This Day in History
March 24

Copyright © 2006-2024 Ken Polsson
internet e-mail: ken@kpolsson.com
URL: http://kpolsson.com/thisday/
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What happened in history on this day: March 24?

On March 24 in ...

  • 809 - Harun al-Rashid, caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), dies at age 44.
  • 1188 - Birth of Ferrand of Portugal earl of Flanders/son of Sancho I.
  • 1241 - Kaidu's Mongol army enters abandoned Cracow in Poland, burning the city.
  • 1379 - End of Gelderse war victory.
  • 1400 - Florens Radewijns Dutch priest/leader Modern Devotion, dies.
  • 1441 - Birth of Ernst I elector of Saxon (1464-86).
  • 1455 - Nicholas V [Tommaso Parentucelli] Italian Pope (1447-55), dies at age 57.
  • 1455 - Rudolf van Diepholt bishop/cardinal of Utrecht (1448-55), dies.
  • 1471 - Sir Thomas Malory author (Le Morte d'Arthur), dies at age 55.
  • 1494 - Birth of Georgius Agricola [Georg Bauer] in Clauchau, Germany; German humanist, physician, mineralogist "the father of mineralogy" (De Re Metallica).
  • 1545 - German Parliament opens in Worms.
  • 1550 - France and England sign Peace of Boulogne.
  • 1558 - Anna van Buren countess of Egmond/Buren/Lingen, dies.
  • 1603 - Elizabeth I Tudor [Maiden Queen] English queen (1558-1603), dies at age 69.
  • 1603 - Scottish King James VI becomes King James I of England, uniting the two crowns.
  • 1607 - Birth of Michiel A de Ruyter Dutch Rear Admiral (Saint Vincent, Dune).
  • 1629 - First game law passed in American colonies, by Virginia.
  • 1630 - Birth of José Saenz d'Aguirre Spanish cardinal.
  • 1631 - Philipp Dulichius composer, dies at age 68.
  • 1635 - Jacques Callot French cartoonist/engraver, dies at about age 42.
  • 1644 - Cecilia Renata arch duchess of Austria, dies.
  • 1645 - Battle at Jankov Bohemia: Sweden beat Roman Catholic emperor Ferdinand III.
  • 1654 - Samuel Scheidt German composer (Concertus sacri), dies at age 66.
  • 1661 - William Leddra last Quaker, hanged in Boston.
  • 1664 - Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island.
  • 1703 - Birth of José F de Isla [Francisco de Salazar], Spanish Jesuit/writer.
  • 1720 - Financial crisis for banks of Paris, France, as the Mississippi Bubble bursts.
  • 1721 - Johann Sebastian Bach opens his Brandenburgse Concerts.
  • 1734 - Netherlands' William K H Friso marries princess Anne of Hanover.
  • 1755 - Birth of Rufus King framer of US constitution/(Senator-F).
  • 1762 - Birth of Marcos Antonio da Fonseca Portugal, opera composer (Portogallo).
  • 1765 - Britain enacts Quartering Act, required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers.
  • 1777 - Benjamin Franklin negotiates a loan for the United States government with French officials.
  • 1792 - Benjamin West (US) becomes president of Royal Academy of London.
  • 1797 - Birth of Antonio Rosmini-Serbati; philosopher/founder (Institute of Charity).
  • 1801 - Aleksandr P Romanov becomes emperor of Russia.
  • 1802 - Birth of Jacob van Lennep; attorney/Dutch Member of Parliament.
  • 1809 - Birth of Joseph Liouville Saint Omer in Pas-de-Calais, France; discover of transcendental numbers.
  • 1809 - Farmers Exchange Bank of Glocester, Rhode Island becomes first US bank to fail.
  • 1814 - Birth of Galen Clark; US naturalist, discovered Mariposa Grove.
  • 1821 - Birth of [George] Hector Tyndale; US Brevet Major General (Union volunteers).
  • 1823 - Cornelis van Foreest, Dutch mayor (Alkmaar), dies at age 66.
  • 1828 - Philadelphia and Columbia Railway (first state owned) authorized.
  • 1835 - Birth of Josef Stefan in Austria; physicist (Stefan-Boltzmann law).
  • 1837 - Birth of Philips, Count of Flanders, in Belgium.
  • 1837 - Canada gives blacks the right to vote.
