TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON – MARCH 19
1644 200 members of Peking imperial family and court commit suicide in loyalty to the Emperor
1687 The French explorer La Salle is murdered by his own men while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
1702 On the death of William III of Orange, Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeds to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1831 The first bank robbery in America was reported. The City Bank of New York City lost $245,000 in the robbery.
1853 During the Taiping Rebellion in China, the rebels captured Nanking and renamed it T’en-ching (Heavenly Capital).
1903 The U.S. Senate ratifies the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
1908 The state of Maryland barred Christian Scientists from practicing without medical diplomas.
1911 The first International Women’s Day is observed by over 1 million people in several European countries
1916 The First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, NM to join Gen. John J. Pershing and his Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico.
1918 Congress authorizes Daylight Savings Time.
1920 US Senate rejects Treaty of Versailles for 2nd time refusing to ratify League of Nations’ covenant (maintaining isolation policy)
1928 “Amos & Andy” debuts on radio (NBC Blue Network-WMAQ Chicago)
1942 FDR orders men between 45 & 64 to register for non-military duty
1945 Adolf Hitler orders a scorched-earth policy for his retreating German armies in the west and east.
1965 Indonesia nationalizes all foreign oil companies
1968 Howard University students seize administration building
1969 Chicago 8 indicted in aftermath of Chicago Democratic convention
1973 Dean tells Nixon, “There is a cancer growing on the Presidency”
1987 Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned from the PTL due to a scandal involving Jessica Hahn.
1988 Two British soldiers were killed by mourners at a funeral in Belfast, North Ireland. The soldiers were shot to death after being dragged from a car and beaten.
1998 The World Health Organization warned of tuberculosis epidemic that could kill 70 million people in next two decades.
2000 Vector Data Systems conducted a simulation of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege in Waco, TX. The simulation showed that the government had not fired first.
2003 Airstrikes by an American and British-led coalition signal the beginning of the Invasion of Iraq, without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion
** history.net, onthisday.com, infoplease.com, timeanddate.com, thepeoplehistory.com, on-this-day.com **
