Today is Saturday, March 14, the 73rd day of 2009. There are 292 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History

On March 14, 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America’s cotton industry.

On this date

In 1743, a memorial service was held at Faneuil Hall in Boston honoring Peter Faneuil, who had donated the building bearing his name.

In 1883, German political philosopher Karl Marx died in London at age 64.

In 1900, Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act.

In 1923, President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax return.

In 1939, the republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation of Czech areas and the separation of Slovakia.

In 1951, during the Korean War, United Nations forces recaptured Seoul.

In 1964, a jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, and sentenced him to death. (Both the conviction and death sentence were later overturned, but Ruby died before he could be retried).

In 1967, the body of President John F. Kennedy was moved from a temporary grave to a permanent memorial site at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1980, a Polish airliner crashed while making an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing all 87 people aboard, including 22 members of a U.S. amateur boxing team.

In 1991, a British court overturned the convictions of the Birmingham Six, who had spent 16 years in prison for an Irish Republican Army bombing, and ordered them released.

Ten years ago

The Clinton administration said the government had responded decisively to allegations that China had benefited from technology stolen from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory in New Mexico; Republicans disagreed and pressed for a comprehensive review of U.S. policy toward China.

Five years ago

Opposition Socialists scored a dramatic upset win in Spain’s general election, unseating conservatives stung by charges they’d provoked the Madrid terror bombings by supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Russian President Vladimir Putin won a second term. Two Palestinian suicide bombers killed 11 Israelis in the port of Ashdod.

One year ago

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama denounced inflammatory remarks from his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Protests led by Buddhist monks in Tibet turned violent, leading to an extensive crackdown by China’s military. A tornado ripped into the Georgia Dome during the Southeastern Conference tournament, sending debris tumbling from the ceiling and prompting fans to flee. Lindsey Vonn won the overall World Cup skiing to complete the first American sweep of the men’s and women’s titles in 25 years.

Today’s Birthdays

Former astronaut Frank Borman is 81. Singer Phil Phillips is 78. Actor Michael Caine is 76. Composer-conductor Quincy Jones is 76. Former astronaut Eugene Cernan is 75. Actor Raymond J. Barry is 70. Movie director Wolfgang Petersen is 68. Country singer Michael Martin Murphey is 64. Rock musician Walt Parazaider (Chicago) is 64. Actor Steve Kanaly is 63. Comedian Billy Crystal is 61. Country singer Jann Browne is 55. Actor Adrian Zmed is 55. Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, is 51. Actress Tamara Tunie is 50. Actress Penny Johnson Jerald is 48. Producer-director-writer Kevin Williamson is 44. Actor Gary Anthony Williams is 43. Actress Megan Follows is 41. Rock musician Michael Bland is 40. Country singer Kristian Bush is 39. Rock musician Derrick (Jimmie’s Chicken Shack) is 37. Actor Jake Fogelnest is 30. Actor Chris Klein is 30. Actress Kate Maberly is 27. Singer-musician Taylor Hanson (Hanson) is 26. Actor Jamie Bell is 23.

Thought for Today

“The man who does his work, any work, conscientiously, must always be in one sense a great man.”

— Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

English novelist (1826-1887)