WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010

Today is Tuesday, March 16, the 75th day of 2010. There are 290 days left in the year.

1345 _ Holy spirit glides above fire; ``the miracle of Amsterdam" (legend)

1521 _ Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches Philippines

1830 _ New York Stock Exchange slowest day ever (31 shares traded)

1850 _ Nathaniel Hawthorne's ``Scarlet Letter" published

1935 _ Hitler orders German rearmament, violating Versailles Treaty

1941 _ Dmitri Shostakovich receives the Stalin Prize

1945 _ U.S. defeats Japan at Iwo Jima

1968 _ My Lai massacre occurs (Vietnam War); 450 die

1977 _ U.S. President Carter pleads for Palestinian homeland

1991 _ Members of Irish Gay and Lesbian Organization march in NYC parade