April 4......

April 4 is the 94th (95th in leap years) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 271 days remaining in the year on this date.

Best Liberal Quote of the Day: On Belief "I believe in using words, not fists....I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex." — Susan Sarandon

Stupidest Quote from the Right for the Day: On Inanity "You're working hard to put food on your families." — George W. Bush

{Disclaimer: I have attempted to give credit to the many different sources that I get entries. Any failure to do so is unintentional. Any statement enclosed by brackets like these are the opinion of the blogger, A Proud Liberal.}

EVENTS

● 896 - Formosus ends his reign as Catholic Pope

● 1081 - Alexius I Comnenus occupies Byzantine throne

● 1507 - Future German reformer Martin Luther, at age 21, was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic church.

● 1541 - Spanish ecclesiastic reformer and mystic Ignatius Loyola, 50, was elected the first General of the Jesuit Order, which he had helped establish the previous year.

● 1552 - Mauritius van Saksen begins alliance with Karel Anikita Stroganov

● 1558 - Czar Ivan IV gives parts of North-Russia to fur traders

● 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I.

● 1588 - Christian IV succeeds Frederik II as king of Denmark

● 1655 - Battle at Postage Farina, Tunis English fleet beats Barbarian pirates

● 1660 - English King Charles II ends Declaration of Breda (freedom of religion)

● 1687 - James II issued a Declaration of Indulgence allowing full liberty of worship in England. The document allowed peaceable meetings of nonconformists and forgave all penalties for ecclesiastical offenses.

● 1716 - Russian & Prussian troops occupy Wismar

● 1721 - Sir Robert Walpole enters office as the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under King George I.

● 1737 - Anthony van Heim installed as Dutch pension advisor

● 1812 - The territory of Orleans became the 18th U.S. state and will become known as Louisiana.

● 1812 - U.S. President James Madison enacted a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.

● 1814 - Napoleon abdicates for the first time.

● 1818 - The United States Congress adopts the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and one star for each state (then 20). Previous to this a stripe was being added for every new state and the flag was quickly becoming a design nightmare.

● 1828 - Casparus van Wooden patents chocolate milk powder (Amsterdam)

● 1832 - Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reaches Rio de Janeiro

● 1841 - William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and the shortest term served.

● 1850 - Los Angeles, California is incorporated as a city.

● 1859 - Bryant's Minstrels debut "Dixie" in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show.

● 1862 - Battle of Yorktown begins

● 1862 - US begins Peninsular Campaign aimed at capturing Richmond

● 1864 - Skirmish at Elkin's Ford (Little Missouri River), Arkansas

● 1865 - Lee's army arrives at Amelia Courthouse

● 1865 - American Civil War: A day after Union forces capture Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visits the Confederate capital.

● 1866 - Alexander II of Russia narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in the city of Kiev.

● 1870 - Golden Gate Park established by City Order #800

● 1871 - France - Tentative establishment of Commune in Limoges; meanwhile the army attacks the Commune of Marseilles.

● 1887 - Argonia, Kansas elects Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the United States.

● 1892 - Jules Thomas (1839-1892) dies. A French Icarien, Parisian Communard, Blanquist. A Communard who fled to New York with the defeat of the Paris Commune. Then became an anarchist following his reading of Peter Kropotkin.

● 1894 - France - In Paris during the trial of Emile Henry, a bomb explodes at the Foyot restaurant. The libertarian writer Laurent Tailhade, who was there by chance, lost an eye in the explosion. The anarchist Louis Matha was suspected of being the author of the attack, but no proof could be found against him.

● 1896 - Announcement of Gold in the Yukon

● 1900 - Prince of Wales, escapes anarchist assassination attempt in Belgium.

● 1900 - British garrison of Reddersberg surrenders to Boer General De Wet

● 1902 - British Financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will that would provide scholarships for Americans to Oxford University in England.

● 1905 - In India, an earthquake near Kangra kills 370,000.

