On This Day in History...

1084 Anti-pope Clemens crowns German emperor Hendrik IV
1492 Queen Isabella of Castilia & Ferdinand of Aragon expels Jews
1504 France & Spain signs ceasefire
1521 Magelhaes takes possession of Homohon, Archipelago of St Lazarus
1547 Henry II succeeds François I as king of France
1644 Pope Urbanus VIII & duke of Parma signs Peace of Ferrara
1651 Great earthquake at Cuzco Peru
1657 English Humble Petition offers Lord Protector Cromwell the crown
1667 France/England sign anti-Dutch military accord
1683 Emperor Leopold I/Poland signs covenant against Turkey
1745 Jews are expelled from Prague
1796 Johann Wolfgang von Goethes "Egmont" premieres in Weimar
1808 French created Kingdom of Westphalia orders Jews to adopt family names
1814 Forces allied against Napoleon capture Paris France
1831 Mainzer Rijnvaart Convention ends
1831 Québec & Montréal incorporated
1841 1st performance of Robert Schumann's 1st Symphony in B
1849 Colonel John W Geary arrives as 1st postmaster of San Francisco
1850 US population hits 23,191,876 (Black population: 3,638,808 (15.7%))
1854 Treaty of Kanagawa: Commodore Perry forces Japan to opens ports to foreign trade
1861 Confederacy takes over mint at New Orleans
1862 Civil War action at Island #10 on the Mississippi River
1865 Battle of Boydton, Virginia (White Oaks Roads, Dinwiddie Court House)
1865 General Pickette moves to 5 Forks, abandoning the defense of Peterburg
1868 Chinese Embassy arrives aboard steamship China
1870 Thomas P Mundy became 1st black to vote in US (Perth Amboy NJ)
1877 British high director/Governor sir Bartle Frere arrives in Capetown
1877 Test Cricket debut of Fred "Demon" Spofforth, Australia vs England MCG
1878 Jack Johnson is 1st black to hold a heavyweight boxing title
1880 1st town completely illuminated by electric lighting (Wabash IN)
1883 1st performance of César Franck's "Le Chasseur Maudit"
1883 Utrecht begins water pipe system
1885 Great Britain declares Bechuanaland a protectorate
1889 300 meter Eiffel Tower officially opens (commemorates French Revolution)
1896 Whitcomb Judson, Chicago IL, patents a hookless fastening (zipper)
1900 Brigadier-General Broadwoods troops fall into guerrilla hands
1903 Richard Pearse flies monoplane several hundred yards (New Zealand)
1905 German emperor Wilhelm II visits Tanger
1906 George Bernard Shaw's German version of "Caesar & Cleopatra" premieres in Berlin
1907 Romanian Army puts down Moldavian farmers' revolt
1909 Baseball rules players who jump contracts are suspended for 5 years
1909 Gustav Mahler conducts New York Philharmonic for his 1st time
1916 Dutch government ends all military engagements
1917 US purchases Danish West Indies for $25M & renames them Virgin Islands
1918 1st daylight savings time in US goes into effect
1919 Strike against Ruhrgebied government of Scheidemann
1920 British parliament accept Irish "Home Rule"-law
1921 Albert Einstein lectures in New York on his new theory of relativity
1921 British coal miners goes on strike
1922 KFI-AM in Los Angeles CA begins radio transmissions
1922 Prince Hendrik opens trade fair building in Amsterdam
1923 1st dance marathon-NYC-Alma Cummings sets record of 27 hours
1923 French soldiers fire on workers at Krupp factory in Essen; 13 die
1923 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) sweep Edmonton Eskimos (WCHL) in 2 games
1924 Croydon Airport; 1st British air company merger - Imperial Airways Ltd established
1924 London public transport strike ends
1925 WOWO-AM, Fort Wayne IN begins radio transmission (500 watts)
1926 German Special Court of Justice for state security disbands
1932 150 wild swans die in Niagara waterfall
1932 Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine
1933 1st newspaper published on pine pulp paper, "Soperton News" (Georgia)
1933 Congress authorizes Civilian Conservation Corps
1933 German Republic gives power to Hitler
1934 Netherlands Indies BC Ltd begain radio transmission (Indonesia)
1935 Fusahige Suzuki runs world record marathon (2 :7 :9)
1939 Britain & France agree to support Poland if invaded by Germany
1940 Karelo-Finnish SSR becomes 12th Soviet republic (until 1956)
1941 Germany begins a counter offensive in Africa
1941 Ground broken for Union Square Garage, San Francisco
1943 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" opens on Broadway
1943 US errantly bombs Rotterdam, kills 326
1944 Hungary orders all Jews to wear yellow stars
1945 3rd Algerian division crosses the Rhine
1945 Sicherheitsdienst murders 10 political prisoners in Zutphen
1945 Tennessee Williams' "Glass Menagerie" premieres in New York NY
1945 US artillery lands on Keise Shima/begins firing on Okinawa
1946 Belgian government of Acker, forms
1948 Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe
1949 Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province
1951 US tanks exceed 38º of latitude in Korea
1953 Department of Health, Education & Welfare established
1953 UN Security Council nominates Dag Hammarskjöld Secretary-General
1954 US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs CO, established
1954 USSR offers to join NATO
1955 Chase National (3rd largest bank) & Bank of the Manhattan Company (15th largest bank) merge to form Chase Manhattan
1955 Collie Smith scores 104 on cricket debut West Indies vs Australia, Kingston
1955 US Assay Office in Seattle WA closes
1958 US Navy forms atomic sub division