  • 1848 - The First Schleswig War begins, a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
  • 1848 - State of siege proclaimed in Amsterdam.
  • 1855 - Birth of Andrew W Mellon; founder (Mellon Bank)/US Secretary of Treasury.
  • 1855 - Birth of Olive Schreiner; South African writer (Portrait of a South African Woman).
  • 1860 - Clipper Andrew Jackson arrives in San Francisco, 89 days out of New York.
  • 1866 - Birth of Jack McAuliffe; US lightweight boxing champion, hall of famer.
  • 1866 - Maria Amalia of Bourbon-Sicily, wife of Louis Filips of Austria, dies.
  • 1866 - Death of Ferdinand Henry, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, oldest reigning prince in Europe, at age 83.
  • 1866 - On the death of Ferdinand Henry, the Grand Duke of Hesse-Dormstadt acquires the Ladgraviate of Hesse-Homburg.
  • 1868 - Metropolitan Life Insurance Company forms.
  • 1869 - Birth of Émile Fabre in France; playwright, administrator of Comédie Française.
  • 1874 - Birth of Harry Houdini AKA Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary; magician/escape artist.
  • 1874 - Birth of Luigi Einaudi; economist/first President of Italy (1948-55).
  • 1878 - British frigate Eurydice sinks; 300 people lost.
  • 1880 - Tobacco Growers' Mutual Insurance Company incorporates in Connecticut, USA.
  • 1881 - Friedrich Hecker, German revolutionary republic politician, dies at age 69.
  • 1882 - German scientist Robert Koch discovers bacillus cause of tiberculosis.
  • 1882 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, US poet (Song of Hiawatha), dies at age 75.
  • 1883 - First telephone call between New York and Chicago.
  • 1883 - Birth of James I Wedgwood; British theosophist/old-catholic bishop.
  • 1884 - Birth of Peter Debye in Holland; physical chemist (Nobel Prize 1936).
  • 1885 - Birth of Charlie Daniels; US swimmer (Olympics-4 gold-1904, 1908).
  • 1887 - Birth of Roscoe Arbuckle AKA Fatty Arbuckle in Smith Center, Kansas, USA; actor (Keystone comedies).
  • 1887 - Oscar Straus is appointed ambassador from US to Turkey.
  • 1888 - Birth of Jameson Thomas in London, England; actor (Farmer's Wife).
  • 1890 - Birth of Miguel Suriel; Netherland Antillian writer (Muhé culpabel).
  • 1891 - Birth of Annie "Charley" Toorop; Dutch painter (Three Generations).
  • 1893 - Birth of George Harold Sisler AKA Gorgeous George in Manchester, Ohio, USA; pitcher/first base (Saint Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Boston Braves), 257 hits in 1920 (record until 2004), 0.420 batting average in 1922, American League MVP (1922), Baseball Hall of Fame (1939).
  • 1894 - 37 miners are killed at Franklin, Washington, USA.
  • 1895 - Birth of Sid Saylor in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Wally - Waterfront).
  • 1897 - Birth of Wilhelm Reich; Austrian-US psycho analysist (character analysis).
  • 1898 - First automobile is sold.
  • 1898 - Birth of Dorothy Stratton; organizer (SPARS-women's branch of US Coast Guard).
  • 1899 - Billy Barnes, cricket player (725 runs in 21 Tests for England), dies.
  • 1901 - Birth of Ubbe Iwwerks AKA Ub Uwerks in Missouri, USA; formed Iwerks-Disney commercial art business with Walt Disney, chief animator of Laugh-o-Gram Films (1922), Disney Brothers Cartoon Studios, worked on Alice Comedies, first to draw Mickey Mouse, pioneered Silly Symphonies, head of research and development in 1940s and special effects in movies, technocal expertise in Disneyland attractions, named a Disney legend in 1989.
  • 1902 - Birth of Thomas E Dewey in Ohio, USA; Presidential candidate 1944, 1948 (Republican).
  • 1903 - Birth of Adolph F J Butenandt; German bio-chemist (Nobel Prize 1939).
  • 1903 - Birth of John Patrick Sutton Ludlow; actor (Agatha).
  • 1903 - Birth of Malcolm Muggeridge; English writer (Observer of Life).
  • 1905 - Birth of André Christiaens; Flemish writer (Unfindable Country).
  • 1905 - Jules Verne, sci-fi author (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at age 77.
