1284 – Hugh III of Cyprus, King of Cyprus and Jerusalem (b 1235)
1921 – James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, dies at 86
1930 – Henry Faulds, British surgeon, fingerprinting pioneer, and founder of the Tokyo Institute for the Blind, dies at 86
1960 – Paul Joostens, Belgian avant-garde artist, dies at 70
1976 – Nelson Case, American TV host (Trash or Treasure), dies at 66
1990 – Ray Goulding, American comedian (Bob and Ray), dies of kidney failure at 68
2009 – Martin Brozius, Dutch actor (Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden), dies at 67
2010 – Johnny Maestro, American rock vocalist (Crests – “16 Candles”; Brooklyn Bridge), dies at 70
2020 – John Davies, Australian swimmer (Olympic gold 200m breaststroke 1952; WR 200m breaststroke 2:34.4 1952), dies at 90
2020 – Bill Rieflin, American rock drummer (Nine Inch Nails; R.E.M.; King Crimson. 2013-20), dies of cancer at 59
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 24th March 2026
1894 – 37 miners killed at Franklin, Washington
1956 – 110th Grand National: race best remembered for Devon Loch’s inexplicable fall on final straight, just 40 yards from a certain victory; Dave Dick wins aboard E.S.B.
1959 – Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact
1962 – Mick Jagger and Keith Richards perform as Little Boy Blue and Blue Boys
1980 – 42nd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Louisville beats UCLA, 59-54; Cardinals’ first title in first title game
1997 – 69th Academy Awards: “The English Patient”, Geoffrey Rush and Frances McDormand win
2019 – US Attorney William Barr summarizes report submitted by Special Council Robert Mueller (The Mueller Report) in a letter to Congress stating “investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities” and “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense”
2023 – Africa’s first centralised biobank – Biodiversity Biobanks South Africa, collecting more than a million biodiversity samples opens in Pretoria, South Africa
Today in History for 24th March 2026
Historical Events
1379 – First War of the Guelderian Succession ends when Matilda and the Heeckerens are defeated by the Duchy of Jülich, forcing her to resign her rights to the Duchy of Guelders to her half-sister Maria’s son, William
1853 – Anti-slavery newspaper “The Provincial Freeman” first published in Windsor, Ontario, edited by Samuel Ringgold Ward and Mary Ann Shadd Cary, first black woman publisher in North America
1876 – 38th Grand National: Joe Cannon aboard 25/1 chance Regal wins by a neck from Congress
1933 – Peter I Island incorporated as a Norwegian dependency
1944 – 76 Allied officers escape Stalag Luft 3 (Great Escape)
Famous Birthdays
1848 – Honoré Beaugrand, French Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher (La Patrie), and politician (Mayor of Montreal, 1885-87), born in Saint-Joseph-de-Lanoraie, Quebec, Canada East (d. 1906)
1850 – Silas K. Hocking, British novelist and Methodist preacher (Her Benny), born in Cornwall, England (d. 1935)
1866 – Jack McAuliffe, Irish-American boxer and undefeated World Lightweight champion (1886-93), born in Cork, Ireland, United Kingdom (d. 1937)
1909 – Clyde Barrow, American bank robber and outlaw (Bonnie and Clyde), born in Ellis County, Texas (d. 1934)
1923 – Murray Hamilton, American character actor (Rich Man Poor Man, Anatomy of a Murder), born in Washington, North Carolina (d. 1986)
Famous Deaths
1455 – Nicholas V [Tommaso Parentucelli], Italian Pope (1447-55), dies at 57
1955 – John W. Davis, American politician and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, dies at 81
1993 – Erik Andriesse, Dutch painter (skulls, skeletons, flowers), dies at 35
2007 – Henson Cargill, American country music singer (“Skip a Rope”, “The Most Uncomplicated Goodbye I Ever Heard”), dies while undergoing surgery at 66
2021 – Richard Stoker, British pianist and composer (Antic Hay; Ecco homo), dies at 82
Famous Deaths for 23rd March 2026
1103 – Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
1555 – Julius III [Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte], Counter-Reformation Pope (1550-55), dies at 67
1862 – Karl Robert von Nesselrode, German-Russian chancellor, dies at 81
1952 – Klaas Schilder, Dutch vicar and theologist (Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (liberated)), dies at 61
