1881 – Samuel Courtauld, American-born textile magnate (b. 1793)
1970 – Marlen Haushofer, Austrian writer (The Wall), dies at 49
1971 – Nan Wynn [Masha Vatz], American radio and big-band singer (Rudy Vallée; Teddy Wilson), actress (Pardon My Sarong), and singing voice for Rita Hayworth, dies of cancer at 55
1973 – Antoni Szałowski, Polish-French composer (The Resurrection of Lazarus; 2 Pieces for Ondes Martenot), dies of a heart attack at 65
1981 – Mark Donskoy, Soviet-Ukrainian film director (Rainbow, A Mother’s Heart) and screenwriter, dies at 80
1999 – Ernie Wise, British comedian (Morecambe and Wise), dies at 73
2001 – Chung Ju-yung, Korean industrialist (b. 1915)
2004 – Ludmilla Tchérina, French prima ballerina, artist, actress, choreographer and author (Sins of Rome), dies at 79
2011 – Pinetop Perkins, Member of the Blues Hall of Fame (b. 1913)
2017 – Chuck Barris, american TV game show producer and host (Gong Show), dies at 87
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 21st March 2023
1681 – 3rd Exclusion Parliament meets in London
1917 – Loretta Walsh becomes US Navy’s 1st female Petty Officer
1931 – KRO-broadcast studio initiated in Hilversum Holland
1960 – Sharpeville Massacre: Police kill 72 in South Africa and outlaws ANC
1970 – 32nd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Jacksonville, 80-69; Bruins’ 4th straight title under coach John Wooden
1990 – TV sitcom “Sydney” starring Valerie Bertinelli, Matthew Perry and Craig Bierko premieres on CBS-TV
1991 – UN Security Council panel decided to lift the food embargo on Iraq
2000 – NSYNC release their 4th studio album “No Strings Attached” (2000 Billboard Album of the Year)
2004 – In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority
2014 – Canadian freestyle skier (moguls) and two-time Olympic gold medalist Alexandre Bilodeau retires at 26
Today in History for 21st March 2023
Historical Events
1943 – Assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler fails
1946 – UN set up temporary HQ at Hunter (now Lehman) College (Bronx)
1955 – Brooklyn Bulletin ask Dodger fans not to call their team “Bums”
1959 – 113th Grand National: Michael Scudamore wins aboard 8/1 second favourite Oxo; only 4 of 32 starters finish the race
1961 – Art Modell purchases Cleveland Browns for then record sum ($3,925,000)
1996 – “Night of the Iguana” opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 68 performances
Famous Birthdays
1909 – Uno “Miff” Görling, Swedish jazz trombonist, arranger, bandleader, and composer, bjorn in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1988)
1924 – Karl Heinz Fussl, Austrian composer, musicologist, publisher, and music critic, born in Jablonec, Czechoslovakia (d. 1992)
1929 – Maurice Catarcio, wrestler
1936 – Marek Stachowski, Polish composer (Neusis II; Thakurian Chants), and pedagogue, born in Piekary Śląskie, Poland (d. 2004)
1946 – Ray Dorset, British rock guitarist, and singer-songwriter (Mungo Jerry – “In The Summertime”), born in Ashford, England
1985 – Adrian Peterson, American Football player
Famous Deaths
1201 – Absalon, Danish statesman and archbishop (built Copenhagen’s first fortifications), dies (b. c. 1128)
1487 – Nicholas of Flue, Swiss hermit and saint (b. 1417)
1891 – Joseph E. Johnston, American military officer (senior officer in Confederate Army and United States Army), dies at 84
2017 – Martin McGuinness, Irish Sinn Féin politician and IRA member, dies of the rare heart condition amyloidosis at 66
2021 – Nawal el-Saadawi, Egyptian feminist writer and activist (Women at Point Zero), dies at 89
2022 – Fevzi Zemzem, Turkish soccer striker (18 caps; AS Göztepe 356 games) and manager (Orduspor), dies at 80
Famous Deaths for 20th March 2023
1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (Comédie-Française) inspiration for 1849 drama “Adrienne Lecouvreur”, dies at 37
1780 – Sir Benjamin Truman – English brewer (b. 1699/1700)
1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (first law of thermodynamics), dies at 63
1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet, dies at 76
1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish film director (Passion of Jeanne d’Arc), dies at 79
1984 – Stan Coveleski, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1920; AL ERA leader 1923, 25; AL strikeout leader 1920; Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators), dies at 94
