On This Day - March 1st

On this day in the year 752 before the common era (BCE), Romulus, the first king of Rome, is feted with the first Roman triumph to mark his victory over the Caeninenses following their abduction of the Sabine women

On this day in the year 1260 of the common era (CE), Hulagu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, conquers Damascus; six hundred and ninety years later, Chiang Kai-shek resumes the presidency of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Sixteen years after that, the Ba'ath-party takes power in Syria.

On this day in the year 1420 CE Pope Martinus I calls for a crusade against the Hussite protestants in Bohemia and central Europe; thirty-seven years later, the Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. To date, it is the second oldest Protestant denomination in formerly Catholic, western Europe. Sixty-nine years after that, in 1516 CE, printing is completed of Erasmus' Novum Instrumentum Omne, the first edition of the New Testament to be printed in Greek; forty-six years later, the “Blood bath at Vassy” occurs, when Francois de Guise's troops open fire on a Huguenot congregation, marking the first event in the “Wars of Religion.” Thirty-one years after that, The Uppsala Synod is summoned to confirm the exact form that the Lutheran Church will take in Sweden.

On this day in 1642 CE, Georgeana (now York) in Maine becomes the first incorporated American city; one hundred and thirty-eight years later, Pennsylvania becomes the first state in the United States to abolish slavery, though it restricts this regulation to the enslavement of newborns only…all infants are born free, though in practice, because they remain with their enslaved mother’s, they become enslaved at a later date. One year after that, in 1781 CE, the Continental Congress officially adopts the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States of America after their ratification by Maryland; nine years later the first United States census is authorized. Two years after that, in 1791 CE, the United States Presidential Succession Act is passed; one hundred and two years later, the Diplomatic Appropriation Act is passed, authorizing the rank of ambassador to the United States Civil Service Corps.

In 1692 CE, Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are interrogated after accusations that they were practitioners of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony; one hundred and twenty-three years later, Sunday observance of the Chrisitan rites in the Netherlands are regulated by law. Twenty-nine years after that the iron-hulled steamer, the S.S. City of Glasgow, departs Liverpool harbor for Philadelphia with approximately 480 passengers and crew; and never seen again…a major motion picture has yet to be made about this voyage.

In 1803 CE, Ohio becomes the seventeenth state of the Union; forty two years later, United States president John Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas. Twenty-two years after that, most of what we now know of as Nebraska becomes the thirty-seventh state in the United States…the borders of that state are expanded later.

In 1864 CE, Rebecca Lee becomes the first African American woman to receive a medical degree in the United States; three years later Howard University is chartered in Washington, D.C.. Eight years after that, in 1875 CE, the United States Congress passes a Civil Rights Act, only to have it invalidated in 1883 by the United States Supreme Court; seventy-four years later, former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retires with a 66-3-0 record including fifty wins by knock-out…he defended his title a record twenty-five times. Five years after that, in 1954 CE, a group of Puerto Rican separatists open fire in United States House of Representatives, injuring five members; seventeen years later there is a bomb attack on the capitol in Washington, D.C.. Thirty-eight years later, 1997 CE, Puerto Rican boxer Héctor Camacho stops Sugar Ray Leonard in fifth round, in Atlantic City, New Jersey to retain the International Boxing Council’s middleweight title; it is the only time Leonard is knocked-out, and sends him into permanent retirement; six years later the World Light-Heavyweight boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. wins a unanimous decision against champion John Ruiz to capture the World Boxing Association’s heavyweight crown in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 1872 CE, Yellowstone becomes the world's first national park; seven years later, the Library of Hawaii is founded. Thirty years after that, in 1909 CE, the first university level, school of nursing is established in the United States, at the University of Minnesota. Three years later, Isabella Goodwin is appointed to the rank of detective in the New York City Police Department, New York, New York. She is the first woman in the United States to achieve such a rank in policing; on this same day, United States Army captain Albert Berry performs the first parachute jump from an airplane with chute attached to a rip-cord. Five years after that, in 1917 CE, the first federal land bank is chartered in the United States; nineteen years later, Boulder Dam (or Hoover Dam) is fully completed. One year after that, the first permanent automobile license plates are issued in Connecticut.

In 1896 CE, Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity; fifty-four years later, Klaus Fuchs is sentenced in London, England to fourteen years in prison for atomic espionage.