1958 USSR suspends nuclear weapons tests, & urges US & Britain to do same
1959 Dalai Lama fled China & was granted political asylum in India
1960 Gore Vidal's "Best Man" premieres in New York NY
1961 Aklilou Habtewold becomes 1st premier of Ethiopia
1963 Los Angeles ends streetcar service after 90 years
1964 President Jango Goulart of Brazil chased out of office by military
1965 US ordered the 1st combat troops to Vietnam
1966 25,000 anti war demonstrators march in New York NY
1966 Labour Party wins British parliamentary election
1966 USSR launches Luna 10, 1st lunar orbiter
1967 Jimi Hendrix begins his tradition of burning his guitar
1968 LBJ announces he will not seek re-election
1968 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Palm Beach County Golf Open
1968 Pirate Radio Station Pegaus (New Zealand) begins transmitting
1968 Seattle's American League club is named Pilots
1969 George Harrison & Patti Boyd are fined £250 each for illegal drugs
1970 Federal bankruptcy court allows Seattle Pilots to be sold to Milwaukee
1971 South Africa national debt hits 5.45 billion
1971 William L Calley Jr sentenced to life for My Lai Massacre
1972 Official Beatles Fan Club closes down
1973 Flyers score 8 goals in 1 period vs Islanders, on 60 shots
1973 Ken Norton defeats Muhammad Ali in a 12 round split decision
1975 37th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Kentucky 92-55; this is John Wooden's final game & UCLA's 10th NCAA championship in 12 years
1976 Cleveland Cavaliers clinch their 1st ever NBA playoff berth
1976 New Jersey Court rules Karen Anne Quinlan may be disconnected from respirator
1977 Michael Cristofer's "Shadow Box" premieres in New York NY
1978 Red Rum wins 3rd consecutive Grand National & retires
1978 USSR launches Kosmos 1000 navigational satellite
1978 Wings release "London Town" album
1980 Larry Holmes TKOs Leroy Jones in 8 for (WBC) heavyweight boxing title
1980 Mike Weaver KOs John Tate in 15 for (WBA) heavyweight boxing title
1980 President Jimmy Carter deregulates banking industry
1981 1st Golden Raspberry Awards: Can't Stop the Music wins
1981 53rd Academy Awards: "Ordinary People", Robert De Niro, Sissy Spacek win
1982 Arkas tanker at Montz LA, spills 1.47 million gallons of oil
1982 Rock group Doobie Brothers split up
1983 Earthquake in Colombia kills some 5,000 people
1983 Marsha Norman's "'night, Mother" premieres in New York NY
1984 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 15th Easter Seal Telethon raises $27,400,000
1985 4th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Old Dominion beats Georgia 70-65
1985 El Salvador's President Duartes Christian-Democrats win election
1985 Wrestlemania I at Madison Square Garden New York, Hogan & Mr T beat Piper & Orndorf
1986 167 die when Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashes
1986 48th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Louisville beats Duke 72-69
1986 English Hampton Court palace destroyed by fire, 1 dead
1987 49th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Syracuse 74-73
1988 Last East Limburg coal mine closes in Gent Belgium
1988 New York Islanders celebrate Denis Potvin night
1988 Pulitzer prize awarded to Toni Morrison for "Beloved"
1989 Donald Trump purchases Eastern's Northeast Shuttle
1990 "Carol & Company" starring Carol Burnett premieres on NBC-TV
1990 Dionisio Castro cycles world record 20 km (57:18.4)
1990 Riots began in London over the new poll tax laws
1991 10th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Virginia 70-67
1991 20th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Amy Alcott
1991 Albania offers 1st multi-party election in 50 years
1991 Danny Bonaduce attacks a transvestite prostitute in Phoenix AZ
1991 Musical "Will Rogers Follies" premieres in New York NY
1991 Soviet Republic of Georgia endorsed independence; Warsaw Pact dissolves
1991 St Louis Blues Brett Hull scores his 86th goal
1992 Delhi beat Tamil Nadu on 1st innings to win cricket Ranji Trophy
1992 UN Security Council voted to ban flights & arms sales to Libya
1994 James Farentino pleads no contest to stalking Tina Sinatra
1994 Walkway from Cleveland's Tower City to Jacobs Field officially opens
1995 1st game at Coors Stadium Colorado (replacement Rockies beat Yankees 4-1)
1995 Bombay beat Punjab on 1st innings to win cricket Ranji Trophy
1995 Federal judge orders injunction to end baseball strike
1996 "Getting Away With Murder" closes at Broadhurst NYC after 17 performances
1996 "Midsummer Night's Dream" opens at Lunt-Fontanne NYC for 66 performances
1996 15th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Georgia 83-65
1996 1st Opening Day in history in March takes place in Seattle
1996 25th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Patty Sheehan
1996 Karnataka defeat Tamil Nadu on 1st innings to win Ranji Trophy
1996 Radio Canada International's final shortwave broadcast
1996 Space Shuttle STS 76 (Atlantis 16), lands
1996 Wrestlemania XII: Shawn Michaels beats Brett Hart for WWF title
1997 "Daytime to Remember" a series showing old soaps premieres on ABC-TV
1997 59th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Arizona beats Kentucky 84-79 (OT)
1997 Pioneer 10, ends its mission
1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 1st game they host Detroit Tigers
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Missing In Action..

