On This Day in History....

1027 John XIX crowns Conrad II the Salier Roman German emperor
1147 Jewish community in Cologne fast to commemorate anti-Jewish violence
1150 Tichborne family of Hampshire England started tradition of giving a gallon of flour to each resident to keep deathbed promise
1526 King François I returns Spanish captivity to France
1534 Lübeck accept free Dutch ships into East Sea
1636 University of Utrecht opening ceremony
1668 England takes control of Bombay India
1692 King Maximilian installed as land guardian of South Netherlands
1780 1st British Sunday newspaper appears (British Gazette & Sunday Monitor)
1790 Congress passes Naturalization Act, requires 2-year residency
1793 Pro-royalist uprising in Vendée region of France
1799 Napolean captures Jaffa Palestine
1804 Congress orders removal of Indians east of Mississippi to Louisiana
1804 Territory of Orleans organized in Louisiana Purchase
1812 Earthquake destroys 90% of Caracas; about 20,000 die
1821 Franz Grillparzer's "Das Goldene Vliess" premieres in Vienna
1824 1st performance of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis"
1839 1st Henley Royal Regatta
1845 Joseph Francis, New York NY, patents a corrugated sheet-iron lifeboat
1845 Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precusor of bandaid
1856 New South Wales' 1st first-class game, vs Victoria at Melbourne; New South Wales won
1859 1st sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury
1862 Battle of La Glorieta Pass New Mexico Territory (Apache Canyon, Pigeon's Ranch)
1863 Voters in West Virginia approve gradual emancipation of slaves
1871 Paris Commune founded
1872 7.8 earthquake shakes Owens Valley, California
1872 Thomas J Martin patents fire extinguisher
1878 Hastings College of Law founded
1878 Sabi Game Reserve, world's 1st official designated game reserve, opens
1885 Eastman Film Co manufactures 1st commercial motion picture film
1885 Louis Riel's forces defeat Canadian forces at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan
1886 1st cremation in England
1889 Bernard Tancred carries bat for 26 out of 47! South Africa vs England
1889 Johnny Briggs took 15-26 (7-17 & 8-11) vs South Africa at Newlands
1889 South Africa all out 47, then follow-on all out 43 vs England
1895 King Alfonso plants pine sapling in Madrid, starts Spain's Arbor Day
1900 1st edition The (Free) People (Netherlands, probably Amsterdam)
1903 American Hotel opens in Amsterdam
1909 August Strindberg's "Bjalb-jarle-ti" premieres in Stockholm
1910 US forbid immigration to criminals, anarchists, paupers & the sick
1910 William H Lewis appointed Assistant Attorney General of US
1913 Bulgaria captures Adrianople, ending the 1st Balkan War
1913 Dayton OH almost destroyed when Scioto, Miami, & Muskingum River reach flood stage simultaneously
1915 Stanley Cup: Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA) sweep Ottawa Senators in 3
1916 Birdman of Alcatraz receives solitary
1917 Stanley Cup: Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) beat Montréal Canadiens (NHL), 3 games to 1; Seattle is 1st US team to win Stanley Cup
1923 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators beat Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA), 3 games to 1
1924 Premiere of Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan" in London
1926 ACD de Graeff appointed Governor-General of Dutch East-Indies
1926 The 1st lip-reading tournament held in America
1927 Alfred Hugenberg purchases German film company UFA
1927 Gaumont-British Film Corporation forms
1930 Congress appropriates $50,000 for Inter-American highway
1931 Iraq & Trans-Jordan sign peace treaty
1931 Leo Bentley bowls 3 consecutive perfect games in Lorain OH
1931 New Delhi replaces Calcutta as capitol of British-Indies
1934 Driving tests introduced in Britain
1935 "RvJ" Mitchell & Major Sorley discuss armament of Spitfire
1936 1st parliamentary debate on New Zealand radio
1936 200" telescope lens shipped, Corning Glass Works, New York-Cal Tech
1936 Mary Joyce ends a 1,000 mile trip by dog in Alaska
1937 Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice & replace his 40 with 36 oz bat
1937 Spinach growers of Crystal City TX, erect statue of Popeye
1937 William H Hastie becomes 1st black federal judge (Virgin Islands)
1938 NBC radio performance of Howard Hanson's 3rd Symphony
1940 Ernest Hemingway & Benjamin Glazer premiere in New York NY
1942 1st "Eichmann transport" to Auschwitz & Birkenau Camps
1942 1st 700 Jews from Polish Lvov-district reach concentration camp Belzec
1942 20 tons of gelignite kills 21 in a stone quarry in Easton PA
1942 German offensive in North-Africa under Colonel-General Rommel
1943 1st woman to receive air medal (US army nurse Elsie S Ott)
1943 Battle of Komandorski Islands, Pacific Ocean
1944 705 British bombers attack Essen
1945 British premier Churchill looks over at the Rhine (near Ginsberg)
1945 De Paul wins NIT basketball championship, George Mikan scores 34
1945 Generals Eisenhower/Bradley/Patton attack at Remagen the Rhine
1945 Japanese resistance ends on Iwo Jima
1945 Kamikazes attack US battle fleet near Kerama Retto
1945 US 7th Army crosses Rhine at Worms
1945 Venray soccer team forms
1949 11th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Oklahoma State 46-36
1951 Patty Berg wins LPGA Sandhills Women's Golf Open
1951 USAF flag approved
1952 14th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kansas beats St Johns 80-63
