Friday The 13th, Again? We Had One Just Last Month!

Today is Friday, March 13, the 72nd day of 2009. There are 293 days left in the year.  The AP's AltHist. A/V. Today's Highlight in History: On March 13, 1933, banks began to re-open after a "holiday" declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. On this date: In 1781, the planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel. In 1884, Congress officially adopted Eastern Standard Time for the District of Columbia. In 1901, the 23rd president of the United States, Benjamin Harrison, died in Indianapolis at age 67. In 1925, the Tennessee General Assembly approved a bill prohibiting the teaching of the theory of evolution. (Gov. Austin Peay signed the measure on March 21st.) In 1928, hundreds of people died when the San Francisquito Valley in California was inundated with water after the St. Francis Dam burst just before midnight the evening of March 12th. In 1964, bar manager Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, 28, was stabbed to death near her Queens, N.Y. home; the case generated controversy over the supposed failure of Genovese's neighbors to respond to her cries for help. In 1969, the Apollo 9 astronauts splashed down, ending a mission that included the successful testing of the Lunar Module. In 1980, Ford Motor Chairman Henry Ford II announced he was stepping down, the same day a jury in Winamac, Ind., found Ford Motor Co. innocent of reckless homicide in the fiery deaths of three young women in a Ford Pinto. In 1988, yielding to student protests, the board of trustees of Gallaudet University in Washington D.C., a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired, chose I. King Jordan to become the school's first deaf president. In 1996, a gunman burst into an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and opened fire, killing 16 children and one teacher before killing himself. Ten years ago: Serb government forces destroyed more than two dozen ethnic Albanian homes in Kosovo, apparently in retaliation for the killing of Serb civilians in the area. Evander Holyfield, the WBA and IBF champion, and Lennox Lewis, the WBC champion, kept their respective titles after fighting to a controversial draw in New York. Playwright Garson Kanin died in New York at age 86. Five years ago: Iran froze inspections of its nuclear facilities after the U.N. atomic agency censured Tehran for hiding suspect activities. (Tehran relented two days later.) One year ago: The body of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was found in a shallow grave in northern Iraq, two weeks after he was kidnapped by gunmen in one of the most dramatic attacks against the country's small Christian community. Gold hit a record, rising to $1,000 an ounce for the first time (however, it fell sharply later in the year). Bode Miller clinched the men's overall World Cup ski title, in Bormio, Italy.  Today's Birthdays: Jazz musician Roy Haynes is 84. Country singer Jan Howard is 79. Songwriter Mike Stoller is 76. Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka is 70. Actor William H. Macy is 59. Actress Deborah Raffin is 56. Comedian Robin Duke is 55. Actress Glenne Headly is 54. Actress Dana Delany is 53. Rock musician Adam Clayton (U2) is 49. Jazz musician Terence Blanchard is 47. Actor Christopher Collet is 41. Rock musician Matt McDonough is 40. Actress Annabeth Gish is 38. Actress Tracy Wells is 38. Singer Glenn Lewis is 34. Actor Danny Masterson is 33. On March 13th, 1947, "The Best Years Of Our Lives" was named best picture at the Oscars. Frederic March won the best actor award for his role in that movie. In 1969, George Harrison and his wife, Patti, were arrested in London after police found 120 joints in their apartment. They claimed they were framed but later pleaded guilty and were fined. In 1971, the Allman Brothers recorded their "Live at the Fillmore East" album in New York. In 1975, singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette were divorced. In 1980, Pink Floyd's album "The Wall" reached platinum status. In 1987, "Heat of the Night" by Bryan Adams became the first commercially released cassette single in the US. In 1996, Mississippi lawmakers rescinded a commendation to Glen Ballard, who produced Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" album. Some of the legislators were offended by the lyrics of the song "You Oughta Know." Angry fans started a riot in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after waiting all night for Ramones tickets and finding out they were gone. Several people were hurt. In 2006, Blondie refused to allow former guitarist Frank Infante and bassist Nigel Harrison to perform with them during their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They had unsuccessfully sued Blondie in 1999 when the band reformed without them. Isaac Hayes quit the cast of "South Park," saying he could not tolerate the show's take on religion. [God killed him soon after that anyway. Stupid jerk. — Ed.] Thought for Today: "Work is something you can count on, a trusted, lifelong friend who never deserts you." — Margaret Bourke-White, American photojournalist (1904-1971). [What kind of lying Nazi bullshit is that? Work is what kills you, & enriches your boss from your labor. Take a look at this picture Ms. B-W took. Is work the "lifelong friend" of the Americans lined up for bread? — Ed.]