Tidbits of History

March 24 is:

National Cake Pop Day

Feast day of Saint Gabriel, archangel of the Annunciation; patron saint of postmen, messengers, radio, telegraph, and telephone workers.

March 24, 1603 – Queen Elizabeth I of England died at age 69, without children. Her cousin, James VI of Scotland, became James I of England.

Roger Williams was granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island on March 24, 1664. He was an early proponent of religious freedom and of the separation of church and government. He asserted that the civil magistrates must not punish any sort of “sins” such as idolatry, false worship, and blasphemy.

The Acts of Union 1707 was signed, officially uniting the Kingdoms of England and Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Britain enacted Quartering Act of 1765 which required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers. When 1500 British troops arrived at New York City in 1766, the Assembly refused to comply with the Quartering Act and would not provide housing for the troops.

In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tarred and feathered Mormon leader Joseph Smith on March 24, 1832.

In 1837, Canada gave its black citizens the right to vote

On March 24, 1874, Harry Houdini, the Hungarian-born magician and escape artist, was born.

The Planet Pluto (discovered February 18, 1930) was named after the god of the underworld. Pluto has five known natural satellites (moons): Charon, first identified in 1978 by astronomer James Christy; Nix and Hydra, both discovered in 2005, Kerberos, identified by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011, and Styx, discovered in 2012. In 2006 Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.

Elvis Presley joined the army (serial number 53310761) on this day in 1958.

March 24, 1989 – The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground at Prince William Sound in Alaska, causing a devastating oil spill.

March 23 is National Chips and Dip Day

George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” premiered in London on March 23, 1743.

1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivered his speech – “Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.

“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

In 1801, Tsar Paul I of Russia was struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle. He had been Tsar for only five years. Court physician, James Wylie, declared apoplexy the official cause of death.

Lewis and Clark reached Pacific coast on March 23, 1806. They had left St. Louis in May, 1804.

Elisha Otis’s first elevator was installed at 488 Broadway, New York City in 1857.

Dixie Cup invented by Lawrence Luellen in 1912 when he became concerned about germs being spread by people sharing glasses or dippers at public supplies of drinking water.

The Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.

Pakistan became the first Islamic republic in the world in 1956. (Republic Day in Pakistan)

1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).

March 23, 2013 – By a margin of 50-49, the U.S. Senate passed its first budget in four years.

March 22 is National Water Day

Birthday of Sir Anthony VanDyck (1599), Flemish painter. The Van Dyke beard is named after him. Examples of his work can be viewed at Wiki-Art

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags on March 22, 1621.

Jamestown massacre : March 22, 1622: Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony’s population, during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlawed the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables in 1630.

Anne Hutchinson was expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent on March 22, 1638.

Joseph Priestly invented carbonated water (seltzer) in 1733. English theologian, clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and Liberal political theorist who published over 150 works, he is usually credited with the discovery of oxygen, having isolated it in its gaseous state.

1765 – The Stamp Act was passed. It was the first direct British tax on the American colonists. It was repealed on March 17, 1766.

1871 – Republican William Woods Holden of North Carolina became second governor in American history to be impeached, and the first to be removed from office. As governor, Holden appointed George Kirk to stop the Ku Klux Klan. Many prominent citizens were arrested. Following the election of 1870, the Democrats took over the House of Representatives in North Carolina and impeached Holden.

1882 – The U.S. Congress outlawed polygamy.

Grand Coulee Dam in Washington went into operation in 1941.

1903 – Niagara Falls ran out of water (on the U.S. side) due to a drought. Pictures

1935 – Persia was renamed Iran.

On this day in 1972 the United States Congress sent the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. It failed to receive the requisite number of ratifications (38), receiving only 35 before the deadline mandated by Congress so was not adopted. Five ratifications were later rescinded. Twenty-one states have a version of the ERA in their state constitutions.

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

March 20 is:

National Ravioli Day
March 20, is the first day of Spring, 2025.

International Earth Day
Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
Proposal Day

1602 – The Dutch East India Company was established.

