TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY IS THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018.

On this day:

44 BCE - Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by high ranking Roman Senators, receiving between 23 and 35 stab wounds. The day is known as the Ides of March. 1493 - Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the New World - the Americas.

1788 - French Admiral Jean la Perouse sailed east from Botany Bay for the last lap of his voyage around the world. 1840 - Polish explorer Pawel Strzelecki climbs and names Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest mountain.

1877 - The first cricket test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne. Australia won by 45 runs. 1892 - Jesse W. Reno patented the Reno Inclined Elevator – the first escalator.

1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson held the first open presidential news conference. 1917 - Tsar Nicholas II of abdicates the Russian throne ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty.

1934 - Henry Ford restored the $5 a day wage.

1938 - Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

1955 - The U.S. Air Force unveiled a self-guided missile. 1960 - Ten nations met in Geneva to discuss disarmament.

1989 - The U.S. Food and Drug administration decided to impound all fruit imported from Chile after two cyanide-tainted grapes were found in Philadelphia, PA. 1998 - CBS’s “60 Minutes” aired an interview with former White House employee Kathleen Willey who said U.S. President Clinton made unwelcome sexual advances toward her in the Oval Office in 1993.

2002 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the U.S. would stand by a 24-year pledge not to use nuclear arms against states that don’t have them.

2004 - Clive Woodall’s novel “One for Sorrow: Two for Joy” was published. Two days later Woodall sold the film rights to Disney for $1 million.

2011 - Beginning of the Syrian Civil War - it continues today with millions displaced and untold thousands killed