Today is Wednesday, March 11, the 70th day of 2009. There are 295 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On March 11, 1942, as Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia. (MacArthur, who subsequently vowed, “I shall return,” kept that promise more than 2½ years later.)

On this date

In 1810, French Emperor Napoleon I was married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.

In 1861, the Constitution of the Confederate States of America was adopted during a convention in Montgomery, Ala.

In 1888, the famous “Blizzard of ’88” began inundating the northeastern United States, resulting in some 400 deaths.

In 1930, former President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Bill, providing war supplies to countries fighting the Axis.

In 1957, Charles Van Doren’s 14-week run on the rigged NBC game show “Twenty One” ended as he lost to attorney Vivienne Nearing; Van Doren’s take was $129,000. American explorer Richard Byrd died in Boston at age 68.

In 1959, the Lorraine Hansberry drama “A Raisin in the Sun” opened at New York’s Ethel Barrymore Theater.

In 1965, the Rev. James Reeb, a white minister from Boston, died after being beaten by whites during civil rights disturbances in Selma, Ala.

In 1977, more than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Soviet President Konstantin Chernenko.

Ten years ago

The House voted 219-191 to conditionally support President Bill Clinton’s plan to send U.S. troops to Kosovo if a peace agreement were reached.

Five years ago

Ten bombs exploded in quick succession across the commuter rail network in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 people and wounding more than 2,000 in an attack linked to al-Qaida-inspired militants.

One year ago

The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East resigned amid speculation about a rift over U.S. policy in Iran; Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that Adm. William Fallon had asked for permission to retire and that Gates agreed. Democrat Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Mississippi primary.

Today’s Birthdays

Actor Terence Alexander is 86. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 78. ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 75. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is 73. Musician Flaco Jimenez is 70. Actress Tricia O’Neil is 64. Actor Mark Metcalf is 63. Rock singer-musician Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) is 62. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 59. Movie director Jerry Zucker is 59. Actress Susan Richardson is 57. Recording executive Jimmy Iovine is 56. Singer Nina Hagen is 54. Country singer Jimmy Fortune (The Statler Brothers) is 54. Singer Cheryl Lynn is 52. Actor Jeffrey Nordling is 47. Actress Alex Kingston is 46. Country musician David Talbot is 46. Actor Wallace Langham is 44. Actor John Barrowman is 42. Singer Lisa Loeb is 41. Singer Pete Droge is 40. Actor Terrence Howard is 40. Rock musician Rami Jaffee is 40. Actor Johnny Knoxville is 38. Rock singer-musicians Joel and Benji Madden (Good Charlotte) are 30. Actor David Anders is 28. Singer LeToya is 28. Actress Thora Birch is 27. Actor Rob Brown is 25. Actor Anton Yelchin is 20.

Thought for Today

“Death destroys a man; the idea of Death saves him.”

— E.M. Forster, English author (1879-1970)