March 21
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). It is also the first day of the astrological year. There are 285 days remaining.
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Contents |
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Events
- 1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake.
- 1788 - A fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans and leaves most of the town in ruins.
- 1800 - With the church leadership driven out of the Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
- 1801 - The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.
- 1804 - Code Napoléon was adopted as French civil law.
- 1857 - Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000.
- 1871 - Journalist Henry Morton Stanley began his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.
- 1919 - The Chinese High School is established in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee.
- 1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins
- 1928 - Charles Lindbergh is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
- 1935 - Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, which means 'Land of the Aryans'.
- 1940 - Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma
- 1952 - Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
- 1960 - Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180
- 1963 - Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes.
- 1964 - In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Non ho l'età" (I'm not old enough).
- 1965 - Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9 which is the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.
- 1965 - Martin Luther King Jr leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama.
- 1970 The first Earth Day proclamation was issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
- 1970 - Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the "agony of defeat guy" in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports.
- 1970 - In Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dana wins the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "All Kinds of Everything".
- 1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
- 1980 - On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
- 1985 - Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
- 1989 - Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling.
- 1990 - Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
- 1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
- 2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
- 2004 - In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority.
- 2005 - In Red Lake, Minnesota, 10 are killed in a school shooting, the worst since the Columbine High School massacre.
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Births
- 1521 - Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1553)
- 1527 - Hermann Finck, German composer (d. 1558)
- 1685 - Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer (d. 1750)
- 1713 - Francis Lewis, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1803)
- 1763 - Jean Paul, German writer (d. 1825)
- 1768 - Joseph Fourier, French mathematician (d. 1830)
- 1806 - Benito Juárez, Mexican statesman and national hero (d. 1872)
- 1839 - Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Russian composer (d. 1881)
- 1869 - Florenz Ziegfeld, theatrical producer (d. 1932)
- 1876 - John Tewksbury, American athlete (d. 1968)
- 1882 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor (d. 1971)
- 1895 - Zlatko Baloković, Croatian violinist (d. 1955)
- 1901 - Karl Arnold, German politician (d. 1958)
- 1902 - Son House, American musician (d. 1988)
- 1904 - Forrest Mars Sr., American candymaker (d. 1999)
- 1906 - Jim Thompson, American designer and businessman
- 1913 - George Abecassis, English race car driver (d. 1991)
- 1920 - Georg Ots, Estonian singer (d. 1975)
- 1921 - Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist (d. 1986)
- 1922 - Russ Meyer, American film director and producer (d. 2004)
- 1923 - Shri Mataji Nirmala Shrivastava, Indian founder of Sahaja Yoga
- 1927 - Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician
- 1932 - Walter Gilbert, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1932 - Joseph Silverstein, American violinist and conductor
- 1930 - James Coco, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1934 - Al Freeman, Jr., American actor
- 1935 - Brian Clough, English footballer and football manager (d. 2004)
- 1940 - Solomon Burke, American singer
- 1943 - Vivian Stanshall, British musician (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band)
- 1945 - Rose Stone, American musician (Sly & the Family Stone)
- 1946 - Timothy Dalton, British actor
- 1956 - Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
- 1958 - Sabrina Le Beauf, American actress
- 1958 - Gary Oldman, English actor
- 1959 - Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese composer
- 1960 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
- 1961 - Lothar Matthäus, German footballer
- 1962 - Matthew Broderick, American actor
- 1962 - Rosie O'Donnell, American comedienne, actress, talk show host, and publisher
- 1963 - Ronald Koeman, Dutch footballer and football manager
- 1967 - Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Swedish musician (Ace of Base)
- 1975 - Justin Pierce, British actor (d. 2000)
- 1975 - Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player
- 1976 - Liza Harper, French actress
- 1977 - DJ Premier, American rapper (Gang Starr)
- 1980 - Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1980 - Deryck Whibley, Canadian guitarist and singer (Sum41)
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Deaths
- 1076 - Robert I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1011)
- 1306 - Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1248)
- 1487 - Nicholas of Flue, Swiss hermit and saint (b. 1417)
- 1556 - Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (burned at the stake) (b. 1489)
- 1656 - James Ussher, Irish Catholic archbishop (b. 1581)
- 1676 - Henri Sauval, French historian (b. 1623)
- 1729 - John Law, Scottish economist (b. 1671)
- 1734 - Robert Wodrow, Scottish historian (b. 1679)
- 1751 - Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (b. 1706)
- 1762 - Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French astronomer (b. 1713)
- 1772 - Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, French cartographer (b. 1703)
- 1795 - Giovanni Arduino, Italian geologist (b. 1714)
- 1801 - Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer (b.1741)
- 1804 - Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc d'Enghien (executed) (b. 1772)
- 1843 - Robert Southey, English poet (b. 1774)
- 1843 - Guadalupe Victoria, first President of Mexico (b. 1786)
- 1881 - Samuel Courtauld, American-born textile magnate (b. 1793)
- 1884 - Ezra Abbot, American bible scholar (b. 1819)
- 1910 - Nadar, French photographer (b. 1820)
- 1934 - Franz Schreker, Austrian composer (b. 1878)
- 1936 - Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer (b. 1865)
- 1951 - Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (b. 1871)
- 1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, American writer (b. 1923)
- 1984 - Shauna Grant, American actress (suicide) (b. 1963)
- 1985 - Sir Michael Redgrave, English actor (b. 1908)
- 1987 - Dean Paul Martin, American musician (b. 1951)
- 1987 - Robert Preston, American actor (b. 1918)
- 1991 - Leo Fender, American guitar manufacturer (b. 1909)
- 1994 - Macdonald Carey, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1994 - Dack Rambo, American actor (b. 1941)
- 1997 - W. V. Awdry, English inventor (b. 1911)
- 1999 - Ernie Wise, British comedian (b. 1925)
- 2001 - Chung Ju-young, Korean industrialist (b. 1915)
- 2001 - Norma Macmillan, voice actress (b. 1921)
- 2002 - Herman Talmadge, American politician (b. 1913)
- 2005 - Barney Martin, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2005 - Bobby Short, American singer (b. 1924)
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Holidays and observances
- Earth Day
- Japan: Vernal Equinox Day (public holiday)
- Namibia: Independence Day
- Benito Juárez Day, a Fiestas Patrias in Mexico
- South Africa: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Traditional date of vernal equinox, used for reckoning Easter. The real equinox usually occurs one day earlier.
- Astrology: First day of sun sign Aries
- The third day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
- New Year of Iranian Calendar: Norouz occurs on the vernal equinox
- New Year of the Bahá'í Calendar
- Bahá'í Faith: Naw-Rúz: New Year (Norouz)
- Bahá'í Faith - End of the 19-day sunrise-to-sunset fast
- Ostara - Neopagan festival of Ostara
- World Day Of Sleep - by World Health Organization
- World Poetry Day - by UNESCO
- International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - by United Nations
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External links
March 20 - March 22 - February 21 - April 21 -- listing of all days
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