Today in History: March 20, sarin gas attack in Tokyo subway

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Today is Friday, March 20, the 79th day of 2026. There are 286 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 20, 1995, in Tokyo, packages containing the deadly chemical sarin were opened and dispersed on five separate subway trains in a terror attack by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, causing 14 deaths and injuring more than 1,000.

Also on this date:

In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris after escaping his exile on Elba, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s influential novel about slavery, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” was first published in book form after being serialized in the abolitionist newspaper The National Era; it would become the bestselling novel of the 19th century.

In 1854, the Republican Party of the United States was founded by opponents of slavery at a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin.

In 1976, kidnapped newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was convicted of armed robbery for her part in a San Francisco bank holdup carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison; she was released after serving 22 months and was pardoned in 2001 by President Bill Clinton.)

In 1987, azidothymidine (AZT) became the first medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat HIV/AIDS.

In 1996, a jury in Los Angeles convicted Erik and Lyle Menendez of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their wealthy parents. (They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

In 2014, President Barack Obama ordered economic sanctions against nearly two dozen members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and a major bank that provided them support, raising the stakes in an East-West showdown over Ukraine.

In 2016, President Barack Obama began a three-day visit to communist Cuba during which he met with President Raul Castro and delivered a speech carried on Cuban state television. The visit marked the first to Cuba by a U.S. president in nearly 90 years during efforts to normalize relations between the Cold War-era foes.

In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin, sending a powerful message to Western leaders that their efforts to isolate Moscow over the fighting in Ukraine had fallen short.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Hal Linden is 96. Basketball Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley is 81. Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr is 78. Guitarist Jimmie Vaughan is 75. Film director Spike Lee is 69. Actor Holly Hunter is 68. Model-entrepreneur Kathy Ireland is 63. Actor David Thewlis is 63. Actor Michael Rapaport is 56. MMA commentator and former champion Daniel Cormier is 47. Actor-singer Christy Carlson Romano is 42. Tennis player Sloane Stephens is 33. Professional hockey player Trevor Zegras is 25. NFL running back Jahmyr Gibbs is 24. Barron Trump, son of Donald and Melania Trump, is 20.