The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Merrill's Marauders - Mar. 18th, 2003

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[SAMWolf]

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MERRILL'S MARAUDERS
Code Name: "GALAHAD"

In August 1943 at the "Quebec Conference", President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and other allied leaders decided that an American Long Range Penetration Mission behind the Japanese Lines in Burma was needed to destroy the Japanese supply lines and communications and to play havoc with the enemy forces while an attempt was made to reopen the much needed Burma Road.

Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill
Commanding General, 5307th Composite Unit(Provisional)

President Roosevelt issued a Presidential call for volunteers for "A Dangerous and Hazardous Mission". The call was answered by approximately 3,000 American soldiers. The volunteers came from State side units, from the jungles of Panama and Trinidad they came, from the campaigns of Guadalcanal, New Guinea, New Georgia they came, to answer the call, some battle scarred, some new to the ways of war, each different but with one thing in common.
They Answered The Call.

The Unit was officially designated as the "5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)" Code Name: "GALAHAD", later it became popularly known as "MERRILL'S MARAUDERS" named after its leader, Brigadier General Frank Merrill. Formed into six combat teams (400 per team),color-coded Red, White, Blue, Green, Orange and Khaki, two teams to a Battalion, the rest formed the H.Q. and Air Transport Commands.

After preliminary training operations were undertaken in great secrecy in the jungles of Central India, the Marauders began the long march up the Ledo Road and over the outlying ranges of the Himalayan Mountains into Burma. The Marauders with no tanks or heavy artillery to support them, walked over 1,000 miles through extremely dense and almost impenetrable jungles and came out with glory.



In Five major (WALAWBUM, SHADUZUP, INKANGAHTAWNG, NHPUM GA, & MYITKYINA)and thirty minor engagements, they defeated the veteran soldiers of the Japanese 18th Division (Conquerors of Singapore and Malaya) who vastly outnumbered the Marauders. Always moving to the rear of the main forces of the Japanese the Marauders completely disrupted the enemy supply and communication lines, and climaxed their behind the lines operations with the capture of Myitkyina Airfield, the only all-weather airfield in Northern Burma.

The attack on Myitkyina was the climax to four months of marching and combat in the Burma jungles. No other American force except the First Marine Division, which took and held Guadalcanal for four months, has had as much uninterrupted jungle fighting service as Merrill's Marauders.

But no other American force anywhere had marched as far, fought as continuously or had to display such endurance, as the swift-moving, hard-hitting foot soldiers, of Merrill's Marauders


Men and animals of Merrill’s Marauders— predecessors to today’s U.S. Army Rangers—cross the Tanai River on a bamboo bridge built by Kachin tribesmen, 1944.

When the Marauders attacked Myitkyina they had behind them over 800 miles of marching over jungle and mountain roads and tracks. They had to carry all their equipment and supplies on their backs and on the backs of pack mules. Re-supplied by air drops the Marauders often had to make a clearing in the thick jungle to receive the supplies.

Every wounded Marauder was evacuated, an extraordinary feat in itself. Each wounded Marauder had to be carried on a makeshift stretcher (usually made from bamboo and field jackets or shirts) by his comrades until an evacuation point was reached. These evacuation points where mostly small jungle village's, where the Marauders would then have to hack out a landing strip for the small Piper Cub Evac. Planes. The brave sergeant-pilots of the air-rescue unit would then land and take off in these very hazardous conditions, removing every seriously wounded Marauder one at a time. The small planes, stripped of all equipment except a compass, had room for the pilot and one stretcher.



At the end of their campaign all remaining Marauders still in action were evacuated to hospitals suffering from tropical diseases, exhaustion, and malnutrition or as the tags on their battered uniforms said "A.O.E."(accumulation of everything).

For their accomplishments in Burma the Marauders were awarded the "DISTINGUISHED UNIT CITATION" in July, 1944. However in 1966 this award was redesignated as the "PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION" which is awarded by the President in the name of Congress. The Marauders also have the extremely rare distinction of having every member of the unit receive the "BRONZE STAR".


Walawbum, Burma
Early March, 1944
Group of Marauders after Battle of Walawbum.
Kneeling, L to R, Wilbur Smalley, "Murphy" Wonsowicz, Johnny Allen.
Standings 2nd from left; Bernard Martin, extreme right; Herby Miyazak

The unit was consolidated with the 475th Infantry on August 10, 1944. On June 21, 1954, the 475th was redesignated the 75th Infantry. It is from the redesignation of Merrill's Marauders into the 75th Infantry Regiment that the modern-day 75th Ranger Regiment traces its current unit designation.

I'd like to thank Marauder.Org for their generous permission to use their graphics on today's thread

[SAMWolf]

BEHIND JAPANESE LINES IN NORTHERN BURMA
By Sgt. DAVE RICHARDSON YANK Staff Correspondent
(from Yank the Army Weekly British Edition Vol 3. No. 14)
Sept. 17 1944

There's been plenty of hocus-pocus in this jungle war ever since Merrill's Marauders first popped up here.

The magic show started within a week of the Marauders' arrival in Burma. The night before their first sneak around Jap strong points, a Jap reconnaissance plane droned over the Marauders' bivouac area. Before they could stamp out all their campfires, the plane had spotted the position.

Nhpum Ga
About april 9, 1944
Marauder, at Nhpum Ga cemertary, checks dog tags of buddy killed in action during the 14 day seige. at Nhpum Ga Hill.

Next morning, when the Marauders pulled out Brig. Gen. Frank D. Merrill ordered a few men to stay behind. For several nights they lit campfires in the original bivouac area. And each night the Jap plane returned to circle the area again, its pilot apparently satisfying himself that whoever was camped there hadn't moved.

Meanwhile the main body of Marauders marched steadily into enemy territory over little used native trails, lighting no fires or even cigarettes after dark. When they finally bumped into startled enemy outposts, they were well behind Jap lines.

The Marauders opened their bag of tricks again during an eight-day battle on a hill named Nhpum Ga. One night a Marauder unit set up part of its perimeter only a stone's throw *am camouflaged Japanese machine-gun positions. Anxious to check on the location of these emplacements, but not wanting to risk men prowling around in the darkness, the Marauders shoved a pack mule out in front of the perimeter and started him walking toward the Japanese.