● 1912 - Chinese republic proclaimed in Tibet

● 1912 - Army fires on striking mine workers at Lena-gold fields Siberia

● 1913 - The Greek aviator Emmanuel Argyropoulos becomes the first pilot victim of the Hellenic Air Force when his plane crashes.

● 1914 - Unemployed riot in Union Square, New York City.

● 1915 - Muddy Waters, American blues musician, was born.

● 1916 - US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in WWI

● 1918 - Robert Praeger, miner, lynched in Collinsville, Ill.

● 1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme ends.

● 1918 - Food riot in Amsterdam

● 1920 - Arabs attack Jews in Jerusalem

● 1926 - Greek dictator Theodorus Pangalos elected president

● 1928 - Birth of writer and Clinton loyalist Maya Angelou.

● 1932 - Vitamin C 1st isolated, C C King, University of Pittsburgh

● 1933 - US Dirigible Akron crashes off coast of New Jersey, 73 die

● 1939 - Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.

● 1945 - World War II: American troops liberate Ohrdruf forced labor camp in Germany.

● 1941 - German troops conquer Banghazi

● 1944 - German Holocaust victim Anne Frank, 14, wrote in her diary: 'I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift...of expressing all that is in me.'

● 1944 - British troops capture Addis Ababa Ethiopia

● 1944 - De Gaulle forms new regime in exile, with communists

● 1945 - US forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany

● 1945 - US tanks/infantry conquer Bielefeld

● 1945 - World War II: Soviet Army takes control of Hungary.

● 1947 - Largest group of sunspots on record

● 1947 - UN's International Civil Aviation Organization established

● 1949 - Israel & Jordan sign armistice agreement

● 1949 - Twelve nations sign The North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

● 1951 - Dutch Prince Bernhard visits Juan & Eva Perón in Buenos Aires Argentina

● 1953 - Fifteen doctors were released by Soviet leaders. The doctors had been arrested before Stalin had died and were accused of plotting against him.

● 1955 - U.K. and Australia announce agreement to establish nuclear testing ground at Maralinga, South Australia.

● 1955 - British government signs military treaty with Iraq

● 1958 - Four thousand begin first of what would become eleven consecutive annual Easter protest marches from London to Aldermaston AWRE spy base in England. The march arrived three days later.

● 1959 - Federation of Mali, consisting of Senegal & French Sudan (dissolved 1960)

● 1960 - Project Ozma begins at Green Bank radio astronomy center

● 1960 - Senegal independence day.

● 1965 - German theologian Jurgen Moltmann revealed in a letter to Karl Barth: 'Polemics always makes one a little one-sided.'

● 1965 - The first model of the new Saab Viggen fighter aircraft plane is unveiled.

● 1966 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

● 1967 - Martin Luther King, Jr., preaches against Vietnam War and calls for common cause between civil rights and anti-war movements, Riverside Church, New York City.

● 1967 - Future Congressman Ron Dellums elected to Berkeley City Council. In the same election, Jerry Rubin receives 22% of vote for mayor of Berkeley.

● 1967 - Martin Luther King, Jr., urged a boycott of the Vietnam War through conscientious objection.

● 1967 - Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City's Riverside Church. King billed the speech as a declaration of independence from the war and called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

● 1967 - The U.S. lost its 500th plane over Vietnam.

● 1967 - Dutch De Young government forms

● 1967 - Marines chase "Nozems" out of Amsterdam Central Station

● 1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr., assassinated, Memphis, Tenn., at age 39, while visiting city in support of striking sanitation workers. Riots break out in over a hundred cities across the U.S., lasting up to a week; cities include Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, Cincinnati, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toledo, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. The government will deploy 75,000 National Guard troops. When the smoke clears, 39 people will be dead and 2,500 injured. Presumably assassinated by James Earl Ray, who confessed to the slaying and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, but then recanted. Numerous people originally involved in investigating him have raised serious doubts about his guilt; after Ray's death, a 1999 civil jury trial in Memphis concluded that Ray did not act alone.

