TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Monday, March 12, the 71st day of 2018. There are 294 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History:

On March 12, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson won the New Hampshire Democratic primary, with Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota placing a strong second.

On this date:

■ In 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assumed command as General-in-Chief of the Union armies in the Civil War.

■ In 1912, the Girl Scouts of the USA had its beginnings as Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Georgia, founded the first American troop of the Girl Guides.

Ten years ago: New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned two days after reports had surfaced that he was a client of a prostitution ring.

Five years ago: Black smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel

chimney, signaling that cardinals had failed on their first vote of the papal conclave to choose a new leader of the Catholic Church to succeed Benedict XVI.

One year ago: A bus plowed into people taking part in an early morning street festival in Haiti, killing at least 34 of them.

Today’s Birthdays: Politician, diplomat and civil rights activist Andrew Young is 86. Actress Barbara Feldon is 85. Broadcast journalist Lloyd Dobyns is 82. Actress-singer Liza Minnelli is 72. Actor Jon Provost (TV: “Lassie”) is 68. Actor Courtney B. Vance is 58. Actress Kendall Applegate is 19.

Thought for Today: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”—John Quincy Adams, American president (17671848).