This Week in History

HISTORY, 20 Mar 2017

Satoshi Ashikaga – TRANSCEND Media Service

Mar 20-26

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

 

MARCH 20

2015  A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a Supermoon all occur on the same day.

2014  Four suspected Taliban members attack the luxurious Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.

2012  At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.

2006  Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.

2003  Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.

Iraq War:

2000  Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff’s deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.

1999  Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California.

1995  A sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway kills 13 and wounds 1,300 people.

1990  Ferdinand Marcos‘s widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.

1988  Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.

Battle of Afabet:

Modern History of Eritrea:

1987  The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.

1985  Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.

1985  Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

1982  France performs nuclear test.

France’s Nuclear Tests:

1972  The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.

The Troubles:

Irish Republican Army (IRA)/Provisional Republican Army (PIRA):

IRA’s Terrorism:

History of the IRA:

Sinn Féin:

History of Sinn Féin:

Sinn Féin, IRA and the Catholic Church:

1964  The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.

1956  Tunisia gains independence from France.

1956  USSR performs nuclear test. [Note that this test, if performed on March 20, 1956, is not indicated in the list of 1956 Soviet nuclear tests – Wikipedia.]

1956 Soviet Nuclear Tests:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Soviet Atmospheric Nuclear Tests:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1952  The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan and the security treaty with Japan of 1951.

Peace Treaty with Japan of Sep 8, 1951:

“Peace Treaty with Japan” and the “Security Treaty between the US and Japan”:

1948  With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.

1942  World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.

Douglas MacArthur:

MacArthur’s Speeches “I Shall Return”:

MacArthur Returns:

MacArthur’s Return and the Battle for Manila – February-March 1945:

1933  Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.

1933  Giuseppe Zangara is executed in Florida‘s electric chair for fatally shooting Anton Cermak in an assassination attempt against President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1923  The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso‘s first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.

1922  The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.

1916  Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

Albert Einstein:

On Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity:

Einstein’s Papers:

1913  Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.

1888  The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.

1883  The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.

1861  An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina.

1854  The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.

1852  Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.

1848  Revolutions of 1848 in the German states: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.

1815  After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.

1760  The Great Boston Fire of 1760, destroys 349 buildings.

 

 

MARCH 21

2006  The social media site Twitter is founded.

Twitter:

The Role of Social Media:

2000  Pope John Paul II makes his first ever pontifical visit to Israel.

Israel:

Foreign Relations of Israel:

Israel-Vatican Relations:

Vatican and the Holocaust:

History of Israel:

Economy of Israel:

1999  Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.

1990  Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.

1986  Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the World Figure Skating Championships

1983  The first cases of the 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic begin; Israelis and Palestinians accuse each other of poison gas, but the cause is later determined mostly to be psychosomatic.

1980  Dallas airs its “A House Divided” episode, which leads to eight months of international speculation regarding Who shot J.R.?

1980  US President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

1980 Summer Olympics Boycott:

1970  The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by Mayor of San Francisco Joseph Alioto.

History of the Earth Day:

1969  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1968  Battle of Karameh in Jordan between the Israel Defense Forces and the combined forces of the Jordanian Armed Forces and PLO.

Battle of Karameh:

1965  Dr 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.

Selma to Montgomery March of 1965:

Voting Rights Act of 1965:

Bloody Sunday of March 7, 1965:

History of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States – Overview:

Civil Rights Movements of Various Ethnic Minorities in the United States:

1965  Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9, the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.

Ranger Program:

1963  Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes.

1960  Apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.

Sharpeville Massacre of 1960:

1958  USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test  at Novaya Zemlya USSR.

Soviet Nuclear Tests (including those performed in 1958):

Soviet Atmospheric Nuclear Tests:

USSR’s Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Novaya Zemlya Nuclear Test Site:

Effect and/or Impact of Nuclear Weapons Tests:

1952  Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.

1946  The Los Angeles Rams sign Kenny Washington, making him the first African American player in the American football since 1933.

1945  World War II: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully complete their defense of the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes.

Battle of Transdanubian Hills:

1945  World War II: Operation Carthage: Royal Air Force planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. They also hit a school and 125 civilians are killed.

1945  World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.

1943  Wehrmacht officer Rudolf von Gersdorff plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler by using a suicide bomb, but the plan falls through. Von Gersdorff is able to defuse the bomb in time and avoid suspicion.

