Today In The Past
Events
44 BC – Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March.
221 – Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself emperor of Shu-Han and claims his legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty.
351 – Constantius II elevates his cousin Gallus to Caesar, and puts him in charge of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
493 – Theodorik the Great beats Odoaker of Italy
933 – Battle at Riade: German King Henry I beats Magyaren
1311 – Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.
1360 – France invasion army lands on English south coast, conquers Winchel
1382 – Conservative “Popolo Grasso” regain power in Florence Italy
1391 – Jew hating Monk in Seville Spain stirs up people to attack Jews
1493 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after 1st new world voyage
1545 – First meeting of the Council of Trent.
1560 – Failed assault on royal palace in Amboise France
1580 – Spanish king Philip II puts 25,000 gold coins on head of prince Willem of Orange
1672 – King Charles II enacts Declaration of Indulgence
1729 – Sister St Stanislas Hachard, 1st US nun, takes her vows, N Orleans
1778 – Nootka Sound, Vancouver Is discovered by Capt Cook
1781 – Battle of Guilford Court House, SC (British suffer heavy losses)
1783 – In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d’etat never takes place.
1820 – Maine admitted as 23rd state
1827 – Freedom’s Journal, 1st Black newspaper, publishes
1827 – University of Toronto is chartered
1848 – A revolution breaks out in Hungary. The Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party.
1862 – Gen John Hunt Morgan begins 4 days of raids near Gallatin, TN
1864 – Red River Campaign-Union forces reach Alexandria, LA
1867 – Michigan becomes 1st state to tax property to support a university
1869 – Cincinnati Red Stockings become the 1st pro baseball team
1875 – 1st US cardinal (John McCloskey) invested
1887 – 1st salaried fish & game warden (William Alden Smith in Michigan)
1889 – 6 US & German warships perish in harbor of Apia Samoa, 200 die
Ships At Anchor Before The Hurricane
German Corvette Olga
SMS Adler
German Warship Eber
1892 – 1st escalator patented by inventor Jesse W Reno (NYC)
1892 – NY State unveils automatic ballot booth (voting machine)
1897 – 1st indoor fly casting tournament opens, at Madison Square Garden
1901 – Horse racing is banned in San Francisco, last race Mar 16th
1906 – Brits Rolls, Royce & Johnson form Rolls Royce Ltd
1912 – Pitcher Cy Young retires from baseball with 511 wins
1913 – 1st presidential press conference (Woodrow Wilson)
1915 – Neth merchant ship Tubantia torpedoed & sinks in North Sea
1916 – Gen Pershing, 15,000 troops chasing Villa into Mexico, stays 10-mos
1919 – American Legion forms (Paris)
1923 – Lenin is hit with his 3rd stroke
1930 – 1st seaplane glider flown, Port Washington, NY
1930 – 1st streamlined submarine of US navy, USS Nautilus, launched
1937 – 1st state contraceptive clinic opens (Raleigh NC)
1941 – Blizzard in ND kills 151
1943 – Red Army evacuates Kharkov
1944 – Italian town of Cassino destroyed by Allied bombing
1945 – Bert Shepard (1 legged WW II vet) tries out as a pitcher for Senators
1945 – Billboard publishes its 1st album chart (King Cole Trio is #1)
1947 – John Lee appointed 1st black commissioned officer in US Navy
1952 – Greatest 24-hr rainfall begins: 187 cm at La Reunion, Indian Ocean
1954 – “CBS Morning Show” premieres with Walter Cronkite & Jack Paar
1955 – US Air Force unveils self-guided missile
1957 – 3rd nation to explode a nuclear bomb (Britain)
1959 – Robert Foster sets record by staying underwater 13 m 42.5 s
1960 – Key Largo(Pennekamp) Coral Reef Preserve established (1st underwater park)
1960 – National Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona dedicated
1962 – 5 research groups announce simultaneously discovery of anti-matter
1962 – Donald Jackson of Canada, is 1st to land a triple lutz ice skate jump
1962 – Wilt Chamberlain is 1st to score 4,000 pts in an NBA season
1964 – LBJ asks for a War on Poverty
1965 – T.G.I. Friday’s 1st restaurant opens in NYC
1966 – Racial riots erupt in the Watts section of Los Angeles
1968 – Bob Beamon sets indoor long jump record (27’2-3/4″)
1968 – LIFE mag calls Jimi Hendrix “most spectacular guitarist in the world”
1968 – US Mint stops buying & selling gold
1969 – US Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigns
1969 – Violent Chinese-Russian border dispute leaves 100s dead
1971 – Chatrooms make their debut on the Internet
1972 – Assassination attempt on governor George Wallace of Alabama
1972 – NASA selects 3 part configuration for Space Shuttle
1975 – Bundy victim Julie Cunningham disappears from Vail, Colo
1977 – “Eight is Enough” premiers on ABC-TV
1977 – US House of Reps begin 90 day test of televising its sessions
1978 – -21] operation Litani: Israeli offensive in South Lebanon
1982 – Nicaragua suspends their citizens rights for 30 days
1985 – The first Internet domain name is registered (symbolics.com).
