Today is Tuesday, March 21, the 80th day of 2006. There are 285 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Tuesday, March 21, the 80th day of 2006. There are 285 days left in the year. On this date in 1806, Mexican statesman Benito Juarez is born in Oaxaca.
In 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach is born in Eisenach, Germany. In 1790, Thomas Jefferson reports to President Washington in New York as the new secretary of state. In 1804, the French civil code, or the "Code Napoleon" as it is later called, is adopted. In 1945, during World War II, Allied bombers begin four days of raids over Germany. In 1946, the United Nations sets up temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York. In 1956, "Marty" wins best picture at the Academy Awards; its star, Ernest Borgnine, wins best actor. Anna Magnani wins best actress for "The Rose Tattoo." In 1960, some 70 people are killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fire on demonstrators. In 1965, more than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. begin their march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. In 1979, the Egyptian Parliament unanimously approves a peace treaty with Israel. In 1985, police in Langa, South Africa, open fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings, killing at least 21 demonstrators. In 1996, General Motors and the United Auto Workers reached a settlement in a 17-day brake-factory strike that idled more than 177,000 employees and brought the automaker to a near standstill.
In 2001, Space shuttle Discovery glided to a predawn touchdown, bringing home the first residents of the international space station. In 2005, a high school student on the Red Lake Indian reservation in Minnesota killed five schoolmates, a teacher and an unarmed guard before taking his own life.
March 21, 1981: The U.S. Economic Development Agency approves a $300,000 grant to the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp., which along with $135,000 in local funds, will pay for MVEDC to operate through 1982.
The first negotiations in the four-week-old strike by Youngstown teachers are scheduled as the board of educa- tion prepares to reopen schools for the first time in 21/2 weeks.
The Reagan administration cancels the impending appointment of John Behan, a Vietnam war amputee from Montauk, N.Y., to head the Veterans Administration after protests from politically potent veterans groups that tend to represent the more traditional veterans of World War II. Behan expresses disappointment, saying he believed he could represent the needs of the modern veteran, which will have to be met for the next 20 years.
March 21, 1966: Three Pittsburgh teenagers are in police custody in connection with the murder of rookie Greenville Patrolman Rodney Wentling, 23. Wentling, a 1961 state wrestling champion, had been a patrolman only 3 months.
The Panthers of Harding High School return to a rousing reception in Warren after winning the Cleveland regional basketball tournament. The Panthers will be one of four Class AA schools heading to the weekend state finals in Columbus.
A North Side youth who reportedly likes to outrun police, leads a city cruiser on three separate chases all over the North Side, reaching speeds of 80 mph. Patrolman Stephen Malkovits says he will swear out warrants for arrest of the youth.
March 21, 1956: The 156-day strike by the International Union of Electrical Workers against Westinghouse Electric Corp. ends with agreement on a five-year pact. In Sharon, pickets still manning the lines say they'll be happy to get back to work.
A hot rod racer on Youngstown-Poland Road strikes and kills an 11-year-old bicyclist before his car strikes a pole, sending him to the hospital, where he is in fair condition. The bicyclist, James Shepas, was pronounced dead at South Side Hospital. Police are questioning a second racer who fled the scene, but later turned himself in.
Two East Liverpool policemen are held for the Columbiana County grand jury after pleading innocent to burglary charges. Two other patrolmen have been arrested as part of an alleged burglary ring.
March 21, 1931: Youngstown Councilman Jerry Sullivan calls for a full hearing of accusations that former traction commissioner Harry Engle received compensation in addition to his salary from the former P.O. Electric Company.
Writer Theodore Dreiser slaps Nobel Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis twice on the face after Lewis accused Dreiser of stealing passages from a book on Russia written by Lewis's wife, Dorothy Thompson. The exchange between America's two best known writers came during a dinner given by Cosmopolitan Magazine at the Metropolitan Club in New York.
Mahoning County Treasurer Warren Steele faces the task of collecting approximately $7.5 million in taxes by the deadline, April 1. Only $2.6 million has been collected so far.