Today is Saturday, March 4th, the 63rd day of 2023. There are 302 days left in the year. Spring arrives in 17 days (March 20, 2023). There are 110 days until summer (June 21, 2023).
Here are some notable events in history on this day — some that still have an impact on us:
In 1789, the Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Federal Congress met in New York. The lawmakers then adjourned for lack of a quorum.
In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for a second term of office; with the end of the Civil War in sight, Lincoln declared: “With malice toward none, with charity for all.”
In 1917, Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana took her seat as the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the same day President Woodrow Wilson took his oath of office for a second term.
In 1966, John Lennon of The Beatles was quoted in the London Evening Standard as saying, “We’re more popular than Jesus now,” a comment that caused an angry backlash in the United States.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair, acknowledging that his overtures to Iran had “deteriorated” into an arms-for-hostages deal.
In 1994, in New York, four extremists were convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured more than a thousand. Actor-comedian John Candy died in Durango, Mexico, at age 43.
In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sexual harassment at work can be illegal even when the offender and victim are of the same gender.
In 2013, Cardinals from around the world gathered inside the Vatican for their first round of meetings before the conclave to elect the next pope, following the retirement of Benedict XVI.
In 2018, former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found unconscious on a bench in the southwestern English city of Salisbury; both survived what British authorities said was a murder attempt using a nerve agent.
In 2020, federal health officials investigated a suburban Seattle nursing home at the center of a coronavirus outbreak.
In 2022, Russian troops seized the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe after a middle-of-the-night attack that set it on fire and briefly raised worldwide fears of a catastrophe in the most chilling turn in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine to that point.
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Today’s birthdays: Actor Paula Prentiss is 85. Movie director Adrian Lyne is 82. Singer Shakin’ Stevens is 75. Author James Ellroy is 75. Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry is 73. Singer Chris Rea is 72. Actor/rock singer-musician Ronn Moss is 71. Actor Kay Lenz is 70. Musician Emilio Estefan is 70. Movie director Scott Hicks is 70. Actor Catherine O’Hara is 69. Actor Mykelti (MY’-kul-tee) Williamson is 66. Actor Patricia Heaton is 65. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., is 65. Actor Steven Weber is 62. Rock musician Jason Newsted is 60. Actor Stacy Edwards is 58. Rapper Grand Puba is 57. Rock singer Evan Dando (Lemonheads) is 56. Actor Patsy Kensit is 55. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is 55. Gay rights activist Chaz Bono is 54. Actor Andrea Bendewald is 53. Actor Nick Stabile (stah-BEEL’) is 53. Country singer Jason Sellers is 52. Jazz musician Jason Marsalis is 46. Actor Jessica Heap is 40. Actor Scott Michael Foster is 38. TV personality Whitney Port is 38. Actor Audrey Esparza is 37. Actor Margo Harshman is 37. Actor Josh Bowman is 35. Actor Andrea Bowen is 33. Actor Jenna Boyd is 30.