  • 1906 - "Census of the British Empire" shows England rules 1/5 of the world.
  • 1907 - Birth of Janet Harmon Bragg; US pilot/columnist (Chicago Defender).
  • 1907 - Birth of Lauris Norstad; US General (NATO commander), CEO (Owens-Corning Fiberglass).
  • 1907 - Birth of Lucia Chase; US ballerina/co-founder (American Ballet Theater).
  • 1907 - Birth of Martin Kosleck [Nicolaie Yoshkin] Barkotzen in Germany; actor (Pursuit to Algiers).
  • 1909 - Birth of Clyde Barrow; bank robber (of Bonnie and Clyde fame).
  • 1909 - Birth of Thomas E "Tommy" Trinder; English radio comic/actor (Phoenix).
  • 1909 - John Millington Synge, Irish dramatist/playwright/poet, dies at age 37.
  • 1910 - Birth of Richard Conte in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA; actor (Four Just Men, 13 Rue Madeleine, Hotel, Jean Arthur Show).
  • 1911 - Birth of Enrique Jordá in San Sebastian, Spain; conductor (San Francisco Symphony Orchestra 1970).
  • 1911 - Birth of Herman W "Fritz" Liebert; US OSSer/librarian (Yale curator).
  • 1911 - Birth of Joseph Barbera; animator (Hanna-Barbera).
  • 1911 - Matthew Stanley Robison, president (Saint Louis Cardinals), dies.
  • 1913 - Netherlands soccer team's first victory over England.
  • 1914 - Birth of Lilli Palmer in Posen, Germany; actress (The Boys From Brazil, Sebastian).
  • 1916 - Enrique y Campina Granados, Spanish opera composer (Goyescas), drowns at age 48.
  • 1919 - Birth of John J Duncan Junior; American politician (Representative-Republican-Tennessee, 1965-).
  • 1919 - Birth of Lawrence Ferlinghetti; author (Coney Island of the Mind).
  • 1920 - First US coast guard air station established (Morehead City, North Carolina).
  • 1920 - Birth of Gene Nelson [Berg] in Seattle, Washington, USA; actor (Tea For Two, Oklahoma).
  • 1922 - Birth of Dave Appell; singer/musician/songwriter ("In the Midnight Hour").
  • 1922 - Birth of Dorothy Irene Height; president (national council of negro women).
  • 1922 - Grand National at Aintree sees only three horses out of 32 starters finish.
  • 1923 - Birth of Murray Hamilton in Washington, North Carolina, USA; actor (Rich Man Poor Man).
  • 1924 - Birth of Lois Andrews; actress (Ganster, Rustlers, Desert Hawk).
  • 1924 - Birth of Norman Fell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; actor (Mr Roper - Three's Company, The End, Graduate).
  • 1924 - Greece becomes a republic.
  • 1925 - Birth of Mai Zetterling in Västerås, Sweden; actress (Hidden Agenda, Ringer).
  • 1926 - Birth of Dario Fo in Leggiuno Sangiano, Italy; playwright (Nobel Prize-1997).
  • 1927 - Cuban chess champion Jose Capablanca wins 33-day Grand Chess Tournie.
  • 1927 - Dutch first Chamber condemns Belgian and Netherlands' Wielingen Treaty.
  • 1928 - Birth of Byron "Yanks" Janis in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, USA; pianist (NBC Symphony Orchestra).
  • 1928 - Birth of Vanessa Brown in Vienna, Austria; actress (My Favorite Husband).
  • 1929 - Birth of Cuan McCarthy; cricket player (36 Test wickets for South Africa, one career no-ball).
  • 1930 - First religious services telecast in US (W2XBS, New York City, New York).
  • 1930 - Birth of Kenneth Nelson in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA; actor (Henry Aldrich - Aldrich Family).
  • 1930 - Birth of Steve McQueen in Slater, Missouri, USA; actor (Wanted, Dead or Alive, The Blob, Bullitt).
  • 1931 - Birth of Thelma Kalama; American 4 X 100 metre relay swimmer (Olympics-gold-1948).
  • 1931 - Birth of Connie Hines; American actress (Mr. Ed) (dies 2009).
  • 1932 - First US radio broadcast from a moving train (Belle Baker, WABC from Maryland).
  • 1932 - Birth of William Smith in Columbia, Missouri, USA; actor (Rich Man Poor Man, Hawaii Five-O).
