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!
On this day in 196 BCE, Ptolemy V ascended to the throne of Egypt. In 1309 on this day, Pope Clement V excommunicated Venice and its entire population. On this day in 1329, Pope John XXII issued his 'In Agro Dominico' condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical. In 1668 on this day, English King Charles II gave Bombay to the East India Company. The modern shoestring (string and shoe holes) was invented in England on this day in 1790. The United States Government established a permanent navy and authorized the building of six frigates on this day in 1794. On this day in 1863 during the American Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis called on this day to be a day of fasting & prayer. American President Andrew Johnson vetoed the civil rights bill on this day in 1866, although it still later passed and became the 14th amendment to the Constitution. The first international rugby game was played on this day in 1871, with Scotland defeating England, 1-0. On this day in 1900, the British Parliament passed the War Loan Act, which provided 35 million pounds to the cause of the Boer War in South Africa. This day in 1906 marked the founding of the Alpine Club of Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A fire during a barn-dance in Ököritófülpös, Hungary, killed 312 people on this day in 1910. In 1912 on this day, the first Japanese cherry trees were planted along the Potomac in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. The first successful blood transfusion took place on this day in 1914 in Brussels, Belgium. On this day in 1918, Bessarabia was annexed by Romania. Canada formally recognized the USSR (Soviet Union) on this day in 1924. In 1933 on this day, Japan left League of Nations in protest of the Lytton Commission's report condemning Japanese occupation of Manchuria. This was a busy day in 1945 during World War II. On this day in 1945 during the latter stages of World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower declared German defenses on the Western Front broken. The Germans launched the last of their V-2 missiles on this day in 1945, in a last-ditch effort to deploy their remaining V-2 missiles against the Allies. They launched their long-range rockets from their only remaining launch site, in the Netherlands. Almost 200 civilians in England and Belgium were added to the V-2 casualty toll as a result. Iwo Jima was occupied on this day in 1945, after 22,000 Japanese & 6,000 US troops had been killed in the fighting. Also on this day in 1945, the US 20th Army Corps captured Wiesbaden. Finally on this day in 1945 during World War II, Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways commenced. Nikita Khrushchev rose to the ranks to become the Soviet Premier as well as First Secretary of the Communist Party on this day in 1958. On this day in 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake hit 80 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska, killing 117 people and producing a 50-foot tsunami that traveled over 8,000 miles. Also known as the Great Alaska Earthquake or the Good Friday Earthquake, it is the largest recorded earthquake in the history of North America to date, and the second largest recorded earthquake in world history. In 1965 on this day, South Vietnamese forces conducted combat operations in Cambodia. There were antiwar demonstrations opposing the conflict in Vietnam in the United States, Europe & Australia on this day in 1966. In 1970 on this day, Ringo released his first solo album "Sentimental Journey" just days before the Beatles would officially break up. On this day in 1980, Mount St Helens became active after 123 years of being a dormant volcano. Jiang Zemin was appointed President of the People's Republic of China on this day in 1993. Martin Luther King's son met with James Earl Ray, the man accused of killing his famous father, on this day in 1997. On this day in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the drug Viagra, an oral medication that treats impotence. On this day in 2006, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights held its 62nd and final meeting.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
• On this day in 196 BCE, Ptolemy V ascended to the throne of Egypt.
• In 1309 on this day, Pope Clement V excommunicated Venice and its entire population.
• On this day in 1329, Pope John XXII issued his 'In Agro Dominico' condemning some writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical.
• 1513 - Spaniard Juan Ponce de Leon discovers Florida
• 1599 - Robert Devereux becomes lt-general of Ireland
• 1613 - The first English child born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.
• 1625 - Charles I, King Of England, Scotland & Ireland, ascends English throne
• 1642 - The sixth Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Joseph takes office.
• In 1668 on this day, English King Charles II gave Bombay to the East India Company.
