Tuesday, March 29

2005-03-29 07:25

Today is Tuesday, March 29, the 89th day of 2004. There are 277 days left in the year.

Highlights in history on this date:

1801 - Britain seizes Danish and Swedish islands in West Indies.

1812 - The first White House wedding takes place when First Lady Dolly Madison's sister Lucy Payne Washington marries Supreme Court Justice Thomas Todd.

1814 - Jews get equal rights in Denmark.

1830 - Spain's King Ferdinand VII passes law allowing females to be heirs to throne.

1847 - Victorious American forces led by General Winfield Scott occupy the city of Veracruz after Mexican defenders capitulate.

1848 - Denmark's three-year war with Prussia starts. Danes are defeated and lose a large chunk of the southern Jutland peninsula.

1849 - Britain annexes Punjab in India by treaty with Maharajah of Lahore.

1864 - Ionian Islands are ceded by Britain to Greece.

1867 - British parliament passes the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.

1901 - Australia's first federal elections held, with Labour Party winning power.

1943 - Rationing of meat, butter and cheese in United States begins during World War 2.

1946 - New constitution goes into effect in the British Gold Coast colony - now Ghana - becoming first British African colony with majority of Africans in legislature.

1951 - Chinese government rejects US offer for truce discussions in Korea; Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage by US court and are executed in June 1953.

1961 - Washington DC residents win the right the vote in US Presidential elections.

1967 - France launches its first nuclear submarine.

1971 - US Army Lt William L Calley Jr is convicted of murdering at least 22 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre. He spends three years under house arrest; Charles Manson and three members of his "family" are sentenced to death in Los Angeles

1972 - Government of Bolivia orders 119 members of Soviet embassy staff to leave country accusing embassy of financing leftist rebel movements.

1973 - Last American troops leave South Vietnam, ending direct military role of United States in Vietnam war.

1974 - Eight Ohio National Guardsmen are indicted on charges stemming from the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University. They are later acquitted.

1988 - Bomb planted in jeep kills at least four Soviets in Kabul, Afghanistan.

1989 - Two Czechoslovak teenagers hijack Hungarian airliner from Prague to Frankfurt in attempt to reach United States.

1990 - Prime Minister Bob Hawke claims victory in Australian election, becoming first Labour winner of four consecutive terms.

1991 - A UN program to feed two million Angolans resumes after the government lifts a three-month ban on food deliveries.

1992 - Snipers kill three people and refugees flood out of towns in violence-torn Bosnia.

1993 - More than 2 300 refugees take advantage of a cease-fire and a rare relief convoy to flee the cold and hunger of Srebrenica, Bosnia.

1994 - Serbs and Croats sign a cease-fire to end the war between them in Croatia.

1995 - Thousands of Rwandan refugees fleeing violence in Burundi begin a two-day trek toward Tanzania.

1996 - In Rio De Janeiro, prison inmates put liquid gas canisters around 20 hostages and threaten to explode them unless officials provide guns and getaway cars.

1997 - A boat carrying dozens of Albanians seeking refuge in Italy strikes an Italian navy ship and sinks in Adriatic waters. A total of 52 bodies are recovered after the ship is hauled up from seabed in October.

1998 - At least 52 people - including 32 children under the age of 2 - are slain by ax-wielding assailants in south Algeria.

1999 - Ousted president of Paraguay, Raul Cubas, leaves for political asylum in Brazil after the assassination of his vice president the week before sparked violent protests.

2000 - Astronomers searching for planets orbiting distant stars find the smallest planets yet beyond the solar system, an important step toward being able to detect Earth-sized worlds that would have the best chance of containing life.

2001 - Soldiers from Uruguay become the first armed UN troops to set up camp in Congo in an effort to end the 2 1/2-year civil war.

2002 - Israeli forces storm Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound and West Bank cities after two suicide attacks kill 26 people in Netanya.

2003 - Recent collapse of three companies involved in pyramid schemes in the Philippines has cheated two million victims out of more than $2bn they had collectively invested. Officials are calling it the largest pyramid fraud in the country's history.

Today's Birthdays:

Edna St Vincent Millay, US poet/dramatist (1892-1950); Pearl Bailey, US entertainer (1918-1990); Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (1921-1994); Eric Idle, British actor/comedian of "Monty Python" (1943--); Elle Macpherson, Australian model/actress (1963--) Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress (1968--).

Thought for Today:

"Personally I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister (1874-1965)

- SAPA