Today in History for 30th March 2024

Historical Events

1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris after defeating Napoleon
1911 – Lötschberg tunnel in Switzerland (13,735 m) completed
1930 – Babberich-H soccer team forms
1966 – “Color Me Barbra”, Barbra Streisand’s second TV special and the first in color, premieres on CBS
1984 – US ends participation in multinational Lebanon peace force
2001 – At 15 years, 9 months American swimmer Michael Phelps breaks 200m butterfly world record at the US World Championship trials at Austin, Texas; becomes youngest male to set a world mark

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Brooke Astor, American philanthropist (d. 2007)
1908 – Camille Schmit, Belgian organist, composer, and educator, born in Aubangez, Belgium (d. 1976)
1935 – John Charles Eaton, American composer, born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania (d. 2015)
1942 – Graeme Edge, British rock drummer, and poet (Moody Blues – “The Dream”; “Morning Glory”), born in Rocester, Staffordshire England (d. 2021)
1943 – Ken Forssi, American bassist (Love), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1998)
1947 – Marilyn Crispell, American jazz pianist and composer (Anthony Braxton Quartet), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1903 – William Hicks “Red” Jackson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 67
1935 – Romanos Melik’yan, Armenian composer, dies at 51
1943 – Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski, Polish activist (b. 1920)
1949 – Friedrich Bergius, German chemist (benzine from brown coal, Nobel Prize 1931), dies at 64
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
1978 – Harold Gimblett, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, 1 x 50; 265 career FC sixes; Somerset CCC), dies from an overdose at 63

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Famous Deaths for 29th March 2024

1368 – Emperor Go-Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 1328)
1625 – Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, Spanish historian (b. 1549)
1683 – Yaoya Oshichi, a young girl burned at the stake for arson in 17th Century Japan (b. 1667)
1878 – Mark Hopkins, American business tycoon and railroad executive (Central Pacific Railroad), dies at 64
1930 – Anton Bettelheim, Austrian writer, dies at 78
1948 – Olev Siinmaa, Estonian ‘Functionalist’ architect (Pärnu Beach Hotel), dies at 66
1953 – Arthur Fields [Abraham Finkelstein], American singer-songwriter (Aba Daba Honeymoon), dies in a fire at his nursing home residence at 68
1955 – Everard Verachtert, Flemish linguist (I Can Speak Nicely pamphlet), dies at 81
1980 – Annunzio Mantovani, Italian orchestra leader (Mantovani), dies at 74
2020 – Krzysztof Penderecki, Polish composer (“Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima”), dies at 86

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Historical Events for 29th March 2024

1806 – Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway
1852 – Ohio makes it illegal for children under 18 and women to work more than 10 hours a day
1867 – US Congress first approves building of Lincoln Memorial
1912 – Captain Robert Falcon Scott, storm-bound in a tent near the South Pole, makes last entry in his diary “the end cannot be far”
1960 – Darius Milhaud’s 9th Symphony, premieres
1982 – 54th Academy Awards: “Chariots of Fire”, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn win
1992 – Ice Dance Championship in Oakland, California won by Klimova and Ponomarenko (CIS)
1993 – Actress Elizabeth Taylor presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her AIDS/HIV activism at 65th Academy Awards
1996 – NY Yankees beats NY Mets 7-3 in an exhibition game
2015 – WrestleMania XXXI, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA (76,976): Seth Rollins beats Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns in impromptu triple threat match to capture WWE Heavyweight title

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Today in History for 29th March 2024

Historical Events

1943 – Meat (784 gram/week, 2 kilogram for GI’s), butter and cheese rationed in US during WW II
1961 – After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria
1971 – 1st Lt William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre
1975 – Only 2nd time Islanders beat Rangers
1992 – Ice Pairs Championship in Oakland, California won by Mishuktienok and Dmitriev (CIS)
1996 – 10th Soul Train Music Awards: Patti Labelle, Boyz II Men win

