March 20th: This Day in History

 

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

On this day in 141, the sixth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet was recorded. The Black Death was allegedly created on this day in 1345, according to scholars at the University of Paris, from what they call "a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquarius, occurring on the 20th of March 1345". In 1598 on this day, French King Henri IV & Duke van Mercour signed a treaty. Walter Raleigh was released from the Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana on this day in 1616. In 1739 on this day, Nadir Shah occupied Delhi in India and sacked the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne. The Great Fire of Boston destroyed 349 buildings on this day in 1760. In 1800 on this day, the French army defeated the Turks at Helipolis & advanced to Cairo, Egypt. On this day in 1815, Napoleon entered Paris after escaping from Elba, and then began his final period of ruling France, which would ultimately last 100 days. Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published in Boston on this day in 1852. On this day in 1854 in the United States, the Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, by former members of the Whig Party. They met to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories. In 1890 on this day, German Emperor Wilhelm II fires republic Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck. On this day in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev began his rise to power, as the Soviet government announced that he had been selected as one of five men named to the new office of Secretariat of the Communist Party. On this day in 1965, American President Lyndon B. Johnson pledged federal troops to Alabama civil-rights march after sending a telegram to Governor George Wallace of Alabama in which he agreed to send federal troops to supervise a planned African-American civil-rights march in Wallace's home state. There was a poison nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on this day in 1995, killing 12 and injuring thousands.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

• On this day in 141, the sixth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet was recorded.

• The Black Death was allegedly created on this day in 1345, according to scholars at the University of Paris, from what they call "a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquarius, occurring on the 20th of March 1345". The Black Death, also known as the Plague, swept across Europe, the Middle East and Asia during the 14th century, leaving an estimated 25 million dead in its wake.    Despite what these scholars claimed, it is now known that bubonic plague, the most common ailment known as the Black Death, is caused by the yersinia pestis bacterium. The plague was carried by fleas that usually traveled on rats, but jumped off to other mammals when the rat died. It most likely first appeared in humans in Mongolia around 1320. Usually, people who came down with the plague first complained of headaches, fever and chills. Their tongues often appeared a whitish color before there was severe swelling of the lymph nodes. Finally, black and purple spots appeared on the skin of the afflicted; death could follow within a week. Later, a pneumonic form of the plague developed that was less common but killed 95 percent of the people who contracted it.    After the nomadic tribes of Mongolia were devastated by the plague, it moved south and east to China and India. Wherever it went, the death toll was high. It is thought that the disease made its way to Europe in 1346. In one famous incident, the Tatars, a group of Turks, were battling Italians from Genoa in the Middle East when the Tatars were suddenly stuck down by the plague. Reportedly, they began catapulting dead bodies over the Genoans' walls toward their enemy, who fled back to Italy with the disease. Although this account may not be true, it is certain that rats carrying the plague hitched rides on ships from Asia and the Middle East to Europe. In port cities everywhere, the Black Death began to strike. In Venice, 100,000 people died in total, with as many as 600 dying every day at the peak of the outbreak.    In 1347, the disease worked its way to France and Paris lost an estimated 50,000 people. The following year, Britain fell victim. Typically, countries would believe themselves to be superior and immune to infection when their neighbors came down with the plague, but soon found they were mistaken as the Black Death traveled across Eurasia, spreading devastation in its wake. By the time the worst was over in 1352, one third of the continent's population was dead.    Devastation on this scale brought out the worst in people. Often, it was not the movement of stars that was blamed for the disease, but the minorities in the community. Witches and gypsies were frequent targets. Jewish people were tortured and burned to death by the thousands for supposedly causing the Black Death. Preachers claimed that the disease was God's punishment for immorality. Many turned to prayer and those that did survive ascribed their good luck to their devotion, resulting in the rise of splinter religions and cults in the aftermath of the plague's destruction. Alternatively, some resorted to useless home cures to try to avoid the disease, bathing in urine or menstrual blood in an attempt to deter it.    The plague popped up periodically until the 1700s, but never again reached epidemic proportions after the 14th century.

1525 - Paris' parliament begins pursuit of Protestants

1569 - Duke van Alva leads "tenth penning" in Ponts the Cé

Bust of French King Henri IV

• In 1598 on this day, French King Henri IV & Duke van Mercour signed a treaty

1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden.

