Today in History

Today is Palm Sunday, March 20, the 80th day of 2016. There are 286 days left in the year. Spring arrives at 12:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 20, 1816, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, unanimously affirmed its right to review state court decisions under the Judiciary Act of 1789.

On this date:

In 1727, physicist, mathematician and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton died in London.

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris after escaping his exile on Elba, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential novel about slavery, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was first published in book form after being serialized.

In 1899, Martha M. Place of Brooklyn, New York, became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair as she was put to death at Sing Sing for the murder of her stepdaughter.

In 1922, the decommissioned USS Jupiter, converted into the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, was recommissioned as the USS Langley.

In 1933, the state of Florida electrocuted Giuseppe Zangara for shooting to death Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak at a Miami event attended by President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, the presumed target, the previous February.

In 1952, the U.S. Senate ratified, 66-10, the Treaty of Peace with Japan.

In 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

In 1976, kidnapped newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was convicted of armed robbery for her part in a San Francisco bank holdup carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison; she was released after serving 22 months, and was pardoned in 2001 by President Bill Clinton.)

In 1986, the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 1,800 for the first time, at 1,804.24.

In 1995, in Tokyo, 12 people were killed, more than 5,500 others sickened when packages containing the deadly chemical sarin were leaked on five separate subway trains by Aum Shinrikyo cult members.

In 1996, a jury in Los Angeles convicted Erik and Lyle Menendez of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their wealthy parents. (They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

Ten years ago: Beginning the fourth year of an unpopular war, President George W. Bush defended his Iraq record against skeptical questioning at the City Club in Cleveland. Anti-war activists marked the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq with a "Bring 'Em Home Now!" concert in New York. Paul Tagliabue announced he would step down as NFL commissioner after 16 years (he was succeeded by Roger Goodell). Japan beat Cuba 10-6 in the title game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

Five years ago: As Japanese officials reported progress in their battle to gain control over a leaking, tsunami-stricken nuclear complex, the discovery of more radiation-tainted vegetables and tap water added to public fears about contaminated food and drink. AT&T Inc. said it would buy T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $39 billion (however, AT&T later dropped its bid following fierce government antitrust objections).

One year ago: A jury in Gadsden, Alabama, convicted 49-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard of capital murder for running to death her 9-year-old granddaughter, Savannah Hardin. (Garrard was sentenced to life in prison without parole; she died in Feb. 2016.) Suicide bombers attacked a pair of mosques in the capital of Yemen, unleashing blasts that killed 137 people. Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, 84, died in Canberra. Actor Gregory Walcott ("Plan 9 from Outer Space") died in Los Angeles at age 87.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Dame Vera Lynn is 99. Producer-director-comedian Carl Reiner is 94. Actor Hal Linden is 85. Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney is 77. Country singer Don Edwards is 77. TV producer Paul Junger Witt is 75. Country singer-musician Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky) is 70. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bobby Orr is 68. Blues singer-musician Marcia Ball is 67. Actor William Hurt is 66. Rock musician Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 66. Rock musician Jimmie Vaughan is 65. Country musician Jimmy Seales (Shenandoah) is 62. Actress Amy Aquino is 59. Movie director Spike Lee is 59. Actress Theresa Russell is 59. Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway is 59. Actress Holly Hunter is 58. Rock musician Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) is 55. Actress-model-designer Kathy Ireland is 53. Actor David Thewlis is 53. Rock musician Adrian Oxaal (James) is 51. Actress Jessica Lundy is 50. Actress Liza Snyder is 48. Actor Michael Rapaport is 46. Actor Alexander Chaplin is 45. Actress Paula Garces is 42. Rock singer Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) is 40. Actor Michael Genadry is 38. Actress Bianca Lawson is 37. Rock musician Nick Wheeler (The All-American Rejects) is 34. Actor Michael Cassidy is 33. Actress-singer Christy Carlson Romano is 32. Actress Ruby Rose (TV: "Orange is the New Black") is 30.

Thought for Today: "Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer and poet (1803-1882).