1965 MC KINLEY GERALD W. DANBURY CT CRASH ON TARGET SITE
1969 CARPENTER RAMEY LEO NORMAN OK REMAINS ID'D 06/24/98
1969 WHITE DANFORTH E. STATE COLLEGE PA REMAINS ID'D 06/24/98
1971 SALLEY JAMES JR. COLUMBIA SC "07/71 DIED LAOS, WITH ALLWINE"
1971 TERRILL PHILIP B. HARTFORD NY 04/71 DIED TRI BORDER AREA

Births which occurred on March 31:

1499 Pius IV [Gianangelo de' Medici], Italian lawyer/pope (1559-65)
1519 Henry II King of Germany (1547-59)
1570 Louise Juliana countess of Nassau
1596 René Descartes France, philosopher (he thought, therefore he was)
1621 Andrew Marvell England, poet (To His Coy Mistress)
1675 Benedict XIV [Prospero L Lambertini], Italy, Pope (1740-58)
1684 Francesco Durante composer
1717 Florian Wrastill composer
1723 Frederik V King of Denmark/Norway (1746-66)
1732 Franz Joseph Haydn Austria, composer, helped develop classical style
1747 Johann Abraham Peter Schulz German composer (Moon has Risen)
1791 Franciszek Wincenty Mirecki composer
1809 Edward FitzGerald England, writer (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam)
1809 Nikolai Gogol father of 19th-century Russian realism (Dead Souls)
1809 Otto Jonas Lindblad composer
1811 Robert Wilhelm Eberhard von Bunsen Germany, chemist (Bunsen Burner)
1822 Rafael Hernando composer
1831 Archibald Scott Scottish chemist
1835 John La Farge US painter
1837 Robert Ross McBurney 1st paid secretary of the YMCA
1837 Stephen Dodson Ramseur Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1838 Léon Dierx French poet
1839 Nikolay Przhevalsky naturalist, explorer of east central Asia
1840 John Herbert Kelly Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1844 Andrew Lang Scotland, author (The Blue Fairy Book)
1847 Jarolslaw Zielinski composer
1848 John Henry Roberts composer
1854 Sir Dugald Clerk inventor (2-stroke motorcycle engine)
1868 Karl Bonhoeffer German psychiatrist/neurologist
1872 Arthur Griffith Irish journalist, founder of Sinn Féin
1872 Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev Russia, dance master (Imperial Ballet)
1878 Jack Johnson 1st black heavyweight boxing champion (1908-1915)
1885 Jules Pascin [Julius Pincas], Bulgarian/US painter/cartoonist
1887 Jose Maria Usandizaga composer
1887 Saint-John Perse [MRA Alexis Léger], French poet (Nobel 1960)
1891 Erich Walter Sternberg composer
1891 Ion Pillat Romaniams poet/senator (Umbra timpului)
1891 Victor Varconi Hungary, actor (Divine Lady, King of Kings, Big City)
1892 Stanislav Wladyslaw Maczek Polish/British General-Major/commandant
1893 Clemens Krauss Vienna Austria, conductor (Berlin State Orchestra-1937)
1895 John Jay McCloy lawyer/banker (Assistant Secretary of War 1941-45, president-Chase Manhattan Bank (1953-60))
1895 Vardis A Fisher US author (Darkness & Deep)
19-- Evan Cohen Los Angeles CA, actor (David-The Ropers, Johnny-It's Not Easy)
19-- Mirla Castellanos Buenos Aires Argentina, Spanish singer
19-- Peggy Rea Los Angeles CA, actress (Red Skelton Show, Waltons)
1900 Henry WFA English duke of Gloucester/earl of Ulters
1900 Lörinc Szabó Hungary, poet (Huszonhatodik év)
1903 Arthur Godfrey New York NY, TV host (Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts)
1906 Lauri Saikkola composer
1907 Eddie Quillan Philadelphia PA, actor (Julia, Hell Town)
1909 Pieter Jongeling Dutch MP (GVP)/editor (Netherlands Daily)
1909 Robert Brasillach French author/Nazi collaborator
1912 Wilhelmus Berkelmans civil servant/resistance fighter
