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 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 1946, the United Nations set up temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York.
In 1957, President 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 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.
Ten years ago: Pope John Paul II began a visit to Nigeria with the Vatican pressing the African nation's military regime to release dozens of prisoners, including prominent opposition figures and journalists.
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Five years ago: The United States launched a ferocious, around-the-clock aerial assault on military targets in Baghdad and other cities. The House approved a $2.2 trillion budget embracing President Bush's tax-cutting plan.
One year ago: Former Vice President Al Gore made an emotional return to Congress as he pleaded with House and Senate committees to fight global warming; skeptical Republicans questioned the science behind his climate-change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth."
Today's birthdays: Violinist-conductor Joseph Silverstein is 76. Actor Al Freeman Jr. is 74. Actress Kathleen Widdoes is 69. Singer Solomon Burke is 68. Actress Marie-Christine Barrault is 64. Singer-musician Rose Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) is 63. Actor Timothy Dalton is 62. Singer Eddie Money is 59. Rock singer-musician Roger Hodgson (Supertramp) is 58. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson is 57. Rock musician Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos) is 57. Rhythm-and-blues singer Russell Thompkins Jr. (The Stylistics) is 57. Comedy writer-performer Brad Hall is 50. Actress Sabrina LeBeauf is 50. Actor Gary Oldman is 50. Actor Matthew Broderick is 46. Comedian-talk show host Rosie O'Donnell is 46. Rock musician Jonas "Joker" Berggren (Ace of Base) is 41. Rock MC Maxim (Prodigy) is 41. Rock musician Andrew Copeland (Sister Hazel) is 40. "Hip-hop DJ" DJ Premier (Gang Starr) is 39. Actress Laura Allen is 34. Rapper-TV personality Kevin Federline is 30.
Thought for today: "History is always repeating itself, but each time the price goes up."
-- Anonymous.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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