The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Maj. Edwin Simmons - Battle for Seoul (Sep-1950) - Mar. 26th, 2003

UrbanOperations ^ | Maj. Edwin A. Simmons

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the USO Canteen, The Foxhole, and The Poetry Branch
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

.................................................................................................................................

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The Battle for Seoul

Addressing the Students and Staff
of the Marine Corps' Amphibious Warfare School
Quantico, Virginia
15 March 1985

Thirty-five years ago, I was sitting where you are sitting today. I was a member of what was then called the "Amphibious Warfare School, Junior Course." The student body was made up of first lieutenants, captains, and majors. The Amphibious Warfare School, Senior Course, corresponds to today's Command and Staff College and had lieutentant colonels as students.


Brig. Gen. Edwin A. Simmons

On graduation I was ordered to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune. So were a good number of my classmates. I was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines; and as a major, was given command of Weapons Company. The battalion had just come back from the Mediterranean and we were still unpacking expeditionary boxes when, on 25 June, the North Koreans crossed the 38th Parallel. In short order we moved west on a troop train to Camp Pendleton where we became the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, with about ten days to build from our half-strength peacetime tables of organization to war-time strength, before sailing from San Diego. Our regimental commander was Colonel "Chesty" Puller. We landed at Inchon on 15 September and that was the first we saw of the 5th Marines which had come up from the Pusan Perimeter. We did not see the 7th Marines until we reached Seoul.

We were successful at Inchon and Seoul - and that success I think can be attributed to the quality of leadership at all levels. From the division commander, Major General Oliver P. Smith, on down, virtually every officer and non-commissioned officer was a World War II veteran. In my company I had corporals who could do a platoon sergeant's job and do it well, and in fact were so soon doing. The Reserves that filled up our ranks at Camp Pendleton were outstanding - indistinguishable from the Regulars.

Also, a great advantage we had was that a remarkable number of the officer's knew each other well even though the Division had come together on the battlefield. A large proportion of the captains and majors had just graduated, as I, from the Junior Course.



I don't know what you have in your syllabus now, but in those days we spent a good deal of time with the fundamentals of tactics and techniques, with many, many map exercises, command post exercises, and field exercises. We knew the school solution and we were ready to apply it.

In an infantry battalion of that time there were three rifle companies - we would soon learn that we needed four rifle companies - a weapons company, and a headquarters and service company. In my weapons company I had a heavy machine gun platoon - the heavy machine gun of the day was the water-cooled .30 caliber Browning, a superb weapon - an 81mm mortar platoon, and an anti-tank-assault platoon. The anti-tank platoon had 3.5-inch rocket launchers - which we just gotten to replace our 2.36-inch launchers - flame throwers, and demolitions. As Weapons Company commander I was also the battalion's Supporting Arms Coordinator. I am a believer in weapons companies and I am a believer in organic supporting arms coordinators.

Now for the Battle for Seoul.

You have heard the broad outlines of the battle. Now I will tell you how it was at the company and battalion level, at least how it was at my company, and my battalion level. Here I want to say, and those of you who have been in combat already know this, that every man has his own war, his own battle. I am speaking today not as a historian but as a participant. A historian can be objective. A participant cannot; he can only be subjective. I will tell you of the battle from my own narrow perspective.



We had landed, as I have said, at Inchon on 15 September. In the advance on Seoul, the 5th Marines were on the left and the 1st Marines on the right. The 5th Marines took Kimpo Airfield on the 17th and crossed the Han River northwest of Seoul on the 20th. They would have three days of hard fighting taking the high ground immediately northwest of Seoul. Meanwhile, the 7th Marines had unloaded at Inchon the afternoon of the 21st and reached Kimpo that evening. The 1st Marines crossed the river on the 24th and the next day, 25 September, both the 1st and 5th regiments went into the city itself. The 7th Marines, in reserve, crossed the river and took up a position behind the 5th Marines. General Almond, the X Corps commander, who on 21 September took personal command of the operations ashore, ordered the U.S. Army's 32d Infantry Regiment, followed by the 17th ROK Regiment, also to cross the Han on 25 September and occupy "South Mountain" to the east of Seoul. The North Korean commander, Major General Wol Ki Chan, had chosen to ignore the occupation of South Mountain and concentrated his forces first on the high ground northwest of Seoul and then on the defense of the city itself. For this he had about 10,000 troops. At the battalion and company level we were only dimly aware of these developments.

