Today In History

Today is Friday, March 24, the 83rd day of 2023. There are 282 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

On March 24, 1989, the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and began leaking an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil.

ON THIS DATE

› 1765: Britain enacted the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers.

› 1832: A mob in Hiram, Ohio, attacked, tarred and feathered Mormon leaders Joseph Smith Jr. and Sidney Rigdon.

› 1882: German scientist Robert Koch announced in Berlin that he had discovered the bacillus responsible for tuberculosis.

› 1934: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill granting future independence to the Philippines.

› 1976: The president of Argentina, Isabel Peron, was deposed by her country’s military.

› 1980: One of El Salvador’s most respected Roman Catholic Church leaders, Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, was shot to death by a sniper as he celebrated Mass in San Salvador.

› 1995: After 20 years, British soldiers stopped routine patrols in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

› 1999: NATO launched airstrikes against Yugoslavia, marking the first time in its 50-year existence that it had ever attacked a sovereign country. Thirty-nine people were killed when fire erupted in the Mont Blanc tunnel in France and burned for two days.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Fashion and costume designer Bob Mackie is

84. Former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is 76. Rock musician Lee Oskar is 75. Singer Nick Lowe is 74. Rock musician Dougie Thomson (Supertramp) is 72. Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger is 72. Actor Donna Pescow is 69. Actor Robert Carradine is 69. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, is 69. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is 67. Actor Kelly LeBrock is

63. TV personality Star Jones is 61. Country-rock musician Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers) is

59. Actor Peter Jacobson is 58. Rock singer-musician Sharon Corr (The Corrs) is 53. Actor Lauren Bowles is 53. Actor Lara Flynn Boyle is 53. Rapper Maceo (AKA P.A. Pasemaster Mase) is 53. Actor Megyn Price is 52. Actor Jim Parsons is 50. Christian rock musician Chad Butler (Switchfoot) is 49. Actor Alyson Hannigan is

49. Former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning is

47. Actor Amanda Brugel (TV: “The Handmaid’s Tale”) is 46. Actor Olivia Burnette is 46. Actor Jessica Chastain is 46. Actor Amir Arison is 45. Actor Lake Bell is 44. Neo-soul musician Jesse Phillips (St. Paul & the Broken Bones) is 43. Actor Philip Winchester (TV: “Strike Back”) is 42. Dancer Val Chmerkovskiy is 37. Actor Keisha Castle-Hughes is

33.