● 1968 - Apollo program: NASA launches unmanned Apollo 6.

● 1969 - April 4-6, demonstrations on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's death and anti-war protests - Chicago; Memphis, 10,000 gather to pay tribute; New York, 20,000+ up Fifth Ave.

● 1969 - CBS-TV touches off censorship controversy by its cancellation of the irreverent, anti-war "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour."

● 1969 - Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.

● 1971 - Marine clay under houses liquifies, 31 die (St-Jean-Vianney Québec)

● 1972 - 1st electric power plant fueled by garbage begins operating

● 1973 - The World Trade Center in New York is officially dedicated.

● 1975 - Vietnam War: Operation Baby Lift - A United States Air Force C-5A Galaxy crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, transporting orphans - 172 die.

● 1976 - Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.

● 1976 - Seni Pramoj's Democratic Party wins elections in Thailand

● 1977 - Catawba Indians of South Carolina ask Congress to settle their claims regarding 144,000 acres, stemming from a 1763 treaty with the British.

● 1977 - Adolfo Perez Esquivel imprisoned without charge, Argentina.

● 1979 - Pakistan - Another benevolent U.S. ally, Pres. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, hanged for ordering the murder of three political opponents while in office, Rawalpindi.

● 1980 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR

● 1981 - Yellow thunder Camp established in the Black Hills.

● 1981 - Henry Cisneros became the first Mexican-American elected mayor of a major U.S. city, which was San Antonio, TX.

● 1983 - Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space (STS-6).

● 1984 - President Ronald Reagan calls for an international ban on chemical weapons. {As long as it doesn't include the United States.}

● 1984 - Greenham Common women evicted; The women from the main peace camp at Greenham Common in Berkshire are evicted but say it will not end their protest.

● 1985 - Congress rejects Pres. Reagan's appeal for support for Nicaragua contras. His administration provides aid illegally.

● 1987 - The U.S. charged the Soviet Union with wiretapping a U.S. Embassy.

● 1988 - Arizona Governor Evan Mecham was voted out of office by the Arizona Senate. Mecham was found guilty of diverting state funds to his auto business and of trying to impede an investigation into a death threat to a grand jury witness. {I had listened to entire trial on radio. Arrogant SOB deserved everything he got.}

● 1990 - Security law violator Ivan Boesky is released from federal custody

● 1991 - Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania and six others are killed when a helicopter collides with their plane over an elementary school in Merion, Pennsylvania.

● 1991 - Orkney 'abuse' children go home; The children at the centre of satanic abuse allegations in the Orkney Islands off Scotland are reunited with their families after the case was thrown out of court.

● 1992 - Jury deliberations begin in the Noriega case

● 1992 - Sali Berisha became the first non-Marxist president of Albania since World War II.

● 1994 - KLM Saab 340B crashes at Schiphol, 3 killed

● 1995 - U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato ridiculed judge Lance Ito using a mock Japanese accent on a nationally syndicated radio program. D'Amato apologized two days later for the act. {Too bad he didn't ridicule Ito for his lack of judicial acumen.}

● 1996 - Four arrested in New York City during march in support of political prisoners in U.S.

● 1996 - Comet Hyakutake was imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.

● 1997 - DMSP Titan 2 launched

● 1997 - STS 83 (Columbia 22), launches

● 2000 - Spring freeze brings chaos; Severe weather forces the closure of Luton airport as blizzards and flooding cause widespread chaos.

● 2002 - The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.

● 2003 - U.S. forces seized Saddam International Airport outside Baghdad.

● 2006 - The Iraq tribunal announced new criminal charges against Saddam Hussein and six others, accusing them of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from a 1980s crackdown against Kurds.

