Today’s highlight in history

On March 17, 1762, New York held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade.

On this date In 1776,

the Revolutionary War Siege of Boston ended as British forces evacuated the city.

In 1906,

President Theodore Roosevelt first likened crusading journalists to a man with “the muckrake in his hand” in a speech to the Gridiron Club in Washington.

In 1912,

the Camp Fire Girls organization was incorporated in Washington, D.C., two years to the day after it was founded in Thetford, Vt. (The group is now known as Camp Fire.)

In 1936,

Pittsburgh’s Great St. Patrick’s Day Flood began as the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers and their tributaries, swollen by rain and melted snow, started exceeding flood stage; the high water was blamed for more than 60 deaths.

In 1958,

the U.S. Navy launched the Vanguard 1 satellite.

In 1968, a peaceful anti-Vietnam War protest in London was followed by a riot outside the U.S. Embassy; more than 200 people were arrested and over 80 people were reported injured.

In 1970,

the United States cast its first veto in the U.N. Security Council, killing a resolution that would have condemned Britain for failing to use force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.

Ten years ago:

Paul McCartney’s divorce from Heather Mills was settled for $48.6 million.

Five years ago:

Two members of Steubenville, Ohio’s high school football team were found guilty of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl and sentenced to at least a year in juvenile prison.

One year ago:

President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to sidestep their differences in a meeting at the White House, but their first public appearance was punctuated by some awkward moments (during a photo op in the Oval Office, the two did not shake hands before reporters).