This Day in History

[DanaC]

1872 – Illinois becomes the first state to require gender equality in employment.

Wow, that was ahead of the curve.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes ahead of the curve, Dana, but when did they start enforcing it?

1306 – Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scots (Scotland).

Ah, one of my forebearers. One of the many dead ones.

[Gravdigr]

Almost all of mine are dead, dead I tell ya.

[Gravdigr]

March 26

Today the U.S. state of Hawaii celebrates Prince Kuhio Day, one of only two holidays in the U.S. to commemorate royalty (the other is also a Hawaiian holiday, King Kamehameha Day).

Today is also Purple Day in Canadia and the U.S..


Events

590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Some people call him Maurice, because he speaks of the pompitous of love.

1169 – Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt.

1351 – Combat of the Thirty: Thirty Breton knights call out and defeat thirty English knights. Shouldn't that be the Combat of the Sixty, then?

1484 – William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop's Fables.

1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term "gerrymander" to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.

1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.

1934 – The United Kingdom driving test is introduced.

1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American forces.

1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Romeo shot of Operation Castle is detonated at Bikini Atoll. Yield: 11 megatons.

1965 - Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman all received electric shocks from a faulty microphone on stage during a Rolling Stones show in Denmark. Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious for several minutes.

1967 – Ten thousand people gather for one of many Central Park be-ins in New York City.

1970 - Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary pleaded guilty to 'taking immoral liberties' with a 14 year old girl in Washington D.C. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months in jail.

1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.

1979 – Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C..

1981 – Social Democratic Party (UK) is founded as a party.

1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, D.C..

1997 – Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven's Gate mass suicides.

2005 – The BBC broadcasts "Rose" (starring Christopher Eccleston), the first returning episode Doctor Who, after its cancellation in 1989. It is now the world's longest running science fiction drama.

Births

1860 – André Prévost, 1874 – Robert Frost ("...and miles to go before I sleep"), 1875 – Syngman Rhee (1st President of South Korea), 1879 – Othmar Ammann (designed the George Washington Bridge and Verrazano–Narrows Bridge), 1881 – Guccio Gucci, 1898 – Rudolf Dassler (founded Puma athletic wear), 1911 – Tennessee Williams, 1914 – William Westmoreland, 1916 – Sterling Hayden (Johnny Guitar, The Asphalt Jungle, The Killing (1956)), 1917 – Rufus Thomas♪ ♫, 1919 – Strother Martin ("What we've got here, is a failure to communicate..."), 1923 – Bob Elliott (Bob & Ray), 1929 – Edwin Turney (co-founded Advanced Micro Devices(AMD)), 1930 – Sandra Day O'Connor, 1931 – Leonard Nimoy, 1934 – Alan Arkin, 1935 – Mahmoud Abbas, 1938 – Norman Ackroyd, 1940 – James Caan, 1940 – Nancy Pelosi, 1941 – Richard Dawkins, 1942 – Erica Jong, 1943 – Bob Woodward, 1944 – Diana Ross♪ ♫, 1946 – Johnny Crawford (The Rifleman's son), 1948 – Richard Tandy(ELO), 1948 – Steven Tyler♪ ♫(Aerosmith), 1949 – Vicki Lawrence (The Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family), 1949 – Fran Sheehan(Boston), 1950 – Teddy Pendergrass♪ ♫, 1950 – Martin Short, 1953 – Elaine Chao, 1954 – Curtis Sliwa (founded Guardian Angels), 1956 – Charly McClain♪ ♫, 1957 – Leeza Gibbons, 1959 – Chris Hansen, 1960 – Marcus Allen (1st NFL player to gain more than 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards, only NFL player to have won a Heisman Trophy, an NCAA National Championship, a Super Bowl, and be named NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP), 1960 – Jennifer Grey, 1966 – Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos, Good Fellas, High Roller: The Stu Unger Story), 1968 – Kenny Chesney♪ ♫, 1968 – James Iha♪ ♫(The Smashing Pumpkins), 1973 – Larry Page (co-founded Google), 1973 – T. R. Knight (Grey's Anatomy), 1984 – Sara Jean Underwood(Playmate), 1985 – Keira Knightley (English twig)

Deaths

1776 – Samuel Ward, 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, 1892 – Walt Whitman, 1932 – Henry M. Leland (founded Cadillac and Lincoln), 1959 – Raymond Chandler (created detective Philip Marlowe), 1973 – Noël Coward, 1990 – Halston, 1996 – Edmund Muskie, 1996 – David Packard (co-founded Hewlett-Packard), 2002 – Randy Castillo(Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford, Mötley Crüe), 2003 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, 2006 – Paul Dana, 2011 – Geraldine Ferraro

[xoxoxoBruce]

1934 – The United Kingdom driving test is introduced.

So Carruthers got his license without testing!

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

So Carruthers got his license without testing!

I shall be instructing Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel first thing tomorrow morning.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Bwahahahahahahaha.