Lagang Ga-Walawbu, Burma
March 7, 1944
American-Chinese Tank of Battalion attached to Chinese Divisions visits with Marauders after battle of Walawbum. For most men of 5307th, this was only time that an allied tank was seen on 5307th missions.

As the animal rustled through the jungle underbrush, the Japanese figured it was a patrol and opened up with their machine guns, thereby revealing their positions. Next morning the Marauders outflanked the Japanese pocket and wiped it out.

They found the mule lying dead a few feet from one of the machine guns, its hind quarters neatly butchered. The hungry Japanese, cut off from supplies, had eaten Missouri mule steak before dying for the Emperor.

Speaking of animals, the Japanese thought up a slick way to guard themselves against Marauder booby traps along the narrow jungle trails. They sent dogs down the trails ahead of their patrols to trip the booby-trap wires. But a Marauder pioneer

and demolition platoon countered this move by rigging up the traps in relays. After that, when a Japanese dog romped down a trail a dozen yards or so in front of a patrol and tripped a booby-trap wire, nothing happened to the dog, but traps exploded at intervals all the way back down the hill, killing or wounding some of the enemy. Even after the Japanese discovered this trick, there was little they could do about it they had to stick to jungle trails or risk getting host.

Wesu Ga, Burma
Early March, 1944
Men of 2d Battalion, 5307th among bamboo patch in jungle. Japanese is American Nisei acting as interpreter. Note cut off sleeves as concession to heat and humidity. L to R Thomas J. Dalton, T/Sgt. Herbert Miyaski, S/Sgt., Frank Wonsowicz and S/Major Jack Crowley of Orange Combat Team, 5307th.

The old power of suggestion helped beat the Japanese at another stage of the campaign. for several days the Marauders had been trying to break through a pocket of Japanese dug in strongly on a razor-backed ridge along the only trail in the area. The steep sides of the ridge made outflanking next to impossible. The only way to get through was by frontal attack, and this was costing the Marauders a number of casualties. They pounded away with mortars, raked the ridge with machine guns and BARB, and staged one attack after another. But the going was painfully slow a few yards a day.

One night the Marauders decided to try another method. A few men and mules set out on the trail leading up to Marauder forward positions from the rear. The men smoked tell-tale cigarettes, talked in loud voices and jiggled the mule saddles to make plenty of noise. Each time they reached the front, the men doused their cigarettes, turned around and silently withdrew to their starting points. Then they began all over again, keeping it up for three hours.

When the Marauders attacked the ridge again the next day, they pushed through easily. Only a couple of Japanese were still there; the rest had pulled out. They had been fooled into thinking that all the noise and movement of the night before were reinforcements for a big attack. One of the most valuable tricks in the Marauder repertoire was a variation of the Statue of Liberty play in football. It was used in attacking a series of Japanese strong points on high ground.

The CP long-range radio called for air support to soften up the Japanese hill positions. Soon some P-40s came roaring over. Directed by air-ground radio, they went to work on the Japanese, dive-bombing and strafing enemy emplacements on the crest of the hill. After each pass they zoomed up, circled around and attacked again.

JanPan, Burma
March 19, 1944
Supply drop taken in Kachin village because of lack of clear space on top of mountain. A number of chutes landed in trees, requiring tree climbing to retrieve them. Note rugged mountain terrain in background.

The Japanese scrambled down the back of the hill and huddled there for protection while the bombs and tracers chewed up their positions. But as soon as the planes finished their dives and roared away, the Japanese crawled right back up the hill again and resisted the Marauder advance as stubbornly as before. This went on for several days, with the Japanese defending one hill after another in the same way against air and ground attack. All that beautiful air support didn't seem to help much.

Then a Marauder officer suggested the Statue of Liberty play. He radioed the planes to make a few fake passes after they had completed their regular bombing and strafing runs. The pilots dived their ships at the emplacements just as though they were going to let loose with 500 pound bombs or .50 caliber slugs, but they pulled out without doing a thing except scare hell out of the Japanese.

Up the hill came the unsuspecting Japanese to reoccupy their old positions. As soon as the planes began these passes, the forward Marauder platoon rushed up the hill and climbed into the vacated Japanese positions. When the dummy passes ended and the planes went away, the fun began. Up the hill came the unsuspecting Japanese to reoccupy their positions. The Marauders cut them down with automatic-weapons fire.

[SAMWolf]

BEHIND JAPANESE LINES IN NORTHERN BURMA
.By Sgt. DAVE RICHARDSON YANK Staff Correspondent
(from Yank the Army Weekly British Edition Vol 3. No. 16)
Oct. 1 1944

Jap artillery was pounding Merrill's Marauders again. Three weeks before. the enemy guns had sent shells whistling into Marauder positions facing the Walawbum garrison. Two weeks before. a Jap battery had ranged in on the Marauders during their attack on the enemy supply route at Inkangahtawng. One week before, a couple of rapid-fire guns had hammered the Marauders all night after their capture of a section of the Shaduzup-Kamaing road.

And now Jap artillery was concentrated on a unit of Marauders on Nhpum Ga hill. Another Marauder unit was driving through to relieve the outfit the Japs had surrounded.


General Frank D. Merrill flanked by two of his Japanese-language interpreters, Herbie Miyasaki and Akiji Yoshimura. The interpreters cut into Japanese communication lines and slipped close enough to enemy camps to report on the activities and the plans of the 18th Division, who were fighting the Marauders in Burma.

As the 70-mm shell blasts reverberated through the jungles. Maj. Edwin J. Briggs of La Crande, Oreg., CO of the attacking unit, sent for a mule skinner and offered him a new job.

S/Sgt. John A. Acker, the mule skinner, was an ex-mineworker from Bessemer, Ala., who had shipped overseas a year before with a pack howitzer outfit. The outfit had gone to New Guinea. After sitting around for months without going into action, Acker and several others grew restless. When a call was made for animal transportation men to join Merrill's Marauders, they volunteered. That was seven months before.

"Acker," said the major, "I understand you and some of the other mule drivers who used to be in the pack artillery would like to fire some howitzers back at these Japs. Is that right?"

The Alabaman said it was.



"Well, Acker," the major grinned, "this is an emergency. Two 75-mm pack howitzers will be parachuted to us tomorrow. Get two gun crews together and be ready to fire them."

