Today is Thursday March 2, the 61st day of 2023. There are 304 days left of the year.
Today’s highlight in history:
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a game against the New York Knicks, an NBA record that still stands. Philadelphia won the game, 169-147.
In this date:
In 1861 the state of Texas, after seceding from the Union, was admitted to the Confederacy.
In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.
In 1917, the actor, producer, director and bandleader Desi Arnaz was born in Santiago de Cuba.
In 1932, the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, which moved the presidential inauguration date from March 4 to January 20, was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
In 1939, John Ford’s classic western “Stagecoach,” starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne, premiered in New York.
In 1943, the three-day Battle of the Bismarck Sea began in the Southwest Pacific during World War II; US and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on an Imperial Japanese convoy.
In 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks’ famous act of defiance, Claudette Colvin, a black high school student in Montgomery, Alabama, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger.
In 1985, the government approved an AIDS screening test that detected antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply.
In 1989, representatives of the 12 nations of the European Community agreed to ban all production of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), the synthetic compounds accused of destroying the earth’s ozone layer, by the end of the 20th century.
In 1990, more than 6,000 drivers went on strike against Greyhound Lines Inc. (the company, later declaring an impasse in the negotiations, fired the strikers).
In 1995, the Internet search engine website Yahoo! was formed by founders Jerry Yang and David Filo.
In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled, 8-1, that the grief of a grieving father over mocking protests at his son’s Marine funeral had to yield to First Amendment protections for free speech in a decision in favor of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.
In 2012, about 40 people were killed by tornadoes that hit Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
Ten Years Ago: The day after $85 billion of federal spending cuts across the board took effect, President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans refused to admit any culpability for failing to avoid the seizure. The 41st Alaska Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race got off to a ceremonial festive start in Anchorage.
Five years ago: At a funeral before an invite-only crowd of about 2,000 in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Reverend Billy Graham’s children remembered “America’s pastor” as a man dedicated to spreading the Gospel and one who lived his life at home as he preached it in stadiums. A nor’easter hit the Atlantic coast with hurricane-force winds and lateral rain and snow, disrupting flights and leaving more than 2 million homes and businesses without power from North Carolina to Maine.
One year ago: Russian forces besieged two strategic Ukrainian seaports and continued shelling the country’s second-largest city, while the huge armored column threatening Kiev appeared to be pinned down outside the capital. Moscow’s isolation has deepened as most of the world stands against it at the United Nations. Autherine Lucy Foster, the first black student to enroll at the University of Alabama, has died at the age of 92.
Today’s birthdays: Actor John Cullum is 93 years old. Actor Barbara Luna is 84 years old. Author John Irving is 81 years old. Actor Cassie Yates is 72 years old. Comedian Laraine Newman (Saturday Night Live) is 71 years old. Former Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wis. , is 70 years old. Former Home Secretary Ken Salazar is 68 years old. Singer Jay Osmond is 68 years old. Pop musician John Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 67 years old. Former tennis player Kevin Curren is 65 years old. Country singer Larry Stewart (Restless Heart) is 64 years old. Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 61 years old. Blues singer and musician Alvin Youngblood Hart is 60 years old. Actor Daniel Craig is 55 years old. Actor Richard Ruccolo is 51 years old. Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 46 years old. Actor Heather McComb is 46 years old. Actor Rebel Wilson is 43 years old. Actor Bryce Dallas Howard is 42 years old. Former NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 41 years old. Actor Robert Iler is 38 years old. Actor Nathalie Emmanuel is 34 years old. Country singer Luke Combs is 33 years old. Singer-rapper-actress Becky G is 26 years old.
