March 14th



1489 - The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sold her kingdom to Venice.

1492 - Queen Isabella of Castille ordered her 150,000 Jewish subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.

1590 - Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeated the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne during the "French Wars of Religion".

1647 - Thirty Years War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden signed the "Truce of Ulm".

1757 - On-board the HMS Monarch, Admiral John Byng was executed by firing squad for neglect of duty.

1794 - Eli Whitney was granted a patent for the cotton gin.

1800 - Cardinal Barnaba Chiaramonti was elected Pope Pius VII.

1869 - The defeat of Titokowaru.

1900 - The Gold Standard Act was ratified, placing United States currency on the gold standard.

1903 - The "Hay-Herran Treaty", granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, was ratified by the United States Senate. The Columbian Senate would later reject the treaty.

1903 - Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order making Florida's Pelican Island a "preserve and breeding ground for native birds,” marking the birth of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

1915 - World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the disastrous Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden was abandoned and scuttled by her crew.

1923 - In Regina, Saskatchewan Pete Parker delivered the first-ever complete radio broadcast of a hockey game in the world.

1951 - Korean War: For the second time, United Nations troops recaptured Seoul.

1964 - A jury in Dallas, Texas found Jack Ruby guilty of killing John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

1967 - The body of President John F. Kennedy was moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.

1978 - The "Israeli Defense Force", in retaliation for a terrorist attack three days earlier, invaded and occupied southern Lebanon. Under the codename Operation Litani, this resulted in the evacuation of at least 100,000 Lebanese, approximately 2,000 deaths, as well as the creation of United Nations Interim Forces In Lebanon (UNIFIL).

1979 - In China, a Hawker-Siddeley Trident crashed into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.

1980 - In Poland, a plane crashed during an emergency landing near Warsaw, killing a 14-man American boxing team and 73 others.

1984 - Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.

1989 - Gun control: President George H. W. Bush banned the importation of assault rifles into the United States.

1991 - After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a pub in an Irish Republican Army attack, the "Birmingham Six" were freed when a court determined that the police fabricated evidence.

1994 - Timeline of Linux development: Linux kernel version 1.0.0 was released.

1995 - Manned space mission: Astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American astronaut to ride to space aboard a Russian launch vehicle.

1996 - American President Bill Clinton committed $100 million to an anti-terrorism agreement with Israel to track down and root out terrorists.

1997 - The Chinese city of Chongqing (formerly Chunking) was upgraded to a centrally administered municipality.

1998 - An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale hit southeastern Iran.

2004 - Pope John Paul II became the second-longest serving pope in history.

2004 - Vladimir Putin was re-elected president of Russia.

2004 - The "PSOE" won elections in Spain just days after terrorist attacks in Madrid.

March 15th

44 BC - Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by high ranking Roman Senators. The day is known as the "Ides of March."

1341 - During the Hundred Years War, an alliance was signed between Roman Emperor Louis IV and France's Philip VI.

1493 - Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first New World voyage.

1778 - In command of two frigates, the Frenchman la Perouse sailed east from Botany Bay for the last lap of his voyage around the world.

1781 - During the American Revolution, the Battle of Guilford Courthouse took place in Connecticut. British General Cornwallis' 1,900 soldiers defeated an American force of 4,400.

1820 - Maine was admitted as the 23rd state of the Union.

1862 - General John Hunt Morgan began four days of raids near the city of Gallatin, TN.

1864 - Red River Campaign began as the Union forces reach Alexandria, LA.

1875 - The Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, John McCloskey, was named the first American cardinal.

1877 - The first cricket test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne. Australia won by 45 runs.

1892 - New York State unveiled the new automatic ballot voting machine.

1892 - Jesse W. Reno patented the Reno Inclined Elevator. It was the first escalator.

1900 - In Paris, Sarah Bernhardt starred in the premiere of Edmond Rostand's "L'Aiglon."

1901 - German Chancellor von Bulow declared that an agreement between Russia and China over Manchuria would violate the Anglo-German accord of October 1900.

1902 - In Boston, MA, 10,000 freight handlers went back to work after a weeklong strike.

1903 - The British conquest of Nigeria was completed. 500,000 square miles were now controlled by the U.K.

1904 - Three hundred Russians were killed as the Japanese shelled Port Arthur in Korea.

1907 - In Finland, woman won their first seats in the Finnish Parliament. They took their seats on May 23.

1909 - Italy proposed a European conference on the Balkans.

1910 - Otto Kahn offered $500,000 for a family portrait by Dutch artist Frans Hals. Kahn had outbid J.P. Morgan for the work.