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Famous Birthdays

1869 – Aleš Hrdlička, Austro-Hungarian anthropologist and curator (US National Museum), born in Humpolec, Austria-Hungary (d. 1943)
1927 – Arthur Ravenel Jr, American businessman and politician (Rep-R-South Carolina), born in Charleston, South Carolina
1927 – John R. Vane, English pharmacologist (Nobel 1982), born in Tardebigg, Worcestershire (d. 2004)
1938 – Bert de Vries, Dutch minister of Social Affairs (CDA), born in Groningen, Netherlands
1946 – Billy Thorpe, British-Australian musician (Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs – “I Told The Brook”, “Mashed Potato”; solo – “Children of the Sun”), born in Manchester, England (d. 2007)
1974 – Marc Gené, Spanish auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans 2009), born in Sabadell, Spain

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Famous Deaths

1058 – Stephen IX [Frederik van Lotharingen], 1st Belgium Pope (1057-58), dies
1578 – Arthur Champernowne, English admiral (b. 1524)
1953 – Arthur Fields [Abraham Finkelstein], American singer-songwriter (Aba Daba Honeymoon), dies in a fire at his nursing home residence at 68
1970 – Lev Kuleshov, Russian filmmaker and film theorist (Po Zakonu, founder of Moscow film school), dies at 71
1980 – Annunzio Mantovani, Italian orchestra leader (Mantovani), dies at 74
2001 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer (b. 1899)

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Famous Deaths for 28th March 2024

1880 – Achille Peri, composer, dies at 67
1910 – William Paul Roberts, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 68
1914 – Hanus Trnecek, composer, dies at 55
1929 – Lomer Gouin, Quebec politician (b. 1861)
1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian-American piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer (Aleko; Piano Concerto No. 3), dies at 69
1993 – Scott Cunningham, Occult author (b. 1956)
1994 – Eugene Ionesco, Romanian-French playwright (Rhinoceros, Bald Soprano), dies at 84
2004 – Art James, American game show host (b. 1929)
2004 – Peter Ustinov, British actor, author, journalist, comedian and broadcaster (Death on the Nile: Logan’s Run: Billy Budd), dies of heart failure at 82
2014 – Jeremiah Denton, American politician (Senator-R-Alabama, 1981-86), dies at 89

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Historical Events for 28th March 2024

1860 – First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins in New Zealand
1957 – 1st National Curling Championship held
1979 – British government of Prime Minister Jim Callaghan (Labour Party) falls
1982 – JN Duartes’ Christian Democrats win elections in El Salvador
1990 – Michael Jordan scores 69 points, 4th time he scores 60 pts in a game
1997 – “City” soap opera’s final episode on ABC-TV
2009 – The first cases of H1N1 swine flu in the United States occur in two people in California
2014 – Russia increases the price of gas to Ukraine by 80%
2019 – European parliament bans single-use plastics, including cutlery and straws by 2021
2022 – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs so called “Don’t Say Gay” bill limiting LGBTQ classroom instruction

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Today in History for 28th March 2024

Historical Events

364 – Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor
1834 – Senate censure President Jackson for taking fed deposits from Bank of US
1953 – “Stock exchanges open, dikes closed” raises 5,200,000 guilders
1953 – US Ladies’ Figure Skating championship won by Tenley Albright
1962 – Devastating 8 for 6 spell by West Indian spin bowler Lance Gibbs gives home side innings and 30 run 3rd Test win over India in Bridgetown
1972 – Elvis Presley records his final Top Ten hit, a cover of “Burning Love”, written by Dennis Linde, and first recorded by Arthur Alexander

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Famous Birthdays

1905 – Marlin Perkins, American TV host (Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom), born in Carthage, Missouri (d. 1986)
1911 – Myfanwy Piper, British librettist and art critic, born in London (d. 1997)
1930 – Robert Ashley, American composer, born in Ann Arbor, Michigan (d. 2014)
1931 – Anatoly Lein, Soviet-American chess player (Grandmaster 1968; World Chess Hall of Fame), born in Leningrad, Russia (d. 2018)
1945 – Johnny Famechon, Australian boxer (WBC featherweight champion 1969-70), born in Paris, France (d. 2022)
1988 – Lacey Turner, British soap actress

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Famous Deaths

1893 – Edmund Kirby Smith, American military officer (Confederate Army General), dies at 68
1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian-American piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer (Aleko; Piano Concerto No. 3), dies at 69
1974 – Francoise Rosay, actress (Interlude, Women in Prison), dies at 82
1982 – William Giauque, Canadian chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1895)
1994 – Albert Goldman, American rock biographer (Lives of John Lennon; Elvis), dies at 66
2003 – (Farrell) “Rusty” Draper, American country and pop singer (“The Shifting, Whispering Sands”; “Are You Satisfied?”), dies of pneumonia at 80

