TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT March 13, 1928

At least 400 people died when the San Francisquito Canyon in Southern California was inundated with water after the nearly two-year-old St. Francis Dam collapsed just before midnight on March 12.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1781

The seventh planet of the solar system, Uranus, was discovered by Sir William Herschel.

1865

Confederate President Jefferson Davis signed a measure allowing black slaves to enlist in the Confederate States Army with the promise they would be set free.

1964

Bar manager Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, 28, was stabbed to death near her Queens, N.Y., home; the case gained notoriety over the supposed reluctance of Genovese’s neighbors to respond to her cries for help.

1996

A gunman burst into an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and opened fire, killing 16 children and one teacher before killing himself.