1995. Mexican-American singer Selena is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar, president of her fan club. The victim, whose legal name was Selena Perez, had gone to a Corpus Christi motel to recover paperwork from Saldivar, who had been stealing money from the fan club. But when Selena went to leave, Saldivar shot her twice in the back, ending her life just at the height of her career.

2000. The trial of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish begins in Las Vegas. They were accused of murdering Murphy's boyfriend, casino mogul Ted Binion. Secret lovers, the two were convicted in May of the murder. Jurors found that the pair staged Binion's death to look like a drug overdose and sentenced them both to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years. Read more about the case.

March 30

1981. President Ronald Reagan is shot and critically wounded by John Hinckley outside a Washington hotel. The gunman shot the president in the side, missing his heart by a mere inch, and seriously injured press secretary James Brady. Although Reagan returned to health in a few months, Brady never fully recovered and eventually became a spokesman for the gun control movement. Hinckley, whose obsession with the actress Jodie Foster prompted the shooting, was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C., where he remains.

2001. An arrest warrant is issued for Darryl Strawberry, after the former baseball player left a Florida drug rehab center where he was under house arrest. Strawberry began his career with the New York Mets, but is famous for playing for the New York Yankees and being a member of the All Star team eight times. Despite athletic talent, he has had a long history of drug abuse and has been arrested several times. He no longer plays baseball and is currently being treated for colon cancer.

March 29

1951. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. They are executed two years later, the first Americans to be put to death for treason during peace time. As Communist Party members, the Rosenbergs fell victim to the "red-hunting" fervor of McCarthyism and were found guilty of transmitting nuclear secrets to a Soviet spy. The Supreme Court and President Dwight D. Eisenhower rejected the Rosenbergs' appeals, and they were put to death by electric chair. Read more about the case.

1993. Marisa Tomei wins an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the courtroom comedy My Cousin Vinny. A veteran TV actor, Tomei landed her first role opposite Sylvester Stallone in the movie Oscar. A year later, she had an Oscar of her own for playing Mona Lisa Vito, girlfriend of Vinny (Joe Pesci), a New York lawyer who tries to save the lives of two caught in a murder deep in the heart of Alabama.

March 28

1983. Fred Jipp, who married 104 women in 28 countries over 30 years, is sent to a Phoenix prison for 28 years after being convicted of bigamy and fraud.

March 27

1866. President Andrew Johnson vetoes a civil rights bill that later becomes the 14th Amendment to the Constitution granting full citizenship to slaves. Johnson said he objected to the bill because it interfered with each state's right to decide the matter. A Harper's Weekly editorial April 14, 1866, denounced him, saying "State rights interpreted by slavery brought us bitter alienation and bloody war. State rights interpreted by liberty can alone give us Constitutional unity and enduring peace." The bill became the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in 1868.

March 26

1992. Mike Tyson is sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping a former Miss Black America contestant, 18-year-old Desiree Washington. The boxer was released May 9, 1995, after serving three years. He reclaimed his two championship belts with wins over Frank Bruno and Bruce Seldon in 1996. He went on to bite off a piece of rival Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 match and returned to jail in 1999 for assaulting two motorists during a 1998 traffic dispute.

1999. Dr. Jack Kevorkian is convicted of second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance for helping a man commit suicide. He was sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison. Kevorkian, who represented himself, told jurors in his closing argument, "There are certain acts that by common sense are not a crime. Thomas Youk made a choice to end his agony. By helping him, did I commit first-degree or second-degree murder or manslaughter?" The jury deliberated one and a half days before finding him guilty.

March 25

1931. Nine black teenagers known as the "Scottsboro Boys" are arrested in Alabama for the alleged gang rape of two white girls. No crime in American history would lead to more trials, convictions, reversals and retrials. The 20-year struggle for vindication became known at "The White People of Alabama v. the Rest of the World," and wound through the Alabama legal system until the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the cases of two of the boys, Haywood Patterson and Clarence Norris. Their convictions were overturned when it was found that blacks were excluded from the jury pool in the Alabama Supreme Court trial. In the final trial, which began almost five years after the nine were first arrested, charges were dropped against four of the defendants. Of the five sent to jail, four were pardoned by 1950 and Patterson escaped from jail in 1948. He was caught in Michigan by the FBI in 1950, but the state refused Alabama's extradition request.

1988. In the "preppie murder case," Robert Chambers pleads guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin. Chambers strangled Levin to death when they were having sex in New York City's Central Park in August 1986. His lawyer said the death was accidental and that their rough sex went too far. Chambers discarded that defense, however, to make his guilty plea. He received a sentence of five to 15 years in prison and is still behind bars.

