Today in History

Today is Monday, March 8, the 67th day of 2021. There are 298 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board, vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, setting off a massive and ultimately unsuccessful search.

On this date:

In 1618, German astronomer Johannes Kepler devised his third law of planetary motion.

In 1817, the New York Stock & Exchange Board, which had its beginnings in 1792, was formally organized; it later became known as the New York Stock Exchange.

In 1930, the 27th president of the United States, William Howard Taft, died in Washington at age 72.

In 1948, the Supreme Court, in McCollum v. Board of Education, struck down voluntary religious education classes in Champaign, Illinois, public schools, saying the program violated separation of church and state.

In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon won the New Hampshire presidential primary.

In 1965, the United States landed its first combat troops in South Vietnam as 3,500 Marines arrived to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nang.

In 1979, technology firm Philips demonstrated a prototype compact disc player during a press conference in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

In 1983, in a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Orlando, Florida, President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire."

In 1988, 17 soldiers were killed when two Army helicopters from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, collided in mid-flight.

In 1999, baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio died in Hollywood, Florida, at age 84.

In 2004, Iraq's Governing Council signed a landmark interim constitution.

In 2008, President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists.

Ten years ago: Voters in Bell, California, went to the polls in huge numbers and threw out the entire City Council after most of its members had been charged with fraud. (Residents were infuriated to find out that former City Manager Robert Rizzo had been receiving an annual salary of $1.5 million, and that four of the five City Council members had paid themselves $100,000 a year to meet about once a month.)

Five years ago: Democrat Bernie Sanders breathed new life into his longshot White House bid with a crucial win in Michigan's primary while Hillary Clinton breezed to an easy victory in Mississippi; Republican Donald Trump swept to victory in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, while Ted Cruz carried Idaho. Sir George Martin, the Beatles' urbane producer who guided the band's swift, historic transformation from rowdy club act to musical and cultural revolutionaries, died at age 90.

One year ago: Italy's prime minister announced a sweeping quarantine restricting the movements of about a quarter of the country's population. Two members of Congress, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, said they were isolating themselves after determining that they'd had contact at the Conservative Political Action Conference with a man who later tested positive for the coronavirus. The U.S. State Department issued an advisory against travel on cruise ships. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said communities would need to start thinking about canceling large gatherings, closing schools and letting more employees work from home. Actor Max von Sydow, who played the priest in the horror classic "The Exorcist," died at the age of 90.

Today's Birthdays: Jazz musician George Coleman is 86. Actor Sue Ane Langdon is 85. College Football Hall of Famer Pete Dawkins is 83. Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is 77. Actor-director Micky Dolenz (The Monkees) is 76. Singer-musician Randy Meisner is 75. Pop singer Peggy March is 73. Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice is 68. Jazz musician Billy Childs is 64. Singer Gary Numan is 63. NBC News anchor Lester Holt is 62. Actor Aidan Quinn is 62. Actor Camryn Manheim is 60. Actor Leon is 60. Country-rock singer Shawn Mullins is 53. Neo-soul singer Van Hunt is 51. Actor Andrea Parker is 51. Actor Boris Kodjoe is 48. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is 45. Actor Laura Main is 44. Actor James Van Der Beek is 44. R&B singer Kameelah Williams (702) is 43. Actor Nick Zano is 43. Rock singer Tom Chaplin (Keane) is 42. Rock musician Andy Ross (OK Go) is 42. Actor Jessica Collins is 38. R&B singer Kristinia DeBarge is 31.