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Today is Monday, March 11, the 70th day of 2002. There are 295 days left in the year. 

Today’s Highlight in History: 

On March 11, 1942, as Japanese forces continued to advance in the Pacific during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia, vowing: “I shall return.” (He kept that promise nearly three years later.) 

On this date: 

In 1810, Emperor Napoleon of France was married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. 

In 1861, the Confederate convention in Montgomery, Ala., adopted a constitution. 

In 1888, the famous “Blizzard of ’88” struck the northeastern United States, resulting in some 400 deaths. 

In 1930, former President and Chief Justice Taft was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Lend-Lease Bill, providing war supplies to countries fighting the Axis. 

In 1959, the Lorraine Hansberry drama “A Raisin in the Sun” opened at New York’s Ethel Barrymore Theater. 

In 1965, the Rev. James J. Reeb, a white minister from Boston, died after being beaten by whites during civil rights disturbances in Selma, Ala. 

In 1977, more than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations. 

In 1982, protesting his innocence, Sen. Harrison A. Williams Jr., D-N.J., resigned after 23 years in the Senate, rather than face expulsion in the wake of his ABSCAM conviction. 

In 1985, Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed the late Soviet President Konstantin U. Chernenko. 

Ten years ago: Members of the U.N. Security Council accused Iraq of playing a game of “cheat and retreat” from its promises to disarm and respect its people’s human rights; Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz lashed back, saying his country was complying with Gulf War cease-fire resolutions. 

Five years ago: In a startling turnaround, Senate Republicans agreed to a broader investigation of campaign financing that would include a look at huge “soft money” donations. Senate confirmation hearings for CIA Director-designate Anthony Lake began. Rock star Paul McCartney was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. 

One year ago: Masked Zapatista rebels urged passage of an Indian rights bill after riding triumphantly into the heart of Mexico’s capital in a march supported by the president and welcomed by 75,000 cheering supporters. 

Today’s Birthdays 

Actor Terence Alexander is 79. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is 71. ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson is 68. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is 66. Musician Flaco Jimenez is 63. Actress Tricia O’Neil is 57. Rock singer-musician Mark Stein (Vanilla Fudge) is 55. Singer Bobby McFerrin is 52. Movie director Jerry Zucker is 52. Actress Susan Richardson is 50. Singer Nina Hagen is 47. Country singer Jimmy Fortune (The Statler Brothers) is 47. Singer Cheryl Lynn is 45. Actress Alex Kingston (“ER”) is 39. Actor Wallace Langham is 37. Actor John Barrowman is 34. Singer Lisa Loeb is 34. Singer Pete Droge is 33. Rock musician Rami Jaffee (Wallflowers) is 33. Rock singer-musicians Benji and Joel (Good Charlotte) are 23. Actress Thora Birch is 20.