http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Mar 21, 1871: Stanley begins search for Livingstone
On this day in 1871, journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his famous search through Africa for the missing British explorer Dr. David Livingstone.
In the late 19th century, Europeans and Americans were deeply fascinated by the "Dark Continent" of Africa and its many mysteries. Few did more to increase Africa's fame than Livingstone, one of England's most intrepid explorers. In August 1865, he set out on a planned two-year expedition to find the source of the Nile River. Livingstone also wanted to help bring about the abolition of the slave trade, which was devastating Africa's population.
Almost six years after his expedition began, little had been heard from Livingstone. James Gordon Bennett, Jr., editor of the New York Herald, decided to capitalize on the public's craze for news of their hero. He sent Stanley to lead an expedition into the African wilderness to find Livingstone or bring back proof of his death. At age 28, Stanley had his own fascinating past. As a young orphan in Wales, he crossed the Atlantic on the crew of a merchant ship. He jumped ship in New Orleans and later served in the Civil War as both a Confederate and a Union soldier before beginning a career in journalism.
After setting out from Zanzibar in March 1871, Stanley led his caravan of nearly 2,000 men into the interior of Africa. Nearly eight months passed--during which Stanley contracted dysentery, cerebral malaria and smallpox--before the expedition approached the village of Ujiji, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Sick and poverty-stricken, Livingstone had come to Ujiji that July after living for some time at the mercy of Arab slave traders. When Stanley's caravan entered the village on October 27, flying the American flag, villagers crowded toward the new arrivals. Spotting a white man with a gray beard in the crowd, Stanley stepped toward him and stretched out his hand: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
These words--and Livingstone's grateful response--soon became famous across Europe and the United States. Though Stanley urged Livingstone to return with him to London, the explorer vowed to continue his original mission. Livingstone died 18 months later in today's Zambia; his body was embalmed and returned to Britain, where he was buried in Westminster Abbey. As for Stanley, he returned to Africa to fulfill a promise he had made to Livingstone to find the source of the Nile. He later damaged his reputation by accepting money from King Leopold II of Belgium to help create the Belgian-ruled Congo Free State and promote the slave trade. When he left Africa, Stanley resumed his British citizenship and even served in Parliament, but when he died he was refused burial in Westminster Abbey because of his actions in the Congo Free State.
Mar 21, 1960: Massacre in Sharpeville
In the black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a hail of submachine-gun fire. The demonstrators were protesting against the South African government's restriction of nonwhite travel. In the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, protests broke out in Cape Town, and more than 10,000 people were arrested before government troops restored order.
The incident convinced anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela to abandon his nonviolent stance and organize paramilitary groups to fight South Africa's system of institutionalized racial discrimination. In 1964, after some minor military action, Mandela was convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison. He was released after 27 years and in 1994 was elected the first black president of South Africa.
Mar 21, 1804: Napoleonic Code approved in France
After four years of debate and planning, French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte enacts a new legal framework for France, known as the "Napoleonic Code." The civil code gave post-revolutionary France its first coherent set of laws concerning property, colonial affairs, the family, and individual rights.
In 1800, General Napoleon Bonaparte, as the new dictator of France, began the arduous task of revising France's outdated and muddled legal system. He established a special commission, led by J.J. Cambaceres, which met more than 80 times to discuss the revolutionary legal revisions, and Napoleon presided over nearly half of these sessions. In March 1804, the Napoleonic Code was finally approved.
It codified several branches of law, including commercial and criminal law, and divided civil law into categories of property and family. The Napoleonic Code made the authority of men over their families stronger, deprived women of any individual rights, and reduced the rights of illegitimate children. All male citizens were also granted equal rights under the law and the right to religious dissent, but colonial slavery was reintroduced. The laws were applied to all territories under Napoleon's control and were influential in several other European countries and in South America.
Mar 21, 1918: Germany begins major offensive on the Western Front
On March 21, 1918, near the Somme River in France, the German army launches its first major offensive on the Western Front in two years.
