1796 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s dramatic play “Egmont” premieres in Weimar
1865 – General Pickett moves to 5 Forks, abandoning the defense of Petersburg
1883 – 1st performance of Caesar Franck’s symphonic poem for orchestra “Le Chasseur Maudit” (The Accursed Huntsman) at the Salle Érard in Paris
1885 – Great Britain declares Bechuanaland a protectorate
1917 – The Danish West Indies are officially ceded to the US for $25 million and renamed the Virgin Islands
1923 – Occupying French soldiers fire on workers when surrounded at Krupp auto factory in Essen, Germany; 6 die, dozens wounded
1966 – USSR launches Luna 10, 1st lunar orbiter
1972 – Final day of the rum ration in the Royal Canadian Navy
1985 – WrestleMania I, Madison Square Garden, NYC: Hulk Hogan and Mr T beat Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf
1987 – 49th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Syracuse, 74-73; Hoosiers’ guard Keith Smart hits game-winner in final seconds, intercepts full court pass at the last second
Author: gil7
Today in History for 31st March 2025
Historical Events
1865 – Battle of Boydton, Virginia (White Oaks Roads, Dinwiddie C H)
1905 – 67th Grand National: Frank Mason victorious aboard Kirkland; first Welsh-trained horse to win the event
1923 – Stanley Cup Final, Denman Arena, Vancouver, BC: Ottawa Senators (NHL) edge Edmonton Eskimos (WCHL), 1-0 for a 2-0 series sweep
1976 – NJ Court rules Karen Anne Quinlan may be disconnected from respirator
1991 – St. Louis Blues’ future Hockey Hall of Fame right wing Brett Hull scores his 86th goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Minnesota North Stars; 3rd best total in NHL history
1994 – Chicago White Sox assigns former NBA superstar Michael Jordan to the Birmingham Barons of Class AA Southern League; returns to NBA after one season
Famous Birthdays
1909 – Robert Brasillach, French author and journalist (editor in chief of the fascist weekly Je Suis Partout), born in Perpignan, France (d. 1945)
1918 – Ted Post, American television and film director (Gunsmoke; Beneath the Planet of the Apes; Magnum Force), born in Brooklyn, NYC (d. 2013)
1944 – Mick Ralphs, British rock guitarist (Mott the Hoople – “All The Young Dudes”; Bad Company – “Can’t Get Enough”), born in Stoke Lacy, Herefordshire, England
1952 – Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (Father Ted Crilly-Father Ted), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 1998)
1958 – Pat McGlynn, Scottish pop guitarist (Bay City Rollers), born in Edinburgh, Scotland
1975 – Adam Green, American film director
Famous Deaths
1547 – Francis I, King of France (1515-47), dies complaining about the weight of the crown at 52
1703 – Johann Christoph Bach, German harpsichordist and composer, dies at 60
1869 – Allan Kardec, French author and founder of Spiritism, dies at 64
2014 – Charles Keating, American district attorney (Los Angeles California), dies at 90
2020 – Cristina [Monet Zilkha], American dance-pop singer songwriter (Sleep It Off), dies at 64
2020 – Richard Friedman, American psychoanalyst who proved sexual orientation biological, dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 30th March 2025
1875 – Marie Moke Pleyel, Belgian composer, dies at 63
1966 – Maxfield Parrish, American painter and illustrator, dies at 95
1974 – Lodewijk Rogier, Dutch historian (Reborn in Freedom), dies at 79
1981 – Noel Harford, New Zealand cricket batsman (8 Tests, 2 x 50; Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, Franklin), dies at 50
1988 – Edgar Faure, Prime Minister of France (1952, 52-56) and writer, dies at 79
1992 – Luigi De Laurentiis, Italian producer (Toto, Macaroni), dies at 75
2006 – Red Hickey, American football coach (HC SF 49ers 1959-63; devised shotgun formation), dies at 89
2014 – Kate O’Mara, English actress (Dynasty) and writer, dies at 74
2016 – Howard Cable, Canadian conductor, arranger, and composer, dies at 95
2018 – Bill Maynard [Walter Williams], English actor (Greengrass-Heartbeat) and comedian, dies at 89
Historical Events for 30th March 2025
1916 – Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens (NHA) beat Portland Rosebuds (PCHA), 2-1 for a 3-2 series victory
1922 – KGY-AM in Olympia WA begins radio transmissions
1935 – Newfoundland changes time to 3½ hrs W of Greenwich, repeats 44 sec
1939 – First flight of the Australian C.A.C. CA-16 Wirraway military aircraft