Next day an expectant bunch of mule drivers stood on the airdrop field, watching brilliantly colored parachutes drift lazily down. When the "parachutes hit the ground, the mule skinners became artillerymen again. They grabbed the dismantled howitzers and went to work assembling them. The guns were brand new and clean of cosmoline. Within two hours they were assembled, dug in on the airdrop field and firing.

A mile away the Marauder unit that was driving through Jap machine-gun positions along the trail to Nhpum Ga heard the shells whistle overhead. "What the hell is that?" one rifleman asked another. "Jap artillery behind us, too?" Then a radio message explained that it was Marauder artillery. Soon infantry-directed fire was blasting the strong 'points holding up the rifle platoon.

Two days later Acker and his impromptu artillery crews put their howitzers on mules and climbed the winding trail for three miles. They emplaced their guns on a ridge overlooking the Jap positions between the trapped Marauder unit on Nhpum Ga hill and the attacking unit. While the guns were being set up again T-4 Robert L. Carr of San Luis Obispo, Calif., started for the front as artillery observer with a walkie-talkie.



The point platoon had run smack up against one of the strongest Jap positions yet. This was a perimeter atop a little knoll from which Jap machine gunners commanded a clear field of fire for several hundred feet down the trail. The steep sides of the knoll made flanking difficult. It would have to be taken frontally. The point platoon asked for artillery and mortar support.

Carr, the observer, took his walkie-talkie up to the first squad. "Jap position approximately 700 yards from guns," he radioed, adding the azimuth. 'Fire a smoke shell, and I'll zero you in."

The smoke shell whistled over, followed by a few more as Carr adjusted the firing data. Finally he okayed both range and azimuth. Lacking an aiming circle, the only piece of equipment that was not dropped with the guns, Acker and his men were obliged to use an ordinary infantry compass to gauge azimuth.

The order came to fire five rounds. Up ahead all morning there had been constant mortar, machine-gun and small-arms fire. But as soon as the howitzers opened fire, Jap bullets began singing over the artillerymen's heads. All day the Japs reminded Acker's men that they were firing practically point-blank at 700 yards.

Just after the howitzers fired the five rounds, S/Sgt. Henry E. Hoot of Shepherd, Tex., radioman with the guns, shouted to Acker: "Holy smoke! Some Infantry officer is on the radio. He's excited as hell. Says you're right on the target. And—get this—he wants us to fire 'Battery 100 rounds'."




There's no such order in artillery parlance; actually the correct order for a lot of firing is "Fire at will." Acker chuckled at the order. "Okay, boys," he said. "Open those shell cases fast. Gun crews, prepare to fire at will."

In the Next 15 minutes, the jungle hills rang as the two pack howitzers threw 134 shells into the Jap perimeter. The crews had been a bit slow two days before because they hadn't seen a howitzer in seven months, but now they performed as artillerymen should.

Up front the point platoon drove through They found parts of Jap bodies in trees and all over the ground, virtually blown out of their holes. The dense" jungle had become a clearing under the terrific blasting. A platoon leader going through the area, a few minutes after the barrage. discovered two shivering Japs deep in a foxhole, unhurt but moaning with fear. He killed them with a carbine. Apparently they were the only ones who had survived and stayed in the area. The platoon moved through unopposed.

For the next few days the artillery worked hand in hand with the point platoon in blasting other Jap positions. On one of these days Pvt. John W. (Red) Seegars of Kershaw, S. C.. walked up to the guns with a broad smile. Seegars had been requested by Acker as No. I man on one of the howitzers but because he was a rifleman and was [deeded in the drive, he had not been sent back to the guns. Now Seegars was wounded in the left arm.


Ledo Road, Burma
February, 1944
140 mile march down the Ledo Raod towards combat area ordered to sweat in the pack saddles and to toughing up the men, “separate the men from the boys”

"As a rifleman I can't crawl with this arm wound," said Seegars, "so they sent me back to the aid station for evacuation. But I'm not going. I can still pull a howitzer lanyard with my right arm." Acker was glad to get him.

MEANWHILE Carr. the artillery observer, found things pretty hot at the front. On an advance with a ride platoon, he was pinned down on the side of a hill by Jap machine guns and grenades at the top. Two men were wounded near him. He left the radio and dragged each of them back through the fire to an aid man. Returning to his radio, Carr egged the Japs into revealing their positions by throwing grenades, thus drawing fire on himself. Then he radioed the howitzers to shorten their range and swing their azimuth until the shells burst near a Jap heavy machine gun 30 yards away.

All this time, a Jap dual-purpose antiaircraft gun was throwing 70-mm shells into the midst of the trapped Marauder unit on Nhpum Ga hilt Acker got a liaison plane to spot the ack-ack gun's position. Then the howitzers fired on it all day. At dusk the Jap gun- tried to fire back at the howitzers, but its trajectory was too flat to hit them. The shells either hit an intervening hill or whistled harmlessly high over the artillerymen's heads.

And that morning the Marauder attacking unit broke through to relieve the unit that had been cut off by the Japs for 10 days. Acker and his men, mule skinners no more, fired a salvo to celebrate.

[SAMWolf]

SUCH specialists as clerks and radiomen were pressed into service as mule-drivers with the Marauders to make up for a shortage of experienced animal men. Leading, feeding, watering and grooming the mules turned out to be one of the toughest jobs in the raider outfit.
Passing through the pick-line after a day's march Brig.-Gen. Frank D Merrill came across a sweating grimy-faced mule-driver tenderly combing a mule's back.
"You certainly seem to take good care of your animal," remarked General Merrill. "Had much experience with mules in the states?"
The soldier, Pfc. Casey Turiello, turned his weary face. "No, sir," he said. "But I did see a mule once--on an ice wagon back home in Brooklyn."

ANOTHER mule-driver was having trouble with his animal. It balked at the bottom of a very rugged Burma hill. The driver had to coax, cajole, cuss and tug at his animal constantly. Finally on one hill the mule stopped dead and layed down. This was the last straw.
"Get up, you sonuvabitch," cracked the driver, who had answered President Roosevelt's call to join the volunteer Marauders.
"You volunteered for this mission to."

[SAMWolf]

The State of the Union is Strong!
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[SAMWolf]

Thanks, Doughty!

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Everybody.

Chow time!
NG's and ER's to the front of the line.

Standing Operating Procedures state:
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[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM!