At the beginning of 1918, Germany's position on the battlefields of Europe looked extremely strong. German armies occupied virtually all of Belgium and much of northern France. With Romania, Russia and Serbia out of the war by the end of 1917, conflict in the east was drawing to a close, leaving the Central Powers free to focus on combating the British and French in the west. Indeed, by March 21, 1918, Russia's exit had allowed Germany to shift no fewer than 44 divisions of men to the Western Front.
German commander Erich Ludendorff saw this as a crucial opportunity to launch a new offensive--he hoped to strike a decisive blow to the Allies and convince them to negotiate for peace before fresh troops from the United States could arrive. In November, he submitted his plan for the offensive that what would become known as Kaiserschlacht, or the kaiser's battle; Ludendorff code-named the opening operation Michael. Morale in the German army rose in reaction to the planned offensive. Many of the soldiers believed, along with their commanders, that the only way to go home was to push ahead.
Michael began in the early morning hours of March 21, 1918. The attack came as a relative surprise to the Allies, as the Germans had moved quietly into position just days before the bombardment began. From the beginning, it was more intense than anything yet seen on the Western Front. Ludendorff had worked with experts in artillery to create an innovative, lethal ground attack, featuring a quick, intense artillery bombardment followed by the use of various gases, first tear gas, then lethal phosgene and chlorine gases. He also coordinated with the German Air Service or Luftstreitkrafte, to maximize the force of the offensive.
Winston Churchill, at the front at the time as the British minister of munitions, wrote of his experience on March 21: There was a rumble of artillery fire, mostly distant, and the thudding explosions of aeroplane raids. And then, exactly as a pianist runs his hands across a keyboard from treble to bass, there rose in less than one minute the most tremendous cannonade I shall ever hear. It swept around us in a wide curve of red flame
By the end of the first day, German troops had advanced more than four miles and inflicted almost 30,000 British casualties. As panic swept up and down the British lines of command over the next few days, the Germans gained even more territory. By the time the Allies hardened their defense at the end of the month, Ludendorff's army had crossed the Somme River and broken through enemy lines near the juncture between the British and French trenches. By the time Ludendorff called off the first stage of the offensive in early April, German guns were trained on Paris, and their final, desperate attempt to win World War I was in full swing.
Mar 21, 1972: Khmer Rouge shell Phnom Penh
In Cambodia, more than 100 civilians are killed and 280 wounded as communist artillery and rockets strike Phnom Penh and outlying areas in the heaviest attack since the beginning of the war in 1970. Following the shelling, a communist force of 500 troops attacked and entered Takh Mau, six miles southeast of Pnom Penh, killing at least 25 civilians.
Mar 21, 1943: Another plot to kill Hitler foiled
On this day, the second military conspiracy plan to assassinate Hitler in a week fails to come off.
Back in the summer of 1941, Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow, a member of Gen. Fedor von Bock's Army Group Center, was the leader of one of many conspiracies against Adolf Hitler. Along with his staff officer, Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff, and two other conspirators, both of old German families who also believed Hitler was leading Germany to humiliation, Tresckow had planned to arrest the Fuhrer when he visited the Army Group's headquarters at Borisov, in the Soviet Union. But their naivete in such matters became evident when Hitler showed up—surrounded by SS bodyguards and driven in one of a fleet of cars. They never got near him.
Tresckow would try again on March 13, 1943, in a plot called Operation Flash. This time, Tresckow, Schlabrendorff, et al., were stationed in Smolensk, still in the USSR. Hitler was planning to fly back to Rastenburg, Germany, from Vinnitsa, in the USSR. A stopover was planned at Smolensk, during which the Fuhrer was to be handed a parcel bomb by an unwitting officer thinking it was a gift of liquor for two senior officers at Rastenburg. All went according to plan and Hitler's plane took off-—the bomb was set to go off somewhere over Minsk. At that point, co-conspirators in Berlin were ready to take control of the central government at the mention of the code word "Flash." Unfortunately, the bomb never went off at all—the detonator was defective.
