Steve Martaindale
Author of the JP Weiscarver Mystery Series
March in history
Since early December, I’ve been tweeting each day a quick note on something that happened on that date in the past. Here is a compilation of March events. To keep up with them in real time, use the link in the right column to follow me, smartaindale, on Twitter.
March 1: In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the Peace Corps.
March 2: In 1836, Texas declared its independence from Mexico.
March 3: In 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a bill making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the national anthem.
March 4: In 1952, Ernest Hemingway finished writing his short novel, “The Old Man and the Sea.”
March 5: In 1955, Elvis Presley made his television debut on “Louisiana Hayride” carried by KSLA-TV Shreveport.
March 6: In 1981, Walter Cronkite signed off as anchorman of “The CBS Evening News.”
March 7: In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his telephone.
March 8: In 1975, the first International Women’s Day was celebrated.
March 9: In 1990, Dr. Antonia Novello was sworn in as both the first Hispanic and first woman to be U.S. surgeon general.
March 10: In 1997, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” debuted on the WB network.
March 11: In 1888, the blizzard known as the “Great White Hurricane” began inundating the northeastern U.S. with some 400 deaths.
March 12: In 1912, the Girl Guides, the forerunner of the Girl Scouts of America, was founded.
March 13: In 1781, the planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel.
March 14: In 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America’s cotton industry.
March 15: In 44 B.C., Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included Brutus and Cassius.
March 16: In 1926, Robert H. Goddard successfully tested the first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Mass.
March 17: In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in the wake of a failed uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule.
March 18: In 1937, some 300 people, mostly children, were killed in a gas explosion at a school in New London, Texas.
March 19: In 1918, Congress approved daylight-saving time.
March 20: In 1985, Libby Riddles of Teller, Alaska, became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race.
March 21: In 1952, the Moondog Coronation Ball, considered the first rock ‘n’ roll concert, took place at Cleveland Arena.
March 22: In 1972, Congress sent the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification.
March 23: In 1775, Patrick Henry is said to have declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
March 24: In 1832, a mob in Hiram, Ohio, attacked, tarred and feathered Mormon leaders Joseph Smith Jr. and Sidney Rigdon.
March 25: In 1954, RCA announced it had begun producing color television sets at its plant in Bloomington, Ind.
March 26: In 1934, Britain re-imposed a 30 mph speed limit in “built-up areas” and required driving tests for new motorists.
March 27: In 1964, a 9.2 magnitude earthquake 80 miles east of Anchorage killed 117 and produced a 50-foot tsunami.
March 28: In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs patented a washing machine.
March 29: In 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, ending America’s direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.
March 30: In 1870, the 15th amendment to the Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, was declared in effect.
March 31: In 1995, Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez was killed in Corpus Christi by the founder of her fan club.
