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1975–The first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club takes place in co-founder Gordon French’s garage in Menlo Park, California. This early computer hobbyist group in Silicon Valley met from March 5, 1975 to December 1986. Steve Wozniak credits the first meeting with inspiring him to design the Apple I. From the ranks of this club came the founders of many microcomputer companies, including Harry Garland and Roger Melen (Cromemco), Thomas "Todd" Fischer (IMSAI Division, Fischer-Freitas Company), George Morrow (Morrow Designs), Paul Terrell (Byte Shop), Adam Osborne (Osborne Computer), and Bob Marsh (Processor Technology).



254–Pope Lucius I dies in Rome, Roman Empire, at age 54. His tombstone is still extant in the catacomb of Callixtus. His relics were later brought to the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. His head is preserved in a reliquary in St. Ansgar's Cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was brought to Roskilde around the year 1100, after St. Lucius had been declared patron of the Danish region Zealand. There had been demons at large at the Isefjord at Roskilde city, and as they declared that they feared nothing but Lucius' skull, this had to be brought to Denmark, whereupon peace took reign in the fjord again. After the Reformation, the skull was taken to the exhibition rooms of King Frederik III in Copenhagen, until it was transferred to Copenhagen's National Museum. Pope St. Lucius' head is among the few relics to have survived the Reformation in Denmark.

363–Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire. It is a campaign that will bring about his own death.

1046–Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.

1133–Henry II of England is born in Le Mans, France. He was also known as Henry Curtmantle, Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet; ruled as Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Nantes, King of England (1154–1189) and Lord of Ireland; and at various times, he also controlled Wales, Scotland, and Brittany.

1279–The Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

1324–David II of Scotland, is born at Dunfermline Palace, Fife, Scotland. He became king at the age of five.

1326–Louis I of Hungary is born in Visegrád, Kingdom of Hungary.

1496–King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorizing them to explore unknown lands.

1512–Flemish cartographer, Gerardus Mercator, is born in Rupelmonde, County of Flanders (present-day Belgium). He created a world map using what would become known as “Mercator projection,” with parallel lines of latitude and longitude. This worked well for navigation, but the land masses were distorted at the top and the bottom. He was the first to use the term "atlas" for a collection of maps.

1534–The most prominent painter of the Italian Renaissance's Parma school, Antonio Allegri da Correggio, dies in Correggio, Italy. Antonio Allegri was born in Correggio, Italy, and is usually known as Correggio. He is famous for a number of church dome frescos in his vital and sensual style, as well as his masterpieces, "The Lamentation" and "The Martyrdom of the Four Saints." Correggio also produced a number of secular works, most notably his mythological series based on Ovid's Metamorphoses.

1558–Smoking tobacco is introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes.

1616–The book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), is banned by the Catholic Church. It is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543). The book, first printed in 1543 in Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire, offered an alternative model of the universe to Ptolemy's geocentric system, which had been widely accepted since ancient times.

1723–Princess Mary of Great Britain is born in Leicester House, Westminster, London, England.

1750–Shakespeare makes his first appearance on the American stage, as Richard III is presented in New York.

1766–Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish Governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.

1770–The Boston Massacre takes place when British soldiers kill five American colonists. Among them are Crispus Attucks (a slave) Samuel Gray, and James Caldwell.

1811–A French force, under the command of Marshal Victor, is routed while trying to prevent an Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese army from lifting the Siege of Cádiz in the Battle of Barrosa.

1815–Physician and astrologist, Franz Mesmer, dies in Meersburg, Baden, Germany, at age 80. He theorized that there was a natural energetic transference that occurred between all animated and inanimate objects, which he called “animal magnetism,” sometimes later referred to as “mesmerism.” In 1843, the Scottish physician, James Braid, proposed the term “hypnosis” for a technique derived from animal magnetism, and today this is the usual meaning of mesmerism. Mesmer was driven into exile soon after the investigations on animal magnetism. His exact activities during the last 20 years of his life are largely unknown.

1821–James Monroe is the first U.S. President inaugurated on March 5th, because the 4th was a Sunday.

1824–The British officially declare war on Burma.

