Today's Highlight in History:
On March eleventh, 1942, as Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War Two, General Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia, vowing¹: "I shall return." (He kept that promise nearly three years later.)
On this date:
In 1810, Emperor Napoleon of France was married by proxy² to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.

In 1861, the Confederate convention in Montgomery, Alabama, adopted a constitution.

In 1888, the famous "Blizzard³ of '88" struck the northeastern United States, resulting in some 400 deaths.

In 1930, former President and US Chief Justice Taft was buried in Arlington National Cemetery⁴.

In 1941, President Roosevelt signed into law the Lend-Lease Bill, providing war supplies to countries fighting the Axis⁵.

In 1954, the US Army charged that Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and his subcommittee's chief counsel, Roy Cohn, had exerted pressure to obtain favored treatment for Private G. David Schine, a former consultant⁶ to the subcommittee.

In 1959, the Lorraine Hansberry drama "A Raisin⁷ in the Sun" opened at New York's Ethel Barrymore Theater.

In 1965, the Reverend James J. Reeb, a white minister from Boston, died after being beaten by whites during civil rights disturbances⁸ in Selma, Alabama.

In 1977, more than 130 hostages held in Washington DC by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations⁹.

In 1985, Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Soviet¹⁰ President Konstantin U. Chernenko.

Ten years ago: The Lithuanian parliament voted to break away from the Soviet Union and restore its independence.

Five years ago: President Clinton nominated Deputy Defense¹¹ Secretary John Deutch to be CIA director. Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA-allied Sinn Fein party, arrived in the United States for a St. Patrick's Day visit.

One year ago: The House voted 219-to-191 to conditionally¹² support President Clinton's plan to send US troops to Kosovo if a peace agreement was reached.