Our attack began at 0700 on the 25th. RCT-1, with the 2d KMC Battalion attached, was given a zone of action about a mile wide going right through the center of the city to the high ground to the northeast. The 2d KMC Battalion was to mop up behind us and then revert to its own regimental control. The 5th Marines were to come into the city on our left from the northwest and the 7th Marines, committed to combat for the first time, were to the north and left of the 5th Marines.



The mission assigned the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, was to advance along the axis of Ma Po Boulevard to seize Duksoo Palace, taking the railroad station en route. To give you an analogy: this was rather like crossing the Anacostia River and moving up Pennsylvania Avenue to capture the Captitol, taking Union Station along the way. And we had to do this in one day. General Almond wanted the city secured by 26 September.

We had heavy going all day. George and How Companies were in the assault, with George on the left and on Ma Po Boulevard itself. Item Company was in reserve. As Weapons Company Commander and Supporting Arms Coordinator I had a most frustrating day as we were operating under a very restrictive fire plan. Damage to the city and civilian casualties were to be held to a minimum; hence, we could not get artillery support, except for directly observed targets and we could not get close air support at all. Our Corsairs had done a superb job from Inchon to Seoul, but air was ruled out of the picture once we got into the city itself.



I want you to visualize Ma Po Boulevard. It was a wide avenue. Seoul, of course, was a much less modern city than it is now. Ma Po Boulevard was a solidly built up street, mostly two and three story structures of stucco or masonry construction, and occasional more impressive buildings - churches, hospitals, and so on - often enclosed with a walled compound. The street itself was interrupted by repeated echelons of barricades. These barricades were made for the most part of large rice straw bags filled with earth. Other reports to the contrary, you didn't blow up these barricades or push them aside. They were much too heavy and inert for that. We had to contend with them in place. Not all of them were defended. Those that were defended had long-barreled Soviet-made anti-tank guns - 45mm if my memory serves me - heavy water-cooled Maxim machine guns - the equivalent of our Brownings - and rather awkward looking anti-tank rifles. There were also plenty of small arms fire and sniping from all sides.

You have heard that we went through the interior walls of the buildings. Perhaps there was some of that but I saw none of it. The house-to-house fighting was chiefly a matter of grenades, M-1 rifles, and BAR automatic fire.

We had the intermittent support of tanks. The battle tank was the M-26 Pershing and our tankers had received them just before the Inchon landing. The tanks were at their best when they were being used as an assault gun. They were in direct support of us rather than attached; therefore, they came and went pretty much as they pleased. Back at the Junior Course we had frequently argued the respective merits of supporting arms assigned - that is, organic - or attached. This was particularly true when our battalion was operating more-or-less independently which was a good part of the time.



By the middle of the afternoon the situation was about as follows:

George Company had reached what the company commander thought was Duksoo Palace, but could not get across a small bridge to get to it.

How Company had reached a railroad station but the company commander was having a hard time convincing anyone he was there because the map would indicate that the railroad station was to the right of George Company and he was insisting that he was in front of George Company and that George was calling down artillery fire on him.

Our battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Ridge, sent me forward to see if I could straighten things out. I found the George Company commander in a highly agitated state. I also found that he was very wrong in his map reading. he was about a mile short of Duksoo Palace. What was in front of him was something else. We later found out that it was a girl's school. I said "Let's make one more try to get across the bridge." I couldn't get him an artillery preparation, but I promised to give him the best I had with my 81mm mortars which were close behind George Company. We drenched the other side of the bridge with a couple hundred 81 mortar shells, but the attack failed. George Company commander was nearly distraught. He said, "Take my bars, I've had it."

All of this was reported to Colonel Ridge who ordered me to stay with George Company and to organize the defense for the night. I put a road block across the boulevard on our side of the bridge, manning it with two rifle squads, a heavy machine gun section, a rocket squad, and a 75mm recoilless rifle section from the regimental Antitank Company. Our attached engineers put in a field of anti-tank mines on the bridge itself. There was a section of tanks with us and I asked them to stay, but they said they had to go back to re-arm and re-fuel and they would see us in the morning.



There was a sizable hill to the left rear of the road block with a house on it. George Company set up its command post in the cellar of the house. I established the battalion observation post - that is to say, my radio operator, my runner, and myself immediately in front of the house. Behind me was a set of steps that led down into the cellar. Item Company was on the high ground on the right of the battalion sector and How Company, which had become disorganized during the day, was to fill in the center of our position. The battalion CP was about a half mile to the rear in a brick-walled compound.