1952 F Dürrenmatt's "Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi" premieres in Munich
1953 Dr Jonas Salk announces new vaccine to prevent polio [myelitis]
1954 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1955 "Ballad of Davy Crockett" becomes the #1 record in US
1956 Medic Alert Foundation forms
1956 Red Buttons debuts on TV in Studio One
1958 30th Academy Awards-"Bridge on the River Kwai", Alec Guinness & Joanne Woodward win
1958 US Army launches America's third successful satellite, "Explorer III"
1959 Test debut for Mushtaq Mohammad vs West Indies age 15 years 124 days
1960 Iraq executes 30 after attack on President Kassem
1960 Orioles-Reds series for Havana, is moved to Miami
1960 USC captures NCAA swimming title
1961 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Golden Circle of Golf Festival
1962 Supreme Court backs 1-man-1-vote apportionment of seats in state legislature
1964 "Funny Girl" with Barbra Streisand opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 1,348 performances
1967 21st Tony Awards: Homecoming & Cabaret win
1967 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Venice Ladies' Golf Open
1967 Pope Paul VI publishes encyclical Populorum progressio
1969 Marcus Welby MD, a TV movie is shown on ABC-TV
1969 Nuclear reactor Dodewaard Netherlands goes into use
1969 Soviet weather satellite Meteor 1 launched
1970 "Minnie's Boys" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 80 performances
1970 500th nuclear explosion announced by the US since 1945
1970 Golden Gate Park Conservatory made city landmark
1970 Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) pleads guilty to "taking immoral liberties" with a 14 year old girl
1971 "Benny Hill Show" tops TV ratings
1971 "Cannon" with William Conrad premieres on CBS-TV
1971 Bangladesh (East Pakistan) declares its independence
1972 "Only Fools Are Sad" closes at Edison Theater NYC after 144 performances
1972 Betsy Cullen wins LPGA Sears Women's World Golf Classic
1972 Los Angeles Lakers broke NBA record by winning 69 of 82 games (69-13)
1973 35th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Memphis 81-76; this is UCLA's 7th consecutive NCAA basketball title
1973 Soap opera "The Young and the Restless" premieres
1973 Susan Shaw, is 1st woman in 171 years in London's Stock exchange
1974 George Foreman TKOs Ken Norton in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
1974 Romanian communist party names party leader Nicolae Ceausescu President
1975 "Tommy" premieres in London
1975 Washington Capitals play record NHL 37th road game without a win & NHL record of 17 straight losses
1976 American League approves purchase of Toronto franchise by LaBatt Brewing for $7M
1976 Wings release "Wings at the Speed of Sound" album
1977 Elvis Costello releases his 1st record "Less Than Zero"
1979 41st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Michigan State Spartans beat Indiana State Sycamores, 75-64 as Magic Johnson outscores Larry Bird, 24-19; this snaps Indiana State's 33-game win streak
1979 Camp David peace treaty between Israel & Egypt
1979 Padres & Giants announce plans to play exhibition series in Tokyo but Giant players reject it
1980 Bombay gets its 1st rock concert in 10 years (The Police)
1981 Police & Albanian demonstrators battle in Kosovo Yugoslavia
1981 Soyuz T-4 lands
1982 Ground-breaking in Washington DC for Vietnam Veterans Memorial
1982 Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder release "Ebony & Ivory" in the UK
1982 Soap opera "Capitol" premieres
1983 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 Geffen records signs Guns & Roses
1987 August Wilson's "Fences" premieres in New York NY
1987 Hyderabad beat Delhi on 1st innings to win Ranji Trophy
1987 NASA launches Fltsatcom-6, it failed to reach orbit
1987 National Federation of High School adopts college 3 point shot (21 feet)
1988 Janet B Evans swims 1500 meter freestyle female world record (15 :2.10)
1989 1st free elections in USSR: 190 M votes cast; Boris Yeltsin wins
1989 Allison Finney wins LPGA Standard Register Turquoise Golf Classic
1990 62nd Academy Awards: "Driving Miss Daisy", Daniel Day-Lewis, Jessica Tandy win
1991 Fuel pipe explodes under 58th street & Lexington Ave, New York NY
1991 Marc Camoletti's "Don't Dress for Dinner" premieres in London
1991 Orlando Thunder beats San Antonio Riders in their 1st WLAF game 35-34
1991 Victoria beat New South Wales by 7 wickets to win Sheffield Shield Final
1992 Mike Tyson sentenced to 10 years in rape of Desiree Washington
1992 NHL New York Rangers clinch 1st NHL regular season championship in 50 years
1994 Bonnie Blair skates world record 500 meter ladies (38.99 seconds)
1994 Gunda Niemann skates un-official world record 10 km ladies (14 :2.60)
1994 Gunda Niemann skates world record 5 km ladies (7 :3.26)
1994 Talk show hostess Ricki Lake weds Rob Sussman
1995 "Defending the Caveman" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 671 performances
1995 "Moliere Comedies" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 56 performances
1995 15th Golden Raspberry Awards: Color of Night wins
1995 24th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Nanci Bowen
1995 Mashonaland beat Mashonaland U-24 by 165 runs to win Logan Cup
1996 Last day of 1st-class cricket for Allan Border (Queensland vs Victoria)
1997 "Annie" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC
1997 NHL announce Might Ducks & Vancouver Canucks to open 1998 in Japan
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Missing in Action.....

