http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Mar 15, 44 B.C.: The Ides of March
Gaius Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome, is stabbed to death in the Roman Senate house by 60 conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus.
Caesar, born into the Julii, an ancient but not particularly distinguished Roman aristocratic family, began his political career in 78 B.C. as a prosecutor for the anti-patrician Popular Party. He won influence in the party for his reformist ideas and oratorical skills, and aided Roman imperial efforts by raising a private army to combat the king of Pontus in 74 B.C. He was an ally of Pompey, the recognized head of the Popular Party, and essentially took over this position after Pompey left Rome in 67 B.C. to become commander of Roman forces in the east.
In 63 B.C., Caesar was elected pontifex maximus, or "high priest," allegedly by heavy bribes. Two years later, he was made governor of Farther Spain and in 64 B.C. returned to Rome, ambitious for the office of consul. The consulship, essentially the highest office in the Roman Republic, was shared by two politicians on an annual basis. Consuls commanded the army, presided over the Senate and executed its decrees, and represented the state in foreign affairs. Caesar formed a political alliance--the so-called First Triumvirate--with Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, and in 59 B.C. was elected consul. Although generally opposed by the majority of the Roman Senate, Caesar's land reforms won him popularity with many Romans.
In 58 B.C., Caesar was given four Roman legions in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, and during the next decade demonstrated brilliant military talents as he expanded the Roman Empire and his reputation. Among other achievements, Caesar conquered all of Gaul, made the first Roman inroads into Britain, and won devoted supporters in his legions. However, his successes also aroused Pompey's jealousy, leading to the collapse of their political alliance in 53 B.C.
The Roman Senate supported Pompey and asked Caesar to give up his army, which he refused to do. In January 49 B.C., Caesar led his legions across the Rubicon River from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy, thus declaring war against Pompey and his forces. Caesar made early gains in the subsequent civil war, defeating Pompey's army in Italy and Spain, but was later forced into retreat in Greece. In August 48 B.C., with Pompey in pursuit, Caesar paused near Pharsalus, setting up camp at a strategic location. When Pompey's senatorial forces fell upon Caesar's smaller army, they were entirely routed, and Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated by an officer of the Egyptian king.
Caesar was subsequently appointed Roman consul and dictator, but before settling in Rome he traveled around the empire for several years and consolidated his rule. In 45 B.C., he returned to Rome and was made dictator for life. As sole Roman ruler, Caesar launched ambitious programs of reform within the empire. The most lasting of these was his establishment of the Julian calendar, which, with the exception of a slight modification and adjustment in the 16th century, remains in use today. He also planned new imperial expansions in central Europe and to the east. In the midst of these vast designs, he was assassinated on March 15, 44 B.C., by a group of conspirators who believed that his death would lead to the restoration of the Roman Republic. However, the result of the "Ides of March" was to plunge Rome into a fresh round of civil wars, out of which Octavian, Caesar's grand-nephew, would emerge as Augustus, the first Roman emperor, destroying the republic forever.
Mar 15, 1939: Nazis take Czechoslovakia
On this day, Hitler's forces invade and occupy Czechoslovakia--a nation sacrificed on the altar of the Munich Pact, which was a vain attempt to prevent Germany's imperial aims.
On September 30, 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact, which sealed the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing it over to Germany in the name of peace. Although the agreement was to give into Hitler's hands only the Sudentenland, that part of Czechoslovakia where 3 million ethnic Germans lived, it also handed over to the Nazi war machine 66 percent of Czechoslovakia's coal, 70 percent of its iron and steel, and 70 percent of its electrical power. Without those resources, the Czech nation was left vulnerable to complete German domination.
No matter what concessions the Czech government attempted to make to appease Hitler, whether dissolving the Communist Party or suspending all Jewish teachers in ethnic-German majority schools, rumors continued to circulate about "the incorporation of Czechoslovakia into the Reich." In fact, as early as October 1938, Hitler made it clear that he intended to force the central Czechoslovakian government to give Slovakia its independence, which would make the "rump" Czech state "even more completely at our mercy," remarked Hermann Goering. Slovakia indeed declared its "independence" (in fact, complete dependence on Germany) on March 14, 1939, with the threat of invasion squelching all debate within the Czech province.