Wehrmacht:

Assassination Attempt of Hitler by Rudolf von Gersdorff:

1937  Ponce massacre: Nineteen people in Ponce, Puerto Rico, are gunned down by a police squad acting under orders of US-appointed Governor, Blanton C. Winship.

Ponce Massacre:

1935  Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asks the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran.

1933  Construction of Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed.

Dachau Concentration Camp:

1928  Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.

1925  Syngman Rhee is removed from office after being impeached as the President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

1925  The Butler Act prohibits the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee.

1921  The New Economic Policy is implemented by the Bolshevik Party in response to the economic failure as a result of war communism.

1919  The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia.

Hungarian Soviet Republic:

1918  World War I: The first phase of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, begins.

Operation Michael of 1918:

1913  Over 360 are killed and 20,000 homes destroyed in the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio.

1871  Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.

1871  Otto von Bismarck is appointed Chancellor of the German Empire.

Otto von Bismarck:

1861  Alexander Stephens gives the Cornerstone Speech.

1844  The Bahá’í calendar begins. This is the first day of the first year of the Bahá’í calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Bahá’í Faith as the Bahá’í New Year or Náw-Rúz.

1821  Greek War of Independence: First revolutionary act in the monastery of Agia Lavra, Kalavryta.

Greek War of Independence:

Modern History of Greece:

1814  Napoleonic Wars: Austrian forces repel French troops in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.

1804  Code Napoléon is adopted as French civil law.

1801  The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.

Battle of Alexandria:

1800  With the church leadership driven out of Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII is crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.

1788  A fire in New Orleans leaves most of the town in ruins.

 

 

MARCH 22

2014  At least 251 people die when a boat capsizes in Lake Albert.

2013  At least 37 people are killed and 200 are injured after a fire destroys a camp containing Burmese refugees near Ban Mae, Thailand.

2004  Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache fired Hellfire missiles.

Ahmed Yassin:

Palestinian Sunni:

History of Hamas:

1997  The Comet Hale–Bopp has its closest approach to Earth.

1997  Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest women’s World Figure Skating Champion.

1995  Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.

1993  The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.

1992  Fall of communism in Albania: The Democratic Party of Albania wins a decisive majority in the parliamentary election.

Fall of Communism in Albania:

History of Albania:

1992  USAir Flight 405 crashes shortly after takeoff from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, leading to a number of studies into the effect that ice has on aircraft.

1989  Clint Malarchuk of the Buffalo Sabres suffers a near-fatal injury when another player’s skate accidentally slits his throat.

1984  Teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with satanic ritual abuse of the children in the school. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded.

1982  NASA‘s Space Shuttle Columbia, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3.

1978  Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1975  A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama causes a dangerous reduction in cooling water levels.

1972  In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.

1972  The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.

1971  USSR performs nuclear test (underground) at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalatinsk USSR. Two nuclear tests were performed on this day at the same site, according to Wikipedia.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1971:

USSR Nuclear Tests Overview:

Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site:

Health, and Ecological Issues in Kazakhstan/Semipalatinsk:

1965  US confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong.

1963  The Beatles‘ first album, Please Please Me, is released in the United Kingdom.

1960  Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser

1954  Closed since 1939, the London bullion market reopens.

1945  The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.

Arab League (a.k.a. League of the Arab States):

Charter of the Arab League:

1943  World War II: the entire population of Khatyn in Belarus is burnt alive by German occupation forces.

1942  World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy’s Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte.

1939  World War II: Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.

Memel:

History and Social Issues of Lithuania:

1920  Azeri and Turkish army soldiers with participation of Kurdish gangs attacked the Armenian inhabitants of Shushi (Nagorno Karabakh).

1916  The last Emperor of China, Yuan Shikai, abdicates the throne and the Republic of China is restored.

1912  The State of Bihar, India was formed out of the State of Bengal.

1906  The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris

1873  A law is approved by the Spanish National Assembly in Puerto Rico to abolish slavery.

Slavery in Puerto Rico:

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

Gender Inequality/Equality in Employment in the United States:

Issues relating to Gender Inequality/Equality:

Women’s Suffrage (1) – Its History:

Women’s Suffrage (2) – Case of the United States:

History of Women’s Suffrage (3) – Movements in the United States:

Women’s Suffrage (4) – The Nineteenth Amendment and Women’s Suffrage of the United States:

Women’s Suffrage (5) – League of Women Voters:

1871  In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.

1849  The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.

1829  In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.

1784  The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.

1765  The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act that introduces a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.