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Harvest Moon

Sidewheel Steam Gunboat
Displacement. 546 t.
Lenght. 193'
Beam. 29'
Draft. 8'
Speed. 15 k.
Armament. 4 24-pdr. how.

HARVEST MOON, a side-wheel steamer, was built in 1863 at Portland, Maine, and was purchased by Commodore Montgomery from Charles Spear at Boston, Mass., 16 November 1863. She was fitted out for blockade duty at Boston Navy Yard and commissioned 12 Februar y 1864, Acting Lieutenant J. D. Warren in command.

Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron HARVEST MOON departed Boston 18 February and arrived off Charleston 25 February 1864. Next day Rear Admiral Dahlgren made the steamer his flagship. After putting into Washington Navy Yard for repairs, HARVEST MOON began her regular blockading duties 7 June 1864 off Charleston. For the next 9 months the steamer served off Tybee Island, the North Edisto River, and Charleston harbor. During this period she also acted as a picket and dispatch vessel as well as Admiral Dahlgren's flagship.

While proceeding in company with tug CLOVER shortly after 0800 on 2 February 1865 HARVEST MOON struck a torpedo (mine) in Winyah Bay S.C. Admiral Dahlgren, awaiting breakfast in his cabin, saw the bulkhead shatter and explode toward him. The explosion blew a large hole in the ship's hull aft and she sank in 2 1/2 fathoms of water. One man was killed. The Admiral, and the crew were taken on board NIPSIC. HARVEST MOON was stripped of her valuable machinery and abandoned 21 April 1865.

In 1963, nearly 100 years later, a project was initiated to raise HARVEST MOON from the mud at the bottom of Winyah Bay and to restore the ship, but has made little headway.

[CholeraJoe]

Good Morning, SAM. Awesome thread.

[SAMWolf]

Saddam Countdown Clock

Thanks to FReeper Floriduh Voter for the link to this Countdown Clock.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather

[SAMWolf]

I would have a hard time keeping a straight face if I had to tell people I served on a ship called the USS Harvest Moon.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Cholera Joe.