Then, on March 15, 1939, during a meeting with Czech President Emil Hacha--a man considered weak, and possibly even senile--Hitler threatened a bombing raid against Prague, the Czech capital, unless he obtained from Hacha free passage for German troops into Czech borders. He got it. That same day, German troops poured into Bohemia and Moravia. The two provinces offered no resistance, and they were quickly made a protectorate of Germany. By evening, Hitler made a triumphant entry into Prague.
The Munich Pact, which according to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had purchased "peace in our time," was actually a mere negotiating ploy by the Hitler, only temporarily delaying the Fuhrer's blood and land lust.
Mar 15, 1989: Gorbachev calls for radical agricultural reform
In a dramatic indication of just how far he wants his reforms to go, General Secretary of the Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev calls for an end to the Soviet agricultural bureaucracy and the introduction of free market principles. Gorbachev's speech was an indication that his economic program in the Soviet Union was suffering serious troubles--problems that eventually led to the collapse of his government and the Soviet Union in December 1991.
By 1989, the Soviet economy was reeling, and one of the biggest problem areas was agriculture. The Soviet centralized farming system, in which farmers worked to fulfill quotas set by the government and sell their produce directly to the state, was a disaster. Despite billions of dollars in government subsidies, the majority of the nation's farms operated at a loss. Each year, the Soviet Union was forced to import tons of wheat, meat, and other products. Gorbachev reacted to this embarrassing Soviet dependence on foreign markets for essential foodstuffs with his March 15, 1989 proposal to decentralize the farming system and allow more free market policies to dictate the agricultural industry in Russia. In his request to the Soviet Central Committee, Gorbachev stated, "The essence of economic change in the countryside should be in granting farmers broad opportunities for displaying independence, enterprise, and initiative." Under his plan, many farmers would be able to sell their produce directly to farmer's markets or restaurants, for example.
The Central Committee issued its approval of the plan the following day. However, Gorbachev's proposal was too little, too late. The Soviet economy continued to falter and agricultural production never met demand. The economic problems contributed to the failure of Gorbachev's government and other reform plans, and in December 1991, Gorbachev formally resigned as president of the Soviet Union. Shortly thereafter the Soviet Union was dissolved.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
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 army attacks English south coast, raiding
Winchelsea
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 his 1st
New World voyage
1545 - First meeting of the Council of Trent.
1560 - Failed assault on royal palace in Amboise France
1562 - General Francois de Guise enters Paris
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
1744 - French King Louis XV declares war on England
1778 - Nootka Sound, Vancouver Is discovered by Capt Cook
1781 - Battle of Guilford Court House, SC (British suffer
heavy losses)
First US President George WashingtonFirst US President
George Washington 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.
1812 - 1st Russian settlement in California, Russian River
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.
