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March 7th
1801 - Massachusetts enacted the first state voter registration law. 1802 - Born this day, Edwin Henry Landseer, English painter. 1804 - The Royal Horticultural Society was founded by John Wedgwood, son of the pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood. 1849 - Born this day, Luther Burbank, American botanist. 1869 - The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea via Egypt, opened. 1872 - Born this day, Piet Mondrian, Dutch abstract painter. 1875 - Born this day, Maurice Ravel, composer of the Bolero, born in France. 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell patented the world's first telephone. 1902 - Boer War - The Battle of Tweebosch commenced. 1908 - Born this day, Nat Gonella, in England, jazz performer, trumpeter. Died 6 August 1998 aged 90. 1908 - Born this day, Anna Magnani, actress. 1912 - Born this day, James 'Peck' Curtis, blues, in Benoit, Mississippi. Died 1 November 1970 from a heart attack. 1917 - The Dixie Jazz Band One-step was the world's first jazz record to be released - ironically by the all white Original Dixieland Jazz Band. 1930 - Born this day, Lord Snowdon. 1932 - In the depths of the Great Depression, an estimated 3,000 men rioted at the Detroit plant of the Ford Motor Company. Four were killed. 1934 - Born this day, Willard Scott, NBC Today Show weatherman. 1936 - Adolf Hitler's Germany violated the Treaty of Versailles by re-occupying the demilitarised Rhineland zone bordering France. 1940 - Born this day, Daniel J. Travanti, actor. 1941 - British troops invaded Italian-held Ethiopia. 1941 - Winston Churchill diverted 58,000 British and Australian troops from Egypt to Greece. They were blown out of the Peloponnese by Hitler's forces in April. 1942 - Born this day, Michael Eisner, Disney Executive. 1942 - Born this day, Tammy Faye Bakker, American TV evangelist. 1944 - Born this day, Sir Ranulf Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, explorer. 1945 - On this date in 1945, during World War II (WWII), tanks of the US Third Corps reached the Rhine River opposite the small German town of Remagen, Germany, and found the Ludendorff Bridge still standing. The bridge, which had miraculously survived the massive Allied air assaults on Nazi Germany and then the country's own efforts to protect its interior from the Allied invasion, is an unexpected strategic coup for the U.S. First Army. Troops and vehicles are immediately rushed across, and for the first time, the Americans secure a foothold on the eastern side of the fortified Rhine River shore. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is so furious to learn of the Americans' use of the intact Ludendorff Bridge that he fires General Gerd von Rundstedt as commander of western German forces. German bombers attempt to destroy the bridge, but the Americans continue to move across and expand the beachhead on the other side. On 17 March, after transporting thousands of troops and military vehicles across the Rhine, the bridge collapses, killing twenty-five Americans. Nevertheless, the Allies now hold the area and engineers erect other bridges nearby. Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower later says that the discovery of the intact bridge "put victory just around the corner." 1945 - Born this day, Arthur Lee, guitar, vocals, Love, 1966 US No.33 single 7 And 7 Is, 1968 UK No.24 album Forever Changes. 1945 - Born this day, Chris White, bass, The Zombies, 1964 US No.2 and UK No.12 single She's Not There. 1945 - Born this day, John Heard, actor. 1946 - Born this day, Matthew Fisher, Procol Harum, 1967 UK No.1 and US No.5 single A Whiter Shade Of Pale. 1946 - Born this day, Peter Wolf, vocals, The J. Geils Band, 1982 US No.1 and UK No.3 single Centrefold and once married to actress Faye Dunaway. 1946 - British doctors mounted a campaign to fight the introduction of the proposed National Health Service. 1947 - Born this day, Donna Loren, sang in Beach Blanket Bingo, born in Boston, Massachusetts. 1952 - Born this day, William Boyd, author. 1952 - Born this day, Sir Vivian Richards, cricketer. 1952 - Born this day, Ernie Isley, The Isley Brothers, 1968 UK No.3 single This Old Heart Of Mine, 1969 US No.2 single It's Your Thing. 1955 - Comedienne Phyllis Diller made her debut at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, California, leading to a stage, club and television career that spanned more than three decades. 1958 - Born this day, Rik Mayall, actor. 1959 - Melvin C. Garlow became the first pilot to fly over a million miles in jet airplanes. 1960 - Annette Funicello's O Dio Mio enters the Billboard charts (it would eventually reach No.10). 1960 - Born this day, Ivan Lendl, tennis player. 1964 - For the first time ever the UK Top Ten Singles Chart was composed entirely of British acts. 1964 - Born this day, Jennifer McCarter, in Sevierville, Tennessee, singer (McCarter-The Gift). Recorded with sisters Lisa and Teresa for Warner Bros. Records from 1987-1992. 1964 - The Dave Clark Five made their radio debut on the BBC's Saturday Club. 1965 - During a Rolling Stones gig at The Palace Theatre in Manchester, a teenage fan fell from the circle while the group were appearing, the crowd below broke her fall and she escaped serious injury. 