Today in History.....March 2

On this day in …

* 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico

* 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote

* 1917, Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship

* 1943, the World War II Battle of the Bismarck Sea began

* 1977, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a strict code of ethics

* 2001, the United Nations tried in vain to persuade Afghanistan's ruling Taliban to reverse its decision to destroy a pair of giant, ancient statues of Buddha and other Buddhist relics that the regime considered idolatrous