1961 – The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is signed at New York
1970 – Columbia Records releases jazz artist Miles Davis’s influential double album “Bitches Brew”; it becomes his highest-charting title, wins a Grammy, and earns him his first gold record
1980 – Mark Medoff’s “Children of a Lesser God” premieres in NYC
1986 – PGA Tournament Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: John Mahaffey wins by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Larry Mize
1991 – 1st exhibition baseball games at Joe Robbie Stadium (Yanks-Orioles)
2013 – North Korea declares it is at a state of war with South Korea
Today in History for 30th March 2025
Historical Events
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris after defeating Napoleon
1865 – -4] Battle at 5 Forks, Virginia
1952 – 6th Tony Awards: “The Fourposter” (play) and “The King and I” (musical) win
1987 – Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” sells for a record £22.5 million ($39.7 million)
1992 – Man accidentally backs into Oakland A’s Jose Canseco’s $225,000 Lamborghini
2012 – American Mega Millions lottery hits a world record lottery amount of 640 million dollars
Famous Birthdays
1922 – Peter Jona Korn, German composer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1998)
1927 – Wally Grout, Australian cricket wicketkeeper (51 Tests, 187 dismissals, 3 x 50s), born in Mackay, Australia (d. 1968)
1940 – Jim Criner, American college football coach (Boise State, Iowa State, Scottish Claymores), born in Lurton, Arkansas
1971 – Mari Holden, American cyclist (World C’ship gold road time trial 2000; Olympic silver 2000), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1974 – Martin Love, Australian cricketer (high scoring Queensland batsman, Aust 1995), born in Mundubbera, Australia
1984 – Samantha Stosur, Australian tennis player (US Open singles 2011; 9 x Grand Slam doubles titles; Tour Finals doubles 2005, 06), born in Brisbane, Australia
Famous Deaths
1871 – Louise, Dutch-born Queen of Sweden and Norway, dies at 42
1959 – Daniil Andreev, Russian writer, poet and Christian mystic, dies at 52
1972 – Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator famous for his WWII sign-on “There’s good news tonight”, dies of pneumonia at 81
1978 – Larry Young [aka Khalid Yasin], American hard-bop and jazz-fusion Hammond B-3 organist (Unity), dies from several untreated illnesses, including pneumonia, at 37
1992 – Art Hannes, American actor and announcer, dies of a respiratory ailment at 72
2008 – Dith Pran, Cambodian photojournalist, survivor of the Cambodian genocide, and subject of the movie “The Killing Fields”, dies of pancreatic cancer at 65
Famous Deaths for 29th March 2025
1650 – Cornelis Galle I, Flemish engraver, dies at about 73
1921 – John Burroughs, American writer and nature enthusiast (Burroughs Medal namesake), dies at 83
1979 – Sultan Yahya Petra, 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (1975-79), dies at 61
1995 – Terry Moore, American baseball outfielder (World Series 1942, 46; 4 x MLB All Star; St. Louis Cardinals) and manager (Philadelphia Phillies 1954), dies at 82
1996 – Maggie Donnelly, London bag lady depicted in TV show “Bag Lady”, dies at 46
2005 – Johnnie Cochran, American attorney (O.J. Simpson defense attorney), dies at 67
2009 – Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (b.1975)
2016 – [Anna Marie] “Patty” Duke, American Academy and Emmy awarding actress (The Miracle Worker; The Patty Duke Show), and mental health advocate, dies of sepsis from a ruptured intestine at 69
2018 – Anita Shreve, American writer (Weight of Water, Past the Island; Drifting), dies of cancer at 71
2020 – Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer (“Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima”), dies at 86
Historical Events for 29th March 2025
1632 – Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed, returns Quebec to French control after the English seized it in 1629
1864 – Union General Steeles troops reach Arkadelphia, Arkansas
1934 – Bank of Travail in Belgium, socialist workers’ movement bankrupt
1960 – Darius Milhaud’s 9th Symphony, premieres by the Fort Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra and with conductor Mario di Bonaventura
1971 – 1st Lt William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre
1981 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1998 – WrestleMania XIV, FleetCenter, Boston, MA: ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s wins his first WWF Heavyweight tile against Shawn Michaels