1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson held the first open presidential news conference.

1916 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 troops, under General Pershing, over the border of Mexico to pursue bandit Pancho Villa. The mission failed.

1917 - Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicated himself and his son. His brother Grand Duke succeeded as czar.

1919 - The American Legion was founded in Paris.

1922 - Fuad I assumed the title of king of Egypt after the country gained nominal independence from Britain.

1934 - Henry Ford restored the $5 a day wage.

1935 - Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda bans four Berlin newspapers.

1937 - In Chicago, IL, the first blood bank to preserve blood for transfusion by refrigeration was established at the Cook County Hospital.

1938 - Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

1939 - German forces occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and part of Czechoslovakia.

1944 - Cassino, Italy, was destroyed by Allied bombing.

1946 - British Premier Attlee offered India full independence after agreement on a constitution.

1948 - Sir Laurence Olivier was on the cover of "LIFE" magazine for his starring role in Shakespeare’s "Hamlet."

1949 - Clothes rationing in Great Britain ended nearly four years after the end of World War II.

1951 - General de Lattre demanded that Paris send him more troops for the fight in Vietnam.

1951 - The Persian parliament voted to nationalize the oil industry.

1954 - CBS television debuted its "Morning Show."

1955 - The U.S. Air Force unveiled a self-guided missile.

1956 - The musical "My Fair Lady" opened on Broadway.

1960 - Ten nations met in Geneva to discuss disarmament.

1960 - The first underwater park was established as Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve.

1964 - In Montreal, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were married.

1968 - The U.S. mint halted the practice of buying and selling gold.

1970 - The musical "Purlie" opened on Broadway in New York City.

1971 - CBS television announced it was going to drop "The Ed Sullivan Show."

1977 - The first episode of "Eight is Enough" was aired on ABC-TV.

1977 - The U.S. House of Representatives began a 90-day test to determine the feasibility of showing its sessions on television.

1979 - Pope John Paul II published his first encyclical "Redemptor Hominis." In the work he warned of the growing gap between the rich and poor.

1989 - The U.S. Food and Drug administration decided to impound all fruit imported from Chili after two cyanide-tainted grapes were found in Philadelphia, PA.

1990 - In Iraq, British journalist Farzad Bazoft was hanged for spying.

1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the first executive president of the Soviet Union.

1990 - The Ford Explorer was introduced to the public.

1990 - The Soviet parliament ruled that Lithuania's declaration of independence was invalid and that Soviet law was still in force in the Baltic republic.

1991 - Four Los Angeles police officers were indicted in the beating of Rodney King on March 3, 1991.

1991 - Yugoslav President Borisav Jovic resigned after about a week of anit-communist protests.

1994 - U.S. President Clinton extended the moratorium on nuclear testing until September of 1995.

1996 - The aviation firm Fokker NV collapsed.

1998 - More than 15,000 ethnic Albanians marched in Yugoslavia to demand independence for Kosovo.

1998 - CBS' "60 Minutes" aired an interview with former White House employee Kathleen Willey. Wiley said U.S. President Clinton made unwelcome sexual advances toward her in the Oval Office in 1993.

2002 - Libyan Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi began his life sentence in a Scottish jail for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988.

2002 - In the U.S., Burger King began selling a veggie burger. The event was billed as the first veggie burger to be sold nationally by a fast food chain.

2002 - In Texas, Andrea Yates received a life sentence for drowning her five children on June 20, 2001.

2002 - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Associated Press that the U.S. would stand by a 24-year pledge not to use nuclear arms against states that don't have them.

2004 - Clive Woodall's novel "One for Sorrow: Two for Joy" was published. Two days later Woodall sold the film rights to Walt Disney Co. for $1 million.

March 16th



1190 - Crusaders began the massacre the Jews of York, England.

1521 - Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines on his circumnavigation of the globe.

1621 - Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greeted them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."

1660 - The Long Parliament disbanded.

1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden was shot; he died on March 29.

1802 - The United States Military Academy West Point was established.

1815 - Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaimed himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

1850 - Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" was first published.

1900 - Sir Arthur Evans purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.

1926 - Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.

1935 - Adolf Hitler ordered Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty.

1945 - World War II: "The Battle of Iwo Jima" ended but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.

1945 - Würzburg, Germany was 90% destroyed, with 5,000 dead, in only 20 minutes by British bombers.

1956 - St. Urho's Day was first celebrated.

1962 - A "Flying Tigers Line" Super Constellation disappeared in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 people missing.

1968 - Vietnam War: In the "My Lai Massacre" between 350 and 500 Vietnamese villagers, -- men, women, and children, were killed by American troops.