1855 - Louisiana establishes 1st health board to regulate
quarantine
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
1869 - Cincinnati Red Stockings beat Antioch 41-7
1875 - 1st US cardinal (John McCloskey) invested
1877 - Commencement of 1st Test Cricket, Australia v England
at MCG
1885 - 1st performance of Caesar Franck's "Lesson
Djinns"
King Charles IIKing Charles II 1887 - 1st salaried fish
& game warden (William Alden Smith in Michigan)
1889 - 6 US & German warships perish in harbor of Apia
Samoa, 200 die
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
1903 - Frederick Lugard occupies Sokoto West Africa
1906 - Brits Rolls, Royce & Johnson form Rolls Royce Ltd
1907 - Finland is 1st European country to give women the
right to vote
1908 - 1st performance of Maurice Ravel's "Rapsodie
Espagnole"
1912 - Pitcher Cy Young retires from baseball with 511 wins
1913 - 1st presidential press conference (Woodrow Wilson)
1913 - Cleveland establishes 1st small claims court
1915 - Neth merchant ship Tubantia torpedoed & sinks in
North Sea
1916 - Gen Pershing, 15,000 troops chasing Villa into
Mexico, stays 10-mos
US President Woodrow WilsonUS President Woodrow Wilson 1916
- University of Gent goes under Dutch control
1917 - Nicholas II, the last Russian Tsar abdicates
1919 - American Legion forms (Paris)
1922 - 1st southern radio station begins (WSB, Atlanta
Georgia)
1923 - Lenin is hit with his 3rd stroke
1926 - Belgium's "black monday," franc falls
1928 - Benito Mussolini modifies Italy electoral system
(abolishes right to choose)
1930 - 1st seaplane glider flown, Port Washington, NY
1930 - 1st streamlined submarine of US navy, USS Nautilus,
launched
1933 - NAACP begins coordinated attack on segregation &
discrimination
1934 - US Information Service opens
1935 - George Headley completes 270 in cricket v England at
Kingston
1937 - 1st blood bank forms (Chicago IL)
1937 - 1st state contraceptive clinic opens (Raleigh NC)
1939 - Hitler occupies Bohemia & Moravia
(Czechoslovakia); Slovakia independ
Nazi Politician Hermann GoeringNazi Politician Hermann
Goering 1940 - Hermann Goering says 100-200 church bells enough for Germany,
smelt the rest
1941 - Blizzard in ND kills 151
1943 - Allied reconnaissance flight over Java
1943 - Red Army evacuates Kharkov
1944 - Italian town of Cassino destroyed by Allied bombing
1945 - 17th Academy Awards - "Going my Way," Bing
Cosby & Ingrid Bergman win
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)
1945 - Catholic University of Nijmegen reopens
1945 - Dodgers open spring training at Bear Mountain NY
1946 - British premier Attlee agrees with India's right to
independence
1947 - John Lee appointed 1st black commissioned officer in
US Navy
1948 - Bradman scores 115 for the Australian cricket team v
Western Australia
1948 - Sir Laurence Olivier on the cover of LIFE magazine
1948 - WCAU TV channel 10 in Philadelphia, PA (CBS) begins
broadcasting
Actress Ingrid BergmanActress Ingrid Bergman 1949 - WICU TV
channel 12 in Erie, PA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1949 - WLWD (now WDTN) TV channel 2 in Dayton, OH (NBC)
begins broadcasting
1950 - "Consul" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for
269 performances
1950 - Gian Carlo Menotti's opera "Consul,"
premieres in NYC
1950 - NYC hires Dr Wallace E Howell as its official
"rainmaker"
1951 - Persia nationalizes Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
1952 - "2 in the Aisle" closes at Mark Hellinger
Theater NYC after 276 perfs
1952 - Greatest 24-hr rainfall begins: 187 cm at La Reunion,
Indian Ocean
1953 - Patty Berg wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1953 - West Germany loses in soccer to Netherlands, 2-1
1954 - "CBS Morning Show" premieres with Walter
Cronkite & Jack Paar
1954 - WSJV TV channel 28 in Elkhart-South Bend, IN (ABC)
begins broadcasting
1955 - Dutch 2nd Chamber requires TV licenses
1955 - US Air Force unveils self-guided missile
1955 - WLEX TV channel 18 in Lexington, KY (NBC) begins
broadcasting
Broadcast Journalist Walter CronkiteBroadcast Journalist
Walter Cronkite 1956 - "My Fair Lady" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater
NYC for 2,715 perfs
1956 - Whipper Billy Watson beats Lou Thesz in Toronto, to
become NWA champ
1957 - 3rd nation to explode a nuclear bomb (Britain)
1958 - "Body Beautiful" closes at Broadway Theater
NYC after 60 performances
1958 - KULR TV channel 8 in Billings, MT (NBC/ABC/CBS)
