Better late than never..................
March 31
1492 - Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain expelled Jews who would not accept Christianity.
1889 - The Eiffel Tower in Paris officially opened.
1917 - The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
1918 - Daylight Saving Time went into effect in the United States.
1933 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Conservation Work Act, which created the Civilian Conservation Corps.
1943 - "Oklahoma!", the first musical play by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opened on Broadway.
1949 - Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province.
1959 - The Dalai Lama, fleeing Chinese repression of an uprising in Tibet, arrived at the Indian border and was granted political asylum.
1968 - President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election.
1976 - The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Ann Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan remained comatose and died in 1985.)
1991 - The Warsaw Pact military alliance came to an end.
1992 - The U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six men accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and a French airliner.
1995 - Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, age 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
1999 - Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. (They were acquited in 2000.)
2004 - Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged their burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
2005 - Terry Schaivo died 13 days after her feeding tube was removed.
2009 - Benjamin Netanyahu took office as Israel’s new prime minister after the Knesset approved his government.
2011 - Moammar Gadhafi struck a defiant stance after two high-profile defections from his regime, saying the Western leaders who had decimated his military with airstrikes should resign immediately — not him. (Gadhafi’s message was in the form of a scroll across the bottom of state TV as he remained out of sight.)
2019 - Rapper Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot outside the clothing store he had founded to help rebuild his troubled South Los Angeles neighborhood; he was 33.
2020 - The White House released new projections that the number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. could range from 100,000 to 240,000 even if current social distancing guidelines were maintained.
2020 - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial had distracted the federal government from the coronavirus as it reached the United States in January.
2020 - Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially stepped down from duties as members of the royal family.
Birthdays
36 - Jessica Szohr (actress)
38 - Melissa Ordway (actress)
39 - Brian Tyree Henry (actor)
41 - Kate Micucci (actress)
43 - Judi Shekoni (actress)
46 - Erica Tazel (actress)
50 - Ewan McGregor (actor)
56 - William McNamara (actor)
64 - Marc McClure (actor)
71 - Ed Marinaro (actor)
71 - Robbie Coltrane (actor)
73 - Rhea Perlman (actress)
74 - Al Gore (former vice president of the United States)
77 - Gabe Kaplan (comedian)
78 - Christopher Walken (actor)
87 - Shirley Jones (actress)
87 - Richard Chamberlain (actor)
94 - William Daniels (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - March 31
1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded to set rules in amateur sports. (The organization became the NCAA in 1910.)
1931 - Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, age 43, was killed in a plane crash near Bazaar, Kansas.
1968 - Seattle chose the nickname Pilots for their new American League franchise.
1973 - Muhammad Ali wore a $10000 robe with "The Peoples Champion" inscribed on it. Ali lost the fight to Ken Norton. Elvis Presley had given the robe to Ali on January 2, 1971.
1975 - UCLA defeats Kentucky 92-85 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1985 - Old Dominion defeats Georgia 70-65 to win the NCAA Women's Tournament.
1985 - The first WrestleMania is held in New York City. The main event featured a tag team match with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeating Paul Orndorff and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
1986 - Louisville defeats Duke 72-69 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1987 - Indiana defeats Syracuse 74-73 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1990 - Joe Sakic became the youngest person in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. He was also the first to do so with a last-place team.
1991 - Tennessee defeats Virginia 70-67 in overtime to win the NCAA Women's Tournament.
1991 - Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) recorded his 86th goal of the season. It was the third best total in NHL history.
1992 - Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns) became the sixth coach in NBA history to get 800 career wins.
1995 - Major League Baseball players agreed to end the sport's longest strike in history after a judge ordered a preliminary injunction against team owners.
1996 - WrestleMania XII is held in Anaheim, California. The main event saw Shawn Michaels defeat Bret Hart in a 60-minute iron man match to win the WWF Championship.
1996 - Tennessee defeats Georgia 83-65 to win the NCAA Women's Tournament.
1997 - Arizona defeats Kentucky 84-79 in overtime to win the NCAA Tournament.
1997 - Martina Hingis, 16 years old, became the youngest women's tennis player to reach the world number-one mark.
1998 - The Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays made their major league debuts.
1998 - Martina Hingis, 16 years old, became the youngest women's tennis player to reach the world number-one mark.
1998 - The Milwaukee Brewers become the first team since the inception of the American League in 1901 to switch leagues, moving to the National League.
2002 - Connecticut defeats Oklahoma 82-70 to win the NCAA Women's Tournament and finish with a perfect 39-0 record.
2002 - Andre Agassi wins his 700th career tennis match.
2004 - With a 12-1 defeat of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tokyo, New York Yankees starter Kevin Brown becomes only the 2nd pitcher in MLB history to have beaten all 30 teams
2004 - NFL owners adopted a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebrations. The penalty was added to the fines previously in place for choreographed and multiplayer celebrations. Also, if the infraction was flagrant the player would be ejected. The previous day the owners had instituted a modified instant replay system for five years.
2020 - NFL owners voted to expand the number of playoff teams by one in each conference in the 2020 season.