1964 THOMPSON FLOYD J. 03/16/73 RELEASED ALIVE IN 98
1964 WHITESIDES RICHARD L. STOCKTON CA "NVA TOLD THOMPSON, FLOYD J. HE WAS KILLED"
1967 CROW FREDERICK A. JR. HAMPTON VA 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1967 FOWLER HENRY P. CHEVY CHASE MD 02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE 98
1968 ALLGOOD FRANKIE E. FORT SCOTT KS SAR FAILED PILOT/CO-PILOT RESCUED
1968 EVANCHO RICHARD FREELAND PA SAR FAILED
1968 GREEN LARRY E. MT MORRIS MI SAR FAILED
1968 KERR ERNEST C. JR. AKRON OH SAR FAILED
1968 LOMAX RICHARD E. MANSFIELD OH
1968 MOWREY GLENN W. CHILLICOTHE OH SAR FAILED
1970 ALLEN HENRY L. DAYTONA FL
1970 ELZINGA RICHARD G. SHEDD OR

Births which occurred on March 26:

1479 Vasili III great prince of Moscow (1505-33)/son of Ivan III
1516 Konrad von Gesner Zürich Switzerland, naturalist (Bibliotheca Universalis)
1577 Elisabeth of Nassau daughter of Willem I & Charlotte of Bourbon
1659 William Wollaston Coton England, philosopher
1671 Giacomo Cesare Predieri composer
1684 Johann Graf composer
1717 Manuel Jeronimo Romero de Avila composer
1753 Benjamin Thompson physicist (Royal Institute of Great Britain, Woburn MA)
1758 Johann Daniel Ferstenberg composer
1773 Nathaniel Bowditch mathematician/astronomer/polyglot/author (Marine Sextant)
1783 Johann Baptist Weigl composer
1806 Josef Slavik composer
1813 Thomas West Sherman Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1879
1817 Herman Haupt Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
1819 Francisco Eduardo da Costa composer
1819 Louise Otto Germany, author/feminist
1821 Earnest Angel German statistician (Law of Angel)
1827 Emanuel Kania composer
1830 Eliza Laurillard Dutch vicar/poet/writer
1830 John Rogers Thomas composer
1833 Betsy Perk [Christina E], Dutch journalist/writer/feminist
1840 Carli Zoeller composer
1840 George Smith London England, assyriologist (cuneiform (script))
1850 Edward Bellamy author (Looking Backward)
1854 Braulio Dueno Colon composer
1856 David Alfred Thomas Glamorganshire UK, 1st Viscount Rhondda
1859 A[lfred] E[dward] Housman England, poet (Shropshire Lad)
1859 Nikolay Alexandrovich Sokolov composer
1862 George William Louis Marshall-Hall composer
1863 Henry Royce founder (Rolls-Royce Limited in 1884)
1868 Fuad I king of Egypt (1922-36)
1871 Serafín Alvarez Quintéro Spanish dramatist/playwright (El Flechazo)
1873 [Louise] Sophie de Vries actress (On Hope of Blessing)
1874 Gerald du Maurier London England, actor (Power, Escape, Masks & Faces)
1874 Oskar Nedbal composer
1874 Robert Frost San Francisco CA, poet (Mending Wall, Road Not Taken)
1875 Syngman Rhee President of South Korea (1948-60)
1880 Duncan Hines US, restaurant guide writer (Out of Kentucky Kitchens)
1884 Wilhelm Backhaus Leipzig Germany, pianist (Rubinstein 1905)
1885 Julius Harrison composer
1885 Robert Blackburn British aviation pioneer
1888 Sigurd Erixon Swedish etnologist (Atlas över Svensk Folk culture)
1889 Vaclav Kapral composer
1890 Jozef Arras Flemish writer
1893 Palmiro Togliatti founder (Communist Party of Italy)
1894 Will Wright San Francisco CA, actor (Living Christ Story)
1896 Richard Flury composer
1897 Jean Epstein French director (Sa tête/Eau vive)
1898 Renzo Massarani composer
1899 James B Connant chemist/college president (Yale)
1899 William Baines composer
19-- Robert Shields mime (Shields & Yarnell)
1900 Isadore Freed composer
1902 Leslie Melville economist
1904 Emilio Fernandez El Seco Mexico, director (La Choca, Flor Silvestre)
1904 Hermann Schroeder composer
1904 Joseph Campbell mythologist (Mythic Image)
1905 Pablo Garrido composer
1905 Viktor Emil Frankl pyschiatrist (Man's Search for Meaning)
1907 Leigh Harline composer
1907 Louis Saguer composer
1908 Betty MacDonald [Anne E Campbell Bard], US writer (Egg & I)
1908 Dr Kenneth Mellanby entomologist
1908 Hank Sylvern Brooklyn NY, orchestra leader (Jane Froman's USA Canteen)
1908 Hilda Krahwinkel Sperling Essen Germany, tennis star (French 1935)
1908 Robert William Paine architect
