March 13th in US Political History

Today in US Political History

On March 13th in 1677 - Massachusetts gained title to Maine for $6,000.
On March 13th in 1777 - Congress ordered its European envoys to appeal to high-ranking foreign officers to send troops to reinforce the American army.
On March 13th in 1836 - Refugees from the Alamo arrived in Gonzales, Texas, and informed Gen. Sam Houston of the March 6 fall of the Alamo. Houston immediately ordered a retreat.
On March 13th in 1861 - Jefferson Davis signed a bill authorizing slaves to be used as soldiers for the Confederacy. 
On March 13th in 1862 - The US Congress passed a bill prohibiting the military from returning slaves to their masters.
On March 13th in 1868 - The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the U.S. Senate.
On March 13th in 1913 - Kansas legislature approved censorship of motion pictures.
On March 13th in 1925 - The Tennessee legislature passed the Butler Bill which prohibited the teaching of evolution in the public schools.
On March 13th in 1957 - The FBI arrested Jimmy Hoffa on bribery charges. 
On March 13th in 1969 - In Vietnam Navy Lt. John Kerry rescued Jim Rassman on the Bay Hap River while under Viet Cong fire.
On March 13th in 1989 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began a quarantine of all fruit imported from Chile after traces of cyanide were found in two Chilean grapes.
On March 13th in 1990 - President Bush lifted trade sanctions against Nicaragua in a show of support for President-elect Violeta Chamorro. 
On March 13th in 1991 - President Bush, during a visit to Ottawa, Canada, warned Iran against seizing Iraqi territory in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War.
On March 13th in 1991 - Exxon pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay $100 million fine in a $1.1 billion settlement of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The deal fell apart when the Alaska House rejected it. A new settlement was reached later.
On March 13th in 1997 - The UN General Assembly voted 130 to 2 for Israel to abandon its plan to build new Jewish housing on Arab land.
On March 13th in 2001 - President Bush backed off from seeking reductions in carbon dioxide emissions due to projected higher energy costs from a shift from coal to natural gas.
On March 13th in 2006 - South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp. said it will build a $1.2 billion factory in West Point, Ga., its first in the US. Toyota said it will build a plant in Lafayette, Ind.
On March 13th in 2007 - The US Mortgage Bankers Association reported that 13% of subprime borrowers were behind in their payments. It was estimated that 13% of all adjustable rate mortgages originated between 2004 and 2006 and were headed for repossession in the next few years.
On March 13th in 2007 - In Mexico President Bush met with Pres. Felipe Calderon in Merida. Bush promised to prod Congress to overhaul tough US immigration policies, but Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized US plans for a 700-mile border fence. Hundreds of demonstrators marched to the US Embassy in Mexico City, attacking riot police with concrete blocks, metal bars and tearing down barricades to protest Bush's visit.
On March 13th in 2009 - The Obama administration dropped the use of the term “enemy combatant” for suspected terrorists detained at Guantanamo Bay and slightly modified the legal standard used to justify their continued imprisonment.