Important Events From This day in History March 21st

 

1940 U.S.A. Queen Mary Ocean Liner

1940 : The Queen Mary Ocean Liner is leaving the safe harbor of New York together with the Ocean Liner The Mauritania for the first time since the War started to start new lives as troop ship carriers, The Queen Elizabeth is still currently in New York undergoing changes to accommodate troop carrying duties. No information has been given on where the final destination will be in Europe as secrecy is paramount to the survival of the Ships.

1963 U.S.A. Alcatraz Closes

1963 : Alcatraz federal penitentiary known as "The Rock" was a prison based on a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States. It was designed to be the most secure prison in the world and in its 29 years of operation from 1934 - 1963, the penitentiary logged no prisoners as having ever successfully escaped.

1960 South Africa Sharpeville Massacre

1960 : Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators in the black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a hail of submachine-gun fire.

1921 England New Irish Parliament

1921 : It was announced that a new Irish Parliament would be forming. The first Irish parliament meeting was scheduled for June 21st of this year.

1928 U.S.A. Charles A. Lindbergh

1928 : President Coolidge presented Col. Charles A. Lindbergh with the Congressional Medal of Honor.

1932 U.S.A. Tornadoes

1932 : Tornadoes killed at least 184 persons in five southern states Alabama, Georgia Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina yesterday and early today.

1933 British Spies In Russia

1933 : Tension between Russian and Great Britain was at an all-time high. The major conflict between these two nations was expected to influence the verdict of spy charges filed against four British citizens.

1939 U.S.A. God Bless America

1939 : Kate Smith records the patriotic song "God Bless America." It is still sung at some sports events and other celebrations in combination with the national anthem.

1940 England World War II

1940 : Nazi army forces took revenge on the British. The attack occurred along the coast of the English Channel. Three ships had sunk and lives were lost.

1945 U.S.A. Allied Bombers Germany

1945 : Allied bombers began four days of heavy raids over Germany as an exercise to soften German resistance prior to allies taking Berlin later in the year.

1955 Antarctic Ice Melting

1955 : It was believed possible that the icy Antarctica could melt at a faster rate than most people would think. If this were possible, ocean levels would rise 90 to 150 feet. An Antarctic ice survey and corresponding studies were expected to be completed between now and some time shortly after 1957.

1963 England Trains Driving Themselves

1963 : The first of a new generation of trains that drive themselves not needing a driver but controlled by computers which are controlled by picking up signals from coded electrical impulses from the rails and signaling areas and give them the intelligence to start, accelerate, coast or slow down automatically are to be used on London Underground. An operator will still be on-duty aboard the train in the drivers cabin to survey opening and closing doors and to take charge of the train if any of the electrics fail during a journey.

1963 US Monetary Aid

1963 : The agreement made by the U.S. to help Central America during its time of economic and social crisis was announced today in 1963. President John F. Kennedy had just arrived in Costa Rica a few days prior to this time. Furthermore, action has been taken since the beginning of the year to help protect and care for Central American countries from the threat of Cuba. Monetary aid in the form of $20 billion was given to this region.

1965 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

1965 : Following the Bloody Sunday March earlier in the month, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led 3,000 civil rights demonstrators in a march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery under the protection of army units deployed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

1969 US Underground Nuclear Test

1969 : An underground nuclear test is carried out at the Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada test site.

1972 Cambodia

1972 : Fighting at the Long Cheng base in Northern Laos continued for the fourth day in a row. Meanwhile, 200 enemy rockets destroyed three areas of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Moreover, North Vietnamese armies invaded areas of South Vietnam. In Cambodia, 70 were killed and 120 persons were wounded. In South Vietnam, 13 government troops’ lives were taken.

1980 US Boycott Olympics

1980 : President Carter told U.S. Olympic athletes that the U.S. will be boycotting the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

1981 England Charles / Diana Wedding

1981 : A procession was planned for the Prince Charles and Princess Diana wedding. Standing room spaces along this parade route were being offered from 90 pounds ($200.00) each on up. These spaces were being sold by offices located in prime spots offering spectacular view of this day’s festivities. This royal procession route started from the Buckingham Palace to the St. Paul’s Cathedral where the wedding took place.

1984 England EEC Refund

1984 : A fight over the amount of refund Britain receives back from the European Economic Community has reached an en pass as Mrs Thatcher the British Prime Minister asked for an annual rebate of £730m but was offered £580m. The current refunds are often based on the amount of farming subsidies the country receives and Britain often got less back than other states because of its relatively small farming industry and the fact a high percentage of the budget is made up from farm subsidies.

1991 Iraq Kuwait Prisoner Release

1991 : Iraq freed a total of 1,150 Kuwait prisoners of war. The Red Cross mentioned that this action was done in compliance with the current Gulf War cease-fire arrangement that was made.