  • 1932 - Birth of Yuri Anatoyevich Ponomaryov in Russia; cosmonaut (Soyuz 18 backup).
  • 1932 - George Robert Canning, cricket player (the 4th Lord Harris), dies.
  • 1933 - The German Reichstag votes 441-94 to pass the Enabling Act, allowing national identity cards, racial profiling, creation of national homeland security chief, and gun confiscation.
  • 1933 - Peter I Island incorporated as a Norwegian dependency.
  • 1937 - Birth of Benjamin Luxon in Redruth; England, baritone (Owen Wingrave).
  • 1937 - Birth of Billy Stewart; American rhythm and blues singer ("I Do Love You").
  • 1937 - Birth of Erskine Sandiford; premier (Barbados, 1987-94).
  • 1937 - Bus blows a tire, loses control, kills 18 (Salem, Illinois).
  • 1937 - Léopold Courouble, Belgian writer (Pauline Flatbread), dies at age 76.
  • 1937 - National Gallery of Art established by US Congress.
  • 1938 - Birth of Larry Wilson; NFL back (Arizona Cardinals).
  • 1938 - Russian Army Commander B.M. Shaposhnikov produces a war plan, proposing a Red Army offensive or counter-offensive either north or south of the Pripet marshes, with a strong defence in the other sector.
  • 1940 - Birth of Bob Mackie in Monterey Park, California, USA; designer (Barbra Streisand, Cher).
  • 1941 - British troops defeat British Somalia.
  • 1941 - German troops occupy El Agheila Libya.
  • 1941 - Long Island University beats Ohio University 56-42 for NIT basketball championship.
  • 1943 - Birth of H Martin Lancaster; American politician (Representative-Democrat-North Carolina).
  • 1943 - Birth of Jesus Alou; baseball outfielder (San Francisco Giants).
  • 1943 - Birth of Marika Kilius; German Federal Republic pairs ice skating-Franz Ningel/Hans Jurgen Baumler, (Olympics-silver-1960, 64).
  • 1944 - 76 Allied officers escape Stalag Luft 3 (Great Escape).
  • 1944 - Birth of Denny McLain; baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers, 31 wins in 1968).
  • 1944 - Birth of Patti Labelle; singer ("Phoenix", "Tasty", "Chameleon").
  • 1944 - (evening) 811 British bombers attack Berlin, Germany. 72 planes are shot down, killing 392 crew members, and leaving 131 as prisoners. This is the final British air assault of the Battle of Berlin. Since August 1943, Bomber Command had flown over 10,000 sorties and dropped over 30,000 tons of bombs, making it the longest and most sustained bombing offensive against a single target in the war.
  • 1944 - (night) The SS unit of Captain Erich Priebke rounds up 335 Italians, and machine-guns them in the Ardentine caves on the outskirts of Rome. The massacre is in reprisal for the killing of 33 German soldiers two days earlier by Italian resistance fighters.
  • 1945 - J S Nicklin, Lieutenant-Colonel/Canada's first parachutist, dies.
  • 1945 - (1000 hours) Operation Varsity begins, as 134 American and British gliders cross the Rhine River, landing paratroops in Wesel, Germany.
  • 1945 - Thomas Rennie, General-Major (Dutch command 51st Highland Division), dies.
  • 1945 - US minesweepers reach Kerama Retto, South coast of Okinawa.
  • 1946 - Alexander A Aljechin, world chess champion (1927-35, 1937-46), dies at age 53.
  • 1946 - Birth of Lee Oskar in Copenhagen, Denmark; rock harmonicist (War - "Why Can't We Be Friends").
  • 1947 - Birth of Alan Sugar; English multi-millionaire/computer manufacturer (Amstrad).
  • 1947 - Birth of Mike Kellie; rock drummer (Spooky Tooth - "It's All About").
  • 1947 - Birth of Paul McCandless; rocker ("Torches on the Lake").
  • 1947 - Birth of Pieter W Coetzer; South African journalist/Member of Parliament (NP).
  • 1947 - US Congress proposes two-term limitation on the Presidency.
  • 1947 - John D Rockefeller Junior donates New York City East River site to the United Nations.
  • 1949 - Birth of Steve Lang in Montréal, Quebec, Canada; rock bassist (April Wine - "Just Between You and Me").
  • 1949 - Walter and John Huston become first father-and-son team to win Oscars (actor and director of Treasure of Sierra Madre).
