Today is Wednesday, March 2, the 61st day of 2011. There are 304 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlights in History

On March 2, 1861, the state of Texas, having seceded from the Union, was admitted to the Confederacy. The Territory of Nevada came into existence under an act signed by President James Buchanan.

On this date

In 1793, the first president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, was born near Lexington, Va.

In 1836, the Republic of Texas formally declared its independence from Mexico.

In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote.

In 1899, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state was established.

In 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship as President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act.

In 1939, Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected pope on his 63rd birthday; he took the name Pius XII.

In 1943, the World War II Battle of the Bismarck Sea began; U.S. and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on a Japanese convoy.

In 1977, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a strict code of ethics.

In 1989, representatives from the 12 European Community nations agreed to ban all production of CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons) by the end of the 20th century.

In 1990, more than 6,000 drivers went on strike against Greyhound Lines Inc. (The company, later declaring an impasse in negotiations, fired the strikers.)

Ten years ago

The United Nations tried in vain to persuade Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban to reverse its decision to destroy a pair of giant, ancient statues of Buddha and other Buddhist relics that the regime considered idolatrous.

Five years ago

President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal in New Delhi. A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-packed car into American diplomat David Foy’s car in Karachi, Pakistan, killing Foy and three others. The Senate voted 89-10 to renew the USA Patriot Act. “Killer nurse” Charles Cullen, who’d murdered 22 patients in New Jersey alone, was sentenced in Somerville to spend the rest of his life in prison.

One year ago

Authorities in San Diego County found the body of 17-year-old Chelsea King, who’d been missing since Feb. 25, 2010. (John Albert Gardner III later pleaded guilty to raping and murdering King and another victim, 14-year-old Amber Dubois; he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

Today’s Birthdays

Actor John Cullum is 81. Author Tom Wolfe is 81. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is 80. Actress Barbara Luna is 72. Actor Jon Finch is 70. Author John Irving is 69. Singer Lou Reed is 69. Actress Cassie Yates is 60. Actress Laraine Newman is 59. Former Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., is 58. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is 56. Singer Jay Osmond is 56. Pop musician John Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 55. Tennis player Kevin Curren is 53. Country singer Larry Stewart (Restless Heart) is 52. Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 49. Blues singer-musician Alvin Youngblood Hart is 48. Actor Daniel Craig is 43. Rock musician Casey (Jimmie’s Chicken Shack) is 35. Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 34. Actress Heather McComb is 34. Actress Bryce Dallas Howard is 30. NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 29. Actor Robert Iler (“The Sopranos”) is 26.

Thought for Today

“Nothing ever really sets human nature free, but self-control.”

— Phyllis Bottome, English writer (1884-1963)