1969 - A "Venezuelan Airlines" DC-9 crashed shortly after takeoff in Maracaibo, Venezuela killing 155.

1972 - The first building of the "Pruitt-Igoe" housing complex was demolished.

1978 - Aldo Moro was kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas in Italy and was later killed by his captors.

1984 - William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, was kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later died in captivity.

1985 - Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson was taken hostage in Beirut. He would be released on December 4, 1991.

1988 - Iran-Contra Affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter were indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

1988 - The "Halabja poison gas attack". Upon direct orders from Saddan Hussein the Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing upwards of five thousand people.

1994 - Tonya Harding plead guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution by trying to cover-up an attack on figure skating rival Nancy Kerrigan.

2002- Closing ceremonies of the Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

2003 - Largest coordinated worldwide vigil, as part of the global protests against war on Iraq.

2880 - The predicted closest approach to Earth of Near-Earth object 1950 DA which might impact Earth. (OH DAMN!!! Now I'll have to worry about this for another 875 years!)

March 17th



45 BC - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeated the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the "Battle of Munda".

1673 - Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet began their exploration of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.

1756 - St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in New York City for the first time, at the Crown and Thistle Tavern.

1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuated from Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington positioned artillery overlooking the city.

1845 - The rubber band was invented.

1861 - The "Kingdom of Italy" was proclaimed.

1886 - Carrollton Massacre: 20 blacks were killed in Mississippi.

1891 - The British steamship SS Utopia sank off the coast of Gibraltar, killing 574.

1901 - A showing of 71 Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, created a sensation.

1910 - Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte founded "The Camp Fire Girls" (formally announced in 1912).

1931 - Nevada legalized gambling.

1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1932-1945): "The Battle of Nanchang" between the Kuomintang and the Japanese broke out.

1941 - In Washington, DC the "National Gallery of Art" was officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1948 - Benelux, France and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Brussels, it was a precursor to the NATO Agreement.

1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announced the creation of element 98, which they named "Californium".

1958 - The United States launched the "Vanguard 1" satellite.

1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, fled Tibet and traveled to India.

1966 - Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the "Alvin" submarine found a missing American hydrogen bomb.

1969 - Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA became Prime Minister of Israel.

1970 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charged 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.

1985 - The "Night Stalker", committed the first two murders of his Los Angeles, California murder spree.

1988 - A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashed into the side of a mountain near the Venezuelan border killing all 143 aboard.

1992 - A suicide car-bomb killed 29 and injured 242 at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

2003 - British Cabinet Minister, Robin Cook, resigned over government plans for war with Iraq.

2004 - There was massive Unrest in Kosovo. It left at least 22 dead, 200 injured, 15 destroyed Serb Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Nis.

March 18th



37 - The Roman Senate annulled Tiberius' will and proclaimed Caligula emperor.

1229 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declared himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.

1438 - Albert II of Habsburg became King of Germany.

1673 - John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sold his part of New Jersey to the Quakers.

1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repealed "The Stamp Act", which was very unpopular in the British colonies.

1850 - American Express was founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.

1865 - American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourned for the last time.

1874 - Hawaii signed a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.

1909 - Einar Dessau used a short-wave radio transmitter becoming the first to broadcast as a ham radio operator.

1913 - George I of Greece was assassinated.

1915 - World War I: Three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.

1921 - The second "Peace of Riga" between Poland and the Soviet Union. Despite recent Polish successes, the Soviets annexed Ukraine and Belarus. The government of Ukraine emigrated to France. Famine killed millions of Russians.

1922 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.

1925 - The "Tri-State Tornado" hit the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.

1937 - A natural gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas killed 298, mostly children.

1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces handed the Italian forces a grave defeat at "The Battle of Guadalajara".

1938 - Mexico nationalized all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.

1940 - World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at Brenner Pass in the Alps and agreed to form an alliance against France and Great Britain.

1945 - World War II: A fleet of 1,250 US 9th Air Force bombers attacked Berlin.

1953 - An earthquake hit western Turkey killing 250.

1959 - American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.

1961 - In Cannes, France, Jean-Claude Pascal won the sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Nous les Amoureux" (We the Lovers).

1962 - France and Algeria signed an agreement ending the Algerian War.

1962 - In Luxembourg, Isabelle Aubret won the seventh Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Un Premier Amour" (A First Love).

1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, left his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becoming the first person to walk in space.

1968 - Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repealed the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency. (Hmmm, isn't that just about when inflation took off? Coincidence, I'm sure.)

