1227 – Count Ugolino of Segna elected Pope Gregory IX
1524 – Giovanni de Varrazano, a Florentine explorer in the service of King Francis I of France, lands around area of Carolinas
1644 – 200 members of Peking imperial family and court commit suicide in loyalty to the Emperor
1864 – Opera “Mireille” premieres in Paris
1915 – Pluto photographed for 1st time (although unknown at the time)
1937 – Astronomer Fritz Zwicky publishes his research on stellar explosion in which he coins the term “supernova” and hypothesizes that they were the origin of cosmic rays
1956 – Biggest NBA margin of victory – Minn Lakers-133, St Louis Hawks-75
1991 – St Louis Blues Brett Hull is 3rd NHLer to score 80 goals in a season
1993 – Ice Pairs Championship in Prague won by I Brasseur and L Eisler (CAN)
1995 – Finnish Social Democratic Party wins parliamentary election
Author: gil7
Today in History for 19th March 2021
Historical Events
1571 – Spanish troops occupy Manila
1864 – Opera “Mireille” premieres in Paris
1883 – Jan Matzeliger invents first machine to manufacture entire shoes
1987 – Yvonne van Gennip skates ladies world record 3 km (4:16.85)
1989 – Boeing V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft makes maiden flight
1997 – Major League Baseball announces 5 year/$50M deal with Pepsi
Famous Birthdays
1817 – Lewis Henry Little, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1862)
1928 – Patrick McGoohan, American-born Irish actor, writer, and director (The Prisoner, Secret Agent/ Danger Man), born in Queens, New York (d. 2009)
1970 – Rick Mirer, NFL quarterback (Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears)
1971 – Marty Moore, NFL inside linebacker (NE Patriots)
1972 – Maria Maunder, St John’s New Foundland, rower (Olympics 1996)
1979 – Hedo Türkoğlu, Turkish basketball player
Famous Deaths
1687 – René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, French explorer (Louisiana), killed by his men at 43
1816 – Philip Mazzei, Italian physician (b. 1730)
1918 – Willem H de Beaufort, Dutch historian/liberal politician, dies at 73
1924 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer/author, dies at 71
1976 – Albert Dieudonné, French actor and novelist (Backbiters, Napoleon), dies at 86
2008 – Arthur C. Clarke, English sci-fi author (2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood’s End), dies of post-polio syndrome at 90
Famous Deaths for 18th March 2021
1314 – Jacques de Molay, French last Grand Master of The Knights Templar, dies burned at the stake aged 70 or 71
1745 – Robert Walpole, 1st British Prime Minister (Whig: 1721-42), dies at 68
1781 – Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (b. 1727)
1875 – Ferdinand Laub, composer, dies at 43
1913 – George I, king of Greece (1861-1913), assassinated by Schinas at 67
1939 – Henry Lunn, English humanitarian and religious leader, dies at 79
1962 – Walter W. Bacon, Governor of Delaware (b. 1880)
1983 – Franco Giorgetti, Italian cyclist (Olympic gold 1920), dies at 80
1995 – Frederic Ramsey Jr, folklorist/author, dies at 80
2017 – Trisha Brown, American choreographer and dancer, dies at 80
Historical Events for 18th March 2021
1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia
1834 – 1st railroad tunnel in US completed, in Pennsylvania (275 m long)
1903 – Following through on its attacks on Roman Catholic institutions, the French Government dissolves the Catholic religious orders
1909 – Einar Dessau of Denmark makes 1st ham broadcast
1915 – Failed British attack in Dardanelles
1920 – Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar
1972 – Cornell NCAA hockey team shut out for 1st time in 225 games (Boston U)
1977 – Vietnam hands over MIA to US
2002 – The Ramones are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2019 – Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi makes national radio address to the nation after Cyclone Idai, saying more than 1,000 people feared dead with 100,000 at risk
Today in History for 18th March 2021
Historical Events
37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius’ will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (aka Caligula = Little Boots) emperor
1438 – Albrecht II of Habsburg becomes king of Germany
1532 – English parliament bans payments by English church to Rome
1937 – Gas explosion in school in New London, Texas: 294 die
1959 – US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill
1967 – Beatles’ “Penny Lane” single goes #1
Famous Birthdays
1609 – Frederick III, King of Denmark and Norway (1648-70), born in Haderslev, Denmark (d. 1670)
1685 – Ralph Ersine, Scottish minister (d. 1752)
1838 – Randal Cremer, Britain, trade unionist, pacifist (Nobel 1903)
1916 – Jody Gilbert, American actress (Willard, Shaggy, Blonde Dynamite), born in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 1979)
1927 – John Kander, composer (Cabaret, Funny Lady, Kramer vs Kramer), born in Kansas City, Missouri
1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
Famous Deaths