A week later on March 21, on Heroes' Memorial Day, (a holiday honoring German World War I dead), Tresckow selected Col. Freiherr von Gersdorff to act as a suicide bomber at the Zeughaus Museum in Berlin, where Hitler was to attend the annual memorial dedication. With a bomb planted in each of his two coat pockets, Gersdorff was to sidle up to Hitler as he reviewed the memorials and ignite the bombs, taking the dictator out—along with himself and everyone in the immediate vicinity. Schlabrendorff supplied Gersdorff with bombs—each with a 10-minute fuse.
Once at the exhibition hall, Gersdorff was informed that the Fuhrer was to inspect the exhibits for only eight minutes—not enough time for the fuses to melt down.
Mar 21, 1778: Massacre at Hancock's Bridge
On March 21, 1778, just three days after British Loyalists and Hessian mercenary forces assault the local New Jersey militia at Quinton's Bridge, three miles from Salem, New Jersey, the same contingent surprises the colonial militia at Hancock's Bridge, five miles from Salem. During the battle, the Loyalists not only kill several members of the Salem militia, but also two known Loyalists.
In what amounted to a civil war for New Jersey, Colonel Charles Mawhood led the attack on Quinton's Bridge, and then threatened to burn the town of Salem and subject its women and children to the horrors of the Loyalist militia if the Patriot militia failed to lay down its arms. Colonel Asher Holmes of the Patriot militia promised retribution on Loyalist civilians if Mawhood made good his threats and Mawhood appeared to concede. Three days later, however, Colonel John Simcoe, leader of the Queen's Rangers, unleashed the Loyalists' fury on the sleeping men at Hancock's Bridge.
In what became known as the Massacre at Hancock's Bridge, at least 20 members of the Salem militia lost their lives, some after attempting to surrender. The Loyalists reputedly exclaimed, Spare no one! Give no quarter! as they stormed the house of Judge William Hancock, a Loyalist whose house the Patriots had commandeered, while the Patriot militia slept. Judge Hancock and his brother were bayoneted in the melee, although both were known to be staunch supporters of the crown and were themselves non-violent Quakers.
Mar 21, 1980: Carter tells U.S. athletes of Olympic boycott
President Jimmy Carter informs a group of U.S. athletes that, in response to the December 1979 Soviet incursion into Afghanistan, the United States will boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. It marked the first and only time that the United States has boycotted the Olympics.
After the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan in December 1979 to prop up an unstable pro-Soviet government, the United States reacted quickly and sharply. It suspended arms negotiations with the Soviets, condemned the Russian action in the United Nations, and threatened to boycott the Olympics to be held in Moscow in 1980. When the Soviets refused to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, President Carter finalized his decision to boycott the games. On March 21, 1980, he met with approximately 150 U.S. athletes and coaches to explain his decision. He told the crowd, "I understand how you feel," and recognized their intense disappointment. However, Carter defended his action, stating, "What we are doing is preserving the principles and the quality of the Olympics, not destroying it." Many of the athletes were devastated by the news. As one stated, "As citizens, it is an easy decision to make—support the president. As athletes, it is a difficult decision." Others declared that the president was politicizing the Olympics. Most of the athletes only reluctantly supported Carter's decision.
The U.S. decision to boycott the 1980 Olympic games had no impact on Soviet policy in Afghanistan (Russian troops did not withdraw until nearly a decade later), but it did tarnish the prestige of the games in Moscow. It was not the first time that Cold War diplomacy insinuated itself into international sports. The Soviet Union had refused to play Chile in World Cup soccer in 1973 because of the overthrow and death of Chile's leftist president earlier that year. Even the playing field was not immune from Cold War tensions
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to
Jerusalem.
717 - Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid.
1188 - Accession to the throne of Japan by emperor Antoku.
1349 - 3,000 Jews killed in Black Death riots in Efurt
Germany
1413 - Henry V becomes King of England.