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Famous Deaths for 27th March 2024

1472 – Janus Pannonius, Hungarian poet and translator, dies at 37
1809 – Joseph-Marie Vien, French court painter, dies at 92
1873 – Amedée Simon Dominique Thierry, French journalist and historian (b. 1797)
1934 – Francis William Reitz, 5th State President of the Orange Free State, dies at 89
1986 – Cass Canfield, US publisher, dies at 88
1991 – Elinor Remick Warren, American concert pianist and composer, dies at 91
1994 – Dennis Hartas, flier, dies at 69
1995 – Chet Gierlach, American music publisher, jazz and popular song composer ((The Funniest Bird I’ve Heard of) The Kiwi (Kee Wee) Bird), dies at 75
2000 – Ian Dury, English rock musician (The Blockheads) and actor (Judge Dredd), dies at 57
2007 – Paul Lauterbur, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1929)

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Historical Events for 27th March 2024

1668 – English King Charles II grants Royal Charter giving control of Bombay, India to the English East India Company
1936 – 95th Grand National: Fulke Walwyn scores back-to-back GN victories aboard Reynoldstown at 10/1
1953 – 21 die in a train crash in Conneaut, Ohio
1964 – The Great Alaska Earthquake (9.2 magnitude) and resulting tsunami kill 139 people in the largest US earthquake and second largest ever recorded
1972 – Ulster Vanguard organise industrial strike against the imposition of direct rule on Northern Ireland by Westminster
1972 – Venera 8 launches to explore Venus
1991 – New Kid Donnie Wahlberg, arrested on arson charges in Kentucky
1994 – Nabisco Dinah Shore Women’s Golf, Mission Hills CC: Donna Andrews wins her only major title by 1 over British runner-up Laura Davies; Andrews birdies final hole while Davies makes bogey.
2019 – US Special Council Robert S. Mueller writes a letter to US Attorney William Barr regarding Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report stating Barr’s letter “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the findings. “There is now public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation. This threatens to undermine a central purpose for which the Department appointed the Special Counsel: to assure full public confidence in the outcome of the investigations.”
2023 – At least 40 people are killed and 28 injured in a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez on the Mexican US border, amid large numbers of migrants gathering on the Mexican border

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Today in History for 27th March 2024

Historical Events

1841 – 1st US steam fire engine tested, NYC
1930 – 1st US radio broadcast from a ship at sea
1941 – Britain leases defense bases in Trinidad to US for 99 years
1957 – 29th Academy Awards: “Around World in 80 Days”, Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner win
1982 – Randy Holt sets Wash Cap record of 34 penalty minutes
2021 – 114 people including children killed in one day by armed forces in Myanmar, with more than 420 killed since protests began against the military coup

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Famous Birthdays

1845 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist who discovered X-rays (Nobel 1901), born in Lennep, Rhine Province (d. 1923)
1921 – Harold Nicholas, American dancer known as one of the world’s greatest dancers (Nicholas Brothers), born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (d. 2000)
1939 – Maurice Petty, American auto racing crew chief, engine builder and team owner (Petty Enterprises, International Motorsports and NASCAR Hall of Fame), born in Level Cross, North Carolina (d. 2020)
1970 – Elizabeth Mitchell, American actress (Lost), born in Los Angeles, California
1972 – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer, born in Paramaribo, Suriname
1984 – Bonnie Milligan, American theater actress and singer (Kimberley Akimbo), born in Decatur, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1714 – Anton Ulrich, German Duke of Brunswick and poet, dies at 80
1916 – Susan Blow, American educator who pioneered kindergarten education and was known as the “Mother of the Kindergarten”, dies at 72
1982 – Fazlur Rahman Khan, Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect (Sears Tower, Chicago; John Hancock Center, Chicago; Metrodome, Minneapolis), dies of a heart attack at 52
1993 – Kate Reid, British actress (The Andromeda Strain, Heaven Help US), dies of cancer at 62
2003 – Paul Zindel, American writer (b. 1936)
2023 – Jocelyn Morlock, Canadian contemporary and post-modern classical composer (My Name is Amanda Todd; Bird in the Tangled Sky), and music educator, dies at 53

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