1970 - Lon Nol ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.

1971 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashed into Lake Yanahuani killing 200.

1974 - During the "Arab oil embargo", most OPEC nations ended a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.

1980 - In Russia, a "Vostok" rocket exploded on its launch pad during a fueling operation, killing 50.

1985 - The first episode of the popular soap "Neighbours" aired on Australian TV.

1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy was found in the Pyramid of Cheops.

1990 - 12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the largest art theft in US history.

1992 - Microsoft shipped the first editions of "Windows 3.1".

1997 - The tail of a Russian "An-24" charter plane broke off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and kill all 50 onboard. This lead to the grounding of all An-24s.

2000 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election: Chen Shui-bian was elected President of the Republic of China.

March 19th



1279 - A Mongolian victory at the "Battle of Yamen" ended the Song Dynasty in China.

1687 - Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, was murdered by his own men. ( I could make a French joke here but...)

1813 - Born this day: David Livingstone, missionary and explorer.

1831 - The City Bank of New York became the site of the first bank robbery in United States history; $245,000 was taken. (NICE HAUL!!!)

1848 - Born this day: Wyatt Earp, lawman and gunfighter of the Old West.

1861 - "The First Taranaki War" ended in New Zealand.

1865 - American Civil War: "The Battle of Bentonville" began. By the end of the battle two days later the Confederate forces had retreated from Greenville, North Carolina.

1915 - Pluto was photographed for the first time but was not recognized as a planet.

1916 - Eight American planes took off in pursuit of Pancho Villa, this was the very first United States air-combat mission.

1918 - The U.S. Congress established time zones and approved "daylight savings time".

1920 - The United States Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles for the second time. The first time was on November 19, 1919.

1932 - The Sydney Harbour Bridge opened.

1942 - The Thoroughbred Racing Association was established in Chicago, Illinois.

1944 - World War II: Nazi forces occuppied Hungary.

1945 - World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a kamikaze dive bomber hit the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.

1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issued his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.

1946 - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion became overseas départements of France. (Yawn!)

1950 - Died this day: Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of "Tarzan" (b. 1875).

1953 - The Academy Awards were first televised.

1954 - Joey Giardello knocked out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in boxing's the first televised prize fight shown in color.

1962 - During "The Algerian War of Independence" a ceasefire took effect.

1963 - Saxophonist Stan Getz records Getz/Gilberto, including "The Girl from Ipanema", sung by Astrud and João Gilberto.

1972 - India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty. (No comment)

1978 - UN Security Council "Resolution 425 & 426" were passed, calling upon Israel to immediately to cease its military actions and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory (Operation Litani), and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

1979 - The United States House of Representatives began broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network "C-SPAN".

1981 - Three workers were killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

1982 - The Falklands War: Argentine troops landed on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with Britain.

1987 - Following a scandal involving Jessica Hahn, televangelist Jim Bakker resigned from the PTL.

2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: "Operation Anaconda" ended (started on March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.

2003 - The invasion of Iraq began (with the time difference, it actually began on March 20 at 0100 UTC).

2004 - The "Äänekoski Bus Disaster" - A semi and a bus crashed head-on in Äänekoski, Finland. 24 people were killed and 13 injured.

2004 - A Swedish DC-3, shot down by a Russian Mig-15 in the 1950's, was finally recovered after years of work. The remains of the crew were left in place, pending further investigations.

2004 - Taiwanese president Chen Shui-ban was shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20.

March 20th



43 BC – Born this day: The poet Ovid.

1413 – Died this day: King Henry IV of England, (b. 1367)

1413 – Henry V became King of England.

1602 – "The Dutch East India Company" was established.

1727 – Died this day: Sir Isaac Newton, English physicist, (b. 1642)

1739 – Nadir Shah occupied Delhi in India and sacked the city, stealing the jewels of the "Peacock Throne".

1760 – "The Great Fire" of Boston destroyed 349 buildings.

1815 – Napoleon entered Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.

1848 – King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicated.

1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic tale "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was first published.

1883 – The "Signature of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property" took place.

1899 – At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place became the first woman executed in an electric chair. (Hmmm, maybe not the kind of thing ya' wanna be remebered for there, Martha.)

1904 – Aleister Crowley invoked Horus in Egypt and declared the start of the New Aeon known as "The Aeon Of The Crowned And Conquering Child." (Been partaking of a few too many recreational pharmaceuticals of late, Aleister?)

1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese nationalist party (KMT), was wounded in an assassination attempt and died two days later.

1914 – In New Haven, Connecticut, the first international figure skating championship took place.

