On This Day - March 10th

On the day in the years 241 Before the common era (BCE) the Battle of the Aegates Islands takes place, in which the Navy of Republican Rome, sink the Carthaginian fleet, ending the First Punic War.

On this day in the year 1198 of the common era (CE) the Giralda minaret, designed by architect Ben Ahmad for the Almohad mosque in Seville is completed, now serving as the bell tower for cathedral of Seville; three hundred and thirty-seven years later , the Spanish bishop of Panama, Tomés de Berlanga discovers the uninhabited Galapagos Islands after his ship drifts off course.

On this day in the year 1661 CE, king Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” begins his personal rule of France after the death of his chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin; one hundred and one years later, French Huguenot Jean Calas, wrongly convicted of killing his son, is executed after being tortured by authorities. The event inspires Voltaire to begin campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform. Nine years after that, in 1791 CE, the pope condemns France's Civil Constitution of the clergy; forty years later, the newly formed French Foreign Legion is sanctioned by king Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria. Sixty-two years after that, in 1893 CE, the Ivory Coast becomes a French colony (Cote d'Ivoire).

On this day in 1783 CE the U.S.S. Alliance, under Captain Barry, fights and wins the final naval battle of the American Revolutionary War off Cape Canaveral.

In 1791 CE, John Stone of Concord, Massachusetts, patents a pile driver; fifty-eight years later, Abraham Lincoln applies for a patent for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions The only American President to file for a patent). Twenty-seven years after that, in 1876 CE, the first telephone call is made by Alexander Graham Bell, who says to his assistant, Thomas Watson: "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you;" fifteen years later, Almon Brown Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the “strowger switch,” a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching. Nine years after that, in 1902 CE, a United States Court of Appeals rules that Thomas Edison did not invent the movie camera; one year later Harry Gammeter of Cleveland patents the multigraph duplicating machine.

In 1801 CE the first official census in Great Britain is conductes, revealing a population of approximately ten million persons; one hundred and nineteen years later, the Home Rule Act is passed by the British Parliament, dividing Ireland into two parts; it is rejected by the southern counties, where the Anglo-Irish War continues for a year. Five years after that in 1925 CE, the Island of Cyprus becomes a British crown colony; forty five years later, Members of the Stormont Parliament of Northern Ireland are given police protection. One year after that, in 1971 CE, three members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (a regiment of the British Army) are killed by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

In 1847 CE the first money is minted in Hawaii; fifteen years later, the United States issues its legal tender in the form of paper money, the denominations of currency are: $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1000 notes

In 1888 CE the Heavyweight Boxing champ John L. Sullivan fights Charlie Mitchell to a draw after thirty rounds.

In 1910 CE the Republic of China officially abolishes slavery, while doing nothing to change the condition of workers, the common people, whom it considers the property of the state.

In 1913 CE, William Knox becomes first in American Bowling Congress to bowl a perfect game of 300.

In 1920 CE, Karl Hjalmar Branting becomes the first Social Democrat Prime Minister of Sweden.

In 1927 CE, Bavaria lifts its ban on Adolf Hitler's speeches…it was a bad idea.

In 1933 CE the state of Nevada becomes in the United States to regulate narcotics.

In 1937 CE, Benny Goodman is unofficially crowned the “King of Swing” at New York City's Paramount Theater as his band plays before an exuberant sell-out crowd filled with teenagers; unable to attend nightclub performances; the kids dance in the aisles; thirty-seven years later, Simon and Garfunkel record the first version of The Sound of Silence at Columbia Studios in New York, New Yor. One year after that, in 1965 CE, I've Got a Tiger By the Tail, a studio album by Buck Owens is released, becoming Billboard’s Album of the Year; two years later, American singer Aretha Franklin's tenth overall studio album, and first on Atlantic Records is released, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. Eight years after that, in 1975 CE, John Lennon releases the single Stand by Me, covering Ben E. King's hit song; six years later, the single Bette Davis Eyes is released by Kim Carnes, becoming Billboard’s Song of the Year. Sixteen years after that, in 2003 CE, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts: The Clash; five years later, Leonard Cohen. Seven years after that, in 2015 CE, Marvin Gaye's family wins a record seven million dollar lawsuit for music copyright infringement against Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I..

In 1940 CE the first opera telecast in the United States on W2XBS, New York, New York: Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci;” thirty-two years later, Peter Bogdanovich's film homage to screwball comedies, What's Up, Doc?, starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn & Kenneth Mars premieres. Six years after that, in 1978 CE, The Incredible Hulk, starring Bill Bixby as David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as his green alter-ego, premieres on CBS; one year later; Eubie Blake, a 92-year old ragtime piano player and composer, together with dance legend Gregory Hines are musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Eighteen years after that, in 1997 CE, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, premieres on the WB Television Network.