1602 - United Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) forms

• Walter Raleigh was released from the Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana on this day in 1616.

1627 - France & Spain sign accord for fighting protestantism

1697 - Willem de Vlamingh returns to Batavia after exploring "South Land"

• In 1739 on this day, Nadir Shah occupied Delhi in India and sacked the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.

• The Great Fire of Boston destroyed 349 buildings on this day in 1760.

• In 1800 on this day, the French army defeated the Turks at Helipolis & advanced to Cairo, Egypt.

1814 - Prince Willem Frederik becomes monarch of Netherlands

French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte

• On this day in 1815, Napoleon entered Paris after escaping from Elba, and then began his final period of ruling France, which would ultimately last 100 days.

1816 - US Supreme Court affirms its right to review state court decisions

1833 - US & Siam sign commercial treaty

Picture of a doll of Harriet Beecher Stowe

• Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published in Boston on this day in 1852.

• On this day in 1854 in the United States, the Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, by former members of the Whig Party. They met to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories. The Whig Party, which was formed in 1834 to oppose the "tyranny" of President Andrew Jackson, had shown itself incapable of coping with the national crisis over slavery.    With the successful introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854, an act that dissolved the terms of the Missouri Compromise and allowed slave or free status to be decided in the territories by popular sovereignty, the Whigs disintegrated. By February 1854, anti-slavery Whigs had begun meeting in the upper midwestern states to discuss the formation of a new party. One such meeting, in Wisconsin on March 20, 1854, is generally remembered as the founding meeting of the Republican Party.    The Republicans rapidly gained supporters in the North, and in 1856 their first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, won 11 of the 16 Northern states. By 1860, the majority of the Southern slave states were publicly threatening secession if the Republicans won the presidency. In November 1860, Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected president over a divided Democratic Party, and six weeks later South Carolina formally seceded from the Union. Within six more weeks, five other Southern states had followed South Carolina's lead, and in April 1861 the Civil War began when Confederate shore batteries under General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Charleston Bay.    The Civil War firmly identified the Republican Party as the party of the victorious North, and after the war the Republican-dominated Congress forced a "Radical Reconstruction" policy on the South, which saw the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution and the granting of equal rights to all Southern citizens. By 1876, the Republican Party had lost control of the South, but it continued to dominate the presidency until the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.  

1861 - An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina.

1863 - Battle of Pensacola FL -evacuated by Federals

1865 - 2nd day of Battle of Bentonville NC

1865 - Michigan authorizes workers' cooperatives

Outlaw Jesse JamesOutlaw Jesse James 1868 - Jesse James Gang robs bank in Russelville, Kentucky, of $14,000

1883 - Unity treaty of Paris signed: protects industrial property

1885 - John Matzeliger of Suriname patents shoe lacing machine

1885 - Yiddish theater opens in NY with Golldfaden operetta

1886 - 1st AC power plant in US begins commercial operation, Mass

1888 - Start of the Sherlock Holmes Adventure "A Scandal in Bohemia"

1888 - The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta staged in Moscow, Russia.

1890 - General Federation of Womans' Clubs founded

Bust of German statesman & Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck

• In 1890 on this day, German Emperor Wilhelm II fires republic Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck.

1896 - Marines land in Nicaragua to protect US citizens

1896 - Uprising in Matabeleland

1897 - 1st US orthodox Jewish Rabbinical seminary (RIETS) incorporates in NY

1897 - 1st known intercollegiate basketball game, Yale beats Penn 32-10

1897 - France signs treaty with emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia

1906 - George Bernard Shaw's "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" premieres in London

Playwright George Bernard ShawPlaywright George Bernard Shaw 1911 - National Squash Tennis Association forms (NYC)

1911 - Winter Garden Theater opens at 1634 Broadway NYC

1914 - 1st international figure-skating tournament held in US, New Haven

1916 - Allies attack Zeebrugge Belgium

1920 - 1st flight from London to South Africa lands (took 1½ months)