1739  Nader Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.

1713  The Tuscarora War comes to an end with the fall of Fort Neoheroka, effectively opening up the interior of North Carolina to European colonization.

 

 

MARCH 23

2003  Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.

2001  The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.

1999  Gunmen assassinate Paraguay‘s Vice President Luis María Argaña.

1996  Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.

1994  A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.

1994  Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes in Siberia when the pilot’s fifteen-year-old son accidentally disengages the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board.

1994  At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.

1991  The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor‘s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking a gruesome 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.

1985  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1983  Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.

1982  Guatemala‘s government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.

1980  Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.

1978  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1978  The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.

1977  The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) are videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.

The Nixon Interviews:

Watergate Scandal:

Watergate Tapes:

1973  US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1971  USSR performs nuclear tests at Perm, Russia. Three nuclear tests were performed on this day at the same site, according to Wikipedia.

USSR Nuclear Tests in 1971:

USSR Nuclear Tests Overview:

1965  The first issue of The Vigilant is published from Khartoum.

1956  NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).

1956  Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. (Republic Day in Pakistan)

1942  World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.

1940  The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League.

1939  The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of Slovak air force in the city of Spišská Nová Ves, kills 13 people and began the Slovak–Hungarian War.

Slovak-Hungarian War:

1935  Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

1933  The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

Enabling Act of 1933:

1931  Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian struggle for independence.

1919  In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.

1918  First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war

1909  Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.

1908  American diplomat Durham Stevens is attacked by Korean assassins Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan, leading to his death in a hospital two days later.

1905  Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete‘s union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.

1901  Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured at Palanan, Isabela by forces of General Frederick Funston.

1889  The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, India.

1888  In England, The Football League, the world’s oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time.

1885  Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam.

Battle of Phu Lam Tao:

Sino-French War:

1879  War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.

 

 

MARCH 24

2015  Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps in an apparent mass murder-suicide, killing all 150 people on board.

2008  Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.

2003  The Arab League votes 21–1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.

2000  S&P 500 index reaches an intraday high of 1,552.87, a peak that, due to the collapse of the dot-com bubble, it will not reach again for another seven-and-a-half years.

1999  Kosovo War: NATO commences aerial bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.

Kosovo Conflict:

The United States, NATO and the Kosovo Conflict:

Kosovo Liberation Army:

History of Kosovo:

Independence of Kosovo:

1999  Mont Blanc Tunnel fire kills 39 people.

1998  First Computer-assisted Bone Segment Navigation, performed at the University of Regensburg, Germany

1998  A tornado sweeps through Dantan in India, killing 250 people and injuring 3000 others.

1998  Jonesboro massacre: Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 11 and 13 respectively, fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are killed and ten are wounded.

1993  Discovery of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.

1989  Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.

1986  US and Libya clash in Gulf of Sidra.

US-Libya Clash in the Gulf of Sidra:

1986  The Loscoe gas explosion leads to new UK laws on landfill gas migration and gas protection on landfill sites.

1980  Archbishop Óscar Romero is killed while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.

1976  In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón and start a 7-year dictatorial period self-styled the National Reorganization Process. Since 2006, a public holiday known as Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice is held on this day.

1972  The United Kingdom imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.

Direct Rule:

1965  NASA spacecraft Ranger 9, equipped to convert its signals into a form suitable for showing on domestic television, brings images of the Moon into ordinary homes before crash landing.

1959  The Party of the African Federation is launched by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Modibo Keïta.

1958  Rock ‘n’ roll teen idol Elvis Presley is drafted in the U.S. Army.

1953  US performs nuclear test (atmospheric test) at Nevada Test Site.

Operation Upshot-Knothole of 1953:

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

US Nuclear Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

1946  The British Cabinet Mission, consisting of Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander, arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership.

1944  World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.

The Great Escape from Stalag Luft III:

1944  Ardeatine massacre: German troops murder 335 Italian civilians in Rome.

Ardeatine Massacre:

1934  United States Congress passes the Tydings–McDuffie Act, allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.

1927  Nanking Incident: Foreign warships bombard Nanjing, China, in defense of the foreign citizens within the city.

Nanking Incident:

1922  Irish War of Independence: In Belfast, Northern Irish policemen break into the home of a Catholic family and shoot eight males inside, killing six.