1916 – Albert Einstein published his "Theory of Relativity".

1917 – Born this day: Dame Vera Lynn British singer and actress.

1922 – The "USS Langley" was commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.

1928 – Born this day: "Mr. Rogers" Fred Rogers, children's television host.

1933 – Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, was completed.

1942 – General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie in South Australia, made his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he said: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".

1952 – The United States Senate ratified a peace treaty with Japan. (Took long enough!)

1956 – Tunisia gained its independence from France.

1964 – The precursor of the "European Space Agency", ESRO (European Space Research Organization) was established as per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.

1966 – The World Cup was stolen from "Central Hall" in London.

1969 – The marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono took place.

1974 – A failed kidnap attempt was made on Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in "The Mall", outside Buckingham Palace in London.

1976 – Patty Hearst was found guilty of the armed robbery of a San Francisco, California bank.

1979 – The "REXX" programming language was created.

1985 – Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the 1,135-mile "Iditarod" dog sled race.

1986 – Jacques Chirac became Prime Minister of France.

1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approved the anti-AIDS drug "AZT".

1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, went on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.

1993 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at Warrington in northwest England, killing two children.

1995 – The "Sarin Gas Attack" took place on the Tokyo subway killing 12 and injuring 1300 people.

1996 – In Los Angeles, California Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez were found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents. (But they're just poor misunderstood boys!)

2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, was captured after a gun battle that left a Georgia sheriff's deputy dead. (Another poor misunderstood lad!)

2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries began military operations in Iraq.

March 21st



1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer was burned at the stake. (Gave a less than stellar sermon did you, Tommy?)

1685 - Born this day: Johann Sebastian Bach, composer.

1788 - A fire destroyed 856 buildings in New Orleans and left most of the town in ruins.

1800 - With the church leadership driven out of the Vatican during an armed conflict Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice, with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.

1801 - "The Battle of Alexandria" was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.

1804 - "Code Napoléon" was adopted as French civil law.

1857 - An earthquake in Tokyo, Japan killed over 100,000.

1919 - The "Chinese High School" was established in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee.

1918 - World War I: "The Second Battle of the Somme" began.

1928 - Charles Lindbergh was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for his first ever "solo" trans-Atlantic flight.

1935 - Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, which means "Land of the Aryans".

1940 - Paul Reynaud became Prime Minister of France. (Short lived job huh, Paul?)

1945 - World War II: British troops liberated Mandalay, Burma.

1952 - Alan Freed presented the "Moondog Coronation Ball", the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.

1960 - Apartheid: "The Sharpeville Massacre". South African police opened fire on a group of unarmed black demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.

1963 - Alcatraz, the federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closed.

1964 - In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti won the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Non ho l'età" (I'm not old enough).

1965 - Ranger program: NASA launched "Ranger 9" which was the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.

1970 - Vinko Bogataj crashed during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image became that of the "agony of defeat" guy in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports.

1970 - In Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dana won the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "All Kinds of Everything".

1980 - President Jimmy Carter announced a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.

1980 - On the season finale of the nighttime soap opera Dallas, Larry Hagman's infamous character J.R. Ewing was shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"

1985 - Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen began his "Man in Motion" wheelchair circumnavigation of the globe in support of spinal cord injury medical research. It would take him more than 2 years to successfully complete the task.

1989 - Sports Illustrated reported allegations that tied baseball player Pete Rose to game related gambling.

1990 - Namibia became independent after 75 years of South African rule (oppression).

1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.

2001 - Died this day: Chung Ju-young, founder of "The Hyundai Group" (b. 1915).

2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects were charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

2004 - In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections were held, returning the ruling coalition "Barisan National" to power with an increased majority.

March 22nd



238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II were proclaimed Roman emperors.

1621 - The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.

1622 - Jamestown massacre: Algonquian Indians killed 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, wholly a third of the colony's population.

1638 - Anne Hutchinson was expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for "religious dissent".

1765 - The British Parliament passed "The Stamp Act", the first direct tax levied from England on the American colonies.

1809 - Charles XIII succeeded Gustav IV Adolf to the Swedish throne.

1871 - In North Carolina, William Woods Holden became the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.

1888 - The "Football League" (present day NFL) was formed.

1894 - The first playoff game for the Stanley Cup started.

1895 - The first display (a private screening) of motion pictures by Auguste and Louis Lumière took place.

1896 - Died this day: Thomas Hughes, novelist (b. 1822)

1908 - Born this day: Louis L'Amour, author of Western novels (d. 1988).