My communications consisted of the normal radio nets - we were then using the SCR-300 - and wire from the OP back to the battalion switchboard and also direct lines from the OP to the 81mm mortar battery position which was about 150 yards to the rear of the road block.

[SAMWolf]

At about midnight Colonel Ridge ordered me to send out a patrol to make contact with a similar patrol which was being sent out by 5th Marines. I could hear heavy firing to my left front and it was obvious that the 5th Marines were heavily engaged. I doubted if a patrol could get to them. I was told to send out the patrol anyway. I formed up a patrol, under a Corporal Collins, of eight Marines from George Company, three young Koreans who had joined us, and a Marine from Weapons Company to guide them through the minefield we had laid on the bridge. I felt I was kissing them goodbye.



The patrol got off at about twelve-forty-five. Almost immediately I received another call from battalion. We were to jump off in a night attack at 0130. I argued the point. A night attack? Without reconnaissance or a rehearsal? What were our objectives?

Unknown to me, Colonel Ridge had already made these same arguments to Colonel Puller who had already made them to General Smith who had already made them to General Almond, but General Almond was adament. In late evening an aerial reconnaissance report had told him that the enemy was streaming northward out of the city. At 2009 he had sent the following message to General Smith:

"You will push attack now to the limit of your objectives in order to insure maximum destruction of enemy forces. [Signed] Almond."

I was told that the attack would be preceded by an intensive 15-minute artillery preparation. About this time I heard a fire fight to my front and I knew my patrol had been intercepted. Several members of the patrol filtered back across the bridge reporting that they had been ambushed.

I was sitting in the open, getting ready for the jump-off, when I heard the sound of armor clanking down Ma Po Boulevard. I flashed a mechanized warning over the tactical net and then reached for my hotline to the road block. As I did so the lead tank fired its first round. These were Soviet-made T-34s with 85mm guns. That first round cracked behind me as I dived for the cellar steps. My radio operator did not follow me. That first round had gone right through him. Like for us, it was apparently SOP for the North Korean tankers to have an armor-piercing round in their tank chamber. If it had been high-explosive shell rather than AP I would have been dead.

I asked that the artillery preparation which had gotten ready for our attack be fired and in minutes it came thundering down on the enemy column.

A short while later a sergeant telephoned me from the road block that they had knocked out the lead tank with a combination of 75mm recoilless, 3.5-inch rocket, and heavy machine gun fire. The lieutenant in charge of the road block was wounded and he, Sergeant Caldwell, had taken over.

At about 0230 enemy small arms reached a crescendo and I began hearing the distinctive brrrp brrrp of their sub-machine guns signalizing the beginning of their assault. I estimated that we were being attacked by at least a battalion supported by 10 to 12 tanks. All this time our artillery had continued to fire. I asked that they shorten their range to the minimum that would clear the mask of high ground we were occupying. The 81mm mortars were already firing at minimum range. This high-angle fire plus heavy fire from George Company and my heavy machine guns broke up the assault.

At about 0315 the artillery liaison officer telephoned me that they would have to cease barrage fire or the tubes of their guns would burn out. As soon as the artillery stopped firing, the tanks started moving again. In the light of the burning buildings I could see three of them clearly, rolling forward on Ma Po Boulevard about 500 yards to my front. I asked for renewed artillery fire. While waiting for it, I engaged the tanks with two of my heavy machine guns. I could see my tracers whanging off the face plates of the tanks. This momentarily silenced the tanks. I asked for and was given the fires of a 155mm battery. I adjusted the fires on the tanks and asked that the guns be held on target for a repeat if necessary. The 155mm fire crippled the tanks, apparently making them immobile, but they continued to fire. Luckily for us they were shooting high and the rounds were going over our heads.

I was worried over what would happen when daylight came and they could see to adjust their shooting. I also wondered if they could get together for another infantry assault. I called battalion and asked them to find out what time would be first light. The answer that came back was, as I remember, 0526. I called down to the road block and asked that a 75mm recoilless rifle be sent up to me on the hill. By this time only one enemy gun was still firing at us. Afterward I learned that it was a self-propelled 76mm gun, a near-twin to the T-34 tank. I pointed it out to the recoilless rifle gunner and told him to shoot as soon as there was enough light to get a clear sight picture. I told him he would get only one chance. He did as he was told and we got the gun. However, we were so intent on getting off that round we forgot about the back blast of the recoilless rifle. It bounced of the mud-and-wattle side of the house behind us and knocked us head-over-heals. We thought it very funny at the time. And that is how the night ended.

