March 21


March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap
years). There are 285 days remaining.

Events

   * 1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at
     the stake for treason.
   * 1788 - A fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans leaving most of the
     town in ruins.
   * 1800 - Pius VII becomes Pope
   * 1804 - Code Napoleon adopted as French civil law
   * 1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme begins
   * 1928 - Charles Lindbergh is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor
     for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
   * 1935 - Persia is renamed Iran
   * 1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma
   * 1952 - Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock
     and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
   * 1960 - Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville, South Africa: Afrikaner
     police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African
     demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180
   * 1963 - Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco
     Bay, closes.
   * 1965 - Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9 which is the last in a
     series of unmanned lunar space probes.
   * 1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the
     1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow protesting the Soviet Invasion of
     Afghanistan.
   * 1980 - On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous
     character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant leading to the
     catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
   * 1989 - Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie Pete Rose to
     baseball gambling.
   * 1990 - After 75 years of South African rule Namibia becomes
     independent.
   * 1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to
     circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
   * 2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other
     suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and
     killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Births

   * 1685 - Johann Sebastian Bach, composer (+ 1750)
   * 1763 - Jean Paul, poet and publicist (+ 1825)
   * 1768 - Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier, French mathematician (+ 1830)
   * 1806 - Benito Juarez, Mexican statesman and folk hero (+ 1872)
   * 1839 - Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Russian composer (+ 1881)
   * 1869 - Florenz Ziegfeld, theatrical producer (+ 1932)
   * 1882 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, actor (+ 1971)
   * 1901 - Karl Arnold, politician (+ 1958)
   * 1902 - Son House, blues musician (+ 1988)
   * 1922 - Russ Meyer, pornographic film director, producer
   * 1927 - Hans-Dietrich Genscher, politician
   * 1958 - Gary Oldman, actor
   * 1960 - Ayrton Senna, automobile racer (+ 1994)
   * 1962 - Rosie O'Donnell, comedian, actress, talk show host, publisher
   * 1962 - Matthew Broderick, actor

Deaths

   * 1556 - Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
   * 1795 - Giovanni Arduino, geologist
   * 1884 - Ezra Abbot, american bible scholar
   * 1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, science fiction writer
   * 1984 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor
   * 1987 - Robert Preston, actor
   * 2001 - Norma Macmillan, cartoon voice actress

Holidays and observances

   * South Africa: Human Rights Day
   * Traditional date of vernal equinox, used for reckoning Easter. The real
     equinox usually occurs one day earlier.
   * The third day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
   * Bah‡'’ Faith: Naw Rœz - Bah‡'’ New Years
   * Bah‡'’ Faith - Bah‡ (Splendor) - First day of the first month of the
     Bah‡'’ Calendar
   * Bah‡'’ Faith - End of the fast (end of the 19 day sunrise to sunset
     fast
   * World Day Of Sleep- by World Health Organization