This day in history

[March 25, 2009]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, March 25, the 84th day of 2009. There are 281 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On March 25, 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks.

On this date:

In 1634, English colonists sent by Lord Baltimore arrived in present-day Maryland.

In 1865, during the Civil War, Confederate forces attacked Fort Stedman in Virginia but were forced to withdraw by counterattacking Union troops.

In 1894, Jacob S. Coxey began leading an "army" of unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington to demand help from the federal government.

In 1918, French composer Claude Debussy died in Paris.

In 1911, 146 people, mostly female immigrants, were killed when fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York.

In 1947, a coal mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., claimed 111 lives.

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community.

In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness. (The nephew was beheaded in June 1975.)

In 1988, in New York City's so-called "Preppie Killer" case, Robert Chambers Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. (Chambers received a sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison; he was released in 2003.)

In 1990, 87 people, most of them Honduran and Dominican immigrants, were killed when fire raced through an illegal social club in New York City.

Ten years ago: NATO aircraft and missiles blasted targets in Yugoslavia for a second night, directing much of their fire on Kosovo, where fighting raged between Serbs and ethnic Albanians. Alexei Yagudin won the men's title for the second time at the World Figure Skating Championships held in Helsinki.

Five years ago: Congress passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, making it a separate offense to harm a fetus during violent federal crime. The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin. Russian Evgeni Plushenko won his third world figure skating title, defeating French rival Brian Joubert.

One year ago: The Defense Department said it had mistakenly shipped electrical fuses for an intercontinental ballistic missile to Taiwan. (Once the error was discovered, the military quickly recovered the four fuses.) Herb Peterson, the inventor of McDonald's Egg McMuffin, died in Santa Barbara, Calif., at age 89.

Today's birthdays: Modeling agency founder Eileen Ford is 87. Former astronaut James Lovell is 81. Feminist activist and author Gloria Steinem is 75. Singer Anita Bryant is 69. Singer Aretha Franklin is 67. Actor Paul Michael Glaser is 66. Singer Elton John is 62. Actress Bonnie Bedelia is 61. Actress-comedian Mary Gross is 56. Actor James McDaniel is 51. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is 51. Rock musician Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet) is 49. Actress Brenda Strong is 49. Actor Fred Goss is 48. Actor-writer-director John Stockwell is 48. Actress Marcia Cross is 47. Author Kate DiCamillo (Book: "Because of Winn-Dixie") is 45. Actress Lisa Gay Hamilton is 45. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is 44. Atlanta Braves pitcher Tom Glavine is 43. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Debi Thomas is 42. Singer Melanie Blatt (All Saints) is 34. Actor Lee Pace is 30. Actor Sean Faris is 27. Auto racer Danica Patrick is 27. Singer Katharine McPhee ("American Idol") is 25. Singer Jason Castro ("American Idol") is 22. Actress-singer Aly (aka Alyson) Michalka is 20.

Thought for today: "In every person, even in such as appear most reckless, there is an inherent desire to attain balance." -- Jakob Wassermann, German author (1873-1934)

[Associated Press]

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