On This Day In history
Birthdates which occurred on March 24:
1188 Ferrand of Portugal earl of Flanders/son of Sancho I
1441 Ernst I elector of Saxon (1464-86)
1630 José Saenz d'Aguirre Spanish cardinal
1703 José F de Isla [Francisco de Salazar], Spanish Jesuit/writer
1755 Rufus King framer of US constitution
1809 Joseph Liouville St Omer Pas-de-Calais France, discover of transcendental numbers
1814 Galen Clark US, naturalist, discovered Mariposa Grove
1821 [George] Hector Tyndale Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1834 John Wesley Powell US, geologist/explorer/ethnologist
1834 William Morris England, designer/craftsman/poet/socialist
1835 Josef Stefan Austria, physicist (Stefan-Boltzmann law)
1855 Andrew W Mellon founder (Mellon Bank)/US Secretary of Treasury
1866 Jack McAuliffe US lightweight boxing champion, hall of famer
1871 Sir Ernest Rutherford nuclear scientist
1874 Harry Houdini [Erik Weisz] Budapest Hungary, magician/escape artist
1874 Luigi Einaudi economist/1st President of Italy (1948-55)
1887 Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Smith Center KS, actor (Keystone comedies)
1893 George Sisler baseball hall of fame 1st baseman (257 hits in 1920)
1895 Arthur Murray dancer (Arthur Murray's Dance Party)
1897 Wilhelm Reich Austrian-US psycho analysist (character analysis)
1898 Dorothy Stratton organizer (SPARS-women's branch of US Coast Guard)
1903 Malcolm Muggeridge English writer (Observer of Life)
1906 John Cameron Swayze news correspondant, Timex spokesman (It takes a licking, an keeps on ticking)
1907 Lauris Norstad US General (NATO commander)/CEO (Owens-Corning Fiberglass)
1907 Lucia Chase US ballerina/co-founder (American Ballet Theater)
1909 Clyde Barrow bank robber (of Bonnie & Clyde fame)
1910 Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (Living, Rashomon, The Seven Samurai), was born
1911 Joseph Barbera animator (Hanna-Barbera)
1912 Werner von Braun, rocket expert
1914 Lilli Palmer Posen Germany, actress (Boys From Brazil, Sebastian)
1919 Lawrence Ferlinghetti author (Coney Island of the Mind)
1922 Dave Appell singer/musician/songwriter (In the Midnight Hour)
1923 Edna Jo Hunter expert on military families & prisoners of war
1924 Norman Fell Philadelphia PA, actor (Mr Roper-3's Company, The End, Graduate)
1930 Steve McQueen Slater MO, actor (Wanted, Dead or Alive, Blob, Bullitt)
1932 Yuri Anatoyevich Ponomaryov Russia, cosmonaut (Soyuz 18 backup)
1943 Jesus Alou baseball outfielder (San Francisco Giants)
1944 Denny McLain baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers, 31 wins in 1968)
1944 Patti Labelle singer (Phoenix, Tasty, Chameleon)
1947 Mike Kellie rock drummer (Spooky Tooth-It's All About)
1947 Paul McCandless Musician (Torches on the Lake)
1951 Kenneth S Reightler Jr Patuxent MD, Commander USN/astronaut (STS 48, 60)
1954 Robert Carradine Los Angeles CA, actor (Slim-The Cowboys, Wavelength)
1957 Scott J Horowitz Philadelphia PA, PhD/Captain USAF/astronaut (STS 75, 82)
1970 Lara Flynn Boyle Davenport IA, actress (The Practice, The Temp, Twin Peaks)
Deaths which occurred on March 24:
0809 Harun al-Rashid caliph of the Abbasid empire (786-809), dies at 44
1369 Pedro the Cruel, King and tyrant of Castile and Leon, murdered
1400 Florens Radewijns Dutch priest/leader Modern Devotion, dies
1455 Nicholas V [Tommaso Parentucelli] Italian Pope (1447-55), dies at 57
1471 Sir Thomas Malory author (Le Morte d'Arthur), dies at 55
1603 Elizabeth I Tudor [Maiden Queen] UK queen (1558-1603), dies at 69
1877 Walter Bagehot English economist/critic/banker, dies at 51
1882 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow US poet (Song of Hiawatha), dies at 75
1894 Robert Prescott Stewart composer, dies at 68
1905 Jules Verne sci-fi author (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 77
1909 John Millington Synge Irish dramatist/playwright/poet, dies at 37
1946 Alexander A Aljechin world chess champion (1927-35, 37-46), dies at 53
1953 Mary [Victoria of Teck] queen of Great Britain/North-Ireland, dies at 86
1969 Joseph Kasavubu President of Congo (1960-65), dies at about 55
1976 Bernard L Montgomery British General, defeated Rommel, dies at 88
1978 Brackett Hamilton Leigh [Douglass], author (Ginger Star), dies at 62
1980 Archbishop Oscar Romero assassinated while conducting mass in San Salvador
1982 Ace Goodman Kansas City MO, comedian (Easy Aces), dies at 83
1984 Sam Jaffe actor (Dr Zorba-Ben Casey), dies of cancer at 93
1990 An Wang computer manufacturer (Wang), dies at 70 from cancer
1990 Ray Goulding comedian (Bob & Ray), dies from kidney failure at 68
1990 Rene Enriquez actor (Hill St Blues), dies from pancreatic cancer at 56
1992 Friedrich A. von Hayek (92), British economist, Nobel winner (1974), died. (Road to Serfdom (1944) “The Constitution of Liberty” (1960).)