1920 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld

1920 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger

1922 - USS Langley is commissioned, US Navy's 1st aircraft carrier

1922 - WIP-AM in Philadelphia PA begins radio transmissions

1923 - Bavarian minister of interior refuses to forbid Nazi Sturm Abteilung

1923 - Belgian Senate rejects Dutch University in Ghent

1924 - Finnair begins scheduled flight of Helsinki-Tallinn

1924 - Stanley Cup: Mont Canadiens (NHL) sweep Vanc Millionaires (PCHA) in 2

1930 - Clessie Cummins sets diesel engine speed record of 129.39 kph

1931 - Bishop Schreiber warns against national-socialism in Berlin

1932 - Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kara-Kalpak ASSR

1933 - Dachau, 1st Nazi concentration camp, completed

1934 - Rudolf Kuhnold demonstrates radar in Kiel Germany

1934 - Female Babe Didrickson pitches hitless inning for Phila A's in exhibition game against Brooklyn Dodgers

1935 - "Your Hit Parade" made its debut on radio

Spanish Dictator and General Francisco FrancoSpanish Dictator and General Francisco Franco 1937 - Franco offensive at Guadalajara, Spain

1939 - 7,000 Jews flee German occupied Memel Lithuania

1940 - Paul Reynoud becomes French premier

1941 - Nazi-German/Yugoslav pact drawn

1942 - Convoy PQ13 departs Reykjavik Iceland to Russia

1942 - Gen MacArthur vows, "I shall return"

1942 - Major German assault on Malta

1943 - German U-384 bombed & sinks

1944 - Bus falls off bridge into Passaic River NJ, killing 16

1944 - Mount Vesuvius, Italy, explodes

1945 - US 70th Infantry division/7th Armour division attack Saar

1946 - Belgian government of Spaak resigns

1947 - 180 tonne blue whale (record) caught in South Atlantic

1948 - 1st live televised musical Eugene Ormandy on CBS followed in 90

1948 - 20th Academy Awards - "Gentleman's Agreement", L Young, R Colman win minutes by 2nd live televised musical Arturo Toscvanni on NBC

WW2 General Douglas MacArthurWW2 General Douglas MacArthur 1951 - Indonesian army offensive against Darul Islam on Java

1951 - Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.

1952 - 24th Academy Awards - "American in Paris", Humphrey Bogart & Vivian Leigh win

1952 - Final ratification of peace treaty restoring sovereignty to Japan

1952 - US senate ratifies peace treaty with Japan

1953 - Senator Edwin C Johnson offers a bill to give clubs the sole

The flag of the USSR (Soviet Union)

• On this day in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev began his rise to power, as the Soviet government announced that he had been selected as one of five men named to the new office of Secretariat of the Communist Party. Khrushchev's selection was a crucial first step in his rise to power in the Soviet Union—an advance that culminated in Khrushchev being named secretary of the Communist Party in September 1953, and premier in 1958.    The death of Joseph Stalin on March 5, 1953 created a tremendous vacuum in Soviet leadership. Stalin had ruled the Soviet Union since the 1920s. With his passing, the heir apparent was Georgi Malenkov, who was named premier and first secretary of the Communist Party the day after Stalin's death. This seemingly smooth transition, however, masked a growing power struggle between Malenkov and Nikita Khruschev. Khrushchev had been active in the Russian Communist Party since joining in 1918. After Stalin took control of the Soviet Union following Lenin's death in 1924, Khrushchev became an absolutely loyal follower of the brutal dictator. This loyalty served him well, as he was one of the few old Bolsheviks who survived Stalin's devastating political purges during the 1930s.    In the 1940s Khrushchev held a number of important positions in the Soviet government. Yet, when Stalin died in March 1953, Khrushchev was overlooked in favor of Malenkov. It did not take long for Khrushchev to take advantage of the mediocre Malenkov. First, he organized a coalition of Soviet politicians to force Malenkov to relinquish the post of first secretary—the more important post, since it controlled the party apparatus in the Soviet Union. Malenkov publicly stated that he was giving up the position to encourage the sharing of political responsibilities, but it was obvious that Khrushchev had gained a crucial victory. To replace Malenkov, the party announced the establishment of a new position, a five-man Secretariat. Even Western journalists noted that in announcing the five-person position, Khrushchev's name was always listed first, while the others were in alphabetical order. It was soon apparent that Khrushchev was the driving power in the Secretariat, and in September 1953, he secured enough backing to be named secretary of the Communist Party. In February 1955, he and his supporters pushed Malenkov out of the premiership and replaced him with a Khrushchev puppet, Nikolai Bulganin. In March 1958, Khrushchev consolidated his power by taking the office of premier himself.    Officials in the United States, including Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, badly underestimated Khrushchev. Initially, they considered him a lackey of Malenkov, but soon came to learn that the blunt and unsophisticated Khrushchev was a force to be reckoned with in Soviet politics. Despite their concern, Khrushchev's rise to power did initiate a period in which tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union began slightly to ease, as he called for "peaceful coexistence" between the two superpowers. 

