Sanh.

April 4, 1958: Youngstown will lose nearly $40,000 a year in income tax revenues because of the closing of Chrysler Corp.’s stamping plant on Hexlep Street. Work done at the plant has been assigned to the new Chrysler factory in Twinsburg. It was estimated earlier that the city would lose $100,000 by the moving of Youngstown Sheet Tube Co. central offices from the city to its new headquarters in Boardman.

The Hill Top Pool Room in Struthers is padlocked as a nuisance. The poolroom, a notorious gambling joint at 137 Walton, was bombed in April 1956, but never raided.

A 38-year-old South Side man shoots and kills his wife and wounds his two children and himself at their Hilman Street home.

April 4, 1933: Hearty applause greets Youngstown City Council’s 6-1 vote making beer a legal beverage in the city. The lone no vote is by Myron Williams.

The U.S.S. Akron, largest airship in the world, crashes over the Atlantic about 25 miles off the New Jersey shore during a lightning storm. Reported lost are 73 men of the 76 aboard, including Rear Admiral William A. Moffett.

A small windmill adorns the roof of the Dutch Lunch at Hazel and Boardman streets in Youngstown, a popular place for breakfast lunch or dinner.