 Today's highlight in history:
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the
Philadelphia Warriors in a game against the New York Knicks, an NBA
record that still stands. (Philadelphia won, 169-147.)
On this date:
In 1793, the first president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston,
was born near Lexington, Va.
In 1836, the Republic of Texas formally declared its independence
from Mexico.
In 1861, the state of Texas, having seceded from the Union, was
admitted to the Confederacy.
In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of
the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even
though Tilden had won the popular vote.
In 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship as President
Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act.
In 1932, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which moved the
date of the presidential inauguration from March 4 to Jan. 20, was
passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
In 1939, Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (puh-CHEL'-ee) was
elected pope on his 63rd birthday; he took the name Pius XII.
In 1942, the original Stage Door Canteen, a wartime club for U.S.
servicemen, officially opened its doors in New York's Broadway
theater district.
In 1943, the World War II Battle of the Bismarck Sea began; U.S. and
Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on a Japanese
convoy.
In 1951, the East beat the West, 111-94, in the first NBA All-Star
Game, which took place at Boston Garden.
In 1972, the United States launched the Pioneer 10 space probe,
which flew past Jupiter in late 1973, sending back images and
scientific data.
In 1989, representatives from the 12 European Community nations
agreed to ban all production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) by the
end of the 20th century.
In 1992, actress Sandy Dennis died in Westport, Conn., at age 54.
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Ten years ago: Eleven Israelis were killed in a Palestinian
suicide bombing in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. Rioting
spread as the death toll in India's religious strife topped 400.
Five years ago: A charter bus carrying a college baseball
team from Bluffton University in Ohio plunged off an Atlanta highway
ramp and slammed into the pavement below, killing seven people. Army
Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned following a scandal over
substandard conditions for wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center. The bodies of 14 kidnapped policemen were found
northeast of Baghdad. Anna Nicole Smith was buried in the Bahamas
following a lavish memorial service.
One year ago: The Supreme Court ruled, 8-1, that a grieving
father's pain over mocking protests at his Marine son's funeral had
to yield to First Amendment protections for free speech in a
decision favoring the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. A man
armed with a handgun attacked a bus carrying U.S. Air Force troops
at Frankfurt airport, killing two airmen before being taken into
custody. (Arid Uka, an Islamic extremist, was later sentenced to
life in prison.) Militants gunned down the only Christian in
Pakistan's Cabinet outside his widowed mother's home.
Today's birthdays: Actor John Cullum is 82. Author Tom Wolfe
is 82. Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 81. Actress
Barbara Luna is 73. Actor Jon Finch is 71. Author John Irving is 70.
Singer Lou Reed is 70. Actress Cassie Yates is 61. Actress Laraine
Newman is 60. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is 59. Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar is 57. Singer Jay Osmond is 57. Pop musician
John Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 56. Tennis player Kevin Curren is 54.
Country singer Larry Stewart (Restless Heart) is 53. Rock singer Jon
Bon Jovi is 50. Blues singer-musician Alvin Youngblood Hart is 49.
Actor Daniel Craig is 44. Rock musician Casey (Jimmie's Chicken
Shack) is 36. Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 35. Actress
Heather McComb is 35. Actress Bryce Dallas Howard is 31. NFL
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 30. Actor Robert Iler ("The
Sopranos") is 27.
Thought for today: "Don't cry because it's over. Smile
because it happened." -- Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka "Dr.
Seuss"), American children's author (born this day, 1904; died 1991)
[Associated Press]
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