22 March 2006

On This Day in History..

1752 Pope Stephen II elected to succeed Zacharias, died 2 days later
1349 Townspeople of Fulda Germany massacre Jews (blamed for black death)
1457 Gutenberg Bible became the 1st printed book
1556 Cardinal Reginald Pole becomes archbishop of Canterbury
1594 French King Henri IV festival in Paris France
1621 Hugo de Grote escapes in bookcase from Loevenstein castle, Netherlands
1621 Massasoit & Pilgrims agree on league of friendship (Plymouth)
1622 1st Indian (Powhattan) massacre of whites, Jamestown VA; 347 slain
1630 1st colonial legislation prohibiting gambling enacted (Boston)
1638 Religious dissident Anne Hutchinson expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony
1680 Parliament of Breisach accept French sovereignty over Elzas
1692 Emperor Leopold I names duke Earnest August of Braunschweig, king
1733 Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer)
1765 Stamp Act passed: 1st direct British tax on colonists
1775 Edmund Burke presents his 13 articles to the English parliament
1778 Captain Cook sights Cape Flattery, in Washington state
1790 Thomas Jefferson becomes the 1st US Secretary of State
1794 Congress bans US vessels from supplying slaves to other countries
1822 Gioacchino Rossini marries Isabella Colbran in Bologna
1822 New York Horticultural Society founded
1841 Cornstarch patented (Orlando Jones)
1861 1st US nursing school chartered
1862 San Marino & Italy conclude treaty of friendship & cooperation
1865 Raid at Wilson's: Chickaswas AL to Macon GA
1871 William Holden of North Carolina is 1st governor removed from office by impeachment
1872 Illinois becomes 1st state to require sexual equality in employment
1873 Slavery is abolished in Puerto Rico
1874 Young Men's Hebrew Association is founded in New York NY
1882 Edmunds Act adopted by US to suppress polygamy in the territories
1888 English Football League established
1894 Stanley Cup: Montréal AAA beat Ottawa Generals, 3-1 (1st Cup game ever)
1895 Auguste & Louis Lumiere show their 1st movie to an invited audience
1896 Charilaos Vasilakos wins 1st marathon (3:18)
1903 New York Highlanders (Yankees) tickets 1st go on sale
1903 Niagera Falls runs out of water because of a drought
1914 World's 1st airline, St Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, begins
1922 British court sentences Mahatma Gandhi to 6 years in prison
1927 Federico García Lorca's "El Maleficio" premieres in Madrid
1928 Noël Coward's musical "This Year of Grace" premieres in London
1929 66 horses run in Irish Grand National Sweepstakes
1929 KIT-AM in Yakima WA begins radio transmissions
1929 USCG vessel sank Canadian schooner suspected of carrying liquor
1933 FDR makes wine & beer with up to 3.2% alcohol legal
1934 1st Masters golf championship began in Augusta GA
1934 Fire destroys Hakodate Japan (kills 1,500, injures 1,000)
1935 Blood tests authorized as evidence in court cases (New York)
1939 Lithuania state, forced to give Memel territory to Germany
1941 Grand Coulee Dam in Washington goes into operation
1942 Heavy German assault on Malta
1943 Dutch work week extended to 54 hour
1943 Obligatory work for woman ends in Belgium
1943 SS police chief Rauter threatens to kill half Jewish children
1944 600+ 8th Air Force bombers attack Berlin
1945 Arab League forms with adoption of a charter in Cairo Egypt
1945 US 3rd Army crosses Rhine at Nierstein
1946 1st US rocket to leave the Earth's atmosphere (50 miles up)
1946 Britain signs treaty granting independence to Jordan
1947 President Truman signs executive order calling for loyalty
1952 Dutch DC-6 crashes near Frankfurt, killing 44
1953 Antonín Zápotocky chosen as president of Czechoslovakia
1953 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Betsy Rawls Golf Open
1954 1st shopping mall opened in Southfield MI
1956 Death penalty against KPrime Minister-director Léon Jungschlaeger
1956 Musical "Mr Wonderful" with Sammy Davis Jr premieres at Broadway Theater NYC for 383 performances
1957 Earthquake gives San Francisco shakes
1957 Republic of India adopts Saka calendar along with Gregorian
1958 20th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Seattle 84-72
1958 Faisal succeeds Saudi as king of Saudi-Arabia
1958 Liz Taylor's 3rd divorce (Mike Todd)
1958 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1959 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Nehi Golf Tournament
1960 1st patent for lasers, granted to Arthur Schawlow & Charles Townes
1962 "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" opens at Shubert NYC for 300 performances
1963 Beatles release 1st album, "Please Please Me"
1963 British Minister of War John Profumo denies having sex with Christine Keeler
1963 Oregon State's Terry Baker becomes 1st & only Heisman Trophy winner
1964 Barbra Streisand appears on the cover of New York Times Magazine section
1964 Carol Mann wins LPGA Women's Western Golf Open Invitational
1965 D Senanayake wins general elections in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
1965 US confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong
1967 Muhammad Ali [Cassius Clay] KOs Zora Folley in 7 for heavyweight boxing title in 1st Madison Square Garden fight
1968 Jarmila Novotna resigns presidency of Czechoslovakia