March 24

1989. The Exxon Valdez runs aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound, spilling 11 million gallons of oil and killing wildlife. It was the largest spill ever in the U.S. Captain Joseph Hazelwood had veered outside of normal shipping lanes to avoid icebergs but hit land instead. The cleanup was at first slow and disorganized, and the area's otters, birds, seals and fish were devastated as 1,500 miles of beach turned black. Hazelwood was charged with one felony and three misdemeanors of recklessly driving the ship after blood alcohol tests taken after the crash showed he was intoxicated. A jury only convicted him on one of the misdemanors, however, and he was sentenced to community service work, cleaning up oil-tainted beaches.

1998. Carnage erupts at a school in Jonesboro, Ark., as a 13-year-old boy and his 11-year-old cousin open fire. Four students and one teacher were killed and 10 others were injured. Dressed in camouflage, Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew "Drew" Golden, 11, triggered a fire alarm and then began shooting at their Westside Middle School classmates and teachers as they left the school. The two were later charged with five counts of murder and 10 counts of battery, and were pronounced guilty on all counts. They received the maximum allowable sentence, confinement to a juvenile detainment center until the age of 21.

March 23

1868. The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson begins in the U.S. Senate. The trial was ostensibly about a violation of the Tenure of Office Act but also focused on Johnson's attitude toward the post-Civil War Reconstruction and his vetoes of the Freedmen's Bureau Act and the Civil Rights Act. He was later found not guilty and served the rest of his presidency.

March 22

1974. The Equal Rights Amendment, which states that "Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex," is passed by Congress but is never ratified. Originally penned by suffragist Alice Paul in 1921, the amendment is designed to ensure the equal application of the U.S. Constitution to both sexes. It was introduced in every session in Congress since 1923, but passed only in 1974 and was never ratified, falling short of the 38 states necessary for it to go into effect.

1995. Colin Ferguson is sentenced to life in prison for killing six commuters in a Long Island Railroad car. Ferguson, who also injured 19 on his December 7, 1993, spree, receives a total of six consecutive life sentences — about 200 years of prison time. At the sentencing, the courtroom audience applauds as Ferguson, who represented himself and showed no sympathy for the killings, left to begin his stay in prison.

March 21

1963. The "inescapable" Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco is shut down. Alcatraz was notorious for the inhumane treatment of its prisoners, including the psychological torture caused by the "hole" in which prisoners were kept in solitary confinement, sometimes for years. It also housed a number of infamous convicts, including Al Capone. The prison's demise was thought to have occurred for a number of reasons, including expensive upkeep and the cost of constant reconstruction.

1980. The hit television drama "Dallas" airs the shooting of fictional oil tycoon J.R. Ewing. The series was such a success that this episode was one of the most talked about events in television history. The episode was aired in 53 countries. An alternative version had Ewing falling down an elevator shaft in the Ewing Oil Building. The idea for the shooting came from Philip Capice, a "Dallas" writer, who suggested that the viewers decide "Who shot J.R." The phrase becomes a household word.

March 20

1899. Martha Place became the first woman to die in the electric chair. Place was sentenced to death for the murder of her stepdaughter Ida. In New York's Auburn Prison, Place was escorted to the chamber, carrying a Bible, where the execution was completed with 1,760 volts of electricity. The most recent case of a woman's execution by the electric chair took place in Florida in 1997.

1976. Patty Hearst, daughter of business tycoon William Randolph Hearst, is convicted of bank robbery. Hearst, who had been kidnapped from her apartment by the Symbionese Liberation Army, was coerced into taking part in the 1974 robbery of a San Francisco bank. She claimed to have been raped, locked in a closet and indoctrinated. Due to the unusual circumstances of this case, Hearst's seven-year sentence was commuted by President Carter after 21 months. However, commutation, the official forgiveness of a crime, does not reinstate certain civil rights such as voting. Such privileges were later granted when Hearst was pardoned by President Clinton. Read more about Hearst and the SLA.

1996. Erik and Lyle (pictured) Menendez are convicted of the first-degree murders of their millionaire parents. The Menendez brothers shot their parents in August 1989 while they slept in the living room of their Beverly Hills mansion. The prosecution claimed that the brothers were angry for having been taken out of their parents' wills. The brothers, who originally denied their involvement, later admitted to the crime, claiming that they killed because of years suffering from sexual, emotional and physical abuse. Read more about the case.