  • 1950 - Gracie de Moss wins LPGA Pro-Ladies Golf Championship.
  • 1950 - US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Yvonne C Sherman.
  • 1950 - US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Richard Button.
  • 1951 - Birth of Dougie Thompson; rocker (Supertramp - "Bloody Well Right").
  • 1951 - Birth of Kenneth S Reightler Junior in Patuxent, Maryland, USA; Commander US Navy/astronaut (STS 48, 60).
  • 1951 - Birth of Pat Bradley in Westford, Massachusetts, USA; LPGA golfer (1981 US Women's Open).
  • 1952 - Birth of Nicholas Campbell in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; actor (Nick - The Insiders).
  • 1952 - Great demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa.
  • 1953 - Birth of Steve Lubbers; cricket player (captain of Dutch World Cup team 1996).
  • 1953 - Mary [Victoria of Teck], queen of Great Britain/North-Ireland, dies at age 86 at Marlborough House.
  • 1953 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
  • 1954 - Birth of Donna Pescow in Brooklyn, New York, USA; actress (Angie, Out of this World, Rainbow).
  • 1954 - Birth of Irina Ratushinskaya in Odessa, Ukraine, USSR; dissident poet (Beyond the Limit).
  • 1954 - Birth of Robert Carradine in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor (Slim - The Cowboys, Wavelength).
  • 1955 - First seagoing oil drill rig placed in service.
  • 1955 - British Army patrols withdraw from Belfast, Ireland, after 20 years.
  • 1955 - Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens on Broadway Theater, New York City, for 694 performances.
  • 1956 - Birth of Ijaz Faqih; cricket player (Pakistan off-spin all-rounder in five Tests 1980-88).
  • 1957 - Birth of Scott J Horowitz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; PhD/Captain US Air Force/astronaut (STS 75, 82).
  • 1958 - Rock-n-roll artist Elvis Presley is sworn in as an Army private in Memphis, Tennessee.
  • 1959 - Birth of Renaldo Nehemiah; American hurdler (110 metre at 12.93)/NFL player (San Francisco 49ers).
  • 1959 - Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact.
  • 1960 - Birth of Kelly LeBrock in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Weird Science, Woman in Red).
  • 1960 - US appeals court rules D.H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterly's Lover not obscene.
  • 1961 - Birth of Dean Jones; cricket player (dashing Australian batsman and fielder 1984-92).
  • 1961 - Birth of James T Gallagher Junior in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA; PGA golfer (1990 Greater Milwaukee).
  • 1961 - New York Senate approves US$55 million for a baseball stadium at Flushing Meadows.
  • 1962 - 24th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Cincinnati beats Ohio State 71-59.
  • 1962 - Benny Paret is knocked out in a welterweight title; he dies ten days later.
  • 1962 - Birth of Penny Hammel in Decatur, Illinois, USA; LPGA golfer (Jamie Farr Toledo-1985, 1989).
  • 1962 - Birth of Star Jones; attorney/TV hostess (NBC Inside Edition).
  • 1963 - Birth of Raimond van der Gouw; Dutch soccer goalie (Vitesse, Manchester).
  • 1964 - The U.S. Mint releases the President John Kennedy half dollar coins to circulation.
  • 1965 - Birth of Angela Zuckerman in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA; speed skater (Olympics-1994).
  • 1965 - Birth of Ben Torriero; WLAF running back (Scottish Claymores).
  • 1965 - Birth of Jeff Reese in Brantford, Ontario, Canada; NHL goalie (Tampa Bay Lightning).
  • 1965 - US Ranger 9 strikes Moon, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of crater Alphonsus.
  • 1966 - Birth of Penny Toler; WNBA guard (Los Angeles Sparks).
  • 1966 - Birth of Tatjana Patitz in Hamburg, German Federal Republic; model/actress (Rising Sun).
  • 1966 - US Selective Service announces college deferments based on performance.
  • 1967 - Birth of Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel in Florida, USA; tennis player (Virginia Slims of Arkansas 1987).
  • 1967 - Birth of Richard Gillam in Atlanta, Georgia, USA; pairs skater (and Erin Moorad).
  • 1967 - University of Michigan holds first "Teach-in" after bombing of North Vietnam.
  • 1968 - Howard Petrie, actor (Border River, Bounty Hunter), dies at age 61.