1954 - "King & I" closes at St James Theater NYC after 1246 performances

1954 - 16th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: La Salle beats Bradley 92-76

1954 - 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania)

1955 - KXTV TV channel 10 in Sacramento, CA (CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 - 156-day strike against Westinghouse ends

1956 - E Ochab succeeds Beirut as 1st secretary of Polish CP

1956 - Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) explodes

1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France

1956 - USSR performs nuclear test

1956 - Union workers ended a 156-day strike at Westinghouse Electric Corp

1957 - Britain accepts NATO offer to mediate in Cyprus, but Greece rejects it

1958 - 50" snow across the Mason-Dixon line

1958 - Clandestine Burasi Bizim Radio (communist) begins transmitting

1958 - Greek Clandestine Radio (communist), Voice of Truth 1st transmission

1962 - Sjoukje Dijkstra becomes world champion figure skater

1963 - 1st "Pop Art" exhibition (NYC)

1964 - ESRO established, European Space Research Organization

1965 - 27th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Michigan 91-80

1965 - Venkataraghavan takes 8-72 v NZ at Delhi

Bust of American President Lyndon B. Johnson

• On this day in 1965, American President Lyndon B. Johnson pledged federal troops to Alabama civil-rights march after sending a telegram to Governor George Wallace of Alabama in which he agreed to send federal troops to supervise a planned African-American civil-rights march in Wallace's home state.    Later that day, from his ranch in Texas, LBJ read the telegram to reporters at a news conference. He told the press that he supported the constitutional rights of the marchers to walk peaceably and safely without injury or loss of life from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and expressed dismay at the governor's refusal to provide them the protection of the Alabama police.    Earlier that month, civil-rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. had led two attempts to march to Montgomery but both ended when the marchers encountered tear gas and billy-club attacks by Alabama police. On March 18, Wallace, who epitomized southern opposition to integration, phoned Johnson for advice after learning King had planned a third march for March 21. Johnson, a civil rights advocate who in 1964 passed the Civil Rights Bill, did not want to alienate any more southern voters and told Wallace he would support his decision to call out the Alabama National Guard to maintain order. However, Wallace appeared on television that evening and demanded that Johnson send in federal troops instead. Wallace's demand was a calculated ploy--he excused Alabama state police from their duty and left the responsibility to keep the peace in Johnson's lap. If Johnson's federal troops got involved in a violent altercation between marchers and white segregationists, Johnson, not Wallace, would appear as the bad guy. Johnson reacted to Wallace's double-cross by calling him a no-good son of a b----! during a taped phone conversation at the White House.    Johnson's March 20 telegram to Wallace contained a plea to all parties for civil order as well as a public warning to Wallace that over the next several days the eyes of the nation will be upon Alabama. Johnson told the governor that the march should be allowed to proceed in a manner honoring our heritage and honoring all for which America stands. In his closing comments to reporters, he urged Wallace to heed Abraham Lincoln's advice to cater to the better angels of our nature on the day of the march. Hundreds of people joined what turned out to be a peaceful 54-mile march under the guard of Alabama state troopers and federal soldiers, as the conflict between Johnson and Wallace turned an even brighter spotlight on the need to address American race relations, particularly in the southern states.