Unbelieveable the kind of fighting was done in the China-Burma-India theater

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 18:
1380 Liduina van Schiedam Dutch "Christ's bride"/saint
1483 Raphael painter (Sistine Madonna)
1548 Cornelis Ketel Dutch portrait painter/poet
1556 François-Hercule de Valois French duke of Anjou/Brabant
1578 Adam Elsheimer German painter/cartoonist/etcher, baptized
1609 Frederick III king of Denmark & Norway (1648-70), absolutist
1644 Gottfried Wegner composer
1657 Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni Italian composer
1690 Christian Goldbach German mathematician (Goldbach position)
1734 Joseph Schmitt composer
1756 Johann Christoph Vogel composer
1765 David H Chassé Dutch baron/General (fought Napoleon at Waterloo)
1781 Gustave Vogt composer
1782 John Caldwell Calhoun Abbeville SC, Andrew Jackson's Vice President (1825-32)
1809 Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés [Placido], Cuban poet
1813 Friedrich Hebbel writer
1829 William Robertson Boggs Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1911
1830 Numa D Fustel de Coulanges French historian/sociologist
1837 [Stephen] Grover Cleveland Caldwell NJ, 22nd & 24th President (1885-1889, 1893-1897)
1838 Jan B Stobbaerts Flemish painter
1838 Sir Randal Cremer Britain, trade unionist, pacifist (Nobel 1903)
1839 Francis Fessenden Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1906
1842 Stéphane Mallarmé French poet (L'Après-midi d'un faune)
1843 Jules Vandenpeereboom premier of Belgium (1899)
1844 Nicolai Andreevich Rimski-Korsakov Tikhvin Russia, composer (Flight of the Bumble Bee, Scheherazade)
1848 Nathaniel Herreshoff America Cup yacht designer
1858 Rudolph C K Diesel German engineer (Diesel motor)
1864 Karl M Lybeck Finnish/Swedish language poet (Samlade Arbeten)
1866 Dumitru Kiriac-Georgescu composer
1866 John Loudon Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs (1913-18)
1867 Michael G de Boer historian (Harbor of Amsterdam)
1869 [Arthur] Neville Chamberlain British Prime Minister (C, 1937-40)
1872 Frank Hoyt Losey composer
1877 Clem Hill cricketer (all-time great Australian batsman)
1880 Christopher K H de Nerée tot Babberich cartoonist
1881 Oliver Seibert hall of fame hockey player (elected 1963)
1881 Paul Le Flem composer
1882 Gian Francesco Malipiero composer
1886 Edward Everett Horton Brooklyn NY, actor/narrator (Bullwinkle Show)
1886 Kurt Koffka Germany, Gestalt psychologist
1886 Marianne [Goudeket-]Philips Dutch author (Between Heaven & Earth)
1888 Joseph Csaky Hungarian/French sculptor
1889 F Rijkens oldest living person in Netherlands
1890 Gerardus van der Leeuw Dutch religion historian/minister of Education
1892 Robert P Tristram Coffin poet/reporter (WWII)
1893 Wilfred Owen England, anti-war poet (Anthem for Doomed Youth)
1897 Betty Compson actress (Big City, Docks Of New York)
1898 Otto Jochum composer
1899 Lavrenti Beria chief of Soviet secret police under Stalin
19-- Geoffrey Owens actor (Elvin-Cosby Show)
19-- Jeff LaBar rocker (Cinderella-Heartbreak Station)
19-- Margueritte Ray actress (To Sleep With Anger)
1901 Piotr Perkowski composer
1905 John Kirkpatrick New York NY, pianist (Concord Sonata)
1905 Mollie Parnis New York NY, fashion designer (Mollie Roberts Collection)
1905 Robert Donat Withington Manchester England, actor (Goodbye Mr Chips, Citadel)
1906 Roy L Johnson US Admiral (WWII-Pacific Ocean)
1907 Eleanor L "Betty" Compton US actress (Here Comes Trouble)
1908 Louis Gaste songwriter
1910 Chiang Ching-huo son of Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek
1911 Smiley Burnette Summum IL, cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction)
1913 Margaret Hesse princess of Hesse/Rhine
1913 Rene Clement Bordeaux France, director/writer (Is Paris Burning)
1913 William Hutchinson Murray mountaineer/author
1914 Cesar Guerra Peixe composer
1914 James Pack naval officer museum curator
1915 Richard Thomas Condon author
1916 Louis Toebosch composer
1919 Laila Schou Nilsen Norway, downhill skier (Olympics-gold-1936)
1919 Len Johnson cricketer (Australian fast bowler played Test in 1948)
1920 Eric Halsall sheepdog trial commentator
1920 John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla], Poland, Pope (1978- )
1922 Egon Bahr German journalist/politician
1924 Madhussudan Rege cricketer (15 runs in only Test India vs West Indies 1948-49)
1925 Peter Graves Minneapolis MN, actor (James Phelps-Mission Impossible)
1927 George Plimpton New York NY, sports writer (Paper Lion)
1927 John Harold Kander composer (Cabaret, Funny Lady, Kramer vs Kramer)
1928 Fidel V Ramos President (Philippines)
1928 William R Boggs Georgia, Brigadier General/chief of engineers under Bragg
1929 Christa Wolf German novelist (Divided Heaven)
1929 Ctirad Kohoutek composer
1929 Kai Winding rocker
1930 Maurice Peress New York NY, conductor (Kansas City Philharmonic 1974-80)
1931 Howard Coble (Representative-Republican-NC, 1985- )
1932 F[rederik] W[illem] de Klerk President South Africa (1989-94)
1932 John Updike Shillington PA, poet/novelist (A Month of Sundays, Brazil, The Centaur, Rabbit Run)
1933 Unita Blackwell 1st black mayor in Mississippi
1934 Pavle Despalj composer
1936 Hans Peter Bleuel writer (Sex and Society in Nazi Germany)
1936 Robert Lee Smith US singer (Tams, You Lied to Your Daddy)
1936 Tony Nash England, bobsled (Olympics-gold-1964)
1937 Mark Donohue auto racer (1972 Indianapolis 500)
1937 Robin Wright race horse trainer
1938 Carl Gottlieb comedian (Ken Berry Wow Show)
1938 Charley Pride Sledge MS, country singer (Just Between You And Me, Sweet Country)
1938 Shashi Kapoor Calcutta India, actor (Shalimar, Heat & Dust)
1939 Travis Pritchett rocker (Travis & Bob)
1940 Kathy Hutchinson race horse trainer
1941 Wilson Pickett Prattville AL, R&B singer (Funky Broadway)
1941 Wolfgang Bauer writer
1942 Ann Packer England, 800 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1964)
1943 Kevin Dobson Jackson Heights NY, actor (Kojak, Knots Landing, Shannon)
1945 Aleksey Vakhonin USSR, bantam weight (Olympics-gold-1964)
1945 Eric Woolfson Glasgow Scotland, composer/musician (Alan Parsons Project, Woolfson Entertainment Group)
1946 Michael Reagan talk show host, Ronald's son
1947 Barry Wilson England, rock drummer (Procol Harum-Whiter Shade of Pale)
1947 David Lloyd cricketer (England opener, 214 vs India 1974)
1947 Robert Harrison rocker (Procol Harum-Whiter Shade of Pale)
1947 Steven H Schiff (Representative-Republican-NM)
1948 Eknath Solkar cricketer (India 1969-77, brilliant short-leg fielder)
1949 Alex "Hurricane" Higgins Irish snooker player (2X world-champion)
1949 Starr Danias New York NY, ballerina (Turning Point)
1950 Brad Dourif Huntington WV, actor (Ragtime, Eyes of Laura Mars, Fatal Beauty)
1950 James Conlon New York NY, conductor (Cincinnati May Festival-1979)
1950 John Hartman Falls Church VA, rock drummer (Doobie Brothers-Taking it to the Streets)
1953 Helmer C Koetje Dutch 2nd chamber member (CDA)
1953 Jamie West-Oram rocker (Fixx)
1953 Margaret L Augustine Buffalo NY, project manager (Biosphere 2)
1953 Nicholas Wisdom cricketer (son of comic Norman, 2 games Sussex 1974)
1954 James F Reilly II Mount Home AFB ID, PhD/astronaut (STS 89)
1955 Graham Porter cricketer (1 day international for Australia 1979)
1956 "The Model" Rick Martel [Richard Vignault], wrestler (WWF/AWA)
1956 Ingamar Stenmark Sweden, slalom (Olympics-2 gold-1980)
1957 Christer Fuglesang Stockholm Sweden, physicist/astronaut (Mir backup)
1957 Melvin Gentry vocalist/guitarist (Midnight Star-No Parking)
1958 Andreas Wenzel Liechtenstein, skier (Olympics-silver-1980)
1959 Irene Cara Bronx New York NY, actress/singer (Fame, DC Cab, Certain Fury)
1960 Claudia Udy Albuquerque NM, actress (Out of Control, Nightforce)
1960 Guy Carbonneau Sept-Iles Québec Canada, NHL center (Dallas Stars)
1960 Patricia Farinelli Los Angeles CA, playmate (December, 1981)
1960 Richard Biggs Columbus OH, actor (Marcus-Days of Our Lives)
1961 Kevan James cricketer (all-rounder 4 wickets/4 balls & ton vs India 1996)
1961 Mark Van Thillo Wilrijk Belgium, co-captain (Biosphere 2)
1961 Todd Nelson Dalles OR, tennis star
1962 Thomas Ian Griffith actor (Vampires, Catlin-Another World)
1962 Trevor Franklin cricketer (opened for New Zealand mid-80's)
1963 Vanessa L Williams Tarrytown NY, 1st black Miss America (1984)/singer (Colors of the Wind)/actress (Eraser)
1964 Bonnie Blair Champaign IL, speed skater (Olympics-5 gold/bronze-88, 92, 94)
1964 Christina Ferguson Phoenix AZ, playmate (April 1983)
1965 Geronimo Berroa Santo Domingo Dominican Republic, outfielder (Oakland A's)
1965 Jeff Labarr rocker (Cinderella-Heartbreak Station)
1966 Jerry Cantrell US rock guitarist (Alice in Chains-Dirt)
1967 Andre Rison NFL wide receiver (Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs)
1967 Derrick Graham NFL tackle (Green Bay Packers, Car Panthers, Seat Seahawks)
1968 Joseph Ouellet hockey forward (Team France 1998)
1968 Pat Terrell NFL strong safety (Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers)
1969 Michael Dumas NFL free safety (San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars)
1969 Shaun Udal cricketer (Hants off-spinner, England tourist to Australia 1994-95)
1969 Sheila Taormina 4X200 meter freestyle swimmer (Olympics-gold-96)
1970 Michael Rapaport actor (Zak-Zebrahead)
1970 Queen Latifah [Dana Owens] Newark NJ, rap singer/actress (Khadijah James-Living Single)
1970 Sarah Thorsett Winona MN, 1.5k runner
1971 Mariaan de Swardt Johannesburg, tennis star (1996 3rd round Australia)
1973 Marlon Kerner NFL cornerback (Buffalo Bills)
1973 Rob Johnson NFL quarterback (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1974 Petra Kamstra Rotterdam Holland, tennis star (1995 Surabaya doubles)
1974 Tina Krizan Maribor Slovenia, tennis star (1995 Surabaya doubles)
1974 Torrian Gray safety (Minnesota Vikings)
1975 Claude N'Goran Adzope Ivory Coast, tennis pro
1975 Kimmo Timonen hockey defenseman (Team Finland Olympics-Bronze-1998)
1978 Dionne Bainbridge Brisbane Queensland Australia, New Zealand 200 meter swimmer (Olympics-96)
1996 ? son of woman in coma raped by John Horace

