Today is Thursday, March 12, the 71st day of 2009. There are 294 days left in the year. On this date

Today is Thursday, March 12, the 71st day of 2009. There are 294 days left in the year. On this date in 1912, Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Ga., founds the Girl Guides, which later becomes the Girl Scouts of America.

In 1864, Ulysses S. Grant is promoted to the rank of general-in-chief of the Union armies in the Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers the first of his 30 radio “fireside chats,” telling Americans what is being done to deal with the nation’s economic crisis. In 1939, Pope Pius XII is formally crowned in ceremonies at the Vatican. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman establishes what becomes known as the Truman Doctrine to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson wins the New Hampshire Democratic primary, but anti-war Sen. Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota places a strong second. In 1969, Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman in London.

March 12, 1984: Some 23,600 Mahoning Valley employees at the Lordstown Complex of General Motors and at the Packard Electric Division of GM are receiving checks totaling $14.4 million, in the first payout from GM’s profit sharing plan.

The Texas Board of Corrections refuses to allow the execution of James David Autry to be televised, rejecting arguments that the public should have the right to watch a convict die. Autry had asked that the execution be televised and the state attorney general said it was “logical” to do so.

Cliff Stoudt and the Birmingham Stallions ruin the USFL hometown opener for the Pittsburgh Maulers, beating them 30-18 before 53,371 fans at Three Rivers Stadium.

March 12, 1969: Five teenagers and an adult are arrested following a police investigation of vandalism at Harrison School on Common–wealth Avenue. Thirty-nine windows on one side of the building were smashed.

Firemen use an acetylene torch to free an 11-year-old girl who caught her leg in a sewer grating on the new Madison Avenue Expressway near Covington School.

March 12, 1959: The Youngs-town Transit Co. agrees to delay five city bus line service cuts pending a meeting with Youngstown City Council.

A 12-year-old Warren boy, Daniel Mignogna, will spend Easter in Italy after winning the Young Columbus contest sponsored by the Vindicator and Parade Magazine. He won the trip by being a successful Vindicator carrier salesman.

March 12, 1934: The professional ethics committee of the Mahoning County Bar Association launches an investigation of reports that the widow of a railroader killed in a train crash was harassed by ambulance-chasing lawyers and their agents.

Burglars break into Rayen School and cause considerable damage, but Principal E.F. Miller says he doesn’t believe the thieves got a cent.

More than 2,000 people attend the three impressive dedication services at the new Martin Luther Church at Hudson Avenue and Clearmount Drive.