Today's Highlight in History:
On March 17th, A.D. 461, according to tradition, St. Patrick -- the patron saint of Ireland -- died in Saul.
On this date:
In 1776, British forces evacuated¹ Boston during the Revolutionary War.

In 1905, Eleanor Roosevelt married Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York.

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt used the term "muckrake" in a speech to the Gridiron Club in Washington.

In 1910, the Camp Fire Girls organization was formed. (It was formally presented to the public on this day two years later.)

In 1941, the National Gallery of Art opened in Washington DC.

In 1942, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme² commander of Allied³ forces in the southwest Pacific theater during World War Two.

In 1950, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced they had created a new radioactive element, "californium."

In 1966, a US midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb which had fallen from an American bomber⁴ into the Mediterranean⁵ off Spain.

In 1969, Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel.

In 1970, the United States cast its first veto in the UN Security Council. (The US killed a resolution that would have condemned⁶ Britain for failure to use force to overthrow⁷ the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.)

Ten years ago: The president of Lithuania (Vytautas Landsbergis) rejected a deadline set by Moscow for renouncing⁸ the republic's independence.

Five years ago: The White House hosted a St. Patrick's Day reception for Irish Prime Minister John Bruton which was attended by Sinn Fein (shin fayn) leader Gerry Adams. The federal government approved the nation's first chicken pox vaccine⁹, "Varivax." Flor Contemplacion, a Filipino maid, was hanged in Singapore for murder, despite international pleas to spare her.

One year ago: A panel of medical experts concluded that marijuana has medical benefits for people suffering from cancer and AIDS. The International Olympic Committee expelled six of its members, but backed president Juan Antonio Samaranch, in the wake of a bribery¹⁰ scandal. Instant replay was voted back in the N-F-L for the 1999 season.