In 1945 CE, on one very eventful day, the following takes place: the deadliest air raid of World War II sets Tokyo on fire after nighttime B-29 bombings; more than one hundred thousand people die, mostly civilians; Fieldmarshal Albert Kesselring succeeds Gerd von Rundstedt as commander of German Army Command in the West; George S. Patton's Third U.S. Army makes contact with General Courtney Hodge's First U.S. Army; Germany blows up the Wessel Bridge on Rhine; Japan grants occupied Vietnam independence; US troops land in western Mindanao, Philippines, in Operation VICTOR IV.

In 1948 CE, Herb H. Hoover becomes the first civilian to exceed the speed of sound, at Edwards Air Force Base, California

In 1951 CE, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover declines the post of baseball commissioner; twelve years later, infielder Pete Rose debuts with Cincinnati at spring training in Tampa, Florida; hitting in his first two at bats. Fifty-nine years after that, in 2022 CE, after a ninety-nine day lockout, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association reach a new collective bargaining agreement; MLB teams set to play the full one hundred and sixty-two game season in 2022.

In 1952 CE a military coup takes place, led by General Fulgencio Batista in Cuba; seven years later, an uprising takes place against the Chinese occupation forces in Lhasa, Tibet, leading to the Dalai Lamas permanent exile.

In 1960 CE the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) agrees to stop nuclear testing; twelve years later the U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan. Eighteen years after that the United States performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

In 1964 CE, a United States (U.S.) reconnaissance plane is shot down over East Germany; two years later, the North Vietnamese capture a U.S. Green Beret Camp at Ashau Valley. Two years after that, in 1968 CE, North Vietnamese and communist Laotion troops overrun a secret U.S. radar facility, Lima Site 85, on a Laos mountaintop.

In 1969 CE, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.; three years later, the first African-American political convention in the United States opens in Gary, Indiana; two years later, the U.S. Senate approves an amendment lowering the voting age to eighteen.

In 1977 CE the rings of Uranus are discovered during occulation of SAO; five years later; all 9 planets aligned on same side of Sun. Twenty-three after that, in 2006 CE, the Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars; nineteen years later, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the first U.S. federal agency to begin firing career employees under President Trump's downsizing directives carried by Elon Musk and his dodgy team of tech-bandits.

In 1987 CE the Vatican states its formal opposition to test-tube fertilization & embryo transfer.

In 1990 CE the president of Haiti, Prosper Avril resigns, precipitating a humanitarian disaster, which I was called on to respond to in my capacity as a Hospital Corpsman with the United States Navy; Operation Joint Task Force, Safe Harbor.

In 1993 CE, physician David Gunn is shot and killed by anti-abortionist Michael Frederick Griffin in Pensacola, Florida, it is the first anti-abortion murder of a doctor in the United States.

In 2014 CE, German chancellor Angela Merkel warns the Russin Federation’s, Vladimir Putin, that making Crimea part of Russia is illegal and in violation of Ukraine's constitution; six years later the Russian lower house of Parliament passes legislation to allow Vladimir Putin to hold office of president for life.

In 2020 CE, New York governor Andrew Cuomo deploys the national guard to New Rochelle, quarantining the whole community and establishing a zone with a one-mile radius surrounding it, as soon as one hundred and eight cases of COVID-19 had been detected there; on this same day, three months into the COVID-19 epidemic, Chinese president Xi Jinping finally travels to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, as the rate of daily new infections declines in China falls to 19 new cases and 17 deaths. Two years after that, in 2022 CE, the true global death toll from COVID-19 is estimated at 18.2 million world-wide, in a finding published by Washington University.

In 2023 CE.  Xi Jinping is appointed to a historic third term as president of China (the post had previously been restricted to two terms).

 

 

On This Day - March 9th

On this day in the year 1009 of the common era (CE) the first known written mention of Lithuania is made in the annals of Quedlinburg.