1993 John Hersey Pulitzer prize author (Hiroshima), dies at 78
1995 Joey Long blues/cajun guitarist, dies at 62
1995 Trevor Oswald Ling religious Studies Professor, dies at 75
GWOT Casualties
Iraq
23-Mar-2003 34 | US: 30 | UK: 4 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Nicolas Michael Hodson Southern part Hostile - vehicle accident
US Captain Christopher Scott Seifert Camp Pennsylvania Non-hostile - homicide
US Specialist Jamaal Rashard Addison An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US 2nd Lieutenant Frederick Eben Pokorney Jr. An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant George Edward Buggs An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Master Sergeant Robert John Dowdy An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Private Ruben Estrella-Soto An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Private 1st Class Howard Johnson II An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Specialist James Michael Kiehl An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Private 1st Class Lori Ann Piestewa An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Private Brandon Ulysses Sloan An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Sergeant Donald Ralph Walters An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Specialist Edward John Anguiano Southern part Hostile - hostile fire - ambush
US Sergeant Michael Edward Bitz An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal David Keith Fribley An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Corporal Jose Angel Garibay An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Corporal Jorge Alonso Gonzalez An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Staff Sergeant Phillip Andrew Jordan An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Thomas Jonathan Slocum An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Brian Rory Buesing An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Corporal Randal Kent Rosacker An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Michael Jason Williams An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Patrick Ray Nixon An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant Brendon Curtis Reiss An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Private 1st Class Tamario Demetrice Burkett An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Donald John Cline Jr. An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Private Nolen Ryan Hutchings An Nasiriyah Hostile - friendly fire
US Private Jonathan Lee Gifford An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
US Corporal Kemaphoom "Ahn" Chanawongse An Nasiriyah Hostile - hostile fire
UK Flight Lieutenant., Pilot Kevin Barry Main Southern part Hostile - friendly fire - jet crash
UK Flight Lieut., Navigator David Rhys Williams Southern part Hostile - friendly fire - jet crash
UK Sapper Luke Allsopp Al Zubayr Hostile - hostile fire
UK Staff Sergeant Simon Cullingworth Al Zubayr Hostile - hostile fire
Afghanistan
75 03/23/03 Maltz, Michael Master Sergeant 42 Air Force 38th Rescue Squadron Accident - helicopter Near Ghazni, Afghanistan St. Petersburg Florida
74 03/23/03 Hicks, Jason Carlyle Staff Sergeant 25 Air Force 41st Rescue Squadron Accident - helicopter Near Ghazni, Afghanistan Jefferson South Carolina
73 03/23/03 Archuleta, Tamara Long 1st Lieutenant 23 Air Force 41st Rescue Squadron Accident - helicopter Near Ghazni, Afghanistan Belen New Mexico
72 03/23/03 Plite, Jason Thomas Senior Airman 21 Air Force 38th Rescue Squadron Accident - helicopter Near Ghazni, Afghanistan Lansing Michigan
71 03/23/03 Stein, John Lieutenant Colonel 39 Air Force 41st Rescue Squadron Accident - helicopter Near Ghazni, Afghanistan Bardolph Illinois
On this day...
