Today is Monday, March 14, the 74th day of 2016. There are 292 days left in the year.

In 1885, the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera “The Mikado” premiered at the Savoy Theatre in London.

In 1900, Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act.

In 1923, President Warren G. Harding became the first chief executive to file an income tax return, paying a levy of $17,990 on his $75,000 salary.

In 1939, the republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation of Czech areas and the separation of Slovakia.

In 1951, during the Korean War, United Nations forces recaptured Seoul (sohl).

In 1964, a jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, and sentenced him to death. (Both the conviction and death sentence were overturned, but Ruby died before he could be retried.)

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 14, 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America’s cotton industry.

Ten years ago

Iraqi authorities reported discovering at least 87 bodies of men shot to death, execution-style, as Iraq edged closer to open civil warfare. Israel raided a jail in the West Bank town of Jericho, seizing six militants, after the new Hamas-led Palestinian government said it would release the men. A reservoir dam in Hawaii burst, releasing a torrent of water that killed seven people.

Five years ago

In the wake of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami and mounting nuclear crisis, President Barack Obama said that he had offered the Japanese government any assistance the United States could provide. Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Darlene Love, Dr. John and Leon Russell were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

One year ago

Robert Durst, a wealthy eccentric linked to two killings and his wife’s disappearance, was arrested by the FBI in New Orleans on a murder warrant a day before HBO aired the final episode of a serial documentary about his life. Math enthusiasts observed “Pi Day,” in which the date – 3-14-15 – lined up with the first five digits of the mathematical constant pi: 3.1415.

— By The Associated Press