Today in History

Today is Saturday, March 17, the 77th day of 2012. There are 289 days left in the year. This is St. Patrick's Day.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 17, 1912, the Camp Fire Girls organization was incorporated in Washington, D.C., two years to the day after it was founded in Thetford, Vt. (The group is now known as Camp Fire USA.)

On this date:

In A.D. 461 (or A.D. 493, depending on sources), St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, died in Saul.

In 1762, New York's first St. Patrick's Day parade took place.

In 1776, British forces evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War.

In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed the first king of a united Italy.

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt first likened crusading journalists to a man with "the muckrake in his hand" in a speech to the Gridiron Club in Washington.

In 1910, the U.S. National Museum, a precursor to the National Museum of Natural History, opened in Washington, D.C.

In 1941, the National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C.

In 1942, six days after departing the Philippines during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur declared, "I came through and I shall return" as he arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater.

In 1950, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced they had created a new radioactive element, "californium."

In 1966, a U.S. midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb which had fallen from an American bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain.

In 1970, the United States cast its first veto in the U.N. Security Council. (The U.S. killed a resolution that would have condemned Britain for failure to use force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.)

In 1992, 29 people were killed in the truck bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Illinois, Sen. Alan Dixon was defeated in his primary re-election bid by Carol Moseley-Braun, who went on to become the first black woman in the U.S. Senate.

Ten years ago: A grenade attack on a Protestant church in Islamabad, Pakistan, killed five people, including a U.S. Embassy employee and her 17-year-old daughter. After nearly a year's run, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick left the Broadway hit musical "The Producers." (They later returned for a limited engagement.)

Five years ago: Denouncing a conflict entering its fifth year, protesters across the country raised their voices against U.S. policy in Iraq and marched by the thousands to the Pentagon. John Backus, the developer of Fortran, a programming language that changed how people interacted with computers, died in Ashland, Ore., at age 82.

One year ago: The U.N. Security Council paved the way for international air strikes against Moammar Gadhafi's forces, voting to authorize military action to protect civilians and impose a no-fly zone over Libya. U.S. drone missiles hit a village in Pakistan; U.S. officials said the group targeted was heavily armed and that some of its members were connected to al-Qaida, but Pakistani officials said the missiles hit a community meeting, killing four Taliban fighters and 38 civilians and tribal police. Michael Gough, the British actor best known for playing Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred in a series of Batman movies, died in England at age 94. Country music entertainer Ferlin Husky, 85, died in Nashville, Tenn.

Today's Birthdays: Jazz/New Age musician Paul Horn is 82. The former national chairwoman of the NAACP, Myrlie Evers-Williams, is 79. Rock musician Paul Kantner is 71. Singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly is 69. Singer-songwriter John Sebastian (The Lovin' Spoonful) is 68. Rock musician Harold Brown (War; Lowrider Band) is 66. Actor Patrick Duffy is 63. Actor Kurt Russell is 61. Country singer Susie Allanson is 60. Actress Lesley-Anne Down is 58. Actor Mark Boone Jr. is 57. Country singer Paul Overstreet is 57. Actor Gary Sinise is 57. Actor Christian Clemenson is 54. Former basketball and baseball player Danny Ainge is 53. Actress Vicki Lewis is 52. Actor Casey Siemaszko is 51. Writer-director Rob Sitch is 50. Actor Rob Lowe is 48. Rock singer Billy Corgan is 45. Rock musician Van Conner (Screaming Trees) is 45. Actor Mathew St. Patrick is 44. Actor Yanic Truesdale is 43. Rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur is 40. Soccer player Mia Hamm is 40. Rock musician Caroline Corr (The Corrs) is 39. Actress Amelia Heinle is 39. Actress Marisa Coughlan is 38. Rapper Swifty (D12) is 37. Actress Natalie Zea is 37. Actress Brittany Daniel is 36. Actress Eliza Hope Bennett is 20.

Thought for Today: "It is my rule never to lose me temper till it would be detrimental to keep it." -- Sean O'Casey, Irish playwright (1880-1964).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.