Irish War of Independence:

History of Ireland:

1907  The first issue of the Georgian Bolshevik newspaper Dro is published.

1900  Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground “Rapid Transit Railroad” that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1896  AS Popov makes the first radio signal transmission in history.

1885  Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Bang Bo on the Tonkin–Guangxi border.

Battle of Bang Bo:

Sino-French War:

1882  Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.

1869  The last of Titokowaru‘s forces surrendered to the New Zealand government, ending his uprising.

1860  Sakuradamon Incident: Assassination of Japanese Chief Minister (Tairō) Ii Naosuke.

1854  Slavery is abolished in Venezuela. [Note that the website of The Liberator Files, for instance, indicates that the date of the abolishment of the slavery in Venezuela was April 28, 1854.]

Slavery in Venezuela:

Venezuela:

Foreign Relations of Venezuela:

Venezuela and the United Nations:

History of Venezuela:

Economy of Venezuela:

1837  Canada gives African Canadian men the right to vote.

African Canadian:

1832  In Hiram, Ohio, a group of men beat and tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith.

1829  Catholic emancipation: The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.

Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829:

1721  Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, now commonly called the Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051.

1720  Count Frederick of Hesse-Kassel is elected King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, after his consort Ulrika Eleonora abdicated the throne on 29 February. She had been wanting to rule jointly with her husband in the same manner as William and Mary in the British Isles, but after the Riksdag of the Estates said no to this, she chose to abdicate the throne in his favor instead.

1707  The Acts of Union 1707 are signed, officially uniting the Kingdoms and parliaments of England and Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

 

 

 

MARCH 25

2006  Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, 2006, clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested.

2006  Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

1996  The European Union‘s Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

1996  An 81-day-long standoff between the anti-government group Montana Freemen and law enforcement near Jordan, Montana, begins.

1995  WikiWikiWeb, the world’s first wiki, and part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham.

1993  Warrington bomb victim Tim Parry dies five days after an IRA bomb detonated on 20 March 1993 in the second of the Warrington bomb attacks.

Warrington Bomb Attacks:

1992  Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returns to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the Mir space station.

1988  The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

1979  The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

1975  Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by a mentally ill nephew.

1971  The Army of the Republic of Vietnam abandon an attempt to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos.

Vietnam War in 1971:

Ho Chi Minh Trail:

1971  Bangladesh Liberation War: Beginning of Operation Searchlight by the Pakistan Armed Forces against East Pakistani civilians.

Bangladesh Liberation War:

Operation Searchlight and the Genocide Committed:

1969  During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel (until March 31).

1968  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

1965  Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

Selma to Montgomery March of 1965:

Voting Rights Act of 1965:

Bloody Sunday of March 7, 1965:

History of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States – Overview:

Civil Rights Movements of Various Ethnic Minorities in the United States:

1959  French President De Gaulle acknowledges Oder-Neisse boundary.

Order-Neisse Boundary:

1958  Canada’s Avro Arrow makes its first flight.

1957  The European Economic Community is established with West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg as the first members.

History of the European Union:

1955  East Germany granted full sovereignty by occupying power, USSR.

1954  Pope Pius XII encyclical “Sacra virginitas” (On consecrated virginity).

1949 The extensive deportation campaign known as March deportation is conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to force collectivisation by way of terror. The Soviet authorities deport more than 92,000 people from the Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union.

1947  An explosion in a coal mine in Centralia, Illinois kills 111.

1941  The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers with the signing of the Tripartite Pact.

Kingdom of Yugoslavia:

Tripartite Pact:

1924  On the anniversary of Greek Independence, Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the Second Hellenic Republic.

Second Hellenic Republic:

Modern History of Greece:

Greek War of Independence:

1918  The Belarusian People’s Republic is established.

Belarusian People’s Republic:

1917  The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.

1914  Aris is founded in Thessaloniki.

1821  (Julian calendar) Traditional date of the start of the Greek War of Independence. The war had actually begun on 23 February 1821. The date was chosen in the early years of the Greek state so that it falls on the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, strengthening the ties between the Greek Orthodox Church and the newly founded state.

Greek War of Independence:

Modern History of Greece:

1811  Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.