● 2007 - 15 British Royal Navy personnel held in Iran are released by the Iranian President. {Neocons disappointed that opportunity to widen war to include Iran is squandered.}

BIRTHS

● 186 - Caracalla, Roman emperor (d. 217)

● 1492 - Ambrosius Blarer, German reformer (d. 1564)

● 1593 - Edward Nicholas, English statesman (d. 1669)

● 1646 - Antoine Galland, French archaeologist (d. 1715)

● 1648 - Grinling Gibbons Dutch-born woodcarver (d. 1721)

● 1688 - Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, French astronomer (d. 1768)

● 1718 - Benjamin Kennicott, English churchman and Hebrew scholar (d. 1783)

● 1748 - William White, American religious leader; first presiding bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church (d. 1836)

● 1772 - Nachman of Breslov, founder of Breslov Hasidut (d. 1810)

● 1780 - Edward Hicks, American primitive painter (d. 1849)

● 1785 - Bettina von Arnim, German writer (d. 1859)

● 1802 - Dorothea Dix, American social activist (d. 1887)

● 1819 - Queen Maria II of Portugal (d. 1853)

● 1821 - Linus Yale, Jr., American inventor and manufacturer (d. 1868)

● 1826 - Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer (d. 1901)

● 1842 - Edouard Lucas, French mathematician (d. 1891)

● 1846 - Comte de Lautréamont, French writer (d. 1870)

● 1858 - Remy de Gourmont, French poet (d. 1915)

● 1875 - Pierre Monteux, French conductor (d. 1964)

● 1876 - Maurice de Vlaminck, French painter (d. 1958)

● 1882 - Kurt von Schleicher, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1934)

● 1884 - Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese naval commander (d. 1943)

● 1888 - Tris Speaker, American baseball player (d. 1958)

● 1888 - Zdzisław Żygulski, Sr., Polish literary historian (d. 1975)

● 1895 - Arthur Murray, American dance teacher (d. 1991)

● 1896 - Robert E. Sherwood, American playwright (d. 1955)

● 1897 - Pierre Fresnay, French stage and film actor (d. 1975)

● 1898 - Agnes Ayres, American actress (d. 1940)

● 1902 - Louise Leveque de Vilmorin, French actress (d. 1969)

● 1906 - Bea Benaderet, American actress (d. 1968)

● 1906 - John Cameron Swayze, American journalist (d. 1995)

● 1908 - Antony Tudor, English-born American dancer, teacher and choreographer (d. 1987)

● 1908 - Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, American memoirist (Cheaper by the Dozen) (d. 2006)

● 1911 - Max Dupain, Australian photographer (d. 1992)

● 1913 - Frances Langford, American actress (d. 2005)

● 1914 - Marguerite Duras, French writer (d. 1996)

● 1915 - Muddy Waters, American musician (d. 1983)

● 1916 - Edith Fore, old lady in commercial ("I've fallen and I can't get up!") (d. 1997)

● 1916 - Mickey Owen, American baseball player (d. 2005)

● 1916 - David White, American actor (d. 1990)

● 1918 - George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe (d. 2007)

● 1920 - Éric Rohmer, French film director

● 1922 - Elmer Bernstein, American composer (d. 2004)

● 1924 - Gil Hodges, American baseball player and manager (d. 1972)

● 1925 - Claude Wagner, French Canadian politician and judge (d. 1979)

● 1928 - Maya Angelou, American writer

● 1931 - Bobby Ray Inman, American admiral and intelligence director

● 1932 - Clive Davis, American record producer

● 1932 - Estelle Harris, American actress

● 1932 - Richard Lugar, American politician

● 1932 - Anthony Perkins, American actor (d. 1992)

● 1932 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet film director (d. 1986)

● 1938 - A. Bartlett Giamatti, American university president and Commissioner of Baseball (d. 1989)

● 1939 - JoAnne Carner, American golfer

● 1939 - Major Lance, American singer (d. 1994)

● 1939 - Hugh Masekela, South African musician

● 1940 - Sharon Sheeley, American songwriter

● 1942 - Jim Fregosi, American baseball player and manager

● 1942 - Kitty Kelley, American writer

● 1944 - Magda Aelvoet, Belgian politician

● 1944 - Craig T. Nelson, American actor ("The District," "Coach")