1968 Lynda Johnson ordered off San Francisco cable car for eating an ice cream cone
1968 Student riot in Nanterre near Paris France
1969 "Billy" opens & closes at Billy Rose Theater NYC after 1 performance
1969 "Come Summer" closes at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 7 performances
1969 31st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Purdue 92-72 UCLA wins its 5th national championship in 6 years
1970 "Blood Red Roses" opens & closes at John Golden Theater NYC
1970 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1971 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1972 "Selling of the President" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 5 performances
1972 Congress approves Equal Rights Amendment (never ratified)
1972 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named NBA MVP
1972 Nick Mileti purchases Cleveland Indians for $9 million
1972 Yankees trade Danny Cater to the Red Sox for Sparky Lyle
1975 "Dr Jazz" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 5 performances
1975 "Letter for Queen Victoria" opens at ANTA Theater NYC for 18 performances
1975 Delta State beats Immaculata for the women's AIAW championship
1975 Teach-In wins Eurovision Song Festival with "Dinge-Dong"
1975 Walt Disney World Shopping Village opens
1977 Dutch Den Uyl government falls
1977 Indira Gandhi resigns as Prime Minister of India
1977 Uyl government falls
1978 France performs nuclear test
1978 Robert Frost Plaza, Drumm & Market, San Francisco CA, dedicated
1978 Rutle's "All You Need is Cash" is shown on NBC-TV
1979 Israeli parliament approves peace treaty with Egypt
1979 NHL votes to accept 4 WHA teams (Oilers, Jets, Nordiques & Whalers)
1981 1st class postage raised to 18¢ from 15¢
1981 Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Desert Inn Pro-Am Golf Tournament
1981 Soyuz 39 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Mongolian) to Salyut 6
1981 Toshihiko Seko runs world record 25k (1:13:55.8)/30k (1:29:18.8)
1982 3rd Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 3 launched
1982 Iran offensive against Iraq
1983 Chaim Herzog elected Israeli president
1984 Islander Bryan Trottier ties NHL rec scores 5 seconds into game
1985 NASA launches Intelsat VA
1986 Andrea Ehrig skates ladies world record 5 km (7 :0.99)
1986 HBO launches boxing's heavyweight-title-unification-tournament
1986 Heart's "These Dreams" single goes #1
1986 Karin Kania skates ladies world record 1500 meter (1 :9.30)
1986 Kurt Browning (Canada) becomes 1st skater to land a quadruple jump
1986 Trevor Berbick beats Pinklon Thomas in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1986 World Ice Dance Championship in Geneva won by Natalia Bestemianova & Andrei Bukin (USSR)
1986 World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Geneva won by Gordeeva & Grinkov (USSR)
1986 World Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Geneva won by Debi Thomas (USA)
1986 World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Geneva won by Brian Boitano (USA)
1987 Betsy King wins LPGA Circle K Tucson Golf Open
1988 Congress overrides Reagan's veto of sweeping civil rights bill
1988 Western Australia beat Queensland by 5 wickets to win the Sheffield Shield Final
1989 NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announces retirement as NFL commissioner after 29 years
1989 US Supreme Court upholds 1 person 1 vote rule of New York NY Board of Estimate
1990 "Grapes of Wrath" opens at Cort Theater NYC for 188 performances
1990 "Les Miserables" opens at Shunert Theatre, Boston MA
1990 Anchorage jury finds Captain Hazelwood innocent of Valdez oil spill
1990 The Major League umpires announce that they will boycott exhibition games
1991 Law enforcement officers raid fraternities at University of Virginia seizing drugs
1991 New York Daily News begins using motto "Forward with New York"
1991 Pamela Smart (HS teacher) found guilty in New Hampshire of manipulating her student-lover to kill her husband
1992 "Private Lives" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 37 performances
1992 Danielle Ammaccapane wins Standard Register Ping Golf Championship
1992 England beat South Africa in rain-ruined cricket World Cup semi final
1992 Joseph A Molloy elected New York Yankee general partner
1992 Record producer Lou Adler weds Paige Hannah (Daryl's sister)
1992 US Air New York to Cleveland crashes on take off at La Guardia, 27 die
1993 Intel introduces Pentium-processor (80586) 64 bits-60 MHz-100+ MIPS
1994 Dutch Ambassador to US christens a new tulip (the Hillary Clinton)
1994 Mark Foster swims world record 50 meter butterfly (23.68 seconds)
1994 South African Government/ANC take power in Ciskei homeland
1994 Soyuz TM-21 lands
1995 Deputy Governor of Bank of England, Rupert Pennant-Rea, resigns following revelations of his affair with a freelance journalist
1996 Cheryl Depew, of Florida, crowned 13th Miss Hawaiian Tropic International
1996 STS 76 (Atlantis 16), launches into orbit
1997 "Sunset Boulevard" closes at Minskoff NYC after 977 performances
1997 Comet Hale-Bopp Closest Approach to Earth (1.315 AU)
1998 18th Golden Raspberry Awards: The Postman wins
1998 Liselotte Neumann wins Standard Register PING Golf Tournament
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MISSING in ACTION

