Today is Tuesday, March 28, the 87th day of 2006. There are 278 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On March 28, 1979, America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa.
On this date:
In 1834, the U.S. Senate voted to censure President Jackson for the removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States.
In 1854, during the Crimean War, Britain and France declared war on Russia.
In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that a child born in the United States to Chinese immigrants was a U.S. citizen.
In 1930, the names of the Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora were changed to Istanbul and Ankara.
In 1939, the Spanish Civil War ended as Madrid fell to the forces of Francisco Franco.
In 1941, novelist and critic Virginia Woolf died in Lewes, England.
In 1942, during World War II, British naval forces raided the Nazi-occupied French port of St. Nazaire.
In 1953, athlete Jim Thorpe died in Lomita, Calif.
In 1969, the 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, died in Washington at age 78.
In 1994, absurdist playwright Eugene Ionesco died in Paris at age 81.
Ten years ago: Congress passed the line-item veto, giving the president power to cut government spending by scrapping specific programs. The space shuttle Atlantis’ astronauts said goodbye to the crew of Russia’s space station Mir and then flew off, leaving Shannon Lucid behind for a five-month stay in orbit.
Five years ago: The authors of a book on the Oklahoma City bombing revealed that during prison interviews, Timothy McVeigh had shown no remorse for what happened, and called the 19 children who died “collateral damage.”
One year ago: The Colorado Supreme Court threw out the death penalty in a rape-and-murder case because five of the jurors had consulted the Bible and quoted Scripture during deliberations. A major earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia killed up to 1,000 people.
Today’s Birthdays: Former White House national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski is 78. Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski is 73. Country musician Charlie McCoy is 65. Movie director Mike Newell is 64. Actress Conchata Ferrell is 63. Actor Ken Howard is 62. Actress Dianne Wiest is 58. Rhythm-and-blues musician Milan Williams is 58. Country singer Reba McEntire is 51. Actress Tracey Needham is 39. Actor Max Perlich is 38. Country singer Rodney Atkins is 37. Rapper Salt (Salt-N-Pepa) is 37. Actor Vince Vaughn is 36. Rapper Mr. Cheeks (Lost Boyz) is 35. Actor Ken L. is 33. Actress Julia Stiles is 25.
Thought for Today: “Guess, if you can, and choose, if you dare.” — Pierre Corneille, French dramatist and poet (1606-1684).