1914 Octavio Paz Mexico, writer/diplomat (Salamandra, Topoemas)
1915 Eliseo Morales Pajaro composer
1915 Henry Morgan New York NY, comedian/TV panelist (I've Got a Secret, Arena)
1915 Jack Perry businessman
1916 John Vivyan Chicago IL, actor (Imitation of Life, Mr Lucky)
1918 Ted Post Brooklyn NY, director (Peacemaker, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Gunsmoke)
1920 Marga [Sara Voeten-] Minco Dutch writer (Bitter Herb)
1922 Patrick J G McGee North Ireland, actor (Clockwork Orange)
1922 Richard Kiley Chicago IL, actor (Man of La Mancha, Endless Love)
1923 Donald Argee Barksdale Berkley CA, basketballer (Olympics-gold-1948)
1923 Lawrie Miller New Zealand cricketer (opening bat in 13 Tests)
1924 Harry Cubitt 4th Lord Ashcombe ("Mad Harry"), English landowner
1924 Leo Buscaglia Los Angeles CA, "Dr Hug", psychologist (Love)
1926 John Fowles England, novelist (Collector, French Leiutenent's Woman)
1926 Sydney Chaplin son of Charlie/actor (Adding Machine, Psycho Sisters)
1927 Cesar Chavez Yuma AZ, farm labor leader (United Farm Workers)
1927 William Daniels Brooklyn NY, actor (Dr Mark Craig-St Elsewhere, 1776)
1928 Gordie Howe Floral Saskatchewan, NHL right wing (Detroit Red Wings)
1929 Lee Patterson Vancouver British Columbia, actor (Dave-Surfside Six, Another World)
1929 Liz Claiborne Brussels Belgium, fashion designer
1931 Miller Barber Shreveport LA, PGA golfer (1968 Byron Nelson Classic)
1932 Godfrey Lawrence cricketer (South African fast bowler, 8-53 vs New Zealand 1961)
1932 John Jakes Chicago IL, writer (Sir Scoundrel, Great Women Reporters)
1932 Nagisa Oshima Kyoto Japan, director (Town of Love & Hope)
1933 Bob Simmons Fulham England, stuntman (double for James Bond)
1933 Shirley Jones Smithton PA, actress (Partridge Family, Elmer Gantry)
1934 Grigori Grigoyevich Nelyubov Russia, cosmonaut (Vostok 1 backup)
1934 John D Loudermilk rock drummer/vocalist (Language of Love, Norman)
1934 Wim H Sinnige Dutch alderman of finance (social democratic)
1935 Herb Alpert bandleader/trumpeter (Tijuana Brass)/CEO (A & M)
1935 Judith Rossner US, writer (August)
1935 Richard Chamberlain Beverly Hills CA, actor (Dr Kildare)
1936 Marge Piercy author (Small Changes, Gone for Soldiers)
1937 Willem Duyn [Mouth], Dutch singer (Mouth & MacNeal)
1938 John Jakes Chicago IL, writer (Sir Scoundrel, Great Women Reporters)
1938 Nathaniel Taylor St Louis MO, actor (Rollo-Sanford & Son)
1940 Barney Frank (Representative-Democrat-MA, 1981- )
1940 Jim Criner WLAF head coach (Scottish Claymores)
1940 Patrick J Leahy (Senator-Democrat-VT, 1975- )
1943 Christopher [Ronald] Walken Astoria Queens NY, actor (Deer Hunter, Brainstorm)
1944 Rod Allen [B Rodney Bainbridge] rock bassist/vocalist (Fortunes)
1945 Valerie Curtin Jackson Heights NY, actress (Judy-9 to 5)
1946 Aftab Gul cricketer (Pakistani opening batsman in six Tests 1969-71)
1946 Al Nichol Winston Salem NC, rock guitarist/vocalist (Turtles)
1946 Gabe Kaplan Brooklyn NY, comedian/actor (Welcome Back Kotter)
1947 Al Goodman rock vocalist (Ray, Goodman, Brown)
1947 César Gaviria Trujillo President (Colombia, 1990-94)
1947 Jon-Jon Poulos Chicago IL, rocker (Buckinghams)
1948 Albert Gore Jr Washington DC, (Senator-Democrat-TN, 1985-92)/45th US Vice President (1993- )
1948 David Eisenhower Eisenhower's grandson (married Julie Nixon)
1948 Mick Ralphs Hereford & Worcester England, guitarist (Bad Company, Mott the Hoople)
1948 Rhea Perlman Brooklyn, actress (Zena-Taxi, Carla-Cheers)