• 1708 - English pretender to the throne James III flees to Dunkerk
• 1709 - Dike at Hardinxveld breaks (Alblasserwaard flooded)
• 1713 - Spain losses Menorca & Gibraltar
• 1721 - France & Spain sign Treaty of Madrid
• 1782 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• The modern shoestring (string and shoe holes) was invented in England on this day in 1790.
• The United States Government established a permanent navy and authorized the building of six frigates on this day in 1794.
• 1794 - Denmark and Sweden form a neutrality compact.
Le Drapeau Tricolore (Tricour Flag) which was a product of the French Revolution, and which remains the national flag of France to this day.
• The Treaty of Amiens was signed on this day in 1802, officially ending the French Revolutionary War.
• 1808 - Joseph Haydns oratorio "Die Schopfung" premieres in Vienna
• 1814 - Battle at Horseshoe Bend: General Andrew Jackson defeats the Red Sticks, part of the Creek Indian tribe near Dadeville, Alabama
1836 - 1st Mormon temple dedicated (Kirtland Ohio)
1841 - 1st US steam fire engine tested, NYC
1848 - John Parker Paynard originates medicated adhesive plaster
1849 - Joseph Couch patents steam-powered percussion rock drill
1855 - Abraham Gesner patents kerosene
1860 - M L Byrn patents "covered gimlet screw with a 'T' handle" (corkscrew)
• On this day in 1863 during the American Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis called on this day to be a day of fasting & prayer.
• 1865 - Siege of Spanish Fort, AL-captured by Federals
• 1866 - Andrew Rankin patents the urinal
• American President Andrew Johnson vetoed the civil rights bill on this day in 1866, although it still later passed and became the 14th amendment to the Constitution.
1868 - The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad Company is organized in Oswego, New York.
• The first international rugby game was played on this day in 1871, with Scotland defeating England, 1-0.
1879 - Longest championship fight (136 rounds)
US President & General Andrew JacksonUS President & General Andrew Jackson 1881 - Rioting takes place in Basingstoke in protest against the daily vociferous promotion of rigid Temperance by the Salvation Army.
1884 - 1st long-distance telephone call, Boston-NY
1890 - A tornado strikes Louisville, Kentucky, killing 76 and injuring 200.
The Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa.
• On this day in 1900, the British Parliament passed the War Loan Act, which provided 35 million pounds to the cause of the Boer War in South Africa.
• This day in 1906 marked the founding of the Alpine Club of Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba
• A fire during a barn-dance in Ököritófülpös, Hungary, killed 312 people on this day in 1910.
Pictures From the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, 2013
• In 1912 on this day, the first Japanese cherry trees were planted along the Potomac in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. Helen Taft, wife of President William Taft, and the Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, plant two Yoshina cherry trees on the northern bank of the Potomac River, near the Jefferson Memorial. The event was held in celebration of a gift, by the Japanese government, of 3,020 cherry trees to the U.S. government. The planting of Japanese cherry trees along the Potomac was first proposed by socialite Eliza Scidmore, who raised money for the endeavor. Helen Taft had lived in Japan while her husband was president of the Philippine Commission, and knowing the beauty of cherry blossoms she embraced Scidmore's idea. After learning of the first lady's interest, the Japanese consul in New York suggested making a gift of the trees to the U.S. government from the city of Tokyo. In January 1910, 2,000 Japanese cherry trees arrived in Washington from Japan but had fallen prey to disease during the journey. In response, a private Japanese citizen donated the funds to transport a new batch of trees, and 3,020 specimens were taken from the famous collection on the bank of the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward, a suburb of Tokyo. In March 1912, the trees arrived in Washington, and on March 27 the first two trees were planted along the Potomac River's Tidal Basin in a formal ceremony. The rest of the trees were then planted along the basin, in East Potomac Park, and on the White House grounds. The blossoming trees proved immediately popular with visitors to Washington's Mall area, and in 1934 city commissioners sponsored a three-day celebration of the late March blossoming of the trees, which grew into the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. After World War II, cuttings from Washington's cherry trees were sent back to Japan to restore the Tokyo collection that was decimated by American bombing attacks during the war.
• The first successful blood transfusion took place on this day in 1914 in Brussels, Belgium.