1421 - Battle of Beauge-French beat British
1492 - Alonzo Pietro, pilot, sailed with Columbus
1610 - King James I addresses English House of Commons
1681 - 3rd Exclusion Parliament meets in London
1697 - Czar Peter the Great begins tour through West-Europe
1702 - Queen Anne Stuart addresses English parliament
1788 - Fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans Louisiana
1788 - Gustavus Vassa petitions Queen Charlotte, to free
enslaved Africans
1791 - Capt Hopley Yeaton of NH becomes 1st commissioned
officer in USN
1804 - French civil Code of Napoleon adopted
1821 - First revolutionary act in Monastery of Agia Lavra,
Kalavryta, Greek War of Independence.
1824 - Fire at Cairo ammunitions dump kills 4,000 horses
1826 - Beethoven's Quartet #13 in B flat major (Op 130)
premiered in Vienna
1835 - Charles Darwin & Mariano Gonzales meet at
Portillo Pass
Naturalist Charles DarwinNaturalist Charles Darwin 1844 -
Origin of Baha'i Era-Baha'i calendar starts here (Baha 1, 1)
1844 - The original date predicted by William Miller of
Massachusetts for the return of Christ and the end of the world.
1857 - Earthquake hits Tokyo; about 107,000 die
1859 - Scottish National Gallery opens in Edinburgh
1859 - Zoological Society of Philadelphia, 1st in US,
incorporated
1860 - US extradition treaty with Sweden
1863 - Naval Engagement at Havana Cuba-USS Henrick Hudson vs
BR Wild Pigeon
1864 - Battle at Henderson's Hill (Bayou Rapids) Louisiana
1865 - Battle of Bentonville ends, last Confederate effort
to stop Sherman
1866 - Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes
1868 - 1st US professional women's club, Sorosis, forms in
NYC
1871 - Journalist Henry M Stanley begins his famous
expedition to Africa
1871 - Otto von Bismarck elevated to rank of Fürst (Prince)
1885 - 2nd French government of Ferry resigns
1888 - Arthur Pinero's "Sweet Lavender" premieres
in London
Politician Otto Von BismarckPolitician Otto Von Bismarck
1890 - Austrian Jewish communities are defined by law
1899 - British & French accord over West Africa
1907 - US invades Honduras
1909 - Moran & MacFarland (US) wins Europe's 1st 6 day
bicycle race (Berlin)
1913 - -26] Flood in Ohio, kills 400
1914 - US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Theresa
Weld
1914 - US Men's Figure Skating championship won by Norman M
Scott
1916 - JP Van Limburg Stirum succeeds AWF Idenburg as
gov-gen of Neth Indies
1917 - Loretta Walsh becomes US Navy's 1st female Petty
Officer
1918 - -28] During WW I Germany launches Somme offensive
1921 - Walter Kerr Theater (Ritz, CBS, NBC, ABC) opens at
223 W 48th St NYC
1922 - KGW-AM in Portland OR begins radio transmissions
1923 - US foreign minister Charles Hughes refuses USSR
recognition
1924 - 1st foreign language course broadcast on US radio
(WJZ, NYC)
1924 - Mass Investors Trust becomes 1st mutual fund set up
in US
1925 - Edinburgh's Murreyfield Stadium officially opens
1925 - Iran adopts Khorshidi solar Hijrah calendar
1927 - Guomindang Army conquerors Shanghai as British
marines flee
1931 - KRO-broadcast studio initiated in Hilversum Holland
1931 - US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Maribel
Vinson
1931 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger
Turner
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi
Germany Adolf Hitler 1933 - Hitler, Guring, Prince Ruprecht, Bruning & top
army meet in Berlin
1934 - Fire destroys Hakodate Japan, killing about 1,500
1934 - Babe Didrikson pitches an inning in an A's-Dodgers
exhibition game Walks 1, hits the next guy, 3rd guy hits into triple-play
1935 - Jean Anouilh's "Y avait un presonnier"
premieres in Paris
1935 - Persia officially renamed Iran
1937 - Ponce massacre, police kill 19 at Puerto Rican
Nationalist parade
1939 - Nazi-Germany demands Gdansk (Danzig) from Poland
1941 - Joe Louis KOs Abe Simon in 13 for heavyweight boxing
title
1942 - Convoy QP9 departs Great Britain to Murmansk
1942 - Heavy German assault on Malta
1943 - Assassination attempt on Hitler fails
1943 - Massacre of the town of Kalavryta, Greece by German
Nazi troops.
