Today is Wednesday, March 20th, the 80th day of 2024. There are 286 days left this year.
Today's history highlights:
On March 20, 1996, a Los Angeles jury found Eric and Lyle Menendez guilty of first-degree murder in the shotgun killing of their wealthy parents. (They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
In 1413, King Henry IV of England died. His successor was Henry V.
In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte fled exile on the island of Elba and returned to Paris, beginning his Hundred Days Reign.
In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential novel about slavery, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was published as a book for the first time after its serialization.
In 1854, the Republican Party of the United States was founded by antislavery opponents in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin.
In 1922, the decommissioned USS Jupiter was converted into the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier and recommissioned as the USS Langley.
In 1952, the U.S. Senate ratified a security treaty with Japan by a vote of 66-10.
In 1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
In 1976, kidnapped newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was convicted of armed robbery for her involvement in the San Francisco bank holdup by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison, but she was released after serving 22 months, and she was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001.)
In 1995, in Tokyo, packages containing the deadly chemical sarin were leaked on five subway trains by Aum Shinrikyo cultists, killing 12 people and killing more than 5,500. I was injured.
In 2013, during his first visit to Israel since taking office, President Barack Obama affirmed Israel's sovereign right to protect itself from all threats and vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In 2014, President Barack Obama ordered economic sanctions against nearly 20 close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the major banks that provided them with support, raising the stakes in the East-West showdown over Ukraine.
In 2017, as the Senate began confirmation hearings on President Donald Trump's conservative Supreme Court nomination, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch vowed to become an independent or “abandon the court.” .
In a 2018 phone call with President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump congratulated Putin on his re-election victory. A senior administration official said Trump had been warned not to congratulate Putin in his press briefing materials.
In 2020, the governor of Illinois ordered residents to stay at home unless essential, joining similar efforts in California and New York to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Stocks fell again on Wall Street, ending the worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 900 points, ending the week down 17%.
In 2022, Ukrainian authorities announced that Russian forces had bombed an art school in the port city of Mariupol that evacuated around 400 people. Refugees described how “fighting broke out in every street” as the devastating siege continued for weeks.
In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Kremlin and tells Western leaders that efforts to isolate Moscow over fighting in Ukraine have been insufficient. It sent a powerful message.
Birthdays today: Actor Hal Linden is 93, Hall of Fame basketball coach Pat Riley is 79, country singer and musician Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky) is 78, and hockey player Hall of Famer Bobby Orr is 76 years old, and blues singer and musician Marcia Ball is 76 years old. 75. Rock musician Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) is 74 years old. Rock musician Jimmie Vaughan is 73 years old. Actor Amy Aquino is 67 years old. Film director Spike Lee is 67 years old. Actor Teresa Russell is 67 years old. Actor Vanessa Bell Calloway is 67 years old. actor. Holly Hunter is 66 years old, rock musician Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats) is 63 years old, actor/model/designer Kathy Ireland is 61 years old, actor David Thewlis is 61 years old, rock musician 's Adrian Oxall (James) is 59 years old, and actor Jessica Landy is 58 years old. Actor Liza Snyder 56 years old, actor Michael Rapaport 54 years old, actor Alexander Chaplin 53 years old, actor Cedric Yarbrough 51 years old, actor Paula Garces 50 years old, actor Bianca Lawson 45 years old, comedian actor Mikey Day 44 years old, Actor Nick Blood (TV: “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) is 42 years old. Rock musician Nick Wheeler (All American Rejects) is 42 years old. Actor Michael Cassidy is 41 years old. Actor and singer Christy Carlson Romano is 40 years old. Actor Ruby Rose is 38 years old. Actor Barrett Doss is 35 years old. .