2002 Philippines Conflict

2002 : U.S. military medics were sent to rescue and treat seven Philippine soldiers. Theses soldiers were wounded while in conflict with Muslim extremists on the southern Island of Basilan.

2007 Russian day of mourning over 173 deaths

2007 : Vladimir Putin has created a national day of mourning after three separate disasters across the country killed at least 173 people over three days. At least one hundred and four people died after a methane explosion ripped through a coal mine in Kemerovo, Siberia, sixty-two people died when fire destroyed a retirement home, and seven people died when a passenger plane from Siberia crashed in central Russia.

2007 Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

2007 : Iran's supreme leader has warned that his country will be pursuing nuclear activities outside of international law if illegal action is taken against it. Khamenei's comments came as the U.N. Security Council has been preparing further sanctions against Iran as a means of halting its nuclear program. Tehran has already rejected the earlier U.N. resolution imposing sanctions against it as illegitimate. It denies Western claims that it is seeking to produce nuclear weapons, and says that its nuclear program is for purely for peaceful purposes. A draft resolution containing additional sanctions has been agreed upon by ambassadors of the council's five permanent members.

2008 U.S.A. Airlines and Price of Oil

2008 : As the cost of crude oil continues to increase Airlines in the US and around the world are feeling the impact. At least two airlines have declared bankruptcy and others including United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have announced they are decreasing fleet numbers and jobs.

2008 Pelosi asks for an investigation into China

2008 : The speaker of the House of Representatives has called on the international community to condemn China for the way in which it crushed of protests in Tibet. The leader of the Democratic Party in Congress, Nancy Pelosi, is the first foreign politician to meet the Dalai Lama since the unrest took place. Pelosi has called for an independent investigation into China's claims that it was the that had Dalai Lama instigated the violence. She called on the international community to denounce Chinese rule in Tibet. China had now said that nineteen people were killed by rioters in Lhasa, but the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is headed by the Dalai Lama, has said at least ninety-nine people were killed by Chinese troops.

2009 Italy Protests against the Mafia in Naples

2009 : Thousands of people have marched through Naples in one of the biggest anti-Mafia protests in recent years. Police say that one hundred thousand people are in attendance. The names of those who have been killed by the Mob are read out over loudspeakers. The organizers have are calling for more police action against the Families, who are said to have killed around nine hundred people in the last few decades. Antonio Bassolino, president of the Campania region, has told his audience that the Mafia 'are not eternal.'

2009 Holbrooke calls for more police in Afghanistan

2009 : The U.S. efforts to reduce opium poppy crops in Afghanistan are 'wasteful and ineffective,' according to the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. Speaking at the Brussels Forum, he said that the $800 million per annum that the U.S. is spending on counter-narcotics would be put to better use by promoting other crops for the Afghan farmers to grow. He also said that America wanted to see an improvement in the numbers and organization of the Afghan police forces. 'The police aren’t very good right now,' he said. 'We know they’re the weak link in the security chain.' He maintains that the Obama administration's planned increase in Afghan police numbers from 78,000 to 82,000 is not enough.

2010 China’s State Media Attacks Google

2010 : China's state media has attacked Google for having what it said were 'intricate ties' with the U.S. government. The Xinhua news agency has said that Google provides U.S. intelligence agencies with a record of its search engine results. It also accused Google of trying to change Chinese society by imposing American values on it. The search engine is expected to announce the closure of google.cn by as early as April 10th.

2010 Israel Defiant On New Settlements

2010 : Following diplomatic pressure from around the world , the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to bow to the pressure, stating "As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv".

2010 US Man Gets Full Face Transplant

2010 : A twenty-five year old man from Texas received a full face transplant, the first to happen in the United States, and happens nearly a year after the first full face transplant occurred in Spain. Over thirty doctors took over fifteen hours to give Dallas Wiens a new face after a 2008 accident removed nearly all of his facial features. Doctors stated the operation was largely successful.

2012 Earthquake Hits Near Acapulco, Mexico

2012 : An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 hit near Acapulco in Mexico. The epicenter was reportedly fifteen miles east of Ometepec in the state of Guerrero. The quake caused damage to several hundred buildings and eleven people were injured as a result of the quake.

2013 UK Duke of Kent has Stroke

2013 : The cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Kent, suffered from a mild stroke and was hospitalized. The health scare is thought to be a minor incident for the seventy-seven year old and he was being treated at an undisclosed hospital.

2014 Michigan Gay Marriage Ban Overturned

2014 : A federal judge has overturned the US state of Michigan's gay marriage ban. Following the ruling, many local officials announced they would be giving out marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The state of Michigan said that it would appeal against the decision.

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