1944 - Gen Eisenhower postpones S France invasion until
after Normandy
1945 - 1st Japanese flying bombs (ochas) attack Okinawa
1945 - During WW II Allied bombers begin 4-day raid over
Germany
1945 - Dutch Resistance fighter Hannie Schaft arrested by
Nazi police
1946 - Kenny Washington signs with Rams, 1st black NFLer
since 1933
1946 - UN set up temporary HQ at Hunter (now Lehman) College
(Bronx)
1947 - Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Fulgens radiatur
33rd US President Harry Truman33rd US President Harry Truman
1947 - Pres Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal
employees to have allegiance to the United States
1947 - Test Cricket debut of Bert Sutcliffe, NZ v England at
Christchurch
1948 - "Stop the Music" with Bert Parks premieres
on ABC radio
1949 - WTVJ TV channel 4 in Miami, FL (NBC/CBS) begins
broadcasting
1951 - 2,900,000 US soldiers in Korea
1951 - Julius & Ethel Rosenberg convicted of espionage
1952 - "3 Wishes for Jamie" opens at Mark
Hellinger Theater NYC for 94 perfs
1952 - -22] Tornadoes in Ark, Tenn, Mo, Miss, Ala & Ky
cause 343 deaths
1952 - 31 storms crosses 6 states killing 340 in
South-Central US
1952 - Alan Freed presents Moondog Coronation Ball at old
Cleveland Arena, 25,000 attend 1st rock & roll concert ever
1953 - NBA record 106 fouls & 12 players foul out
(Boston-Syracuse)
1954 - KFBB TV channel 5 in Great Falls, MT (ABC/CBS/NBC)
begins broadcasting
1955 - Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus desires Cyprus joining
Greece
1955 - Brooklyn Bulletin ask Dodger fans not to call their
team "Bums"
1956 - 28th Academy Awards - "Marty", Anna Magnani
& Ernest Borgnine win
Playwright Tennessee WilliamsPlaywright Tennessee Williams
1957 - Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending" premieres in NYC
1958 - 1st presentation of West Point's Sylvanus Thayer
Award
1958 - USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1959 - "Juno" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC
after 16 performances
1959 - 21st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: California
beats W Va 71-70
1960 - Sharpeville Massacre: Police kill 72 in South Africa
& outlaws ANC
1961 - Art Modell purchases Cleveland Browns for then record
($3,925,000)
1961 - Beatles' 1st appearance at the Cavern Club
1962 - A bear becomes the 1st creature to be ejected at
supersonic speeds
1962 - Bekkers of Bosch makes TV speech in Neth for birth
control
1962 - Dutch RC bishop Beckers declares himself in favor of
birth control
1962 - Philadelphia retires pitcher Robin Roberts' # 36
1963 - Alcatraz federal penitentiary in SF Bay closed
1963 - David Hendon & Douglas Cross' musical premieres
in London
1964 - 26th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats
Duke 98-83
1964 - Beatles' "She Loves You" single goes #1
& stays #1 for 2 weeks
1964 - UCLA completes undefeated NCAA basketball season
(30-0)
1965 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
Clergyman and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King
Jr.Clergyman and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr. 1965 - Martin
Luther King Jr begins march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
1965 - US Ranger 9 launched; takes 5,814 pictures before
lunar impact
1966 - US preme Court reverses Mass ruling that "Fanny
Hill" is obscene
1968 - "Royals" chosen as the name of new KC AL
franchise
1968 - Hill, Hawkins & Coghill's musical premieres in
London
1968 - Israeli forces cross Jordan River to attack PLO bases
1968 - Portuguese socialist Mario Soares banished to Sao
Tomé
1969 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1970 - 32nd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats
Jacksonville 80-69
1970 - Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping
championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the "agony of defeat
guy" in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports.