1977 – Bennie Green, American swing jazz and soul trombonist (Earl Hines), dies at 53
1994 – Alvara del Portillo, Spanish Opus Dei bishop, dies at 80
1995 – Alan Barton, English singer (Smokie, Black Lace), dies in a bus crash at 41
1995 – Davie Cooper, Scottish soccer winger (22 caps; Clydebank, Rangers 376 games, Motherwell), dies of a subarachnoid haemorrhage at 39
1999 – Luis María Argaña, Paraguayan politician and high court judge, Vice President of Paraguay, assassinated by armed gunmen at 66
2015 – Roy Douglas, English composer and arranger (Tomorrow We Live – At Dawn We Die), dies at 107
Historical Events for 23rd March 2026
1867 – Congress passes 2nd Reconstruction Act over President Andrew Johnson’s veto
1880 – Flour rolling mill patent is issued to John Stevens of Wisconsin
1919 – Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, designated as the first autonomous republic of Soviet Russia
1972 – Geoge Harrison and Friends’ “The Concert for Bangladesh” concert film, directed by Saul Swimmer released in the US
1998 – 70th Academy Awards: “Titanic”, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt win
2016 – GPR investigation of Shakespeare’s tomb at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford concludes the Bard’s skull probably has been stolen
2019 – More than 130 Fulani people killed in Ogossagou, Mali, in attack by Dogon hunters, prompting government ban on the hunters
2021 – Brazil’s daily COVID-19 death toll passes 3,000 (3,251) for the first time (298,676 total deaths reported) as country’s Supreme Court blocks President Jair Bolsonaro overturning local restrictions
Today in History for 23rd March 2026
Historical Events
1857 – Elisha Otis installs his first elevator at 488 Broadway in New York City
1939 – 1st performance of Béla Bartók’s 2nd Violin Concerto at the Concertgebow, Amsterdam with Zoltán Székely on violin and Willem Mengelberg conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra
1988 – Geffen Records releases “Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm”, Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell’s 13th studio album
2007 – After some initial hesitation, Emma Watson signs on to appear as Hermione in the final three Harry Potter films
2020 – New York confirmed as new center of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US with 20,875 cases (5,707 in the last day) and 157 deaths
Famous Birthdays
1919 – Carl Graffunder, American mid-century modernist architect in Minnesota, born in Rock Island, Illinois (d. 2013)
1933 – Hayes Jenkins, American figure skater (Olympic gold singles 1956; World C’ship gold 1953-56), born in Akron, Ohio
1937 – Craig Breedlove, American auto racer (5 x world land speed record holder; first to reach 500mph (800km/h) and 600mph (970km/h), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2023)
1944 – George Scott, MLB first baseman, 1966-79 (Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and 2 other teams), born in Greenville, Mississippi, (d. 2013)
1972 – Jonas Bjorkman, Swedish tennis player (World #1 doubles 2001; 9 x Grand Slam doubles titles; Davis Cup 1994, 97, 98; Tour Finals 1994, 2006), born in Vaxjo Sweden
Famous Deaths
1680 – Nicolas Fouquet, French politician and Superintendent of Finances (1653-61) who became fabulously wealthy and later imprisoned for maladministration of state funds, dies in jail in Pinerolo at 65
1881 – Nikolay Rubinstein, Russian pianist, conductor, and composer, dies at 45
1979 – Philip Bourneuf, actor (Big Night, Frankenstein), dies at 71
2006 – Sarah Caldwell, American conductor/opera director (Flagstaff), dies at 82
2015 – Lil’ Chris [Hardman], British rock singer (Checkin’ It Out), takes his own life at 24
Famous Deaths for 22nd March 2026
1832 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and social philosopher (Faust), dies at 82
1840 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician, dies at 41
1871 – Johnny Cuzens, Australian aboriginal cricketer (1st Australian indigenous tour to UK 1868), dies
1913 – Song Jiaoran, Chinese Nationalist and revolutionary (Leader of Kuomintang party 1912-13), assassinated at 30
1937 – Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, English aviator and ornithologist, dies at 71