1824–Lithographer, James Merritt Ives, is born in New York, New York. He co-founded the firm of Currier and Ives with Nathaniel Currier. Currier and Ives was known for its popular and affordable art prints of subjects such as winter scenes, landscapes, sporting events, ships, and icons of 19th century life. These prints are still widely sought after by collectors today.

1827–Alessandro Volta, inventor of the first battery, dies in Como, Lombardy-Venetia (present-day Italy), at age 82.

1836–Mexico attacks the Alamo and wins the battle.

1836–Samuel Colt patents the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.

1836–Charles Goodnight is born in Macoupin County, Illinois. He is sometimes known as the "father of the Texas Panhandle." He devised the first “chuck wagon” from an Army wagon in the 1850s or 1860s, with shelves and compartments for food, equipment, utensils, and medical supplies. The annual Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff held in September in Clarendon, Texas, is the principal fundraiser for the Saints' Roost Museum, which includes a Goodnight exhibit.

1849–Zachary Taylor is inaugurated as the 12th President of the United States of America.

1850–The Britannia Bridge is opened across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales.

1852–Poet and playwright, Lady Isabella Gregory, is born Isabella Augusta Persse in Roxborough, County Galway, Ireland. Lady Gregory is mainly remembered for her work behind the Irish Literary Revival. She co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, with William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, and wrote numerous short works for both companies.

1855–Archduchess Sophie of Austria is born Sophie Friederike Dorothea Maria Josepha at Laxenburg Castle in Vienna, Austrian Empire.

1860–Parma, Tuscany, Modena, and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.

1868–A court of impeachment is organized in the U.S. Senate to hear charges against President Andrew Johnson.

1868–In England, C.H. Gould patents the stapler.

1868–Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala in Milan, Italy.

1872–George Westinghouse patents the air brake.

1886–Politician, Dong Biwu, is born in Huanggang, Hubei, Qing Dynasty. He was Chairman of the People's Republic of China. He was a communist political leader during the regime of Mao Zedong.

1893–Emmett J. Culligan, the founder of the Culligan water treatment company, is born.

1898–Politician, Zhou Enlai, is born in Huai'an, Jiangsu, Qing Dynasty. He was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China.

1898–Soong May-ling, wife of Chiang Kai-Shek, is born in Shanghai, Qing Empire. She was the second First Lady of China.

1898–Super-centenarian, Misao Okawa, is born in Tenma, Osaka, Japan. She will live to the age of 117 (and 27 days). Japan has the most centenarians in the world, with more than 58,000, according to the government. About 87% of them are women.

1908–Actor, Rex Harrison, is born Reginald Carey Harrison in Huyton, Lancashire, England. He appeared in the films Blithe Spirit, Anna and the King of Siam, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Unfaithfully Yours, The Constant Husband, The Reluctant Debutante, Midnight Lace, Cleopatra, My Fair Lady, The Yellow Rolls-Royce, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Doctor Dolittle, and Staircase. In July 1989, Harrison was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. His son is singer-actor, Noel Harrison.

1910–Momofuku Ando, founder of Nissin Food Products, is born in Taiwan.

1912–In the Italo-Turkish War. Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.

1917–The first jazz recording for Victor Records is released.

1918–Bolshevist Russia moves the national capital from Petrograd to Moscow.

1923–Montana and Nevada become the first states to enact old age pension laws.

1923–Businessman, Laurence Tisch, is born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a Wall Street investor and billionaire. With his brother Bob Tisch, he was part owner of the Loews Corporation, one of the largest movie house chains of the 1960s. He was the CEO of the CBS television network from 1986 to 1995. Tisch made major donations to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York University, the NYU Medical Center, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. A $4.5 million gift created the Tisch Children's Zoo in Central Park.

1924–The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corporation becomes IBM (International Business Machines).

1927–A thousand U.S. Marines land in China to protect American property during a civil uprising.

1927–The Federal Radio Commission holds its first meeting.

