Today is Saturday, May 10, the 131st day of 2008. There are 235 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, May 10, the 131st day of 2008. There are 235 days left in the year. On this date in 1908, the first Mother’s Day observance in the United States, inspired by Anna Jarvis, takes place during church services in Grafton, W. Va., and Philadelphia.

In 1774, Louis XVI accedes to the throne of France. In 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys capture the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, N.Y. In 1865, Union forces capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Ga. In 1869, a golden spike is driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. In 1908, Carl Albert, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for six years, is born in North McAlester, Okla. In 1924, J. Edgar Hoover is given the job of FBI director. In 1933, the Nazis stage massive public book burnings in Germany.

May 10, 1983: Youngstown officials warn that funneling some federal jobs money into the general fund may not be enough to avert layoffs because the city is on the financial skids.

The Mahoning County Blue Ribbon Committee begins amending a proposed county charter, increasing councilmanic districts from four to five and reducing at-large council seats from three to two.

Lt. Robert A. Speedy is named commander of the Canfield post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, replacing Lt. Richard A. Curtis, who has been named assistant commander of the Patrol’s Bucyrus division.

May 10, 1968: Employees in the light, water, sewer and street departments walk out in Niles, demanding pay hikes and other benefits.

The Federal Aviation Administration says that a generator that crashed through the hood of a car in Youngstown fell from a twin-engine cargo plane that was on a flight from Teterboro, N.J. to the Akron-Canton Airport.

American industrialist Cyrus Eaton meets with Fidel Castro during a four- day trip to Havana that apparently had State Department approval.

May 10, 1958: Testimony ends in New York and Federal Judge Edward Weinfeld says he hopes to rule by the fall on the proposed merger of Youngstown Sheet Tube Co. and Bethlehem Steel Corp.

Two naval research scientists report why a bull whip cracks: its tip breaks the sound barrier, which is 1,100 feet per second.

Mahoning County officials announce that they are “encouraged” about chances of establishing a system of distributing surplus food, but warn “there are still hurdles to overcome.”

May 10, 1933: Youngstown building inspectors have already condemned 13 old and unsafe houses and buildings in the East End and scores of other buildings in different sections of the city face a similar fate.

The city must cut its expenditures by 50 percent for the next seven months if the 1933 budget is to be balanced, says Council President J.P. Colleran.

Sheriff W.J. Engelhardt walks unnoticed into a barroom on the second floor of the Savoy Hotel on E. Boardman Street and seizes a small amount of whiskey.