On March 28, 1979, one of the worst accidents in the history
of the U.S. nuclear power industry began when a pressure
valve in the Unit-2 reactor at Three Mile Island fails to close.

Cooling water, contaminated with radiation, drained from the
open valve into adjoining buildings, and the core began to
dangerously overheat.

The unharmed Unit-1 reactor at Three Mile Island, which was s
hut down during the crisis, did not resume operation until 1985.

Cleanup continued on Unit-2 until 1990, but it was too damaged
to be rendered usable again.        
    

President Jimmy Carter, second from left, visits the nuclear
plant near Harrisburg, Pa., USA, April 4, 1979.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States and
one of the most highly regarded American generals of World War
II, died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 78.

             
MIKE GRACIA

Sir Elton Hercules John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight) is a British
singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship
have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry,
and his songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is
one of the most successful in history. John was the 19th
EGOT winner in history. He has sold over 300 million records
worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists
of all time. Elton John is 78 years old today.

On March 20, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson notified
Alabama’s Governor George Wallace that he will use federal
authority to call up the Alabama National Guard in order to
supervise a planned civil rights march from Selma to
Montgomery.

President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Martin Luther
King, Jr.
   

On March 19, 2003, the United States, along with coalition
forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiated 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.

No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. The
U.S. declared an end to the war in Iraq on December 15,
2011, nearly ten years after the fighting began. 

President George Bush (right) speaks to Donald Rumsfeld
and Paul Wolfowitz during a visit at the Pentagon on March
25, 2003.