1966 - Brian Wilson released the first solo single by a Beach Boy with Caroline No. 1966 - Born this day, Paul Davis, keyboards, Happy Mondays, 1990 UK No.5 single Step On. 1966 - Tina Turner recorded her vocal on the Phil Spector produced River Deep Mountain High. It went on to make No.3 in the UK but only No.88 in the US. 1966 - Died this day, Mike Millward, guitarist from The Fourmost died, aged 23. 1967 - Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin were divorced. They got married in 1960. 1968 - The first news programme in colour was broadcast on BBC2. 1968 - Dr. Emil Savundra was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment and fined £50,000 for insurance fraud. 1969 - The Victoria Line tube opened in London. 1969 - Two of the three Apollo-9 astronauts test flew their lunar module around the main spacecraft while in Earth orbit, and then linked the two together again. 1970 - Lee Marvin went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Wand'rin Star, from the film Paint Your Wagon. 1970 - Simon and Garfunkel's album Bridge Over Troubled Water, started a ten week stay at No.1 on the US chart. The duo had split by the time of release. 1971 - Swiss men voted to give women the vote and allow them to hold office. 1971 - Born this day, Rachel Weisz, actress. 1973 - CBS records boss John Hammond suffered a heart attack during a showcase concert at Max's Kansas City, New York to mark the signing of his new act Bruce Springsteen. 1975 - The body of kidnapped heiress Lesley Whittle was found in a 60ft drain shaft. She had been held for 52 days then strangled by Donald Nielson, The Black Panther, who was later given four life sentences. 1976 - Elton John was immortalised in wax at Madame Tussaud's in London. The first rock star to be so since The Beatles. 1977 - Born this day, Paul Cattermole, vocals, former S Club 7 member. 1999 UK No.1 single Bring It All Back. 1984 - The US Senate confirmed William Wilson as the first US ambassador to the Vatican in 117 years. 1985 - For the first time, the song We Are the World from the album of the same name, was played on the radio. Forty-five top pop stars combined their talents to record the music of Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, with Quincy Jones producing. The proceeds of the multimillion-selling recording went to aid African famine victims. 1987 - World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champ, Iron Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight title holder ever as he beat James Smith in a decision during a 12-round bout in Las Vegas. 1987 - The Beastie Boys became the first rap act to have a No.1 album in the US with their debut album, Licensed To Ill. 1988 - Died this day, Divine, female impersonator, at the age of 42. 1989 - Chinese troops fired on a Tibetan independence demonstration reportedly killing hundreds of people. 1991 - George Michael was voted the best male singer and sexiest male artist by the readers of Rolling Stone. 1991 - US troops began heading home from the Persian Gulf region. 1993 - Dana Scully joined the X-Files. 1997 - On this date in 1997, declaring that Steven Hoffenberg had "wreaked havoc on innocent lives," Federal Judge Robert Sweet sentenced the notorious Wall Street swindler to a twenty-year prison term. In the ruling, handed down on this day in 1997, Sweet ordered the former chief of Towers Financial Corps to pay out $462 million in restitution, as well as a $1 million in fines. Hoffenberg had been accused of pawning off vast sums of 'worthless' Tower-backed bonds to unsuspecting investors. All told, Hoffenberg had conned investors out of a whopping $500 million, money which he used to fund his extravagant habits. Though this wasn't Hoffenberg's first brush with the law, he confessed to a series of charges, including obstruction of justice and tax evasion, it was certainly his biggest. Hoffenberg's attorney, Daniel Meyers, questioned the severity of Sweet's sentence. However, Robert Blackburn, associate director of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, deemed the ruling "very reasonable" given the "horrible, massive" scope of Hoffenberg's crimes. 1997 - A US veto killed an otherwise unanimous United Nation (UN) Security Council resolution condemning new Jewish settlements in Arab East Jerusalem. 1998 - Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Frozen. 1999 - Boyzone scored their fifth UK No. 1 single with When The Going Gets Tough. It was recorded for the Comic Relief charity and had been a No.1 single for Billy Ocean in 1986. 2000 - In 'Super Tuesday's' 13 presidential primary elections, Al Gore won all of the Democratic contests and George W. Bush nine, virtually assuring their nominations. 2000 - Oasis singer Liam Gallagher won the Best Dressed Man Award from fashion magazine GQ. 2001 - The man who discovered Blur, David Balfe won a high court battle to earn £250,000 in back royalties. Balfe had waged a legal battle for over two years to regain the royalties after selling his Food Records label to EMI in 1994. 2002 - Prime Minister Tony Blair called on nurses, teachers and police officers to back reform of public services. 2002 - More than 600 people were reported dead after several days of Hindu-Muslim violence in the state of Gujarat, India. |
Trivia
Trivia - petty details or considerations, matters or things that are very unimportant, inconsequential, or nonessential; trifles; trivialities.
Trivial - of very little importance or value; insignificant: "Don't bother me with trivial matters." Trivially - unimportant, nugatory, slight, immaterial, inconsequential, frivolous, trifling.