1807  The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger-carrying railway in the world.

1807  The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire.

Slave Trade Act of 1807:

1802  The Treaty of Amiens is signed as a “Definitive Treaty of Peace” between France and the United Kingdom.

Treaty of Amiens:

1655  Saturn‘s largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christiaan Huygens.

 

 

MARCH 26

2005  The Taiwanese government calls on one million Taiwanese to demonstrate in Taipei, in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People’s Republic of China. Around 200,000 to 300,000 attend the demonstration.

1999  A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.

1999  The “Melissa worm” infects Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.

Melissa Worm:

1998  Oued Bouaicha massacre in Algeria: Fifty-two people are killed with axes and knives, 32 of them children under the age of two.

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

Heaven’s Gate Mass Suicide:

1995  The Schengen Treaty comes into effect.

Schengen Agreement:

1991  Local self-government is restored after three decades of centralized control in South Korea.

1991  Five South Korean boys, nicknamed the Frog Boys, disappear while hunting for frogs and are murdered in a case that remains unsolved.

1991  Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur, the South Common Market.

Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (a.k.a. Treaty of Asunción):

1983  US performs nuclear test (underground) at Nevada Test Site.

US Nuclear Weapons Tests:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

Nevada Test Site:

Ecological and Health Issues in and around the Nevada Test Site:

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

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

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

Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty:

1978  Four days before the scheduled opening of Japan’s Narita International Airport, protesters destroy much of the equipment in the control tower with Molotov cocktails.

1975  The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.

Biological Weapons Convention:

1971  East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins.

1970  South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu implements a land reform program to solve the problem of land tenancy

1969  Nuclear reactor Dodewaard Netherlands goes into use.

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

1958  The African Regroupment Party is launched at a meeting in Paris.

1958  The United States Army launches Explorer 3.

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

Operation Castle:

Nuclear Tests at Bikini Atoll:

Atmospheric/High-altitude Nuclear Explosion Testing:

Nuclear Tests by the United States:

Nuclear Weapons and the United States:

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

1942  World War II: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentraticon camp in German-occupied Poland.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp:

1939  Spanish Civil War: Nationalists begin their final offensive of the war.

Final Offensive of the Spanish Civil War:

Spanish Civil War:

Timelines of the Spanish Civil War:

1934  The United Kingdom driving test is introduced.

1931  Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union is founded in Vietnam.

1931  Swissair is founded as the national airline of Switzerland.

History of Swissair:

1922  The German Social Democratic Party is founded in Poland.

1917  World War I: First Battle of Gaza – British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.

First Battle of Gaza:

1913  Balkan Wars: Bulgarian forces capture Adrianople.

Balkan Wars:

First Balkan War:

Second Balkan War:

1885  The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada.

1881  Thessaly is freed and becomes part of Greece again.

History of Thessaly:

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

Book of Mormon:

____________________________________

(Sources and references: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/march_20    to march_26; http://www.onthisday.com/events/march/20   to march/26;   http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/march_20.html.   to march_26.html; and other pertinent web sites and/or documents, mentioned above.)

  1. The views expressed in the cited or quoted websites and/or documents in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the author of this article. These websites and/or documents are cited or quoted for academic or educational purposes. Neither the author of this article nor the Transcend Media Service (TMS) is responsible for the contents, information, or whatsoever contained in these websites and/or documents.
  2. One of the primary purposes of this article is to provide the readers with opportunities to think about “peace”, including positive peace and negative peace as well as external/outer peace and internal/inner peace, and more, directly or indirectly, from various angles and/or in the broadest sense, through historical events. It is because this article is prepared specifically for the TMS whose main objective is to address “peace”.

Satoshi Ashikaga, having worked as researcher, development program/project officer, legal protection/humanitarian assistance officer, human rights monitor-negotiator, managing-editor, and more, prefers a peaceful and prudent life, especially that in communion with nature.  His previous work experiences, including those in war zones and war-torn zones, remind him of the invaluableness of peace.  His interest and/or expertise includes international affairs, international law, jurisprudence, economic and business affairs, project/operations or organizational management, geography, history, the environmental/ecological issues, science and technology, visual/audio documentation of nature and culture, and more. Being a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, he is currently compiling This Week in History

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 20 Mar 2017.

Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: This Week in History, is included. Thank you.

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