1968 GUY THEODORE W. ELMHURST IL 03/16/73 RELEASED BY NVA/KISSINGER DECEASED 04/23/99
1968 HATTORI MASAKI STOCKTON CA
1968 LYON DONOVAN L. HOLLYWOOD CA
1971 CLEVE REGINALD D. FARMINGTON MO "CRASH, NO EXITS OBS, NO SEARCH"
1971 HALL WALTER R. LOS ANGELES CA "CRASH, NO EXITS OBS, NO SEARCH"
1971 KNUTSEN DONALD P. BUFFALO NY "CRASH, NO EXITS OBS, NO SEARCH"
1971 MORIARTY PETER G. NEWINGTON CT
1971 TRAVER JOHN G. III JACKSONVILLE FL "CRASH, NO EXITS OBS, NO SEARCH"

Births which occurred on March 22:

1459 Maximilian I of Habsburg German Emperor/archduke of Austria
1599 Sir Anthony Van Dyck Flemish painter (Charles I of England)
1609 John II Casimir Vasa cardinal/king of Poland (1648-68)
1700 Giuseppe Sellitto composer
1728 Anton Raphael Mengs German writer/neo-classic painter
1728 Giacomo Insanguine composer
1752 Johann Georg Joseph Spangler composer
1767 Cornelis T Elout Dutch minister of Finance
1771 Heinrich D Zschokke Swiss author (Das Goldmacherdorf)
1785 Adam Sedgwick Dent Yorkshire England, British geologist
1797 Kaiser Wilhelm I German emperor (1871-88)
1799 F W A Argelander Memel E Prussia, cataloguer of 324,188 stars
1803 Anthonie Waldrop Dutch painter/lithographer
1813 Gabriel Rene Paul Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1886
1814 Thomas Crawford US sculptor (Babes in the Wood)
1817 Braxton Bragg General (Confederate Army), died in 1876
1819 William Wirt Adams Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1888
1822 Ahmed Djevdet Pasha Turkish minister of Education/Justice
1822 Isaac D Fransen van de Putte Dutch premier (1866)
1822 Seth Williams Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1866
1824 William Henry Chase Whiting Major General (Confederate Army)
1834 Francis Asbury Shoup Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1896
1842 Carl A N Rosa German violinist/composer
1842 Mykola Vytal'yevich Lysenko composer
1846 Randolph Caldecott England, illustrator (Caldecott Medal namesake)
1852 Theodor Birt [Beatus Rhenanus], German classical/writer
1857 Arnold Sauwen Flemish poet (Along the Meuse)
1857 Paul Doumer Governor-General of Indo-China/13th President of France (1931-32)
1865 Theophile Ysaye composer
1867 Meijer Linnewiel [Professor Kokadorus], Amsterdam's pitchman
1868 Hamish MacCunn composer
1868 Henry W Methorst lawyer/director (Dutch Cent Bureau of Statistics)
1868 Robert A Millikan US physicist (photoelectric effect; Nobel 1923)
1874 Ellen Glasgow novelist
1885 Adriano Lualdi composer
1885 Jakabs Medins composer
1887 Chico [Leonard] Marx New York NY, comedian (Marx Brothers)
1895 Joseph Schildkraut Vienna Austria, actor (Flame of Barbary Coast, Joseph Schildkraut Presents)
1896 Giulia D De Albertis writer
19-- Veleka Gray New Orleans LA, actress (Young & Restless)
1902 Ellin Berlin [MacKay] Mrs Irving Berlin, writer (Lace Curtain)
1903 James S Russell US pilot/Admiral (WWII Pacific Ocean)
1903 Jochen Klepper writer
1905 Carlo Alberto Pizzini composer
1905 Grigorij M Kosinzev Russian director
1905 Phyllis McGinley poet
1905 Ruth Page US choreographer/ballet leader (Diaghilev, Pygmalion)
1907 James Gavin US, 82nd Airborne Division General (Sicily/Normandy)
1907 Paul J Steenbergen Netherlands, actor (Ciske Rat)/founder (Hague's Comedy)
1908 Albrecht Goes writer
1908 Louis D L'Amour Jamestown ND, author (Hondo, Jubal Sackett)
1908 Maurice H Stans Shakope MN, US Secretary of Commerce (1969-72)
1909 Gabrielle Roy French-Canadian novelist (Tin Flute)
1909 Jack Popplewell composer/playwright
1910 Nicholas Monsarret England, writer (Cruel Sea)
1912 Henri Rousselot Admiral
1912 Lord Alport
1912 Wilfrid Brambell Dublin Ireland, actor (Hard Day's Night)
1913 James Westerfield Nashville TN, actor (Jungle Heat, Lucky Johnny)
1913 Karl Malden Chicago IL, actor (Mike-Streets of San Francisco, American Express)