1909 Chips Rafferty Broken Hill Australia, actor (Desert Rats)
1909 Chris[tiaan R] Reumer Dutch opera singer
1911 Bernard Katz biophysicist
1911 Tennessee Williams Columbus MS, dramatist (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
1913 Paul Erdos mathematician
1914 Ian McGeoch Vice-Admiral
1914 William Westmoreland Saxon SC, army general (Vietnam era)
1916 Bill Edrich cricketer (Middlesex & England bat, Compton's mate)
1916 Christian B Anfinsen US chemist (cell physiology, Nobel 1972)
1916 Harry Rabinowitz British composer/conductor
1916 Mort Abrahams producer (Dr Doolittle, Planet Of Apes)
1916 Sterling Hayden Upper Montclair NJ, actor (Dr Strangelove, Asphalt Jungle, Cobra)
1916 Vic Schoen Brooklyn NY, orchestra leader (Patti Page Olds Show)
1917 Jean Graham Hall circuit court judge (England)
1917 Rufus Thomas Cayce MS, singer (Walking the Dog)
1919 Strother Martin Kokomo IN, actor (Cool Hand Luke, Slapshot)
1920 George E Brown Jr (Representative-Democrat-CA, 1963-71, 73- )
1921 George Jefferson CEO (British Telecom)
1921 Joe Loco [Jose Esteves, Jr], musician
1921 Peter Horsley CEO (Osprey Aviation)
1922 William Milliken actor (Drive-in)
1923 Bob Elliot Boston MA, comedian (Bob & Ray, Get a Life)
1923 Clifton Williams Traskwood AR, band master (Sinfonians)
1923 Elizabeth Jane Howard British novelist (After Julius)
1925 Claudio Spies composer
1925 Lord Graham of Edmonton House of Lords (chief opposition whip)
1925 Lord Hooson QC crown court recorder
1925 Maqsood Ahmed cricketer (Pakistani batsman in 16 Tests 1952-56)
1925 Pierre Boulez Montbrison France, composer/conductor (Visage Nuptial)
1926 Ann Curtis US, 400 meter freestyle swimmer (Olympics-gold-1948)
1927 Jonathan Tod Vice-Admiral (England)
1928 Carole Carr singer/actress (Down Among the Z Men)
1929 Amédée Turner QC/MEP
1929 Maurice Simon jazz musician
1930 Cristobal Halffter composer
1930 Gregory Corso beat poet (Happy Birthday of Death, Long Live Man)
1930 Sandra Day O'Connor El Paso TX, 1st woman Supreme Court Justice (1981- )
1931 Leonard Nimoy Boston MA, actor (Spock-Star Trek, Mission Impossible)
1932 Dick Nolan football coach
1934 Alan Arkin New York NY, actor (Catch 22, In-Laws, Simon, Wait Until Dark)
1934 G T Pryce CEO (Dalgety)
1934 Gino Cappelletti ORFU, AFL running back (AFL Player of Year 1964)
1935 Earl of Kinnoull
1936 Erich Urbanner composer
1936 Fred Paris rocker (Five Satins)
1937 Barbara Pearl Jones Chicago IL, 4X100 meter relayer (Olympics-gold-1952, 60)
1937 Lord Chetwode
1937 Wayne Embry holder of 7 basketball records (Miami of Ohio)
1939 Colin Webb general manager (Press Association)
1939 James Caan Bronx NY, actor (Brian's Song, Killer Elite, Godfather)
1939 Phillip R Allen Pittsburgh PA, actor (Harry-Hardy Boys Mystery, Mitch-Alice)
1939 Stuart Sutherland Professor Emeritus (Sussex University)
1940 Bill Ind Bishop-designate (Truro)
1940 Braulio Baeza jockey (National Horse Racing Hall of Famer)
1940 Nancy Pelosi (Representative-Democrat-CA)
1940 Rod Lauren rocker (If I Had a Girl)
1940 Servaes [J S] Huys Dutch MP (PvdA)
1941 Barclay Plager hockey player/twin brother of hockey's Bob Plager
1941 Bob Plager hockey player/twin brother of hockey's Barclay Plager
1942 Erica Jong [Mann] New York NY, author (Fear of Flying)
1943 Robert Woodward investigative reporter (Watergate, CIA crimes)
1944 Diana Ross [Earle] Detroit MI, (Supremes, Lady Sings the Blues, Mahogany)
1945 Mikhail Voronin USSR, horse vault gymnast (Olympics-gold-1968)
1946 Johnny Crawford Los Angeles CA, actor (Mark-The Rifleman)
1947 Carmen Krolis Suriname/Netherlands singer
1948 Kyung-Wha Chung Seoul Korea, violinist (Chung Sisters)
1948 Richard Tandy rock bassist (ELO)
1948 Steven Tyler New York NY, rock vocalist (Dream On, Walk This Way, Aerosmith-Janie's Got a Gun)
1949 Baroness Hayman
1949 Fran Sheehan Boston MA, rock bassist (Boston-More than a Feeling)
1949 Vicki Lawrence Inglewood CA, actress (Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family)
1950 Ernest Thomas Gary IN, actor (Roger-What's Happening!!)