  • 1968 - Lauwrens Voorthuyzen, Dutch sect leader, dies at age 70.
  • 1968 - Mickey Wright wins Port Malabar Golf Invitational.
  • 1969 - Birth of Yoko Zetterlund in San Francisco, California, USA; volleyball setter (Olympics-bronze-1992, 1996).
  • 1969 - Joseph Kasavubu, President of Congo (1960-65), dies at about age 55.
  • 1970 - Birth of Lara Flynn Boyle in Davenport, Iowa, USA; actress (The Practice, The Temp, Twin Peaks).
  • 1970 - Birth of Marques Bragg; NBA forward (Minnesota Timberwolves).
  • 1970 - Birth of Mike Vanderjagt; Canadian Football League kicker (Toronto Argonauts).
  • 1970 - Birth of Shannon Lemora in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; 1.5km runner.
  • 1970 - Dutch cartoonist Frans Piët ends "Sjors and Sjimmie" strip.
  • 1970 - In New York City, Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries Inc. Annual Rarity Sale sells the unique British Guiana 1-cent black on magenta postage stamp of 1856 for US$280,000 to Irwin Weinberg, American stamp dealer, a record for a single stamp.
  • 1972 - Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.
  • 1973 - Birth of Atle Larsen; WLAF kicker (Rhein Fire).
  • 1973 - Birth of Chip McCaw in Chicago, Illinois, USA; volleyball setter (Olympics-1996).
  • 1973 - Birth of David Moravec; hockey forward (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998).
  • 1973 - Birth of Josh Lakatos in Pasadena, California, USA; trap shooter (Olympics-silver-1996).
  • 1973 - Birth of Philippe Boucher in Saint Apollinaire, California, USA; NHL defense (Los Angeles Kings, Olympics-Gold-1998).
  • 1973 - Harley Race beats Dory Funk Junior in Kansas City, to become NWA champion.
  • 1973 - Immaculata beats Queens College, 59-52 to win AIAW Basketball title.
  • 1973 - Professional track debut of Kip Keino defeating Jim Ryun in the mile.
  • 1973 - San Francisco 49ers' president Lou Spadia proposes NFL expand to 30 teams.
  • 1974 - 36th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: North Carolina State beats Marquette 76-64; this ends UCLA's 7-year reign as NCAA basketball champions.
  • 1974 - Birth of Terry Killens; linebacker (Tennessee Oilers).
  • 1974 - Yoshida Isoya, Japanese architect (modern sukiya style), dies at age 79.
  • 1975 - Birth of Debbie Keller in Winfield, Illinois, USA; soccer forward (Olympics-1996).
  • 1975 - Birth of Julia Bikbova in Kiev, Ukraine; dance skater (and John Lee).
  • 1975 - Muhammad Ali TKOs Chuck Wepner in 15 rounds to retain the heavyweight boxing title.
  • 1975 - Muriel Hutchinson, actor (Another Thin Man), dies at age 60.
  • 1976 - Military junta in Argentina ousts President Isabela Martinez Perón and takes power.
  • 1976 - Bernard L Montgomery, British General, defeated Rommel, dies at age 88.
  • 1976 - Birth of Danielle Garrett in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania; soccer forward (Olympics-1996).
  • 1976 - Nelson Case, TV host (Trash or Treasure), dies at age 66.
  • 1977 - Birth of Olivia Burnette in San Clemente, California; actress (Torkelsons).
  • 1978 - Brackett Hamilton Leigh [Douglass], author (Ginger Star), dies at age 62.
  • 1979 - Ten rebounds and ten assists, as the Spartans cruise to a 101-67 by University of Pennsylvania; Michigan State's Earvin "Magic" Johnson registers triple-double 29 points.
  • 1979 - First appearance as Australian cricket captain for Kim Hughes.
  • 1980 - 42nd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Louisville beats UCLA 59-54.
  • 1980 - ABC-TV's nightly Iran Hostage crisis program renamed Nightline with Ted Koppel.
  • 1980 - Archbishop Óscar Romero assassinated while conducting mass in San Salvador.
  • 1980 - Birth of Luke Edwards in Nevada City, California; actor (Newsie).
  • 1980 - Death of Pierre Etchebaster, French real tennis player (born 1893).
  • 1980 - The Australia Olympic Committee announces it will send an Olympic delegation to Moscow, despite objections by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.