1966 - Marilynn Smith wins LPGA St Petersburg Women's Golf Open

1967 - The Supremes release "The Happening"

1967 - WOET (now WPTD) TV channel 16 in Dayton, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting

36th US President Lyndon B. Johnson36th US President Lyndon B. Johnson 1968 - LBJ signs a bill removing gold backing from US paper money

1968 - Military intervene in South-Yemen (leftist ministers resign)

1969 - Abebe Bikila's auto-accident, near Addis Ababa

1969 - US president Nixon proclaims he will end Vietnam war in 1970

1971 - Boston Bruins win 13th straight NHL game

1972 - 19 mountain climbers killed on Japan's Mount Fuji during an avalanche

1972 - S Mansholt succeeds Malfatti as chairman of European Committee

1973 - Roberto Clemente elected to Hall of Fame, 11 weeks after his death

1976 - Jevgeni Kulikov skates world record 1000m (1:15.70)

1976 - Patricia Hearst convicted of armed robbery

1977 - Communists/socialists win French municipal elections

1977 - Parisians elect former PM Jacques Chirac as 1st mayor in a century

1977 - Premier Indira Gandhi loses election in India

1978 - Flyers' Rick MacLeash scores on 6th penalty shot against Islanders

1979 - Columbia flies on Shuttle carrier aircraft to Kennedy Space Center

Baseball Player Roberto ClementeBaseball Player Roberto Clemente 1980 - The Mi Amigo ship containing England's pirate Radio Caroline sinks

1980 - US appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran

1981 - Argentine ex-president Isabel Peron sentenced to 8 years

1981 - Jean Harris sentenced 15-to-life for slaying of Scarsdale Diet Dr

1982 - 1st-class debut of Richie Richardson, Leeward Is v Barbados

1982 - France performs nuclear test

1982 - Joan Jett & Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" goes #1 for 7 wks

1982 - Rev A Treurnicht forms Conservative Party of South Africa

1983 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open

1984 - Andy Kaufman & Fred Blassie's "My Breakfast With Blassie" premieres

1984 - Senate rejects amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools

1985 - Libby Riddles is 1st woman to win Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race

1986 - 228 KPH gust of wind strikes Cairngorm (UK record)

1986 - Jacques Chirac forms French government

1987 - FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment)

1987 - NASA launches Palapa B2P

1987 - Soap opera "Capitol" final episode

1987 - Soviet filmmakers arrive in Hollywood for an entertainment summit

1987 - Yvonne van Gennip skates ladies' world record 5 km (7:20.36)

1988 - David Henry Hwang's "M. Butterfly," premieres in NYC

1988 - Laura Davies wins Circle K LPGA Tucson Golf Open

Heavyweight Boxing Champion Mike TysonHeavyweight Boxing Champion Mike Tyson 1988 - Mike Tyson KOs Tony Tubbs in 2 for heavyweight boxing title

1988 - Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.

1989 - Baseball announces Reds manager Pete Rose is under investigation

1989 - Richard J Kerr replaces Robert M Gates as deputy director of CIA

1990 - LA Lakers retires Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's #33

1990 - Singer Gloria Estefan breaks her collarbone in a bus accident

1991 - Court awards Peggy Lee $3 million in suit against Disney

1991 - Michael Jackson signs $65M 6 album deal with Sony records

1991 - Supreme Court rules unanimously employers can't exclude women from jobs where exposure to toxic chemicals could potentially damage fetus

1991 - US forgives $2 billion in loans to Poland

1992 - Janice Pennington is awarded $1.3M for accident on Price is Right set

1992 - Noriega's wife Felicidad arrested for stealing buttons from dresses

1993 - Dan Jansen skates world record 500m (36.02 sec)

1993 - IRA-bomb kills 3 year old in Warrington England

1994 - "Cyrano - The Musical" closes at Neil Simon NYC after 137 perfs

King of Pop Michael JacksonKing of Pop Michael Jackson 1994 - "Flowering Peach" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 41 performances

1994 - "No Man's Land" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 61 performances

1994 - 14th Golden Raspberry Awards: Indecent Proposal wins

1994 - Brett Hart wins WWF championship at Wrestlemania X

1994 - El Salvador's 1st pres election following 12-year-old civil war

1994 - Laura Davies wins LPGA Standard Register Ping Golf Tournament

1994 - Mashonaland U-24 beat Matabeleland on 1st inn to win Logan Cup

1994 - Wrestlemania X at Madison Square Garden NY, Bret Hart pins Yokozuna

1994 - Zulu-king Goodwill Zwelithini founds realm in South Africa

1995 - Dow-Jones hits 4083.68 (record)