March 19

1931. The state of Nevada re-legalizes gambling, illegal in the state since 1909. From 1910 to 1931, gambling was outlawed nationwide. With the re-legalization, Nevada became the only state to allow casino gambling until New Jersey's Atlantic City opened in 1976. Nevada casinos remained open during the gambling prohibition, and they proliferated after the 1931 decision as figures like Bugsy Siegel launched a new wave of casino construction.

1987. The Reverend Jim Bakker resigns as head of the PTL Ministries after accusations of sexual impropriety and defrauding parishioners. A televangelist on the Praise the Lord (PTL) Channel, he was convicted on 24 counts of conspiracy and fraud for funneling millions of dollars of his followers' donations toward luxuries such as air conditioning in his dog's house and a Christian theme park named Heritage USA.

March 18

1922. Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in an Indian prison for civil disobedience. He served only two years. Gandhi was protesting British rule of India and came to be known as an icon for nonviolent civil disobedience. The British eventually left India in 1947, but Gandhi was sad to see what he saw as a whole country slit into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. He worked to reunite the two until his assassination a year later.

1999. The bodies of two women are discovered in California, after disappearing from Yosemite National Park. A third victim is found a week later. Cary Stayner confessed to the crime. Stayner lived and worked as a handyman at a hotel near the park. He was not considered a suspect until another woman, Joie Ruth Armstrong, died in the area. Police requestioned him and gathered enough evidence to arrest him for the Armstrong murder. He confessed in jail to murdering Armstrong and is currently serving life in prison. His trial for the other three women's murders is scheduled for June, 2002.

Read more about Cary Stayner at Crime Library.

March 17

1985. The man known as the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, shoots and kills two women in Los Angeles. He is captured five months later and sentenced to death. Ramirez had terrorized Los Angeles for a period of two years with his satanic-influenced murder spree. He was dubbed the night stalker because he often broke into citizens homes at night to rape, murder and mutilate them. Today he still sits on San Quentin's death row.

Read more about Richard Ramirez at Crime Library.

2000. Gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson reaches a settlement with the Clinton administration, promising to improve gun safety. The agreement required the company to provide guns with special safety locks and "hidden" serial numbers, which criminals couldn't file off. Smith & Wesson also had to do stricter background checks on potential gun buyers, especially at gun shows. The NRA opposed the agreement, saying it violated the Second Amendment.

2001. Rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs is found not guilty of gun and bribery charges resulting from a shootout at a New York City nightclub. The shootout took place at Club New York, a Manhattan nightspot near Times Square. Combs, his then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez and rap protege Jamal "Shyne" Barrow were enjoying a night out when an argument broke out with other bar patrons. Combs and Barrow allegedly took out their semi-automatic pistols and Barrow began shooting. Three people were shot, but no one died.

For more on Sean Puffy Comb's trial go to Courttv.com.

March 16

1994. Tonya Harding pleads guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution in the investigation of the attack on ice-skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. With her husband and bodyguard, Harding planned the Jan. 6, 1994, attack on Kerrigan, who was leaving skating practice at a facility in Detroit. Harding maintained her innocence until after the 1994 Winter Olympics, in which she placed eighth and Kerrigan won a silver medal, but then admitted her guilt and plea bargained to avoid prison. She was fined $160,000 and placed on probation for three years. Harding also agreed to resign from the U.S. Figure Skating Association and was stripped of her 1994 national figure skating title and banned for life from competition.

March 15

44 B.C. Julius Caesar is assassinated on the steps of the Forum in ancient Rome. On a day known as the Ides of March, Caesar entered the Senate House and was stabbed 23 times. His assassination was plotted by a group of 60 senators, including Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus. After Caesar was assassinated, Rome sank into another 13 years of civil war.

March 14

1964. Nightclub owner Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald (pictured), the presumed assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, on Nov. 24, 1963. Ruby shot Oswald as police were transferring him from a city jail to a county jail two days after the assassination. Ruby was sentenced to death, but his conviction was reversed in 1966 on technical grounds. He died in 1967 awaiting a new trial.

1950. The FBI's Ten Most Wanted list is posted for the first time in post offices all over America. The list was started because a reporter for the International News Service wanted to write a story about the 10 toughest criminals in the country. The FBI gave him the names of 10 criminals and, when the article became wildly popular, FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover turned the list into a full-fledged program. As of last year, 429 of the 458 criminals that have appeared on the list since its inception have been nabbed including 137 based on tips from the public.

March 13

1994. Sgt. Major Gene McKinney is cleared of sexual misconduct charges but convicted of obstruction of justice. He lost one rank for the charge, losing his status as the top enlisted man in the Army, but was saved a dishonorable discharge when each of the 18 sexual misconduct charges, made against him by six military women who said he pressured them for sex, were dismissed.

