March 16 is celebrated by some as National Artichoke Heart Day
1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greeted them, “Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset.” He was the first native American to make contact with the Pilgrims. He had learned English from a group of English sailors who came to fish off Mohegan Island near present-day Portland, Maine.
Birthday of James Madison (March 16, 1751), fourth president of the U.S. Known as the “Father of the Constitution” for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Madison also wrote the “Virginia Plan” and authored some of the Federalist Papers. Physically Madison was short of stature and slight. He never weighed more than 100 pounds and about 5′ 4″ (the shortest of the Presidents).
Anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1802
1861 – Edward Clark becomes Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who has been evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy. Houston was a slave owner and opposed abolition but he also opposed secession. When the Texas legislature upheld the secession of Texas to the Confederate States, Sam Houston resigned. President Lincoln offered Houston 50,000 troops to fight Texas secession which Houston declined. He made the following prediction:
“Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it. I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states’ rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South.”
Birthday of Thelma “Pat” Nixon (1912), wife of Richard Nixon; first lady from 1969-1974. She was a typing teacher when she met Richard Nixon. He proposed the night they met but she refused him for two years.
Adolf Hitler ordered Germany to rearm herself in 1935 in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription was reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Germany. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force).
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.
(Iwo Jima Day is Feb 23)
1988 – Halabjah poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.