1920 - Born this day: Werner Klemperer, actor; best known as "Col. Klink" (d. 2000)

1931 - Born this day: William Shatner, actor; best known as Star Trek's "Captain James T. Kirk".

1939 - Prelude to World War II: Germany took Memel from Lithuania.

1941 - Washington state's Grand Coulee Dam began to generate electricity.

1945 - "The Arab League" was founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.

1954 - Closed since 1939, the London gold market reopened.

1958 - Faisal became King of Saudi Arabia.

1960 - Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Townes received the first patent for a laser.

1965 - Bob Dylan goes electric by releasing his first album featuring electric instruments, "Bringing It All Back Home".

1975 - A fire at the Brown's Ferry nuclear reactor in Decatur, Alabama caused a dangerous lowering of cooling water levels.

1975 - In Stockholm, Sweden the group Teach-In won the twentieth Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands, singing "Ding-a-dong."

1978 - Karl Wallenda of the Flying Wallendas died after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Pushed your luck a little too far, Karl?)

1984 - Teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California were charged with Satanic ritual abuse of the children in the school. The charges were later dropped as completely unfounded.

1993 - The Intel Corporation shipped the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path. (Hmmm, it seemed impressive back then!)

1995 - Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returned after setting a record of 438 days in space.

1997 - Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, became the youngest champion of the women's world figure skating competition.

2001 - Died this day: William Hanna, animator and co-founder of Hanna-Barbera cartoon studios.

2233 - James T. Kirk, Captain of Star Trek's U.S.S. Enterprise. (By sheer coincidence, the same calendar day that actor William Shatner was born 301 years earlier...hmmm)

March 23rd



752 - Stephen II became Pope.

1568 - The "Peace of Longjumeau" ended the Second War of Religion in France. Again Catherine de Medici and Charles IX of France made substantial concessions to the Huguenots.

1708 - James Francis Edward Stuart landed at the Firth of Forth.

1775 - American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivered his famous "give me liberty or give me death" speech in Williamsburg, Virginia.

1801 - Tsar Paul I of Russia was struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael Palace. (Officials said it was one of the worst cases of suicide they'd ever seen!)

1806 - After traveling through the lands of "The Louisiana Purchase" and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark along with their "Corps of Discovery" began their long journey home.

1839 - The first recorded use of "OK" as an abbreviation for "oll korrect" in the Boston Morning Post. (Slow news day.)

1848 - John Wickliffe arrived at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province was founded.

1857 - Elisha Otis's first elevator was installed at 488 Broadway, New York City.

1868 - The University of California was founded in Oakland, California when the "Organic Act" was signed into law.

1889 - Land rush: President Benjamin Harrison opened Oklahoma to white settlement, starting on April 22 that year.

1889 - Free Woolwich Ferry officially opened in east London.

1903 - After much hard work the Wright Brothers applied for a patent on their invention of the first successful airplane. (Methinks this may have taken place on this date in 1904 following their first successful flight in December 1903.)

1909 - Theodore Roosevelt left New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip was sponsored by both the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society.

1919 - In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement.

1929 - Born this day: Sir Roger Bannister, athlete; runner of the first 4 minute mile in 1954.

1931 - The Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt embraced gallows during the Indian struggle for independence. Their request to be shot by a firing squad was refused.

1933 - The Reichstag passed "The Enabling Act", making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

1935 - The signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines took place.

1940 - The famous Pakistan Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) was put forward at the Annual General Convention of the "All India Muslim League".

1942: The U.S. government turned on its own citizens and began moving Americans of Japanese descent to internment camps. This move was soon followed by Canada.

1942 - World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces captured the Anadaman Islands.

1956 - Pakistan became the first Islamic republic in the world.

1963 - In London, England Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann won the eighth Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark singing "Dansevise" (Dancing tune).

1964 - Died this day: Peter Lorre, actor (b. 1904).

1965 - NASA launched Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).

1978 - The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission along the "Blue Line".

1983 - Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan made his initial "Star Wars" proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.

1983 - Died this day: Dr. Barney Clark, the first artificial heart recipient.

1989 - Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announced that they had achieved cold fusion at the University of Utah.

1989 - A 1,000-foot diameter "Near-Earth" asteroid missed the Earth by 400,000 miles.

1994 - At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated.

1996 - The Republic of China (Taiwan) held its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.

1999 - Gunmen assassinated Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.

2001 - The Russian Mir space station was disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

Edit note: Typo.

This post has been edited at member's request.Ron,

March 24th



1603 - James I became King of England. (One of history's darker days.)

