March 261026 - Conrad II was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XIX. 1799 - Napoleon captured Jaffa Palestine. 1780 - The British Gazette and Sunday Monitor was published for the first time. It was the first Sunday newspaper in Britain. 1793 - The Holy Roman Emperor formally declared war on France. 1804 - The U.S. Congress ordered the removal of Indians east of the Mississippi to Louisiana. 1804 - The Louisiana Purchase was divided into the District of Louisiana and the Territory of Orleans. 1854 - Charles III, duke of Parma, was attacked by an assassin. He died the next day. 1871 - The Paris Commune was formally set up. 1878 - Hastings College of Law was founded. 1885 - Eastman Kodak (Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co.) produced the first commercial motion picture film in Rochester, NY. 1898 - In South Africa, the world's first game reserve, the Sabi Game reserve, was designated. 1909 - Russian troops invaded Persia to support Muhammad Ali as shah in place of the constitutional government. 1910 - The U.S. Congress passed an amendment to the 1907 Immigration Act that barred criminals, paupers, anarchists and carriers of disease from settling in the U.S. 1913 - During the Balkan War, the Bulgarians took Adrianople. 1917 - At the start of the battle of Gaza, the British cavalry withdrew when 17,000 Turks blocked their advance. 1937 - Spinach growers in Crystal City, TX, erected a statue of Popeye. 1938 - Herman Goering warned all Jews to leave Austria. 1942 - The Germans began sending Jews to Auschwitz in Poland. 1945 - The battle of Iwo Jima ended. 1945 - In the Aleutians, the battle of Komandorski began when the Japanese attempted to reinforce a garrison at Kiska and were intercepted by a U.S. naval force. 1951 - The U.S. Air Force flag was approved. The flag included the coat of arms, 13 white stars and the Air Force seal on a blue background. 1953 - Dr. Jonas Salk announced a new vaccine that would prevent poliomyelitis. 1956 - Red Buttons made his debut as a television actor in "Studio One" on CBS television. 1958 - The U.S. Army launched America's third successful satellite, Explorer III. 1962 - The U.S. Supreme Court supported the 1-man-1-vote apportionment of seats in the State Legislature. 1969 - The TV movie "Marcus Welby" was seen on ABC-TV. It was later turned into a series. 1971 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared East Pakistan to be the independent republic of Bangladesh. 1971 - "Cannon" premiered on CBS-TV as a movie. It was turned into a series later in the year. 1972 - The Los Angeles Lakers broke a National Basketball Association (NBA) record by winning 69 of their 82 games. 1973 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat took over the premiership and said "the stage of total confrontation (with Israel) has become inevitable." 1973 - Women were allowed on the floor of the London Stock Exchange for the first time. 1979 - The Camp David treaty was signed by Israel and Egypt that ended the 31-year state of war between the countries. 1981 - In Great Britain, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) gained official recognition. 1982 - Ground breaking ceremonies were held in Washington, DC, for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 1983 - The U.S. performed a nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site. 1989 - The first free elections took place in the Soviet Union. Boris Yeltsin was elected. 1991 - The presidents of Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Uruguay signed an agreement that established the Southern Cone Common Market, a free-trade zone, by January 1, 1995. 1992 - In Indianapolis, heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was found guilty of rape. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison. He only served three. 1995 - Seven of the 15 European Union states abolished border controls. 1996 - The International Monetary Fund approved a $10.2 billion loan for Russia to help the country transform its economy. 1997 - The 39 bodies of Heaven's Gate members are found in a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. The group had committed suicide thinking that they would be picked up by a spaceship following behind the comet Hale-Bopp. 1998 - In the U.S., the Federal government endorses new HIV test that yields instant results. 1998 - Unisys Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. pay a $3.15 million fine for selling spare parts at inflated prices to the U.S. federal government. 1999 - The macro virus "Melissa" was reported for the first. 1999 - In Michigan, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a terminally ill man a lethal injection and putting it all on videotape on September 17, 1998 for "60 Minutes." 2000 - The Seattle Kingdome was imploded to make room for a new football arena. 2000 - In Russia, acting President Vladimir Putin was elected president outright. He won a sufficient number of votes to avoid a runoff election. 2007 - The design for the "Forever Stamp" was unveiled by the U.S. Postal Service. |