On this day in the year 1497 CE, Nicolaus Copernicus logs his first record of an astronomical observation he has made; four hundred and sixty-two years later, the first known radar contact is made with the planet Venus. Twenty-seven after that, in 1986 CE, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces that searchers had found the remains of the astronauts who died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster; on this same day the Soviet probe Vega 2 flies by Halley's Comet at a range of 8,030 km. Twenty years after that, in 2006 CE, liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn; five years later, the space shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after thirty-nine flights. Two years after that, in 2013 CE, the asteroid 2013 ET comes within 960,000 km from Earth; eight years later, in 2021 CE, China and Russia agree to build a research station on or around the Moon and collaborate on lunar missions, in a move that could start another space race

On this day in 1522 CE, Martin Luther begins preaching his Invocavit Sermons in the German city of Wittenberg, reminding citizens to trust God's word rather than engage in violence, and helping to bring a (temporary) close to the revolutionary stage of the reformation; two years later, he recants and condemns the peasants of Germany for demanding liberty from their feudal lords as he suggested they might do in a new Christian era, he condemns them to hell and stands by while they are slaughtered. Forty years after that, in 1562 CE, kissing in public is banned in Naples and punishable by death.

In 1617 CE, Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, thereby ending the Ingrian War; one hundred and ninety-two years later, a group of conspirators break into Gripsholm Castle and imprison King Gustav IV Adolf and appoint Charles XIII in his place as Regent of Sweden

In 1689 CE, Thomas Shadwell is appointed second English Poet Laureate by William and Mary, after John Dryden refuses to swear oaths of allegiance to the new monarchs.

In 1765 CE, after a public campaign by the writer Voltaire, judges in Paris posthumously exonerate Jean Calas for the crime of murdering his son. Calas had been tortured and executed for the crime, though his son had committed suicide; one year later Adam Smith publishes the influential economics book The Wealth of Nations.

In 1834 CE the French Foreign Legion is founded; one hundred and eight years later United States advisors in South-Vietnam, who had taken over for the French in the 1950’s and had been in the country fighting since at least 1957 CE, officially join the fight….my father was there in the 50’s, serving  with the Recon Rangers as an air traffic controller with the United states Marine Corps.

In 1841 CE in a contentious decision during the years leading up to the American Civil War, the United States Supreme Court rules the kidnapped slaves from the shipwrecked, Spanish schooner Amistad, are free; twenty years later, the first issue of currency was made in the treasonous Confederate states, authorizing worthless notes in denominations of $50, $100, $500, $1,000 increments. One year after that, in 1862 CE, the naval battle between U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Merrimack ensues in Hampton Roads…there is no clear winner, but Merrimack successfully runs enough interference to spare the union fleet; two years later, Ulysses S. Grant is named Commanding General of the United States (Union) Army.

In 1858 CE. Albert Potts of Philadelphia (somebody’s cousin) patents the street mailbox and becomes rich for doing nothing.

In 1860 CE the first Japanese ambassador arrives in San Francisco en route to Washington D.C.; one hundred and fourteen years later, nearly thirty years after the end of the Second World War, Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda finally surrenders…he had been waging his own war from a jungle and the mountains the entire time…no one ever told him the war was over, he didn’t think to ask.

In 1889 CE the state of Kansas passes the first general antitrust law in United States; eighteen years later, the first involuntary sterilization law is enacted in the United States, in the state of Indiana.

In 1897 CE the Cleveland Indian’s fans start calling the team "Indians;" in 1915 CE it becomes official, until the team changed their name to the Guardians in 2021 CE. Thirty-nine years after the chant began, Babe Ruth turns down the Reds to make a comeback as a player; fifty-nine years later, Major league Baseball awards a franchise to Tampa Bay, Florida, and the Devil Rays play ball.

In 1914 CE, United States Senator Albert B. Fall demands the "Cubanization of Mexico;" two years later Germany declares war on Portugal, also on this day, Mexican general Francisco Pancho Villa invades the United States, eighteen people are killed. Two years after that, in 1918 CE, the Russian Bolshevik Party is renamed the All-Russian Communist Party.

In 1925 CE, Pink's War takes place, it is the first the British Royal Airforce operation conducted independently of the Army or Navy; ten years later, Adolf Hitler publicly announces the creation of the new German air force, the Luftwaffe. Ten years after that, in 1945 CE, three hundred and thirty-four, U.S. B-29 Superfortress Bombers attack Tokyo dropping 120,000 fire bombs.

In 1933 CE the United States Congress is called into a special session by president Franklin D. Roosevelt, beginning its "100 days" during which it passes 77 laws.

In 1951 CE. Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam submit a classified paper at the Los Alamos research lab, in which they proposed their revolutionary new design of staged implosions, for a practical megaton-range hydrogen bomb; twenty-eight years later, France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll. Ten years after that, the United States, performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

In 1953 CE, Joseph Stalin's funeral is held in Moscow after four days of national mourning; one years later Edward R. Murrow criticizes U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy on his television program, See it Now. Four years after that, Barbie makes her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York, New York…over a billion barbie dolls have been sold worldwide since.