1971 - Gavaskar scores 1st of his 34 Test Cricket tons, 116
at Georgetown
1971 - Jan Ferraris wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1971 - Vermont seasonal snowfall totals 132.2"
1971 - WCPB TV channel 28 in Salisbury, MD (PBS) begins
broadcasting
1972 - US Supreme Court rules states can't require 1-yr
residency to vote
1973 - Frank Mahovlich becomes 5th NHLer to score 500 goals
1974 - Attempt made to kidnap Princess Anne in London's Pall
Mall
1975 - Ethiopia ends monarchy after 3000 years
1978 - Padres fire Al Dark (2nd manager ever fired during
spring training)
1979 - Egyptian Parliament unanimously approve peace treaty
with Israel
1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Moscow
Olympics
1980 - On TV show Dallas, J.R. is shot
1982 - "Little Johnny Jones" opens & closes at
Alvin Theater NYC
1982 - Jerry Pate celebrates golf win by jumping into the
water hazard
1982 - Movie "Annie" premieres
1982 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA J&B Scotch Pro-Am Golf
Tournament
1983 - Only known typo on Time Magazine cover
(control=contol), all recalled
1984 - Border scores 100* v WI Trinidad after 98* in 1st
cricket innings
1984 - NFL owners passed the infamous anti-celebrating rule
1984 - Part of Central Park is named Strawberry Fields
honoring John Lennon
1984 - Soviet sub crashes into USS aircraft carrier Kitty
Hawk off Japan
1985 - Arthur Ashe is named to Intl Tennis Hall of Fame
1985 - Bloodbath at Langa (Uitenhage) South-Africa, 19
killed
1986 - 199.22 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange
1986 - Kania skates ladies world record 500 m (39.52 sec)
& 3 km (4:18.02)
1986 - Pittsburgh Associates buy Pittsburgh Pirates for $218
million
1987 - PSV sells soccer player Ruud Gullit to AC Milan (Ÿ17
million)
1988 - 23rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Randy Travis
& Hank Williams Jr
1989 - 1st sea test of Trident 2 missile self-destructs,
Cape Canaveral
1990 - "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opens at Eugene
O'Neill NYC for 149 perfs
1990 - "Normal Life" starring Moon Unit &
Dweezil Zappa premieres on CBS-TV
1990 - "Sydney" starring Valerie Bertinelli
premieres on CBS-TV
1990 - Namibia becomes independent of South Africa, Sam
Nujoma becomes president
1991 - 27 lost at sea when 2 US Navy anti-submarine planes
collide
1991 - Largest wrestling crowd in Japan (64,500) at Tokyo
Dome
1991 - Tatsumi Fujinami beats Ric Flair for NWA wrestling
championship
1991 - UN Security Council panel decided to lift the food
embargo on Iraq
1992 - 2nd WLAF season begins
1992 - Pakistan scores 6-264 to overhaul NZ in exciting
World Cup semi
1993 - Patty Sheehan wins LPGA Standard Register Ping Golf
Tournament
264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II 1993 - Pope
John Paul II declares Duns Scotus, a saint
1993 - South Africa White Wolves kill 5 year old black girl
1994 - 66th Academy Awards - "Schindler's List",
Tom Hanks & Holly Hunter win
1994 - Anne P Sidamon-Eristoff named chairwoman of Museum of
Natl History
1994 - Dudley Moore arrested for hitting girlfriend
1994 - Wayne Gretzky ties Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801
goals
1995 - NJ officially dedicates the Howard Stern Rest Area
along Route 295
1995 - NYC agrees to sell it's 2 owned radio stations (WNYC
AM & FM)
1996 - "Night of the Iguana" opens at Criterion
Theater NYC for 68 perfs
1997 - Ice Dance won by Oksana Grishuk & Evgeny Platov
(Rus)
1997 - Wrestlemania XIII
1998 - Good Friday Agreement signed in Northern Ireland.
