Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, March 20, the 79th day of 2017. There are 286 days left in the year. Spring arrives at 6:28 a.m. Eastern time.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 20, 1942, U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur, having evacuated the Philippines at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, told reporters at a train station in Terowie, Australia: "I came out of Bataan, and I shall return."

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 1922, the decommissioned USS Jupiter, converted into the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, was re-commissioned 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, a Security Treaty with Japan. At the Academy Awards, "An American in Paris" won best picture; Humphrey Bogart received best actor for "The African Queen" while Vivien Leigh was named best actress, Kim Hunter best supporting actress and Karl Malden best supporting actor for "A Streetcar Named Desire."

In 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

In 1977, voters in Paris chose former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac to be the French capital's first mayor in more than a century.

In 1987, the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of AZT, a drug shown to prolong the lives of some AIDS patients.

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.)

In 1997, President Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin opened talks in Helsinki, Finland, on the issue of NATO expansion.

Ten years ago: Saddam Hussein's former deputy, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was hanged in Baghdad, the fourth man to be executed in the killings of 148 Shiites. Rescuers found Michael Auberry, a 12-year-old Boy Scout, who was dehydrated and disoriented after four days in the wooded mountains of North Carolina.

Five years ago: Front-runner Mitt Romney won the Illinois Republican primary with ease, routing Rick Santorum for his third big-state win in a row. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Mexico damaged hundreds of homes and killed at least two people near the border between Guerrero and Oaxaca states. Army linebacker Andrew Rodriguez received the James E. Sullivan Award, given by the Amateur Athletic Union to the top amateur athlete in the United States.

One year ago: President Barack Obama opened a historic visit to Cuba, eager to push decades of acrimony deeper into the past. A bus carrying university exchange students back from Spain's largest fireworks festival crashed on a highway south of Barcelona, killing 13 passengers. The United States won 13 golds out of a possible 26 events and 23 medals in all, making it the biggest haul in the history of the world indoor track and field championships which were held in Portland, Oregon.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Dame Vera Lynn is 100. Producer-director-comedian Carl Reiner is 95. Actor Hal Linden is 86. Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney is 78. Country singer Don Edwards is 78. TV producer Paul Junger Witt is 76. Country singer-musician Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky) is 71. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bobby Orr is 69. Blues singer-musician Marcia Ball is 68. Actor William Hurt is 67. Rock musician Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 67. Rock musician Jimmie Vaughan is 66. Country musician Jimmy Seales (Shenandoah) is 63. Actress Amy Aquino is 60. Movie director Spike Lee is 60. Actress Theresa Russell is 60. Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway is 60. Actress Holly Hunter is 59. Rock musician Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) is 56. Actress-model-designer Kathy Ireland is 54. Actor David Thewlis is 54. Rock musician Adrian Oxaal (James) is 52. Actress Jessica Lundy is 51. Actress Liza Snyder is 49. Actor Michael Rapaport is 47. Actor Alexander Chaplin is 46. Actor Cedric Yarbrough ("Speechless") is 44. Actress Paula Garces is 43. Rock singer Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) is 41. Actor Michael Genadry is 39. Actress Bianca Lawson is 38. Comedian/actor Mikey Day ("Saturday Night Live") is 37. Rock musician Nick Wheeler (The All-American Rejects) is 35. Actor Michael Cassidy is 34. Actress-singer Christy Carlson Romano is 33. Actress Ruby Rose is 31.

Thought for Today: "Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are." -- Jose Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (1883-1955).