March 16
1521 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines, where he was killed by natives the following month.
1802 - Congress authorized the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
1836 - The Republic of Texas approved a constitution.
1850 - Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" was published.
1926 - The first liquid-fueled rocket was successfully launched by professor Robert Goddard at Auburn, Massachusetts; the rocket traveled 184 feet in 2.5 seconds.
1935 - Adolf Hitler cancelled the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles by ordering the rearming of Germany.
1945 - During World War II, American forces declared they had secured Iwo Jima, although pockets of Japanese resistance remained.
1968 - The My Lai Massacre occurred in Vietnam as U.S. troops under the command of Lt. William L. Calley Jr gunned down hundreds of unarmed civilians.
1968 - Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
1972 - In a nationally broadcast address, President Richard Nixon called for a moratorium on court-ordered school busing to achieve racial desegregation.
1978 - Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the Red Brigades.
1984 - William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by Hezbollah militants (he was tortured by his captors and killed in 1985).
1985 - American journalist Terry Anderson, working for The Associated Press, was kidnapped in Beiruit, Lebanon; he was not released until December 4, 1991 after 2,454 days in captivity.
1988 - Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter of the National Security Council are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States for their role in the Iran-Contra affair.
2003 - Vice President Dick Cheney predicted on NBC's "Meet the Press" that American troops would be "greeted as liberators" by the Iraqi people.
2003 - Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American, was killed when she was run over by a bulldozer while trying to block Israeli troops from demolishing a Palestinian home in Gaza.
2004 - China declared victory in its fight against bird flu, saying it had “stamped out” all its known cases.
2005 - A judge in Redwood City, California, sent Scott Peterson to death row for the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci.
2008 - Protests spread from Tibet into three neighboring provinces; the Dalai Lama decried what he called the "cultural genocide" taking place in his homeland.
2012 - A jury in New Brunswick, New Jersey, convicted former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi in the webcam spying episode that ended in the suicide of his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi. (Ravi served 20 days in jail for invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts.)
2014 - Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia, overwhelmingly approving a referendum that sought to unite the strategically important Black Sea region with the country it was part of for some 250 years.
2016 - President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to take the seat of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had died the previous month. (Republicans who controlled the Senate would stick to their pledge to leave the seat empty until after the presidential election; they confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee Neil Gorsuch in April 2017.)
2017 - President Donald Trump submitted his $1.15 trillion budget to Congress; it proposed generous increases for the military while slashing domestic programs and riling both fellow Republicans and Democrats by going after favored programs.
2020 - Global stocks plunged again amid coronavirus concerns, with Wall Street seeing a 12% decline, its worst in more than 30 years; the S&P 500 was down 30% from its record set less than a month earlier.
2021 - A gunman killed eight people, mostly women of Asian descent, at three Atlanta-area massage parlors in an attack that sent terror through the Asian-American community, which had increasingly been targeted during the pandemic; the white gunman, Robert Long, told police that the attack was not racially motivated, and that he had a “sex addiction.” (Long was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in four of the deaths.)
Birthdays
23 - Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (baseball player)
26 - Ajiona Alexus (actress)
28 - Sierra McClain (actress)
31 - Wolfgang Van Halen (singer)
33 - Blake Griffin (basketball player)
34 - Jhene Aiko (singer)
36 - Alexandra Daddario (actress)
39 - Brett Davern (actor)
40 - Kimrie Lewis (actress)
44 - Brooke Burns (actress)
46 - Blu Cantrell (singer)
49 - Tim Kang (actor)
51 - Alan Tudyk (actor)
53 - Judah Friedlander (actor)
55 - Lauren Graham (actress)
55 - Tracy Bonham (singer)
58 - Patty Griffin (singer)
59 - Jerome Flynn (actor)
63 - Flavor Flav (rapper)
66 - Clifton Powell (actor)
68 - Hollis Stacy (golfer)
68 - Nancy Wilson (singer)
71 - Ray Benson (singer)
73 - Victor Garber (actor)
73 - Erik Estrada (actor)
75 - Robin Williams (country singer)
81 - Chuck Woolery (game show host)
88 - Ray Walker (singer)
======================================
Today in Sports History - March 16
1900 - The American League holds an initial meeting in Chicago, where the eight original teams are announced: Chicago White Stockings, Washington Senators, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Blues, Boston Americans, Philadelphia Athletics and Baltimore Orioles.
1953 - The American League owners reject a request by Bill Veeck to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore.
1955 - NHL president Clarence Campbell suspends Montreal Canadiens superstar Maurice "Rocket" Richard for the remainder of the season after he viciously attacked an opponent; riots ensue in Montreal.
1957 - The Toronto Maple Leafs tie an NHL record by scoring 37 points in a 14-1 rout of the New York Rangers.
1964 - Paul Hornung and Alex Karras are reinstated to the NFL after a one-year suspension.
1969 - The Boston Bruins score an NHL record eight goals in one period.
1991 - New Jersey Nets coach Bill Fitch becomes the fourth coach in NBA history to win 800 games.
1991 - American Kristi Yamaguchi wins the world ladies figure skating championship in Munich, Germany.
1994 - Figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Oregon, to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoiding jail but drawing a $100,000 fine.
1996 - Mike Tyson regains the heavyweight championship with a third round TKO of Frank Bruno.
2020 - Major League Baseball suspends the remainder of spring training and delays the start of the regular season in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
1521 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines, where he was killed by natives the following month.
