Today's Highlight in History:
On March 4, 1789, the Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Federal Congress met in New York. (The lawmakers then adjourned for lack of a quorum.) [Adjourned to the nearest tavern. — Ed.]
On this date:
In 1681, England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn for an area of land that later became Pennsylvania.
In 1791, Vermont became the 14th state.
In 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be inaugurated in Washington.
In 1837, the Illinois state legislature granted a city charter to Chicago.
In 1858, Sen. James Henry Hammond of South Carolina declared "Cotton is king" in a speech to the U.S. Senate.
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States.
In 1902, the American Automobile Association was founded in Chicago.
In 1908, a fire at Lake View School in Collinwood, Ohio, claimed the lives of 172 children and three adults.
In 1909, William Howard Taft took the oath of office as the 27th president of the United States.
In 1913, Woodrow Wilson was sworn as the 28th president of the United States.
In 1930, Coolidge Dam in Arizona was dedicated by its namesake, former President Calvin Coolidge.
AP Highlight in History:
On March 4, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd president, pledging to lead the country out of the Great Depression.
Roosevelt: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Frances Perkins became the first woman to serve in the Cabinet when she took over as secretary of labor.
In 1940, Kings Canyon National Park in California was established.
In 1958, the U.S. atomic submarine Nautilus reached the North Pole by passing beneath the Arctic ice cap.
In 1960, baritone Leonard Warren, 50, collapsed and died while performing in Verdi's "La forza del destino" (The Force of Destiny) at New York's Metropolitan Opera. An explosives-laden French freighter, La Coubre, exploded in Havana's harbor, killing at least 75 people.
In 1977, some 1,500 people were killed in an earthquake that shook southern and eastern Europe.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging his overtures to Iran had "deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal.
In 1989, Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. announced plans for a huge media merger.
In 1993, authorities announced the arrest of Mohammad Salameh, who was later convicted of playing a key role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City.
In 1994, four men were found guilty in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
In 1996, a bombing at a shopping mall in Tel Aviv, Israel, killed 14 people.
In 1997, President Bill Clinton barred spending federal money on human cloning.
In 1999, outraging Italian authorities, a military jury in North Carolina cleared a Marine pilot of charges he was flying recklessly when his jet sliced through a ski gondola cable in the Alps, sending 20 people plunging to their deaths. Retired Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, who wrote the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, died in Arlington, Va., at age 90.
In 2000, ahead of Super Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush charged John McCain with "clouded" education views while the Arizona senator asked, "Where's the outrage?" over a late surge of money to pay for negative TV ads.
In 2002, after more than 40 people died violently in a week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he aimed to kill as many Palestinians as possible to force negotiation.
In 2003, Philippine authorities blamed two bombings on the island of Mindanao on Islamic separatists. Twenty-two people, including a U.S. missionary, were killed and 150 injured in one blast and one died and three were hurt in the other.
In 2004, Mounir el Motassadeq, convicted in Germany in connection with the 9/11 attacks, won a retrial from an appeals court. (El Motassadeq was later convicted of helping three of the suicide hijackers and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum possible under German law.) As U.S. Marines mobilized and patrolled the streets of Port-au-Prince, rebel forces proclaiming themselves Haiti's reinvented military after the president fled said they would lay down their weapons.
In 2005, American troops in Iraq fired on a car carrying just-freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, killing Nicola Calipari, the intelligence officer who'd helped negotiate her release and injuring the reporter. Martha Stewart, imprisoned for five months for her role in a stock scandal, left federal prison to start five months of home confinement. President George W. Bush nominated career scientist Stephen L. Johnson to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2007, Sunni insurgents killed and wounded hundreds of Shiite Muslim pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Karbala in Iraq. At least 77 died at Hilla in the worst of the four-day series of attacks.
In 2008, Republican John McCain clinched his party's presidential nomination with primary wins in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont. Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton won primary victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island, while Barack Obama prevailed in Vermont. Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre retired after 17 seasons, saying he was "tired." (Favre later made a comeback with the New York Jets before retiring again.) [And then ... — Ed.]
In 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, addressing a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, called on Americans to look beyond their own tumbling financial markets to see a world gripped by an "economic hurricane" that could be turned around with U.S. help. The international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for Sudan President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir at The Hague, Netherlands, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of Western Sudan. It was the first ICC warrant against a sitting president.
Today's Birthdays: Actress Paula Prentiss is 72. Movie director Adrian Lyne is 69. Singer Bobby Womack is 66. Rock musician Chris Squire (Yes) is 62. Singer Shakin' Stevens is 62. Author James Ellroy is 62. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is 60. Singer Chris Rea is 59. Actor Ronn Moss is 58. Actress Kay Lenz is 57. Musician Emilio Estefan is 57. Movie director Scott Hicks is 57. Actress Catherine O'Hara is 56. Actress Patricia Heaton is 52. Actor Steven Weber is 49. Rock musician Jason Newsted is 47. Actress Stacy Edwards is 45. Rapper Grand Puba is 44. Rock musician Patrick Hannan (The Sundays) is 44. Rock singer Evan Dando (Lemonheads) is 43. Actress Patsy Kensit is 42. Gay rights activist Chaz Bono is 41. Actor Nick Stabile is 40. Rock musician Fergal Lawler (The Cranberries) is 39. Country singer Jason Sellers is 39. Jazz musician Jason Marsalis is 33. TV personality Whitney Port is 25.
Those Born On This Date Include: Portuguese Prince Henry, the Navigator (1394); composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678); Polish-born American patriot Casimir Pulaski (1747); legendary Notre Dame football Coach Knute Rockne (1888); actor John Garfield (1913); actress/singer Barbara McNair (1934); English auto racing champion Jimmy Clark (1936).
This Date In Entertainment History March 4
In 1952, actor Ronald Reagan and actress Nancy Davis were married in North Hollywood, California.
In 1967, a British newspaper reported that brothers Steve and Muff Winwood were leaving the Spencer Davis Group. Steve Winwood went on to form Traffic.
In 1973, Pink Floyd began a US tour in Wisconsin. ["Thank you, Philadelphia!" — Ed.] The band was supporting the album "Dark Side of the Moon."
In 1990, commentator Andy Rooney returned to "60 Minutes" after being suspended for allegedly making racial remarks.
In 1993, singer Patti LaBelle got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1994, producers Chris and Bob Herbert placed an ad in a British magazine for female singers who can dance. Nearly 400 auditioned, and five were chosen for a group that became The Spice Girls.
In 1996, Grand Ole Opry star Minnie Pearl died at the age of 83 after suffering a stroke. Also in 1996, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr turned down a $225 million dollar offer to tour North America, Europe and Japan.
In 2008, Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax died in Lake Geneva, Wisc., at age 69.
In 2009, playwright Horton Foote, who'd won an Oscar for his screen adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird," died in Hartford, Conn. at age 92.
Thought for Today: "Beauty is whatever gives joy." — Edna St. Vincent Millay, American author and poet (1892-1950).
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