This Week In History

USPA NEWS - A partial meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, American citizens Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted and sentenced to death for conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union, First daylight saving time in US goes into effect, and First mobile phone call is made in downtown Manhattan, NYC. All this and more, happened this week in history.

March 28 (1794) Louvre opens to the public. (1854) Britain and France declare war on Russia during the Crimean War. (1910) First seaplane takes off from water at Martinique, France with Henri Fabre. (1920) Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states of the US. (1935) Robert Goddard uses gyroscopes to control a rocket. (1945) Last German V-1 buzz bomb attack on London. (1960) Scotch whiskey factory explodes burying 20 fire fighters in Glasgow, Scotland. (1970) 1,086 die when a 7.4 earthquake destroys 254 villages in Gediz, Turkey. (1979) A partial meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the US results in the release of radioactive gas and iodine into the atmosphere, but no deaths. (2019) European parliament bans single-use plastics, including cutlery and straws by 2021.

March 29 (1827) 20,000 people attend Ludwig von Beethoven’s burial in Vienna. (1936) Nazi propaganda claims 99% of Germans voted for Nazi candidates. (1951) American citizens Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted and sentenced to death for conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union. (1973) US troops leave Vietnam, nine years after Tonkin Resolution. (1974) Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi’an, 8,000 clay warrior statures buried to guard the tomb of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. (1976) Eight Ohio National Guardsmen indicted for shooting four Kent State students. (1989) First Soviet hockey players are permitted to play for the NHL. (1989) I.M. Pei’s pyramidal entrance to the Louvre opens in Paris. (2004) The Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants. (2014) First same-sex couples marry in the UK, as a result of the passing of The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act of 2013.

March 30 (1842) Ether used as an anesthetic for the first time by Dr. Crawford Long in Georgia, US. (1858) Pencil with attached eraser patented by Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia. (1867) US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000, roughly 2 cents an acre. (1945) World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmidt ME 262A-1 to Americans. (1965) Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the US Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others. (1970) USSR wins its 8th straight world hockey championship. (1981) US President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, three others are also wounded. (1987) Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” sells for a record $39.7 million. (2012) American Mega Millions lottery hits a world record lottery amount of $640 million. (2020) International Olympic Committee announces postponed 2020 Summer Olympic Games will be held July 23-August 8 in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

March 31 (1880) First town to claim to be completely illuminated by electric lighting, Wabash, Indiana. (1889) Eiffel Tower officially opens in Paris. Built for the Exposition Universelle, at 300m high it retains the record for the tallest man made structure for 41 years. (1918) First daylight saving time in US goes into effect. (1932) Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine. (1968) US President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes a troop surge in Vietnam, bringing the total number of US soldiers to a peak of 549,500. (1982) Arkas tanker at Montz, Louisiana, spills 1.47 million gallons of oil. (1983) Popayán Earthquake (5.5 Mw depth) in Colombia kills 267 people, injuring some 7,500. (1986) 167 die when Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashes. (2004) In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed and their bodies mutilated after being ambushed. (2020) British pensioner Robert Weighton becomes the world’s oldest man at 112 years.

April 1 (1778) New Orleans businessman Oliver Pollock creates the “$” symbol. (1826) Samuel Morey is issued the first US patent for an internal-combustion engine, which he calls a “Gas or Vapour Engine.” (1873) British White Star steamship Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, 547 die. (1905) “SOS” first adopted as a Morse distress signal by German government. (1934) Clyde Barrow kills two young highway patrolmen, H.D. Murphy and Edward Bryant Wheeler, at the intersection of Route 114 near Grapevine, Texas. Bonnie Parker’s role in the murders helps turn public perception against the gang for good. (1945) Battle of Okinawa: US ground forces invade Okinawa during World War II in the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific theatre. (1960) First weather satellite, TIROS 1, is launched. (2002) The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, become the first nation in the world to do so. (2004) Google introduces Gmail. The launch is met with skepticism on account of the launch date. (2014) NATO suspends all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia.

April 2 (1877) First Easter egg roll held on White House lawn. (1917) US President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany. (1958) Wind speed reaches a record 450 kph in tornado, Wichita Falls, Texas. (1966) Soviet Union’s Luna 10 becomes first spacecraft to orbit the Moon. (1968) “2001 A Space Odyssey” directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, premieres at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. (1978) Georges de Mestral’s patent for “velvet type fabric” expires, and puts “Velcro” in the open market. (1986) Four US passengers killed by bomb at TWA counter at Athens Airport, Greece. (1992) Mafia boss, John Gotti, is found guilty of five murders, plus conspiracy to murder, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. (2006) Over 60 tornadoes break out, hardest hit is Tennessee with 29 people killed. (2021) New study suggests the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, created South America’s tropical rainforests.

April 3 (1860) Pony Express began between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. (1882) American outlaw Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford at home in St. Joseph. (1933) First airplane flight over Mt. Everest. (1948) US President Harry Truman signs Marshall Plan, giving $5 billion in aid to 16 European countries. (1967) 113 East Europeans attending World Amateur hockey championships in Vienna, ask for political asylum. (1973) First mobile phone call is made in downtown Manhattan, NYC by Motorola employee Martin Cooper to the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey. (1974) The Super Outbreak: Second largest tornado outbreak over 24 hour period with 148 confirmed tornadoes in 13 US states, killing approximately 315 people and injuring nearly 5,500. (1987) Duchess of Windsor’s jewels auctioned for £31,380,197. (2004) Islamic terrorists involved in the March 11, 2004 Madrid attacks are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves. (2020) US aircraft carrier Captain Brett Crozier cheered off his ship, after being fired for a letter demanding more help for his sailors infected with Covid-19.

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.