Today In History - March 31

1084 Anti-pope Clemens crowns German Emperor Hendrik IV
1492 Queen Isabella of Castilia and Ferdinand of Aragon expels Jews
1504 France and Spain sign a ceasefire
1521 Magelhaes takes possession of the Homohon, Archipelago of St. Lazarus
1547 Henry II succeeds Francois I as king of France
1644 Pope Urbanus VIII and duke of Parma signs Peace of Ferrara
1651 Great earthquake at Cuzco, Peru
1657 The English Humble Petition offers Lord Protector Cromwell the crown
1667 France and England sign the anti-Dutch military accord
1683 Emperor Leopold I of Poland signs the covenant against Turkey
1745 Jews are expelled from Prague
1796 Johann Wolfgang von Goethes "Egmont," premieres in Weimar
1808 French created Kingdom of Westphalia orders Jews to adopt family names
1814 Forces allied against Napoleon capture Paris
1831 Mainzer Rijnvaart Convention ends
1831 Quebec and Montreal incorporated
1841 The first performance of Robert Schumann's first Symphony in B
1849 Colonel John W. Geary arrives as first postmaster of SF
1850 The U.S. population hits 23,191,876 (Black population: 3,638,808 (15.7%))
1854 Treaty of Kanagawa: Commodore Perry forces Japan to opens ports to U.S.
1861 The Confederacy takes over the mint at New Orleans
1862 Civil War action at Island #10 on Mississippi River
1863 Battle of Grand Gulf MS and Dinwiddie Court House VA
1865 Battle of Boydton, Virginia (White Oaks Roads, Dinwiddie C H)
1865 General Pickette moves to 5 Forks, abandoning the defense of Peterburg
1868 Chinese Embassy arrives aboard the steamship China
1870 The first black to vote in the U.S.: Thomas P Mundy of Perth Amboy, New Jersey
1878 Jack Johnson is the first black to hold a heavyweight boxing title
1880 The first town completely illuminated by electric lighting (Wabash, Indiana)
1883 The first performance of Cesar Franck's "Le Chasseur Maudit"
1883 Utrecht begins water pipe system
1885 Great Britain declares Bechuanaland a protectorate
1889 The 300 meter tall Eiffel Tower officially opens, commemorates French Revolution
1896 Whitcomb Judson, Chicago, patents a hook-less fastener, also know as the zipper
1906 GB Shaw's German version of "Caesar and Cleopatra," premieres in Berlin"
1907 The Romanian Army puts down Moldavian farmers' revolt
1909 Baseball rules players who jump contracts are suspended for 5 years
1909 Gustav Mahler conducts New York Philharmonic for his first time
1916 Dutch government ends all miltary engagements
1917 U.S. purchases Danish West Indies for $25M and renames them Virgin Islands
1918 The first daylight savings time in the U.S. goes into effect
1919 Strike against Ruhrgebied government of Scheidemann
1920 British parliament accept Irish "Home Rule"-law
1921 Albert Einstein lectures in New York on his new theory of relativity
1921 British coal miners goes on strike
1922 KFI-AM in Los Angeles California begins radio transmissions
1922 Prince Hendrik opens trade fair building in Amsterdam
1923 The first dance marathon-NYC-Alma Cummings sets record of 27 hrs
1923 French soldiers fire on workers at Krupp factory in Essen; 13 die
1923 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Senators (NHL) sweep Edm Eskimos (WCHL) in 2 games
1924 Croydon Airport: The first British Mig aircraft Imperial established
1924 London public transport strike ends
1925 WOWO-AM, Ft. Wayne Indiana begins radio transmission (500 watts)
1926 German Special Court of Justice for state security disbands
1932 150 wild swans die in Niagara waterfall
1932 Ford publicly unveils its V-8 engine
1933 Congress authorizes Civilian Conservation Corps
1933 The first newspaper published on pine pulp paper: "Soperton News" (Georgia)
1933 German Republic gives power to Hitler
1934 Netherlands Indies BC Ltd begins radio transmission (Indonesia)
1935 Fusahige Suzuki runs world record marathon (2:27:49)
1939 Britain and France agree to support Poland if invaded by Germany
1940 Karelo-Finnish SSR becomes 12th Soviet republic (until 1956)
1941 Germany begins a counter offensive in Africa
1941 Ground broken for Union Square Garage, San Francisco
1943 U.S. errantly bombs Rotterdam, kills 326
1944 Hungary orders all Jews to wear yellow stars
1945 The 3rd Algerian division crosses the Rhine
1945 Sicherheitsdienst murders 10 political prisoners in Zutphen
1945 Tennessee Williams' "Glass Menagerie" premieres in New York City
1945 U.S. artillery lands on Keise Shima/begins firing on Okinawa
1946 Belgian government of Acker, forms
1948 Congress passes Marshall Aid Act to rehabilitate war-torn Europe
1949 Newfoundland becomes Canada's 10th province
1951 U.S. tanks exceed 38 degrees of latitude in Korea
1953 Department of Health, Education and Welfare established
1953 U.N. Security Council nominates Dag Hammarskjold secretary-general
1954 U.S.S.R. offers to join NATO
1954 US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Colo, established
