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Highlight in History
On March 1, 1790, President George Washington signed a measure authorizing the first U.S. Census.
On this date
In 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was founded by Portuguese knight Estacio de Sa.
In 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state.
In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed an act creating Yellowstone National Park.
In 1890, J.P. Lippincott published the first U.S. edition of the Sherlock Holmes mystery “A Study in Scarlet” by Arthur Conan Doyle.
In 1913, American author Ralph Ellison (“Invisible Man”) was born in Oklahoma City. (Some sources list 1914.)
In 1932, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.)
In 1940, “Native Son” by Richard Wright was first published by Harper & Brothers.
In 1943, wartime rationing of processed foods under a point system began in the U.S.
In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps.
In 1971, a bomb went off inside a men’s room at the U.S. Capitol; the radical group Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn blast.
In 1981, Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later.
Ten years ago
Suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents. Iraq began complying with orders from U.N. weapons inspectors to destroy its Al Samoud II missiles. The United Arab Emirates called for Saddam Hussein to step down, the first Arab country to do so publicly. Turkey’s parliament dealt a stunning blow to U.S. war planning by failing to approve a bill allowing in American combat troops to open a northern front against Iraq.
Five years ago
President George W. Bush, speaking at his Texas ranch, declined to promise more U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq before leaving, underscoring the need for a strong military presence during Iraqi provincial elections. The USS New York, an amphibious assault ship built with scrap steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center, was christened at Avondale, La. Raul Reyes, the No. 2 commander of the Colombian rebel group FARC, was slain during a cross-border raid into Ecuador by Colombian security forces. New York’s famed Plaza Hotel reopened after a three-year, $400 million renovation.
One year ago
Senate Democrats narrowly blocked, 51-48, an effort by Republicans to overturn President Barack Obama’s order that most employers or their insurers cover the cost of contraceptives. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a measure legalizing same-sex marriage.
National, International News
Today in History for Friday, March 1, 2013
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Bombs targeting Sunnis kill at least 76 in Iraq
Bombs ripped through Sunni areas in Baghdad and surrounding areas Friday, killing at least 76 people in the deadliest day in Iraq in more than eight months. The major spike in sectarian bloodshed heightened fears the country could again be veering toward civil war.
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Tornado-ravaged Texas town to start recovery
Residents whose homes were torn apart or blown away by a North Texas deadly tornado can soon return to retrieve what belongings may be left and start cleaning up, authorities said Friday.
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Conn. commuter trains collide; 60 go to hospitals
Two commuter trains serving New York City collided in Connecticut during Friday’s evening rush hour, sending 60 people to the hospital, including five with critical injuries, Gov. Dannel Malloy said.
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Record Powerball jackpot inspires office pools
In workplaces across the nation, Americans are inviting their colleagues to chip in $2 for a Powerball ticket and a shared daydream.
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Today in History for Saturday, May 18, 2013
Today is Saturday, May 18, the 138th day of 2013. There are 227 days left in the year.
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Big retailers back safety accord in Bangladesh
Some of the world’s largest retailers have agreed to a first-of-its-kind pact to improve safety at some of Bangladesh’s garment factories following a building collapse that killed more than 1,100 workers in the country last month.
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Amtrak unveils locomotives to replace aging fleet
Amtrak has unveiled at a plant in California the first of 70 new locomotives, marking what the national passenger railroad service said it hopes will be a new era of better reliability, streamlined maintenance and more energy efficiency.
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Police ID suspect in New Orleans mass shooting
Police late Monday identified a 19-year-old man as a suspect in the shooting of about 20 people during a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans, saying several people had identified him as the gunman captured by surveillance camera videos.
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Obama tries to swat down 2 swirling controversies
President Barack Obama tried to swat down a pair of brewing controversies Monday, denouncing as “outrageous” the targeting of conservative political groups by the federal IRS but angrily denying any administration cover-up after last year’s deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
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Gov’t obtains wide AP phone records in probe
The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into how news organizations gather the news.
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