  • 1981 - Bombay beats Delhi by innings and 46 to win Ranji Cricket Trophy.
  • 1981 - Colombia drops diplomatic relations with Cuba.
  • 1981 - ABC TV premieres Nightline TV show with Ted Koppel.
  • 1982 - US submarine Jacksonville collides with a Turkish freighter near Virginia.
  • 1982 - Ace Goodman, comedian (Easy Aces), dies at age 83 in Kansas City, Missouri.
  • 1983 - The redesigned 1984 model Corvette sports car goes on sale in California, USA.
  • 1984 - International Olympic Committee agrees to six-team exhibition baseball tournament in Olympics.
  • 1984 - Igor Malkov skates world record 10 km (14:01.51).
  • 1984 - Sam Jaffe, American actor (Dr Zorba - Ben Casey), dies of cancer at age 93 (born 1891).
  • 1984 - Andrea Schöne skates ladies' world record 5 km (7:04.52).
  • 1985 - Golden Raspberry Awards presented to parody Oscar Awards (Bolero wins).
  • 1985 - Jan Stephenson wins LPGA GNA Golf Classic.
  • 1985 - Norman Gifford makes cricket ODI debuts at age 44 (v Australia, Sharjah).
  • 1985 - Norwich City win the English League Cup at Wembley Stadium, beating Sunderland 1-0 in the final.
  • 1986 - NASA publishes Strategy for Safely Returning the Space Shuttle to Flight Status.
  • 1986 - Sarah Cunningham, actress (Nurse Andrews - Trapper John MD), dies at age 67.
  • 1986 - Suriname army Captain Etienne Boerenveen arrested for cocaine smuggling.
  • 1986 - US and Libya clash in Gulf of Sidra.
  • 1987 - Western Australia wins the Sheffield Shield by drawing cricket final versus Victoria.
  • 1988 - An Israeli court sentences Mordechai Vanunu to 18 years in prison for disclosing Israel's nuclear program to The Sunday Times.
  • 1989 - In Alaska's Prince William Sound, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spills 38.1 million litres of crude oil after running aground, spreading more than 160km, polluting more than 1120km of coastline.
  • 1990 - Alice Sapritch, actress (European Vacation), dies.
  • 1990 - An Wang, computer manufacturer (Wang), dies at age 70 from cancer.
  • 1990 - Indian troops leave Sri Lanka.
  • 1990 - Ray Goulding, comedian (Bob and Ray), dies from kidney failure at age 68.
  • 1990 - Rene Enriquez, actor (Hill Street Blues), dies from pancreatic cancer at age 56.
  • 1990 - Tom Hunter swims world record 50-metre freestyle (21.81 seconds).
  • 1990 - The government of Australian prime minister Bob Hawke is re-elected for a fourth term.
  • 1991 - 11th Golden Raspberry Awards: Ford Fairlane and Ghosts Can't Do It win.
  • 1991 - Barcelona Dragons beat New York/New Jersey Knights 19-7 in their first WLAF game.
  • 1991 - Danielle Ammaccapane wins LPGA Standard Register Ping Golf Tournament.
  • 1991 - In liberated Kuwait, banks reopen.
  • 1991 - New York Yankees beat New York Mets, 9-3.
  • 1991 - Wrestlemania VII in Los Angeles, Hulk Hogan pins Sergeant Slaughter for championship.
  • 1992 - First Belgian in the space, Dirk Frimout on Atlantis Space Shuttle STS-45 (Atlantis 11) launches into space.
  • 1992 - Sudanese Boeing 707 crashes on mountain Hymettos at Athens; 5-6 die.
  • 1993 - Erik Andriesse, Dutch painter (skulls, skeletons), dies at age 35.
  • 1993 - Ezer Weizman elected President of Israel.
  • 1993 - John Hersey, American Pulitzer prize-winning author (Hiroshima), dies at age 78 (born 1914).
  • 1993 - Peter Roovers, Dutch sculptor/teacher (war monuments), dies at age 90.
  • 1993 - Taylor Reed, actor (Easy Money), dies of heart attack at age 60.
  • 1994 - F-16 collides with C-130 Hercules above air force base in North Carolina, 120 die.
  • 1995 - Trevor Oswald Ling, religious studies professor, dies at age 75.
  • 1995 - For the first time in 26 years, no British soldiers patrol the streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
  • 1996 - 16th Golden Raspberry Awards: Showgirls wins.
