Today in History

Today is Tuesday, March 11, the 70th day of 2014. There are 295 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 11, 1954, the U.S. Army charged that Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., and his subcommittee's chief counsel, Roy Cohn, had exerted pressure to obtain favored treatment for Pvt. G. David Schine, a former consultant to the subcommittee. (The confrontation culminated in the famous Senate Army-McCarthy hearings.)

On this date:

In 1861, the Constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted by the Confederate Congress in Montgomery, Ala.

In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union Army Ambulance Corps was established by the U.S. Congress. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was appointed an assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry Regiment, the first woman assigned to such a post.

In 1888, the Blizzard of '88, also known as the "Great White Hurricane," began inundating the northeastern United States, resulting in some 400 deaths.

In 1930, former President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1942, as Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia. (MacArthur, who subsequently vowed, "I shall return," kept that promise more than 21/2 years later.)

In 1959, the Lorraine Hansberry drama "A Raisin in the Sun" opened at New York's Ethel Barrymore Theater.

In 1964, at the 21st Golden Globe Awards, "The Cardinal" was named best film drama of 1963 while "Tom Jones" won for best film musical or comedy.

In 1977, more than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C. by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations.

In 1989, the reality TV show "COPS" premiered on the Fox Network.

In 1993, Janet Reno was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to be attorney general.

In 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami struck Japan's northeastern coast, killing nearly 20,000 people and severely damaging the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station.

In 2012, sixteen Afghan villagers -- mostly women and children -- were shot dead as they slept by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Ten years ago: Ten bombs exploded in quick succession across the commuter rail network in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 people and wounding more than 2,000 in an attack linked to al-Qaida-inspired militants.

Five years ago: President Barack Obama signed a $410 billion spending package to keep the government running through Sept. 2009, even as he called it "imperfect" because of the number of earmarks it contained. A teenager, Tim Kretschmer, went on a shooting rampage starting at a school in Winnenden, Germany, killing 15 people before committing suicide.

One year ago: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a Democrat, was convicted of a raft of crimes, including racketeering conspiracy (he was later sentenced to 28 years in prison). North Korea said it was no longer bound by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, following days of increased tensions over its latest nuclear test.

Today's Birthdays: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 83. ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 80. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is 78. Musician Flaco Jimenez is 75. Actress Tricia O'Neil is 69. Actor Mark Metcalf is 68. Rock singer-musician Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) is 67. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 64. Movie director Jerry Zucker is 64. Actress Susan Richardson is 62. Recording executive Jimmy Iovine is 61. Singer Nina Hagen is 59. Country singer Jimmy Fortune (The Statler Brothers) is 59. Singer Cheryl Lynn is 57. Actor Elias Koteas is 53. Actor-director Peter Berg is 52. Actor Jeffrey Nordling is 52. Actress Alex Kingston is 51. Country musician David Talbot is 51. Actor Wallace Langham is 49. Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., is 49. Actor John Barrowman is 47. Singer Lisa Loeb is 46. Singer Pete Droge is 45. Actor Terrence Howard is 45. Rock musician Rami Jaffee is 45. Actor Johnny Knoxville is 43. Rock singer-musicians Benji and Joel Madden (Good Charlotte) are 35. Actor David Anders is 33. Singer LeToya is 33. Actress Thora Birch is 32. TV personality Melissa Rycroft is 31. Actor Rob Brown is 30. Actor Anton Yelchin is 25.

Thought for Today: "Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love." -- David McCullough, American historian.

Copyright 2014, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.