1986 – Funeral services held for Swedish PM Olaf Palme
1988 – Eugene Marino of Atlanta, appointed 1st African American archbishop
1988 – NASA reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer by CFK
1989 – Dept of Veterans Affairs officially established as a Cabinet position
1989 – NY Rangers retire goalie Eddie Giacomin’s #1 uniform
1991 – 4 LA police are charged with beating Rodney King
1991 – Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record 6.14m (20 feet 1 3/4)
1992 – UN officially embarks on its largest peacekeeping operation
1999 – Pluto again becomes outermost planet
2004 – Announcement of the discovery of 90377 Sedna, the farthest natural object in the Solar system so far observed.
Births
76 – Hadrian, Roman Emperor (builder of Hadrian’s Wall)
938 – Romanos II, Byzantine emperor (d. 963)
1275 – Margaret Plantagenet, English princess (d. 1318)
1493 – Anne Pierre Adrien duke of Montmorency, marshal of France
1591 – Alexandre de Rhodes, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1660)
1638 – Shunzhi Emperor of China
1666 – George Bähr, German architect (Frauenkirche, Dresden). Died 1738
1713 – Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, astronomer who mapped the So Hemisphere
1767 – Andrew Jackson, Carolinas, General/(D) 7th pres (1829-37)
1790 – Ludwig Immanuel Magnus, German mathematician (d. 1861)
1801 – Coenraad J van Houten, Dutch cocoa manufacturer
1811 – Robert Allen, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1886
1813 – John Snow, English epidemiologist (d. 1858)
1821 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician (d. 1881)
1821 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian scientist (d. 1895)
1830 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer (d. 1905)
1831 – Edward Aylesworth Perry, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1835 – John Henrie Kagi, American abolitionist (d. 1859)
1854 – Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician; Nobel laureate (d. 1917)
1858 – Liberty Hyde Bailey, US botanist (Plantbreeding)
1866 – Johan Vaaler, Norwegian inventor (d. 1910)
1868 – Grace Chisholm Young, English mathematician (d. 1944)
1873 – Lee Shubert, producer (theatres in NY & LA named after him)
1874 – Harold L Ickes, social activist, New Deal politician
1887 – Marjorie Merriweather Post, American socialite and businesswoman (d. 1973)
1892 – James Basevi Ord, US army officer (d. 1938)
1901 – J Pat O’Malley, England, actor (Touch of Grace, Gunn, Star!)
1905 – Berthold Schenck von Stauffenberg, attempted to assassinate Hitler
1905 – Joe E Ross, comedian (Gunther Toody-Car 54, Ritzik-Phil Silvers Show)
1907 – Jimmy McPartland, jazz trumpeteer/actor (Magic Horn)
1912 – Duncan Stuart Wilson-MacDonald, fighter pilot
1912 – Lightnin‘ [Sam] Hopkins, Texas, blues guitarist (Lightnin’s Blues)
1913 – Jack Fairman, British racing driver (d. 2002)
1914 – Aniello Dellacroce, American gangster (d. 1985)
1916 – Geert Lubberhuizen, publisher (Busy Bee)1916 – Harry James, Albany Ga, trumpeter (married to Betty Grable)
1920 – Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998)
1920 – E. Donnall Thomas, American physician, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
1923 – George Vogel, race horse trainer
1923 – Laurence A Tisch, NYC, CEO (Loews Corp)
1924 – Juij Bondarew, writer
1926 – Norm Van Brocklin, NFL QB/coach (LA Rams), hall of famer
1927 – Carl Smith, Maynardville Tn, country singer (Grand Ole Opry)
1927 – Philip Vincent Belloc Jebb, architect
1930 – Zhores Ivanovich Alferov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1932 – Alan Lavern Bean, Wheeler Texas, Capt USN/astronaut (Ap 12, Skylab 3)
1932 – David Alliance, Iran/British textile factory/multi-millionaire
1933 – Cecil Perceval Taylor, composer/jazz pianist (U of Wisconsin)
1935 – Jimmy Lee Swaggart, evangelist