1955 Collie Smith scores 104 on cricket debut WI vs. Aust, Kingston
1958 U.S. Navy forms an atomic submarine division
1958 U.S.S.R. suspends nuclear weapons tests, and urges U.S. and Britain to do same
1959 Dalai Lama fled China and was granted political asylum in India
1960 Gore Vidal's "Best Man," premieres in New York City
1961 Aklilou Habtewold becomes first premier of Ethiopia
1963 Los Angeles ends streetcar service after 90 years
1964 President Jango Goulart of Brazil chased out of office by military
1965 U.S. ordered the first combat troops to Vietnam
1966 25,000 anti war demonstrators march in New York City
1966 Labour Party wins British parliamentary election
1966 U.S.S.R. launches Luna 10, first lunar orbiter
1967 The first time Jimi Hendrix burns his guitar (London)
1968 Lyndon Baines Johnson announces he will not seek re-election
1968 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Palm Beach County Golf Open
1969 George Harrison and Patti Boyd are fined 250 pounds each for illegal drugs
1970 Federal bankruptcy court allows Seattle Pilots to be sold to Milwaukee
1971 South Africa national debt hits 5.45 billion
1971 William Calley is sentenced to life for Mi Lai Massacre
1972 Official Beatles Fan Club, closes down
1973 Ken Norton defeats Muhammad Ali in a 12 round split decision
1975 The 37th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Kentucky 92-55
1975 John Wooden's final game, UCLA, wins 10th NCAA championship in 12 yrs
1976 Cleveland Cavaliers clinch their first ever NBA playoff bearth
1976 New Jersey Court rules Karen Anne Quinlan may be disconnected from respirator
1977 Michael Cristofer's "Shadow Box," premieres in New York City
1978 Red Rum wins 3rd consecutive Grand National and retires
1978 U.S.S.R. launches Kosmos 1000 navigational satellite
1978 Wings release "London Town" album
1980 Larry Holmes TKOs Leroy Jones in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
1980 Mike Weaver KOs John Tate in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1980 President Jimmy Carter deregulates banking industry
1981 53rd Academy Awards - "Ordinary People," R De Niro and Sissy Spacek win
1981 The first Golden Raspberry Awards: Can't Stop the Music wins
1982 Arkas tanker at Montz La, spills 1.47 million gallons of oil
1982 Rock group Doobie Brothers split up
1983 Earthquake in Colombia kills some 5,000 people
1984 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 The 15th Easter Seal Telethon raises $27,400,000
1985 4th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Old Dominion beats Georgia 70-65
1985 El Salvador's President Duartes Christian-Democrats win election
1985 Wrestlemania I at MSG NY, Hogan and Mr. T beat Piper and Orndorf
1986 167 people die when Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashes
1986 48th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Louisville beats Duke 72-69
1986 English Hampton Court palace destroyed by fire, 1 dead
1987 49th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana beats Syracuse 74-73
1988 Last East Limburg coal mine closes in Gent Belgium
1988 New York Islanders celebrate Denis Potvin night
1988 Pulitzer Prize is awarded to Toni Morrison for "Beloved"
1989 Donald Trump purchases Eastern's Northeast Shuttle
1990 "Carol and Company" starring Carol Burnette premieres on NBC-TV
1990 Dionisio Castro cycles world record 20km (57:18.4)
1990 Riots began in London over the new poll tax laws
1991 10th NCAA Women's Basketball Champion: Tennessee beats Virginia 70-67
1991 20th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Amy Alcott
1991 Albania offers first multi-party election in 50 years
1991 Danny Bonaduce attacks a transvestite prostitute in Phoenix Az
1991 Georgian SSR votes on whether to remain in the Soviet Union
1991 Musical "Will Rogers Follies," premieres in New York City
1991 Soviet Republic of Georgia endorsed independence, Warsaw Pact dissolves
1991 St. Louis Blues Brett Hull scores his 86th goal
1992 U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya
1994 James Farentino pleads no contest to stalking ex-girl Tina Sinatra
1994 Walkway from Cleveland's Tower City to Jacobs Field officially opens
1995 Bombay beat Punjab on first innings to win cricket Ranji Trophy
1995 Federal judge orders injunction to end baseball strike
1996 15th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Tenn beats Georgia 83-65
1996 25th Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Patty Sheehan
1996 Radio Canada International's final shortwave broadcast
1996 Space Shuttle STS 76 (Atlantis 16), lands
1996 Wrestlemania XII - Shawn Michaels beats Brett Hart for WWF title
1997 "Daytime to Remember" a series showing old soaps premieres on ABC-TV
1997 59th NCAA Mens Basketball Championship: Ariz beats Kentucky 84-79 (OT)
2002 21st NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: at San Antonio

Today In History - March 31

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