Today is Wednesday, March 1, the 60th day of 2006. There are 305 days left in the year. This is Ash Wednesday.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On March 1, 1945, President Roosevelt, back from the Yalta Conference, proclaimed the meeting a success as he addressed a joint session of Congress.
On this date:
In 1781, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.
In 1790, Congress authorized the first U.S. Census.
In 1864, Rebecca Lee became the first black woman to receive an American medical degree, from the New England Female Medical College in Boston.
In 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state.
In 1872, Congress authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park.
In 1904, bandleader Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa.
In 1932, 20-month-old Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.)
In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.
In 1961, President Kennedy established the Peace Corps.
In 1981, Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later.
Ten years ago: President Clinton slapped economic sanctions on Colombia, concluding that Colombian authorities had not fully cooperated with the U.S. war on drugs. The Food and Drug Administration approved a powerful new AIDS drug, saying ritonavir could prolong slightly the lives of severely ill patients.
Five years ago: Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban, defying international protests, began destroying all statues in the country. Seven foreign oil workers (a Chilean, an Argentine, a New Zealander and four Americans) who were kidnapped the previous October in Ecuador’s jungle were freed after a ransom was reportedly paid.
One year ago: Dennis Rader, the churchgoing family man accused of leading a double life as the BTK serial killer, was charged in Wichita, Kan., with 10 counts of first-degree murder. (Rader later pleaded guilty and received multiple life sentences.) A closely divided Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juvenile criminals.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Robert Clary is 80. Singer Harry Belafonte is 79. Former U.S. Solicitor General Robert H. Bork is 79. Actor Robert Conrad is 71. Rock singer Mike D’Abo (Manfred Mann) is 62. Former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., is 62. Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 62. Actor Dirk Benedict is 61. Actor Alan Thicke is 59. Actor-director Ron Howard is 52. Actress Catherine Bach is 52. Country singer Janis Gill (aka Janis Oliver Cummins) (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is 52. Actor Tim Daly is 50. Singer-musician Jon Carroll is 49. Rock musician Bill Leen is 44. Actor Russell Wong is 43. Actor John David Cullum is 40. Actor George Eads is 39. Actor Javier Bardem is 37. Rock musician Ryan Peake (Nickelback) is 33. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar is 32. Actor Jensen Ackles is 28. TV host Donovan Patton is 28. Rock musician Sean Woolstenhulme is 25. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sammie is 19.
Thought for Today: “People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.” — James Baldwin, American author (1924-1987).