Today in HistoryToday is Monday, March 12, the 71st day of 2007. There are 294 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE<$>

In 1664, King Charles II granted land in the New World known as New Netherland to his brother James, the Duke of York.

In 1857, the opera “Simon Boccanegra” by Giuseppe Verdi, premiered in Venice, Italy.

In 1864, Ulysses S. Grant became commander in chief of the Union armies in the US Civil War.

In 1913, Canberra became the capital of Australia.

In 1925, Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen died. Known as the father of modern China, he became its first provisional president from 1911-1912.

In 1930, Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi began a 200-mile march to protest a British tax on salt.

In 1938, the Anschluss took place as German troops entered Austria.

In 1947, US president Truman established what became known as the “Truman Doctrine” to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism.

In 1966, Indonesia’s congress stripped Sukarno of all powers including the title of president. General Suharto became acting president until after an election in 1968.

In 1979, Grenada’s prime minister, Sir Eric Gairy, and his government were overthrown and replaced by Maurice Bishop of the New Jewel Movement.

In 1980, a Chicago jury found John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. Gacy was executed in May 1994.

In 1997, detectives in Los Angeles arrested Mikhail Markhasev as a suspect in the shooting death of Bill Cosby’s son, Ennis. Markhasev is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“If power corrupts, being out of power corrupts absolutely.” — Douglass Cater, American author and educator (1923-1995).