1963 – Cilly Aussem, German tennis player (French C’ships, Wimbledon 1931), dies of liver failure at 54
1969 – Ernst Deutsch [Dorian], Jewish-Austrian actor (3rd Man, Golem), dies at 78
1986 – Mark Dinning, American singer (“Teen Angel”), dies of a heart attack at 52
2007 – ]Uppaluri Gopala] U.G. Krishnamurti, Indian philosophe and lecturer, dies of injuries after a fall at 88
2013 – Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter (200m world record), dies from cancer at 60
Historical Events for 22nd March 2026
1865 – Wilson’s Raid: 13,480 cavalry troops led by Union General James H. Wilson destroys most of Confederate Alabama and Georgia’s arms-manufacturing and rail capabilities; raid lasts through mid-April
1896 – Charilaos Vasilakos of Greece wins the first modern marathon in 3:18 at the Panhellenic Games
1985 – NASA launches Intelsat VA F-10
1989 – Pete Rozelle announces retirement as NFL commissioner after 29 years
1992 – US Air NY to Cleveland crashes on take off at LaGuardia, 27 die
2003 – 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards: “Swept Away” wins
2013 – 37 people are killed and 200 are injured in a refugee camp fire in Ban Mae, Thailand
2018 – Musical “Frozen” opens on Broadway, based on the film and starring Patti Murin and Caissie Levy
Today in History for 22nd March 2026
Historical Events
1692 – Emperor Leopold I names Duke Earnest August of Braunschweig, king
1929 – 88th Grand National: Robert W. H. Everett wins aboard 100/1 outsider Gregalach
1975 – AIAW Women’s Basketball Tournament, Delta State beats Immaculata 90-81 in Harrisonburg
1992 – Herb Gardner’s stage drama “Conversations with My Father”, starring Judd Hirsch and Tony Shalhoub, opens at Royale Theatre, NYC, runs for 462 performances and a Tony Award for Hirsch
2024 – British runner Jasmin Paris is the first woman and 20th person to complete one of the world’s hardest ultramarathons, the Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, with one minute and 39 seconds to spare
Famous Birthdays
1459 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1508-19, established Hapsburg dynasty in Spain), born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria (d. 1519)
1908 – Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (6 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Urangeline, NSW (d. 1991)
1921 – Wilhelmus Norbert Schmelzer, Dutch foreign minister (KVP), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2008)
1931 – Billy Vessels, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1952, University of Oklahoma), born in Cleveland, Oklahoma (d. 2001)
1932 – Leo “Bud” Welch, American gospel and Delta blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (“You Can’t Hurry God”; “Cadillac Baby”), born in Sabougla, Mississippi (d. 2017)
Famous Deaths
1838 – Hendrik Fagel de Jonge, Dutch-English baron and diplomat (Fagel collection National Library of the Netherlands and Trinity College), dies at 73
2009 – Jade Goody, English reality TV Star and Entrepreneur, dies of cancer at 27
2016 – Eli Louw, South African politician (Minister of Transport), dies at 88
2017 – Francine Hughes Wilson, American domestic abuse victim “The Burning Bed” who changed pubic perceptions, dies at 69
2020 – Stan Bronstein, American rock saxophonist (Elephant’s Memory), dies at 81
Famous Deaths for 21st March 2026
1801 – Andrea Lucchesi, Italian organist, composer, and Kapellmeister for the Court of Bonn (1774-94), dies at 59
1917 – Alfred Einhorn, German chemist (created Novocain), dies at 61
1934 – Lilyan Tashman, American actress (Millie; Bulldog Drummond), dies following cancer surgery at 34
1941 – Robert Liefmann, German economist (Kartelle und Trusts), dies at 67
1975 – Joe Medwick, American Baseball HOF left fielder (World Series 1934, Triple Crown and NL MVP 1937 St. Louis Cardinals; 10 x MLB All Star), dies at 63
1989 – Milton Frome, actor (Family Jewels), dies
1995 – Etienne Martin, French sculptor, dies at 82
1996 – Frank Murray, Northern Ireland police officer and superintendent (RUC Special Branch), known as the “Bionic Man”, dies at 51
2008 – Patti Bown, American jazz pianist and composer (Gene Ammons, Quincy Jones), dies at 77
2016 – Robert McNeill Alexander, British zoologist (estimated speed of dinosaurs), dies at 81