1927–Actor, Jack Cassidy, is born John Joseph Edward Cassidy in Richmond Hill, New York. Cassidy achieved success as a musical performer on Broadway, appearing in Alive and Kicking, Wish You Were Here, Shangri-La, Maggie Flynn, Fade Out-Fade In, It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman, and She Loves Me. He was seen in the TV shows Gunsmoke, Maverick, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 77 Sunset Strip, He & She, I Spy, That Girl, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Mod Squad. He was married to actress, Shirley Jones, and his sons are pop superstar, David Cassidy, and teen idol, Shaun Cassidy.

1929–Rodeo cowboy, Casey Duane Tibbs, is born in Fort Pierre, Stanley County, South Dakota. He held the "World All-Around Rodeo Champion" title twice, in 1951 and 1955. He won the World Saddle Bronc Riding Championship in 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, and 1959. And in 1951, he won the World Bareback Bronc Riding Championship. He was featured on the cover of Life magazine in 1951. After his successful rodeo career, Tibbs became a stunt man, stunt coordinator, technical director, livestock consultant, wrangler, and actor in the film industry. He appeared in the films Bronco Buster, Wild Heritage, A Thunder of Drums, The Rounders, A Time for Dying, Junior Bonner, and Breakheart Pass.

1929–Scottish-born American automobile pioneer, David Dunbar Buick, dies of colon cancer in Detroit, Michigan, at age 74. He founded the Buick Motor Company. He headed the company and its predecessor from 1902 until 1906, thereby helping to create one of the most successful nameplates in American motor vehicle history.

1929–Bette Davis makes her New York debut as an actress, in the off-Broadway play, The Earth Between.

1931–Britain's Viceroy signs the Delhi Pact with Mahatma Gandhi, under which the Indian leader agreed to a truce in his campaign of civil disobedience against British rule.

1933–President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a “bank holiday,” closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.

1933–In Germany, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party wins 44% of the vote in parliamentary elections. This later allows the Nazis to pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.

1935–Actor, Paul Sand, is born Pablo Sanchez in Santa Monica, California. In 1960, along with Alan Arkin and others, Sand was a cast member of The Second City improvisational comedy troupe in Chicago, Illinois. He was cast in dozens of TV shows, including Bewitched, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Fantasy Island, Taxi, Laverne & Shirley, Alice, Cagney & Lacey, thirtysomething, and Quantum Leap. He appeared in the films Viva Max!, The Hot Rck, The Main Event, and Teen Wolf Too.

1936–The first flight of Supermarine Spitfire advanced monoplane fighter aircraft takes place in the United Kingdom.

1936–The 8th Annual Academy Awards announces its winners. Best Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty; Best Actor: Victor McLaglen for The Informer; Best Actress: Bette Davis for Dangerous; Best Director: John Ford for The Informer. The ceremonies are held at the Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, California. The host is Frank Capra. This is the first year that the gold statuettes are called "Oscars."

1936–Politician, Canaan Banana, is born Canaan Sodindo Banana in Essexvale, Southern Rhodesia (present-day Esigodini, Zimbabwe). He was the first President of Zimbabwe. A Methodist minister, he held the largely ceremonial office of the presidency while his eventual successor, Robert Mugabe, served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.

1936–Actor, (Robert) Dean Stockwell, is born in Hollywood, California. He bagan as child actor, then successfully transitioned into acting as an adult. In the early 1960s, Stockwell dropped out of show business, becoming active in the hippie subculture. He is well known for his role in the sci-fi TV series Quantum Leap. He appeared in the films The Horn Blows at Midnight, Anchors Aweigh, Gentleman’s Agreement, The Boy with the Green Hair, The Secret Garden, Compulsion, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Psych-Out, The Dunwich Horror, Paris, Texas, Dune, To Live and Die in L.A., Blue Velvet, Gardens of Stone, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Married to the Mob, The Player, The Rainmaker, and Buffalo Soldiers. He was married to actress, Millie Perkins.

1938–Football player and actor, Fred Williamson, is born Frederick Robert Williamson in Gary, Indiana. He appeared in the films M*A*S*H, Tell Me That You Love Me Junie Moon, Hammer, Hell Up in Harlem, Three the Hard Way, Crazy Joe, Take a Hard Ride, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Starsky & Hutch.