1913 Martha Mödl German singer/soprano (Wagner)
1914 Cec Burke cricketer (New Zealand leg-spinner vs Australia 1946, 1 & 3, 2-30)
1914 Lord Stokes
1914 Masao Maruyama social scientist
1915 Forest Sagendorf cartoonist
1915 George Cresswell cricketer (3 Tests for New Zealand aged 35)
1916 George Wyle New York NY, orchestra leader (Jerry Lewis Show, Flip Wilson Show)
1916 Josephine van Gasteren Dutch actress/director (Bluejackets)
1917 C S Pick publisher
1917 Paul Rogers Plympton Devon England, actor (Looking Glass War, Billy Budd)
1917 Virginia Grey Los Angeles CA, actress (Another Thin Man, Idiot's Delight, Idaho)
1918 Cheddi B Jagan dentist/founder PPP/Guyanese Premier (1953, 1957-64)
1918 Harry Kay vice-chancellor (Exeter University)
1918 Tauno Kullerve Pylkkanen composer
1920 Fanny Waterman concert pianist & teacher
1920 James Brown Desdemona TX, actor (Targets)
1920 Ross Martin Grodek Poland, actor (Mr Lucky, Wild Wild West)
1921 Wilhelmus Norbert Schmelzer Netherlands, foreign minister (KVP)
1922 Mujib ur-Rahman Pakistan, sheik/premier
1922 Stewart Stern screenwriter (Rebel Without A Cause)
1923 Bryan Clieve Roberts lawyer/civil servant
1923 Cor N van Dis Jr Dutch MP (SGP, 1971-94)
1923 Marcel Marceau Strasbourg France, mime (Barbarella, Silent Movie)
1924 Al Neuharth newspaper founder (USA Today)
1924 Bill Wendell New York NY, TV announcer (Late Night With David Letterman)
1925 Colin Spedding CEO (Council of Science & Technology Institutes)
1925 Wolfgang Bächler writer
1926 Julius Marmur biochemist/geneticist
1926 Lawrence Jackson Provost Emeritus (Blackburn)
1927 George Thoms cricketer (1 Test Australia against West Indies 1952, scored 16 & 28)
1927 Viscount Bolingbroke
1928 Betty Callaway figure skating trainer
1928 Bill Archer (Representative-Republican-TX, 1971- )
1928 DC Ingman CEO (British Waterways Board)
1928 Dmitri Antonovitch Volkogonov soldier/historian
1928 Ed Macauley NBA'er (Boston Celtics)
1930 Derek Bok college president (Harvard)
1930 Lynden O Pindling Prime Minister of Bahamas (1967-92)
1930 Pat Robertson televangelist (700 club, Presidential candidate-Republican-1989)
1930 Stephen Sondheim New York NY, lyricist/composer (Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods, West Side Story, A Little Night Music)
1931 Igor Hajek translator/writer
1931 Leslie Thomas author
1931 William Shatner Montréal Canada, actor (Star Trek, T J Hooker)
1932 Richard Thomas Admiral
1933 Buddy MacKay (Representative-Democrat-FL, 1983- )
1933 Chris Duckworth cricketer (South African batsman vs England 1956-57)
1934 Leslie Turnberg President (Royal College of Physicians)
1934 Orrin G Hatch (Senator-Republican-UT, 1977- )
1934 Sheila Cameron QC, Vicar-General (Province of Canterbury)
1935 M[ichael] Emmet Walsh Ogdensburg NY, actor (Wildcats, War Party)
1936 Alan Bleasdale author/playwright (Are You Lonesome Tonight)
1936 May Britt [Maybritt Wilkens] Lidinga Sweden, actress (Young Lions)/wife of Sammy Davis Jr
1936 Philip Ely President (British Law Society)
1936 Roger Whittaker Nairobi Kenya, country singer (Durham Town)
1936 Ron Carey union president (Teamsters)
1937 Jon Hassell composer
1938 Vivian Pulliam horse trainer
1940 William Ritchie vice-chancellor (Lancaster University)
1941 Bruno Ganz Zurich Switzerland, actor (Strapless, Wings of Desire)
1941 Gary Lewis horse trainer
1942 Barbara Parkins Vancouver British Columbia, actress (Peyton Place, Asylum)
1942 Jon Arthur English composer
1943 George Benson Pittsburgh PA, singer/guitarist (Greatest Love of All)
1943 Joseph Schwantner composer
1943 Keith Relf Richmond London England, rocker (Yardbirds-For Your Love, Renaissance)
1944 Jeremy Clyde Buckinghamshire England, rocker (Chad & Jeremy-Yesterday's Gone)
1944 R P Mardling headmaster (Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield)