1950 Graham Barlow cricketer (England batsman in 3 Tests 1976-77)
1950 Martin Short Hamilton Ontario, comedian (Saturday Night Live, SCTV, 3 Amigos)
1950 Ronnie McDowell Fountain Head TN, country singer (King is Gone)
1950 Teddy Pendergrass Philadelphia PA, singer (Turn Off the Lights)
1950 Tony Papenfuss Minneapolis MN, (Daryl-Newhart)
1951 Richard B Shull US actor (Hail to the Chief, Big Bus)
1952 David Amess MP
1953 Michael Bonagura Newark NJ, country singer (Baille & Boys-Oh Heart)
1953 Tatyana Providokhina Russian 1K runner (world record)
1954 Curtis Sliwa founder (Guardian Angels)/radio personality (WABC)
1954 Piers Gardner director (British Institute of International & Comparative Law)
1955 Dean Dillon Lake City TN, country singer (Chair)
1956 Charly McClain Jackson TN, country singer (Radio Heart)
1956 Tatyana Kochergina USSR, team handball (Olympics-gold-1976, 80)
1957 Leeza Gibbons Hartsville SC, TV host (Entertainment Tonight, Leeza)
1957 Walter Rohlfing Dusseldorf, WLAF defensive line coach (Rhein Fire)
1958 Philip Brown Coalinga CA, actor (Doris Day Show, Colbys)
1959 David Delong Portland OR, Canadian Tour golfer (1988 British Columbia Open)
1960 Billy Warlock Hawthorne CA, actor (Flip-Happy Days, Baywatch)
1960 Debbie Hall LPGA golfer
1960 Marcus Allen NFL running back (Los Angeles Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Heisman 1981)
1960 Michael Evans Fontana CA, US water polo player (Olympics-silver-88)
1961 Leigh Bowery designer
1961 William Hague Secretary of State for Wales
1962 John Stockton Spokane WA, NBA guard (Utah Jazz, Olympics-gold-96)
1962 Kevin Seitzer Springfield IL, infielder (Milwaukee Brewers)
1962 Maarten de Young soccer player (SC Heerenveen)
1962 Richard Coles rocker (Communards-Don't Leave Me This Way)
1962 Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko Russia, Lieutenant-Colonel/cosmonaut
1963 Paul de Leeuw Dutch TV host (Cry of the Lion)
1963 Rebecca Twigg Seattle WA, 79K cyclist (Olympics-silver-1984, 92, 96)
1963 Susan Sulley rocker (Human League-Human)
1964 Ab Plugboer soccer player (FC Utrecht)
1964 Ulf Samuelsson Fagersta Sweden, NHL defenseman (Team Sweden, New York Rangers)
1966 Lee Porter Greensboro NC, Nike golfer (1992 Texarkana Open-5th)
1966 Mike Remlinger Middletown NY, pitcher (Cincinnati Reds)
1966 Wesley Walls NFL tight end (New Orleans Saints)
1968 Edward Kaminski Kansas City KS, javelin thrower
1968 Ian Hutchings Zimbabwe, Canadian Tour golfer (1994 Klondike Klassic)
1968 Jose Vizcaino San Cristobal Dominican Republic, infielder (New York Mets)
1968 Kari Gronroos WLAF kicker (Scotland Claymores)
1968 Mike Trevathan CFL slot back (British Columbia Lions)
1968 Shane Reynolds Bastrop LA, pitcher (Houston Astros)
1969 Elizabeth Howell Clinton MS, Miss Mississippi-America (1990)
1969 Luke Richardson Ottawa, NHL defenseman (Edmonton Oilers)
1969 Vikram Rathour cricketer (Indian Test opening batsman 1996-)
1970 Evan Richards Los Angeles CA, actor (Frankie-Mama Malone)
1970 Paul Bosvelt soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles/FC Twente)
1971 Dave DeGraaf Lansing MI, team handball circle (Olympics-1996)
1971 Jesus Tavarez Santo Domingo Dominican Republic, outfielder (Florida Marlins)
1971 Rennae Stubbs Sydney Australia, tennis star
1971 Tommy Fagan CFL/NFL defensive end (Atlanta Falcons, Winnipeg Blue Bombers)
1972 Naoko Kijimuta Yokohama Kanagawa Japan, tennis star (1996 Jakarta)
1972 Steve Anderson CFL defensive linebacker (Calgary Stampeders)
1973 Marshall Faulk running back (Indianapolis Colts)
1974 Alfred Shipman CFL slot back (British Columbia Lions)
1974 Hakeem Abdul-samad rocker (Boys)
1974 Irina Spirlea Bucharest Romania, tennis star (1996 Amelia Island)
1974 Mike Peca Toronto, NHL center (Buffalo Sabres)
1979 Heidi Zeigler actress (Sherry-Just the 10 of Us)
1986 Jessica McClure baby trapped in Texas well in 1988
1988 Jose Vizcaino San Cristobal Dominican Republic, infielder (New York Mets)
2233 James T Kirk science fiction captain of USS Enterprise (Star Trek)

