Today is Tuesday, March 17, the 76th day of 2009. There are 289 days left in the year.
0455 _ Roman senator Petronius Maximus becomes Emperor
1521 _ Ferdinand Magellan discovers the Philippines
1580 _ Prince Willem of Orange welcomed in Amsterdam
1753 _ First official St Patrick's Day
1755 _ Transylvania Land Co. buys Kentucky for $50,000 from a Cherokee chief
1845 _ Rubber band patented by Stephen Perry of London
1861 _ Italy declares independence; Kingdom of Italy proclaimed
1917 _ Czar Nicolas II of Russia abdicates the throne
1959 _ Dalai Lama flees Tibet for India
1988 _ Iran says Iraq uses poison gas