Today in History

Today is Thursday, March 1, the 61st day of 2012. There are 305 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 1, 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.)

On this date:

In 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was founded by Portuguese knight Estacio de Sa.

In 1790, President George Washington signed a measure authorizing the first U.S. Census.

In 1809, the Illinois Territory came into existence.

In 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state.

In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed an act creating Yellowstone National Park.

In 1912, Isabella Goodwin of New York City was appointed the first female police detective.

In 1940, "Native Son" by Richard Wright was first published by Harper & Brothers.

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 1962, an American Airlines Boeing 707 on a scheduled flight to Los Angeles crashed after taking off from New York's Idlewild Airport, killing all 95 people on board. The first Kmart store opened in Garden City, Mich.

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: Space shuttle Columbia blasted into orbit on a mission to renovate the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA said its Mars Odyssey spacecraft had found evidence that vast regions of Mars may abound in water. Under pressure from prosecutors, the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to turn over the names of people allegedly molested by priests. Grand American series driver Jeff Clinton was killed during practice in a crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Five years ago: Tornadoes killed 20 people in the Midwest and Southeast, including eight students at Enterprise High School in Alabama. Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who had been in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, was relieved of command after disclosures about dilapidated buildings and inadequate treatment of wounded soldiers. An independent commission concluded the National Guard and Reserves weren't getting enough money or equipment.

One year ago: Yemen's embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, accused the U.S., his closest ally, of instigating the mounting protests against him, but the gambit failed to slow the momentum of his ouster (he later apologized to Washington). The GOP-controlled House handily passed legislation to cut the federal budget by $4 billion and avert a partial shutdown of the government for two weeks. (The Senate passed the stopgap funding bill the next day.)

Today's Birthdays: Actor Robert Clary is 86. Singer Harry Belafonte is 85. Former U.S. Solicitor General Robert H. Bork is 85. Actor Robert Conrad is 77. Rock singer Mike D'Abo (Manfred Mann) is 68. Former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., is 68. Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 68. Actor Dirk Benedict is 67. Actor Alan Thicke is 65. Actor-director Ron Howard is 58. Actress Catherine Bach is 58. Country singer Janis Gill (aka Janis Oliver Cummins) (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is 58. Actor Tim Daly is 56. Singer-musician Jon Carroll is 55. Rock musician Bill Leen is 50. Actor Maurice Bernard is 49. Actor Russell Wong is 49. Actor John David Cullum is 46. Actor George Eads is 45. Actor Javier Bardem is 43. Actor Jack Davenport is 39. Rock musician Ryan Peake (Nickelback) is 39. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar is 38. Actor Jensen Ackles is 34. TV host Donovan Patton is 34. Rock musician Sean Woolstenhulme is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sammie is 25. Pop singer Justin Bieber is 18.

Thought for Today: "The only sense that is common in the long run, is the sense of change -- and we all instinctively avoid it." -- E.B. White, American writer (1899-1985).

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.