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Today in History: March 17

Snakes Alive! It's St Patrick's Day

432 Saint Patrick, aged about 16 is captured by Irish pirates from his home in Great Britain and taken as a slave to Ireland (traditional date)

1766 Britain repeals the Stamp Act.

1868 The first postage stamp canceling machine patent is issued.

1910 The Camp Fire Girls are founded in Lake Sebago, Maine.

1914 Russia increases the number of active duty military from 460,000 to 1,700,000.

1930 Mob boss Al Capone is released from jail.

1942 The Nazis begin deporting Jews to the Belsen camp.

1966 A U.S. submarine locates a missing H-bomb in the Mediterranean.

1970 The Army charges 14 officers with suppression of facts in the My Lai massacre case.

1972 Nixon asks Congress to halt busing in order to achieve desegregation.

2020 European Union announces a 30-day ban on entering its 26 countries for almost all travelers as it struggles to contain COVID-19

2020 French Open becomes first Grand Slam tennis tournament to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic; moves from May 24-June 7 to September 20-October 4; conflicts with Laver Cup men’s team event

Born on March 17

1919 Nat "King" Cole, American jazz pianist and singer.

1942-1994 John Wayne Gacy American serial killer who killed 33 young men, born in Chicago, Illinois

1951 Kurt RussellAmerican actor (Thing, Overboard, Mean Seasons), born in Springfield, Massachusetts

JOTD

A politician, an artist, and a statistician are out hunting. The politician shoots at a deer and misses 5 feet to the left. The artist takes a shot and misses 5 feet to the right. The statistician yells, “We got ‘em!”