By The Associated Press
                      - Today is Thursday, March 18, the 77th day of 1999. There are 288
                        days left in the year.

                      - On March 18, 1959, President Eisenhower signed the Hawaii statehood
                        bill.
                      - In 1766, Britain repealed the Stamp Act.
                      - In 1837, the 22nd and 24th president of the U.S., Grover Cleveland,
                        was born in Caldwell, N.J.
                      - In 1909, Einar Dessau of Denmark used a shortwave transmitter to
                        converse with a government radio post about six miles away in what's
                        believed to have been the first broadcast by a "ham" operator.
                      - In 1931, Schick Inc. marketed the first electric razor.
                      - In 1937, more than 400 people, mostly children, were killed in a gas
                        explosion at a school in New London, Texas.
                      - In 1962, France and Algerian rebels agreed to a truce.
                      - In 1965, the first spacewalk took place by Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei
                        Leonov.
                      - In 1974, most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their embargo
                        against the U.S.
                      - In 1979, Iranian authorities detained American feminist Kate
                        Millett, a day before deporting her and a companion for what were
                        termed "provocations."
                      - Ten years ago: The space shuttle Discovery landed at Edwards Air
                        Force Base in California, completing a five-day mission.
                      - Five years ago: The space shuttle Columbia returned from a two-week
                        mission. Published reports said first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
                        had made nearly $100,000 from the commodities market in the late
                        1970's on an initial investment of only $1,000.
                      - One year ago: Julie Hiatt Steele, a former friend of Kathleen
                        Willey's, released a sworn affidavit undercutting Willey's claim
                        that President Clinton had made an unwanted sexual advance toward
                        her in 1993.

                      *Happy Birthday*
                      ----------------
                      - Actor Peter Graves is 73.
                      - Author GeorgePlimpton is 72.
                      - Composer John Kander is 72.
                      - Author John Updike is 67.
                      - Nobel peace laureate and former South African president F.W. de
                        Klerk is 63.
                      - Country singer Charley Pride is 61.
                      - Singer Wilson Pickett is 58.
                      - Actor Kevin Dobson is 56.
                      - Actor Brad Dourif is 49.
                      - Singer Irene Cara is 40.
                      - Actor Thomas Ian Griffith is 37.
                      - Singer James McMurtry is 37.
                      - Singer-actress Vanessa L. Williams is 36.
                      - Olympic gold medal speedskater Bonnie Blair is 35.
                      - Rock musician Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) is 33.
                      - Rapper-actress Queen Latifah is 29.
                      - Rock musician Stuart Zender is 25.