1616 –Sir Walter Raleigh was freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment. Sir Walter has an interesting history. His family was deeply Protestant and supported Queen Elizabeth I when she came to the throne in 1558. Sir Walter spent time in Ireland, taking part in the suppression of rebellions and becoming a landlord of property confiscated from the Irish. In 1584 and again in 1587 Raleigh attempted expeditions to settle a colony in America but these efforts were unsuccessful. He did, however, bring tobacco to England and helped to popularize smoking. In 1581 Raleigh moved to England from Ireland and became a favorite of the Queen. Among his other achievements, he became a one of the era’s “silver poets”. He was knighted in 1585. In 1591 he secretly married “Bess” Throckmorton without permission from the Queen. He and Bess were imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was released in 1592 to help set up an expedition for an attack on Spain. In 1594 he explored eastern Venezuela in search of the legendary city of Manoa, looking for gold. He then wrote of his voyage, making exaggerated claims. Queen Elizabeth died in 1603.

Raleigh was arrested and tried for treason due to his involvement in a plot against King James. He was convicted but King James spared his life. He remained imprisoned until this date in 1616. Upon his release, he conducted a second expedition to Venezuela in search of gold. During the expedition, Raleigh’s men attacked the Spanish outpost of San Tome. An enraged Spanish ambassador demanded that King James reinstate Raleigh’s death sentence. Raleigh was beheaded on 29 Oct 1618.

(There is no evidence to support the legend that Raleigh once doffed his cloak and threw it over a puddle to protect the feet of the Queen.)

In 1815, after escaping from Elba, Napoleon entered Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published March 20, 1852.

The Republican Party of the United States was organized as the anti-slavery party in Ripon , Wisconsin on March 20, 1854.

1899 – At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair. She was put to death for the murder of her stepdaughter, Ida Place. As Martha Garretson, she was employed by widower William Place as his housekeeper but their relationship became closer and they got married. William had a daughter, Ida, by his first wife, and Martha resented the affection shown by her new husband towards the 17-year-old girl to such an extent that it apparently affected her mental balance, for on 7 February 1898, after an argument in which Ida had sided with her father before he left for work, Martha viciously attacked Ida, throwing acid into her eyes.

As the girl covered her face in agony, Martha picked up an axe and felled her with several violent blows; Ida collapsed on the floor, Martha then piled pillows on her face and suffocated her. Newspapers were later to describe the force of the axe blows, how a deep gash over the top of her head reached down to her neck…
A little while later, William came home to be the immediate target of Martha’s axe. With a severely fractured skull he managed to struggle out of the house, neighbors then sending for the police. On entering the house, the officers found Mrs. Place unconscious, having turned on the gas in an attempt to commit suicide. Medical help was forthcoming, and she was revived – and arrested.

Albert Einstein published his general theory of relativity in 1916.

March 17 is Saint Patrick’s Day. The dates of Patrick’s life are not known but it is believed he died on March 17th, c.537. Legend says that St. Patrick taught the doctrine of the Holy Trinity by showing the shamrock. Legend also has it that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. There’s no evidence that Ireland ever had snakes. St. Patrick’s day is a major holiday in Ireland but is celebrated in New York City, too, with the “wearers of the green” of all nationalities joining in a spectacular Saint Patrick’s Day parade, a tradition that began in 1762.

National “Eat Like an Irishman” Day

American Revolution: George Washington granted the Continental Army a holiday on March 17, 1780, “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.

The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was formed in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois. It is the women’s organization in the Mormon Church.

Camp Fire Girls Founders Day in 1910. The organization changed its name in 1975 to Camp Fire Boys and Girls when membership eligibility was expanded to include boys.

Anniversary of the opening of the National Gallery of Art in 1941. The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the United States Congress.

It includes the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas, Ginevra de’ Benci

In 1942, the first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto were gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland. Lvov was the third largest Jewish community in pre-war Poland, established after the Nazi invasion. It was home to over 220,000 Jews. Between March 17 and April 1, 1942, 15,000 Jews were deported to the Belzec extermination camp. Eventually between 430,000 and 500,000 Jews were murdered at Belzec. Only one or two Jews were known to survive Belzec.

1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa was passed 68.7% to 31.2%. Voting was limited to white voters.