Throughout the night, First Sergeant Rocco Zullo of George Company had been a paragon of leadership, striding up and down the line ensuring that his riflemen stayed in action. I was also tremendously proud of my machine gunners. I had ten heavy machine guns on the line and during the night they fired 120 boxes - that is to say 30,000 rounds - of ammunition. Four of those guns were with me on the hill and they fired 80 boxes - 20,000 - of those rounds. But not all men, not even all Marines, are brave in combat. As daylight came, many of the bodies huddled in the foxholes that I thought dead popped up out of their holes like so many prairie dogs.

Marine Private First Class Luther Leguire raises U.S. Flag at American consulate in Seoul, while fighting for the city raged around the compound.

Four battalions of artillery had fired for us and I was told we emptied out all the shells of their on-postion reserves as well as an Army supply point.

In the full flush of morning I was ordered to send out a patrol to ascertain the damge we had done and what still remained in front of us. A section of Marine tanks came rumbling up from the rear. I formed a tank-infantry patrol with the tanks and a half-strength platoon. Our engineers went out on the bridge to pick up the unexploded mines. They found them all except, as it turned out, one. The patrol went forward and - you guessed it - one of the tanks hit the missing mine. The rifle platoon took something like 19 casualties, almost as many as the whole night's fighting cost us.

When we got through counting we put the score at seven tanks, two self-propelled guns, and eight anti-tank guns. We also swept up 83 prisoners. I put the enemy dead at about 250; someone else higher up raised the figure to 475 to 500.

That was the end of the heavy fighting in Seoul. The city was declared secure on 27 September, and three days later, as you have heard, President Syngman Rhee and General Douglas MacArthur made a triumphal re-entry into the capital.

Marines would not again be engaged in serious urban combat until the Tet Offensive of 1968 and the Battle for Hue. Coincidentally, the Marines in the Battle for Hue would again be battalions from the 1st and 5th Regiments. There are similarities and there are differences in the two battles. I think it would be very instructive if you were to have a panel of battalion commanders and company commanders from these two battles discuss them with you. Such battalion and company commanders are available in the Washington area.

[SAMWolf]

LIBERATING SEOUL

Fresh from their victory at Inchon, U.S. Army and Marine units met stiff resistance in the South Korean capital of Seoul in September 1950.

With the seizure of Inchon and Kimpo Airfield, the 1st Marine Division and the U. S. Army’s 7th Division were poised to strike at the South Korean capital of Seoul. The major problem facing the troops was attempting to cross the Han River, which shielded Seoul from the west.

After a failed attempt to cross the waterway on the 19th, it was decided that a battalion of Marines would perform a daylight crossing.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 1950, the 3rd Bn., 5th Marines, successfully crossed the Han River and moved onto Hills 125, 51 and 95. These small knolls formed a triangle and needed to be seized before the other two Marine battalions and supporting units could cross.

In lightning fashion, Co. G took Hill 95 and Co. H overran Hill 51, severing the Kaesong-Seoul rail line. However, Co. I encountered heavy resistance on Hill 125. The North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) had established excellent fields of fire and decimated the company’s 60mm mortar platoon within minutes.



Despite their losses, the Marines pushed on and with assistance from Corsairs of Marine Fighter Squadron 214 finally secured Hill 125. Soon, the other two battalions of the 5th Marines were crossing the Han River to move on Seoul.

While the 5th Marines were fighting in the hills outside the city, the 1st Marine Regiment was assaulting the large industrial city of Yongdungpo. To prevent its fall, NKPA leaders sent a regiment to counterattack the Marines. Supported by T-34 tanks and heavy mortars, the enemy struck the Marines hard.

Armed with his 3.5-inch rocket launcher, Pfc. Walter Monegan confronted them. He waited as a column of NKPA tanks closed to within 100 yards and let loose several rounds, striking two of the armored vehicles.

"The bazooka teams closed in for the kill," said Staff Sgt. Lee Bergee of Co. E , 2nd Bn., 1st Marines. "I saw one Marine [Monegan] step into the open fire. The man was hit instantly by a machine gun burst. His round, however, found its mark."

For his exemplary actions, Monegan would later be decorated posthumously with the Medal of Honor.