1939–Actress, Samantha Eggar, is born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London, England. She appeared in the films Dr. Crippen, Doctor in Distress, Psyche 59, Return from the Ashes, The Collector, Walk, Don’t Run, Doctor Dolittle, The Molly Maguires, The Walking Stick, and The Astronaut’s Wife.

1940–Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including General Secretary Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs. This will become known as the Katyn Massacre.

1942–Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies.

1943–The first flight of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft takes place in the United Kingdom.

1944–The Red Army begins the Uman-Botosani Offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR.

1946–Winston Churchill delivers his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. He said: “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”

1946–Hungarian Communists and Social Democrats co-found the Left Bloc.

1947–Child actor, Eddie Hodges, is born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. After a successful career in acting in his youth, Hodges returned to the South and entered The University of Southern Mississippi, where he received his B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Counseling. He became a mental health counselor and is currently retired from practice after a long career in the field. He appeared in the films A Hole in the Head, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Advise & Consent, Summer Magic, The Happiest Millionaire, and Live a Little, Love a Little.

1948–Actor, Eli Wallach, marries actress, Anne Jackson.

1949–The Jharkhand Party is founded in India.

1953–Screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz, dies in Hollywood, California, at age 55. He was often asked to fix the screenplays of other writers, with much of his work uncredited. Among the screenplays he wrote or worked on were The Wizard of Oz, Man of the World, Dinner at Eight, Citizen Kane, Pride of the Yankees, and The Pride of St. Louis. Mankiewicz's younger brother was Joseph L. Mankiewicz, an Oscar-winning Hollywood director, screenwriter, and producer.

1953–Russian composer, Sergei Prokoviev, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Moscow, Russia, at age 61. As the creator of acknowledged masterpieces across numerous musical genres, he is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century.

1953–Politician, Joseph Stalin, dies of cerebral and stomach hemorrhages in Kuntsevo Dacha, Kuntsevo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, at age 73. There was speculation that he was assassinated. Governing the Soviet Union as its dictator from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953, he served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1952, and as the 4th Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953. Ideologically a Marxist and a Leninist, Stalin helped to formalise these ideas as Marxism-Leninism, while his own policies became known as Stalinism.

1955–In the wake of the continual controversy on offensive R&B records, BMI, the largest organization of music publishers, releases plans to tighten controls on objectionable lyrics. BMI never gave clearance to nearly a dozen singles, and some like Big Joe Turner's, Shake Rattle & Roll, became major hits.

1955–Entertainer, Penn (Fraser) Jillette, is born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. He is a magician, juggler, comedian, musician, inventor, actor, and best-selling author, best known for his work as part of the team of Penn & Teller.

1956–Singer, Teena Marie, is born Mary Christine Brockert in Santa Monica, California. She was known for her distinctive soulful vocals, which initially caused many listeners to believe she was black. Her success in R&B and soul and loyalty to these genres would earn her the title "Ivory Queen of Soul."

1958–Singer, Andy Gibb, is born Andrew Roy Gibb in Manchester, England. He was the younger brother of The Bee Gees, Barry, Maurice, and Robin Gibb. He had big hits with I Just Want to Be Your Everything and Shadow Dancing.

1959–Iran and the U.S. sign an economic and military treaty.

1959–The 16th Annual Golden Globe Awards announces its winners. Best Picture: The Defiant Ones; Best Actor: David Niven for Separate Tables; Best Actress: Susan Hayward for I Want to Live!; Best Director: Vincente Minnelli for Gigi; Best Musical: Gigi; Best International Film: The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.

1960–Indonesian President Soekarno dismisses the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaces it with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members.

1960–Cuban photographer, Alberto Korda, takes his iconic photograph of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

1960–Elvis Presley ends his two-year enlistment in the U.S. Army (although he will remain on reserve for another four years).

1962–The 19th Annual Golden Globe Awards announces its winners. Best Picture: The Guns of Navarone; Best Actor: Maximilian Schell for Judgement at Nuremberg; Best Actress: Geraldine Page for Summer and Smoke; Best Director: Stanley Kramer for Judgment at Nuremberg; Best Comedy: A Majority of One; Best Musical: West Side Story; Best Foreign Film: Two Women (Italy).

