March 19
March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap
years). There are 287 days remaining.
Events
* 1687 - The men under explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle murder him
while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River.
* 1831 - City Bank of New York is the site of the first bank robbery in
United States history ($245,000 taken).
* 1861 - Maori War ends in New Zealand
* 1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end
of the battle on the 21st the Confederate forces had retreated from
Greenville, North Carolina.
* 1915 - Pluto is photographed for the first time but was not recognized
as a planet.
* 1916 - First United States air combat mission in history as eight
American planes take off in pursuit of Pancho Villa
* 1918 - The United States Congress establishes time zones and approves
daylight saving time.
* 1920 - The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for
the second time (first time was on November 19, 1919).
* 1932 - Sydney Harbour Bridge opens
* 1942 - The Thoroughbred Racing Association is establish in Chicago,
Illinois.
* 1945 - World War II: Off the coast of Japan, bombers hit the aircraft
carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
* 1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all
industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities
and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed.
* 1946 - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and RŽunion become
overseas dŽpartements of France
* 1954 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison
Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
* 1972 - India and Bangladesh sing a friendship treaty.
* 1981 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the
Space Shuttle Columbia.
* 1982 - Falklands War: Argentines lands on South Georgia Island,
precipitating war.
* 1987 - Following a scandal involving Jessica Hahn, televangelist Jim
Bakker resigns from the PTL.
* 2002 - US Attack on Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on
March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied
troop fatalities.
Births
* 1813 - David Livingstone, missionary and explorer (+ 1873)
* 1848 - Wyatt Earp, policeman, gunfighter (+ 1929)
* 1849 - Alfred von Tirpitz, German soldier (+ 1930)
* 1864 - Charles Russell, artist (+ 1926)
* 1873 - Max Reger, composer (+1916)
* 1883 - Joseph Stilwell, American soldier (+ 1946)
* 1890 - Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam (+ 1969)
* 1891 - Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States (+ 1974)
* 1894 - Joe Venuti, jazz musician and violinist (+ 1978)
* 1894 - Moms Mabley, comedienne (+ 1975)
* 1900 - FrŽdŽric Joliot, physicist and winner of 1935 Nobel Prize in
chemistry (+ 1958)
* 1905 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (+ 1981)
* 1906 - Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official (+ 1962)
* 1909 - Louis Hayward, actor (+ 1985)
* 1914 - Jay Berwanger, American football star, winner of the first
Heisman Trophy (+ 2002)
* 1916 - Irving Wallace, novelist (+ 1990)
* 1928 - Hans Kźng, theologian
* 1928 - Patrick McGoohan, actor
* 1930 - Ornette Coleman, musician
* 1933 - Philip Roth, author
* 1936 - Ursula Andress, actress
* 1939 - Joe Kapp, American football star
* 1944 - Sirhan Sirhan, assassin
* 1947 - Glenn Close, actress
* 1955 - Bruce Willis, actor
Deaths
* 1286 - King Alexander III of Scotland
* 1945 - Friedrich Fromm, Nazi official
* 1950 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, author
* 1982 - Randy Rhoads, guitarist
* 1987 - Louis-Victor de Broglie, physicist and winner 1929 of the Nobel
Prize in Physics
* 1997 - Willem de Kooning, artist
Holidays and observances
* Roman Catholic - St. Joseph's Day, spouse of Mary, mother of Jesus.
* Church of England - St. Joseph of Nazareth, spouse of Mary.
* Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain
* The first day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