March 12

1980. Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. is found guilty of murdering 33 men and boys and is later sentenced to death. Gacy began his spree in 1972. His victims ranged in age from 9 to 27. Many were lured by promises of construction jobs, given liquor and, once drunk, were tied to a chair and chloroformed. Those Gacy killed were buried in his crawlspace or dumped in the local river.

1993. Janet Reno is sworn in as the nation's first female attorney general. Few members of the Clinton administration were besieged by as much controversy as Reno. She garnered praise for her role investigating the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the Unabomber but drew fire for how she dealt with the Ruby Ridge incident and the government's raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

March 11

1990. Erik Menendez, one of two brothers accused of murdering his parents , returns from Israel to surrender. Menendez had been in Israel competing in a tennis tournament when he was told that his brother had been arrested for the murder of their parents in 1989. Kitty and Jose Menendez, while asleep in their Beverly Hills mansion, were shot repeatedly. Lyle and Erik Menendez became suspects because of their absence from the family will. The two were convicted of murder and the conspiracy to commit murder, and they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

March 10

1969. James Earl Ray, charged with the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., receives a 99-year sentence after pleading guilty. Following his confession, Ray rescinded his statement, claiming he was part of a much larger conspiracy to kill King, who was shot on April 4, 1968. Ray spent nearly 30 years in prison seeking a retrial until he died in 1998 of liver failure.

1986. The water contamination trial that inspired the movie A Civil Action, starring John Travolta, begins. For 15 years, residents of Woburn, Mass., had complained that their public water wells were contaminated by hazardous chemicals. The contamination was believed responsible for several cases of childhood leukemia resulting in death. Two corporate giants allegedly responsible for the contamination, W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods, were sued by eight families. A legal settlement resulted in a disappointing $8 million reward for the families of the victims. The Environmental Protection Agency also required the companies to clean up the contamination.

March 9

1995. A Jenny Jones guest is shot and killed by the man he revealed as his secret crush during a taping of the show. Jonathan Schmitz was convicted of the second-degree murder of Scott Amedure and sentenced to 25 to 50 years. Amedure's family, after suing the show, was rewarded $25 million, claiming that the show was partly responsible for their relative's death.

1997. The life of rap mogul Notorious B.I.G. comes to an abrupt end when he is shot after the Soul Train Music Awards. Christopher Wallace, better known as "Biggie Smalls," was sitting in his G.M.C. Suburban after the awards when he was shot by an unknown assailant. The murder of the 6-foot-3-inch, 280-pound Wallace fueled a war between East and West Coast rap artists. A week after his death, one of his final projects, ironically titled Life After Death, was released.

2001. Fourteen-year-old Lionel Tate is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a six year old girl. Tate was imitating professional wrestling moves. Because Tate was only 12 at the time of the incident his case drew attention to juvenile crime and sentencing. Many people, including the dead girl's mother, were outraged that a minor could be jailed for his entire life, while others felt that Tate's crime was symbolic of epidemic youth crime.

March 8

1990. Lyle Menendez is arrested for the murder of his parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. For six months after the murders, Lyle, 28, and his brother Erik, 25, insisted that someone else murdered their parents with a shotgun. But after they were arrested in March 1990, they began claiming self-defense: the brothers said they were being sexually abused by their parents. The jury didn't believe them, however, and the Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

March 7

1994. The U.S. Supreme Court rules that parodies poking fun at books, movies and songs are considered "fair use" and do not require permission from the copyright holder. Their decision overturned an appellate court's opinion that the rap group 2 Live Crew, known for its brash lyrics, had violated copyright law when it used parts of Roy Orbison's song "Oh Pretty Woman." In its decision, the Supreme Court said, "Even if 2 Live Crew's copying of the original's first line of lyrics and characteristic opening bass riff may be said to go to the original's 'heart,' that heart is what most readily conjures up the song for parody, and it is the heart at which parody takes aim."

March 6

1857. The Supreme Court hands down the Dred Scott decision, ruling that blacks cannot sue in federal court to become citizens. The decision has been cited as a major contributing factor to the rising tensions over slavery, and ultimately, the Civil War. The decision ended an 11-year legal battle waged by Scott and his wife Harriet, both slaves. The couple sought their freedom by filing suit against their owner Irene Emerson in St. Louis Circuit Court. The court ruled in favor of Emerson, but allowed the suit to be refiled. In a second trial, a jury ruled in favor of the Scotts, saying they were entitled to freedom because they had lived in Wisconsin and Illinois, both free states. Emerson appealed the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court, however, which reversed it. Two more appeals — to a federal court and to the U.S. Supreme Court — failed to win the Scotts their freedom. The couple was liberated the following year, however, when Emerson sold them to their previous owners, who freed them, just one year before Dred Scott died of tuberculosis at the age of 59.

