Updated March 16, 2012, 2:28 PM
On March 17, 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater during World War II.
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On March 17, 1902, Bobby Jones, the American golfer who was the first winner of the Grand Slam, was born. Following his death on Dec. 18, 1971, his obituary appeared in The Times.
1776 | British forces evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War. |
1905 | Franklin D. Roosevelt married his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt, in New York City. President Theodore Roosevelt, FDR's fifth cousin, gave his niece away. |
1910 | The Camp Fire Girls organization was founded in Thetford, Vt. |
1941 | The National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C. |
1942 | Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater during World War II. |
1959 | The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in the wake of a failed uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. |
1969 | Golda Meir became prime minister of Israel. |
2005 | Baseball players Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa testified before Congress that they hadn't used steroids; Mark McGwire refused to say whether he had. |
2009 | U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by North Korea while reporting on North Korean refugees living across the border in China. (They were freed in August.) |
2009 | The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its final print edition. |
2011 | The U.N. Security Council voted to authorize military action to protect civilians and impose a no-fly zone over Libya. |
Actor Rob Lowe turns 48 years old today.
AP Photo/Matt Sayles
Actor Gary Sinnise ("CSI: NY") turns 57 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1933 | Myrlie Evers-Williams, Former NAACP chairwoman, turns 79 |
1941 | Paul Kantner, Rock musician (Jefferson Airplane/Starship), turns 71 |
1944 | John Sebastian, Rock musician (Lovin' Spoonful), turns 68 |
1949 | Patrick Duffy, Actor, turns 63 |
1951 | Kurt Russell, Actor, turns 61 |
1954 | Lesley-Anne Down, Actress, turns 58 |
1960 | Vicki Lewis, Actress, turns 52 |
1967 | Billy Corgan, Rock musician (Smashing Pumpkins), turns 45 |
1972 | Mia Hamm, Soccer player, turns 40 |
1974 | Marisa Coughlan, Actress, turns 38 |
Historic Birthdays
Bobby Jones3/17/1902 - 12/18/1971American golfer; first to win the Grand Slam.Go to obituary »
69 | Jean-Baptiste Oudry 3/17/1686 - 4/30/1755 French Rococo painter, designer and illustrator |
87 | Roger Brooke Taney 3/17/1777 - 10/12/1864 5th chief justice of the United States; noted for the Dred Scott decision (1857) |
55 | Kate Greenaway 3/17/1846 - 11/6/1901 English artist and book illustrator |
80 | Charles Brush 3/17/1849 - 6/15/1929 American inventor and industrialist |
92 | Walter Rudolf Hess 3/17/1881 - 8/12/1973 Swiss Nobel Prize-winning physiologist |
75 | Bayard Rustin 3/17/1912 - 8/24/1987 American civil rights activist |
45 | Nat King Cole 3/17/1919 - 2/15/1965 American musician |
54 | Rudolf Nureyev 3/17/1938 - 1/6/1993 Russian ballet dancer |