Alcatraz (File)
Good morning, it’s Thursday, March 21, the 80th day of 2013. There are 285 days left in the year. We’ll start the day in the upper 40s, but we’re expecting highs this afternoon in the upper 70s under a mostly cloudy sky. It will be breezy and a slight chance of rain creeps back into the forecast overnight as temperatures fall only into the 60s.
(Today’s Forecast And Conditions)
On March 21, 1963—50 years ago today—the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates and closed at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The island served as a prison first for the U.S. Army in the early 1900s, but opened as a high-security federal prison in August 1934. Officials believed escape was impossible because the prison was situated in the cold waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay. But in 1962, less than a year before the prison closed, three prisoners proved them wrong. The inmates succeeded in escaping from the island on a makeshift raft. Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin were never found or heard from again. The three burrowed through cell walls, climbed a ventilation shaft onto a roof and then climbed down. The FBI closed its case on the escape in 1979, but as recently as 2009 the U.S. Marshal’s Service was still investigating.
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On This Date:
In 1556, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake for heresy.
In 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.
In 1804, the French civil code, or the "Code Napoleon" as it was later called, was adopted.
In 1871, journalist Henry M. Stanley began his famous expedition in Africa to locate the missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone.
In 1907, U.S. Marines arrived in Honduras to protect American lives and interests in the wake of political violence.
In 1940, a new government was formed in France by Paul Reynaud, who became prime minister, succeeding Edouard Daladier.
In 1944, Charles Chaplin went on trial in Los Angeles, accused of transporting former protégé Joan Barry across state lines for immoral purposes. (Chaplin was acquitted, but later lost a paternity suit despite tests showing he wasn't the father of Barry's child.)
In 1960, about 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired on black protesters.
In 1965, civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their third, successful march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.
In 1972, the Supreme Court, in Dunn v. Blumstein, ruled that states may not require at least a year's residency for voting eligibility.
In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville; the reported death toll varied between 29 and 43.
In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule.
Ten years ago:
The United States launched a ferocious, around-the-clock aerial assault on military targets in Baghdad and other cities. The House approved a $2.2 trillion budget embracing President George W. Bush's tax-cutting plan.
Five years ago:
Officials admitted that at least four State Department workers had pried into the supposedly secure passport files of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, prompting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to personally apologize to the presidential contenders.
One year ago:
A previously divided U.N. Security Council sent a strong and united message to the Syrian government and opposition to immediately implement proposals by international envoy Kofi Annan to end Syria's yearlong bloodshed. Meting out unprecedented punishment for a bounty system that targeted key opposing players, the NFL suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton without pay for the coming season and indefinitely banned the team's former defensive coordinator; in addition to other sanctions, Commissioner Roger Goodell fined the Saints $500,000 and took away their second-round draft picks for the current year and the next.
Today's Birthdays:
Violinist-conductor Joseph Silverstein is 81. Actress Kathleen Widdoes is 74. Actress Marie-Christine Barrault is 69. Singer-musician Rose Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) is 68. Actor Timothy Dalton is 67. Singer Eddie Money is 64. Rock singer-musician Roger Hodgson (Supertramp) is 63. Rock musician Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos) is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Russell Thompkins Jr. (The Stylistics) is 62. Comedy writer-performer Brad Hall is 55. Actress Sabrina LeBeauf is 55. Actor Gary Oldman is 55. Actor Matthew Broderick is 51. Comedian-talk show host Rosie O'Donnell is 51. Rock musician Jonas "Joker" Berggren (Ace of Base) is 46. Rock MC Maxim (Prodigy) is 46. Rock musician Andrew Copeland (Sister Hazel) is 45. Hip-hop DJ Premier (Gang Starr) is 44. Actress Laura Allen is 39. Rapper-TV personality Kevin Federline is 35.
Thought for Today:
"History is principally the inaccurate narration of events which ought not to have happened." - Ernest Albert Hooten, American anthropologist (1887-1954).
