SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012

Today is Saturday, March 17, the 77th day of 2012. There are 289 days left in the year.

1521 ― Ferdinand Magellan discovers the Philippines

1845 ― Rubber band patented by Stephen Perry of London

1847 ― Dmitri Shostakovich's opera ``Macbeth" is produced (Florence)

1861 ― Italy declares independence; Kingdom of Italy proclaimed

1894 ― U.S. and China sign treaty preventing Chinese laborers from entering US

1942 ― General Doug MacArthur arrives in Australia to become supreme commander

1957 ― Ramon Magsaysay, president of Philippines dies in a plane crash

1959 ― Dalai Lama flees Tibet for India

1966 ― U.S. sub locates missing H-bomb in Mediterranean

1988 ― Iran says Iraq uses poison gas