# Today in History **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530 "2016-07-10T04:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/522 "2017-03-20T06:11:42Z")
**March 20, 1987:** The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/523 "2017-03-20T10:39:36Z")
**March 20, 1852:** Harriet Beecher Stowe’s _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ is published. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/524 "2017-03-20T23:44:37Z")
**March 20, 1917** -100-year old British singer Vera Lynn was born. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/525 "2017-03-21T06:32:38Z")
**March 21, 1952:** Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/526 "2017-03-21T07:01:34Z")
**March 21, 1980:** U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/527 "2017-03-22T04:59:15Z")
**March 22, 1972:** In _Eisenstadt v. Baird,_ the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/528 "2017-03-23T04:03:44Z")
**March 23, 1913** : [The Great Easter Sunday Tornado](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DtmhWeaVuNc0&ved=0ahUKEwivobHf2evSAhWI2YMKHVy7C6AQt9IBCD0wBg&usg=AFQjCNFL3rz4X8HjxIoidltRhZsjqBUb3A&sig2=IegHAdC50c1NBJii_trmtQ) kills 140 and injures hundreds in Omaha, Nebraska. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/529 "2017-03-23T10:31:15Z")
**March 23, 1775:** Patrick Henry delivers his speech – “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/530 "2017-03-24T04:08:45Z")
**March 24, 1878** : [The HMS \*Eurydice \*](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.lostghostnights.co.uk/blogs/time-travel-tuesday/hms-eurydice-the-ghostly-galleon-of-the-isle-of-wight&ved=0ahUKEwivp8-hnu7SAhUH6IMKHWDRDx84FBAWCB8wAw&usg=AFQjCNEVCraV8J-1qLaueeEdOgFUnhj01g&sig2=A00ORGVQzjJba8EWYET5Gg) sinks in a storm off of the Isle of Wight. Over 360 die. At the time it was the largest loss of life in a peacetime maritime accident in British history. The \*Eurydice \*is also reportedly now a ghost ship. The three-masted galleon has been spotted dozens of times in the past 139 years still sailing, trying to reach port. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/531 "2017-03-24T04:37:27Z")
**March 24, 1944:** In an event later dramatized in the movie _The Great Escape,_ 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/532 "2017-03-25T05:04:06Z")
**March 25, 1911** : [The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ikbtsuSakI) [kills 146 garment workers in New York City](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TBjsM9eZFjc&itct=CBIQpDAYACITCMSErJrs8NICFZTVnAodtWcMnzIGcmVsbWZ1SMLUydzs9saU7gE%3D). Most of the dead are young women, girls aged 14 to 19. The fire began on the eighth floor, too high for Fire Department ladders and hoses. Doors to the stairways had been locked to prevent theft and union activity. The fire escape collapsed sending several victims plummeting to the street below. Elevators quit working. Over 60 jumped to their death from windows. The others were killed in the flames. Despite a very public trial, no one was held responsible. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/533 "2017-03-25T06:32:59Z")
**March 25, 1965:** Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/534 "2017-03-26T04:39:19Z")
**March 26, 1812** : [An estimated 7.7 earthquake in Northeast Venezuela](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/s/vencentral.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/caracas-earthquake-of-1812/amp/&ved=0ahUKEwiIoouaqvPSAhXQZiYKHSjBAT8QFgiEATAM&usg=AFQjCNEEpH30BjyAkGj86bljsJ4AkUOK0A&sig2=AtVfUpL-Xc-rSxZWrwoibw) destroys the city of Caracas. Upwards of 20,000 die. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/535 "2017-03-26T06:23:20Z")
**March 26, 1942:** The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/536 "2017-03-27T05:15:35Z")
**March 27, 1890** : [The tornado they called “a demon”](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/s/symonsez.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/the-tornado-they-called-a-demon-is-forgotten-by-most/amp/&ved=0ahUKEwirv7uS9vXSAhWD8CYKHcslDpkQFghkMA8&usg=AFQjCNEt0QERNRb6K9CNKbvbk0nObpSn_A&sig2=KCnFM6dMIQvGbPMbAUYfwA) devastates Louisville, Kentucky. Estimates of the dead range between 75 and 120. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/537 "2017-03-27T07:10:15Z")
**March 27, 1977:** Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the worst aviation accident in history. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/538 "2017-03-28T04:44:20Z")
**March 28, 1943** : The ship [\*Caterina Costa \*](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterina_Costa&ved=0ahUKEwjz3fS_sPjSAhWF6yYKHdOZA0YQFghcMA4&usg=AFQjCNHWlScTzkqqWmZUxiNhIHj8rdBhSw&sig2=aiLuZethM3Ul1e6zKuusoA) catches fire and explodes at a harbor in Naples, Italy. Over 600 are killed and thousands injured. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/539 "2017-03-28T05:17:09Z")
**March 28, 1842:** First concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, founded by Otto Nicolai. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/540 "2017-04-01T23:14:42Z")
\*\*April 1, 1700 \*\*- On this day in 1700, English pranksters did not begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on each other. April Fool! ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2017, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/541 "2017-04-02T05:39:22Z")
**April 2, 1971** : The last episode of \*Dark Shadows \*airs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=28)