TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

March 20, 1854

The Republican Party of the United States was founded by slavery opponents at a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1413

England’s King Henry IV died; he was succeeded by Henry V.

1760

A 10-hour fire erupted in Boston, destroying 349 buildings and burning 10 ships, but claiming no lives.

1815

Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris after escaping his exile on Elba, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.

1852

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s influential novel about slavery, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was first published in book form after being serialized.

1922

The decommissioned USS Jupiter, converted into the first U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, was re-commissioned as the USS Langley.

1952

The U.S. Senate ratified, 66-10, a Security Treaty with Japan.

1969

John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

1977

Voters in Paris chose former French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac to be the French capital’s first mayor in more than a century.

1985

Libby Riddles of Teller, Alaska, became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race.