Today in History
Important Events
- 1490 1st dated edition of Maimonides "Mishneh Torah", a code of Jewish religious law is published
- 1775 Patrick Henry proclaims "Give me liberty or give me death" in speech in favour of Virginian troops joining US Revolutionary war
- 1919 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party re-establishes a five-member Politburo which becomes the center of political power in the Soviet Union. Original members Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Lev Kamenev and Nikolai Krestinsky
- 1933 Enabling Act: German Reichstag grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers
- 1945 Battle of Okinawa: US Navy ships bomb the Japanese island of Okinawa in preparation for the Allied invasion; it would become the largest battle of the Pacific War in World War II
Today in Film & TV
- 1940 1st radio broadcast of "Truth or Consequences" on CBS
Today in Music
- 1743 George Frideric Handel's oratorio "Messiah" premieres in London
Today in Sport
- 1980 Allan Border becomes the first and only batsman to reach 150 in each innings of a test Australia v Pakistan Third Test in Lahore
Did You Know?
Elisha Otis installs his 1st elevator at 488 Broadway in New York City
On this day in 1857
Margaret of Anjou
Akira Kurosawa
Roger Bannister
Harry Houdini
Clyde Barrow
Pat BradleyWould You Believe?
Royal Air Force gunner Nicholas Alkemade falls 5,500 m out of a plane without a parachute over Nazi Germany and lives
On this day in 1944
Famous Weddings
- 1779 Botanist Joseph Banks (36) weds Dorothea Hugessen
- 1923 Writer Anaïs Nin (Delta of Venus) marries banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in Havana, Cuba
- 1985 Musician Billy Joel weds supermodel Christie Brinkley
Famous Divorces
- 1769 Augustus FitzRoy, English Duke of Grafton divorces the Duchess of Grafton, (formerly Hon. Anne Liddell) by an Act of Parliament
- 2015 TV personality Kris Jenner and athlete Bruce Jenner divorce after 13 years of marriage
Peter the Cruel
Bhagat Singh
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth I
Jules Verne
Bernard MontgomeryThis Month in History
![A First Lady Goes Shoplifting]()
A First Lady Goes Shoplifting
While former Panama military dictator Manuel Noriega was awaiting his fate on racketeering charges, his wife Felicidad was having her own run-in with the law.
March 20, 1992![The Most Expensive Divorce in History]()
The Most Expensive Divorce in History
Beautiful and rich, Eleanor of Aquitaine had one fault according to the King of France: she had not produced a son. So on this day they were divorced.
March 21, 1152![Tsar Goes a Step Too Far]()
Tsar Goes a Step Too Far
For over 300 years Russia’s famous Romanov family possessed fabulous wealth and power, but it wasn’t enough to keep them out of reach of assassins.
March 23, 1801![John Manningham Notes the Passing of Queen Elizabeth I]()
John Manningham Notes the Passing of Queen Elizabeth I
John Manningham was an English lawyer and diarist who wrote this especially moving entry on the passing of Queen Elizabeth I.
March 24, 1603
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