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Deaths which occurred on March 18:
978 St Edward the Martyr king of Anglo-Saxons (975-78) dies
0235 Marcus Aurelius Alexander Syrian emperor of Rome (222-235), murdered
0978 Edward the Martyr, King of Anglo-Saxons (975-78)/st, murdered at 15
1227 Honorius III [Cencio Savelli], Pope (1216-27), dies
1314 Jacques De Molay the last grand master of Order of Knights, dies
1493 John of Lannoy Flemish Governor/viceroy of Netherlands/Zealand, dies at 82
1582 Jean Jaurequi Basque murderer of Willem of Orange, lynched
1584 Ivan IV the terrible, Russian tsar (1547-84), dies at 53
1690 Charles duke of Lutherans, dies
1745 Robert Walpole 1st English premier (1722-42), dies at 68
1768 Lawrence Sterne writer (Sentimental Journey France & Italy), dies
1799 John Randall composer, dies at 82
1816 Johann Paul Schulthesius composer, dies at 67
1817 Johann Jakob Walder composer, dies at 67
1823 Jean-Baptiste Sebastien Breval composer, dies at 69
1870 Joaquin y Garbayo Gaztambide composer, dies at 48
1875 Ferdinand Laub composer, dies at 43
1876 F Freiligrath writer, dies at 65
1882 Morgan Earp brother of Wyatt Earp, shot and killed while playing billiards in Tombstone
1886 Leopold Zunz German intellect (Synagogue Poetry), dies at 91
1889 William Henry Monk composer, dies at 66
1899 Douglas Strutt Galton English engineer (rails, trains), dies at 76
1899 Svetolik Rankovic Serbian writer (Crushed Ideals), dies at 35
1900 António Nobre Portuguese poet (Só [Lonely]), dies at 32
1913 George I king of Greece (1861-1913), assassinated by Schinas at 67
1917 William Shalders South African cricket batsman (12 Tests 1895-1907), dies
1918 Willem Coenen composer, dies at 80
1924 John Frederick Bridge composer, dies at 79
1928 Paul van Ostaijen Flemish writer (Outlawed), dies at 32
1933 Luigi A duke of the Abruzzi Italian explorer (Ruwenzori), dies at 60
1936 Egon Friedell Austrian journalist (Kleine Portratgalerie), dies at 58
1938 Cyril Rootham composer, dies at 62
1944 Benjamin Delmonte theater director/actor, dies at 79
1954 Walter Mead cricketer (one Test for England 1899), dies
1956 Friedrich Panzer German germanist (Hilde-Gudrun), dies at 85
1956 Louis Bromfield writer, dies at 59
1964 Norbert Wiener US mathematician (cybernetics), dies at 69
1965 Farouk I last King of Egypt (1936-52), dies at 45
1967 Jimmy Blaine singer (Stop the Music), dies at 42
1968 Manuel Gomez Carillo composer, dies at 85
1969 Barbara Bates actress (Kathy-It's a Great Life), dies at 43
1971 George Wood England cricket wicketkeeper (v South Africa 1924), dies
1973 Lauritz L H Melchior Danish baritone/actor (Luxury Liner), dies at 82
1974 David C Imboden actor (King of Kings), dies at 87
1976 James McCartney father of Paul McCartney, dies at 73
1976 Robert de Roos composer, dies at 69
1977 Marien Ngouabi President of Congo-Brazzaville, murdered
1978 Faith Baldwin US author (They Who Love), dies at 84
1978 Peggy Wood actress (One Life to Live, Mama), dies at 86
1980 Erich Fromm German/US psychoanalyst, dies at 79
1980 Herman Griffith cricketer (13 Tests for West Indies, 44 wickets), dies
1982 Georg G Lampe Dutch painter/director (Free Academy), dies at 60
1983 Umberto of Piemonte King Umberto II of Italy (1946), dies
1984 Charlie Lau White Sox coach/renowned hitting instructor, dies at 50
1984 Paul Frances Webster lyricist, dies of Parkinson's disease at 76
1985 Jack Miller orchestra leader (Kate Smith Evening Hour), dies at 89
1986 Bernard Malamud US writer (Fixer, Natural), dies at 71
1987 Bil Baird puppeteer (Jack Paar Show), dies at 82
1989 Piet Kruiver Dutch soccer player, dies at 51
1989 William Challee actor (Desperate, Moonchild), dies
1990 Robin Harris actor (House Party, Mo' Better Blues), dies at 36
1991 Jack McCoy Radio/TV personality, dies at 72
1991 Vilma Banky actress (Eagle, Son of Sheik, Rebel), dies at 93
1992 Cornelis B Vaandrager [C Vaan], poet (Giant of Rotterdam), dies at 56
1995 Charles Drain singer, dies at 65
1995 Frederic Ramsey Jr folklorist/author, dies at 80
1995 Heinrich Sutermeister Swiss composer (Raskolnikov), dies at 84
1996 Alepoude Odysseus Elytis llis poet, dies at 84
1996 Hawkes Jessie Jacquetta Priestley archaeologist, dies at 85
1997 ? raped comatose woman who bore a child 1 year earlier, dies at 30
1997 Willem de Kooning (abstract artist) dead Alzheimer's at 92