1944 T S "Tony" McPhee rocker (Sad Go Round)
1945 Alan Opie baritone (Boughton Bethlehem, Britten 5 Canticles)
1945 Charles "Chuck" Jackson US singer (Playboy, Independents)
1945 Paul Schockemöhle showjumper
1946 Don Chaney NBA player (Houston Rockets)/coach (Detroit Pistons)
1946 Laraine Ashton fashion models' agent (London)
1946 Rudy/Rudolf [von Bittner] Rucker US, sci-fi author (Wetware)
1946 Serge [Ruud Schaap] Dutch singer/guitarist (Saskia & Serge)
1947 Harry Vanda [Vandenberg] Hague Netherlands, rock guitarist (Easybeats)
1947 Patrick Olive percussionist (Hot Chocolate-You Sexy Thing)
1947 Priscilla Yates director (Royal Academy of Dancing)
1948 Andrew Lloyd Webber London England, composer (Evita, Starlight Express, Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar)
1948 Randy Hobbs rocker (Johnny Winter Band, McCoys)
1949 Brian Hanrahan British TV newsman (BBC)
1949 D Watson director (Brighton University)
1949 Fanny Ardant Monte Carlo, actress (Australia, Confidentially Yours)
1950 Mary Tamm Dewsbury Yorkshire England, actress (Odessa File, Doctor Who)
1951 Howard Reitzes Southgate CA, rocker (Iron Butterfly)
1951 Musa Khiramanovich Manarov USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-4, TM-11)
1952 Bob Costas Queens NY, sportscaster/talk show host (Later)
1953 Peter McEvoy Australia, actor (Against the Innocent)
1953 Thomas H Andrews (Representative-Democrat-ME)
1956 Lena Olin Stockholm Sweden, actress (Enemies A Love Story)
1956 Lyndsay Stephen Donnybrook WA, Australasia golfer
1957 Stephanie Mills singer/actress (Wiz)
1958 Joyce Lester Australian softball catcher (Olympics-bronze-96)
1958 Pete Wylie Liverpool England, rocker (Sinful)
1959 Matthew Modine Loma Linda CA, actor (Full Metal Jacket, Pacific Heights)
1960 Laurie Sargent rock vocalist (Face To Face)
1962 Diane Pavich Melbourne Australia, golfer (1993 T50 Alpine Australia Ladies)
1962 Juan Aguilera Spain, tennis star
1962 Tim Elliott Perth WA, Australasia golfer
1963 Hannu Virta Turku Finland, hockey defenseman (Team Finland)
1963 Rich Monteleone Tampa FL, pitcher (California Angels)
1963 Suzanne Sulley Sheffield South Yorkshire, rocker (Human Leauge-Human)
1964 Jeffrey Wagner Sydney New South Wales Australia, Australasia golfer
1966 Brad Edwards NFL safety (Atlanta Falcons)
1966 Brian Shaw NBA guard (Orlando Magic, San Francisco Warriors)
1966 Sean Berry Santa Monica CA, infielder (Houston Astros)
1966 Todd Ewen Saskatoon, NHL right wing (Anaheim Mighty Ducks)
1966 Yahya Ayyash militant
1968 Ramon Martinez Santo Domingo Dominican Republic, pitcher (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1969 Russell Maryland NFL defensive tackle (Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders)
1970 Jason Rouser Tucson AZ, 200 meter/400 meter runner
1970 Reggie White NFL nose tackle (New England Patriots)
1970 Travis Richards Crystal MN, US hockey defenseman (Olympics-1994)
1971 Richard Castillo jockey
1972 Elvis Stojko Richmond Hill Ontario, (Olympics-silver-94)
1972 John Farquhar tight end (New Orleans Saints)
1972 Mikhail Sloutsky WLAF LB (Scotland Claymores)
1972 Pieter Christiaan Prince of Netherlands
1972 Shawn Bradley NBA center (Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets, Space Jams)
1973 Joe Nedney kicker (Arizona Cardinals)
1973 Luther Elliss NFL defensive end (Detroit Lions)
1974 Kim Yun-Jung Miss Korea-Universe (1996)
1974 Marcus Camby NBA forward (Toronto Raptors)
1974 Tuomas Gronman NHL defenseman (Team Finland Olympics-Bronze-1998, Pittsburgh Steelers)
1975 Chris Bayne safety (Atlanta Falcons)
1975 Dax Griffin Atlanta GA, actor (Tim Truman-Sunset Beach)
1975 Jiri Novak Czechoslovakia, tennis star
1976 Kellie Shanygne Williams Washington DC, actress (Laura-Family Matters)
1979 Mariah Leanne Bergmann Miss Kansas Teen-USA (1997)