• On this day in 1918, Bessarabia was annexed by Romania. On March 27, 1918, in the wake of Russia's withdrawal from World War I and its acceptance of the humiliating peace terms set by the Central Powers at Brest-Litovsk, the Balkan republic of Romania annexes Bessarabia, a strategically important area of land located on its eastern border and bounded on the south by the Danube River and the mouth of the Black Sea. Ruled by Ottoman Turks from the 16th century, Bessarabia (which today corresponds to the republic of Moldova and part of Ukraine) was annexed by the Russians in 1812 as a result of the Russo-Turkish War. The collapse of the Russian empire and the triumph of Bolshevism in 1917 inspired new stirrings of nationalism in Bessarabia, particularly among its large populations of Romanians and Ukrainians. Despite its historical alliance with the Central Powers, especially Austria-Hungary, Romania had entered World War I on the side of the Allies in August 1916 with the hope of winning Transylvania, then part of Hungary, and expanding its strength in the Balkans. Within six months, however, Austro-German and Bulgarian forces had crushed Romania, effectively overrunning most of the country and ending its participation in the war by early 1917. (It signed a treaty with the Central Powers on May 7, 1918.) With the fall of the Russian empire, however, Romania saw its chance to reestablish its claims over Bessarabia. For its part, Ukraine saw the end of czarist Russia as an opportunity. Immediately following the overthrow of the czar in February 1917, Ukraine set up a provisional government and proclaimed itself a republic within the structure of a federated Russia. In January 1918, it declared its complete independence. The Ukrainian government immediately sought control of Bessarabia, or at least its northernmost and southernmost sections, where the majority of the population was Ukrainian. In January 1918, Romania sent troops to Bessarabia; on March 27, after Russia formally exited the war in early March at Brest-Litovsk, it annexed the region. Ukraine's national council strongly protested, urging self-determination for the Ukrainian population of Bessarabia. Over the next year, however, turmoil and ultimately civil war in Ukraine made taking any decisive action impossible. On November 10, a day before the armistice ending World War I was signed—and with an Allied victory assured—Romania reentered the war, occupying Transylvania. At the Versailles peace conference in 1919, the Romanian delegation, headed by Prime Minister Ion Bratianu, included Bessarabia in a long list of territorial demands that also included the former Austro-Hungarian properties of Transylvania and the Bukovina and Banat regions, all of which they claimed were historically and ethnically Romanian. Though the Supreme Council at Versailles—made up of the leaders of Britain, France, the U.S., Italy and Japan—found Romania's demands excessive, they eventually gave in on most counts, including cession of Bessarabia. Thus, in the post-war period, Romania's size and population nearly doubled, making it by far the greatest winner of territory to come out of World War I. Neither the new Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) nor its member republic, Ukraine—which fell to the Bolsheviks in 1919—accepted Romanian control of Bessarabia. During World War II, Bessarabia was occupied by Soviet troops in June 1940, retaken by Romania a year later, and then reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. After the war ended, the majority of Bessarabia was joined to the soviet republic of Moldavia; the northernmost area and the coastal strip to the south along the Black Sea became part of Ukraine. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldavia changed its name to Moldova and, along with Ukraine, joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an association of 12 former republics of the USSR.
1920 - Hermann Muller becomes German chancellor (SPD)
• Canada formally recognized the USSR (Soviet Union) on this day in 1924.
1924 - New French government of Poincaré begins
1928 - KGB-AM in San Diego CA begins radio transmissions
1928 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson
1928 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger Turner
1929 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson
1929 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger Turner
1930 - 1st US radio broadcast from a ship at sea
Comedian/Actor/Filmaker Charlie ChaplinComedian/Actor/Filmaker Charlie Chaplin 1931 - Charlie Chaplin receives France's distinguished Legion of Honor
1931 - John McGraw says night baseball will not catch on
1932 - De Bataven soccer team forms in Gendt
1933 - Farm Credit Administration (US) authorized
• In 1933 on this day, Japan left League of Nations in protest of the Lytton Commission's report condemning Japanese occupation of Manchuria.