● 1945 - Walter Charles, Actor

● 1945 - Daniel Cohn-Bendit, French political activist

● 1945 - Caroline McWilliams, American actress

● 1946 - Dave Hill, English guitarist (Slade)

● 1946 - Katsuaki Sato, Japanese martial artist

● 1947 - Luke Halpin, American actor

● 1947 - Wiranto, Indonesian general

● 1948 - Michael Blassie, U.S. Air Force officer (d. 1972)

● 1948 - Berry Oakley, American bassist (The Allman Brothers Band) (d. 1972)

● 1948 - Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party

● 1948 - Dan Simmons, American writer

● 1948 - Derek Thompson, Northern Irish actor

● 1949 - Junior Braithwaite, Jamaican singer (The Wailers) (d. 1999)

● 1949 - Shing-Tung Yau, Chinese mathematician

● 1950 - Christine Lahti, American actress

● 1951 - Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia

● 1951 - Steve Gatlin, Country singer (The Gatlin Brothers)

● 1952 - Rosemarie Ackermann, German athlete

● 1952 - Pat Burns, Canadian ice hockey coach

● 1952 - Gary Moore, Irish guitarist (Thin Lizzy)

● 1953 - Robert Bertrand, Canadian politician

● 1956 - David E. Kelley, American writer and television producer

● 1956 - Tom Herr, American baseball player

● 1957 - Ali El Haggar, Egyptian singer and actor

● 1957 - Aki Kaurismäki, Finnish film director

● 1957 - Graeme Kelling, Scottish musician (Deacon Blue) (d. 2004)

● 1957 - Kelso, American racehorse (d. 1983)

● 1957 - Nobuyoshi Kuwano, Japanese musician (Rats & Star)

● 1958 - Cazuza, Brazilian poet, singer and composer (d. 1990)

● 1958 - Mary-Margaret Humes, American actress

● 1959 - Phil Morris, Actor

● 1960 - Lorraine Toussaint, Actress ("Crossing Jordan")

● 1960 - Jane Eaglin, English soprano

● 1960 - Hugo Weaving, Nigerian-born English-Australian actor

● 1962 - Craig Adams, Rock musician (The Cult)

● 1963 - Jack Del Rio, American football player and coach

● 1963 - Graham Norton, Irish talk show host

● 1963 - Dale Hawerchuk, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1964 - David Cross, American actor and comedian

● 1964 - Branco, Brazilian football player and coach

● 1964 - Sertab Erener, Turkish singer and Eurovision winner

● 1964 - Robbie Rist, American actor

● 1965 - Robert Downey Jr., American actor

● 1966 - Nancy McKeon, American actor ("Facts of Life")

● 1968 - Jennifer Lynch, American director

● 1970 - Barry Pepper, Canadian actor

● 1971 - Clay Davidson, Country singer

● 1971 - John Zandig, American professional wrestler

● 1971 - Yanic Perreault, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1972 - Jill Scott, R&B singer

● 1972 - Magnus Sveningsson, Rock musician (The Cardigans)

● 1973 - David Blaine, American illusionist

● 1973 - Kelly Price, R&B singer

● 1974 - Andre Dalyrimple, R&B singer (Soul for Real)

● 1974 - Dave Mirra, American athlete

● 1975 - Thobias Fredriksson, Swedish cross-country skier

● 1975 - Scott Rolen, American baseball player

● 1975 - Delphine Arnault, French billionaire businesswoman

● 1976 - James Roday, Actor

● 1976 - Emerson, Brazilian footballer

● 1977 - Adam Dutkiewicz, American guitarist (Killswitch Engage)

