Today is Sunday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2009. There are 326 days left in the year. On this date in

Today is Sunday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2009. There are 326 days left in the year. On this date in 1517, Capt. Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, a Spanish explorer, sets sail from Cuba to discover Mexico.

In 1587, Mary Queen of Scots is beheaded after being accused of plotting the murder of England’s Queen Elizabeth I. In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America is incorporated. In 1915, D.W. Griffith’s silent movie epic about the Civil War, “The Birth of a Nation,” premieres in Los Angeles. In 1922, U.S. President Warren G. Harding has a radio installed in the White House. In 1924, the first U.S. execution by gas takes place at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City. In 1940. German troops shoot every tenth person in two Polish villages near Warsaw in reprisal for deaths of two German soldiers. In 1963, rebels in Baghdad, Iraq, assassinate Premier Abdul Karim Kassem, who is replaced by Abdul Salam Arif. In 1968, three college students die in a confrontation with highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, S.C., during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley. In 1974, three U.S. Skylab astronauts return to Earth after setting record of 84 days in orbit. In 1975, Soviet spacemen begin training with Americans for joint U.S.-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz flights. In 1993, an Iranian passenger plane crashes outside Tehran, claiming 132 lives.

February 8, 1984: Dennis Watkins easily turns aside two challengers to be elected by Democratic Party committeemen to fill the unexpired term of Trumbull County Prosecutor J. Walter Dragelevich, his former boss who retired and recommended Watkins as his replacement.

Youngstown Clerk of Courts Rosemary Durkin wins her two-year court battle with City Council over pay raises for her employees. The Ohio Supreme Court rules that council must meet the salaries set by Miss Durkin.

Lordstown Village police arrest a Youngstown man on charges of illegally selling federal surplus cheese in the parking lot of the General Motors complex. Police recover 210 pounds of cheese.

February 8, 1969: A 23-year-old Youngstown State University student described as the ringleader of five YSU students arrested during a drug raid at 650 Elm St. is sentenced to a year in county jail after being found guilty of possession of LSD.

Common Pleas Judge Sidney Rigelhaupt announces a change in policy toward first offenders in burglary and vandalism cases, sentencing a 23-year-old Salem man indicted for burglary to 90 days in jail.

A drive to register all eligible Negro voters for the May primary is launched at a meeting attended by more than 100 persons in Price Memorial AME Zion Church in Youngstown. Speakers are Atty. William Higgins and McCullough Williams Jr., who stress the importance of Negroes being registered and supporting qualified Negroes running for office.

February 8, 1959: Searchers who had been working around the clock find the body of Larry A. Szymanski, 20, under a pile of steel, brick and rubble at Sheet & Tube Co.’s Campbell Works. Five cranes were used to remove debris from the collapse of a trestle.

Everett S. Preston, state highway director, tells representatives of the Lake Erie-to-Ohio River Highway Association that some work will begin on the $100 million road within four years.

Judy Pruce, a junior majoring in elementary education, is chosen queen of Youngstown University’s 14th annual Mardi Gras dance at Idora Park Ballroom. In her court are Peggy Lou Dignan, Marion Minghetti, Eleanor Novotny and Geraldine Stanton.

February 8, 1934: The Ohio CWA grants $35,905 in federal funds for cleaning, painting and repairing the steel superstructure of the Market Street viaduct.

New Castle residents witness a meteor shower. One large fragment hit a shelter house in Gunton Park. Several residents found small fragments in their yards.

Mahoning County Relief Director R.A. Noble wires Columbus for immediate authority to fire from Mahoning CWA payrolls nearly 700 people who sought citizenship papers merely to get CWA jobs.

Capt. Fred L. Smith, state director of aeronautics, arrives in Youngstown to begin a survey of 27 possible sites for a Youngstown municipal airport.