• There was a poison nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on this day in 1995, killing 12 and injuring thousands.  At the height of the morning rush hour in Tokyo, Japan, five two-man terrorist teams from the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult, riding on separate subway trains, converge at the Kasumigaseki station and secretly release lethal sarin gas into the air. The terrorists then took a sarin antidote and escaped while the commuters, blinded and gasping for air, rushed to the exits. Twelve people died, and 5,500 were treated in hospitals, some in a comatose state. Most of the survivors recovered, but some victims suffered permanent damage to their eyes, lungs, and digestive systems. A United States Senate subcommittee later estimated that if the sarin gas had been disseminated more effectively at Kasumigaseki station, a hub of the Tokyo subway system, tens of thousands might have been killed.    In the attack's aftermath, Japanese police raided Aum Shinrikyo headquarters and arrested hundreds of members, including the cult's blind leader, Shoko Asahara. The cult, which combined Buddhism and yoga with apocalyptic Christian philosophy, was already under investigation for a 1994 sarin attack that killed seven, and for the murder of several political opponents.    During the 1980s, Asahara, a self-styled Buddhist monk, began winning numerous converts to his Aum Shinrikyo cult, whose name translates roughly to the "Supreme Teachings of Om." Asahara exploited the spiritual vacuum left by Japan's economic boom years and promised religious rebirth and supernatural powers to young Japanese who felt uncomfortable within their country's rigidly homogenous society. In 1989, Aum was recognized as a religious corporation in Japan, and by 1995 it had a worldwide following of more than 40,000 people and assets in excess of $1 billion.    In the early 1990s, Asahara added Christian apocalyptic beliefs to his Buddhist teachings and proclaimed that he was the reincarnation of both Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha. Aum became militant, stockpiling weapons and recruiting brilliant young scientists to help him accumulate an arsenal of biochemical weapons, including advanced nerve agents such as VX and killer diseases such as Q-fever and anthrax. These weapons, Asahara promised, would lead Aum Shinrikyo to victory in the coming Armageddon.    More than a dozen political opponents to the cult were murdered, their bodies incinerated in specially built microwave ovens, and in June 1994 Aum staged its first sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, west of Tokyo. A car, modified to strategically release the lethal gas, was driven near a dormitory where judges and court officials conducting a case against Aum were staying. Seven people died, and 150 people were injured. Japan's authorities, hindered by constitutional protection of religious organizations, failed to arrest Asahara or suppress his cult, though they were the prime suspects in the attack. In early 1995, Asahara told his followers that World War III had begun, and a second sarin attack was planned for the Tokyo subway system, which carries some four million riders a day.    In the years since the 1995 attack, five Aum members have been sentenced to die for the murderous acts committed by the cult at Kasumigaseki station and elsewhere, and others have been sentenced to varying prison terms. Shoko Asahara, was sentenced to death by hanging in February 2004, but continues to appeal the decision.    Aum Shinrikyo was stripped of its legal status and tax privileges as a religious organization, but the Japanese government concluded it was no longer a threat and stopped short of using an anti-subversion law to ban it. Aum has changed its name to Aleph, which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and meant to signify renewal, and maintains an impressive following.

1995 - Beatles song, "Baby It's You", with late John Lennon as lead singer, is released, 1st Fab Four single in more than 30 years

1996 - "Love Thy Neighbor" opens at Booth Theater NYC

1996 - Erik & Lyle Menendez found guilty of killing their parents

1996 - UK admits humans can catch CJD (Mad Cow Disease)

1997 - "Play On!" opens at Brooks Atkinson Theater NYC for 61 performances

1997 - Liggett admits cigarettes are addictive

1997 - Mens Figure Skating Championship in Lausanne won by Elvis Stojko (CAN)

1999 - Legoland California, the first and only Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California.

1999 - 19th Golden Raspberry Awards: An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn wins

2000 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after a gun battle that leaves a Georgia sheriff's deputy dead.

Singer-songwriter Alicia KeysSinger-songwriter Alicia Keys 2002 - 16th Soul Train Music Awards: The O'Jays, Dr. Dre & Alicia Keys wins

2004 - Stephen Harper wins the leadership of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada, becoming the party's first leader.