1948 Thijs van Leer Dutch singer/flutist (Focus, Introspection)
1950 Alison McCartney pathologist/Breast Cancer campaigner
1950 Ed Marinaro New York NY, actor (Joe-Hill St Blues, Sonny-Laverne & Shirley)
1950 Richard Hughes rocker (Johnny Winter Band)
1953 Greg Martin Louisville KY, singer (Kentucky Headhunters-Davy Crockett)
1953 Sean Hopper California, rock keyboardist (Huey Lewis & The News)
1954 Tony Brock England, rock drummer (Babys-Missing You)
1957 Marc McClure San Mateo CA, actor (Ross-California Fever)
1957 Mary Cadorette East Hartford CT, actress (Vicky-Three's a Crowd)
1957 Patrick G Forrester El Paso TX, Lieutenant Colonel Army/astronaut
1958 Jay Feenan Windham NH, rower (Olympics-1996)
1958 Ken Meeker New York NY, actor (Rafe Garretson-One Life to Live)
1958 Pat McGlynn Edinburgh, rock guitarist (Bay City Rollers)
1959 Angus Young Glascow Scotland, rock guitarist (AC/DC-Highway to Hell)
1960 Anne Howard San Diego CA, actress (Nicole Love-Another World)
1960 Mark Tuinei NFL tackle (Dallas Cowboys)
1961 Ron Brown Los Angeles CA, 4x100 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1984)
1962 John Taylor NFL wide receiver (San Francisco 49ers)
1964 Dave Wyman NFL linebacker (Denver Broncos)
1964 David Diaz-Infante NFL guard (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1964 Erik Turner Omaha NE, rock guitarist (Warrant-Cherry Pie)
1964 Isabelle Ferrari Italy, (Italy's Miss Teenager)
1964 Rod Jones NFL cornerback (Cincinnati Bengals)
1965 Marlon Vonhagt cricketer (1 ODI Sri Lanka 1984-85 World Series Cup)
1965 Patty Fendick Sacramento CA, tennis star (1989 Auckland)
1965 Tom Barrasso Boston MA, NHL goalie (Pittsburgh Penguins)
1965 William McNamara Dallas TX, actor (Texasville, Beat, Stealing Home)
1966 Natalie Gosselin Levis Québec Canada, 52kg judoka (Olympics-96)
1966 Thomas Fitzgerald Brooklyn NY, team handball left wing (Olympics-1996)
1967 Glenn Montgomery NFL defensive tackle (Seattle Seahawks, Oilers)
1967 Nanci Bowen Tifton GA, LPGA golfer (1995 Nabisco Dinah Shore)
1968 J R Reid NBA forward (New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets)
1969 Kevin Sargent NFL tackle/guard (Cincinnati Bengals)
1969 Steve Smith NBA guard (Atlanta Hawks)
1970 Derek Brown NFL tight end (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1970 Oleg Romanov NHL defenseman (Belarus, Olympics-98)
1970 Stuart Carruthers Australian field hockey fullback (Olympics-96)
1971 Ewan McGregor Perth Australia, actor (Trainspotting)
1971 Pavel Bure Moscow Russia, NHL left wing (Team Russia Olympics-Silver-1998, Vancouver Canucks)
1972 John Godina Fort Sill OK, shot putter/discus thrower (Olympics-silver-96)
1972 Kelly O'Leary Halifax Nova Scotia, kayaker (Olympics-96)
1973 Vanessa Mambi Miss Curaçao-Universe (1996)
1974 Anthony Hicks NFL linebacker (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1974 Carol Ann Plante actress (Sara Henderson-Harry & the Hendersons)
1974 James Burgess linebacker (San Diego Chargers)
1974 Jason Odom tackle (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1974 Nina Georgala Miss Greece-Universe (1996)
1976 Amanda Moody Orem UT, Miss Utah-America (1995)
1976 Josh Saviano actor (Paul Pfeiffer-Wonder Years)
1980 Jenny Smith Western Australia, gymnast (Olympics-96)
1982 Jessica Joseph Royal Oak MI, dance skater (& Butler-1997 National)
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Deaths which occurred on March 31:

1201 Absalon Asserssön Danish archbishop of Lund/statesman, dies
1340 Ivan I Kalita grand-duke of Vladimir, dies
1389 Everhard Tserclaes sheriff of Brussels, murdered
1567 Philip the Generous, count of Hessen, dies at 62
1578 Juan de Escobedo Secretary of Spanish land guardian Don Juan, murdered
1621 Felipe III King of Spain (1598-1621), dies at 42
1631 John Donne Metaphysical poet, dies (birth date unknown)
1656 Pierre de La Barre composer, dies at 64
1722 Campegius Vitringa Dutch theologist/exegete, dies at 62
1741 Peter Burmannus [Peter Burman], Dutch attorney/classicist, dies at 72
1809 Franz Joseph Haydn composer, dies on 77th birthday
1837 John Constable English painter/water colors painter, dies at 60
1850 John Calhoun dies at 68
1855 Charlotte Brontë English author (Jane Eyre), dies at 38
1877 Antoine A Cournot French mathematician (rule of C), dies at 75
1880 Henryk Wieniawski Polish violist/composer, dies at 44
1881 Gaetano Gaspari composer, dies at 73
1884 Jan T Beelen Netherlands/Belgian catholic bible expert, dies at 77
1885 Franz Wilhelm Abt German composer/choir conductor, dies at 65
1885 Philipp Fahrbach composer, dies at 69
1886 Giovanni Rossi composer, dies at 57
1892 Adolf Rzepko composer, dies at 66
1898 Edward Noyes Westcott US attorney/writer (David Harum), dies
1900 Frank Milligan cricketer (Mafeking 2 Tests England vs South Africa 1898-99), dies
1901 John Stainer composer, dies at 60
1913 John Pierpont Morgan US banker/CEO (US Steel Corp), dies at 75
1914 Ch Morgenstern writer, dies at 42
1928 Gustave Ador President of Austria (1919), dies at 82
1928 Medardo Rosso Italian sculptor (portraits), dies at 69
1931 Knute Rockne football player/coach, dies in a plane crash at 43
1934 Franz Ehrle German jesuit/head of Vatican library, dies at 88
1938 Willem J T Kloos Dutch poet/critic (New Guide), dies at 78
1939 Indrið Einarsson Iceland playwright (Skipið Sekkur), dies at 87
1944 Mineichi Koga Admiral of Japanese fleet, dies
1945 Hans Fischer German physicist (Nobel 1930), dies at 63
1945 Maurice Rose 1st US General in Nazi Germany, killed in action at 45
1948 Egon E Kisch Czechoslovakian writer/journalist (Raging Reporter), dies at 62
1951 Ralph Forbes actor (Riptide, Shock, Shock), dies at 45
1957 Gene Lockhart New York NY, actor (Going My Way), dies at 65
1959 Peter Suhrkamp German publisher (Suhrkamp Verlag), dies at 68
1960 Joseph Haas German (opera)composer (Totenmesse), dies at 81
1961 Seerp Anema Dutch poet/writer (Modern Art & Degenerating), dies at 85
1967 Don Alvarado actor (Morning Glory, Big Steal), dies at 62
1967 Hieronim Feicht composer, dies at 72
1970 Semjon Timoshenko Russian Marshal/Inspector-General (WWII), dies at 75
1971 Liselotte Liselot Beekmeyer Dutch actress (Child Crying), dies at 31
1973 Kurt George Hugo Thomas composer, dies at 68
1974 Andrea Checci actress (2 Women, Assassin, Black Sunday), dies at 57
1978 Astrid Allwyn actress (Love Affair, Girl for Calgary), dies at 68
1980 Jesse Owens of 1936 Berlin Olympics fame, dies in Arizona at 66
1982 Fritz Eberhard West German lawyer/resistor, dies at 85
1983 Stephen Murray actor (Guilty, Silent Dust, Master Spy), dies at 70
1986 Harry Ritz comedian/actor (Ritz Brothers), dies at 79
1986 Jerry Paris director/actor (Jerry-Dick Van Dyke Show), dies at 60
1986 O'Kelly Isley US, singer (Isley Brothers), dies of heart attack at 48
1988 Talib Rasul Hakim composer, dies at 48
1990 Lillian "Miss" Miller audience member (Merv Griffin, Tonight Show), dies
1991 John Carter US jazz clarinetist (Roots & folklore), dies
1993 Brandon Lee US actor (Crow)/son of Bruce Lee, accidentally shot at 28
1993 Jose Maria Lemus President of El Salvador (1956-60), dies
1994 Léon J Ramirez Reine [Degrelle], Belgian/Spanish Nazi (Rex), dies at 87
1995 Carl M Story fiddler, dies at 78
1995 Selena [Quintanilla Perez] Mexican Grammy winning singer, killed by a fan at 24
1996 Dante Giacosa engineer/designer, dies at 91
1996 Dario Bellezza poet, dies at 51
1996 Jeffrey Lee Pierce musician, dies at 37
1996 Julius Young fast food entrepreneur, dies at 73
1997 Edwin Alberian TV celebrity (Clarabell), dies at 76
1997 Laxmishankar Pathak food retailer, dies at 62