1935 – Judd Hirsch, Bronx, actor (Alex-Taxi, Dear John, Ordinary People)
1940 – Phil Lesh, [Chapman], California, rock bassist (Grass Roots, Grateful Dead)
1941 – Mike Love, California, rock saxophonist/vocalist (Beachboys-In My Room)
1943 – David Cronenberg, Toronto Ontario, director (Shivers, Fly, Brood)
1944 – David Costell, Pitts, rocker (Gary Lewis & the Playboys-Diamond Ring)
1944 – Sly Stone, Dallas, rocker (Sly & the Family Stone-Everyday People)
1945 – Jorgen Sundelin, Sweden, yachtsmen (Olympic-gold-1968)
1946 – Bobby Bonds, baseball player (Giants, Yankees, etc)
1946 – Howard Scott, San Pedro Cal, rock guitarist/vocalist (War, Cisco Kid)
1947 – Ry[land] Cooder, LA, blues guitarist (Crossroads)
1947 – Tomas Pettersson, Sweden, cyclist (Olympic-silver-1968)
1955 – Dee Snider, Massapequa NY, (Twisted Sister-We’re Not Gonna Take It)
1957 – Park Overall, Tenn, actress (Laverne-Empty Nest, Mississippi Burning)
1959 – Renny Harlin, Finnish film director
1961 – Fabio [Lanzoni], Italy, romance novels model (Fabio After Dark)
1962 – Terrence Trent D’Arby, NYC, rock vocalist (Wishing Well)
1963 – Bret Michaels, Harrisburg Pa, guitarist (Poison-Talk Dirty to Me)
1968 – John Tardy, US heavy metalist (Obituary, Slowly We Rot)
1968 – Mark McGrath, American musician (Sugar Ray)
1968 – Jon Schaffer, American guitarist (Iced Earth)
1971 – Penny Lancaster, English model
1974 – John “Beatz” Holohan, American musician
1975 – Will.i.am, American musician
1976 – Jennifer 8. Lee, American journalist
1978 – Takeru Kobayashi, Japanese competitive eater
1978 – Sid Wilson, American musician (Slipknot)
1979 – Kevin Youkilis, American baseball player
1985 – Antti Autti, Finnish snowboarder
1985 – Tom Chilton, British racing driver
Deaths
44 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman military and political figure, is stabbed to death at 55
220 – Cao Cao, King of Wei (b. 155)
493 – Odiaker (Odoacer), German army leader/King of Italy (476-93), murdered
752 – Zachary, Greek/Italian Pope (741-52), dies [or Mar 22]
963 – Romanus II, Byzantine emperor (959-63), dies at 25
1034 – Mieszko II, King of Poland (1025-34), dies
1145 – Pope Lucius II
1311 – Walter V of Brienne, Duke of Athens at the Battle of Halmyros
1670 – John Davenport, Connecticut pioneer (b. 1597)
1881 – Emory Upton, US Union Major-Gen (Selma), commits suicide at 42
1891 – Joseph Bazalgette, English civil engineer (b. 1819)
1898 – Henry Bessemer, English metallurgist (b. 1813)
1929 – Pine-Top Smith, jazz pianist (Boogie Woogie Piano), dies at 24
1937 – H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (b. 1890)
1951 – John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-born astronomer (b. 1889)
1966 – Abe Saperstein, founder (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at 63
1975 – Aristotle S Onassis, Greek shipping magnate, dies at 69
1983 – Rebecca West, English writer (b. 1892)
1990 – Tom Harmon, NFL tail back (Heisman Trophy), dies at 70
1990 – Farzad Bazoft, Iranian-born journalist (hanged) (b. 1958)
1991 – Budd [Lawrence] Freeman, US jazz saxophonist (Eel), dies at 84
1994 – Mae Zetterling, Swedish actress (Night Games), dies at 68
1995 – Florence Chadwick, American swimmer, dies at 86
2003 – Paul Stojanovich, Reality TV pioneer (b. 1956)
2004 – Sir William Pickering, New Zealand-born space scientist (b. 1910)
2004 – John Pople, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
2005 – Shoji Nishio, Japanese martial artist (b. 1927)
2007 – Charles Harrelson, American hitman and father of Woody Harrelson (b. 1938)
2007 – Bowie Kuhn, American commissioner of baseball (b. 1926)
2008 – Mikey Dread,Jamaican singer (b. 1954)
2009 – Ron Silver, American actor (b. 1946)
2011 – Nate Dogg, American rapper, Nathaniel Dwayne Hale. (b. 1969)
2011 – Smiley Culture, British reggae singer, David Victor Emmanuel. (b. 1962)
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