Today is Sunday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2008. There are 318 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Sunday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2008. There are 318 days left in the year. On this date in 1801, the House of Representatives breaks an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, electing Jefferson president; Burr becomes vice president.

In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union ship USS Housatonic is rammed and sunk in Charleston Harbor, S.C., by the Confederate hand-cranked submarine HL Hunley, which also sinks. In 1865, Columbia, S.C., burns as the Confederates evacuate and Union forces move in. (It’s not clear which side set the blaze.) In 1897, the forerunner of the National PTA, the National Congress of Mothers, convenes its first meeting, in Washington. In 1904, the original two-act version of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly” is poorly received at its premiere at La Scala in Milan, Italy. In 1908, sportscaster Walter Lanier “Red” Barber is born in Columbus, Miss. In 1933, Newsweek is first published by Thomas J.C. Martyn under the title “News-Week.” In 1964, the Supreme Court, in Wesberry v. Sanders, rules that congressional districts within each state have to be roughly equal in population. In 1972, President Nixon departs on his historic trip to China. In 1988, Lt. Col. William Higgins, a Marine Corps officer serving with a United Nations truce monitoring group, is kidnapped in southern Lebanon. (He was later slain by his captors).

February 17, 1983: Youngstown Mayor George Vukovich, Mahoning County Commissioners John Palermo and Thomas Carney and Engineer Michael Fitas meet with Gov. Richard F. Celeste in Columbus. He says he will unveil a program to pump more money into Mahoning County to stimulate economic growth.

Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. will start up its idled Campbell Works seamless pipe facility for a five-week run. About 225 employees will be recalled from layoff.

Scientists using a remotely piloted underwater vehicle discover two nearly intact U.S. Navy ships, the Scourge and the Hamilton, which went down in 300 feet of water in Lake Ontario during a storm during the War of 1812.

February 17, 1968: A record 7 below zero is forecast for the Youngstown area.

A spokesman for Armour & Co. at 721 South Ave. says the National Farmers Organization is withholding meat from market, which is driving up prices and may result in a shortage of pork and beef. Pork is already up three cents a pound.

Sgt. Doc Henry Marshall, 32, of W. Evergreen Ave., Youngstown, a 12-year Marine Corps veteran, is reported killed in action in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. He is the 50th Mahoning County man to die in the war.

February 17, 1958: As temperatures in the Mahoning Valley reach a record low of 6 below zero, East Ohio Gas Co. curtails service to industrial customers so that there is enough gas to heat homes. More than 3,300 workers at Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. and Truscon Steel are laid off.

A 24-hour police guard is removed from the hospital room of John Shuller, who was injured when his car exploded Jan. 22 behind a gambling spot on Poland Avenue. Police Chief Paul Cress said the guard was straining the department’s manpower.

Dr. Winifred Liu is put in charge of a new department of cancer detection in the pathology laboratories of North Side Hospital.

February 17, 1933: Ralph P. White, president of the Youngstown Rotary Club, reports people are selling articles representing that the proceeds go to the Rotary convalescent home for crippled children. No such collection has been authorized, White says.

Francis W. Walker Sr., 77, who was such a strong advocate of water projects that he was termed the “father of the Pymatuning Dam” by Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford Pinchot, dies at his Beaver Falls home. Walker, president of the Rossman Corp., was also a supporter of a Lake Erie-Ohio River canal.

The Trumbull Grange Credit Union is formed to accept savings deposits and grant loans to Grange members.