Deaths which occurred on March 26:

0752 Pope Stephen II dies only 4 days after his election
0809 Liudger missionary/1st bishop of Münster/saint, dies at about 66
1258 Floris the Guardian, count-regent of Holland, dies
1350 Alfonso XI King of Castile & León, dies
1546 Thomas Elyot British diplomat, dies
1566 Antonio de Cabezon composer, dies
1638 Palamedes "Stevens" Palamedesz painter, dies at about 30
1649 John Winthrop Puritan & 1st Governor (Massachusetts), dies
1657 Jacob van Eyck Dutch blind flautist/carillonneur, dies at 69
1713 Pal Esterhazy composer, dies at 77
1726 John Vanbrugh Dutch/English playwright (Provoked Wife), dies at 62
1736 Georg Balthasar Schott composer, dies at 49
1797 James Hutton geologist, dies
1809 Gabriele Mario Piozzi composer, dies at 68
1820 Jean-Etienne Despreaux composer, dies at 71
1827 Ludwig van Beethoven German composer (Appassionata), dies in Wien (Vienna) at 56
1831 Richard Allen AME Church Bishop, dies at 71
1837 Joseph Lincke composer, dies at 53
1865 Thomas Hancock pioneer of rubber industry (Stoke Newington), dies
1871 François-Joseph Fétis Belgian musicologist/composer, dies at 87
1880 Mariano Soriano Fuertes y Piqueras composer, dies at 62
1892 Anton Wallerstein composer, dies at 78
1892 Walt Whitman poet, dies in Camden NJ at 72
1896 Nanny v Hof writer, dies
1900 Isaac Mayer Wise rabbi/found American Hebrew Congregations, dies at 80
1902 Cecil Rhodes Prime Minister of Cape Colony (1890-96) dies at 48
1909 Nikolai Arkas composer, dies at 56
1918 César A Cui Lithuanian fort builder/composer, dies at 83
1923 Sarah Bernhardt [Henriette-Rosine Bernard] actress (Qn Elizabeth), dies at 77
1924 Augusto de Oliviera Machado composer, dies at 78
1926 Georges Vezina NHL Hall of Fame goalie (Montréal Canadiens), dies
1926 Konstantin Fehrenbach German reichs chancellor (1920-21), dies at 74
1932 Jean Cartan composer, dies at 25
1934 Grete Gulbransson writer, dies at 51
1937 Albert Relf cricketer (13 Tests for England 1903-14), commits suicide
1944 Benjamin Crémieux French author (In Buchenwald), dies at 55
1945 David Lloyd George British (L) premier (1916-22), dies at 82
1945 Isaack Stouten resistance fighter, shot to death at 29
1948 Helen Ernst German poster artist/resistance fighter, dies at about 43
1953 Albert Spalding composer, dies at 64
1956 Thomas Alexandrovich de Hartmann composer, dies at 70
1957 Max Ophüls [Maximilian Oppenheimer] German/French director (Caught, Exile), dies
1958 Phil Mead cricketer (55061 1st-class runs 1905-36), dies
1959 Raymond T Chandler US detective writer (Long Goodbye), dies at 71
1960 Ian Keith actor (Identity Unknown, Queen Christina), dies at 61
1962 Marjorie Colton inventor of wax paper, dies at 64
1969 B[runo] Traven writer (Sierra Madre), dies at 87
1969 Günther Weisenborn German/Argentine writer (Illegals), dies at 66
1973 George Sisler hall of famer 1st baseman (257 hits-1920), dies at 80
1973 Noel Coward English playwright (Private Letters), dies at 73
1973 Safford Cape US/Belgian conductor/composer/musicologist, dies at 67
1975 Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz king of Saudi-Arabia (1964-75), murdered at 68
1976 Richard Arlen actor (Apache Uprising, Wings), dies at 75
1979 Jean Stafford US author (Boston Adventure), dies at 63
1980 Jon-Jon Poulos rocker (Buckinghams), dies from drugs at 32
1981 Cyril Dean Darlington biologist (hereditary mechanisms), dies at 77
1981 Tim Wall cricketer (SA vs New South Wales 1933 is Sheffield Shield record), dies
1982 Agathe "Henriëtte" de Beaufort writer (Dolly of Arnhem), dies at 91
1983 Anthony F Blunt British art historian/spy for USSR, dies at 75
1986 Bartlett Robinson actor (Wendy & Me, Mona McCluskey), dies at 73
1987 Walter Abel actor (Suspicion), dies at 88
1990 International Chrysis Transvestite actor (Q&A), dies of cancer at 38
1990 Roy "Halston" Frowick fashion designer, dies of AIDs at 68
1991 Frans Dohmen union leader (Netherlands Catholic Mine Workers), dies at 81
1993 Luis Falco US choreographer (Fame, Angel Heart), dies at 50
1993 Roy Riegels University of California football player who ran wrong way, dies at 84
1994 Constantine Koukouchkine Russian diplomat, murdered in Algeria at 41
1994 Jan Bor Dutch violinist/painter, dies at 83
1995 Rapper-E (Eazy Eric Wright) dies at 31
1996 (Elizabeth Cissie) Charlton football matriarch, dies at 83
1996 David Packard electronic engineer/businessman, dies at 83
1996 Edmund S Muskie Vice Presidential candidate/(Governor-Democrat-ME), dies at 81
1996 Thomas Wakefield writer, dies at 60

