It all started in this little white schoolhouse in Wisconsin.

In Ripon, Wisconsin, former members of the Whig Party met to
establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the
western territories. The Whig Party, which was formed in 1834
to oppose the “tyranny” of President Andrew Jackson, had
shown itself incapable of coping with the national crisis over
slavery.

With the successful introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill
of 1854 that dissolved the terms of the Missouri Compromise
and allowed slave or free status to be decided in the territories
by popular sovereignty, the Whigs disintegrated.

By February 1854, anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting in the
upper midwestern states to discuss the formation of a new party
and one such meeting, in Wisconsin was on this day in 1854 and
is generally remembered as the birth of the Republican Party.

On March 19, 2003, the United States, along with coalition
forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiates war on
Iraq. Just after explosions began to rock Baghdad, Iraq’s
capital, U.S. President George W. Bush announced in a
televised address, “At this hour, American and coalition
forces are in the early stages of military operations to
disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world
from grave danger.”

President Bush and his advisors built much of their case
for war on the specious claim that Iraq, under dictator
Saddam Hussein, possessed or was in the process of
building weapons of mass destruction.

Hostilities began about 90 minutes after the U.S.-imposed
deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face war
passed.

SANDY KOZEL

FEEDING TUBE REMOVED ON THIS DAY IN 1990.

Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman whose condition sparked an epic legal, medical and political battle 
that gripped America, died 13 days after her feeding tube 
was removed by the wishes of her husband and the orders
of several courts.

On March 17, 1776, British forces were forced to evacuate Boston following General George Washington’s successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights, which overlooks
the city from the south.

Nearly 10,000 Redcoats, thousands of loyalists left for Canada in ‘disgrace’  —  still celebrated as Evacuation Day in Boston.

Stained glass window depicting St. Patrick.

Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ‘the Day
of the Festival of Patrick’), is a religious and cultural
holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of
Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint
of Ireland.