Today in History
Today is Thursday, March 17, the 76th day of 2022. There are 289 days left in the year. It’s St. Patrick’s Day.
Today’s highlight in the story:
On March 17, 1969, Golda Meir became Prime Minister of Israel.
To this date :
In 1762, New York held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade.
In 1776, the Revolutionary War siege of Boston ended when British forces evacuated the city.
In 1905, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt married Franklin Delano Roosevelt in New York.
In 1941 the National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C.
In 1942, six days after leaving the Philippines during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become Supreme Allied Commander in the South West Pacific theatre.
In 1950, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced that they had created a new radioactive element, “californium”.
In 1966, a US Navy midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb that had fallen from a US Air Force B-52 bomber in the Mediterranean off Spain. (It took several more weeks to recover the bomb.)
In 1970, the US vetoed its first UN Security Council veto, killing a resolution that would have condemned Britain for failing to use force to overthrow Rhodesia’s white government.
In 2003, on the brink of war, President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his country. Iraq rejected Bush’s ultimatum, saying an American attack to force Saddam out of power would be “a big mistake.”
In 2010, Michael Jordan became the first ex-player to become the NBA’s majority owner as the league’s board of governors unanimously approved Jordan’s $275 million bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats. to Bob Johnson.
In 2016, finally bowing to years of public pressure, SeaWorld Entertainment said it would no longer breed killer whales or perform crowd-pleasing tricks on them.
In 2020, the Kentucky Derby and the French Open were each postponed from May to September due to the coronavirus.
Ten years ago: Two suicide car bomb attacks killed at least 27 people near intelligence and security buildings in the Syrian capital of Damascus. John Demjanjuk (dem-YAHN’-yuk), 91, convicted of being a low-ranking guard at the Sobibor death camp as he claimed his innocence, died in Bad Feilnbach (bahd FYLN’-bahk ), in Germany.
Five years ago: President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (AHN’-geh-lah MEHR’-kuhl) tried to sidestep their differences during a meeting at the White House, but their first public appearance was punctuated by a few awkward moments (during a photo op in the Oval Office, the two didn’t shake hands in front of reporters). Secretary of State Rex Tillerson walked to the world’s most heavily armed border, saluting US soldiers on guard near the tense buffer zone between North and South Korean rivals.
A year ago: In an unclassified intelligence report, US officials warned that violent extremists motivated by political grievances and racial bias pose a “high threat” to the United States. President Joe Biden told ABC that senators who wanted to oppose his legislative agenda through filibuster would actually have to stand and talk for hours, rather than just signal their objection. Ford Motor Company told about 30,000 employees worldwide who had worked from home during the pandemic that they could continue to do so indefinitely, with flexible hours approved by their managers.
Today’s birthdays: Former NAACP National President Myrlie Evers-Williams turns 89. Former astronaut Ken Mattingly is 86 years old. Singer-songwriter John Sebastian (The Lovin’ Spoonful) is 78 years old. Former NSA director and former CIA director Michael Hayden is 77. Rock musician Harold Brown (War; Lowrider Band) is 76. Actor Patrick Duffy is 73 years old. Actor Kurt Russell is 71 years old. Country singer Susie Allanson is 70. Actor Lesley-Anne Down is 68 years old. Actor Mark Boone Jr. is 67 years old. Country singer Paul Overstreet is 67. Actor Gary Sinise is 67 years old. Actor Christian Clemenson is 64 years old. Former basketball and baseball player Danny Ainge is 63 years old. Actor Arye Gross is 62 years old. Actor Vicki Lewis is 62 years old. Actor Casey Siemaszko (sheh-MA’-zshko) is 61 years old. Writer-director Rob Sitch is 60 years old. Actor Rob Lowe is 58 years old. Rock singer Billy Corgan is 55. Rock musician Van Conner (Screaming Trees) is 55. Actor Mathew St. Patrick is 54 years old. Actor Yanic (YAH’ -neek) Truesdale is 53 years old. Rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur is 50 years old. Olympic gold medalist soccer player Mia Hamm is 50 years old. Rock musician Caroline Corr (The Corrs) is 49. Actress Amelia Heinle is 49 years old. Country singer Keifer Thompson (Thompson Square) is 49. Actress Marisa Coughlan is 48 years old. Actress Natalie Zea (zee) is 47 years old. Wolfson is 47 years old. Actor Brittany Daniel is 46 years old. Singer and TV personality Tamar Braxton is 45. Country musician Geoff Sprung (Old Dominion) is 44 years old. Reggaeton singer Nicky Jam is 41 years old. TV personality Rob Kardashian (kar-DASH’-ee-uhn) (TV: “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”) is 35. Pop/rock singer-songwriter Hozier is 32 years old. Actor Eliza Hope Bennett is 30 years old. Actor John Boyega is 30 years old. Olympic gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky is 25 years old. Actor Flynn Morrison is 17 years old.