1933 - Polythene discovered by Reginald Gibson & Eric William Fawcett
1936 - WOS-AM in Jefferson City Missouri goes off the air
1937 - Feyenoord-stadium official opens in Rotterdam
1938 - The Battle of Taierzhuang takes place.
1939 - 1st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: U of Oregon beats OH State 46-33
1940 - Himmler orders building of Auschwitz concentration camp, at Katowice
1941 - Britain leases defense bases in Trinidad to US for 99 years
1941 - Hitler signs Directive 27 (assault on Yugoslavia)
1941 - Yugoslavian coup gets rid of pro-German Prince Paul
1942 - -28] Allies raid German submarine base in St Nazaire
Dictator of Nazi Germany Adolf HitlerDictator of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler 1942 - Japan forces Java to use "Tokyo time" 1½ hour forward
1942 - Joe Louis KOs Abe Simon in 6 to retain heavyweight boxing title (NYC)
1943 - Assassination attempt on Van de Peat at Amsterdams census bureau
1943 - Blue Ribbon Town (with Groucho Marx) 1st heard on CBS Radio
1943 - US begins assault on Fondouk-pass, Tunisia
1944 - 1,000 Jews leave Drancy France for Auschwitz Concentration Camp
• 1944 - 2,000 Jews are murdered in Kaunas Lithuania
• 1944 - 40 Jewish policemen in Riga Latvia ghetto are shot by the gestapo
• 1944 - Children's Aktion-Nazis collect all the Jewish children of Lovno
Statue of soldier, author and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, London
• 1945 - British premier Churchill sails to eastern banks of Rhine
1945 - DePaul beats Bowling Green for NIT title
1945 - Ella Fitzgerald & Delta Rhythm Boys record "It's Only a Paper Moon"
General Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
• On this day in 1945 during the latter stages of World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower declared German defenses on the Western Front broken.
• The Germans launched the last of their V-2 missiles on this day in 1945, in a last-ditch effort to deploy their remaining V-2 missiles against the Allies. They launched their long-range rockets from their only remaining launch site, in the Netherlands. Almost 200 civilians in England and Belgium were added to the V-2 casualty toll as a result. German scientists had been working on the development of a long-range missile since the 1930s. In October 3, 1942, victory was achieved with the successful trial launch of the V-2, a 12-ton rocket capable of carrying a one-ton warhead. The missile, fired from Peenemunde, an island off Germany's Baltic coast, traveled 118 miles in that first test. The brainchild of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, the V-2 was unique in several ways. First, it was virtually impossible to intercept. Upon launching, the missile rises six miles vertically; it then proceeds on an arced course, cutting off its own fuel according to the range desired. The missile then tips over and falls on its target at a speed of almost 4,000 mph. It hits with such force that the missile burrows itself into the ground several feet before exploding. The V-2 had the potential of flying a distance of 200 miles, and the launch pads were portable, making them impossible to detect before firing. The first launches as part of an offensive occurred on September 6, 1944, when two missiles were fired at Paris. On September 8, two more were fired at England, which would be followed by over 1,100 more during the next six months. On March 27, 1945, taking advantage of their one remaining V-2 launch site, near The Hague, the Germans fired their V-2s for the last time. At 7 a.m., London awoke to a blast-one of the bombs had landed on a block of flats at Valance Road, killing 134 people. Twenty-seven Belgian civilians were killed in Antwerp when another of the rockets landed there. And that afternoon, one more V-2 landed in Kent, England, causing the very last British civilian casualty of the war. By the end of the war, more than 2,700 Brits had died because of the rocket attacks, as well as another 4,483 deaths in Belgium. After the war, both the United States and the Soviet Union captured samples of the rockets for reproduction. Having proved so extraordinarily deadly during the war, the V-2 became the precursor of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) of the postwar era.
• Iwo Jima was occupied on this day in 1945, after 22,000 Japanese & 6,000 US troops had been killed in the fighting.
