Today is Wednesday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2008. There are 322 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2008. There are 322 days left in the year. On this date in 1935, a jury in Flemington, N.J., finds Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-slaying of the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann is later executed.)

In 1542, the fifth wife of England’s King Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, is executed for adultery. In 1795, the University of North Carolina becomes the first U.S. state university to admit students with the arrival of Hinton James, who is the only student on campus for two weeks. In 1914, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known as ASCAP, is founded in New York. In 1920, the League of Nations recognizes the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland. In 1945, during World War II, Allied planes begin bombing the German city of Dresden. In 1960, France explodes its first atomic bomb, in the Sahara Desert. In 1980, the 13th Winter Olympics opens in Lake Placid, N.Y. In 1984, Konstantin Chernenko is chosen to be general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party’s Central Committee, succeeding the late Yuri Andropov.

February 13, 1983: Most of the 1981 high school graduates from the tri-county area who entered Ohio’s state universities were more competent in math and science than expected and required little remedial course work.

Buckling up isn’t mandatory for adults in Ohio, but beginning March 7, infants under 1 year old must ride in approved car seats and toddlers up to 4 years old must have their seatbelts fastened.

American Skyship Industries Inc. has received an assurance from a Swiss bank for the $3.7 million it needs to secure a $4.2 million loan and grant from the U.S. government for a blimp-manufacturing plant in Youngstown.

February 13, 1968: Boardman trustees and Boardman Firefighters Local 1176 report no progress in negotiations over demands for a 10 percent increase in pay. Trustee Chairman Peter Van Nest says the proposal would cost the township more than $12,000 a year, money it does not have.

Girard City Council votes unanimoulsy to redistrict the city’s four wards.

With an 11-0 record in conference play, the Brookfield High School Warriors clinch the Steel Valley Conference championship and are aiming for the school’s first undefeated season in Warrior basketball history.

February 13, 1958:  R.D. Anderson, his wife and their eight children are driven into sub-zero temperatures by a fire that destroyed their home on Hilker Street.

Two gunman beat and rob George Morganto, 64, of 1042 Ridge Ave. in his home and leave him bound on a couch in the living room.

The Uptown Businessmen’s Association receives an assurance from Mayor Frank X. Kryzan  and City Traffic Coordinator John F. Pletnick that the city will study three traffic problems in the busy Uptown district.

February 13, 1933: Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Spraker and their two children, Marilyn, 10, and Darwin, 6, are killed in an early morning fire at their home at 50 Bouquet St. Youngstown Fire Chief Harry Callan says the fire apparently started in the children’s room but the cause is undetermined.

Two Sharon youths are being held in the Mercer County jail, charged with threatening the life of Mrs. F.H. Buhl, widow of Sharon’s millionaire steel magnate. Mrs. Buhl received a letter demanding $6,000 or a grand nephew would be kidnapped.

Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt will drive her own car, a roadster, from New York to the White House. Someone has to take the car and the family’s two dogs to Washington, and, she says, “I love to drive.”