1765 - American Revolutionary War: Great Britain passes "The Quartering Act" that requires the 13 American colonies to house British troops.

1832 - In Hiram, Ohio a group of men first beat, then tarred and feathered Mormon leader Joseph Smith, Jr.

1868 - Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was formed.

1878 - The British frigate "Eurydice" sinks, killing 300.

1882 - Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (mycobacterium tuberculosis).

1898 - Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania became the first person to buy an American-built automobile when he purchased a Winton automobile that was advertised in "Scientific American".

1900 - New York City Mayor Van Wyck broke ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1944 - Tragedy in the Polish village Markowa. A patrol of German police appeared at the house of Wiktoria and J�zef Ulm. There they found 8 Jews; the Szall and Goldman families. First the Germans executed (murdered) all the Jews. Then they shot down pregnant Wiktoria and her husband. When 6 children began to scream at the scene of their parents dead bodies, Gestapo officer Jozef Kokott killed them as well. (This lovely little tale made possible courtesy the nice people who brought you the Holocaust.)

1944 - In an event now known as "The Great Escape", 76 prisoners broke out of the German POW camp Stalag Luft III.

1965 - NASA spacecraft "Ranger 9", equipped to convert its signals into a form suitable for showing on domestic television, brought images of the Moon into ordinary homes before crash-landing on the lunar surface.

1972 - Great Britain imposed "Direct Rule" over Northern Ireland.

1973 - Kenyan track runner Kip Keino defeated Jim Ryun at the first-ever professional track meet in Los Angeles, sanctioned by the International Track Association.

1973 - Rock band Pink Floyd released the classic "Dark Side of the Moon", which would go on to become one of the most influential and commercially successful albums of all-time.

1976 - Argentina's military forces deposed president Isabel Per�n.

1976 - Bernard "Monty" Montgomery, British WWII Field Marshal (b. 1887).

1980 - Archbishop �scar Romero was killed by gunmen while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.

1989 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spilled 240,000 barrels of oil after running aground.

1998 - Jonesboro massacre: In Jonesboro, Arkansas, two boys (aged 11 and 13 years) fired upon students at Westside Middle School. Four students and one teacher were killed and 10 others injured.

1999 - Kosovo War: NATO commenced air bombardment against Yugoslavia. This marked the first time NATO had attacked a sovereign country.

2001 - Apple Computer released "Mac OS X" version 10.0.

2003 - The Arab League voted 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of US and British soldiers from Iraq. (I guess the Aussies were allowed to stay.)

March 25th

708 - Constantine was consecrated Pope.

1306 - Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland.

1409 - The Council of Pisa opened.

1634 - The first settlers, led by Lord Baltimore, arrived in Maryland.

1655 - "Titan", Saturn's largest moon, was discovered by Christian Huygens.

1802 - The Treaty of Amiens was signed as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace" between France and Britain. (Somebody had best clue in Napolean to this little agreement!)

1807 - "The Slave Trade Act" became law, abolishing slavery in Great Britain and Ireland.

1821 - Greece declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire, beginning the "Greek War of Independence".

1865 - The "Claywater Meteorite" exploded just before reaching ground level in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Fragments having a combined mass of 1.5 kg were recovered.

1865 - American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces captured Fort Stedman from the Union.

1894 - "Coxey's Army", the first significant American protest march, departed Massillon, Ohio for Washington D.C..

1901 - At the five-day "Week of Nice" race in Nice, France, Mercedes won its first racing victory.

1911 - In New York City the "Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire" killed 146 garment workers.

1918 - The Belarusian National Republic was established.

1924 - Greece proclaimed itself a republic.

1928 - Born this day: Jim Lovell, astronaut.

1931 - "The Scottsboro Boys" were arrested in Alabama and charged with rape.

1939 - Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli became Pope Pius XII.

1941 - The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joined the Axis powers.

1947 - Born this day: Elton John, musician and entertainer.

1947 - A Centralia, Illinois coal mine explosion killed 111 miners.

1955 - United States Customs seized Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" as obscene.

1957 - The European Economic Community (EEC) was established with West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg as its founding members.

1960 - In London, Jacqueline Boyer won the fifth Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Tom Pillibi".

1965 - Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. successfully completed their 4 day 50 mile march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

1969 - During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held a "bed-in" for peace in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel (until March 31).

1971 - Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army began "Operation Searchlight" against East Pakistani civilians.

1972 - In Edinburgh, Scotland Vicky Leandros won the seventeenth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Après Toi" (After You).

1975 - King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by a mentally ill nephew.

1979 - The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, was delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

1990 - In New York City, a fire at an illegal social club called "Happy Land" killed 87 patrons and staff.

