TODAY IN HISTORY

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Today is Thursday, March 26, the 86th day of 2020. There are 280 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 26, 1945, during World War II, Iwo Jima was fully secured by U.S. forces following a final, desperate attack by Japanese soldiers.

On this date:

In 1812, an earthquake devastated Caracas, Venezuela, causing an estimated 26,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In 1911, American playwright Tennessee Williams (“The Glass Menagerie,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”) was born in Columbus, Miss.

In 1979, a peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and witnessed by President Jimmy Carter at the White House.

In 1982, groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Washington, D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

In 2013, Italy’s top criminal court overturned the acquittal of American Amanda Knox in the grisly murder of British roommate Meredith Kercher and ordered Knox to stand trial again. (Although convicted in absentia, Knox was exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.)

In 2018, a toxicology report obtained revealed that the late pop music superstar Prince had levels of fentanyl in his body that multiple experts described as “exceedingly high.”

Today’s Birthdays: Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is 90. Actor Alan Arkin is 86. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is 85. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 80. Actor James Caan is 80. Author Erica Jong is 78. Journalist Bob Woodward is 77. Singer Diana Ross is 76. Actor Johnny Crawford is 74. Rock singer Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) is 72. Singer and TV personality Vicki Lawrence is 71. Actor Ernest Thomas is 71. Comedian Martin Short is 70. Country singer Ronnie McDowell is 70. TV personality Leeza Gibbons is 63. Actress Ellia English is 61. Actress Jennifer Grey is 60. College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen is 60. Actor Billy Warlock is 59. Actor Eric Allan Kramer is 58. Basketball and College Basketball Hall of Famer John Stockton is 58. Actor Michael Imperioli is 54. Country singer Kenny Chesney is 52.

Thought for Today: “Life’s like a play; it’s not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters.” — Seneca the Younger, Roman statesman and philosopher (3 B.C.-A.D. 65).

By The Associated Press

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