● 1978 - Jason Ellison, American baseball player

● 1978 - Lemar, English R'n'B singer

● 1978 - Alan Mahon, Irish footballer

● 1978 - Irene Skliva, Greek 1996 Miss World winner

● 1979 - Heath Ledger, Australian actor

● 1979 - Roberto Luongo, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1979 - Natasha Lyonne, American actress

● 1980 - Johnny Borrell, English singer (Razorlight)

● 1980 - Björn Wirdheim, Swedish race car driver

● 1983 - Doug Lynch, Canadian ice hockey player

● 1982 - Fabian Geiser, Swiss footballer

● 1984 - Arkady Vyatchanin, Russian swimmer

● 1987 - Sarah Gadon, Canadian actress

● 1987 - Devon Anderson, English actor

● 1991 - Jamie Lynn Spears, American actress

● 1992 - Alexa Nikolas, American actress

● 1994 - Risako Sugaya, Japanese singer

DEATHS

● 397 - St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

● 636 - Saint Isidore of Seville, Church Father and the proposed patron of Internet

● 896 - Pope Formosus (b. 816)

● 1284 - King Alfonso X of Castile (b. 1221)

● 1292 - Pope Nicholas IV (b. 1227)

● 1305 - Jeanne of Navarre, wife of Philip IV of France

● 1536 - Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (b. 1460)

● 1588 - King Frederick II of Denmark (b. 1534)

● 1609 - Charles de L'Ecluse, Flemish botanist (b. 1526)

● 1617 - John Napier, Scottish mathematician (b. 1550)

● 1643 - Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (b. 1583)

● 1661 - Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, Scottish soldier

● 1701 - Joseph Haines, entertainer and author

● 1743 - Daniel Neal, English historian (b. 1678)

● 1761 - Theodore Gardelle, Swiss painter and enameler (b. 1722)

● 1766 - John Taylor, English classical scholar (b. 1704)

● 1774 - Oliver Goldsmith, English writer (b. 1728)

● 1792 - James Sykes, American politician (b. 1725)

● 1807 - Joseph Jérôme Lefrançais de Lalande, French astronomer (b. 1732)

● 1817 - André Masséna, Duke of Rivoli, Prince of Essling and Marshal of France (b. 1758)

● 1841 - William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States (b. 1773)

● 1842 - Jean Moufot, French philosopher and mathematician (b. 1784)

● 1846 - Solomon Sibley, Senator from Michigan Territory (b. 1769)

● 1861 - John McLean, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1785)

● 1864 - Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American naval officer (b. 1808)

● 1870 - Heinrich Gustav Magnus, German chemist and physicist (b. 1802)

● 1874 - Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)

● 1879 - Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, German physicist (b. 1803)

● 1883 - Peter Cooper, American Industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (b. 1791)

● 1884 - Marie Bashkirtseff, Russian artist and diarist (b. 1860)

● 1890 - Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, Quebec politician (b. 1820)

● 1890 - Edmond Hébert, French geologist (b. 1812)

● 1919 - William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (b. 1832)

● 1923 - John Venn, British mathematician (b. 1834)

● 1929 - Karl Benz,German engine designer and automobile engineer (b. 1844)

● 1931 - André Michelin, French industrialist (b. 1853)

● 1932 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)

● 1951 - Al Christie, Canadian film director and producer (b. 1881)

● 1951 - George Albert Smith, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or Mormon Church) (b. 1870)

● 1953 - King Carol II of Romania (b. 1893)

● 1957 - E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat (b. 1909)

● 1958 - Johnny Stompanato, American organized crime figure (b. 1925)

● 1961 - Simion Stoilow, Romanian mathematician (b. 1873)

● 1967 - Héctor Scarone, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1898)

● 1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil rights activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1929)

● 1972 - Adam Clayton Powell Jr., American politician (b. 1908)

● 1972 - Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (b. 1902)

● 1976 - Harry Nyquist, contributor to information theory (b. 1889)

● 1979 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, President and Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1928)

● 1979 - Edgar Buchanan, American actor (b. 1903)

● 1980 - Red Sovine, American country music singer (b. 1917)