1776 South Carolina approves new constitution

The Provincial Congress of South Carolina approves a new constitution and government on this day in 1776. The legislature renames itself the General Assembly of South Carolina and elects John Rutledge as president, Henry Laurens as vice president and William Henry Drayton as chief justice.

South Carolina took this action towards independence from Great Britain four months before the Continental Congress declared independence and five months before South Carolina learned of the declaration. Rutledge possessed quasi-dictatorial powers as president and commander in chief of the new state. In 1778, he resigned the post in protest over proposed changes to the state constitution. Rawlins Lowndes took over the presidency and instituted the changes Rutledge found objectionable. The executive power changed from a presidency to a governorship and veto power was taken away from the executive. The Senate became a popularly elected body, and the Church of England no longer held status as the state church. However, after the changes had been made, Rutledge was elected governor in 1779, a post he held until 1782.

William Henry Drayton drafted the 1778 constitution that was opposed by Rutledge. The ardent Whig died while serving Congress in Philadelphia on September 3, 1779, at age 37. Rutledge lost much of his personal wealth during the British siege of Charleston, but survived to see the new century dawn before his death in 1800.

Henry Laurens only served as vice president of South Carolina until June 1777. He was elected to the Continental Congress in January of that year and became the president of Congress under the Articles of Confederation on November 1, 1777, a position he held until December 9, 1778. Beginning in 1780, Laurens served 15 months of imprisonment in the Tower of London after being taken captive on a Congressional mission to Holland. He spent the last years of his life in retirement on his plantation, where he lived until his death in 1792.
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1864 McPherson takes over the Army of the Tennessee

General James B. McPherson assumes command of the Union Army of the Tennessee after William T. Sherman is elevated to commander of the Division of the Mississippi, the overall leader in the West.

McPherson was born in Ohio in 1828. He graduated first in his class from West Point in 1853. He joined the engineering corps as a second lieutenant, and he spent the prewar years in New York City and Alcatraz Island in California. When the war began, McPherson was transferred to the East and promoted to captain. He was disappointed when he was assigned to command the forts of Boston Harbor, as the young officer yearned for combat. McPherson contacted General Henry Halleck, commander of the Department of the Missouri and a former acquaintance in California. Halleck summoned him to St. Louis, where McPherson helped set up recruiting stations and inspecting defenses in the state.

McPherson was transferred to General Ulysses S. Grant's command on February 1, 1862, just as Grant was launching an expedition against Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee. McPherson's work in analyzing the defenses of Fort Donelson earned him the respect of Grant, and McPherson's star rose rapidly after the Battle of Shiloh. McPherson fought with distinction, and he was promoted to colonel. Two weeks later, he became a brigadier general. After his actions at the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in October 1862, McPherson was again promoted, this time to major general. In December, he capped an amazing year by taking command of the XVII Corps in Grant's Army of the Tennessee.

McPherson served as corps commander throughout 1863, ably leading his men at Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Grant's promotion to general-in-chief of all Union forces created a chain reaction of promotions. Grant left for Washington and Sherman assumed command in the West while McPherson inherited the Army of the Tennessee. This force was not an independent command, as it was one of three armies under Sherman's command during the Atlanta campaign of 1864. When the campaign reached Atlanta in July 1864 after three hard months of fighting, McPherson was charged with attacking Confederate forces on the northeast side of Atlanta. At the Battle of Peachtree Creek on July 22, McPherson was directing operations when he and his staff emerged from a grove of trees directly in front of the Confederate line. They were ordered to surrender but McPherson turned his horse and attempted to escape. He was mortally wounded, becoming the highest-ranking Union general killed in the war.
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1917 First Battle of Gaza

The first of three battles fought in the Allied attempt to defeat Turkish forces in and around the Palestinian city of Gaza takes place on this day in 1917.

By January 1917, the Allies had managed to force the Turkish army completely out of the Sinai Peninsula in northeastern Egypt, leaving British forces in the region, commanded by Sir Archibald Murray, free to consider a move into Palestine. To do so, however, they would first have to confront a string of strong Turkish positions atop a series of ridges running west to east between the towns of Gaza and Beersheba and blocking the only viable passage into the heart of Palestine. These Turkish forces, commanded by the German general Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein, numbered some 18,000 troops; Murray planned to send twice that many British soldiers against them under the command of his subordinate, Sir Charles Dobell.