As the enemy attack began to fizzle, Lt. Howard Foor yelled to his Marines: "Okay you Leathernecks, fix bayonets and start sticking the bastards." In the end, Yongdungpo finally fell to the Americans. The enemy sustained more than 300 dead, many in hand-to-hand combat.

Cutting the Highway

As Marines were taking the city, the 7th Division’s 32nd Regiment was attacking in the south, cutting the Seoul-Suwon Highway.

After seizing Copper Mine Hill and Hill 300, the 73rd Tank Bn. destroyed several enemy tanks, but in the ensuing battle Lt. Col. Henry Hampton, division chief of operations, was slain.

On Sept. 22, the 7th Division captured Suwon Airfield and opened it to U.N. traffic. Supplies began pouring in on transport planes to replenish troops in the field.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Edward Almond, X Corps commander, next ordered the 1st Marine Division, with the newly arrived 7th Marine Regiment, plus the Republic of Korea (ROK) Marines and ROK 17th Regiment, to strike at Seoul proper.



On the 22nd, elements of the 5th Marines attacked Hill 296, Hill 105S, 105N, and 105C and, after hours of bloody combat, secured their objectives.

The ROK Marines met stiff enemy resistance at Hills 66 and 88. Reinforced by the 2nd Bn., 5th Marines, the hills finally fell to friendly troops. Hardest hit during the fighting was Co. D, 2nd Bn., 5th Marines, which sustained 36 killed, 116 seriously wounded and 26 walking wounded.

In the center, at Hill 56, Leathernecks and ROK Marines encountered tough NKPA resistance. Unknown to them, the units had encountered the enemy’s Main Line of Resistance (MLR). One platoon from the 5th Marines lost its fourth lieutenant since landing at Inchon.

The 11th Marine Artillery Regt. bombarded the slope with hundreds of 105mm rounds. "It was magnificent," recalled Lt. Tilton Anderson. By mid-afternoon on the 24th, Co. E finally drove the enemy from their bunkers and secured Hill 56.

Urban Combat

Entering the city, Marines were soon embroiled in harrowing house-to-house fighting. "It seemed every building in Seoul housed an enemy sniper," said Staff Sgt. Bergee. "We cleaned out doorways and rooftops; we went from street to street, house to house ... We knocked holes in walls and tossed grenades through the openings."

Caught in the menacing crossfire was Seoul’s civilians. Despite the deadly combat all around them, some came to the aid of wounded U.S. servicemen. "For a people who could, at times, be so cruel and crude, there were times when they could be very gentle," remarked Marine Pfc. Jack Wright. "They helped us carry our wounded."

Described as "agonizingly slow," the Leathernecks pushed forward. Other X Corps units were beginning to envelop the city. The 5th Marines had the northwest sector in its hands; the 2nd Bn., 7th Marines, occupied the high ground overlooking the Seoul-Pyongyang Road; and the 32nd Inf. Regt. secured South Mountain (Nam-San), east of Seoul.



As Army and Marine units continued forward, the enemy showed signs of collapse.

The 3rd Bn., 32nd Inf., attacked a convoy of what was thought to be the NKPA 18th Division. In the ensuing action, the soldiers inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy.

On Sept. 27, Gunnery Sgt. Harold Beaver ripped down the North Korean flag and hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the Government House. Seoul was declared officially taken. Fighting within the city, however, continued until October.

Pyrrhic Victory

Elements of the 8th Army’s Task Force Lynch, comprising the 3rd Bn., 7th Cavalry, linked up with Almond’s X Corps, surrounding the city and cutting off retreating NKPA troops.

Dwight Martin, a Time correspondent, described the scene: "The burned and blackened remains of the boulevard’s shops and homes sent clouds of acrid smoke billowing over the city. In the center of the street, six Pershing tanks wheeled into position to advance. Directly in front of the lead tank lay the body of a Red soldier who had been caught in the burst of a white phosphorus shell. The corpse was still burning as the tank’s tread passed over it."

Two days later, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff car wound its way through Seoul’s rubble-strewn streets. Emerging from his vehicle with South Korean President Syngman Rhee, the U.N. commander strolled arm-in arm with him and entered the chamber of the seat of government, returning control to Rhee.

Casualties were high: The 1st Marine Division lost 402 KIA, 1,844 WIA and 6 MIA. The Army sustained 106 KIA, 411 WIA and 57 MIA. Navy losses were 8 KIA, 118 WIA and 2 missing. ROK units suffered 29 KIA and 96 WIA.