1962–The U.S. conducts a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1962–Twins, Charlie and Craig Reid, of The Proclaimers, are born in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. The duo’s biggest hit was I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).

1963–Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hankshaw Hawkins are killed in a plane crash at Camden, Tennessee, near Nashville. Cline was 30 years old. The famous country music stars were returning from a benefit performance. Cline, the undisputed “Queen of Country Music,” would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1973. Her hits include Walkin’ After Midnight, Three Cigarettes (In an Ashtray), I Fall to Pieces, Crazy, She’s Got You, and Sweet Dreams.

1963–The 20th Annual Golden Globe Awards announces its winners. Best Picture: Lawrence of Arabia; Best Actor: Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird; Best Actress: Geraldine Page for Sweet Bird of Youth; Best Director: David Lean for Lawrence of Arabia; Best Comedy: That Touch of Mink; Best Musical: The Music Man.

1965–A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.

1966–A BOAC Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mount Fuji, Japan, killing 124 people.

1966–The U.S. conducts a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1967–Politician, Mohammad Mosaddegh, dies under house arrest in Ahmadabad-e Mosaddeq, Iran, at age 84. He was the 60th Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 until 1953, when his government was overthrown in a coup d'état aided by the American Central Intelligence Agency and the British Secret Intelligence Service.

1968–The U.S. launches Solar Explorer 2 to study the Sun.

1969–Gold reaches a record high of $47 per ounce.

1969–The State of Florida v. James Douglas Morrison is filed when Robert Jennings, a clerk in the State Attorney's Office, acts as the complainant against the rock star. This is the first fabrication in what becomes a long series of open manipulations of the law in the effort to railroad Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, into prison.

1969–The rock magazine, Creem, publishes its first issue.

1969–Joe Orton's, What the Butler Saw, premieres in London, England.

1969–Actor, Paul Blackthorne, is born in Wellington, Shropshire, England. He has had recurring roles in the TV shows ER and 24, and has been a regular cast member on the shows The Dresden Files, Lipstick Jungle, and Burn Notice.

1970–The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after being ratified by 43 nations.

1970–Yoko Ono, wife of John Lennon, discovers once again that she is pregnant. She is put under observation in an exclusive London clinic (where some visitors later insist that she was being weaned off heroin with methadone). After four days, she is allowed to return to the Lennons' home in Tittenhurst Park.

1970–John (Anthony) Frusciante, of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, is born in Queens, New York.

1974–Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.

1974–Actress, Eva Mendes, is born in Miami, Florida. She has appeared in the films Out of Time, Stuck on You, Hitch, Ghost Rider, Knocked Up, We Own the Night, and Last Night.

1974–Character actor, Billy De Wolfe, dies of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 67. He appeared regularly in guest roles on television in shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Doris Day Show, Love American Style, and That Girl.

1975–The first meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club takes place in co-founder Gordon French’s garage in Menlo Park, California. This early computer hobbyist group in Silicon Valley met from March 5, 1975 to December 1986. Steve Wozniak credits the first meeting with inspiring him to design the Apple I. From the ranks of this club came the founders of many microcomputer companies, including Harry Garland and Roger Melen (Cromemco), Thomas "Todd" Fischer (IMSAI Division, Fischer-Freitas Company), George Morrow (Morrow Designs), Paul Terrell (Byte Shop), Adam Osborne (Osborne Computer), and Bob Marsh (Processor Technology).

1975–Model, Niki Taylor, is born Nicole Renee Taylor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Taylor's first magazine cover was an issue of Seventeen (August 1989) at age 14. The following year, at 15, she graced the cover of Vogue. By 1991, Taylor was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People."

1976–The British pound falls below the equivalent of $2 for the first time.

1978–The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

1979–Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12, and the American solar satellite Helios II, all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.

1979–America's Voyager 1 spacecraft has its closest approach to Jupiter, at 172,000 miles.

1980–Actor, Jay Silverheels, dies from complications of a stroke in Calabasas, California, at age 67. He was cremated at Chapel of the Pines Crematory and his ashes were returned to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. He is best known for the role of Tonto on the TV series The Long Ranger.