Deaths which occurred on March 22:

0337 Constantine Emperor of Rome, dies at 47
1471 George van Podiebrad king of Bohemia (1458-71), dies
1589 Lodovico Guicciardini Ital historian, dies at 67
1627 Cornelis van Aerssen Flemish Clerk of the House, dies at about 81
1639 Thomas Carew English poet/diplomat (The Rapture), dies
1661 Hendrick Uylenburgh art dealer, buried at about 73
1743 Jean-Baptiste Lully Ital/Fr composer (Forced Marriage), dies at 77
1758 Jonathan Edwards theologian/philosopher (Original Sin), dies at 54
1771 Gottlieb W Rabener German author (Bremer Beiträge), dies at 56
1777 John Bartram father of American botany, dies at 77
1796 Gaspare Gabellone composer, dies at 68
1798 Justin Morgan composer, dies at 51
1820 Stephen Decatur killed in a duel with Com James Barron, at 41
1824 Johann Melchior Dreyer composer, dies at 76
1832 J W Goethe writer, dies at 82
1838 Hendrik Fagel Dutch/English baron, dies at 73
1845 Franz Joseph Volkert composer, dies at 67
1867 Ferdinando Giorgetti composer, dies at 70
1871 Johnny Cuzens cricketer (Australian aboriginal tourist 1868), dies
1890 Désiré de Haerne Belgian priest/Congressional leader, dies at 85
1906 Martin Wegelius Finnish musicologist/composer, dies at 59
1909 Gyula Erkel composer, dies at 66
1922 Louis A Ranvier French anatomist/historian, dies at 86
1923 Theophile Delcassé French statesman, dies at 71
1924 R G Nivelle French General (Verdun), dies at 67
1929 Anton Beer-Walbrun composer, dies at 64
1931 Ban Johnson founder of baseball's American League, dies at 67
1944 ... Pucheu French Internal minister to Vichy, executed
1945 J Postuma Dutch resistance fighter, dies
1946 Clemens A von Galen bishop of Munster/anti fascist, dies at 68
1951 J Willem Mengelberg Dutch conductor (Matthäus Passion), dies at 79
1953 James Anderson II (Jo-Northern Exposure), dies
1956 George A L Sarton Belgian/US historian, dies at 71
1958 Michael Todd producer (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 56
1962 Aura Abranches Port actress (Lisboa, O Primo Basilio), dies at 65
1964 Addison Richards actor (Colonel-Pentagon), dies at 76
1969 Ernst Deutsch [Dorian], Czechoslovakian actor (3rd Man, Golem), dies at 78
1971 Martin Bodmer writer, dies
1974 Peter Revson US race car driver (Indianapolis 500), dies at 35
1975 Asa Smith Bushnell Jr Secretary of US Olympics (1945-65), dies at 75
1975 Cass Daley actress (Red Garters), dies at 59
1975 Paul Verhoeven German director, dies at 73
1978 Karl Wallenda falls to death walking high-wire in Puerto Rico, at 73
1979 Ben Lyon actor (I Cover the Waterfront, Indiscreet), dies at 78
1986 Charles Starrett actor (Silver Streak, Jungle Bride), dies
1987 Joan Shawlee actress (Abbott & Costello Show), dies at 58
1991 Gloria Holden actress (Dracula's Daughter, Test Pilot), dies at 73
1993 Cec Pepper cricketer (New South Wales & Commonwealth XI leggie), dies
1993 Gret Palucca German dancer/choreographer (Entartet), dies at 91
1993 Phia [Sophia R] Berghout Dutch harpist, dies at 83
1993 Steve Olin pitcher (Cleveland Indians), drowns at 27
1993 Tim Crews pitcher (Cleveland Indians), drowns at 31
1994 Dan Hartman US singer/songwriter (Love Sensations), dies at 42
1994 Igor Aleinikov Russian director (tractors, air crash), dies at 32
1994 Luther Diamond radio Personality, dies at 89
1994 Walter Lantz US cartoonist (Woody Woodpecker), dies at 93
1995 Peter Woods newsreader, dies at 64
1996 Claude Mauriac writer, dies at 81
1996 Robert Franklin Overmyer astronaut (STS 5, STS 51-

, dies at 59
1996 Robert Mellors gay activist, dies at 47
1996 Ronald George Hayward political manager, dies at 78

1765 British pass Stamp Act

Hoping to raise sufficient funds to defend the vast new American territories won from the French in the Seven Years’ War, the British government passes the notorious Stamp Act on this day in 1765. The legislation levied a direct tax on all materials printed for commercial and legal use in the colonies, including everything from broadsides and insurance policies to playing cards and dice.

Though the Stamp Act employed a strategy that was a common fundraising vehicle in England, it stirred a storm of protest in the colonies. The colonists argued that, as British subjects, Parliament could not impose taxes upon them without their consent, as given through the various colonial representative assemblies. Believing this right to be in peril, the colonists rioted and intimidated all the stamp agents responsible for enforcing the act into resignation.

Not ready to put down the rioters with military force, Parliament eventually repealed the legislation. However, the fracas over the Stamp Act helped plant seeds for a far larger movement against the British government and the eventual battle for independence.

Three critical political forces came into being during the Stamp Act crisis that would serve to advance the cause of rebellion ten years later. First, the Sons of Liberty—a group of tradesmen who led the riots in Boston and other seaboard cities—was established. Second, the formation of the Stamp Act Congress united politically active gentlemen across colonial boundaries, as the Continental Congress would again do in 1774. Finally, the non-importation agreements developed in response to the Stamp Act gave the colonial population a sense of power as consumers of British goods. Although Parliament repealed the act before they learned of the colonial non-importation pacts, the colonists believed that the Britons had acted out of fear of their own economic collapse. During the coming revolution, non-importation would again serve as a means by which average men and, in particular, women could express their patriotism.
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Naval Hero Killed in Duel:

U.S. Navy officer Stephen Decatur, hero of the Barbary Wars, is mortally wounded in a duel with disgraced Navy Commodore James Barron at Bladensburg, Maryland. Although once friends, Decatur sat on the court-martial that suspended Barron from the Navy for five years in 1808 and later opposed his reinstatement, leading to a fatal quarrel between the two men.

Born in Maryland in 1779, Stephen Decatur was reared in the traditions of the sea and in 1798 joined the United States Navy as a midshipman aboard the new frigate, United States. That year, he saw action in the so-called quasi-war with France and in 1799 was commissioned a lieutenant. Five years later, during the Tripolitan War, he became the most lauded American naval hero since John Paul Jones.

In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states--Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. Sustained action began in June 1803, and in October the U.S. frigate Philadelphia ran aground near Tripoli and was captured by Tripolitan gunboats. The Americans feared that the well-constructed warship would be used as a model for building future Tripolitan frigates, and on February 16, 1804, Stephen Decatur led a daring expedition into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured vessel.

After disguising himself and his men as Maltese sailors, Decatur's force sailed into Tripoli harbor and boarded the Philadelphia, which was guarded by Tripolitans who were quickly overpowered by the Americans. After setting fire to the frigate, Decatur and his men escaped without the loss of a single American. The Philadelphia subsequently exploded when its gunpowder reserve was lit by the spreading fire. Famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson hailed the exploit as the "most bold and daring act of the age," and Decatur was promoted to captain. In August 1804, Decatur returned to Tripoli Harbor as part of a larger American offensive and emerged as a hero again during the Battle of the Gunboats, which saw hand-to-hand combat between the Americans and the Tripolitans.