Four years after that, in 1954 CE, the United States explodes “Castle Bravo,” a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, which unintentionally and unexpectedly becomes the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States (U.S.); twelve years later, the United States and the United Kingdom perform nuclear test experiment in Nevada. Twenty-two years after that, in 1984 CE, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan; one year later, the United States Department of defense issues a statement from the Pentagon that it accepts the theory that atomic war, if waged at a certain cale, would cause a nuclear winter.

In 1914 CE, the Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union; thirteen years later, the Bank of Italy becomes a national banking institution in the United States; it is later rebranded as the Bank of America. Ten years after that, in 1937 CE, U.S. Steel raises the wages of its workers to five dollars a day; nine years later, after two hundred and fifty-two years in operation, the British government nationalizes and takes control of the Bank of England. One year after that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) begins operations. Thirty-one years after that, the Bank of America adopts the name VISA for its credit cards.

In 1932 CE the "Lindbergh Kidnapping" takes place; the twenty-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh is kidnapped from home in East Amwell, New Jersey, and found dead on May 12^th of that year; this tragedy inspired many stories, plays and novels, including the notorious 1980’s punk rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota…Lindbergh’s Baby; twenty-one years later, after an all-night movie and dinner session with his top advisers, Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses….he dies four days after that. Seventeen years after that, in 1970 CE, Charles Manson's studio album Lie is released, co-produced by Carl and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys; eight years later, Charlie Chaplin's coffin and remains are stolen from a Swiss cemetery in an extortion plot. Thirty-eight years after that, two Guatemalan military officers are convicted of holding women in a state of sexual slavery during the country's civil war; it is the first prosecution of sexual slavery during an armed conflict to ever take place, though the practice is common.

In 1941 CE the Captain America series, created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, is first published by Timely Comics (the premiere issue was released on December 20^th of the previous years); on this same day, the commander of the Nazi SS, Heinrich Himmler inspects Auschwitz concentration camp for the first time and orders it be expanded. One year after that, Major League Baseball owners decide collectively not to allow players in the military to play for their clubs when they are on furlough.

In 1956 CE the International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization; twelve years later, after cancelling Star Trek, NBC makes an unprecedented on-air announcement to reassure angry fans that Star Trek will return. Two years after that, in 1970 CE, the United States bans commercial whaling; seven years later, the United States extends its territorial waters to a range of two- hundred-miles.

In 1961 CE, United States president John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps; one year later, the Kresge Corporation opens the first KMart store in Garden City, Michigan. Twelve years after that, the Watergate grand jury indicts seven of president Nixon’s aides.

In 1968 CE Vatican City's Apostolic Constitution of 1967 goes into effect; four years later two Catholic teenagers are shot dead by the Royal Ulster Constabulary while 'joy riding' in a stolen car in Belfast. Ten years after that, Irish Republican prisoners in “The Maze” began a second hunger strike; among them is Bobby Sands.

In 1973 CE, Harvest (UK) and Capitol Records (US) release Pink Floyd's eighth studio album: The Dark Side of the Moon; it stays on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for most of the next 14 years, selling over 50 million copies worldwide; one year later, physicist Stephen Hawking publishes his landmark paper Black Hole Explosions introducing the idea of “Hawking Radiation,” and the idea that black holes are not truly black because they omit heat. And other particles such as x-rays. One year after that color television transmission begins in Australia.

In 1989 CE the comet Du Toit reaches its perihelion, the closest point in its orbit to the sun.

In 1993 CE, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is reinstated as general partner of the team; he had been previously banned from team operations because of his relationship with convicted gambler Howie Spira.

In 1994 CE the United States Senate rejects a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution; nine years later, management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.

In 1995 CE, the Ukrainian premier Vitaly Massol resigns; nineteen years later United States president Barack Obama warns Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin concerning his government’s involvement in Ukraine. Four years after that, in 2018 CE, in his annual state address, Vladimir Putin in his annual State Address claims Russia has an "invincible” intercontinental cruise missile, though he has been unable to deploy such a device on the battlefield; four years later, United States president, Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address, says Vladimir Putin has "badly miscalculated" by invading Ukraine.

In 2020 CE the first known COVID-19 case is identified in New York, the carrier is a health care worker returning from Iran.