Milestone March 27
March 27 is the anniversary of two massacres (which seem to happen all the time, anyway) as well as the worst earthquake in U.S. history -- it was so powerful, the entire planet vibrated.
196 BC. Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. He was the fifth ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He became ruler at the age of five, and under a series of regents the kingdom was paralyzed.
Circa 33. Jesus rises from the dead. This is the traditional date of Christ's resurrection and, of course, the first Easter.
972. King Robert I of France (d. 1031) is born. Robert I (after September 866 – June 15, 923), king of West Francia (922 – 923), was the younger son of Robert the Strong, count of Anjou, and the brother of Odo, who became king of the Western Franks in 888. West Francia evolved over time into France; under Odo, the capital was fixed on Paris, a large step in that direction.
Appointed by Odo ruler of several counties, including the county of Paris, and abbot
in commendam of many abbeys, Robert also secured the office of
Dux Francorum, a military dignity of high importance. He did not claim the crown of West Francia when his brother died in 898; but recognizing the supremacy of the Carolingian king, Charles III, he was confirmed in his offices and possessions, after which he continued to defend northern Francia from the attacks of the Norsemen.
The peace between the king and his powerful vassal was not seriously disturbed until about 921. The rule of Charles had aroused some irritation; and, supported by many of the clergy and by some of the most powerful of the Frankish nobles, Robert took up arms, drove Charles into Lorraine, and was himself crowned king of the Franks at Rheims on June 29, 922. Collecting an army, Charles marched against the usurper and, on June 15 923, in a fierce and bloody battle near Soissons, Robert was killed, according to one tradition in single combat with his rival.
1306. Robert the Bruce is crowned King of Scotland at Scone. He became one of Scotland's greatest kings, as well as one of the most famous warriors of his generation, eventually leading Scotland during the Wars of Scottish Independence against the Kingdom of England. He claimed the Scottish throne as a fourth great-grandson of David I of Scotland, and saw the recognition of Scotland as an independent nation during his reign. Today in Scotland, Bruce is remembered as a national hero.
1309. Pope Clement V excommunicates Venice and all its population. When
excommunication and
interdict failed to have their intended effect, Clement V preached a crusade against the rebellious Venetians in May 1309, declaring that Venetians captured abroad might be sold into slavery, like non-Christians.
1513. Explorer Juan Ponce de León sights Florida for the first time, mistaking it for another island.
1613. The first English child is born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy (and his wife, presumably).
1625. Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France. He would reign until his execution in 1649. He famously engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England. As he was an advocate of the Divine Right of Kings, many in England feared that he was attempting to gain absolute power. There was widespread opposition to many of his actions, especially the levying of taxes without Parliament's consent.
The last years of Charles' reign were marked by the English Civil War, in which he was opposed by the forces of Parliament -- who challenged his attempts to augment his own power -- and by Puritans, who were hostile to his religious policies and apparent Catholic sympathy. The first Civil War (1642 - 1645) ended in defeat for Charles, after which the parliamentarians expected him to accept their demands for a constitutional monarchy.
Instead, he remained defiant, provoking a second Civil War (1648 - 1649). This was considered unacceptable, and Charles was subsequently tried, convicted, and executed for high treason. The monarchy was then abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England was declared. Charles' son, Charles II, became King after restoring the monarchy in 1660.
1775. Future President Thomas Jefferson is elected a Virginia delegate to the second Continental Congress.
1794. The government of the United States establishes a permanent United States Navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
1814. In the War of 1812, United States forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in central Alabama.
1836. The Goliad Massacre takes place during the Texas Revolution when Antonio López de Santa Anna orders the Mexican army to kill about 400 Texans at Goliad, Texas. Troops from the army of Mexico defeated Texan forces in several clashes, and eventually massacred many of their prisoners of war, spreading outrage and resentment among the population of the fledgling Republic of Texas, as well as terror.
At around 8 a.m. on Palm Sunday, 1836, Colonel Jose Nicolas de la Portilla, commander at Goliad, had the 342 Texan pirsoners of war marched out of Fort Defiance into three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road. Urrea wrote that he "...wished to elude these orders as far as possible without compromising my personal responsibility."
Once the columns reached their selected location, the Mexican
soldados formed into two ranks on one side of the captives. The defenseless and unarmed Texans were then fired on at point-blank range only a few hundred yards from the fort. The wounded and dying were then clubbed and stabbed. Those who survived the initial volley were run down by the Mexican cavalry. In some accounts of the Goliad Massacre, a Mexican lady named Francita Alavez is mentioned, although she is sometimes referred to with other names. She rescued a few Texan soldiers and became known as "The Angel of Goliad."
1854. The Crimean War breaks out as the United Kingdom declares war on Russia.
1884. A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, attacks members of a jury who had returned a verdict of manslaughter in a clear case of murder and then attempt to find and lynch the perpetrator. In the violence that followed over the next few days, over 50 people died and the courthouse was destroyed.
1890. A tornado strikes Louisville, Kentucky, killing 76 and injuring 200.
1905. The neighbors of Thomas and Ann Farrow, shopkeepers in South London, discover their badly bludgeoned bodies in their home. Thomas was already dead, but Ann was still breathing. She died four days later without ever having regained consciousness. The brutal crime was solved using the newly developed fingerprinting technique. Only three years earlier, the first English court had admitted fingerprint evidence in a petty theft case. The Farrow case was the first time that the cutting-edge technology was used in a high-profile murder case.
