By The Associated Press

                 - Today is Tuesday, March 9, the 68th day of 1999. There are 297
                   days left in the year.

                 - On March 9, 1796, the future emperor of France, Napoleon
                   Bonaparte, married Josephine de Beauharnais. The couple divorced in
                   1809.
                 - In 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclads "Monitor" and
                   "Virginia" (formerly "Merrimac") clashed for five hours to a
                   draw at Hampton Roads, Va.
                 - In 1916, Mexican raiders led by Pancho Villa attacked Columbus,
                   N.M., killing more than a dozen people.
                 - In 1933, Congress, called into special session by President
                   Roosevelt, began its "hundred days" of enacting New Deal
                   legislation.
                 - In 1945, during World War II, U.S. B-29 bombers launched
                   incendiary bomb attacks against Japan.
                 - In 1954, CBS-TV newsman Edward R. Murrow critically reviewed
                   Wisconsin Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy's anti-Communism campaign on
                   "See It Now."
                 - In 1975, work began on the Alaskan oil pipeline.
                 - In 1977, about a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invaded three
                   buildings in Washington, D.C., killing one person and taking more
                   than 130 hostages. The siege ended two days later.
                 - In 1990, Dr. Antonia Novello was sworn in as the first female
                   and Hispanic surgeon general.
                 - In 1996, comedian George Burns died in Beverly Hills, Calif., at
                   age 100.
                 - In 1997, gangsta rapper The Notorious B.I.G., whose real name
                   was Christopher Wallace, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los
                   Angeles; he was 24.
                 - Ten years ago: The Senate rejected President Bush's nomination
                   of John Tower to be defense secretary by a vote of 53-47.
                 - Five years ago: The U.N. Human Rights Commission condemned
                   anti-Semitism, putting the world body on record for the first time
                   as opposing discrimination against Jews.
                 - One year ago: In a case pitting former high school sweethearts
                   against each other, Brian Peterson pleaded guilty in Wilimington,
                   Del., to manslaughter in the death of his newborn son in a Newark,
                   N.J., motel and agreed to testify against the mother, Amy
                   Grossberg. She eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter. She
                   received 2-1/2 years in prison; Peterson, two years.

                 *** Today's Birthdays

                 - Author Mickey Spillane is 81.
                 - Singer Lloyd Price is 66.
                 - Actress Joyce Van Patten is 65.
                 - Actor-comedian Marty Ingels is 63.
                 - Country singer Mickey Gilley is 63.
                 - Singer Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders) is 57.
                 - TV personality Charles Gibson is 56.
                 - Chess player Bobby Fischer is 56.
                 - Actress Trish Van Devere is 54.
                 - Rock musician Robin Trower is 54.
                 - Singer Jeffrey Osborne is 51.
                 - Country musician Jimmy Fadden (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 51.
                 - Magazine editor Michael Kinsley is 48.
                 - Actress Linda Fiorentino is 39.
                 - Actress Juliette Binoche is 35.
                 - Actor Emmanuel Lewis is 28.