• Also on this day in 1945, the US 20th Army Corps captured Wiesbaden.
• Finally on this day in 1945 during World War II, Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways coimmenced.
1948 - The Second Congress of the Workers Party of North Korea is convened.
1950 - Jazz pianist, Erroll Garner's solo concert (Cleve OH)
1950 - Netherlands recognizes People's Republic of China
1950 - WHAS TV channel 11 in Louisville, KY (CBS) begins broadcasting
1951 - 13th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Kansas 68-58
1951 - Frank Sinatra recorded "I'm a Fool to Want You"
1952 - Failed assassination attempt of German Chancellor Adenauer
1952 - Sun Records of Memphis begins releasing records
1953 - 21 die in a train crash in Conneaut Ohio
1955 - Steve McQueen makes his network TV debut (Goodyear Playhouse)
1955 - WPRI TV channel 12 in Providence, RI (ABC) begins broadcasting
• 1956 - French commandos land in Algeria
Singer/Actor Frank SinatraSinger/Actor Frank Sinatra 1956 - US seizes US communist newspaper "Daily Worker"
1957 - 29th Academy Awards - "Around World in 80 Days," Bergman, Brynner win
1958 - CBS Labs announce new stereophonic records
1958 - Havana Hilton opens
The flag of the USSR (Soviet Union)
• Nikita Khrushchev rose to the ranks to become the Soviet Premier as well as First Secretary of the Communist Party on this day in 1958. On March 27, 1958, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev replaces Nicolay Bulganin as Soviet premier, becoming the first leader since Joseph Stalin to simultaneously hold the USSR's two top offices. Khrushchev, born into a Ukrainian peasant family in 1894, worked as a mine mechanic before joining the Soviet Communist Party in 1918. In 1929, he went to Moscow and steadily rose in the party ranks and in 1938 was made first secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party. He became a close associate of Joseph Stalin, the authoritarian leader of the Soviet Union since 1924. In 1953, Stalin died, and Khrushchev grappled with Stalin's chosen successor, Georgy Malenkov, for the position of first secretary of the Communist Party. Khrushchev won the power struggle, and Malenkov was made premier, a more ceremonial post. In 1955, Malenkov was replaced by Bulganin, Khrushchev's hand-picked nominee. In 1956, Khrushchev denounced Stalin and his totalitarian policies at the 20th Party Congress, leading to a "thaw" in the USSR that saw the release of millions of political prisoners. Almost immediately, the new atmosphere of freedom led to anti-Soviet uprisings in Poland and Hungary. Khrushchev flew to Poland and negotiated a diplomatic solution, but the Hungarian rebellion was crushed by Warsaw Pact troops and tanks. Khruschev's program of de-Stalinization was opposed by some hard-liners in the Communist Party, and in June 1957 he was nearly ousted from his position as first secretary. After a brief struggle, he secured the removal of Malenkov and the other top party members who had opposed him and in 1958 prepared to take on the post of premier. On March 27, 1958, the Supreme Soviet--the Soviet legislature--voted unanimously to make First Secretary Khrushchev also Soviet premier, thus formally recognizing him as the undisputed leader of the USSR. In foreign affairs, Premier Khrushchev's stated policy was one of "peaceful coexistence" with the West. He said, "we offer the capitalist countries peaceful competition" and gave the Soviet Union an early lead in the space race by launching the first Soviet satellites and cosmonauts. A visit to the United States by Khrushchev in 1959 was hailed as a new high in U.S.-Soviet relations, but superpower relations would hit dangerous new lows in the early 1960s. In 1960, Khrushchev walked out of a long-awaited four-powers summit over the U-2 affair, and in 1961 he authorized construction of the Berlin Wall as a drastic solution to the East German question. Then, in October 1962, the United States and the USSR came close to nuclear war over the USSR's placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba. After 13 tense days, the Cuban Missile Crisis came to an end when Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the offensive weapons in exchange for a secret U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba. The humiliating resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, an agricultural crisis at home, and the deterioration of Soviet-Chinese relations over Khrushchev's moderate policies all led to growing opposition to Khrushchev in the party ranks. On October 14, 1964, Leonid Brezhnev, Khrushchev's protege and deputy, organized a successful coup against him, and Khrushchev abruptly stepped down as first secretary and premier. He retired to obscurity outside Moscow and lived there until his death in 1971.