In 1964 CE the first Ford Mustang rolls of the production line; twenty three years later, the Chrysler Corporation offers to buy American Motors for one-billion dollars; on this same day, the United States Supreme Court issues its decision in NY Times vs Sullivan, stating that public officials must prove malice to claim libel and recover damages.

In 1966 CE, Andrew Brimmer becomes the first black governor of the Federal Reserve Board.

In 1971 CE, three off-duty Scottish soldiers are killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA); four thousand shipyard workers take to the streets to demand internment in response; one year later four members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature explosion at a house in Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. Twenty-two years after that, the IRA launch the first of three mortar attacks on London's Heathrow Airport.

In 1981 CE, Dan Rather becomes the primary anchor of CBS Evening News, three years later, John Lennon's single Borrowed Time, is released posthumously. Four years after that, in 1988 CE, Actress Audrey Hepburn is appointed a UNICEF Special Goodwill Ambassador.

In 1989 CE the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics officially (though falsely) submits to the jurisdiction of the World Court; thirty-four years later, the Russian Federation begins major missile attack on Ukrainian cities and their infrastructure, with at least eleven killed and twenty injured…and the war continues.

In 2015 CE, United States president Barack Obama signs an executive order declaring Venezuela a national security threat to the U.S.A.

In 2021 CE Brazil records its highest daily COVID-19 death toll to date of 1,972 deaths with 168,370 deaths total over the course of the pandemic.

In 2022 CE, stolen notebooks belonging to naturalist Charles Darwin, including his famous 'tree of life' sketch, mysteriously returned after going missing from the Cambridge University Library for twenty-two years.

In 2023 CE the Recording Industry Association of America's 2022 year-end report states that vinyl record sales, forty-one million, exceeded compact disk sales, thirty-three million, for the first time since 1987.

In 2025 CE the Colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis Hamiltoni, a species first identified in 1925 CE, is filmed for the first time by scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute; the 30 Cm (11.8 inches) juvenile was captured on video at a depth of 600 meters (1968 feet) near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean using SuBastian, a remotely operated vehicle. 

 

On This Day - March 8th

On this day in the year 764 of the common era (CE) K'inich K'uk' Bahlum becomes king of the Maya city of Palenque, he is the last known ruler before the city's collapse. 

On this day in the year 1531 CE king Henry VIII is recognized as the supreme head of the Church in England by the Convocation of Canterbury, one more step in a series of moves that led to hundreds of years of religious war in Europe; two hundred and ninety-eight years later, the British North America Act is passed in the Canadian House of Commons, and serves as Canada's constitution for more than one hundred years. One hundred and ninety-three years after that, in 2022 CE the Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon formally apologizes to the four thousand Scots (mostly women), who were accused of witchcraft, tortured, tried and ritually murdered between 1563 CE and 1736 CE.

On this day in 1817 CE the New York Stock Exchange is founded in New York, New York; seventy-seven years later, the state of New York enacts the nation's first dog-licensing law.

In 1855 CE a train crosses the first railway suspension bridge in the United States, at Niagara Falls, New York to Canada, making the trip for the first time; ninety-one years later, the first helicopter is licensed for commercial use in New York, New York.

In 1861 CE the city of St Augustine, Florida surrenders to the Union army; it is the oldest city in North America, and my mother grew up there for a while in the segregated South; forty-seven years later, the U.S. invades Cuba for third time, this time to end the corrupt Menocal regime.

Fifty three years after that, in 1961 CE, the U.S.S. Patrick Henry, a nuclear submarine, arrives at the Scottish naval base of Holy Loch from South Carolina in a record underseas journey of sixty-six days and twenty-two hours; four years later the first “official” U.S. combat forces arrive in Vietnam, on the beaches of Da Nang (the United States had been involved in combat missions in Vietnam since at least 1957, my father was there with Force Recon, as an Airbourne Ranger.

In 1884 CE Susan B. Anthony addresses the Judiciary Committee on the United States (U.S.) House of Representatives, arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote; this occurs sixteen years after legislators first introduced a federal women's suffrage amendment. Thirty-three years later the Russian "February Revolution" gathers momentum in Russia with protests celebrating Women's Day, and riots in St. Petersburg over food rations and conduct of the Russian forces in World War I. Twenty-eight years after that, in 1945 CE, International Women's Day is first observed; on that same day, Phyllis M. Daley becomes the first African-American nurse commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. Five years later the first female medical is officer assigned to naval vessel, the B.R. Walters.