1981–The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research. The company would go on to sell over 1.5 million units around the world.

1981–Songwriter, Yip Harburg, dies of a heart attack while his car is stopped at a traffic light on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, at age 84. He wrote the lyrics for Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?, April in Paris, and all the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

1982–Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.

1982–Comedian, John Belushi, dies of a drug overdose in West Hollywood, California, at age 33. Belushi's life is detailed in the 1984 biography, Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi, by Bob Woodward. He is best known as one of the original cast members of the hit NBC-TV comedy show Saturday Night Live. He appeared in the films Goin’ South, National Lampoon’s Animal House, 1941, The Blues Brothers, Continental Divide, and Neighbors.

1984–Six thousand miners in the United Kingdom begin their strike at Cortonwood Colliery.

1984–Actor, William Powell, dies of heart failure in Palm Springs, California, at age 91. He was best known for his role in The Thin Man. He appeared in the films Beau Geste, The Great Gatsby, Nevada, The Four Feathers, The Road to Singapore, Double Harness, The Great Ziegfeld, My Man Godfrey, Libeled Lady, Life with Father, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Mister Roberts.

1990–Actor, Gary Merrill, dies of lung cancer in Falmouth, Maine, at age 74. He is best known for the role of Bette Davis’ lover in All About Eve. He appeared in the films Twelve O’Clock High, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Phone Call from a Stranger, A Blueprint for Murder, Witness to Murder, The Great Imposter, The Pleasure of His Company, Mysterious Island, Destination Inner Space, Clambake, The Incident, and The Power.

1994–Rocker, Grace Slick, is arrested for pointing a shotgun at police at her home in Tiburon, California. The former Jefferson Airplane lead singer later says she has been under stress since her Mill Valley home burned down the previous fall. She lost most of her memorabilia, including some items stolen by Corte Madera firefighters (who were later fired). In June, she is sentenced to 200 hours of community service and three month's Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

1996–Character actor, Whit Bissell, dies of Parkinson's disease in Woodland Hills, California, at age 86. Bissell appeared in hundreds of films and television show episodes as a prominent character actor. He appeared in the films Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Caine Mutiny, Target Earth, Not as a Stranger, The Desperate Hours, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Young Stranger, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, The Defiant Ones, Monster on the Campus, Never So Few, The Time Machine, The Magnificent Seven, Birdman of Alcatraz, Spencer’s Mountain, Hud, Where Love Has Gone, The Hallelujah Trail, Airport, and Soylent Green.

1998–Digital Radio Mondiale is established in China.

1998–The first Winter Paralympics to be held outside Europe, takes place in Nagano, Japan.

1999–Actor, Richard Kiley, dies of an unspecified bone marrow disease in Warwick, New York, at age 76. He appeared in the films Blackboard Jungle, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Endless Love, Howard the Duck, Jurassic Park, Phenomenon, and Patch Adams.

2001–In Mecca, 35 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

2001–Drummer, Michael "Smitty" Smith, of Paul Revere and the Raiders, dies of of natural causes in Kona, Hawaii, at age 58.

2003–In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.

2004–The Sunday edition of Britain's Daily Mail lists Paul McCartney's worth at $1.3 billion. It is rumored that he lost enough money in investments during the financial collapse of 2008, that he was no longer a billionaire.

2006–The 78th Annual Academy Awards announces its winners. Best Picture: Crash; Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote; Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line; Best Director: Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain; Best Foreign Film: Tsotsi (South Africa). The ceremonies are held at the Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California. The host is Jon Stewart.

2012–At least two people are killed and six others are injured after a shooting in a hair salon in Bucharest, Romania.

2012–Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 people as it passes through Madagascar.

2013–Hugo Chavez, socialist President of Venezuela, dies of pelvic cancer at age 58. Chavez, who tried unsuccessfully to overthrow Venezuela's elite in a coup in 1992, before being elected in 1999, was a polarizing leader who befriended some of the world's dictators. He remained popular in his country as a champion of the poor and held onto power thanks to a series of populist elections and referenda, which allowed him to seek a limitless number of terms in office. Always outspoken, he often criticized the United States' treatment of Latin America and at different times called President George W. Bush a "liar," a "murderer," and, "the devil."

