Comedian Billy Crystal is 65. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is 65. Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, is 55. Actress Laila Robins is 54. Actress Tamara Tunie is 54.. Actress Grace Park is 39. Actor Jamie Bell is 27.
Highlight: In 1923, President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax return, paying a tax of $17,990 on his $75,000 salary.
In 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America’s cotton industry.
In 1885, the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera “The Mikado" premiered at the Savoy Theatre in London.
In 1900, Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act.
In 1932, photography pioneer George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Co., died by his own hand at age 77 in Rochester, N.Y.
In 1939, the republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation of Czech areas and the separation of Slovakia.
In 1951, during the Korean War, United Nations forces recaptured Seoul.
In 1962, Democrat Edward M. Kennedy officially launched in Boston his successful candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts once held by his brother, President John F. Kennedy. (Edward Kennedy served in the Senate for nearly 47 years.)
In 1964, a jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, and sentenced him to death. (Both the conviction and death sentence were later overturned, but Ruby died before he could be retried.)
In 1967, the body of President John F. Kennedy was moved from a temporary grave to a permanent memorial site at Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1980, a LOT Polish Airlines jet crashed while attempting to land in Warsaw, killing all 87 people aboard, including 22 members of a U.S. amateur boxing team.
In 1991, a British court overturned the wrongful convictions of the “Birmingham Six," who had spent 16 years in prison for a 1974 Irish Republican Army bombing, and ordered them released.
Ten years ago: Actor Robert Blake was released from jail on $1.5 million bail, 11 months after he was arrested on charges of murdering his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. (Blake was later acquitted at trial.)
Five years ago: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama denounced inflammatory remarks from his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Protests led by Buddhist monks in Tibet turned violent, leading to an extensive crackdown by China’s military. Lindsey Vonn completed the first American sweep of the overall World Cup titles in 25 years, a day after Bode Miller won his second overall crown in Bormio, Italy.
One year ago: President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, hosted a White House state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha. Earlier, the two leaders announced that NATO forces would hand over the lead combat role in Afghanistan to Afghan forces in 2013 as the U.S. and its allies aimed to get out by the end of 2014.
It’s Thursday, March 14, the 73rd day of 2013. There are 292 days left in the year.
— From wire reports
