March 16, 1801: The HMS *Invincible * is lost in a shipwreck off the English coast. Over 400 drown.
March 17, 1899: The Windsor Hotel Fire in New York City kills 86 people. 31 bodies are never identified. This is New York City’s deadliest hotel fire.
March 17, 1957: The Netherlands lifts the ban on driving on Sundays.
March 18, 1937: The New London School Explosion in Texas kills 294. Most of the dead are children. This is the deadliest school disaster in United States history.
March 19, 1958: The Monarch Underwear Company Fire in New York City kills 24.
March 20, 1946: The Aracaju Train Accident in Brazil claims 185 lives. Another 300 are injured.
March 21, 1788: Most of New Orleans is destroyed in a fire.
March 21, 1952: Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.
March 23, 1906: 23 are killed in the Century Mine Explosion in West Virginia.
March 22nd is THE date for musical theatre
March 22, 1930 - Theatre composer Stephen Sondheim born
March 22, 1948 - Theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber born
Happy 88th to Sondheim and Happy 70th to Lloyd Webber. And a great big Thank You to both of them!
This should have been **March 22 **
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In play:
March 23, 1917: The New Albany, Indiana tornado of 1917 kills 45 and destroys much of the town.
March 24, 1911: The steamship *Sechelt * sinks in the Puget Sound for unknown reasons. All 25 aboard are lost.
March 25, 1947: The Centralia Mine Disaster
A coal dust explosion in the Centralia #5 mine in Illinois kills 111. Dangerous conditions at the mine were ignored for years prior to the disaster. Centralia Mine would later plead “no contest” for violating mine safety laws. No one was held criminally responsible and the mine owners were fined a mere one thousand dollars total.
March 26, 1896: The Brunner Mine Disaster in New Zealand kills 65. This is that country’s deadliest industrial disaster.
March 27, 1964: The Great Alaska Earthquake kills 131. This 9.2 earthquake is the strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America, and the second strongest ever recorded anywhere. Tsunami waves destroyed villages in Alaska and killed people in Oregon and California.
March 27, 1998–Viagra gets approved for prescription use. Quite an uplifting day!
March 28, 1979: The Three Mile Island Accident
March 29, 1941: The Italian cruiser *Fiume * is sunk by the British in the Battle of Cape Matapan. Over 800 aboard are killed.
March 30, 1899: The SS *Stella *runs upon rocks in thick fog off the Casquets reef. 105 lives are lost.
On this day in 1492, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Aragon issue the Alhambra Decree which expels Jews from their Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. It appears, doesn’t it, that these fine royalty modeled for Columbus how he was to treat the residents of the New World. What Happened on March 31 - On This Day