Today is Saturday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2008. There are 319 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2008. There are 319 days left in the year. On this date in 1862, during the Civil War, some 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrender at Fort Donelson, Tenn. (Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory earns him the nickname “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”)

In 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur leads a successful raid into Tripoli Harbor to burn the U.S. Navy frigate Philadelphia, which had fallen into the hands of pirates. In 1918, Lithuania proclaims its independence, which lasts until World War II (it again declares independence in 1990). In 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb is unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter. In 1945, American troops land on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.

February 16, 1983: Four Youngstown City Council aides have piled up 89 weeks of vacation, including 52 weeks for Thirley Starks, the wife of 2nd Ward Councilman Herman Starks. Wives have traditionally served as council aides, allowing councilmen who have them to earn more than the $600 councilman’s salary set by city charter.

The Warren Board of Education refuses to budge from its stand that crossing guards are not the school district’s responsibility, endangering the program that has been shared by the city and school district.

Joe Bornemiss scores 22 points for Girard in its 96-54 victory over Struthers, which gives Girard the Mahoning Valley Conference title.

February 16, 1968: Three employees of Rea’s Pharmacy, 4230 Market St., are terrorized by two armed bandits. A pharmacist and two clerks were forced to lie face down on the floor while the bandits rummaged through three cash registers, escaping with about $75.

The first Unitarian Church at Elm Street and Illinois Avenue announces a $170,000 addition, which will include a two-story building for administration and religious education.

Property owners on the north side of Route 422 from Route 46 are petitioning to annex from Howland Township to Niles. Among the properties are the Holiday Inn, Alberini’s restaurants and Perkins Pancake House.

February 16, 1958: The Eisenhower administration and Democratic House leaders are working on separate tax reduction programs if business continues to slump.

When they are “old timers,” the youngsters of 1958 will be able to talk about what winter was like in the good old days. Weather records show that it has snowed 42 of the first 46 days of the year.

The Ohio Liquor Control Board announces that it is moving one of its most famous stores, the store on Davis Street in Brookfield, to a new building on Brookfield Avenue. Because of cross-over traffic from Pennsylvania, the store does more business than any other small-town store in the state.

February 16, 1933: More than 4,000 people pack the Kroger Food Foundation cooking school at the Rayen Wood auditorium on opening day. Those who attended were packed like sardines and scores of people were turned away.

Two hours after learning that a would-be assassin wounded five people in an attempt to kill president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, his wife, Eleanor, boards a train in New York City to keep a speaking engagement at Cornell University in Ithica.

Mrs. H.F. Wright and Dan Miller of Lisbon win first place at Youngstown’s Round Table Club bi-weekly duplicate bridge tournament.