begins broadcasting
1958 - Oscar Robertson of Cin scores a NCAA midwest
region-record 56 pts
1958 - Royals basketball star Maurice Stokes collapsed
during a playoff game with encephalitis; He goes into a coma & is
permanently disabled
1958 - USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1959 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1959 - Richard Rogers' "No Strings" opens on
Broadway
1959 - Robert Foster sets record by staying underwater 13 m
42.5 s
1959 - WILX TV channel 10 in Lansing, MI (NBC) begins
broadcasting
1960 - Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve established (1st
underwater park)
1960 - National Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona dedicated
1961 - South Africa withdrews from British Commonwealth
NBA Player Oscar RobertsonNBA Player Oscar Robertson 1962 -
"No Strings" opens at 84th St Theater NYC for 580 performances
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 - KATU TV channel 2 in Portland, OR (ABC) begins
broadcasting
1962 - Richard Rodger's musical "No Strings,"
premieres in NYC
1962 - Wilt Chamberlain is 1st to score 4,000 pts in an NBA
season
1963 - WFAN TV channel 14 in Washington, DC (IND) begins
broadcasting
1964 - LBJ asks for a War on Poverty
1964 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk
USSR
1965 - LBJ asks congress to ensure everybody's right to vote
1965 - T.G.I. Friday's 1st restaurant opens in NYC
1965 - WMFE TV channel 24 in Orlando, FL (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1966 - 8th Grammy Awards: Taste of Honey, Tom Jones, Sintra
& Striesand
1966 - Racial riots erupt in the Watts section of Los
Angeles
1967 - AFCENT-headquarter moves to Brunssum
Singer Tom JonesSinger Tom Jones 1967 - Marshal Arturo da
Costa e Silva sworn in as pres of Brazil
1967 - WSJK TV channel 2 in Sneedville/Knoxville, TN (PBS)
1st broadcast
1968 - Bob Beamon sets indoor long jump record
(27'2-3/4")
1968 - British minister of Foreign affairs George Brown
resigns
1968 - LIFE mag calls Jimi Hendrix "most spectacular
guitarist in the world"
1968 - US Mint stops buying & selling gold
1968 - Uprising in South Yemen
1968 - Diocese of Rome announces that it "deplored the
concept," but wouldn't prohibit rock & roll masses at Church of San
Lessio Falconieri
1969 - US Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigns
1969 - Violent Chinese-Russian border dispute leaves 100s
dead
1970 - "Purlie" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for
689 performances
1970 - Expo '70 opens in Osaka, Japan
1970 - Gary Geld & Peter Udell's "Purlie,"
premieres in NYC
1971 - Chatrooms make their debut on the Internet
1972 - Danish airliner hit mountain in Sheikdom of Oman
killing 112
Rock Guitarist Jimi HendrixRock Guitarist Jimi Hendrix 1972
- NASA selects 3 part configuration for Space Shuttle
1974 - Brazilian president Garastazu Médici resigns
1975 - Bundy victim Julie Cunningham disappears from Vail,
Colo
1975 - Jevgeni Kulikov skates world record 500m (37.99 sec)
1976 - Failed coup in Niger
1977 - "Eight is Enough" premiers on ABC-TV
1977 - US House of Reps begin 90 day test of televising its
sessions
1977 - First official test cricket match is played between
Australia and England at Melbourne
1978 - -21] operation Litani: Israeli offensive in South
Lebanon
1978 - A's trade Vida Blue to Giants for 7 players &
$390,000
1978 - China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
1979 - Apparat releases Newdos + 2.1 for Radio Shack's
TRS-80
1979 - Isle's Bryan Trottier's 5th career hat trick
1979 - Sarfraz takes 9-86 at MCG as Australia lose 7-5 to
lose the Test
1981 - "Broadway Follies" opens/closes at
Nederlander Theater NYC
1981 - Patty Hayes wins LPGA Sun City Golf Classic
1981 - Suriname failed coup under sgt-mjr Wilfred Hawker
1982 - Actress Theresa Saladana, stabbed repeatedly by
obsessed fan
1982 - KGB-AM in San Diego CA changes call letters to KCNN
(now KPOP)
1982 - Nicaragua suspends their citizens rights for 30 days
1983 - Karnataka beat Bombay on 1st innings to win cricket
Ranji Trophy
Supermodel & Actress Brooke ShieldsSupermodel &
Actress Brooke Shields 1984 - 10th People's Choice Awards: Brooke Shields
1984 - Tanzania adopts constitution
1985 - Larry Holmes TKOs David Bey in 10 for heavyweight
boxing title
1985 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 - The first Internet domain name is registered
(symbolics.com).