1745 – Robert Walpole, 1st British Prime Minister (Whig: 1721-42), dies at 68
1924 – Frederick Bridge, English organist and composer, dies at 79
1963 – Wanda Hawley, American actress (b. 1895)
1967 – Jimmy Blaine, singer (Stop the Music), dies at 42
1976 – Robert de Roos, composer, dies at 69
1980 – “Grishata” Grigor Vachkov, Bulgarian actor (At Each Kilometer), dies at 47
Famous Deaths for 17th March 2021
1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, 5th Japanese shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate, dies at 17
1565 – Alexander Ales [Alesius], Scottish theologian of the school of Augsburg, dies at 64
1649 – Gerardus Johannis Vossius [Gerrit Vos], Dutch regent, dies at 71
1713 – Juraj Jánošík, famous Slovak outlaw [b. 1688)
1946 – Dai Li, Chinese spymaster (b. 1897)
1982 – Hans ter Laag, Dutch sound technician, murdered in El Salvador
1982 – Joop Willemsen, Dutch cameraman, murdered in El Salvador
1992 – George Lovi, American columnist (Sky and Telescope’s “Ramblings”), dies
1994 – Harold Myers, film journalist, dies at 81
2019 – Barbara Benary, American composer (Gamelon Son Of Lion), dies at 73
Historical Events for 17th March 2021
1521 – Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines
1800 – British warship Queen Charlotte catches fire; 700 die
1842 – Indians land in Ohio, a 12 square mile area in Upper Sandusky
1898 – John Philip Holland achieves successful test run for the first modern submarine off Staten Island, submerging for 1 hour 40 minutes
1918 – US Ladies’ Figure Skating championship won by Rosemary Beresford
1942 – General Doug MacArthur arrives in Australia to become supreme commander
1947 – Arnold J. Toynbee appears on the front cover of Time magazine
1966 – South Africa’s government bans Defense and Aid Fund
1985 – Matti Nykanen of Finland set a world ski jump record of 623′
1995 – British pound hits 2.4545 to Dutch guilder (record)
Today in History for 17th March 2021
Historical Events
1190 – Crusades complete massacre of Jews of York England
1776 – British forces evacuate Boston to Nova Scotia during Revolutionary War
1800 – British warship Queen Charlotte catches fire; 700 die
1943 – F Hugh Herbert’s “Kiss and Tell” premieres in NYC
1976 – Rubin “Hurricane” Carter is retried
2019 – Facebook removes 1.5 million videos of the Christchurch mosque shootings in first 24 hrs after the attack, although only 1.2 million blocked at upload
Famous Birthdays
1777 – Roger Brooke Taney, 5th Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court (Dred Scott decision), born in Calvert, Maryland (d. 1864)
1908 – Radie Britain, American composer, born near Silverton, Texas (d. 1994)
1932 – Dick Curless, singer/songwriter
1945 – Michael Hayden, General USAF, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
1951 – Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
1965 – Caitlin Bilodeaux, US fencer (Olympic-92), born in Boston, Massachusetts
Famous Deaths
1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, 5th Japanese shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate, dies at 17
1861 – Petter Conrad Boman, Swedish composer, dies at 56
1902 – George William Warren, composer, dies at 73
1974 – Louis I Kahn, Estonia/US architect, dies at about 73
1990 – Rick Grech, British musician (Blind Faith, Traffic), dies at 44
2005 – George F. Kennan, American Cold War strategist and historian (b. 1904)
Famous Deaths for 16th March 2021
455 – Valentinian III, Roman Emperor (425-55), assassinated at 35
1322 – Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1276) dies in battle at Boroughbridge
1987 – Scott McKay [Carl Chester Gose], American actor (Stage Door, Guest in House, 30 Seconds over Tokyo), dies of kidney failuyre at 71
1998 – Esther Bubley, American photographer aged 77
2001 – Norma MacMillan, Canadian voice actress (Casper the Ghost), dies at 79
2005 – Allan Hendrickse, South African politician (b. 1927)
2005 – Ralph Erskine, British architect (Byker Wall) (b. 1914)
2008 – G. David Low, American astronaut (b. 1956)
2011 – Richard Wirthlin, American political strategist for Ronald Reagan, dies at 80
2018 – Buell Neidlinger, American pop, jazz, and classical session cellist and double bassist (Cecil Taylor; Frank Zappa; Duane Eddy), dies at 82
Historical Events for 16th March 2021
1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot by Count Jacob Johan Anckarström at a masked ball at the Opera; he dies on March 29
1815 – Willem I proclaimed King of the Netherlands, including Belgium
1830 – New York Stock Exchange slowest day ever (31 shares traded)
1917 – Russian Grand Duke Michael, brother of Tsar Nicholas II declines the Russian throne [OS Mar 3]
1949 – 6th Golden Globes: Johnny Belinda, Laurence Olivier, and Jane Wyman win
1956 – US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Tenley Albright
1962 – 1st launching of Titan 2-rocket
1978 – US Senate accepts Panama Canal treaty
1978 – Soyuz 26 returns to Earth
1984 – Gunmen kidnap William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut