March 23
1775 - Patrick Henry called for American independence from Britain and declared to the Virginia Provincial Convention: "Give me liberty, or give me death."
1806 - Lewis and Clark began their return journey east after having explored the lands acquired through the Louisiana Purchase.
1877 - The first Easter Egg roll was held on the White House lawn.
1919 - Benito Mussolini founded his own party in Italy, the Fasci di Combattimento.
1933 - The German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial legislative powers.
1942 - The first Japanese-Americans evacuated by the U.S. Army during World War II arrived at the internment camp in Manzanar, California.
1956 - Pakistan became an Islamic republic.
1965 - America’s first two-person space mission took place as Gemini 3 blasted off with astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and John W. Young aboard for a nearly 5-hour flight.
1981 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions.
1983 - President Ronald Reagan proposed a space-based missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars".
1994 - Aeroflot Flight 593, an Airbus A310, crashed in Siberia with the loss of all 75 people on board; it turned out that a pilot’s teenage son who was allowed to sit at the controls had accidentally disengaged the autopilot, causing loss of control.
1998 - The motion picture "Titanic" won 11 Oscars at the 70th Academy Awards ceremony, tying it with "Ben-Hur" for the most ever won. (The record was tied again in 2003 by "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King".)
2001 - Russia's Mir space station ended its 15-year orbit of Earth, splashing down in the South Pacific.
2003 - A U.S. Army convoy was ambushed in Iraq with 11 soldiers killed and seven captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
2008 - A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000.
2010 - President Barack Obama signed the $938 billion Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, the most sweeping piece of federal legislation since the Medicare Act was passed in 1965.
2011 - Actress Elizabeth Taylor died at age 79.
2012 - Urging Americans to “do some soul searching,” President Barack Obama injected himself into the emotional debate over the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, saying, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”
2012 - The U.S. Army formally charged Staff Sgt. Robert Bales with 17 counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of 17 villagers, more than half of them children, during a shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan.
2017 - Abandoning negotiations, President Donald Trump demanded a make-or-break vote on health care legislation in the House, threatening to leave “Obamacare” in place and move on to other issues if the next day’s vote failed. (Trump and GOP leaders ended up pulling their bill when it became clear it would fail badly.)
2021 - A cargo ship the size of a skyscraper ran aground and became wedged in the Suez Canal; hundreds of ships would be prevented from passing through the canal until the vessel was freed six days later.
2021 - Israeli voters took part in parliamentary elections that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without a majority, forcing him from office.
Birthdays
27 - Victoria Pedretti (actress)
30 - Kyrie Irving (basketball player)
30 - Vanessa Morgan (actress)
33 - Ayesha Curry (TV host)
36 - Ben Rappaport (actor)
37 - CJ "Lana" Perry (professional wrestler)
39 - Mo Farah (runner)
40 - Nicolas Wright (actor)
41 - Brett Young (singer)
44 - Brandon Dirden (actor)
44 - Nicholle Tom (actress)
44 - Perez Hilton (reality star)
44 - Anastasia Griffith (actress)
46 - Keri Russell (actress)
46 - Michelle Monaghan (actress)
48 - Randall Park (actor)
52 - Melissa Errico (actress/singer)
53 - Kelly Perine (actress)
57 - Richard Greico (actor)
58 - Hope Davis (actress)
63 - Catherine Keener (actress)
65 - Amanda Plummer (actress)
69 - Chaka Khan (actress)
85 - Craig Breedlove (race car driver)
======================================
Today in Sports History - March 23
1946 - Oklahoma State defeats North Carolina 43-40 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1948 - Kentucky defeats Baylor 58-42 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1952 - Bill Mosienko (Chicago Black Hawks) scored the fastest hat trick in NHL history. He scored 3 goals in 21 seconds.
1957 - North Carolina defeats Kansas 54-53 in triple overtime to win the NCAA Tournament.
1963 - Loyola-Chicago defeats Cincinnati 60-58 in overtime to win the NCAA Tournament.
1968 - UCLA defeats North Carolina 78-55 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1971 - The NFL's Boston Patriots announced a name change to the New England Patriots.
1972 - Stuntman and daredevil Evil Knievel broke 93 bones after successfully jumping 35 cars.
1991 - The London Monarchs beat the Frankfurt Galaxy 24-11 in the World League of American Football's (WLAF) first game.
1994 - Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings broke Gordie Howe's National Hockey League career record with his 802nd goal.
1995 - Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) became the first European player to lead the NHL in scoring.
1775 - Patrick Henry called for American independence from Britain and declared to the Virginia Provincial Convention: "Give me liberty, or give me death."
1806 - Lewis and Clark began their return journey east after having explored the lands acquired through the Louisiana Purchase.
1877 - The first Easter Egg roll was held on the White House lawn.
1919 - Benito Mussolini founded his own party in Italy, the Fasci di Combattimento.
1933 - The German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial legislative powers.
1942 - The first Japanese-Americans evacuated by the U.S. Army during World War II arrived at the internment camp in Manzanar, California.
1956 - Pakistan became an Islamic republic.
1965 - America’s first two-person space mission took place as Gemini 3 blasted off with astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and John W. Young aboard for a nearly 5-hour flight.
1981 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions.
1983 - President Ronald Reagan proposed a space-based missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars".
1994 - Aeroflot Flight 593, an Airbus A310, crashed in Siberia with the loss of all 75 people on board; it turned out that a pilot’s teenage son who was allowed to sit at the controls had accidentally disengaged the autopilot, causing loss of control.
1998 - The motion picture "Titanic" won 11 Oscars at the 70th Academy Awards ceremony, tying it with "Ben-Hur" for the most ever won. (The record was tied again in 2003 by "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King".)
2001 - Russia's Mir space station ended its 15-year orbit of Earth, splashing down in the South Pacific.
2003 - A U.S. Army convoy was ambushed in Iraq with 11 soldiers killed and seven captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
2008 - A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000.
2010 - President Barack Obama signed the $938 billion Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, the most sweeping piece of federal legislation since the Medicare Act was passed in 1965.
2011 - Actress Elizabeth Taylor died at age 79.
2012 - Urging Americans to “do some soul searching,” President Barack Obama injected himself into the emotional debate over the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, saying, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”
2012 - The U.S. Army formally charged Staff Sgt. Robert Bales with 17 counts of premeditated murder in the deaths of 17 villagers, more than half of them children, during a shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan.
2017 - Abandoning negotiations, President Donald Trump demanded a make-or-break vote on health care legislation in the House, threatening to leave “Obamacare” in place and move on to other issues if the next day’s vote failed. (Trump and GOP leaders ended up pulling their bill when it became clear it would fail badly.)
2021 - A cargo ship the size of a skyscraper ran aground and became wedged in the Suez Canal; hundreds of ships would be prevented from passing through the canal until the vessel was freed six days later.
2021 - Israeli voters took part in parliamentary elections that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without a majority, forcing him from office.
Birthdays
27 - Victoria Pedretti (actress)
30 - Kyrie Irving (basketball player)
30 - Vanessa Morgan (actress)
33 - Ayesha Curry (TV host)
36 - Ben Rappaport (actor)
37 - CJ "Lana" Perry (professional wrestler)
39 - Mo Farah (runner)
40 - Nicolas Wright (actor)
41 - Brett Young (singer)
44 - Brandon Dirden (actor)
44 - Nicholle Tom (actress)
44 - Perez Hilton (reality star)
44 - Anastasia Griffith (actress)
46 - Keri Russell (actress)
46 - Michelle Monaghan (actress)
48 - Randall Park (actor)
52 - Melissa Errico (actress/singer)
53 - Kelly Perine (actress)
57 - Richard Greico (actor)
58 - Hope Davis (actress)
63 - Catherine Keener (actress)
65 - Amanda Plummer (actress)
69 - Chaka Khan (actress)
85 - Craig Breedlove (race car driver)
======================================
Today in Sports History - March 23
1946 - Oklahoma State defeats North Carolina 43-40 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1948 - Kentucky defeats Baylor 58-42 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1952 - Bill Mosienko (Chicago Black Hawks) scored the fastest hat trick in NHL history. He scored 3 goals in 21 seconds.
1957 - North Carolina defeats Kansas 54-53 in triple overtime to win the NCAA Tournament.
1963 - Loyola-Chicago defeats Cincinnati 60-58 in overtime to win the NCAA Tournament.
1968 - UCLA defeats North Carolina 78-55 to win the NCAA Tournament.
1971 - The NFL's Boston Patriots announced a name change to the New England Patriots.
1972 - Stuntman and daredevil Evil Knievel broke 93 bones after successfully jumping 35 cars.
1991 - The London Monarchs beat the Frankfurt Galaxy 24-11 in the World League of American Football's (WLAF) first game.
1994 - Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings broke Gordie Howe's National Hockey League career record with his 802nd goal.
1995 - Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) became the first European player to lead the NHL in scoring.
