March 15th

Today's Highlight in History:
On March 15th, 1919, the American Legion was founded, in Paris.

On this date:
In 44 B.C., Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included Brutus and Cassius.

In 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, concluding his first voyage to the Western Hemisphere.

In 1767, the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, was born in Waxhaw, South Carolina.

In 1820, Maine became the 23rd state.

In 1875, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey, was named the first American cardinal, by Pope Pius the Ninth.

In 1913, President Wilson held the first open presidential news conference.

In 1956, the Lerner and Loewe musical "My Fair Lady" opened on Broadway.

In 1964, actress Elizabeth Taylor married actor Richard Burton in Montreal; it was her fifth marriage, his second.

In 1965, addressing a joint session of Congress, President Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to vote.

In 1975, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis died near Paris at age 69.

Ten years ago: The Israeli government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir lost a vote of confidence in the Knesset after Shamir refused to accept a US plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Iraq executed London-based journalist Farzad Bazoft, whom it had accused of spying.

Five years ago: President Clinton issued an executive order formally blocking a one billion-dollar contract between Conoco and Iran to develop a huge offshore oil tract in the Persian Gulf.

One year ago: An Amtrak train slammed into a steel-filled truck at a crossing in Bourbonnais, Illinois, killing eleven people. The Kosovar Albanian delegation to peace talks in Paris said it was ready to sign an international accord for Kosovo. Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel and Dusty Springfield were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity."

-- George Bernard Shaw, Irish-born playwright (1856-1950).