1999 – Patrick Heron, British abstract painter, dies at 79
2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish Australian rules footballer, dies from cancer at 45
2018 – Bobby Mitchell, American golfer (US Masters runner-up 1972), dies of a heart attack at 75
2020 – Kenny Rogers, American pop and country singer-songwriter (“The Gambler”; “Through the Years”) and entrepreneur (Kenny Rogers Roasters), dies of natural causes at 81
Historical Events for 20th March 2023
1627 – France and Spain sign accord for fighting protestantism
1774 – The British parliament passes first of the Intolerable Acts: the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston harbor until colonists would pay for damages following the Boston Tea Party
1868 – Jesse James Gang robs a bank in Russellville, Kentucky, of $14,000
1891 – 53rd Grand National: Irish jockey, trainer Harry Beasley wins aboard 4/1 Come Away
1900 – US Secretary of State John Hay announces that all nations to whom he sent notes calling for an ‘open door’ policy in China have essentially accepted his stand
1934 – American all-round female super athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias pitches a hitless inning for Philadelphia A’s in their exhibition pre-season baseball game against Brooklyn Dodgers
1956 – USSR performs nuclear test
1977 – Premier Indira Gandhi loses election in India
1994 – El Salvador’s 1st presidential election following 12-year-old civil war
2020 – After 20 years with the New England Patriots, six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady officially agrees to move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a 2-year $50m guaranteed deal
Today in History for 20th March 2023
Historical Events
1616 – Walter Raleigh released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana
1932 – Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kara-Kalpak ASSR
1954 – 16th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: La Salle beats Bradley, 92-76; Explorers’ small forward Tom Gola is named tournament Most Outstanding Player
1982 – France beats Ireland, 22-9 at the Parc des Princes, Paris but the Irish take the Five Nations Rugby Championship with a 3-1 record and also their 5th Triple Crown
1987 – FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment)
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
Famous Birthdays
1469 – Princess Cecily of York (d. 1507)
1873 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian-American piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer (Aleko; Piano Concerto No. 3), born in Oneg or Semyonovo, Russian Empire (d. 1943) [NS=Apr 1]
1883 – Karl Hasse, German composer, born in Dohna (d. 1960)
1922 – Larry Elgart, American big band jazz alto saxophonist, and bandleader (“Bandstand Boogie”; “Hooked On Swing”), born in New London, Connecticut (d. 2017)
1948 – John de Lancie, American actor (Star Trek Next Generation – “Q”; Days of Our Lives), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter (Australian Idol), and actor (Neighbours; Glee), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
Famous Deaths
1937 – Harry Vardon, Jersey golfer (6 time British Open champion, US Open 1900), dies of lung cancer at 66
1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician, dies at 72
1982 – Hendrik L van Beek, Dutch vice-admiral, dies at 52
1983 – Ivan Vinogradov, Russian mathematician (analytic number theory), dies at 91
1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American humorist (b. 1946)
2010 – Stewart Udall, American politician, environmentalist (b. 1920)
Famous Deaths for 19th March 2023
1263 – Hugo of St-Cher/a S Caro, French cardinal, dies
1330 – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, son of Edward I, beheaded for plotting against the king at 28
1556 – Lieven van der Maude [Ammonius], South Netherlands poet, dies at 70
1638 – Paul Moreelse, Dutch painter/master builder, dies at about 66
1717 – John Campbell, 1st Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, Scottish royalist
1974 – Anne Klein, American fashion designer (Anne Klein II), dies at 50
1979 – Albert “Al” Hodge, American actor on radio (Green Hornet), and early television (Captain Video), dies of heart failure at 66
1991 – John Russell Thomas, NFL general manager (Detroit Lions), dies