Since the cash box in which the Farrow's stored their cash receipts was empty, it was clear to Scotland Yard investigators that robbery was the motive for the crime. One print on the box did not match the victims or any of the still-tiny file of criminal prints that Scotland Yard possessed. Fortunately, a local milkman reported seeing two young men in the vicinity of the Farrow house on the day of the murders. Soon identified as brothers Alfred and Albert Stratton, the police began interviewing their friends.
A week later, authorities finally caught up with the Stratton brothers and fingerprinted them. Alfred's right thumb was a perfect match for the print on the Farrow's cash box.
he Stratton brothers were convicted and hanged on May 23, 1905. Since then, fingerprint evidence has become commonplace in criminal trials and the lack of it is even used by defense attorneys.
1915. Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States, is put in quarantine, where she would remain for the rest of her life. Mary Mallon, also known as Typhoid Mary, was presumed to have infected some 53 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career as a cook. She was forcibly isolated twice by public health authorities and died after nearly three decades altogether in isolation.
1918. Moldova and Bessarabia join Romania.
1938. The Battle of Tai er zhuang begins. This was a battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War between armies of Chinese Kuomintang and Japan.
The Chinese scored a major victory, the first of the Nationalist alliance in the war. The battle broke the myth of Japanese military invincibility and resulted in an incalculable benefit to Chinese morale.
1939. Oregon wins the first NCAA men's basketball tournament with a 46-33 victory over Ohio State in Evanston, Illinois.
1941. Yugoslavian Air Force officers topple the pro-axis government in a bloodless coup during World War II.
1945. In World War II, Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways begins. Meanwhile, Argentina declares war to the Axis Powers.
1952. The late French actress Maria Schneider is born in Paris, the draughter of French actor Daniel Gelin and German model Marie Christine Schneider. She was most famous for playing "Jeanne" opposite Marlon Brando in the 1972 motion picture
Last Tango in Paris. (See pictures.)
Following her success and critical acclaim in
Last Tango in Paris she disappeared from film for some time, reportedly becoming addicted to heroin. In 1975 she abandoned a film set and checked herself into a mental hospital in Rome for several days with a woman she described as her lover. She did not work in film for several years, though she eventually resumed her career, appearing in over 30, mostly European films. She recently passed away.
1958. Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union. He was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. He was First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. He was removed from power by his party colleagues in 1964 and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. He spent the last seven years of his life under the close supervision of the KGB.
On the positive side, he was admired for his efficiency and for maintaining an economy which, during the 1950s and 1960s, had growth rates higher than most Western countries, contrasted with the stagnation beginning with his successors. He is renowned for his liberalization policies, whose results began with the widespread exoneration of political sentences.
His de-Stalinization had a huge impact on young Communists of the day. Khrushchev encouraged more liberal communist leaders to replace hard-line Stalinists throughout the Eastern bloc. Khrushchev is sometimes cited as "the last great reformer" among Soviet leaders before Gorbachev.
On the negative side, he was criticized for his ruthless crackdown of the 1956 revolution in Hungary, even though he and Zhukov were pushing against intervention until Hungary's declaration of withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. He encouraged the East German authorities to set up the notorious Berlin Wall in August 1961. He had very poor diplomatic skills, giving him the reputation of being a rude, uncivilized peasant in the West and as an irresponsible clown in his own country.
His younger son Sergei emigrated to the United States and is now an American citizen and a professor at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. He often speaks to American audiences to share his memories of the "other" side of the Cold War. Sergei is the spitting image of his father, which always makes me wonder what Nikita would think, seeing his son a U.S. citizen.
1964. The Good Friday Earthquake -- the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history (at a magnitude of 9.2) -- strikes South Central Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage. (See picture.)
The powerful earthquake also caused some parts of Alaska to be liquefied, causing much damage to property and leading to landslides. In some places, the ground rolled like ocean waves and trees were shaken with such force that they snapped.
The earthquake lasted for three to five minutes in most areas. Ocean floor shifts caused huge tsunamis up to 20 meters (50ft) in height), which resulted in many of the deaths and much of the property damage. Large rock slides were also triggered which resulted in widespread property damage. Vertical displacement of up to 11.5 m (38 feet) occurred, affecting an area of 250,000 km² (100,000 square miles) within Alaska.
Twelve people were killed by the tsunami in Crescent City, California. Other towns along the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Hawaii were damaged. Minor damage to boats reached as far south as Los Angeles.
Since the entire Earth vibrated as a result of the quake, minor effects were felt worldwide: several fishing boats were sunk in Louisiana and water sloshed in wells in South Africa.
1971. The SS
Texaco Oklahoma breaks in half and sinks off Cape Hatteras, killing 31 of 44 aboard.
1975. Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.
1980. The Norwegian oil platform
Alexander Kielland collapses in the North Sea, killing 123 of its crew of 212.
1981. The Solidarity movement in Poland stages a warning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walk off their jobs for four hours.
1994. One of the biggest tornado outbreaks in recent history hits the Southeastern United States. One tornado slams into a church in Piedmont, Alabama during Palm Sunday services, killing 20 and injuring 90.
1998. The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
2002. In the Passover Massacre, a suicide bomber kills 29 people in Netanya, Israel.
2009. A suicide bomber kills at least 48 at a mosque in the Khyber Agency of Pakistan.
2011. NATO assumes control of military operations in Libya while rebel forces seize more towns and advance towards the government-held town of Sirte.
Elsewhere, seven people are missing following an apartment fire and explosion in the Canadian town of Woodstock, Ontario, and seven people, including one firefighter are hospitalized for injuries.