In 1807, Commodore James Barron, who fought alongside Decatur in the Tripolitan War, aroused considerable controversy when he failed to resist a British attack on his flagship, the Chesapeake. Decatur sat on the court-martial that passed a verdict expelling Barron from the Navy for five years. This began the dispute between Decatur and Barron that would end 13 years later on the dueling grounds in Maryland.

In the War of 1812, Decatur distinguished himself again when, as commander of the USS United States, he captured the British ship of war Macedonian off the Madeira Islands. Barron, meanwhile, was overseas when his Navy expulsion ended in 1813 and did not return to the United States to fight in the ongoing war with England. This led to fresh criticism of Barron from Decatur, who later used his influence to prevent Barron's reinstatement in the Navy.

In June 1815, Decatur returned to the Mediterranean to lead U.S. forces in the Algerian War, the second Barbary conflict. By December, Decatur forced the dey (military ruler) of Algiers to sign a peace treaty that ended American tribute to Algeria. Upon his return to the United States, he was honored at a banquet in which he made a very famous toast: "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!"

Appointed to the Navy Board of Commissioners, Decatur arrived in Washington in 1816, where he became a prominent citizen and lived a satisfying life politically, economically, and socially. In 1818, however, dark clouds began to gather when he vocally opposed Barron's reinstatement into the Navy. The already strained relations between the two men deteriorated, and in March 1820 Decatur agreed to Barron's request to meet for a duel. Dueling, though generally frowned on, was still acceptable among Navy men. On March 22, at Bladensburg in Maryland, Decatur and Barron lifted their guns, fired, and each man hit his target. Decatur died several hours later in Washington, and the nation mourned the loss of the great naval hero. Barron recovered from his wounds and was reinstated into the Navy in 1821 with diminished rank.
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1817 Braxton Bragg born

Confederate General Braxton Bragg is born in Warrenton, North Carolina. Bragg commanded the Army of Tennessee for 17 months, leading them to several defeats and losing most of the state of Tennessee to the Yankees.

Bragg graduated from West Point in 1837, fifth in a class of 50. He fought in the Seminole War of the 1830s and the Mexican War in 1846 and 1847. In Mexico, he earned three promotions but also survived two assassination attempts by soldiers in his command. Bragg was temperamental and acerbic, a capable soldier but a difficult personality. These character flaws would later badly damage the Confederate war effort.

When the Civil War began, Bragg was appointed commander of the Gulf Coast defenses but was soon promoted to major general and attached to General Albert Sidney Johnston's Army of Tennessee. Bragg fought bravely at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6-7, 1862, leading attacks while having two horses shot out from under him. When Johnston was killed during the battle, Bragg became second in command to Pierre G. T. Beauregard. Beauregard was forced to relinquish his command for health reasons, and President Jefferson Davis turned to Bragg.

Bragg's record as army commander was dismal. He marched northward in the fall of 1862 to regain Kentucky, but he was turned back at the Battle of Perryville in October. On New Year's Eve, Bragg clashed with the army of General William Rosecrans at the Battle of Stones River. They fought to a standstill, but Bragg was forced to retreat and leave the Union in control of central Tennessee. In the summer of 1863, Rosecrans outmaneuvered Bragg, backing the Confederates entirely out of the state. Only at Chickamauga, Georgia, in September did Bragg finally win a battle, but the victory came in spite of Bragg's leadership rather than because of it.

Bragg followed up his victory by pinning the Yankees in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Union forces, now led by General Ulysses S. Grant, broke the siege in November and nearly destroyed Bragg's army. Bragg was finished, having now alienated most of his generals and lost the confidence of his soldiers. He resigned his command and went to Richmond to be a military advisor to President Davis. Bragg fled southward with Davis at the end of the war but both men were captured in Georgia. Bragg was soon released, and he worked as an engineer and a railroad executive after the war before his death in 1876. He is remembered as one of the primary reasons for the Confederate defeat.

1915 Russians take Austrian garrison at Przemysl

After six months of battle, the Austrian garrison at Przemysl (now in Poland), the citadel guarding the northeastern-most point of the Austro-Hungarian empire, falls to the Russians on March 22, 1915.

During the first weeks of World War I in August 1914, Russia had been able to mobilize more quickly than the Central Powers had expected, sending two armies into East Prussia and four into the Austrian province of Galicia, along the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains (now southeast Poland and western Ukraine). In Galicia, two armies moved in from the east and two from the west, both steadily advancing through the region, scoring victories over inferior numbers of Austrian troops, including at Lemberg (now Lvov) in early September.

Franz Conrad von Hotzendorff, chief of the Austrian general staff, had set up headquarters in Przemysl in accordance with his growing conviction that Galicia was a crucial front in the war, and that Russia—not Serbia, as Austrian military commanders had originally intended—had become the Austrian army’s central opponent. Przemysl became a rallying point for the Austrians. As Conrad’s headquarters, the city had been given seven new defensive fortifications—consisting of trenches and barbed wire—and proved surprisingly resilient against the Russian onslaught. On September 16, 1914, its garrison was ordered to hold out until the end. Five days later, Russia’s 8th Army, commanded by A.A. Brusilov, began their siege. Austria’s 3rd Army fought forward and reinforced the garrison, where provisions soon began to dwindle among a growing number of troops. In mid-October, the Austrians managed to rebuild one of the nearby railway lines (previously destroyed by the Russians) and keep it open long enough to bring in supplies for the 130,000 soldiers—and 30,000 civilians—now in Przemysl.

