Today is Saturday, March 25, the 84th day of 2017. There are 281 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight: On March 25, 1947, a coal-dust explosion inside the Centralia Coal Co. Mine No. 5 in Washington County, Illinois, claimed 111 lives; 31 men survived.
On this date:
In 1306, Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scots.
In 1776, Gen. George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, was awarded the first Congressional Gold Medal by the Continental Congress.
In 1865, during the Civil War, Confederate forces attacked Fort Stedman in Virginia but were forced to withdraw because of counterattacking Union troops.
In 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. in New York.
In 1924, the Second Hellenic Republic was proclaimed in Greece.
In 1931, in the so-called “Scottsboro Boys” case, nine young black men were taken off a train in Alabama, accused of raping two white women; after years of convictions, death sentences and imprisonment, the nine were eventually vindicated.
In 1957, a signing ceremony was held for the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community.
In 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 people to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery after a five-day march from Selma to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks. Later that day, civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, a white Detroit homemaker, was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klansmen.
In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness. (The nephew was beheaded in June 1975.)
In 1987, the Supreme Court, in Johnson v. Transportation Agency, ruled 6-3 that an employer could promote a woman over an arguably more-qualified man to help get women into higher-ranking jobs.
In 1990, 87 people, most of them Honduran and Dominican immigrants, were killed when fire raced through an illegal social club in New York City.
In 1996, an 81-day standoff by the anti-government Freemen began at a ranch near Jordan, Montana.
Ten years ago: Iran announced it was partially suspending cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, citing what it called “illegal and bullying” Security Council sanctions imposed on the country for its refusal to stop enriching uranium. Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi won Mauritania’s first free presidential election in a runoff.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama arrived in South Korea, where he visited the Demilitarized Zone separating the South from the communist North, telling American troops stationed nearby they were protectors of “freedom’s frontier.” Pope Benedict XVI, on his first trip to Latin America, urged Mexicans to wield their faith against drug violence, poverty and other ills, celebrating Mass before a sea of worshippers in Silao.
One year ago: A suicide bomber believed to be a teenager blew himself up in a soccer stadium south of the Iraqi capital, killing 29 people and wounding 60. The Rolling Stones unleashed two hours of thundering rock and roll on an ecstatic crowd of hundreds of thousands of Cubans and foreign visitors in Havana; the free concert came two days after President Barack Obama concluded his historic visit to Cuba.
Today’s birthdays: Movie reviewer Gene Shalit is 91. Former astronaut James Lovell is 89. Feminist activist and author Gloria Steinem is 83. Singer Anita Bryant is 77. Singer Aretha Franklin is 75. Actor Paul Michael Glaser is 74. Singer Elton John is 70. Actress Bonnie Bedelia is 69. Actress-comedian Mary Gross is 64. Actor James McDaniel is 59. Former Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is 59. Movie producer Amy Pascal is 59. Rock musician Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet) is 57. Actress Brenda Strong is 57. Actor Fred Goss is 56. Actor-writer-director John Stockwell is 56. Actress Marcia Cross is 55. Author Kate DiCamillo is 53. Actress Lisa Gay Hamilton is 53. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is 52. Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Glavine is 51. TV personality Ben Mankiewicz is 50. Olympic bronze medal figure skater Debi Thomas is 50. Actor Laz Alonso is 46. Singer Melanie Blatt (All Saints) is 42. Actor Domenick Lombardozzi is 41. Actor Lee Pace is 38. Actor Sean Faris is 35. Comedian/actor Alex Moffat (“Saturday Night Live”) is 35. Auto racer Danica Patrick is 35. Actress-singer Katharine McPhee is 33. Singer Jason Castro is 30. Rapper Big Sean is 29. Rap DJ/producer Ryan Lewis is 29. Actor Matthew Beard is 28. Actress-singer Aly (AKA Alyson) Michalka is 28. Actor Kiowa Gordon is 27. Actress Seychelle Gabriel is 26.
Thought for today: “In every person, even in such as appear most reckless, there is an inherent desire to attain balance.” — Jakob Wassermann, German author (1873-1934).
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