Way back when: Today in history
BY GENE CURTIS
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
3/12/13 at 2:54 AM
1989 - Protesters stage 'Get the flag off the floor' rally
About 2,500 veterans and supporters from nine states, including Oklahoma, many chanting "One, two, three, four, get the flag off the floor," marched on the Art Institute of Chicago demanding removal of an exhibit that included a flag on the floor. A group of students in a counter demonstration were led to a corner two blocks away by police who surrounded them with barricades after a clash with the veterans. Protests began about a week after the exhibit, titled "What Is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?" opened Feb. 17. The exhibit featured the Stars and Stripes positioned in such a way that viewers were likely to step on it.
1993 - Bombay bombs kill 300, injure more than 1,000
More than 300 persons were killed in Bombay by 13 bomb explosions that shook skyscrapers, set fire to India's largest stock exchange, gutted the ground floor of the India airline headquarters, blew apart a passenger bus and damaged three hotels. More than 1,000 were injured in the bombings for which no group claimed responsibility. Police said the attacks over 75 minutes were the most organized since the nation gained independence 46 years earlier.
2002 - Palestine state backed
A U.S.-sponsored resolution endorsing a Palestinian state was approved by 14 of the 15-member U.N. Security Council with Syria abstaining from the vote. According to the Associated Press, Syria's U.N. Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe abstained rather than voting against the resolution "to send a message" and not to break the unity of the council. The resolution also called for an immediate cease-fire in the 17-month conflict between Israel and Palestine.
2003 - Recon flights resumed
U.S. Air Force reconnaissance flights resumed off the coast of North Korea for the first time since March 2 when four North Korean fighter jets intercepted an unarmed Air Force RC-135S Cobra Ball over the sea of Japan about 150 miles off North Korea's coast. U.S. officials said one of the fighters used its radar in a manner that indicated it might be preparing to attack, although no shots were fired. The U.S. plane broke off its mission and returned unharmed to its base at Kadena, Japan.
Associated Images:
Protesters waving U.S. flags show their support of veterans' demands for the Art Institute of Chicago to remove an American flag from the floor where it was being shown in a exhibition. AP file
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