2001 – Charles K. Johnson, American President of the Flat Earth Society, dies at 76
2015 – Peter Katin, British concert pianist, dies at 84
Historical Events for 19th March 2023
1880 – 42nd Grand National: Tommy Beasley aboard Irish 8/1 chance Empress wins by 2 lengths from defending champion The Liberator
1910 – Australasian Championships Men’s Tennis, Adelaide: Rodney Heath wins his 2nd and last Australasian title; beats fellow Australian Horace Rice 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
1954 – US Men’s Figure Skating championship won by Hayes A Jenkins
1955 – 17th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: San Francisco beats La Salle, 77-63; Dons’ future Hall of Fame center Bill Russell is named tournament Most Outstanding Player
1962 – “All American” opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 80 performances
1978 – PGA Tournament Players Championship, Sawgrass CC: Jack Nicklaus wins his 3rd TPC title, 1 stroke ahead of Lou Graham; 4th straight start for Nicklaus that ends with a top-2 finish
1989 – Wales beats England, 12-9 at Cardiff Arms Park to allow France to claim it’s 9th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship
1989 – Boeing V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft makes maiden flight
1994 – England beats Wales, 15-8 at Twickenham, London but the Welsh take the Five Nations Rugby Championship as title decided by using points difference for the first time
2004 – Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian is shot just before the country’s presidential election on March 20.
Today in History for 19th March 2023
Historical Events
1918 – US Congress authorizes time zones and approves daylight saving time
1973 – Dean tells Nixon, “There is a cancer growing on the Presidency”
1989 – Wales beats England, 12-9 at Cardiff Arms Park to allow France to claim it’s 9th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship
1995 – Bonnie Blair skates female world record point total (156.450)
2001 – The Bank of Japan issued a monetary policy known as quantitative easing, which stimulated the Japanese economy after the burst of the dot-com bubble.
2018 – Mississippi signs into law the US’s strictest abortion laws, no termination after 15 weeks
Famous Birthdays
1668 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian baroque composer (Ambleto; Missa Canonica), born in Camaiore, Lucca (now Italy) (d. 1727)
1813 – David Livingstone, Scottish explorer who was famously found by Henry Morton Stanley in Africa, born in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 1873)
1914 – Jiang Qing [Madame Mao], Chinese communist and wife of Mao Zedong, born in Zhucheng, Shandong, China (d. 1991)
1929 – Herman van San, composer
1972 – Nate Quarry, American mixed martial arts fighter (The Ultimate Fighter; co-host MMA Uncensored Live), born in Arcata, California
1979 – Hee-Seop Choi, Korean baseball player
Famous Deaths
1556 – Lieven van der Maude [Ammonius], South Netherlands poet, dies at 70
1897 – Antoine T. d’Abbadie, French explorer (Ethiopia), dies at 87
1939 – Lloyd L. Gaines, American civil rights activist
1994 – Giuseppe Diana, Italian anti-mafia priest, murdered
2007 – Luther Ingram, American soul singer and songwriter (b. 1937)
2008 – Raghuvaran, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam actor (b. 1948)
Famous Deaths for 18th March 2023
1768 – Lawrence Sterne, Irish writer (Tristram Shandy, Sentimental Journey France and Italy), dies at 54
1898 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American suffragist (b. 1826)
1933 – Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, Italian navy officer, explorer and mountaineer (Ruwenzori Range, Uganda; Mount Saint Alias, Yukon), dies at 60
1973 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American baritone tenor (National Symphony), dies at 82
1976 – James McCartney, father of Paul McCartney, dies at 73
1977 – José Carlos Pace, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1944)
1980 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and psychoanalyst (Sane Society), dies at 79
1983 – Franco Giorgetti, Italian cyclist (Olympic gold 1920), dies at 80
1989 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician (Theory of Probability) and geophysicist, dies at 97
2013 – Muhammad Mahmood Alam, Pakistani general and fighter ace, dies at 77