Today is Thursday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2008. There are 307 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2008. There are 307 days left in the year. On this date in 1849, the California gold rush begins in earnest as regular steamship service starts bringing gold-seekers to San Francisco.

In 1827, the first U.S. railroad chartered to carry passengers and freight, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co., is incorporated by the state of Maryland. In 1844, a 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton explodes, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others. In 1861, the Territory of Colorado is organized. In 1953, scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announce they have discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes.

February 28, 1983: Hundreds of Hiram College students eat only a bowl of soup and bread each Thursday night, with the difference between the 85-cent cost of the soup and a normal $2.50 meal being donated to feed the hungry through OXFAM, a worldwide food-relief agency.

A fire that started in the paint department causes an undetermined amount of damage to the General Motors Lordstown assembly plant. Production is halted for the day.

The WPA-era Canfield Memorial Building gets a new lease on life with professional offices and shops filling its three floors. Attys. Norman Rheuban and Robert Palma share a first-floor office; Schroedel, Scullin and Bestic, an accounting firm, occupies the third floor.

February 28, 1968: A nervous gunman goes berserk in a hold-up at a Star service station at 1208 Wilson Ave., shooting two men without provocation and fleeing empty-handed. Wounded were the station attendant, Erwin Guyett, 53, and George Bell, 52, a former employee who was visiting.

Youngstown safety forces drop more than $600,000 in fringe benefit demands, but are steadfast in their demand for monthly pay increases of $148.

Ernest Hall, veteran Warren aviator, is presented a National Aeronautic Association citation in Washington, D.C., for his service as a civilian flight instructor during World War II. The film, “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines,” recalled Hall’s early flying days.

February 28, 1958: City and state authorities are questioning four Youngstown men in a car-burning racket in which cars were stolen, stripped and then abandoned and burned outside the city.

Gen. Alfred Gruenther, president of the American Red Cross, arrives at the Baltimore & Ohio station in Youngstown to open the 1958 Red Cross campaign.

A school bus near Prestonburg, Ky., sideswipes a truck and plunges into the Big Sandy River. Twenty children and the bus driver are presumed drowned; 10 children escape by climbing out the rear door before the bus sank.

February 28, 1933: The Ohio Legislature passes emergency legislation giving the superintendent of banks unprecedented power to control withdrawals and to cut red tape to allow the reopening of banks. Banks may restrict withdrawals to 5 percent of deposits; Youngstown banks have adopted a 10 percent limit.

Youngstown City Council authorizes Mayor Mark Moore to seek an $800,000 loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corp. for construction of a new fire station and police station and other job-creating projects.

Calkins Poultry Farm in Salem announces that choice leghorn chicks are available at 10 cents each. Visitors welcome any day or night, except Sunday.