Today's Highlight in History:
On March 21, 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.
On this date:
In 1804, the French civil code, or the "Code Napoleon" as it was later called, was adopted.
In 1806, Mexican statesman Benito Juarez was born in Oaxaca.
In 1907, U.S. Marines arrived in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan began a four-day conference in Bermuda.
In 1960, some 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on demonstrators.
In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.
In 1972, the Supreme Court, in Dunn v. Blumstein, ruled that states may not require at least a year's residency for voting eligibility.
In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings; the reported death toll varies between 29 and 43.
In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule.
Ten years ago: Israel's Supreme Court rejected a final effort to have American teenager Samuel Sheinbein returned to the United States to face murder charges. (Under a plea agreement with Israeli prosecutors, Sheinbein was later sentenced to 24 years in prison for the murder of Alfred Tello Jr.) At the Academy Awards, "Shakespeare in Love" won seven Oscars, including best picture and best actress for Gwyneth Paltrow; Roberto Benigni won best actor for "Life is Beautiful," while Steven Spielberg won best director for "Saving Private Ryan."