2013–Vice-President, Nicolás Maduro, assumes the Presidency of Venezuela.

2014–Saying she cannot be part of a network that "whitewashes the actions" of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Washington-based anchor, Liz Wahl, resigns on-air from the Russian government-backed news channel Russia Today (RT) at the end of her newscast. Wahl's departure comes one day after colleague Abby Martin closed an episode of her “Breaking the Set” by declaring her opposition to Russia's intervention in the Ukraine.

2014–Actor and game show host, Geoff Edwards, dies of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California, at age 83.

2015–Misao Okawa, of Japan, turns 117 years old, making her the oldest person alive, as recognized by the Gerontology Research Group (a global group of researchers who verify and track supercentenarians). She was born in Osaka on March 5, 1898. Japan has the most centenarians in the world, with more than 58,000, according to the government. About 87% of them are women. Okawa is the verified oldest Japanese person ever, the oldest person ever born in Asia, and the fifth oldest verified person ever recorded. Okawa was the 30th person verified to have reached age 115, the 10th verified person to reach the age of 116, and the fifth verified person to reach the age of 117. She is also the last living Japanese person to have been born in the 1800s.

2015–Documentary filmmaker, Albert Maysles, dies of natural causes in New York, New York, at age 88. He worked with his brother, David Maysles. During the early part of their career, they collaborated on the films What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. (1964), With Love From Truman (1966), Meet Marlon Brando (1966), and Gimme Shelter (1970).

2016–Actor, James Douglas, dies in in Bethlehem, Connecticut, at age 86. He was cast in the daytime dramas As the World Turns and One Life to Live, and starred in the TV series Peyton Place as Steven Cord. He appeared in the films Fear Strikes Out, Beginning of the End, The Helen Morgan Story, Until They Sail, G.I. Blues, A Thunder of Drums, and Sweet Bird of Youth.

2016–Computer programmer, Ray Tomlinson, dies of a heart attack in Lincoln, Massachusetts, at age 74. In 1971, he implemented the first email program on the ARPANET system, the precursor to the Internet. To achieve this, he used the @ sign to separate the user name from the name of their machine, a scheme which has been used in email addresses ever since. The Internet Hall of Fame said, "Tomlinson's email program brought about a complete revolution, fundamentally changing the way people communicate."

2017–Cursive writing is coming back into style in schools across the U.S., after creating a generation of students who know only keyboarding, texting, and printing out their words longhand.

2017–Israel officially decriminalizes marijuana use in the country. Instead of facing criminal charges, first-time offenders who smoke marijuana in public places will only receive a fine.

2018–SuperShe Island, a private retreat (only for females) off the coast of Finland, will allow women to vacation away from society's pressures.

2018–Employees in Apple Park, Apple’s grand new spaceship-style headquarters in California, keep walking into its glass doors and windows. Despite warnings from a building inspector that people would not be able to tell where the door ends and the wall begins, at least three Apple employees walked or ran into the ultra-transparent glass hard enough to require emergency medical treatment during the first month of occupation. Apple Park is a gigantic $5 billion, four-story glass and metal circle building designed by Norman Foster.

2018–A search team led by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, announces the discovery of the wreck of the USS Lexington (CV-2) about 500 miles off the eastern coast of Australia at a depth of around two miles. The aircraft carrier was lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II.

2018–Entrepreneur, Russell Solomon, dies in Sacramento, California, at age 92. He was the founder of the music retail giant, Tower Records.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Pope Lucius I; the Mercator map; Franz Mesmer; Alessandro Volta; Britannia Bridge; Rex Harrison; Laurence Tisch; Jack Cassidy; a 1954 Buick; Dean Stockwell; Samantha Eggar; Eddie Hodges; Sergei Prokoviev; Andy Gibb; a scene from the film West Side Story; promotional art for the film Sweet Bird of Youth; Creem magazine; Eva Mendes; Jay Silverheels in The Lone Ranger; Gary Merrill with Bette Davis; Whit Bissell; Mike "Smitty" Smith; Geoff Edwards; and Apple Park in Cupertino, California.

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