By The Associated Press
- Today is Monday, March 15, the 74th day of 1999. There are 291 days
left in the year.
- On March 15, 1919, the American Legion was founded, in Paris.
- In 44 B.C., Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a
group of nobles that included Brutus and Cassius.
- In 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, concluding his
first voyage to the Western Hemisphere.
- In 1820, Maine became the 23rd state.
- In 1875, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey,
was named the first American cardinal, by Pope Pius IX.
- In 1913, President Wilson held the first open presidential news
conference.
- In 1956, the Lerner and Loewe musical "My Fair Lady" opened on
Broadway.
- In 1964, actress Elizabeth Taylor married actor Richard Burton in
Montreal; it was her fifth marriage, his second.
- In 1965, addressing a joint session of Congress, President Johnson
called for new legislation to guarantee every American's right to
vote.
- In 1975, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis died near Paris at
age 69.
- Ten years ago: Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev convened a
two-day meeting of the Communist Party's Central Committee to decide
on agricultural reforms.
- Five years ago: Illinois Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, chairman of
the House Ways and Means Committee, defeated four Democratic primary
challengers in his bid for re-election.
- One year ago: CBS' "60 Minutes" aired an interview with former White
House employee Kathleen Willey, who said President Clinton had made
unwelcome sexual advances toward her in the Oval Office in 1993, a
charge denied by the president. Dr. Benjamin Spock, whose child care
guidance spanned half a century, died in San Diego at 94.
*Happy Birthday*
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- Country singer Carl Smith is 72.
- Former astronaut Alan L. Bean is 67.
- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 66.
- Jazz musician Cecil Taylor is 66.
- Actor Judd Hirsch is 64.
- Rock musician Phil Lesh (The Grateful Dead) is 59.
- Singer Mike Love (The Beach Boys) is 58.
- Rock singer-musician Sly Stone Stewart is 55.
- Actor Craig Wasson is 45.
- Rock singer Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) is 44.
- Actress Park Overall is 42.
- Movie director Renny Harlin is 40.
- Model Fabio is 38.
- Singer Terence Trent D'Arby is 37.