1776 Abigail Adams urges husband to “remember the ladies”

In a letter dated March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John Adams, urging him and the other members of the Continental Congress not to forget about the nation’s women when fighting for America’s independence from Great Britain.

The future First Lady wrote in part, "I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors…Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”

Nearly 150 years before the House of Representatives voted to pass the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, Adams’ letter was a private first step in the fight for equal rights for women. Recognized and admired as a formidable woman in her own right, the union of Abigail and John Adams persists as a model of mutual respect and affection; they have since been referred to as “America’s first power couple.” Their correspondence of over 1000 letters written between 1762 and 1801 remains in the Massachusetts Historical Society and continues to give historians a unique perspective on domestic and political life during the revolutionary era.

Abigail bore six children, of whom five survived. Abigail and John’s eldest son, John Quincy Adams, served as the sixth president of the United States. Only two women, Abigail Adams and Barbara Bush, have been both wives and mothers of American presidents.
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1865 Fighting at White Oak Road and Dinwiddie Court House

The final offensive of the Army of the Potomac gathers steam when Union General Phil Sheridan moves against the left flank of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The limited action set the stage for the Battle of Five Forks on April 1.

This engagement took place at the end of the Petersburg line. For 10 months, the Union had laid siege to Lee's army at Petersburg, but the trenches stretched all the way to Richmond, 25 miles north of Petersburg. Lee's thinning army attacked Fort Stedman on March 25 in a futile attempt to break the siege, but the Union line held. On March 29, General Ulysses S. Grant, General-in-Chief of the Union Army and the field commander around Petersburg, began moving his men past the western end of Lee's line.

Torrential rains almost delayed the move. Grant planned to send Sheridan against the Confederates on March 31, but called off the operation. Sheridan would not be denied a chance to fight, though. "I am ready to strike out tomorrow and go to smashing things!" he told his officers. They encouraged him to meet with Grant, who consented to begin the move. Near Dinwiddie Court House, Sheridan advanced but was driven back by General George Pickett's division. Pickett was alerted to the Union advance, and during the night of March 31, he pulled his men back to Five Forks. This set the stage for a major strike by Sheridan on April 1, when the Yankees crushed the Rebel flank and forced Lee to evacuate Richmond and Petersburg.
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1905 The First Moroccan Crisis

On this day in 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany arrives in Tangiers to declare his support for the sultan of Morocco, provoking the anger of France and Britain in what will become known as the First Moroccan Crisis, a foreshadowing of the greater conflict between Europe’s great nations still to come, the First World War.

The kaiser did not have any substantive interest in Morocco; neither did the German government. The central purpose of his appearance was to disrupt the Anglo-French Entente, formed in April 1904. The Entente Cordiale, as it was known, was originally intended not as an alliance against Germany but as a settlement of long-standing imperialist rivalries between Britain and France in North Africa. By its terms, Britain could pursue its interests in Egypt, while France was free to expand westward from Algeria into Morocco, the last territory that remained independent in the region. France subsequently signed an agreement with Spain dividing Morocco into spheres of influence, with France receiving the greater part.

Angered by its exclusion from the decisions made about North Africa, Germany believed that the Anglo-French Entente went a long way towards the creation of a new diplomatic balance in Europe itself. An international convention had guaranteed the independence of Morocco in 1880; Germany now saw that the friendship between two of Europe’s most powerful nations threatened to override this, and thus also posed a challenge to Germany’s own influence in Europe and the world.

With much pomp and circumstance, Wilhelm—whose ship had faced gale-force winds on its passage to North Africa—arrived in Tangiers on March 31, 1905. In what would be known as the “open door speech,” he announced that he looked upon the sultan of Morocco as the ruler of a “free and independent empire subject to no foreign control” and that he himself would always negotiate with the sultan. He also stated that he expected Germany to have advantages in trade and commerce with Morocco equal to that of other countries. Wilhelm’s sensational appearance marked an aggressive departure from the German foreign policy under the legendary Otto von Bismarck, who as chancellor had united the German empire in 1871 and had advocated conciliatory gestures towards France and other European rivals as a key part of German foreign policy.

Although Germany had intended aggressive action in Morocco to place a wedge between France and Britain, it in fact had the opposite effect, strengthening the bond between the two countries due to their mutual suspicion of Germany. What began as mere friendship turned, after the First Moroccan Crisis, into a type of informal military alliance, including conversations between the British and French governments and military staffs and later, a mutual defense agreement with a third country, Russia.