1992 - Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the "Mir" space station.

1995 - Ward Cunningham opened the first wiki, the Portland Pattern Repository.

1996 - An 81-day long standoff between the antigovernment group "Montana Freemen" and law enforcement in Jordan, Montana began.

1996 - The EU's Veterinarian Committee banned the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (BSE).

2004 - Air Holland filed for bankruptcy when unproven allegations of marijuana abuse by the their pilots led them to insolvency.

March 26th


1026 - Conrad II was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XIX.

1799 - Napoleon captured Jaffa Palestine.

1780 - The British Gazette and Sunday Monitor was published for the first time. It was the first Sunday newspaper in Britain.

1793 - The Holy Roman Emperor formally declared war on France.

1804 - The U.S. Congress ordered the removal of Indians east of the Mississippi to Louisiana.

1804 - The Louisiana Purchase was divided into the District of Louisiana and the Territory of Orleans.

1854 - Charles III, duke of Parma, was attacked by an assassin. He died the next day.

1871 - The Paris Commune was formally set up.

1878 - Hastings College of Law was founded.

1885 - Eastman Kodak (Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co.) produced the first commercial motion picture film in Rochester, NY.

1898 - In South Africa, the world's first game reserve, the Sabi Game reserve, was designated.

1909 - Russian troops invaded Persia to support Muhammad Ali as shah in place of the constitutional government.

1910 - The U.S. Congress passed an amendment to the 1907 Immigration Act that barred criminals, paupers, anarchists and carriers of disease from settling in the U.S.

1913 - During the Balkan War, the Bulgarians took Adrianople.

1917 - At the start of the battle of Gaza, the British cavalry withdrew when 17,000 Turks blocked their advance.

1937 - Spinach growers in Crystal City, TX, erected a statue of Popeye.

1938 - Herman Goering warned all Jews to leave Austria.

1942 - The Germans began sending Jews to Auschwitz in Poland.

1945 - The battle of Iwo Jima ended.

1945 - In the Aleutians, the battle of Komandorski began when the Japanese attempted to reinforce a garrison at Kiska and were intercepted by a U.S. naval force.

1951 - The U.S. Air Force flag was approved. The flag included the coat of arms, 13 white stars and the Air Force seal on a blue background.

1953 - Dr. Jonas Salk announced a new vaccine that would prevent poliomyelitis.

1956 - Red Buttons made his debut as a television actor in "Studio One" on CBS television.

1958 - The U.S. Army launched America's third successful satellite, Explorer III.

1962 - The U.S. Supreme Court supported the 1-man-1-vote apportionment of seats in the State Legislature.

1969 - The TV movie "Marcus Welby" was seen on ABC-TV. It was later turned into a series.

1971 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared East Pakistan to be the independent republic of Bangladesh.

1971 - "Cannon" premiered on CBS-TV as a movie. It was turned into a series later in the year.

1972 - The Los Angeles Lakers broke a National Basketball Association (NBA) record by winning 69 of their 82 games.

1973 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat took over the premiership and said "the stage of total confrontation (with Israel) has become inevitable."

1973 - Women were allowed on the floor of the London Stock Exchange for the first time.

1979 - The Camp David treaty was signed by Israel and Egypt that ended the 31-year state of war between the countries.

1982 - Ground breaking ceremonies were held in Washington, DC, for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1989 - The first free elections took place in the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin was elected.

1991 - The presidents of Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay signed an agreement that established the Southern Cone Common Market, a free-trade zone, by January 1, 1995.

1992 - In Indianapolis, heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was found guilty of rape. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison. He only served three.

1995 - Seven of the 15 European Union states abolished border controls.

1996 - The International Monetary Fund approved a $10.2 billion loan for Russia to help the country transform its economy.

1997 - The 39 bodies of Heaven's Gate members are found in a mansion in Santa Fe, CA. The group had committed suicide thinking that they would be picked up by a spaceship following behind the comet Hale-Bopp.

1998 - In the U.S., the Federal government endorses new HIV test that yields instant results.

1998 - Unisys Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. pay a $3.15 million fine for selling spare parts at inflated prices to the U.S. federal government.

1999 - The macro virus "Melissa" was reported for the first.

1999 - In Michigan, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a terminally ill man a lethal injection and putting it all on videotape on September 17, 1998 for "60 Minutes."

2000 - The Seattle Kingdome was imploded to make room for a new football arena.

2000 - In Russia, acting President Vladimir Putin was elected president outright. He won a sufficient number of votes to avoid a runoff election.