1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to
circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
1999 - 71st Academy Awards - "Shakespeare in
Love", Roberto Benigni & Gwyneth Paltrow win
2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three
other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and
killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Actress Gwyneth PaltrowActress Gwyneth Paltrow 2002 -
British schoolgirl Amanda Dowler is abducted in broad daylight on her way home
from Heathside School in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
2004 - In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are
held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased
majority.
2006 - Immigrant workers constructing the Burj Dubayy in
Dubai, The United Arab Emirates and a new terminal of Dubai International
Airport join together and riot, causing $1M in damage.
2012 - Greek Parliament votes in favour of an international
bailout deal
2012 - Five former Guatemalan paramilitaries are sentenced
to 7,710 years in jail for their role in the Plan de Sanchez massacre in 1982
2013 - 12 people are killed and 30 are injured by a car
bombing in Peshawar, Pakistan
2013 - 42 people are killed and 84 are injured by a bombing
in a mosque in Damascus, Syria
2013 - At least 45 people drown and 60 are missing after a
Nigerian boat sinks off the shore of Gabon
2013 - 24 people are killed and 100 are injured by a tornado
and hail storm in southern China
2013 - A barter dispute loses control and results in 10
people being killed, 20 injured, and 4 mosques being burnt to the ground in
Myanmar
2013 - The European Space Agency reveals new data that
indicates that the universe is 13.82 billion years old
2013 - Martin Gould defeats Ali Carter to win the snooker
2013 Championship League
1349 - 3,000 Jews were killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany. 1556 - Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake at Oxford after retracting the last of seven recantations that same day. 1788 - Almost the entire city of New Orleans, LA, was destroyed by fire. 856 buildings were destroyed. 1790 - Thomas Jefferson reported to U.S. President George Washington as the new secretary of state. 1804 - The French civil code, the Code Napoleon, was adopted. 1824 - A fire at a Cairo ammunitions dump killed 4,000 horses. 1826 - The Rensselaer School in Troy, NY, was incorporated. The school became known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was the first engineering college in the U.S. 1835 - Charles Darwin & Mariano Gonzales met at Portillo Pass. 1851 - Emperor Tu Duc ordered that Christian priests be put to death. 1851 - Yosemite Valley was discovered in California. 1857 - An earthquake hit Tokyo killing about 107,000. 1858 - British forces in India lift the siege of Lucknow, ending the Indian Mutiny. 1859 - In Philadelphia, the first Zoological Society was incorporated. 1868 - The Sorosos club for professional women was formed in New York City by Jennie June. It was the first of its kind. 1871 - Journalist Henry M Stanley began his famous expedition to Africa. 1902 - Romain Roland's play "The 4th of July" premiered in Paris. 1902 - In New York, three Park Avenue mansions were destroyed when a subway tunnel roof caved in. 1904 - The British Parliament vetoed a proposal to send Chinese workers to Transvaal. 1905 - Sterilization legislation was passed in the State of Pennsylvania. The governor vetoed the measure. 1906 - Ohio passed a law that prohibited hazing by fraternities after two fatalities. 1907 - The U.S. Marines landed in Honduras to protect American interests in the war with Nicaragua. 1907 - The first Parliament of Transvaal met in Pretoria. 1908 - A passenger was carried in a bi-plane for the first time by Henri Farman of France. 1909 - Russia withdrew its support for Serbia and recognized the Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina on March 31, 1909. 1910 - The U.S. Senate granted ex-President Teddy Roosevelt a yearly pension of $10,000. 1918 - During World War I, the Germans launched the Somme Offensive. 1928 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge gave the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh for his first trans-Atlantic flight. 1934 - A fire destroyed Hakodate, Japan, killing about 1,500. 1935 - Incubator ambulance service began in Chicago, IL. 1941 - The last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, fell to the British. 1945 - During World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany. 1946 - The Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington. Washington was the first black player to join a National Football League team since 1933. 1946 - The United Nations set up a temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City. 1953 - The Boston Celtics beat Syracuse Nationals (111-105) in four overtimes to eliminate them from the Eastern Division Semifinals. A total of seven players (both teams combined) fouled out of the game. 1955 - NBC-TV presented the first "Colgate Comedy Hour". 