TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, MARCH 2, the 61st day of 2018. There are 304 days left in the year. TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1943, the three-day Battle of the Bismarck Sea began in the southwest Pacific during World War II; U.S. and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on an Imperial Japanese convoy.
In 1836, the Republic of Texas formally declared its independence from Mexico.
In 1867, Howard University, a historically black school of higher learning in Washington, D.C., was founded.
In 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship as President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act.
In 1933, the motion picture “King Kong” had its world premiere.
In 1958, a multinational expedition led by British explorer Vivian Fuchs completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica by way of the South Pole.
In 1978, the remains of comedian Charles Chaplin were stolen by extortionists from his grave in Cosiersur-Vevey,
Switzerland. The body was recovered near Lake Geneva 11 weeks later. In 1989, representatives from the European Community agreed to ban all production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), the synthetic compounds blamed for destroying the Earth’s ozone layer, by the end of the 20th century.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor John Cullum and author Tom Wolfe are 88. Former Soviet President and Nobel peace laureate Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 87. Actress Barbara Luna is 79. Author John Irving is 76. Actress Cassie Yates is 67. Actress Laraine Newman is 66. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., is 65. Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 56. Blues singer-musician Alvin Youngblood Hart is 55. Actor Daniel Craig is 50. Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) and actress Heather McComb are 41. Actress Rebel Wilson is 38. Actress Bryce Dallas Howard is 37. NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 36.