On the morning of March 26, 1917, Dobell and his men advanced on the ridges under the cover of dense fog; they were able to successfully cut off the east and southeast of Gaza and deploy troops to prevent the Turks from sending reinforcements or supplies to the town. The 53rd Infantry Division, at the center of the advance, received considerable assistance from a cavalry force commanded by Sir Philip Chetwode. However, near the end of that day, with a victory in Gaza in sight, Dobel and Chetwode decided to call off the attack. The decision, attributed to the failing light and mounting casualties among the infantry troops, was nonetheless controversial—other officers believed the Turks had been on the verge of capitulating.

Though the infantry resumed their attacks the next morning, the overnight delay had given Kressenstein time to reinforce the permanent garrison at Gaza with 4,000 new troops. After confronting a renewed Turkish counterattack, aided significantly by German reconnaissance aircraft from above, Dobell was forced to call off the attack. His forces suffered 4,000 casualties during the First Battle of Gaza, compared with only 2,400 on the Turkish side.

A second assault on Gaza, launched the following April 17, was similarly unsuccessful. It was not until that autumn that British forces, under the new regional command of Sir Edmund Allenby, were able to conquer the town and turn to the next challenge: securing Palestine’s capital city, Jerusalem, which fell into Allied hands on December 9, 1917.

1941 Naval warfare gets new weapon

On this day, Italy attacks the British fleet at Suda Bay, Crete, using detachable warheads to sink a British cruiser. This was the first time manned torpedoes had been employed in naval warfare, adding a new weapon to the world's navies' arsenals.

The manned torpedo, also known as the "Chariot," was unique. Primarily used to attack enemy ships still in harbor, the Chariots needed "pilots" to "drive" them to their targets. Sitting astride the torpedo on a vehicle that would transport them both, the pilot would guide the missile as close to the target as possible, then ride the vehicle back, usually to a submarine. The Chariot was an enormous advantage; before its development, the closest weapon to the Chariot was the Japanese Kaiten--a human torpedo, or suicide bomb, which had obvious drawbacks.

The first successful use of the Chariot was by the Italian navy, although they referred to their version as Maiali, or "Pigs." On March 26, six Italian motorboats, commanded by Italian naval commander Lt. Luigi Faggioni, entered Suda Bay in Crete and planted their Maiali along a British convoy in harbor there. The cruiser York was so severely damaged by the blast that it had to be beached.

The manned torpedo proved to be the most effective weapon in the Italian naval arsenal, used successfully against the British again in December 1941 at Alexandria, Algiers. Italian torpedoes sank the British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant, as well as one tanker. They were also used against merchant ships at Gibraltar and elsewhere.

The British avenged themselves against the Italians, though, by sinking the new Italian cruiser Ulpio Traiano in the port of Palermo, Sicily, in early January 1943. An 8,500-ton ocean liner was also damaged in the same attack.

After the Italian surrender, Britain, and later Germany, continued to use the manned torpedo. In fact, Germany succeeded in sinking two British minesweepers off Normandy Beach in July 1944, using their Neger torpedoes.
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1969 Antiwar demonstration in Washington

A group called Women Strike for Peace demonstrate in Washington, D.C., in the first large antiwar demonstration since President Richard Nixon's inauguration in January. The antiwar movement had initially given Nixon a chance to make good on his campaign promises to end the war in Vietnam. However, it became increasingly clear that Nixon had no quick solution. As the fighting dragged on, antiwar sentiment against the president and his handling of the war mounted steadily during his term in office.
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1975 Hue falls to the communists

The city of Hue, in northernmost South Vietnam, falls to the North Vietnamese. Hue was the most recent major city in South Vietnam to fall to the communists during their new offensive. The offensive had started in December 1974, when the North Vietnamese had launched a major attack against the lightly defended province of Phuoc Long, located north of Saigon along the Cambodian border. The communists overran the provincial capital of Phuoc Binh on January 6, 1975.

President Richard Nixon had repeatedly promised South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu that the United States would come to the aid of South Vietnam if North Vietnam committed a major violation of the Peace Accords. However, by the time the communists had taken Phuoc Long, Nixon had already resigned from office and his successor, Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon's promises to Saigon.

This situation emboldened the North Vietnamese, who launched a campaign in March 1975 to take the provincial capital of Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands. The South Vietnamese defenders there fought very poorly and were overwhelmed by the North Vietnamese attackers. Once again, the United States did nothing. President Thieu ordered his forces in the Highlands to withdraw to more defensible positions to the south. What started out as a reasonably orderly withdrawal degenerated into a panic that spread throughout the South Vietnamese armed forces. They abandoned Pleiku and Kontum in the Highlands with very little fighting and the North Vietnamese pressed the attack from the west and north. In quick succession, Quang Tri and Hue fell. The communists then seized Da Nang, the second largest city in South Vietnam. Many South Vietnamese, both military and civilian, died in the general chaos while attempting to escape from the airport, docks, and beaches.

By this time, the South Vietnamese forces were in flight all over the northern half of South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese continued to attack south along the coast, overrunning city after city, methodically defeating the South Vietnamese forces. By April 27, the North Vietnamese had completely encircled Saigon and began to maneuver for their final assault, which became known as the "Ho Chi Minh Campaign." By the morning of April 30, it was all over. As the North Vietnamese tanks broke through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, the Vietnam War came to an end.