1957 - Shirley Booth made her TV acting debut in "The Hostess with the Mostest" on CBS. 1960 - About 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired upon demonstrators. 1963 - Alcatraz Island, the federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, CA, closed. 1965 - The U.S. launched Ranger 9. It was the last in a series of unmanned lunar explorations. 1965 - More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL. 1971 - Two U.S. platoons in Vietnam refused their orders to advance. 1972 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not require one year of residency for voting eligibility. 1974 - An attempt was made to kidnap Princess Anne in London's Pall Mall. 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced to the U.S. Olympic Team that they would not participate in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow as a boycott against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. 1980 - On the TV show "Dallas", J.R. Ewing was shot. 1982 - The movie "Annie" premiered. 1982 - The United States, U.K. and other Western countries condemned the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. 1984 - A Soviet submarine crashed into the USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Japan. 1985 - Larry Flynt offered to sell his pornography empire for $26 million or "Hustler" magazine alone for $18 million. 1985 - Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings. At least 21 demonstrators were killed. 1989 - Randall Dale Adams was released from a Texas prison after his conviction was overturned. The documentary "The Thin Blue Line" had challenged evidence of Adams' conviction for killing a police officer. 1990 - "Normal Life" with Moon Unit & Dweezil Zappa premiered on CBS-TV. 1990 - Australian businessman Alan Bond sold Van Gogh's "Irises" to the Gerry Museum. Bond had purchased the painting for $53.9 million in 1987. 1990 - "Sydney" starring Valerie Bertinelli premiered on CBS-TV. 1990 - Namibia became independent of South Africa. 1991 - 27 people were lost at sea when two U.S. Navy anti-submarine planes collided. 1991 - The U.N. Security Council lifted the food embargo against Iraq. 1994 - Dudley Moore was arrested for hitting his girlfriend. 1994 - Steven Spielberg won his first Oscars. They were for best picture and best director for "Schindler's List." 1994 - Wayne Gretzky tied Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801 goals. 1994 - Bill Gates of Microsoft and Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular Communications announced a $9 billion plan that would send 840 satellites into orbit to relay information around the globe. 1995 - New Jersey officially dedicated the Howard Stern Rest Area along Route 295. 1995 - Tokyo police raided the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo in search of evidence to link the cult to the Sarin gas released on five Tokyo subway trains. 1999 - Israel's Supreme Court rejected the final effort to have American Samuel Sheinbein returned to the U.S. to face murder charges for killing Alfred Tello, Jr. Under a plea bargain Sheinbein was sentenced to 24 years in prison. 2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had overstepped its regulatory authority when it attempted to restrict the marketing of cigarettes to youngsters. 2001 - Nintendo released Game Boy Advance. 2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was charged with murder for his role in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pear. Three other Islamic militants that were in custody were also charged along with seven more accomplices that were still at large. 2002 - In Paris, an 1825 print by French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce was sold for $443,220. The print, of a man leading a horse, was the earliest recorded image taken by photographic means. 2003 - It was reported that the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 235.27 (2.8%) at 8,521.97. It was the strongest weekly gain in more than 20 years.
1556 The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, was burned at the stake as a heretic. 1804 The French civil code, the Code Napoleon, was officially put forth. 1871 Journalist Henry M. Stanley began his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone. 1960 Police fired on demonstrators in Sharpeville, South Africa, after which the African National Congress was banned. 25 years later, a march marking the anniversary was also disrupted by police fire. 1963 Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay, a harsh maximum security jail which once housed gangster Al Capone, closed. 1965 Martin Luther King, Jr., led the start of a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. 2010 The House of Representatives passes a bill that will overhaul the American health-care system. The bill, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will be sent to President Obama to sign into law. Read more: This Day in History: March 21 | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/March-21#ixzz2wUzc6jBv
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/mar21.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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