2004 - 18th Soul Train Music Awards: R. Kelly, Janet Jackson, Outkast & Beyoncé win

2005 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Fukuoka, Japan, its first major quake in over 100 years. One person is killed, hundreds are injured and evacuated.

2006 - Cyclone Larry makes landfall in eastern Australia, destroying most of the country's banana crop.

2006 - Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Deby.

2012 - 50 people are killed and 240 injured in a wave of terror attacks across 10 cities in Iraq

2012 - Disney movie John Carter records one of the largest losses in cinema history with a $200 million dollar write down

2013 - Pierre Deligne wins the 2013 Abel Prize in mathematics

0141 - The 6th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet took place.   1413 - Henry V took the throne of England upon the death of his father Henry IV.   1525 - Paris' parliament began its pursuit of Protestants.   1602 - The United Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) was formed.   1616 - Walter Raleigh was released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana.   1627 - France and Spain signed an accord for fighting Protestantism.   1739 - In India, Nadir Shah of Persia occupied Delhi and took possession of the Peacock throne.   1760 - The great fire of Boston destroyed 349 buildings.   1792 - In Paris, the Legislative Assembly approved the use of the guillotine.   1800 - French army defeated the Turks at Helipolis, Turkey, and advanced into Cairo.   1814 - Prince Willem Frederik became the monarch of Netherlands.   1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris after his escape from Elba and began his "Hundred Days" rule.   1816 - The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed its right to review state court decisions.   1833 - The U.S. and Siam signed a commercial treaty.   1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," subtitled "Life Among the Lowly," was first published.   1865 - A plan by John Wilkes Booth to abduct U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was ruined when Lincoln changed his plans and did not appear at the Soldier’s Home near Washington, DC.   1868 - Jesse James Gang robbed a bank in Russelville, KY, of $14,000.   1883 - The Unity treaty of Paris was signed to protect industrial property.   1885 - John Matzeliger of Suriname patented the shoe lacing machine.   1886 - The first AC power plant in the U.S. began commercial operation.   1888 - The Sherlock Holmes Adventure, "A Scandal in Bohemia," began.   1890 - The General Federation of Womans' Clubs was founded.   1891 - The first computing scale company was incorporated in Dayton, OH.   1896 - U.S. Marines landed in Nicaragua to protect U.S. citizens in the wake of a revolution.   1897 - The first U.S. orthodox Jewish Rabbinical seminary was incorporated in New York.   1897 - The first intercollegiate basketball game that used five players per team was held. The contest was Yale versus Pennsylvania. Yale won by a score of 32-10.   1899 - At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair. She was put to death for the murder of her stepdaughter.   1900 - It was announced that European powers had agreed to keep China's doors open to trade.   1902 - France and Russia acknowledged the Anglo-Japanese alliance. They also asserted their right to protect their interests in China and Korea.   1903 - In Paris, paintings by Henri Matisse were shown at the "Salon des Independants".   1906 - In Russia, army officers mutiny at Sevastopol.   1911 - The National Squash Tennis Association was formed in New York City.   1914 - The first international figure skating championship was held in New Haven, CT.   1915 - The French called off the Champagne offensive on the Western Front.   1918 - The Bolsheviks of the Soviet Union asked for American aid to rebuild their army.   1922 - U.S. President Warren G. Harding ordered U.S. troops back from the Rhineland.   1922 - The USS Langley was commissioned. It was the first aircraft carrier for the U.S. Navy.   1932 - The German dirigible, Graf Zepplin, made the first flight to South America on regular schedule.   1933 - The first German concentration camp was completed at Dachau.   1934 - Rudolf Kuhnold gave a demonstration of radar in Kiel Germany.   1940 - The British Royal Air Force conducted an all-night air raid on the Nazi airbase at Sylt, Germany.   1943 - The Allies attacked Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's forces on the Mareth Line in North Africa.   1947 - A blue whale weighing 180-metric tons was caught in the South Atlantic.   1952 - The U.S. Senate ratified a peace treaty with Japan.   1956 - Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) exploded.   1956 - Tunisia gained independence from France.   1963 - The first "Pop Art" exhibit began in New York City.   1964 - The ESRO (European Space Research Organization) was established.   1965 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson orders 4,000 troops to protect the Selma-Montgomery civil rights marchers.   1967 - Twiggy arrived in the U.S. for a one-week stay.   1969 - U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy called on the U.S. to close all bases in Taiwan.   