The stalwart Austrian resistance at Przemysl tied up the Russian army, buying Austria-Hungary time to recoup its strength and slowing the Russians on their advance across the Carpathian Mountains toward the plains of Hungary. As the siege continued into the winter, neither side was prepared for the worsening conditions. Brusilov wrote of his army that they were “literally unclad. Their summer clothing was worn out…my men, up to their knees in snow and enduring the most severe frosts had not yet received their winter kit.” As for the men within Przemysl’s walls, they too were severely under-supplied and were forced to ration their food beginning in mid-November.

During the final days of battle at Przemysl, fierce blizzards raged, and hundreds of wounded men froze to death on the battlefield before they could be treated. As Alexander von Krobatin, Austria’s minister of war, wrote of the surrender, which finally took place on March 22, 1915: “the food supply grew daily more and more scanty, until on the morning of the 22nd there was not a particle of bread in the stores, not a pound of meat or flour available, so that the commander of the fortress decided to surrender.” Among the spoils of victory for the exhausted Russian forces were 700 heavy guns captured along with 120,000 Austrian solders (including nine generals).

By the end of March, then, Russia’s armies were poised to move into Hungary. The loss of Przemysl and the seeming weakness of their Austrian ally against the Russians disheartened the Germans, a mood tempered only by the British navy’s spectacular failure against the Turks at the Dardanelles that same month. As Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz wrote: “Everywhere the Russians are attacking ruthlessly and the Austrians are always beaten, and we too are getting nervous. Hindenburg is coming to the end of his resources.” Germany would now be forced to turn its attention and resources to shoring up its Austrian ally in the east. For his part, Conrad complained that his German allies had “won their victories at our expense; they have left us in the lurch.”
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1942 Cripps and Gandhi meet

On this day, Sir Stanford Cripps, British statesman, arrives in India for talks with Mohandas Gandhi on Indian independence, in what will become known as the Cripps Mission.

Cripps was a gifted student with a background in such diverse disciplines as chemistry and law. Always of weak health, he was deemed unfit for military service during World War I; instead, he worked in a government factory. After the war, Cripps was made a King's Counsel (1927). Shortly thereafter, he was knighted, and in 1931 was elected to Parliament as a Labour Party member for Bristol East. Cripps' politics were left of even the Labour Party, and when he advocated a united front with the Communists in 1938 against a growing European fascism, he was expelled from the party.

Once World War II erupted, Cripps was made ambassador to the Soviet Union. In 1942, he joined the War Cabinet and ventured to India to begin discussing two pressing issues: Japan's threat to India, and India's independence from Britain. The first meetings of the Cripps Mission took place on March 22, 1942. The first item on the agenda was India's defense against a growing Japanese empire. Cripps wanted to rally the Indian National Congress behind the cause. The leader of the Congress was Mohandas K. Gandhi.

Nicknamed Mahatma, the "Great-Souled," Gandhi was at the center of India's quest for independence from British colonial rule. His use of nonviolent protest both in South Africa, where he practiced law, and in India made him a model and icon for later social-protest movements. Gandhi deemed the negotiations made with the British government through the Cripps Mission unsatisfactory. It did not guarantee Indian independence--never mind the immediate autonomy that the Congress demanded--and threatened to "divide and keep conquered" by playing Hindu Indians against Muslim Indians. Consequently, though Gandhi hated fascism, he could not promise unqualified Indian support of the British during the war.

The Cripps Mission failed; Cripps returned to Britain and was eventually transferred to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. Gandhi was arrested as a "threat" to Indian security. He was interned for two years before health issues forced his release.
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1965 Officials confirm "non-lethal gas" was provided

The State Department acknowledges that the United States had supplied the South Vietnamese armed forces with a "non-lethal gas which disables temporarily" for use "in tactical situations in which the Viet Cong intermingle with or take refuge among non-combatants, rather than use artillery or aerial bombardment." This announcement triggered a storm of criticism worldwide. The North Vietnamese and the Soviets loudly protested the introduction of "poison gas" into the war. Secretary of State Dean Rusk insisted at a news conference on March 24 that the United States was "not embarking upon gas warfare," but was merely employing "a gas which has been commonly adopted by the police forces of the world as riot-control agents."
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1968 Westmoreland to depart South Vietnam

President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the appointment of Gen. William Westmoreland as Army Chief of Staff; Gen. Creighton Abrams replaced him as commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam. Westmoreland had first assumed command of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam in June 1964, and in that capacity was in charge of all American military forces in Vietnam. One of the war's most controversial figures, General Westmoreland was given many honors when the fighting was going well, but when the war turned sour, many Americans blamed him for problems in Vietnam. Negative feeling about Westmoreland grew particularly strong following the Tet Offensive of 1968.

As Westmoreland's successor, Abrams faced the difficult task of implementing the Vietnamization program instituted by the Nixon administration. This included the gradual reduction of American forces in Vietnam while attempting to increase the combat capabilities of the South Vietnamese armed forces.