Today is Friday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2008. There are 327 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Friday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2008. There are 327 days left in the year. On this date in 1968, three college students are killed in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley.

In 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England after she is implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. In 1693, a charter is granted for the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. In 1837, the Senate selects the vice president of the United States, choosing Richard Mentor Johnson after no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes. In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War, a conflict over control of Manchuria and Korea, begins as Japanese forces attack Port Arthur. In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America is incorporated. In 1915, D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking as well as controversial silent movie epic about the Civil War, “The Birth of a Nation,” premieres in Los Angeles. In 1924, the first execution by gas in the United States takes place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City as Gee Jon, a Chinese immigrant convicted of murder, is put to death. In 1974, the last three-man crew of the Skylab space station returns to Earth after spending 84 days in space.

February 8, 1983: General Motors Corp. earned $963 million or $3.09 per share in 1982 despite car and truck sales that plunge 8 percent from already depressed 1981 levels, the No. 1 U.S. automaker reported.

Three men, John Holowatuk, Robert Poghen and Sam Scaffidi, who already face long terms in federal prison, are sentenced to 4 to 25 years each on state charges for robbing the owner of a Brier Hill nursery.

February 8, 1968: The Warner Theater, opened in May 1931, as a Warner family hometown memorial to Sam Warner, founder of Warner Brothers studio, will close Feb. 21 when the current program completes its run. It is the second downtown theater building to close in three years; the Palace was torn down in 1966.

Ten state agents swoop down on a cheat spot less than a block from the Campbell police station, surprising 54 people in the 32700 Club and arresting two.

February 8, 1958: A spectacular $100,00 fire destroys the luxurious two-story modern home of prominent Youngstown obstetrician Dr. Albert Brandt at 538 Fairway Drive, Liberty Township.

The new sanctuary of Immanuel Lutheran Church which provides seating for 350 is dedicated. The $135,000 structure has three stained glass windows depicting the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Risen Lord.

Brenda Ikirt, 7-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Glendon Ikirt of Lisbon, undergoes six hours of heart surgery at St. Vincent Hospital in Cleveland. Army personnel in the Cleveland area provide the blood needed for the operation.

February 8, 1933: An unexpected upturn in mill operations brings Youngstown district operations to 23 percent of capacity with 25 open hearths in operation.

Dr. D.H. Manley, a former district superintendent of M.E. churches in Calcutta, India, is appointed interim pastor at the Belmont Avenue M.E. Church in Youngstown.

Anna Mae McNeil is freed by a unanimous vote of a coroner’s jury investigating the shooting death of her husband at their New Castle home. Witnesses testified to a string of brutal attacks on Mrs. McNeil by her husband in recent months.