1802 - Congress authorized the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
1836 - The Republic of Texas approved a constitution.
1850 - Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The Scarlet Letter" was published.
1926 - The first liquid-fueled rocket was successfully launched by professor Robert Goddard at Auburn, Massachusetts; the rocket traveled 184 feet in 2.5 seconds.
1935 - Adolf Hitler cancelled the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles by ordering the rearming of Germany.
1945 - During World War II, American forces declared they had secured Iwo Jima, although pockets of Japanese resistance remained.
1968 - The My Lai Massacre occurred in Vietnam as U.S. troops under the command of Lt. William L. Calley Jr gunned down hundreds of unarmed civilians.
1968 - Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination.
1972 - In a nationally broadcast address, President Richard Nixon called for a moratorium on court-ordered school busing to achieve racial desegregation.
1978 - Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped, and later murdered, by the Red Brigades.
1984 - William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by Hezbollah militants (he was tortured by his captors and killed in 1985).
1985 - American journalist Terry Anderson, working for The Associated Press, was kidnapped in Beiruit, Lebanon; he was not released until December 4, 1991 after 2,454 days in captivity.
1988 - Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter of the National Security Council are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States for their role in the Iran-Contra affair.
2003 - Vice President Dick Cheney predicted on NBC's "Meet the Press" that American troops would be "greeted as liberators" by the Iraqi people.
2003 - Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American, was killed when she was run over by a bulldozer while trying to block Israeli troops from demolishing a Palestinian home in Gaza.
2004 - China declared victory in its fight against bird flu, saying it had “stamped out” all its known cases.
2005 - A judge in Redwood City, California, sent Scott Peterson to death row for the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci.
2008 - Protests spread from Tibet into three neighboring provinces; the Dalai Lama decried what he called the "cultural genocide" taking place in his homeland.
2012 - A jury in New Brunswick, New Jersey, convicted former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi in the webcam spying episode that ended in the suicide of his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi. (Ravi served 20 days in jail for invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other counts.)
2014 - Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia, overwhelmingly approving a referendum that sought to unite the strategically important Black Sea region with the country it was part of for some 250 years.
2016 - President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to take the seat of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who had died the previous month. (Republicans who controlled the Senate would stick to their pledge to leave the seat empty until after the presidential election; they confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee Neil Gorsuch in April 2017.)
2017 - President Donald Trump submitted his $1.15 trillion budget to Congress; it proposed generous increases for the military while slashing domestic programs and riling both fellow Republicans and Democrats by going after favored programs.
2020 - Global stocks plunged again amid coronavirus concerns, with Wall Street seeing a 12% decline, its worst in more than 30 years; the S&P 500 was down 30% from its record set less than a month earlier.
2021 - A gunman killed eight people, mostly women of Asian descent, at three Atlanta-area massage parlors in an attack that sent terror through the Asian-American community, which had increasingly been targeted during the pandemic; the white gunman, Robert Long, told police that the attack was not racially motivated, and that he had a “sex addiction.” (Long was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in four of the deaths.)
Birthdays
23 - Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (baseball player)
26 - Ajiona Alexus (actress)
28 - Sierra McClain (actress)
31 - Wolfgang Van Halen (singer)
33 - Blake Griffin (basketball player)
34 - Jhene Aiko (singer)
36 - Alexandra Daddario (actress)
39 - Brett Davern (actor)
40 - Kimrie Lewis (actress)
44 - Brooke Burns (actress)
46 - Blu Cantrell (singer)
49 - Tim Kang (actor)
51 - Alan Tudyk (actor)
53 - Judah Friedlander (actor)
55 - Lauren Graham (actress)
55 - Tracy Bonham (singer)
58 - Patty Griffin (singer)
59 - Jerome Flynn (actor)
63 - Flavor Flav (rapper)
66 - Clifton Powell (actor)
68 - Hollis Stacy (golfer)
68 - Nancy Wilson (singer)
71 - Ray Benson (singer)
73 - Victor Garber (actor)
73 - Erik Estrada (actor)
75 - Robin Williams (country singer)
81 - Chuck Woolery (game show host)
88 - Ray Walker (singer)
======================================
Today in Sports History - March 16
1900 - The American League holds an initial meeting in Chicago, where the eight original teams are announced: Chicago White Stockings, Washington Senators, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Blues, Boston Americans, Philadelphia Athletics and Baltimore Orioles.
1953 - The American League owners reject a request by Bill Veeck to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore.
1955 - NHL president Clarence Campbell suspends Montreal Canadiens superstar Maurice "Rocket" Richard for the remainder of the season after he viciously attacked an opponent; riots ensue in Montreal.
1957 - The Toronto Maple Leafs tie an NHL record by scoring 37 points in a 14-1 rout of the New York Rangers.
1964 - Paul Hornung and Alex Karras are reinstated to the NFL after a one-year suspension.
1969 - The Boston Bruins score an NHL record eight goals in one period.
1991 - New Jersey Nets coach Bill Fitch becomes the fourth coach in NBA history to win 800 games.
1991 - American Kristi Yamaguchi wins the world ladies figure skating championship in Munich, Germany.
1994 - Figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded guilty in Portland, Oregon, to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan, avoiding jail but drawing a $100,000 fine.
1996 - Mike Tyson regains the heavyweight championship with a third round TKO of Frank Bruno.
2020 - Major League Baseball suspends the remainder of spring training and delays the start of the regular season in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