In the wake of the kaiser’s appearance, an international conference convened in Algeciras, Spain, in January 1906 to conclude an agreement about Morocco. The resulting convention awarded France a controlling interest in Moroccan affairs, but guaranteed equality of trade and economic freedom for every nation and limited any colonial action by any nation without consultation with the other signatories. A Second Moroccan Crisis flared in April 1911, when the French pushed troops into the country, claiming to be defending the sultan against riots that had erupted in Fez but actually violating the terms of the Algeciras convention. In response, Germany sent its own warship, the Panther, which arrived in the port of Agadir on May 21, intensifying the enmity between the two nations and, by extension, their allies.

Slightly more than two years before the outbreak of World War I, then, the two Moroccan crises left no doubt that the traditional power balance in Europe had shifted into large blocs of power, with Germany relatively isolated on one side—enjoying only lukewarm support from Austria-Hungary and Italy—and Britain, France, and Russia on the other.
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1940 Germany's Atlantis launches

On this day, the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis sets off on a mission to catch and sink Allied merchant ships.

By the time the Atlantis set sail from Germany, the Allies had already lost more than 750,000 tons worth of shipping, the direct result of German submarine attacks. They had also lost another 281,000 tons because of mines, and 36,000 tons as the result of German air raids. The Germans had lost just eighteen submarines.

The Atlantis had been a merchant ship itself, but was converted to a commerce raider with six 5.9-inch guns, 93 mines ready to plant, and two aircraft fit for spying out Allied ships to sink. The Atlantis donned various disguises in order to integrate itself into any shipping milieu inconspicuously.

Commanded by Capt. Bernhard Rogge, the Atlantis roamed the Atlantic and Indian oceans. She sank a total of 22 merchant ships (146,000 tons in all) and proved a terror to the British Royal Navy. The Atlantis's career finally came to an end on November 22, 1941, when it was sunk by the British cruiser Devonshire as the German marauder was refueling a U-boat.
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1965 Johnson publicly denies actions contemplated in Vietnam

Responding to questions from reporters about the situation in Vietnam, President Johnson says, "I know of no far-reaching strategy that is being suggested or promulgated." Early in the month, Johnson had sent 3,500 Marines to Da Nang to secure the U.S. airbase there. These troops were ostensibly there only for defensive purposes, but Johnson, despite his protestations to the contrary, was already considering giving the authorization for the U.S. troops to go from defensive to offensive tactics. This was a sensitive area, since such an authorization could (and did) lead to escalation in the war and a subsequent increase in the American commitment to it.
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1968 Johnson announces bombing halt

In a televised speech to the nation, President Lyndon B. Johnson announces a partial halt of bombing missions over North Vietnam and proposes peace talks. He said he had ordered "unilaterally" a halt to air and naval bombardments of North Vietnam "except in the area north of the Demilitarized Zone, where the continuing enemy build-up directly threatens Allied forward positions." He also stated that he was sending 13,500 more troops to Vietnam and would request further defense expenditures--$2.5 billion in fiscal year 1968 and $2.6 billion in fiscal year 1969--to finance recent troop build-ups, re-equip the South Vietnamese Army, and meet "responsibilities in Korea." In closing, Johnson shocked the nation with an announcement that all but conceded that his own presidency had become another wartime casualty: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president."
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1972 Fighting intensifies with North Vietnamese offensive

After firing more than 5,000 rockets, artillery, and mortar shells on 12 South Vietnamese positions just below the Demilitarized Zone, the North Vietnamese Army launches ground assaults against South Vietnamese positions in Quang Tri Province. The attacks were thrown back, with 87 North Vietnamese killed. South Vietnamese fire bases Fuller, Mai Loc, Holcomb, Pioneer, and two smaller bases near the Demilitarized Zone were abandoned as the North Vietnamese pushed the defenders back toward their rear bases. At the same time, attacks against three bases west of Saigon forced the South Vietnamese to abandon six outposts along the Cambodian border.

These were a continuation of the opening attacks of the North Vietnamese Nguyen Hue Offensive, a major coordinated communist offensive initiated on March 30. Committing almost their entire army to the offensive, the North Vietnamese launched a massive three-pronged attack. In the initial attack, four North Vietnamese divisions attacked directly across the Demilitarized Zone into Quang Tri province. Following the assault in Quang Tri province, the North Vietnamese launched two more major attacks: at An Loc in Binh Long Province, 60 miles north of Saigon, and at Kontum in the Central Highlands. With the three attacks, the North Vietnamese had committed 500 tanks and 150,000 regular troops

(as well as thousands of Viet Cong) supported by heavy rocket and artillery fire.

After initial successes, especially against the newly formed South Vietnamese 3rd Division in Quang Tri, the North Vietnamese attack was stopped cold by the combination of defending South Vietnamese divisions (along with their U.S. advisers) and massive American airpower. Estimates placed the North Vietnamese losses at more than 100,000 and at least one-half of their tanks and large caliber artillery.