March 31
1492 - Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain expelled Jews who would not accept Christianity.
1889 - The Eiffel Tower in Paris officially opened.
1917 - The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
1918 - Daylight Saving Time went into effect in the United States.
1933 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Conservation Work Act, which created the Civilian Conservation Corps.
1943 - "Oklahoma!", the first musical play by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opened on Broadway.
1949 - Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province.
1959 - The Dalai Lama, fleeing Chinese repression of an uprising in Tibet, arrived at the Indian border and was granted political asylum.
1968 - President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election.
1976 - The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Ann Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan remained comatose and died in 1985.)
1991 - The Warsaw Pact military alliance came to an end.
1992 - The U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six men accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and a French airliner.
1995 - Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, age 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
1999 - Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. (They were acquited in 2000.)
2004 - Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged their burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
2005 - Terry Schaivo died 13 days after her feeding tube was removed.
2009 - Benjamin Netanyahu took office as Israel’s new prime minister after the Knesset approved his government.
2011 - Moammar Gadhafi struck a defiant stance after two high-profile defections from his regime, saying the Western leaders who had decimated his military with airstrikes should resign immediately — not him. (Gadhafi’s message was in the form of a scroll across the bottom of state TV as he remained out of sight.)
2019 - Rapper Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot outside the clothing store he had founded to help rebuild his troubled South Los Angeles neighborhood; he was 33.
2020 - The White House released new projections that the number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. could range from 100,000 to 240,000 even if current social distancing guidelines were maintained.
2020 - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial had distracted the federal government from the coronavirus as it reached the United States in January.
2020 - Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially stepped down from duties as members of the royal family.
Birthdays
36 - Jessica Szohr (actress)
38 - Melissa Ordway (actress)
39 - Brian Tyree Henry (actor)
41 - Kate Micucci (actress)
43 - Judi Shekoni (actress)
46 - Erica Tazel (actress)
50 - Ewan McGregor (actor)
56 - William McNamara (actor)
64 - Marc McClure (actor)
71 - Ed Marinaro (actor)
71 - Robbie Coltrane (actor)
73 - Rhea Perlman (actress)
74 - Al Gore (former vice president of the United States)
77 - Gabe Kaplan (comedian)
78 - Christopher Walken (actor)
87 - Shirley Jones (actress)
87 - Richard Chamberlain (actor)
94 - William Daniels (actor)
=========================================
Today in Sports History - March 31
1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded to set rules in amateur sports. (The organization became the NCAA in 1910.)
1931 - Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, age 43, was killed in a plane crash near Bazaar, Kansas.
1968 - Seattle chose the nickname Pilots for their new American League franchise.
1973 - Muhammad Ali wore a $10000 robe with "The Peoples Champion" inscribed on it. Ali lost the fight to Ken Norton. Elvis Presley had given the robe to Ali on January 2, 1971.
1975 - UCLA defeats Kentucky 92-85 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1985 - Old Dominion defeats Georgia 70-65 to win the NCAA Women's Tournament.
1985 - The first WrestleMania is held in New York City. The main event featured a tag team match with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeating Paul Orndorff and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
1986 - Louisville defeats Duke 72-69 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1987 - Indiana defeats Syracuse 74-73 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1990 - Joe Sakic became the youngest person in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. He was also the first to do so with a last-place team.
1991 - Tennessee defeats Virginia 70-67 in overtime to win the NCAA Women's Tournament.
1991 - Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) recorded his 86th goal of the season. It was the third best total in NHL history.
1992 - Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns) became the sixth coach in NBA history to get 800 career wins.
1995 - Major League Baseball players agreed to end the sport's longest strike in history after a judge ordered a preliminary injunction against team owners.
1996 - WrestleMania XII is held in Anaheim, California. The main event saw Shawn Michaels defeat Bret Hart in a 60-minute iron man match to win the WWF Championship.
1996 - Tennessee defeats Georgia 83-65 to win the NCAA Women's Tournament.
1997 - Arizona defeats Kentucky 84-79 in overtime to win the NCAA Tournament.
1997 - Martina Hingis, 16 years old, became the youngest women's tennis player to reach the world number-one mark.
1998 - The Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays made their major league debuts.
1998 - Martina Hingis, 16 years old, became the youngest women's tennis player to reach the world number-one mark.
1998 - The Milwaukee Brewers become the first team since the inception of the American League in 1901 to switch leagues, moving to the National League.
2002 - Connecticut defeats Oklahoma 82-70 to win the NCAA Women's Tournament and finish with a perfect 39-0 record.
2002 - Andre Agassi wins his 700th career tennis match.
2004 - With a 12-1 defeat of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Tokyo, New York Yankees starter Kevin Brown becomes only the 2nd pitcher in MLB history to have beaten all 30 teams
2004 - NFL owners adopted a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebrations. The penalty was added to the fines previously in place for choreographed and multiplayer celebrations. Also, if the infraction was flagrant the player would be ejected. The previous day the owners had instituted a modified instant replay system for five years.
2020 - NFL owners voted to expand the number of playoff teams by one in each conference in the 2020 season.