1999 – 61st NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Connecticut beats Duke, 77-74; Huskies’ first title in first title game
2013 – 23 people are killed by coordinated bombings on Shiite mosques in Iraq
2022 – BA.2 version of Omicron is now the dominant form of COVID-19 in America according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Today in History for 29th March 2025
Historical Events
1806 – Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway
1879 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.’s opera “Jevgeni Onegin”, based on the novel by Alexander Pushkin, premieres Maly Theatre in Moscow, Russia
1945 – World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England
1951 – 23rd Academy Awards: “All About Eve”, Judy Holliday and José Ferrer win
1968 – Teri Garr guest stars in “Assignment: Earth” episode of the original Star Trek TV series
1987 – 7th Golden Raspberry Awards: “Howard the Duck” wins
Famous Birthdays
1888 – James E. Casey, American businessman and founder (United Parcel Service), born in Candelaria, Nevada (d. 1983)
1898 – Cecil Arthur Lewis, British fighter pilot and writer, born in Birkenhead, England (d. 1997)
1907 – (Abram) “Abe” Lincoln, American sweet jazz trombonist (Paul Whiteman; Ozzie Nelson), and Dixieland jazz revivalist, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (d. 2000)
1944 – John Suchet, British TV journalist (Independent TV News), and classical music presenter (Classics FM), born in Paddington, London, England
1948 – (Walter) “Bud” Cort, American actor (M*A*S*H(film); Brewster McCloud; Harold and Maude), born in New Rochelle, New York
1973 – Brad Bridgewater, American swimmer (Olympic gold 200m backstroke 1996), born in Charleston, West Virginia
Famous Deaths
1837 – Maria Fitzherbert, English morganatic wife of King George IV, dies at 80
1959 – Sara Wennerberg-Reuter, Swedish composer, dies at 84
1972 – J. Arthur Rank, British industrialist and film magnate, dies at 81
1982 – “Fatty” George [Pressler], Austrian swing jazz clarinettist, dies of a heart attack at 54
1992 – Paul Henreid, Austrian-American actor (Casablanca, Now, Voyager), dies at 84
2009 – Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (b.1975)
Famous Deaths for 28th March 2025
1840 – Simon-Antoine-Jean Lhuillier, Swiss mathematician, dies at 89
1927 – Karl Prohaska, Austrian composer, dies at 57
1939 – Francis Matthew John Baker, Australian politician (b. 1903)
1948 – Princess Henriette, Duchess of Vendôme and Alençon, dies at 77
1957 – Christopher Morley, American author (Kitty Foil), dies at 66
1992 – Wendell Mayes, writer, dies of cancer at 72
1996 – Simon Harcourt Nowell-Smith, British bibliophile, dies at 87
2015 – Douglas Leedy, American electronic and classical music composer (Entropical Paradise; Chorale For Harpsichord in Just Tuning), dies at 77
2017 – Janine Sutto, French Canadian actress and comedian (Guide de la petite vengeance), dies of natural causes at 95
2020 – Azam Khan, Pakistani squash player (British Open 1959-62), dies from COVID-19 at 95
Historical Events for 28th March 2025
1854 – Great Britain and France declare war on Russia, expanding the Crimean War
1927 – Majestic Theater opens at 245 W 44th St, NYC; designed with a modern Spanish exterior and French revival style interior by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it is largest of 3 theater and hotel development cuilt by Irving Chanin
1949 – English astronomer Fred Hoyle coins the term “Big Bang” in a BBC radio talk while actually arguing for the alternative “steady-state” theory
1953 – 107th Grand National: Bryan Marshall wins aboard Irish 8-year old Early Mist; first of 3 consecutive GN victories for trainer Vincent O’Brien
1959 – 11 days after Tibet uprising, China dissolves Tibet’s government and installs Panchen Lama
1977 – 39th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Marquette beats North Carolina, 67-59; Warriors’ first title; coach Al McGuire retires
1985 – STS 51-D vehicle moves to launch pad
1990 – US President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal
2007 – Sri Lankan cricket fast bowler Lasith Malinga produces unprecedented sequence of 4 wickets in 4 balls, as South Africa scrambles to a 1-wicket Super 8’s ICC World Cup win in Guyana
2019 – European parliament bans single-use plastics, including cutlery and straws by 2021