This Day in History

[xoxoxoBruce]

2003 – In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier.

But those A-10s are useless, we should get rid of them.

[Gravdigr]

March 29

845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

1461 – Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton: Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England.

1806 – Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.

1847 – Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.

1865 – American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.

1867 – Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes the Dominion of Canada on July 1.

1882 – The Knights of Columbus are established.

1886 – John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.

1911 – The M1911 .45 ACP pistol becomes the official U.S. Army side arm.

1945 – World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.

1951 – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.

1957 – The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.

1961 – The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.

1971 – My Lai Massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.

1973 – Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.

1973 - Dr Hook And The Medicine Show got their picture on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine after their hit, 'The Cover of Rolling Stone' reached No. 6 on the US singles chart. According to members of the group, they really did buy five copies for their mothers, just like the song said.

1984 – The Baltimore Colts load its possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer its operations to Indianapolis.

1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.

2013 – At least 36 people are killed when a 16-floor building collapses in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

2014 – The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales are performed.

Births

1790 – John Tyler (10th POTUS), 1816 – 10th Dalai Lama, 1867 – Cy Young, 1874 – Lou Henry Hoover (33rd FLOTUS), 1914 – Phil Foster (Laverne's father on Laverne & Shirley), 1918 – Pearl Bailey♪ ♫, 1918 – Sam Walton (founded Walmart and Sam's Club), 1919 – Eileen Heckart, 1927 – John McLaughlin, 1928 – Vincent 'Chin' Gigante (boss of the Genovese crime family), 1939 – Terence Hill, 1940 – Ray Davis(Parliament-Funkadelic), 1943 – Vangelis, 1943 – Eric Idle, 1943 – John Major, 1944 – Terry Jacks♪ ♫(wrote/sang "Seasons In The Sun"), 1946 – Billy Thorpe♪ ♫, 1947 – Bobby Kimball♪ ♫(Toto), 1948 – Bud Cort, 1952 – John Hendricks (founded Discovery Channel), 1955 – Earl Campbell, 1955 – Brendan Gleeson, 1955 – Marina Sirtis ('Counselor Troi' on Star Trek:TNG), 1956 – Kurt Thomas, 1957 – Christopher Lambert (Highlander movies), 1959 – Perry Farrell♪ ♫(Jane's Addiction), 1961 – Amy Sedaris, 1964 – Elle Macpherson, 1967 – John Popper♪ ♫(Blues Traveler), 1968 – Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess), 1971 – Lara Logan, 1976 – Jennifer Capriati

Deaths:reaper

1848 – John Jacob Astor, 1912 – Robert Falcon Scott, 1980 – Mantovani♪ ♫, 1992 – Paul Henreid, 2012 – Bill 'Grumpy' Jenkins, 2016 – Patty Duke

[xoxoxoBruce]

845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

I read it was a very successful. After that the Vikings would come back on the special boats the only used for European rivers, every year or three and collect the ransom with no muss or fuss.

I tried to get people to pay me to leave but they just threw me out.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

March 29

845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.

Playing again this week on PBS NOVA:

"Secrets of the Viking Sword"
With modern science and traditional detective work, experts reconstruct and uncover the secrets of the Vikings' Ulfberht sword, which was a revolutionary weapon that remained a mystery to the Vikings' enemies for centuries.

[Gravdigr]

March 30

Today is marked as Nat'l Doctors' Day in the U.S., recognizing the contributions of physicians to individual lives and communities.


Events

1296 – Edward I sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed, during armed conflict between Scotland and England.

1822 – The Florida Territory is created in the United States.

1842 – Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.

1855 – Origins of the American Civil War: "Border Ruffians" from Missouri invade Kansas and force election of a pro-slavery legislature.

1867 – Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about 2-cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward.

1870 – Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.

1939 – The Heinkel He 100 fighter sets a world airspeed record of 463 mph (745 km/h).

1944 – Out of 795 Lancasters, Halifaxes and Mosquitos sent to attack Nuremberg, 95 bombers do not return, making it the largest RAF Bomber Command loss of the war.

1945 – World War II: Soviet forces invade Austria and capture Vienna; Polish and Soviet forces liberate Danzig.

1957 - Buddy Knox became the first artist in the Rock 'n' Roll era to write his own number one hit when 'Party Doll' topped the US singles chart.

1972 – Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.; three others are wounded in the same incident.

1982 – Space Shuttle program: STS-3 Mission is completed with the landing of Columbia at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

2017 – Peggy Whitson surpasses Suni Williams' record for most spacewalks by a woman with 8.

Births

1746 – Francisco Goya, 1811 – Robert Bunsen (Bunsen burner), 1820 – Anna Sewell, 1844 – Paul Verlaine, 1853 – Vincent van Gogh, 1880 – Seán O'Casey, 1894 – Sergey Ilyushin (founded Ilyushin Aircraft Company), 1902 – Brooke A$tor, 1905 – Albert Pierrepoint (British hangman), 1913 – Frankie Laine♪ ♫, 1914 – Sonny Boy Williamson I, 1919 – McGeorge Bundy, 1929 – Richard Dysart, 1930 – John Astin, 1930 – Rolf Harris♪ ♫, 1937 – Warren Beatty, 1943 – Jay Traynor♪ ♫, 1945 – Eric Clapton, 1948 – Jim "Dandy" Mangrum♪ ♫(Black Oak Arkansas), 1950 – Robbie Coltrane, 1955 – Randy VanWarmer♪ ♫, 1957 – Paul Reiser, 1958 – Maurice LaMarche (voice of 'The Brain' on Animaniacs), 1962 – MC Hammer♪ ♫, 1964 – Tracy Chapman♪ ♫, 1968 – Celine Dion♪ ♫, 1971 – Mark Consuelos, 1979 – Norah Jones♪ ♫

Deaths

1840 – Beau Brummell, 1981 – DeWitt Wallace (co-founded Reader's Digest), 1986 – James Cagney, 2002 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, 2003 – Michael Jeter, 2005 – Fred Korematsu, 2008 – Richard Lloyd, 2012 – Granville Semmes (founded 1-800-Flowers), 2013 – Phil Ramone♪ ♫(The Ramones), 2014 – Kate O'Mara (Dynasty, 'the Rani' on Doctor Who)