0752 Pope Stephen II was elected to succeed Pope Zacharias; however, Stephen died 4 days later.
1026 Koenraad II (Conrad II) crownes himself king of Italy
1550 France & England sign Peace of Boulogne
1603 Scottish king James VI becomes King James I of England
1629 1st game law passed in American colonies, by Virginia
1645 Battle at Jankov Bohemia: Sweden defeats Roman Catholic emperor Ferdinand III
1664 Roger Williams is granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island
1721 Johann Sebastian Bach opens his Brandenburgse Concerts
1743 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" London premiere
1743 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" London premiere
1765 Britain enacts Quartering Act, required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers
1775 Patrick Henry makes his famous plea for independence from Britain, saying, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"
1792 Benjamin West (US) becomes president of Royal Academy of London
1801 Aleksandr P Romanov becomes emperor of Russia
1828 Philadelphia & Columbia Railway (1st state owned) authorized
1832 Mormon Joseph Smith beaten, tarred & feathered in Ohio
1837 Canada gives blacks the right to vote
1855 Manhattan Kansas founded as New Boston KS
1860 Clipper Andrew Jackson arrives in San Francisco, 89 days out of New York
1865 General Sherman reaches Goldsboro, NC
1880 Tobacco Growers' Mutual Insurance Company incorporates in Connecticut
1882 German scientist Robert Koch discovers bacillus cause of TB
1883 1st telephone call between New York & Chicago(damn telemarkters)
1887 Oscar Straus appointed 1st Jewish ambassador from US (to Turkey)
1898 1st automobile sold
1906 "Census of the British Empire" shows England rules 1/5 of the world
1910 83ºF highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in March
1920 1st US coast guard air station established (Morehead City NC)
1924 Greece becomes a republic
1930 1st religious services telecast in US (W2XBS, New York NY)
1930 Planet Pluto named
1934 US declares the Philippines to become independent in 1945
1935 Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour goes national on NBC Radio Network
1937 National Gallery of Art established by Congress
1941 German troops occupy El Agheila Libya
1941 Glenn Miller begins work on his 1st movie for 20th Century Fox
1944 76 Allied officers escape Stalag Luft 3 (Great Escape)
1944 In occupied Rome, Nazis executed more than 300 civilians
1945 Largest one-day airborne drop, 600 transports & 1300 gliders (Operation Varsity)
1947 Congress proposes 2-term limitation on the Presidency
1947 John D Rockefeller Jr donates NYC East River site to the UN
1949 Walter & John Huston become 1st father-and-son team to win Oscars (actor & director of "Treasure of Sierra Madre")
1955 1st seagoing oil drill rig placed in service
1955 British Army patrols withdraw from Belfast after 20 years
1958 Elvis Presley joins the army (serial number 53310761)
1959 Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact
1960 US appeals court rules novel, "Lady Chatterly's Lover", not obscene
1961 New York Senate approves $55M for a baseball stadium at Flushing Meadows
1962 Benny Paret, KO'd in a welterweight title, he dies 10 days later
1962 Mick Jagger & Keith Richards perform as Little Boy Blue & Blue Boys
1964 Kennedy half-dollar issued
1965 US Ranger 9 strikes Moon, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of crater Alphonsus
1966 Selective Service announces college deferments based on performance
1967 University of Michigan holds 1st "Teach-in" after bombing of North Vietnam
1972 Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland
1973 "Handsome" Harley Race beats Dory Funk Jr in Kansas City, to become NWA champion
1975 Muhammad Ali TKOs Chuck Wepner in 15 to retain the heavyweight boxing title
1976 Argentine President Isabel Perón deposed by country's military
1978 Wings release "With a Little Luck"
1980 ABC's nightly Iran Hostage crisis program renamed "Nightline with Ted Koppel"
1981 Colombia drops diplomatic relations with Cuba
1982 US sub Jacksonville collides with a Turkish freighter near Virginia
1986 NASA publishes "Strategy for Safely Returning the Space Shuttle to Flight Status"
1986 Suriname army Captain Etienne Boerenveen arrested for cocaine smuggling
1986 US & Libya clash in Gulf of Sidra Navy-2 Libya-0
1989 Worst US oil spill, Exxon's Valdez spills 11.3 million gallons off Alaska
1991 In liberated Kuwait, banks reopen
1991 Wrestlemania VII in Los Angeles, Hulk Hogan pins Sergeant Slaughter for championship
1994 F-16 collides with C-130 Hercules above AFB in North Carolina,120 die
1997 Australian parliament overturns world's 1st & only euthanasia law
1989 Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann, Univ. of Utah scientists, claimed they had produced atomic fusion at room temperature.
1999 NATO commences air strikes against Yugoslavia with the bombing of Serbian military positions in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
2000 Germany completed a $5 billion agreement on how to allocate funds among surviving forced laborers and other workers in Hitler's concentration camps.
2000 Pope John Paul the Second paid his respects at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial
2002 Girls in Afghanistan celebrated their return to school for the first time in years
2003 5th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom US-led warplanes and helicopters attacked Republican Guard units defending Baghdad while ground troops advanced to within 50 miles of the Iraqi capital. The 507th Maintenance Company was ambushed after it made a wrong turn into Nasiriya; 11 soldiers were killed, seven were captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
2004 The Rev. Sun Myung Moon declared himself the Messiah during a ceremony at the Dirksen Building in Wash., DC. Over a dozen US lawmakers attended the reception. (How very nice for him, I'm sure)
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Laos : Army Day
US : Agriculture Day
US : Chocolate Week (Day 4)
US : Straw Hat Week (Day 4)
National Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Month
Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Gabriel, patron of postmen, telephone workers
Religious History
1774 Anglican clergyman and hymn writer John Newton wrote in a letter: 'What a mercy it is to be separated in spirit, conversation, and interest from the world that knows not God.'
1818 American statesman Henry Clay wrote: 'All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All separated from government are compatible with liberty.'
1940 Dr. Samuel Cavert of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America officiated at a Protestant Easter service in New York City. It was the first religious program to be broadcast over television, and was carried by local NBC affiliate TV station W2XBS, in NYC.
1980 El Salvador's leading human rights activist, Archbishop Oscar Romero, 62, was assassinated by a sniper while saying mass in a hospital chapel.
1982 Five congregations in the eastern San Francisco Bay area became the first to declare themselves publicly as sanctuary churches, in an effort to help refugees from Central America establish themselves in the U.S. during political and military unrest in their native countries.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done."