• 1961 - Black demonstrators in Charleston staged ride-ins on street cars
1961 - Belgium government of Eyskens resigns
1961 - Failed assassination attempt on King Saif al-Islam Achmad of Yemen
1962 - Ann Jellicoe's "Knack," premieres in London
1962 - Archbishop Rummel ends race segregation in New Orlean Catholic school
1962 - Jacques Plante ties record winning 6th NHL Vezina trophy
• 1963 - Beeching axe: Dr. Richard Beeching issues a report calling for huge cuts to the United Kingdom's rail network.
1964 - 1st true Pirate Radio station, Radio Caroline (England)
1964 - Earthquake strikes Alaska, 8.4 on Richter scale, 118 die
• On this day in 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake hit 80 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska, killing 117 people and producing a 50-foot tsunami that traveled over 8,000 miles. Also known as the Great Alaska Earthquake or the Good Friday Earthquake, it is the largest recorded earthquake in the history of North America to date, and the second largest recorded earthquake in world history.
1964 - Great Train Robbers sentenced to a total of 307 years behind bars
1964 - UN troops arrive on Cyprus
• In 1965 on this day, South Vietnamese forces conducted combat operations in Cambodia. Following several days of consultations with the Cambodian government, South Vietnamese troops, supported by artillery and air strikes, launch their first major military operation into Cambodia. The South Vietnamese encountered a 300-man Viet Cong force in the Kandal province and reported killing 53 communist soldiers. Two teams of U.S. helicopter gunships took part in the action. Three South Vietnamese soldiers were killed and seven wounded.
• There were antiwar demonstrations opposing the conflict in Vietnam in the United States, Europe & Australia on this day in 1966.
1968 - Japanese Trade & Cultural Center (Japan Center) dedicated in SF
1968 - Suharto succeeds Sukarno as president of Indonesia
1969 - Black Academy of Arts & Letters forms in Boston
1969 - Launch of Mariner 7, flies 2,190-mi above southern Mars
This picture was taken, and recently cropped, by me. Taken from the Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band show in Worcester, Massachusetts, June 11, 2016
• In 1970 on this day, Ringo released his first solo album "Sentimental Journey" just days before the Beatles would officially break up.
1970 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1971 - 33rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Villanova 68-62 UCLA wins their 5th consecutive NCAA basketball title
1972 - Adolph Rupp retires after 42 years of coaching U of Kentucky
1972 - Venera 8 launched to Venus
1973 - Dennis Amiss out for 99 v Pakistan, 3rd 99 in Test Cricket
1973 - Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) stopped for speeding & LSD possession
Actor Marlon BrandoActor Marlon Brando 1973 - 45th Academy Awards - "Godfather," Marlon Brando & Liza Minnelli win Marlon Brando turns down Oscar for best actor in support of Indians
1976 - Delta States beat Immaculata, 69-64, for AIWA basketball title
1976 - Washington DC underground Metro opens
1977 - 583 die in aviation's worst disaster KLM-Pan Am 747 crash on Tenerife
1978 - Rutles "All You Need is Cash" is shown on British TV
• 1979 - Supreme Court rules, 8-1, cops can't randomly stop cars
• 1980 - Elevator in Vaal Reef S Afr gold mine crash 1900m down (23 die)
• On this day in 1980, Mount St Helens became active after 123 years of being a dormant volcano.
