Today in History
Today is Friday, March 24, the 83rd day of 2017. There are 282 days
left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On March 24, 1765,
Britain enacted the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to
provide temporary housing to British soldiers. On this date: In 1832, a
mob in Hiram, Ohio, attacked, tarred and feathered Mormon leaders
Joseph Smith Jr. and Sidney Rigdon. In 1913, New York's Palace Theatre,
the legendary home of vaudeville, opened on Broadway. In 1934,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill granting future
independence to the Philippines. In 1944, in oc'cup'ied Rome, the Nazis
executed more than 300 civilians in reprisal for an attack by Italian
partisans the day before that had killed 32 German soldiers. In 1958,
rock-and-roll singer Elvis Presley was inducted into the Army in
Memphis, Tennessee. In 1965, Ranger 9, a lunar probe launched three
days earlier by NASA, crashed into the moon (as planned) after sending
back more than 5,800 video images. In 1976, the president of Argentina,
Isabel Peron, was deposed by her country's military. British war hero
Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery, 88, died in Alton, Hampshire,
England. In 1989, the supertanker Exxon Valdez (vahl-DEEZ') ran aground
on a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and began leaking an
estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil. In 1997, at the 69th Annual
Academy Awards, "The English Patient" won best picture and director
(Anthony Minghella); Frances McDormand won best actress for "Fargo"
while Geoffrey Rush won best actor for "Shine. In 1999, NATO launched
airstrikes against Yugoslavia, marking the first time in its 50-year
existence that it had ever attacked a sovereign country. Thirty-nine
people were killed when fire erupted in the Mont Blanc tunnel in France
and burned for two days. In 2002, at the 74th Academy Awards, Halle
Berry became the first black actress to win an Oscar for a leading role
for her work in "Monster's Ball," while Denzel Washington became the
second black actor, after Sidney Poitier, to win in the best actor
category for "Training Day. 'A Beautiful Mind" won four Oscars,
including best picture and best director for Ron Howard. In 2015,
Germanwings Flight 9525, an Airbus A320, crashed into the French Alps,
killing all 150 people on board; investigators said the jetliner was
deliberately downed by the 27-year-old co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz. Ten
years ago: The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted to impose new
sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.
Japan's Miki Ando won the women's title at the World Figure Skating
Championship in Tokyo, leading a 1-2 finish for the host country with
Mao Asada second. Five years ago: Rick Santorum won the Louisiana
Republican presidential primary, beating front-runner Mitt Romney in
yet another conservative Southern state. Nine people, including a woman
celebrating her 26th birthday and seven children at a family slumber
party, died when fire tore through a two-story home in Charleston, West
Virginia. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, with a long history of
cardiovascular problems, underwent a heart transplant at a Virginia
hospital. One year ago: A U.N. war crimes court convicted former
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic of genocide and nine other charges
for orchestrating a campaign of terror that left 100,000 people dead
during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia; Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in
prison. Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill making Indiana the
second state to ban abortions because of fetal genetic abnormalities
such as Down syndrome. Comedian Garry Shandling died at age 66; writer
Earl Hamner Jr., creator of "The Waltons," died at age 92. Today's
Birthdays: Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti is 98. Actor William Smith is 84.
Fashion and costume designer Bob Mackie is 78. Actor R. Lee Ermey is
73. Former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is 70. Rock musician Lee
Oskar is 69. Singer Nick Lowe is 68. Rock musician Dougie Thomson
(Supertramp) is 66. Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger is 66. Comedian
Louie Anderson is 64. Actress Donna Pescow is 63. Actor Robert
Carradine is 63. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is 61. Actress Kelly
LeBrock is 57. Rhythm-and-blues DJ Rodney "Kool Kollie" Terry (Ghostown
DJs) is 56. TV personality Star Jones is 55. Country-rock musician
Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers) is 53. Actor Peter Jacobson is 52.
Rock singer-musician Sharon Corr (The Corrs) is 47. Actress Lauren
Bowles is 47. Actress Lara Flynn Boyle is 47. Rapper Maceo (AKA P.A.
Pasemaster Mase) is 47. Actress Megyn Price is 46. Actor Jim Parsons is
44. Christian rock musician Chad Butler (Switchfoot) is 43. Actress
Alyson Hannigan is 43. NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is 41. Actress
Olivia Burnette is 40. Actress Jessica Chastain is 40. Actor Amir
Arison is 39. Actress Lake Bell is 38. Rock musician Benj Gershman
(O.A.R.) is 37. Neo-soul musician Jesse Phillips (St. Paul & the Broken
Bones) is 37. Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes is 27. Thought for Today:
"Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn
again to exercise his will his personal responsibility in the realm of
faith and morals. Albert Schweitzer, German-born missionary and Nobel
laureate (1875-1965).
