Today is Easter Sunday, the 83rd day of 2008. There are 283 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Easter Sunday, the 83rd day of 2008. There are 283 days left in the year. On this date in 1775, Patrick Henry delivers his famous call for American independence from Britain, telling the Virginia Provincial Convention, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

In 1743, George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” has its London premiere. (During the “Hallelujah Chorus,” Britain’s King George II, who was in attendance, stood up — followed by the entire audience.) In 1806, explorers Lewis and Clark, having reached the Pacific coast, begin their journey back east. In 1919, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement in Milan, Italy. In 1933, the German Reichstag adopts the Enabling Act, which effectively grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers. In 1956, Pakistan becomes an Islamic republic. In 1983, President Reagan first proposes developing technology to intercept incoming enemy missiles — a proposal that comes to be known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, as well as “Star Wars.” In 1983, Dr. Barney Clark, recipient of a Jarvik permanent artificial heart, dies at the University of Utah Medical Center after 112 days with the device. In 2001, Russia’s orbiting Mir space station ends its 15-year odyssey with a planned fiery plunge into the South Pacific.

March 23, 1983: Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials say tankers from Universal Energy Services of Youngstown dumping brine from oil and gas well drilling at a slag dump in Lowellville are polluting the Mahoning River.

A record $52 million budget appropriation for the Youngstown City School District in 1983 is approved by the Board of Education.

March 23, 1968: Mahoning County Commissioners approve a record general fund budget of $5.9 million and an overall appropriation of $14.4 million for 1968.

Youngstown’s cold weather is just right for the arrival of Pete Penguin III, an 18-inch tall Humboldt penguin purchased from the Pittsburgh Zoo by Youngstown State University’s Student Council. Pete will live in an 11-foot square cyclone fence and Plexiglas enclosure outside the library.

Springfield Local falls to Mansfield St. Peter, 75-50, in the state Class A championship basketball game in Columbus.

March 23, 1958: Among the 787 dogs at the Mahoning-Shenango Kennel Club show at Idora Park are some rare breeds, a Lhasa Apsos, a Borzoi and a Welsh Corgi.

The 22-year-old father of a 3-month-old baby admits beating his son to death because the baby wouldn’t stop crying. He told police he was upset because his 17-year-old wife left him with the baby so she could attend a record hop.

March 23, 1933: All suspects in the kidnapping of 15-year-old Pete Myers of Masury have been released and investigators admit that after five days they have hit a stone wall. The boy’s father, tavern owner Pete Myers, says the family has received no word from the kidnappers.

The Reuben McMillan free Public Library is assured an income of $80,460 and the Mill Creek Park Commission $114,000 as the result of an Ohio House bill that give libraries and parks a first claim on intangible tax collections.