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On this day...
0417 St Zosimus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0731 St Gregory III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1123 1st Latern Council (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1167 Battle of El-Babein, Egypt: Franks under Amalrik vs Syrians
1190 Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds England
1229 German emperor Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem
1438 Albrecht II von Habsburg becomes king of Germany
1509 Emperor Maximilian I names Margaretha land guardians of Netherlands
1532 English parliament bans payments by English church to Rome
1543 Hernan de Soto observes 1st recorded flood in America (Mississippi River)
1582 Prince Willem of Orange injured in attack at Antwerp
1583 Dutch States General & Anjou sign treaty
1673 Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers
1754 Duke of Newcastle becomes English premier
1766 British Parliament reinstitutes the Stamp Act
1773 Oliver Goldsmith' "She Stoops to Conquer" premieres in London
1793 2nd Battle at Neerwinden: Austria army beats France
1810 "Converse", 1st US opera, premieres in New York
1813 David Melville, Newport RI, patents apparatus for making coal gas
1818 Congress approves 1st pensions for government service
1834 1st railroad tunnel in US completed, in Pennsylvania (275 meter long)
1835 Charles Darwin departs Santiago Chile on his way to Portillo Pass
1847 1st Dutch public telegram
1850 Henry Wells & William Fargo forms American Express in Buffalo
1858 Dutch Van der Brugghen government resigns
1859 Vera Cruz besieged by Miramón (Cons) in Mexican War of Reform
1864 Dale Dike on Humber River crumbles drowning some 240
1865 Battle of Wilson's raid to Selma AL
1865 Congress of Confederate States of American adjourns for last time
1870 1st US National Wildlife Preserve (Lake Meritt in Oakland CA)
1871 Communards revolt in Paris France
1877 President Hayes appoints Frederick Douglass marshal of Washington DC
1881 [PT] Barnum & [James A] Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opens (Madison Square Garden)
1890 1st US state naval militia organized (Massachusetts)
1891 Britain is linked to the continent by Telephone
1892 Lord Stanley proposes silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup)
1895 200 blacks leave Savannah GA for Liberia
1899 Phoebe, a moon of Saturn is discovered by Pickering
1900 Ajax (Amsterdam Football Club), forms
1902 Enrico Caruso becomes 1st well-known performer to make a record
1902 Schönberg's "Verklärte Nacht" premieres in Vienna
1904 1st performance of Edward Elgar's "In the South (Alassio)"
1909 Einar Dessau of Denmark makes 1st ham broadcast
1910 1st opera by an US composer (Converse) performed at the Met, New York NY
1911 North Dakota enacts a hail insurance law
1914 White Wolf gang beats government army in Jingdezhen China
1915 Failed British attack in Dardanelles
1915 French battleship Bouvet explodes, 640 killed
1915 Turkey's Canakkale (Trojan) Sea Victory against allied powers(USA, Australia, England, Italy) during First World War
1918 Soccer team SON OF Meerssen forms
1918 Socialist Youth AJC organizes in Amsterdam
1919 Order of DeMolay is established in Kansas City
1920 Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar
1921 2nd Peace of Riga, Poland enlarged
1921 Steamer "Hong Kong" runs aground off Swatow China killing 1,000
1922 1st intercollegiate indoor polo championship (Princeton vs Yale)
1922 British magistrates in India sentence Mohandas K Gandhi to 6 years for disobedience
1922 WBT-AM in Charlotte NC begins radio transmissions
1925 (8) 60-MPH tornadoes speed through Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, & Tennessee kill 689
1929 Dmitri Shostakovich's "The New Babylon" premieres in Leningrad
1930 Boston Bruins win record 20th NHL home game
1930 Pluto discovered by Clyde Tombaugh (US)
1931 1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick)
1931 Juan Bautista Aznar becomes premier of Spain
1933 Radio Clube de Mocambique's, 1st radio transmission
1933 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Maribel Vinson
1933 US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Roger Turner
1937 Gas explosion in school in New London TX; 296 die
1938 New York 1st requires serological blood tests of pregnant women
1938 President Cardena of Mexico nationalizes US & British oil companies
1940 Mussolini joins Hitler in Germany's war against France & Britain
1942 2 black players, Jackie Robinson & Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox, they are allowed to work out
1942 Illegal Free Netherlands announces boycott of theaters
1943 James Oglethorpe (US) & Terkolei (Netherlands), torpedoed & sinks
1943 Red Army evacuates Belgorod
1944 2,500 women trample guards & floorwalkers to purchase 1,500 alarm clocks announced for sale in a Chicago IL department store
1944 Nazi Germany occupies Hungary
1945 1,250 US bombers attacks Berlin
1945 Maurice "Rocket" Richard becomes the 1st NHLer to score 50 goals
1945 US Task Force 58 attacks targets on Kiushu
1948 France & Great Britain & Benelux sign Treaty of Brussels
1948 Philips begin experimental TV broadcasting
1949 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ratified
1949 WGAL TV channel 8 in Lancaster PA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1950 "Touch & Go" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 176 performances
1950 CCNY beats Bradley 69-61 for the NIT championship
1951 Pat O'Sullivan wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship
1952 1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia)
1952 Communist offensive in Korea
1953 15th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Kansas 69-68
1953 Earthquake strikes West Turkey, 250 die
1953 KGNC (now KAMR) TV channel 4 in Amarillo TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 National League approves Boston Braves move to Milwaukee (1st shift since 1903)
1955 I Hatojama recognized as premier of Japan
1957 WTWV (now WTVA) TV channel 9 in Tupelo-Columbus MS (NBC) begins
1958 Dodgers announces mascot/clown Emmett Kelly will not perform in 1958
1959 Boston Celtics' Bill Sharman begins record of 56 straight free-throws
1959 President Dwight D Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill
1961 Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced
1962 Algerian War ends after 7½ years of fighting (250,000 die), Ben Bella flees
1962 Dmitri Shostakovich becomes member of Supreme Soviet of USSR
1963 "Tovarich" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 264 performances
1963 France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria
1963 Supreme Court's Miranda Decision: defendants must have lawyers
1963 WGSF TV channel 31 in Newark OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1965 "Do I Hear a Waltz?" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 220 performances
1965 Rolling Stones fined £5 each for public urination
1965 USSR launches Voshkod 2; Alexei Leonov makes 1st spacewalk (20 minutes)
1966 "Pousse Cafe" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 3 performances
1966 General Suharto forms government in Indonesia
1966 Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1
1967 Beatles' "Penny Lane" single goes #1
1967 Oil tanker Torrey Canyon hits a rock off the Isles of Scilly Cornwall UK & spills oil
1968 Congress repeals requirement for a gold reserve
1968 WVER TV channel 28 in Rutland VT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 WVTA TV channel 41 in Windsor VT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1969 "Come Summer" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 7 performances
1970 Cambodia military coup under General Lon Nol, prince Sihanuk flees
1970 KAEC TV channel 19 in Lufkin TX (ABC) suspends broadcasting
1970 Mail service paralyzed by 1st major postal strike
1970 NFL selects Wilson as official football & scoreboard as official time
1971 200 die in landslide into Lake Yanahuani, Chungar Peru
1972 AIAW 1st basketball championship, Immaculata beats West Chester State 52-48
1972 Cornell NCAA hockey team shut out for 1st time in 225 games (Boston University)
1972 Memphis' Larry Miller sets ABA record of 67 points in a game
1972 People's Rebublic of China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor People's Rebublic of China
1973 "Seesaw" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 296 performances
1973 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic
1974 Most Arab oil producing nations end embargo against US
1975 Kurds end fight against Iraqi army
1977 Clash releases their 1st recording "White Riot"
1977 US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, N Korea & Cambodia
1977 Vietnam hands over MIA to US
1978 250,000 attend rock concert California Jam II in Ontario CA
1978 Pakistani former premier Ali Bhutto sentenced to death
1979 "On the 20th Century" closes at St James Theater NYC after 460 performances
1979 Battles between Kurds & Iranians break in Sananday Iran
1979 Joanne Carner wins LPGA Honda Civic Golf Classic
1980 Vostok rocket exploded on launch pad while being refueled, killing 50
1981 Buffalo Sabres sets NHL record of 9 goals in 1 period (vs Toronto)
1982 Singer Teddy Pendergrass' spinal cord severed in a car accident
1984 Chris Johnson wins LPGA Tucson Conquistadores Golf Open
1985 Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Willie Mays & Mickey Mantle
1985 Capital Cities Communications Inc acquires ABC
1986 Exciting draw in final gives New South Wales the Sheffield Shield over Queensland
1986 Treasury Department announces plans to alter paper money
1987 Gerber survey find most popular names for newborns (Jessica & Matthew)
1987 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1989 27th space shuttle mission, STS-29 (Discovery 8), returns to Earth
1989 California Quake amusement ride opens at Universal Studios
1989 Dino Ciccarelli sets Washington Capital record of 7 points in a game
1989 Investor group led by George W Bush & Edward W Rose purchases controlling interest of Texas Rangers
1990 1st free elections in German Democratic Republic, Conservatives beat Communists
1990 32-day lockout by baseball owners ends
1990 A Tampa little leaguer, dies, after being struck by a pitch
1990 Colleen Walker wins Circle K Tucson LPGA Golf Open
1990 Largest Art robbery in the history (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston), where 12 paintings valued at $100 million are stolen
1990 Loyola Marymount beats Michigan Wolverines 149-115, highest NCAA score
1991 Apple computer head Steve Jobs weds Laurene Powell
1991 Mike Tyson beats Razor Ruddock in the 7th round
1991 Philadelphia '76ers retire Wilt Chamberlain's #13 jersey
1991 Reggie Miller (Indiana) ends NBA free throw streak of 52 games
1992 "4 Baboons Adoring the Sun" opens at Beaumont Theater NYC for 38 performances
1992 Donna Summer gets a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame
1992 Leona Helmsley sentence to 4 years for tax evasion
1992 Zimbabwe beat England by 9 runs in World Cup at Albury
1993 "Sisters Rosensweig" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 556 performances
1993 Amsterdam stock exchange hits record ƒ12.2 billion
1993 Eddie Murphy marries Nicole Mitchell in NYC
1993 Sri Lanka beat England in Test match by 5 wickets
1994 South Africa Goldstone committee reveals existence of secret police
1994 Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16), lands
1994 Zsa Zsa Gabor files for bankruptcy
1995 Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17 month NBA retirement
1995 Spanish princess Elena (31) weds Jaime de Marichalar y Saenez Tejada
1995 STS 67 (Endeavour 8) lands after 16½ days
1996 50,000 swimmers raise 15 million for charity during BT's Swimathon '96
1997 Russian AN-24 plane crashes in Turkey, 50 die