• 1980 - The Norwegian oil platform Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
• 1981 - John Lennon single "Watching the Wheels" released posthumously in UK
1982 - "Best Little Whorehouse..." closes at 46th St NYC after 1577 perfs
1982 - Imran takes 14-116 for cricket match v Sri Lanka at Lahore
1982 - Randy Holt sets Wash Cap record of 34 penalty minutes
1983 - 13th Easter Seal Telethon
1983 - Larry Holmes beats Lucien Rodriguez in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1983 - Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs," premieres in NYC
Composer Andrew Lloyd WebberComposer Andrew Lloyd Webber 1984 - Andrew Lloyd Webber/Richard Stilgoe's "Starlight Express," premieres
1985 - Billy Dee Williams receives a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
1986 - Disney-MGM Studio Tour ground breaking
• 1987 - President Habre's troops reconquer Faya Largeau Chad
1989 - Delhi beat Bengal by innings & 210 to win Cricket's Ranji Trophy
1990 - Bus accidentally touches high voltage wire in Karagpur India; 21 die
1990 - NSW beat Queensland by 345 runs to win Sheffield Shield Final
1990 - The United States begins broadcasting TV Martí to Cuba in an effort to bridge the information blackout imposed by the Castro regime.
Actor Billy Dee WilliamsActor Billy Dee Williams 1991 - NCAA bans U of Minn football team from postseason play in 1992
1991 - New Kid Donnie Wahlberg, arrested on arson charges in Kentucky
1991 - Scotty Bowman & Neil Armstrong elected to NHL Hall of Fame
1992 - Bruce Springsteen releases "Human Touch" & "Lucky Town"
The flag of the People's Republic of China
• Jiang Zemin was appointed President of the People's Republic of China on this day in 1993.
1994 - Church in Piedmont Alabama collapses in tornado, 19 killed
1994 - The Eurofighter takes its first flight in Manching, Germany.
• Martin Luther King's son met with James Earl Ray, the man accused of killing his famous father, on this day in 1997.
• On this day in 1998, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the drug Viagra, an oral medication that treats impotence. Sildenafil, the chemical name for Viagra, is an artificial compound that was originally synthesized and studied to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) and angina pectoris (a form of cardiovascular disease). Chemists at the Pfizer pharmaceutical company found, however, that while the drug had little effect on angina, it could induce penile erections, typically within 30 to 60 minutes. Seeing the economic opportunity in such a biochemical effect, Pfizer decided to market the drug for impotence. Sildenafil was patented in 1996, and a mere two years later–a stunningly short time compared to other drugs–it was approved by the FDA for use in treating "erectile dysfunction," the new clinical name for impotence. Though unconfirmed, it is believed the drug was invented by Peter Dunn and Albert Wood. Viagra's massive success was practically instantaneous. In the first year alone, the $8-$10 pills yielded about a billion dollars in sales. Viagra's impact on the pharmaceutical and medical industries, as well as on the public consciousness, was also enormous. Though available by prescription only, Viagra was marketed on television, famously touted by ex-presidential candidate Bob Dole, then in his mid-70s. Such direct-to-consumer marketing was practically unprecedented for prescription drugs (now, sales and marketing account for approximately 30 percent of the pharmaceutical industry's costs, in some cases more than research and development). The drug was also offered over the internet–customers needed only to fill out an "online consultation" to receive samples. An estimated 30 million men in the United States suffer from erectile dysfunction and a wave of new Viagra competitors, among them Cialis (tadalafil) and Levitra (vardenafil), has blown open the market. Drug companies are now not just targeting older men like Dole, but men in their 30s and 40s, too. As with many drugs, the long-term effects of Viagra on men's health are still unclear (Viagra does carry warnings for those who suffer from heart trouble), but its popularity shows no signs of slowing. To date, over 20 million Americans have tried it, and that number is sure to increase as the baby boomer population continues to age.
2000 - Phillips explosion of 2000 kills 1 and injures 71 in Pasadena, Texas.
2002 - Passover Massacre: A suicide bomber kills 29 people in Netanya, Israel.
2004 - HMS Scylla, a decommissioned Leander frigate, is sunk as an artificial reef off Cornwall, the first of its kind in Europe.
Flag of the United Nations
• On this day in 2006, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights held its 62nd and final meeting.
2009 - Situ Gintung, an artificial lake in Indonesia, fails killing at least 99 people.