NKPA losses were staggering: an estimated 14,000 KIA and 7,000 captured. Numerous enemy tanks and weapons also were confiscated.

But the battle for Seoul was a pyrrhic victory at best. Although retaken, Communist forces would once again recapture the capital in January 1951. In all, Seoul exchanged hands four times during the course of the Korean War.

With thoughts of "home by Christmas," U.N. forces pushed the NKPA across the 38th parallel, deep into North Korea. Advancing troops, however, did not realize the danger lurking ahead: thousands of Chinese troops were massing to meet them at the border.

BATTLE CASUALTIES

Killed in Action 516

Wounded in Action 2,373

Missing in Action 65



Al Hemingway

[SAMWolf]

'By the grace of a merciful Providence our forces fighting under the standard of that greatest hope and inspiration of mankind, the United Nations, have liberated this ancient city of Seoul.'

-- DOUGLAS MACARTHUR
(at Seoul, 29 September 1950)

[SAMWolf]

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[SAMWolf]

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[SAMWolf]

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[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates 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 Bvt 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, 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
1967 Max Ophüls [Oppenheimer], German/French actor (Caught, Exile), dies
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

---

On this day...
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" 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

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bangladesh : Independence Day (1971)
Hampshire, England : Tichborne Dole (1150)
Hawaii : Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianole Day/Regatta Day
Lesotho, Spain : Arbor Day/Fiesta del Arbol (1895)
Taiwan : Birthday of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy
Alaska : Seward Day (1867) - - - - - ( Monday )
US Virgin Island : Transfer Day (1917) - - - - - ( Monday )

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of St Braulio of Aragon
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Ludger, bishop, confessor

---

Religious History
1830 Joseph Smith, 24, first published "The Book of Mormon." Having derived it from golden plates he had discovered with the aid of the angel Moroni, Smith maintained that the plates were written in "Reformed Egyptian" which he had translated with the aid of "Urim and Thummim" two stones hrough which he had viewed the writings.
1840 Birth of George Smith, famed English Assyriologist. During several expeditions to the site of ancient Nineveh, (1873Â74), Smith unearthed over 3,000 cuneiform tablets, including one which told the story of an ancient deluge, similar to Noah's Flood.
1862 Hymnwriter Joseph H. Gilmore, 27, a professor of Hebrew at Newton Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, penned the words to the enduring hymn, "He Leadeth Me."
1929 The Congregation of the Sacraments within the Catholic Church published a document instructing that a plate of silver or metal gilt be held under the chin of the communicant at the reception of the Holy Communion.
1957 Dr. Basil W. Miller founded the Basil Miller Foundation in Altadena, CA. In 1959 its name was changed to World_Wide Missions.

---

Thought for the day :
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

[aomagrat]

Wednesday's weird warship, the french navy's Hoche

Hoche class predreadnought battleship
Displacement. 11000 t.
Lenght. 337'
Beam. 69.5'
Draft. 29.25'
Speed. 15.9 k.
Complement. 611
Armament. 2 13.4"; 2 10.8"; 15 5.5"; 4 9pdr; 12 3pdr; 5 17.7" tt.

Laid down in 1881 and completed in 1889. The Hoche class represented the worst in French shipbuilding. Several redesigns led to long building times. They were well armored, but most of the plating was below the waterline. The ships were topheavy and unstable, and their luxurious accommodation led them to be know as 'Le Grand Hotels'.

[SAMWolf]

1955 "Ballad of Davy Crockett" becomes the #1 record in US

Can you imagine a song about an American Icon becoming Number 1 today.

[SAMWolf]

The Hoche class represented the worst in French shipbuilding.

"French Shipbuilding" that's sort of an oxymoron isn't it?

[SAMWolf]

Excellent poem today, Cote. Thank you.

[Jen]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

To be removed from this list, please send me a blank private reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line! Thanks! Jen

[manna]

Present!

[SAMWolf]

Morning Jen.

[Jen]

Morning y'all. Yawn! I said I wouldn't stay up till 4 a.m. again, but 'Ooooops, I did it again' (to quote a current pop tart).

I hope the coffee is hot and strong! And, I hope Ms Feather left some for me!! hehehe

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning Jen!

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAMWolf!!

Great tunes today!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[Darksheare]

Reminds me of a quote somewhere, 'put my Seoul on ice.'
Think it was from a song.
Not sure where.
Ugh, long night.
Gotta drag myself somewhere for some caffeine before I'll make any sense...