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

Aruba, Haiti : Flag Day/National Holiday
Haiti : University Day
Ireland : Sheelah's Day
Wilmington NC : Peanut Festival
Masons : De Molay Day (1314)

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Religious Observances
Christian : St Anselm
Roman Catholic, Anglican : Memorial of St Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop & doctor (optional)

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Religious History
1123 The First Lateran Council opened in Rome. It was the Ninth Ecumenical Council, and the first one to be held in the West. Lateran I settled the right of investiture (i.e., the right to choose replacement clergy) by a treaty between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.
1314 39 French Knights Templars were burned at the stake. Most church history experts agree that these and other hostilities shown against the Knights Templars were caused by the greed and cunning of Philip the Fair, who sought the great wealth this medieval military religious order had amassed in the enturies following the Crusades.
1673 Lord Berkeley of England sold his half of the American colony of New Jersey to the Quakers.
1767 Anglican clergyman and hymn writer John Newton wrote in a letter: 'The more you know him, the better you will trust him; the more you trust him, the better you will love him; the more you love him, the better you will serve him.'
1861 The Metropolitan Tabernacle first opened in London. It was the church at which famed English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon pastored.

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Thought for the day :
" Even a hawk is an eagle among crows. "

[SpookBrat]

Cool picture aomagrat.

[SpookBrat]

SAM, I've got a bunch of paper work to get done immediately, but I'll be back in a bit to read this thread. It looks great as always.

I had to take a moment to let my friends know Tim got a job in Nashville yesterday. He started yesterday afternoon. We won't be moving just (yet), and hopefully never. It's a 5 month contract. I'm very excited and happy for him. Thanks for all the support you guys. I love you all a lot.

[Valin]

He's one of the biggies.

Coming up on 34 hrs.