Today is Friday, Oct. 31, the 305th day of 2008. There are 61 days left in the year. This is

Today is Friday, Oct. 31, the 305th day of 2008. There are 61 days left in the year. This is Halloween. On this date in 1517, Martin Luther posts the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace church, marking the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

In 1926, magician Harry Houdini dies in Detroit of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix. In 1938, the day after his “War of the Worlds” broadcast had panicked radio listeners, Orson Welles expresses “deep regret” but also bewilderment that anyone had thought the simulated Martian invasion was real. In 1941, the Navy destroyer USS Reuben James is torpedoed by a German U-boat off Iceland with the loss of some 100 lives, even though the United States had not yet entered World War II. In 1967, Nguyen Van Thieu takes the oath of office as the first president of South Vietnam’s second republic.

October 31, 1983: A long weekend of waiting in Niles ends with word from the Defense Department that Lance Cpl. Stanley Sliwinski was among those killed in action in the Oct. 23 terrorist bombing of the Marine installation in Beirut.

Howland writer Grace Allison writes a book on the history of Howland Springs, which opened as a health resort about 30 years after the first settlers arrived in Howland in 1799. It was the site of Howland’s first hotel and restaurant.

Austintown trustees file a tax appeal claiming that Mill Creek Park and Mahoning County government are allocated too much in local government money by the county budget commission.

October 31, 1968: A federal grand jury returns indictments against 10 people, naming Youngstown racketeer Mario Guerrieri as the ringleader of a $500,000 postal money order forgery ring.

John B. Sutherland is named manager of General Motors new Fisher Body stamping plant at Lordstown.

General Motors President Edward Cole announces that GM’s Packard Electric Division will build a 121,000-square-foot addition to its North Industrial Park facilities. He makes the announcement to 1,750 people at the Warren Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting.

October 31, 1958: More than 225,000 people, including 160,000 school children, stand in line for hours to pay final respects to Cardinal Edward Mooney in Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Detroit. More than 65 bishops take part in the solemn ceremonies.

Youngstown Police Capt. William Golden warns Halloween vandals that they will be arrested and their parents held responsible for any damage they do.

Entering its 13th week playing at the State Theater in downtown Youngstown, Rogers & Hammerstein’s “South Pacific.”

October 31, 1933: Tempers flair during a debate on proposals to repeal Youngstown’s city charter and then adopt a new charter that would create the position of city manager. Mayor Mark Moore calls the plan “asinine — which means stupid, silly.” If the city is to switch to a city manager, it should do so directly, not through a process that would take multiple votes and years to accomplish.

Councilman John G. Geltch says he is fighting to retain a 50-cent minimum wage for city labor while Water Commissioner Dan Parish is attempting to reduce it to 40 cents.

Youngstown police answer more than 100 calls and firemen respond to seven false alarms as the result of Halloween celebrations. One boy was arrested for annoying citizens on the North Side.