  • 1996 - Laura Davies wins LPGA Standard Register Ping Golf Tournament.
  • 1997 - 69th Academy Awards: The English Patient, Tom Cruise and Frances McDormand win.
  • 1997 - Australian parliament overturns world's first and only euthanasia law.
  • 1997 - Roberto Sanchez Vilella, the second democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico, dies at age 84.
  • 1998 - The Jonesboro massacre: two young boys (aged 11 and 13 years) fire upon students at Westside Middle School while hidden in woodlands near the school. Four students and one teacher are killed, and ten are injured.
  • 1999 - NATO launches air strikes against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which refused to sign a peace treaty. This marks the first time NATO attacked a sovereign country.
  • 1999 - Fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel kills 39 people, closing the tunnel for nearly three years.
  • 2001 - During an exhibition baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Randy Johnson's fastball hits and instantly kills a dove flying in front of home plate. The bird appears to explode as the pitch sends it over the catcher's head.
  • 2001 - Apple Computer begins selling the Mac OS X 10.0 operating system, for US$129.
  • 2002 - Death of César Milstein, Argentine scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1927).
  • 2004 - The European Competition Commission labels Microsoft an abusive monopolist. The Commission says Microsoft must offer European computer makers two versions of Windows, with and without Windows Media Player, must share technical information on server software with rivals, and must pay a US$613 million fine.
  • 2005 - The Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan reaches its climax with the overthrow of president Askar Akayev.
  • 2005 - Sony releases the PlayStation Portable handheld video game system in North America. It includes a 32 MB Memory Stick Duo card, battery pack, and the film Spider-Man 2 on UMD. Price is US$249.99 in the US. 500,000 units are sold in the first two days.
  • 2008 - In Greece, the Olympic torch begins its journey to Beijing, China.
  • 2008 - In northern Chile, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes.
  • 2008 - Death of Neil Aspinall at age 66 of cancer in New York, USA; British record producer, road manager (Beatles, 1961), CEO (Apple Corps, 1970-2007).
  • 2008 - Richard Widmark, actor (Tommy Udo - Kiss of Death), dies in Roxbury, Connecticut, USA, at age 93.
  • 2008 - First election in Bhutan, with turnout of 80 percent of 320,000 registered voters. Druk Phuensum Tshogpa party wins 44 of 47 seats, with leader Jigme Thinley.
  • 2008 - In Iowa City, Iowa, USA, former bank executive Steven Sueppel, facing trial for embezzlement, beats to death his wife Sheryl Sueppel and the couple's four adopted children, then kills himself by ramming his car into a highway sign post.
  • 2009 - Death of George Kell, third baseman (Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Baseball Hall of Fame), in his sleep at age 86 in Swifton, Arkansas.
  • 2010 - A car bomb explodes in the centre of the Colombian port city of Buenaventura, killing at least six people, injuring over 30.
  • 2010 - Hollywood actor Robert Culp (Kelly Robinson - I Spy, Bill Maxwell - The Greatest American Hero, Everybody Loves Raymond) dies at age 79.
  • 2013 - Central African Republic President François Bozizé flees to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after rebel forces capture the nation's capital, Bangui.
  • 2014 - During an emergency meeting, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, and Canada temporarily suspend Russia from the G8.
  • 2015 - An Airbus A320-211 operated by Germanwings crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.
  • 2016 - Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžic is sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War.
  • 2018 - In over 900 cities internationally, people participate in demonstrations against gun violence and mass shootings, calling for stronger gun control in the "March for Our Lives".
  • 2020 - People's Republic of China Premier Li Keqiang reports that the domestically-transmitted epidemic is now under control.
  • 2020 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average ends the day up 11.4% from the previous day.
  • 2020 - The government of Japan announces the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will be postponed by one year due to Covid-19.
  • 2020 - The International Olympic Committee and Japan suspend the 2020 Summer Olympics until 2021.
  • 2020 - India and the United Kingdom go into lockdown to contain COVID-19. The total number of people in the world facing some form of pandemic-related movement restriction now exceeds 2.6 billion, a third of the global population.
  • 2023 - A tornado with winds of 166mph hits Rolling Fork, Mississippi, killing 25 people.
  • 2023 - Death of Gordon Moore at age 94; American transistor maker (Shockley Laboratories, Fairchild Semiconductor).

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