Today’s Highlights

On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps; since its establishment, over 240,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers.

On this date

1872: President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, making Yellowstone the nation’s first national park.

1932: Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home.

1966: The Soviet space probe Venera 3 made contact with the surface of Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to reach another planet.

1971: A bomb went off inside a men’s room at the U.S. Capitol. The radical group Weather Underground claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn blast, which damaged the building but resulted in no injuries.

1974: Seven people, including former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman; former Attorney General John Mitchell; and former assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the Watergate break-in.

Today’s birthdays

Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 81. Actor Dirk Benedict is 80. Sen, Deb Fischer, R-Neb., is 74. Filmmaker Ron Howard is 71. Actor Tim Daly is 69. Hockey star Ron Francis is 62. Filmmaker Zack Snyder is 59. Actor Javier Bardem is 56.