1995. Jonathan Schmitz and Scott Amedure tape a Jenny Jones show about secret crushes. Schmitz expected his admirer to be a woman, not his gay neighbor. When Schmitz found Amedure, a 32-year-old unemployed gay man, telling a television audience about a fantasy that involved Schmitz, some whipped cream, strawberries and champagne, he became embarrassed and, his lawyers said, enraged. Three days after the taping, on March 9, 1995, Schmitz received an anonymous, sexually suggestive note on his doorstep and assumed it came from Amedure. Schmitz purchased a 12-gauge shotgun, went to Amedure's mobile home and fired two shots at close range into Amedure's chest. A few minutes later, Schmitz dialed 911 from a pay phone at a gas station near his sister's house. He said, "I just walked in the room and killed him." Schmitz was later convicted of second-degree murder. Although the conviction was overturned, Schmitz was again found guilty in a second trial and sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison. In a civil suit, a jury found the Jenny Jones show liable for the murder and awarded the Amedure family $25 million.

March 5

1992. The four police officers charged with beating Rodney King go on trial in California. Their defense lawyers argued that, because King was resisting arrest, the officers were required to use force. Their eventual acquittal sparked a six-day riot and, ultimately, the upheaval of government in Los Angeles.

1997. Au pair Louise Woodward is indicted for the first-degree murder of 8 1/2-month-old Matthew Eappen. She was convicted of second-degree murder, but in November 1997 her conviction was reduced to involuntary manslaughter by a Massachusetts Superior Court justice. More about the case.

March 4

1789. The first Congress convenes in New York City shortly after the Constitution of the United States is ratified. Congress was divided between New York City, the seat of government since 1785, and Philadelphia, the site of the First Continental Congress. The ordinance finally passed on Sept. 13, 1788, stopped short of tying the Congress to New York permanently and instead called New York "the present Seat of Congress." New York's approximately 29,000 citizens prepared elaborate celebrations to welcome the new Congress.

March 3

1991. Rodney King is beaten by four Los Angeles police officers. The beating, which was caught on tape, set off a trail of events that raised racial, ethnic and social tensions in Los Angeles. The eventual acquittal of all four officers touched off six days of riots and rebellion and, later, reforms of the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the resignations of the mayor of Los Angeles, the chief of police and the Los Angeles County district attorney.

March 2

1975. Linda McCartney is arrested for marijuana possession. The drug was found in her purse when she and her husband Paul McCartney were stopped for a traffic violation in Los Angeles. Although Paul McCartney was driving, the Beatle was not charged. The charges were dismissed later that year after Linda McCartney completed a six-month drug diversion program. The couple had previously been fined for possessing marijuana in 1972, and in 1980 Paul McCartney was arrested in Japan for carrying the drug. He spent 10 days in a Tokyo prison — the only nights the couple ever spent apart in their 29-year marriage. Later, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, Linda McCartney used marijuana to ease the pain of chemotherapy. She died of the disease April 19, 1998.

March 1

1932. The baby of one of the most famous men in America is kidnapped and held for ransom. Charles Lindbergh Jr. was the 20-month-old son of the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. A ransom note for $50,000 was left from the kidnapper when the baby was taken from his second-story nursery. The family's go-between, John Condon, exchanged gold certificates, on which recorded numbers had been printed, for a note from the kidnapper stating that the child was on a boat off the coast of Massachusetts. But the Lindbergh baby was found days later, dead from a skull fracture. Two years later, the authorities tracked the kidnapper, Richard Hauptmann, using the numbers marked on the ransom certificates. Hauptmann was positively identified by Condon, and he received a death sentence. Read more at Crime Library.

1951. During a secret nighttime deposition, Frank Sinatra is questioned about Mafia activities by a Senate committee. Sinatra, tracked by the FBI for his friendship with notorious mobsters, amassed the largest FBI file of any celebrity. Theories even circulated that Sinatra, along with mobster Sam Giancana, "fixed" John F. Kennedy's election as a means of keeping Mafia deeds under raps. But Ol' Blue Eyes managed to avoid criminal charges.

1974. Seven people involved in the Watergate scandal are indicted for conspiring to obstruct justice. Five men were caught breaking into and bugging the offices of the Democratic National Committee. These five, and two other men, were found to be directly or indirectly employed by President Richard Nixon, who later resigned.

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