1972 - 19 mountain climbers were killed on Japan's Mount Fuji during an avalanche.   1976 - Patricia Hearst was convicted of armed robbery for her role in the hold up of a San Francisco Bank.   1980 - The U.S. made an appeal to the International Court concerning the American Hostages in Iran.   1981 - Argentine ex-president Isabel Peron was sentenced to eight years in a convent.   1982 - U.S. scientists' return from Antarctica with the first land mammal fossils found there.   1984 - The U.S. Senate rejected an amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools.   1985 - For the first time in its 99-year history, Avon representatives received a salary. Up to that time they had been paid solely on commissions.   1985 - CBS-TV presented "The Romance of Betty Boop."   1985 - Libby Riddles won the 1,135-mile Anchorage-to-Nome dog race becoming the first woman to win the Iditarod.   1986 - Fallon Carrington and Jeff Colby were wed on the TV drama "The Colby’s". "The Colby’s" was an offshoot of "Dynasty".   1987 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved AZT. The drug was proven to slow the progress of AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).   1989 - A Washington, DC, district court judge blocked a curfew imposed by Mayor Barry and the City Council.   1989 - In Belfast, two policemen were killed. The IRA claimed responsibility.   1989 - It was announced that Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose was under investigation.   1990 - The Los Angeles Lakers retired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's #33.   1990 - Namibia became an independent nation ending 75 years of South African rule.   1990 - Imelda Marcos, widow of ex-Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, went on trial for racketeering, embezzlement and bribery.   1990 - In Rumania, tanks were sent to the town of Tirgu Mures to quell ethnic riots.   1991 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that employers could not exclude women from jobs where exposure to toxic chemicals could potentially damage a fetus.   1991 - The U.S. forgave $2 billion in loans to Poland.   1992 - Janice Pennington was awarded $1.3 million for accident on the set of the "Price is Right" TV show.   1993 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin declared emergency rule. He set a referendum on whether the people trusted him or the hard-line Congress to govern.   1993 - An Irish Republican Army bomb was detonated in Warrington, England. A 3-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy were killed.   1995 - About 35,000 Turkish troops crossed the northern border of Iraq in pursuit of the separatist rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).   1995 - In Tokyo, 12 people were killed and more than 5,500 others were sickened when packages containing the nerve gas Sarin was released on five separate subway trains. The terrorists belonged to a doomsday cult in Japan.   1996 - In Los Angeles, Erik and Lyle Menendez were found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of their parents.   1996 - The U.K. announced that humans could catch CJD (Mad Cow Disease).   1997 - Brian Grazer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.   1997 - Liggett Group, the maker of Chesterfield cigarettes, settled 22 state lawsuits by admitting the industry marketed cigarettes to teenagers and agreed to warn on every pack that smoking is addictive.   1998 - India's new Hindu nationalist-led government pledges to "exercise the option to induct nuclear weapons."   1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first men to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon. The non-stop trip began on March 3 and covered 26,500 miles.   2000 - Former Black Panther Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, once known as H. Rap Brown, was captured following a shootout that left a sherriff's deputy dead.   2002 - Actress Pamela Anderson disclosed that she had hepatitis C.   2002 - Arthur Andersen pled innocent to charges that it had shredded documents and deleted computer files related to the energy company Enron.   2003 - Cisco Systems Inc. announced it was buying The Linksys Group INc. for $500 million in stock.   2003 - U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq from Kuwait.



1602 The Dutch East India Company was established. During its 196-year history, it became one of the world's most powerful companies. 1727 English physicist/astronomer Sir Isaac Newton died in London at age 84. 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was published. 1969 John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar. 1985 Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the Iditarod. 1990 Namibia becomes an independent nation. 1995 Two members of the Japanese cult Aum Sinrikyo released poisonous gas in a Tokyo subway stop during rush hour, killing 12 people and sending over 5,000 to the hospital for treatment. 1999 Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first to fly a hot-air balloon nonstop around the world. 2003 Ground troops entered Iraq and a second round of air strikes against Baghdad was launched.

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/mar20.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory