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Today's Highlight in History:
On March 11th,1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became head of the Soviet Union following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. At 54, he was the youngest member of the ruling Politburo.
On this date:
In 1824, The U.S. War Department created the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A lifelong friend and trusted aide of Ulysses S. Grant, Ely Parker rose to the top in two worlds, that of his native Seneca Indian tribe and the white man's world at large. He went on to become the first Indian to lead the Bureau.
In 1861, the Confederate States of America adopted its constitution.
In 1888, a torrential rainstorm hit the East Coast. The rain turned to snow the next day and it became the Blizzard of 1888, the most famous snowstorm in American history. It caused more than 400 deaths.
In 1911, The Cadillac Division of General Motors demonstrated the first electric self starter, enabling women to drive alone. Charles Kettering created the first successful electric self-starter for Cadillac. It was introduced in the 1912 model. The perfection of the self-starter by inventor Charles Kettering enormously expanded the market for the automobile. Kettering, born in Londonville, Ohio, in 1876, had invented an electric cash register motor while at the National Cash Register Company in 1906. In 1909 he organized the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, later known as Delco, and soon made notable improvements in automobile ignition and lighting systems. His self-starter was introduced in the 1912 Cadillac. He founded the Charles F. Kettering Foundation dedicated to natural science research and was co-founder of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. Kettering died in 1958.
In 1930, William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to be buried in the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
In 1941, President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill.
In 1942, General Douglas MacArthur leaves the Philippines saying, "I shall return."
In 1990, Augusto Pinochet of Chile, dictator since 1973, steps down.
In 1990, A newly elected parliament in Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
In 1993, Janet Reno won unanimous Senate confirmation to be the first female U.S. Attorney General.
In 2004, over 200 people were killed and over 1,400 were injured when bombs exploded in Madrid train stations. Al-Qaeda took responsibility for the attacks.
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Mikhail Gorbachev became head of the Soviet Union.