March 19th

Today's Highlight in History:
On March 19th, 1979, the US House of Representatives began televising its day-to-day business.

On this date:
In 1859, the opera "Faust" by Charles Gounod premiered in Paris.

In 1917, the Supreme Court upheld the eight-hour work day for railroads.

In 1918, Congress approved Daylight-Saving Time.

In 1931, Nevada legalized gambling.

In 1945, about eight hundred people were killed as Kamikaze planes attacked the US carrier Franklin off Japan; the ship, however, was saved.

In 1945, Adolf Hitler issued his so-called "Nero Decree," ordering the destruction of German facilities that could fall into Allied hands.

In 1953, the Academy Awards ceremony was televised for the first time; "The Greatest Show on Earth" was named best picture of 1952.

In 1976, Buckingham Palace announced the separation of Princess Margaret and her husband, the Earl of Snowdon, after 16 years of marriage.

In 1985, in a legislative victory for President Reagan, the Senate voted, 55-to-45, to authorize production of the MX missile.

In 1987, televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as chairman of his PTL ministry organization amid a sex and money scandal involving Jessica Hahn, a former church secretary from Oklahoma.

In 1993, Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White announced plans to retire. (White's departure paved the way for Ruth Bader Ginsburg to become the court's second female justice.)

Ten years ago: Alfredo Cristiani of the right-wing ARENA party was elected president of El Salvador, defeating Fidel Chavez Mena of the Christian Democratic Party.

Five years ago: Talks between North Korea and South Korea collapsed, imperiling a US-brokered deal to resolve the North Korean nuclear dispute. In his weekly radio address, President Clinton promised to tell people "all across America about our health reform plan and what it really means."

One year ago: Completing baseball's transformation from family ownership to corporate control, Rupert Murdoch's Fox Group won approval to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers for a record $350 million.

"It is the darling delusion of mankind that the world is progressive in religion, toleration, freedom, as it is progressive in machinery."

-- Moncure D. Conway, American clergyman and author (1832-1907).