In 1900 CE, baseball’s National League decides to go with eight teams, they exclude Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville & Washington (in 1953 the Boston Braves move to Milwaukee); thirteen years later, Major League Baseball organizes the Federal League organizes with 6 teams, including the Chicago Whales, who built and played at Weeghman Park (now Wrigley Field). The endeavor folds after three seasons. Seventeen years after that, in 1930 CE, slugger Babe Ruth signs a two-year contract with the New York Yankees, for a whopping one hundred and sixty-thousand dollars. General Manager Ed Barrow, wrongly predicts "No one will ever be paid more than Ruth;" eleven years later, Hugh Mulcahy of the Philadelphia Phillies becomes the first MLB baseball player drafted into World War II  

In 1913 CE the Internal Revenue Service begins to levy and collect income taxes; four years later, at the urging of U.S. president, Woodrow Wilson, the Senate introduces the “Cloture Rule,” requiring a two-thirds majority to end debate,

In 1929 CE the U.S. Worker Union commissions a report on the state of slavery in Liberia; thirty-five years later, Malcolm X resigns from the Nation of Islam. Twenty-nine years after that, Nigerian singer Fela Kuti is arrested again on suspicion of murder.

In 1934 CE, a photograph is presented by Edwin Hubble showing that the Universe has at least as many galaxies as the Milky Way galaxy has stars, marking a staggering leap in our understanding of the size and age of the created order; forty-five years later, the first extraterrestrial volcano is discovered on Jupiter's moon Io. Forty-five years after that, in 2024 CE, a report by the Pentagon finds no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence interacting with human civilization based on a search of records going back to `945 CE.

In 1948 CE the U.S. Supreme Court rules in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public schools is unconstitutional; ten years later, William Faulkner says that U.S. schools had degenerated so far that teachers are now merely babysitters. Sixty-four years after that, in 2022 CE, the Florida Senate passes the controversial "Parental Rights in Education bill, known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, restricting teachers from discussing gender identity with students in any context.

In 1957 CE the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics performs an atmospheric nuclear test; five years later the U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. Eleven years after, in 1972 CE we do it again, and again seven years later. Three years after that, in 1983 CE the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee endorses a nuclear weapons freeze with U.S.S.R.; eight years later the U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

In 1959 CE, Groucho, Chico and Harpo Marx make their final television appearance together; three years later, the Beatles (with Pete Best) make their British Broadcasting Corporation radio debut with a cover of Roy Orbison's: Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream), recorded the previous evening on stage at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester. Nine years after that, in 1971 CE Radio Hanoi broadcasts Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner; seven years later the first-ever radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams is transmitted on BBC Radio 4. Eighteen years after that, in 1996 CE, the film Fargo directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen, filmed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi, is released in the United States.

In 1966 CE, an Irish Republican Army bomb destroys Nelson's Column in Dublin; five years later, a gun battle between Official Irish Republican Army and Provisional Irish Republican Army leave one man killed; it is the result of feud between two wings of the IRA developing since the split in 1970. Three years after that, in 1973 CE the Provisional IRA undertakes its first operation in Great Britain, planting four car bombs in London. Ten members of PIRA are later arrested at Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the country.

In 1971 CE it was billed as “The Fight of the Century;” Muhammad Ali, who had been stripped of his World Heavyweight Championship Title and suspended from boxing for three years after refusing to serve in the Vietnam war, the 31-0 Ali took on Joe Frazier, the man who had taken his title, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York…Ali lost by unanimous decision in the fifteenth round.

In 1983 CE, IBM releases PC DOS version 2.0; seven years later new York City’s Zodiac killer shoots his first victim, Mario Orosco

In 2017 CE researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia present and Aboriginal DNA study, showing that the Aboriginal population dates back 50,000 years from a single migration.

In 2020 CE, America registers five hundred and twenty-one cases of COVID-19 with twenty-one deaths across thirty-three states; also on this day Italy announces it is locking down the northern region of Lombardy, including Milan, with sixteen million people, as COVID-19 cases reach five thousand, eight hundred with two hundred and thirty-three deaths.

In 2022 CE, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy invokes Winston Churchill while speaking virtually to the parliament of the United Kingdom, saying: "We will not fail. We will fight till the end..." the war continues.

In 2023 Ce the oldest known reference to the Norse god Odin is found by Danish researchers in Western Denmark, dating back to the fifth century, it is written on gold disc from the Vindelev hoard; one year later Sweden officially joins North Atlantic Treaty Organization as the alliance's thirty-second member, abandoning their two-hundred-year policy of neutrality.