1986 - Funeral services held for Swedish PM Olaf Palme
1987 - "Starlight Express" opens at Gershwin
Theater NYC for 761 performances
1987 - "Sweet Charity" closes at Minskoff Theater
NYC after 368 performances
1987 - 13th People's Choice Awards: Bill Cosby
1987 - Last day in Test cricket for Larry Gomes & Joel
Garner
1987 - NZ beat WI by 5 wickets in Jeremy Coney's last Test
Cricket
1987 - US Davis Cup team loses to Paraguay
1988 - Eugene Marino of Atlanta, appointed 1st African American
archbishop
1988 - NASA reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer by
CFK
1988 - NFL's St Louis Cardinals officially move to Phoenix
Actor/Comedian Bill CosbyActor/Comedian Bill Cosby 1989 -
"Les Miserables," opens at Royal Alexandra Theatre Toronto
1989 - Dept of Veterans Affairs officially established as a
Cabinet position
1989 - NY Rangers retire goalie Eddie Giacomin's #1 uniform
1990 - Fernando Collor de Mello sworn in as pres of Brazil
1991 - 4 LA police are charged with beating Rodney King
1991 - Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record 6.14m (20 feet
1 3/4)
1991 - Territories of Amapa & Roraima become states in
Brazil
1992 - Brandie Burton wins LPGA Ping/Welch's Golf
Championship
1992 - UN officially embarks on its largest peacekeeping
operation
1993 - Vinod Kambli scores 227 v Zimbabwe, his 2nd
consecutive Test 200
1994 - 8th Soul Train Music Awards: Toni Braxton, Whitney
Houston win
1994 - Experts from AL certify Indian's Jacobs Field is
properly lit
1997 - Pitts Penguins' Joe Mullen, is 1st American to score
500 NHL goals
1998 - "Cabaret," opens at Club Expo Theater NYC
1998 - Welch's/Circle K Golf Championship
Singer and actress Whitney HoustonSinger and actress Whitney
Houston 1999 - Pluto again becomes outermost planet
2003 - Hu Jintao takes over presidency for the People's
Republic of China.
2004 - Announcement of the discovery of 90377 Sedna, the
farthest natural object in the Solar system so far observed.
2013 - 24 people die after a double decker bus veers off a
pass in Cape Town, South Africa
2013 - 16 people are killed by a fireworks accident in
Tlaxcala, Mexico
2013 - Patrick Chan of Canada wins the men’s 2013 World
Figure Skating Championships
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 North Carolina. 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 banned 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. 1982 - Nicaragua's ruling junta proclaimed a month-long state of siege and suspended the nation's constitution for one day. This came a day after anti-government rebels destroyed two bridges near the Honduran border. 1985 - In Brazil, two decades of military rule came to an end with the installation of a civilian government. 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. 1989 - The U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs became the 14th Department in the President's Cabinet. 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. (California) 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. Disney movies, music and books
44 B.C. On the “Ides of March,” Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the senate house by a group of conspirators led by Cimber, Casca, Cassius, and Marcus Junius Brutus. 1493 Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first visit to the Western Hemisphere. 1820 Maine became the 23rd state. 1917 Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, is forced to abdicate his throne (March 2, old style calendar). 1937 The first hospital blood bank in the United States was established, in Chicago, at Cook County Hospital. 1965 President Lyndon Johnson asked Congress for legislation guaranteeing every American the right to vote. 2003 Hu Jintao was chosen to replace Jiang Zemin as the president of China. 2004 Scientists reported the discovery of Sedna, the most distant object in the solar system.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/mar15.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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