TODAY IN HISTORY-WEDNESDAY MARCH 2, 2011

Today is Wednesday, March 2, the 61st day of 2011. There are 304 days left in the year.

Today in History: Highlight in History: On March 2, 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote. AP Photo
On this date in: 1807 Congress outlawed the importation of slaves to the United States, effective the following year. 1836 Texas declared its independence from Mexico. 1917 Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship. 1923 Time magazine debuted. 1939 Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected pope and took the name Pius XII. AP Photo 1959 Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis held the first of two recording sessions that yielded the album "Kind of Blue." 1962 Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored an NBA record 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks. AP Photo/Paul Vathis 1965 The movie version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" had its world premiere in New York. 1985 The federal government approved a screening test for AIDS that detected antibodies to the virus, allowing possibly contaminated blood to be excluded from the blood supply. 2004 A series of coordinated blasts in Iraq killed 181 people at shrines in Karbala and Baghdad as thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims gathered for a religious festival. 2008 Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor, scored a crushing victory in Russia's presidential election.		Today's Birthdays: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev turns 80 years old today. AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev Name Profession Age John Cullum Actor ("Northern Exposure") 81 Tom Wolfe Author 81 John Irving Author 69 Lou Reed Rock musician 69 Laraine Newman Actress, comedian ("Saturday Night Live") 59 Russ Feingold Former U.S. senator, D-Wis. 58 Jay Osmond Singer 56 Ken Salazar Secretary of the interior 56 John Cowsill Pop musician (The Cowsills) 55 Jon Bon Jovi Rock musician 49 Daniel Craig Actor 43 Chris Martin Rock singer (Coldplay) 34 Heather McComb Actress ("Party of Five") 34 Bryce Dallas Howard Actress 30 Reggie Bush Football player 26 Robert Iler Actor ("The Sopranos") 26 Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger turns 29 years old today. AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Thought for Today: "Nothing ever really sets human nature free, but self-control." — Phyllis Bottome, English writer (1884-1963)


.“A Prayer For Patience”

Father, I feel such deep gratitude when I consider how patient You are with my frequent shortcomings. You don’t toss me aside and move on to a more deserving person, but You continue to come alongside me and Your Word continues to renew my hope day by day.   When I’m tempted to think that my spouse, my child, or my friend doesn’t deserve another chance I’m reminded of Your continual forbearance with me.  May I be forgiving even as You continually forgive me. May Your divine grace bring the virtues of forgiveness, forbearance and love together in perfect unity so that Your peace dwells in my heart daily.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.