1871 – Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his famous expedition to Africa
1872 – 34th Grand National: John Page wins his second GN aboard 20/1 shot Casse Tete
1944 – General Eisenhower postpones invasion of the south of France until after Normandy
1948 – LPGA Titleholders Championship Women’s Golf, Augusta CC: Patty Berg wins her 4th Titleholders title by 1 stroke ahead of Babe Zaharias and Peggy Kirk
1990 – “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” opens at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC for 149 performances
2014 – Canadian freestyle skier (moguls) and two-time Olympic gold medalist Alexandre Bilodeau retires at 26
2018 – China announces greater controls over the media, including merging state-run radio and television broadcasters into a single conglomerate called “Voice of China”
2018 – Suicide bomber kills 31 in crowd celebrating Persian New Year in Kabul, Afghanistan
2019 – Governor of Missouri Mike Parson declares a state of emergency as flooding from Nebraska and Iowa flows downstream into the state
2019 – A huge blast from a chemical factory in Chenjiagang Chemical Industry Park in eastern China is so big it registers as an earthquake, kills 78 people and injuries 617
Author: gil7
Today in History for 21st March 2021
Historical Events
1962 – Philadelphia retires pitcher Robin Roberts’ # 36
1993 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Duns Scotus, a philosopher-theologian of the Middle Ages
1994 – Wayne Gretzky ties Gordie Howe’s NHL record of 801 goals
1997 – Ice Dance Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland won by Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov (Rus)
2014 – Russia formally annexes Crimea amid international condemnation
2019 – Former Brazilian President Michel Temer is arrested in São Paulo as part of a large corruption investigation
Famous Birthdays
1820 – Frank Mori, English composer, born in London (d. 1873)
1921 – Joe Sutter, American engineer and head of the Boeing 747 program, born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2016)
1928 – James W Kinnear, CEO (Texaco), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1944 – David Lindley, American musician (The Kaleidoscope), born in San Marino, California
1962 – Matthew Broderick, American actor (WarGames, Biloxi Blues), born in NYC, New York
1963 – Ronald Koeman, Dutch soccer star (Ajax, PSV, Barcelona, Feyenoord)
Famous Deaths
1844 – Leopold van Sasse van Ysselt, Dutch nobleman and politician, dies at 65
1969 – Gerhard Fritsch, Austrian writer, dies at 44
1980 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist (b. 1888)
1999 – Edward Playfair, British senior civil servant, dies at 89
1999 – Ernie Wise, British comedian (Morecambe and Wise), dies at 73
2011 – Pinetop Perkins, Member of the Blues Hall of Fame (b. 1913)
Famous Deaths for 20th March 2021
1351 – Mohammed ibn-Tughluq, sultan of Delhi India, dies
1413 – Henry IV of England, King of England and Lord of Ireland (1399-1413), dies at 45
1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter (b. 1656)
1871 – Antonio Buzzolla, composer, dies at 56
1987 – Norman Harris, guitarist (O’Jays), dies at 39 of heart failure
1989 – Archie Bleyer, American orchestra leader (Arthur Godfrey), dies at 79
1990 – Jev Jasjin, Russian soccer goalie, dies at 60
1992 – Georges Delerue, French film composer (Sword of Gideon, A Little Romance), dies of a heart attack at 67
2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepalese politician (b. 1925)
2018 – Bobby Mitchell, American golfer (US Masters runner-up 1972), dies of a heart attack at 75
Historical Events for 20th March 2021
1815 – Napoleon enters Paris after escape from Elba, begins 100-day rule
1897 – France signs treaty with Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia
1920 – Australasian Championships Men’s Tennis, Adelaide: Pat O’Hara Wood beats fellow Australian Ronald Thomas 6-3, 4-6, 6-8, 6-1, 6-3
1922 – WIP-AM in Philadelphia PA begins radio transmissions
1923 – Belgian Senate rejects Dutch University in Ghent
1956 – E Ochab succeeds Beirut as 1st secretary of Polish CP
1965 – Venkataraghavan takes 8-72 v NZ at Delhi
1967 – WOET (now WPTD) TV channel 16 in Dayton, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1993 – IRA-bomb kills 3 year old in Warrington, England
1995 – Beatles song, “Baby It’s You”, with late John Lennon as lead singer, released, 1st Fab Four single in nearly 10 years
Today in History for 20th March 2021
Historical Events
1891 – 53rd Grand National: Irish jockey, trainer Harry Beasley wins aboard 4/1 Come Away
1943 – German U-384 bombed and sinks
1968 – Military intervene in South-Yemen (leftist ministers resign)
1980 – US appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran
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
2000 – Pope John Paul II visits Holy Land – Jordan, Israel, Palestine
Famous Birthdays
1739 – Eligio Celestino, composer
1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American baritone tenor (National Symphony), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1973)
1951 – Tanya Boyd, actress (Celeste-Days of our Life), born in Detroit, Michigan
1971 – Janis Kelly, volleyball player (Olympics 1996), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
1976 – Arno Knapen, Dutch soccer player (Holten, FC Twente)
1987 – Rollo Weeks, English actor
Famous Deaths
1703 – Johann Kunckel/Kunkel, German alchemist/ambassador to Sweden, dies
1983 – Ivan Vinogradov, Russian mathematician (analytic number theory), dies at 91
1994 – Don Goddard, American news anchor (ABC Evening News 1958-59), dies at 89
1995 – Sidney Kingsley, US playwright (Pulitzer prize 1934), dies at 88
1995 – John Minton [Big John Studd], American pro wrestler (Royal Rumble 1989), dies from liver cancer and Hodgkin’s disease at 47
2018 – Bobby Mitchell, American golfer (US Masters runner-up 1972), dies of a heart attack at 75
Famous Deaths for 19th March 2021
1796 – Stephen Storace, English composer, dies at 33
1869 – Guillaume Nerenburger, Belgian general (Triangulatie of Belgium), dies at 64
1897 – Antoine T. d’Abbadie, French explorer (Ethiopia), dies at 87
1930 – Arthur Balfour, British Prime Minister (Conservative: 1902-05) and Foreign Secretary (Balfour Declaration), dies of unremitting circulatory trouble at 81
1961 – Edric Cundell, composer, dies at 68
1969 – Theodor Schaefer, Czech composer, dies at 65
1979 – Albert “Al” Hodge, American actor (Captain Video, Green Hornet), dies at 65
1991 – Ron Pagano, dies after lengthy illness at 37
1995 – Gerard Tebroke, 5/10 km-dasher, dies at 45
2007 – Calvert DeForest, American comedian (Larry “Bud” Melman), dies at 85
Historical Events for 19th March 2021
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
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