● 1983 - Gloria Swanson, American actress (b. 1897)

● 1984 - Oleg Antonov, Soviet airplane engineer (b. 1906)

● 1985 - Kate Roberts, Welsh nationalist and writer (b. 1891)

● 1987 - C.L. Moore, American writer (b. 1911)

● 1991 - Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (b. 1920)

● 1991 - Max Frisch, Swiss writer (b. 1911)

● 1991 - H. John Heinz III, U.S. Senator (b. 1938)

● 1991 - Forrest Towns, American hurdler (b. 1914)

● 1992 - Yvette Brind'Amour, French Canadian stage actress and artistic director (b. 1918)

● 1992 - Arthur Russell, American cellist (b. 1951)

● 1993 - Alfred Butts, American architect and inventor (Scrabble) (b. 1899)

● 1995 - Kenny Everett, British radio DJ and television entertainer (b. 1944)

● 1995 - Priscilla Lane, American singer and actress (b. 1915)

● 1996 - Barney Ewell, American athlete (b. 1918)

● 1996 - Larry LaPrise, American songwriter (b. 1913)

● 1997 - Alparslan Türkeş, Başbuğ (b. 1917)

● 1999 - Faith Domergue, American actor (b. 1924)

● 1999 - Early Wynn, American baseball player (b. 1920)

● 2000 - Tommaso Buscetta, Sicilian mafioso and pentito (b. 1928)

● 2001 - Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, American custom car designer (b. 1932)

● 2002 - Harry L. O'Connor, Czech-born film stuntman

● 2003 - Anthony Caruso, American actor (b. 1916)

● 2003 - Resortes, Mexican comedian (b. 1916)

● 2004 - Alberic Schotte, Belgian cyclist (b. 1919)

● 2004 - Casey Sheehan, American soldier, son of Cindy Sheehan (b. 1979)

● 2005 - Edward Bronfman, Canadian businessman (b. 1924)

● 2007 - Bob Clark, American film director (b. 1941)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● Roman Catholic:
● St. Agathopus
● St. Ageranus
● St. Benedict the Moor
● St. Guier
● St. Gwerir
● St. Isidore of Seville, archbishop, confessor and doctor
● St. Plato
● St. Theonas of Egypt
● St. Tigernach
● St. Zosimus
● Bl. Alice (d. 1105)
● Bl. Peter of Poitiers

● Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar for March 22 (Civil Date: April 4)
● Hieromartyr Basil of Ancyra.
● St. Isaac, founder of the Dalmatian Monastery at Constantinople.
● Martyr Drosida (Drosis) of Antioch, and five nuns.
● Martyrs Callinica and Basilissa of Rome.
● New-Martyr Euthymius of Mt. Athos.
● New-Martyrs Schema-abbess Sophia of Kiev (1941) and her priest Fr. Dimitry Ivanov (1934).

● Anglican:
● St. Ambrose

● Christian:
● Sts. Agathopus & Theodulus
● St. Benedict, the black
● St. Plato
● St. Tigernach

● International Day for Landmine Awareness and Assistance

● Lesotho - Heroes' Day

● Taiwan and Hong Kong - Children's Day

● Hungary : Liberation Day (1945)

● Senegal : National Day (1960)

● These Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
● Switzerland: Glarius Festival (1388) - (Thursday)
● Massachusetts: Student Government Day - (Friday)

IN FICTION

● 1984 - Oceania - Winston Smith opens his journal. It doesn't look good for our hero. Thankfully, he has Big Brother to help him through his difficult times. Today, we have Dubya.


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

On this day in the New York Times

The BBC’s Take on the day

On This Day Website

Geov Parrish's this Day in Radical History, things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school.

Scope Systems Any Day Website

Roman Catholic Saint of the Day

Russian Orthodox Christian Menaion Calendar

Quotes of the Day taken from "The Best Liberal Quotes Ever: Why the Left Is Right" Compiled by William P. Martin 2004

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