This Week in History

USPA NEWS - The Beatles’ first appearance, Niagera Falls runs out of water, Elvis Presley joins the army, 705 British bombers attack Essen, Germany, and Typhoid Mary is re-quarantined. These events and more happened this week in history.

March 21 (1844) The original date predicted by William Miller of Massachusetts for the return of Christ and the end of the world. (1935) Persia is officially renamed Iran. (1943) Assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler fails. (1945) During WWII, Allied bombers begin four day raid over Germany. (1961) Beatles’ first appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. (1963) Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay is closed. (1984) Soviet sub crashes into USS aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off Japan. (2006) First ever tweet sent out by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey “just setting up my twttr.” (2013) The European Space Agency reveals new data that indicates that the universe is 13.82 billion years old. (2019) A huge blast from a chemical factory in Chenjagang Chemical Industry Park in eastern China is so big it registers as an earthquake, kills 78 people and injures 617.

March 22 (1349) Townspeople of Fulda, Germany massacre Jews, blaming them for the Black Death. (1794) Congress bans US vessels from supplying slaves to other countries. (1903) Niagera Falls runs out of water because of a drought. (1944) Six hundred 8th Air Force bombers attack Berlin. (1946) First US rocket to leave the Earth’s atmosphere. (1960) First patent for lasers granted to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes. (1965) US confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong. (1997) Comet Hale-Bopp closest approach to Earth (1.315 AU) (2017) Tomb of Jesus reopens after restoration in Jerusalem. (2018) The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” between Hawaii and California has 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and increasing rapidly, according to new research.

March 23 (1775) Patrick Henry proclaims “Give me liberty or give me death” in speech in favor of Virginian troops joining US Revolutionary war. (1839) First recorded use of “OK” (oll korrect) in the Boston Morning Post. (1882) The Edmunds Act (Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act) is adopted by the US to suppress polygamy. 1300 men are later imprisoned under the act. (1903) The Wright brothers first file for a patent for a flying machine. (1929) First telephone installed at the President’s desk under the Hoover administration at the White House. (1933) Enabling Act: German Reichstag grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers. (1945) Battle of Okinawa: US Navy ships bomb the Japanese island of Okinawa in preparation for the Allied invasion. It would become the largest battle of the Pacific War in World War II. (1989) Two Utah scientists claim they have produced fusion at room temperature. (2003) In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company as well as 18 US Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (2021) Cargo ship Ever Given gets stuck in the Suez Canal, Egypt, a 400m megaship it completely blocks the shipping canal.

March 24 (1882) German scientist, Robert Koch, discovers and describes the tubercle bacillus which causes tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), and establishes germ theory. (1883) First telephone call between New York and Chicago. (1942) US government begins moving native-born citizens with Japanese ancestry into detention centers under Executive Order 9066, with intention of preventing home-grown espionage. (1945) Operation Varsity: In the largest one-day airborne operation of all time, British, US and Canadian paratroopers land east of the Rhine in northern Germany. (1955) First seagoing oil drill rig place in service. (1958) Elvis Presley joins the US Army. (1989) Exxon tanker Valdez spills 10.8 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound, near Tatitlek, Alaska. (1999) Kosovo War: NATO commences air bombardment against Yugoslavia, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country. (1999) “The Matrix” film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss premieres. (2018) America conducts its first ever drone strike against Qaeda militants in southern Libya.

March 25 (1669) Mount Etna in Sicily erupts, destroying Nicolosi and killing 20,000 people. (1882) First demonstration of pancake making, held at a department store in New York City. (1915) First submarine disaster, a US F-4 sinks off Hawaii, killing 21. (1954) RCA manufactures first color television set, has 12-1/2 inch screen and costs $1,000. (1960) First guided missile launched from nuclear powered sub USS Halibut. (1961) Sputnik 10 carries a dog into Earth orbit, and is later recovered. (1970) Concorde makes first supersonic flight (700 MPH/1,127 KPH). (1971) European council accepts Mansholt plan, laying off five million farmers. (2006) Capital Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle’s Capital Hill neighborhood. (2018) First scheduled non-stop flight between Australia and the UK, leaves Perth for Heathrow airport in London, arrives after 17 hours.

March 26 (127) Greek astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy begins his observations of the heavens. (1804) Congress orders removal of Indians east of Mississippi to Louisiana. (1885) First modern, legal cremation held in England at Woking, Surrey. (1913) Dayton, Ohio almost destroyed when Scioto, Miami and Muskingum river reach flood stage simultaneously. (1937) Spinach growers of Crystal City, Texas, erect statue of Popeye. (1944) 705 British bombers attack Essen, Germany. (1982) Groundbreaking in Washington, D.C. for Vietnam Veterans Memorial. (1995) The Shengen Treaty goes into effect. (2018) “The Black Panther” becomes the highest grossing superhero film in America earning $630.9 million. (2020) Record number of Americans file for unemployment – 3.3 million according to US Department of Labor.

March 27 (1351) Battle of the Thirty: 30 English and 30 Breton Knights and squires square off using swords, maces, lances and daggers. It is considered one of the most chivalrous battles in history. (1790) The modern shoelace with an aglet patented in England by Harvey Kennedy. (1855) Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner patents kerosene. (1910) Fire during a barn-dance in Ököritófülpös, Hungary, killed 312. (1915) Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) is arrested and returned to quarantine on North Brother Island, New York after spending five years evading health authorities and causing several further outbreaks of typhoid. (1945) World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan’s ports and waterways begin. (1977) 583 die in aviation's worst ever disaster when two Boeing 747’s collide at Tenerife airport in Spain. (1980) Mount St. Helens becomes active after 123 years. (1997) Martin Luther King’s son meets James Earl Ray, his father’s killer. (2020) $2.2 trillion stimulus package, largest in US history, signed into law by President Donald Trump saying “I never signed anything with a “T” on it.”

Thank you for reading my article. These are merely my thoughts and insights based on the facts. I use only verified sources. No fake news here. I write about a variety of subjects, mainly things I want to research and know more about. You can check out my website – Small Village Life at smallvillagelife.com, where I share useful articles and news.

Wendy writes for the United States Press Agency and is a former columnist with the Fulton County Expositor, Wauseon, Ohio.