Today is Saturday, Oct. 11, the 285th day of 2008. There are 81 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Saturday, Oct. 11, the 285th day of 2008. There are 81 days left in the year. On this date in 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, is launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.

In 1779, Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski, fighting for American independence, dies two days after being wounded during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga. In 1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution is founded in Washington, D.C. In 1908, the Chicago Cubs take a 2-0 lead in the World Series, defeating the visiting Detroit Tigers 6-1 at the West Side Grounds. In 1948, the musical comedy “Where’s Charley?,” starring Ray Bolger and featuring songs by Frank Loesser, opens on Broadway. In 1958, the lunar probe Pioneer 1 is launched; it fails to go as far out as planned, falls back to Earth and burns up in the atmosphere.

October 11, 1983: Three Mahoning County deputies file suit to bar Sheriff James A. Traficant Jr. from using unpaid reserve deputies to fill in for full-time employees who have been laid off.

Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Don L. Hanni Jr. forms a new club, the Riverboat Captain’s Club, to raise money for the party. A member gets a cap, a membership card and dinner for a $200 donation.

The Rt. Rev. John Patrick Carroll-Abbington, director of Boys Town of Italy, presents Youngstown boxing champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini with the International Sportsman of the Year Award during a dinner at the VIP complex in Niles. Singer Al Martino provided the entertainment.

October 11, 1968: Paul Clautti, merchandizing manager of a West Federal Street surplus store and former owner of Tucker car franchises in the area, is shot to death in the driveway of his Cascade Drive home at about 10:30 in the morning.

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Elsaesser of Liberty Township are among 114 Peace Corps volunteers leaving for service in Africa. Both are graduates of Miami University and have been assigned to Libya.

October 11, 1958: A 15-year-old Cleveland youth admits to the robbery and murder of Edward Craven, a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad yardmaster after the tongue of a shoe found in Craven’s car is matched to a shoe worn by the youth. The youth had been arrested near the car. The tongue of the shoe was found be an employee of Passerelli Bothers Automotive, where the car was towed.

The latest business recession has cost business, workers and government enormous amounts of money in sales, dividends, wages and taxes, but the deepest recession since World War II has not had nearly the impact of the Great Depression, writes Industrial Editor George R. Reiss.

October 11, 1933: Republic Steel police officers prevent members of the Steel & Metal Workers Industrial Union from picketing the entrance to Republic’s Brown-Bonnell plant under the Market Street Bridge.

Baptists from every church in Mahoning and Trumbull counties are to attend the 94th annual session of the Trumbull Baptist Association and the Himrod Baptist Association at the Himrod Baptist Church.