2013 - 12 people are killed in the Philippines after a mini-tornado causes a boat to capsize
2134 - 32nd recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1794 - The U.S. Congress authorized the creation of the U.S. Navy. 1802 - The Treaty of Amiens was signed ending the French Revolutionary War. 1836 - In Goliad, TX, about 350 Texan prisoners, including their commander James Fannin, were executed under orders from Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna. An estimated 30 Texans escaped execution. 1836 - The first Mormon temple was dedicated in Kirtland, OH. 1841 - The first steam fire engine was tested in New York City. 1860 - The corkscrew was patented by M.L. Byrn. 1866 - U.S. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the civil rights bill, which later became the 14th amendment. 1884 - The first long-distance telephone call was made from Boston to New York. 1899 - The first international radio transmission between England and France was achieved by the Italian inventor G. Marconi. 1900 - The Russian army mobilized 250,000 troops for active duty. 1901 - Filipino rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo was captured by the U.S. 1904 - Mary Jarris "Mother" Jones was ordered by Colorado state authorities to leave the state. She was accused of stirring up striking coal miners. 1907 - French troops occupied Oudja, Morocco, as a punitive action for the murder of French Dr. Muchamp. 1912 - The first cherry blossom trees were planted in Washington, DC. The trees were a gift from Japan. 1917 - The Seattle Metropolitans, of the Pacific Coast League of Canada, defeated the Montreal Canadiens and became the first U.S. hockey team to win the Stanley Cup. 1931 - Actor Charlie Chaplin received France’s Legion of Honor decoration. 1933 - About 55,000 people staged a protest against Hitler in New York City. 1933 - In the U.S., the Farm Credit Administration was authorized. 1941 - Tokeo Yoshikawa arrived in Oahu, HI, and began spying for Japan on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor. 1942 - The British raided the Nazi submarine base at St. Nazaire, France. 1946 - Four-month long strikes at both General Electric and General Motors ended with a wage increase. 1952 - The U.S. Eighth Army reached the 38th parallel in Korea, the original dividing line between the two Koreas. 1955 - Steve McQueen made his network TV debut on "Goodyear Playhouse." 1958 - Nikita Khrushchev became the chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers in addition to First Secretary of the Communist Party. 1958 - The U.S. announced a plan to explore space near the moon. 1976 - Washington, DC, opened its subway system. 1985 - Billy Dee Williams received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1988 - The U.S. Senate ratified the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. 1989 - The U.S. anti-missile satellite failed the first test in space. 1993 - In China, Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin was appointed President. 1997 - Russian workers, nearly 2 million, held a nationwide strike to protest unpaid wages. 1997 - In Australia, Governor-General William Deane signed a bill to overturn a 1996 Northern Territory act to legalize assisted suicides. The 1996 act was the first in the world to permit assisted suicides. 1998 - In the U.S., the FDA approved the prescription drug Viagra. It was the first pill for male impotence. 1998 - Top civilian aircraft makers in France, Spain, Germany and Britain agreed to create single European aerospace and defense company. 2004 - NASA successfully launched an unpiloted X-43A jet that hit Mach 7 (about 5,000 mph). 2007 - NFL owners voted to make instant replay a permanent officiating tool.
1794 Congress authorizes the construction of six frigates, including the Constitution (Old Ironsides), for the U.S. Navy. 1866 President Andrew Johnson vetoed a civil rights bill which later became the 14th amendment. 1884 The first long-distance telephone call was made, between Boston and New York. 1917 The Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S. hockey team to win the Stanley Cup. 1958 Nikita Khrushchev became Soviet premier and first secretary of the Communist Party. 1964 A 9.2 magnitude earthquake hit 80 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska, killing 117 and producing a 50-foot tsunami that traveled over 8,000 miles.
1977 Pan American and KLM Boeing 747s collided on a runway in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. The 542 people killed is the highest ever for an aviation disaster. 2001 A federal judge ruled that the University of Michigan’s affirmative action policy was invalid, a ruling that later would be reversed in an appeal.
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/mar27.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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