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March 15th
44BC - On this day, the Ides of March, Julius Caesar was assassinated in Rome. He was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate. 1767 - Born this day, Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States known as 'Old Hickory', was born in Waxhaw, South Carolina. The first American president to be born in a log cabin, Jackson was a hero of the War of 1812, an Indian fighter and a Tennessee lawyer. Neither a particularly intelligent man nor a wise one, Jackson became the symbol of his age by being the right man believing in the right things at the right time. Success was a race, Jackson believed, and the government's primary responsibility was to guarantee that every man got a fair chance at winning. Jackson's administration (1829-37) saw the development of modern-style political parties and changes in the voting laws that nearly tripled the electorate. He died 8 June 1845. In 1997 Max Byrd wrote Jackson, a biographical novel. Married Rachel Donelson Robards in Aug 1791 in Natchez, Mississippi. (Rachel Donelson Robards was born on 15 June 1767 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and died on 22 December 1828 in The Hermitage, near Nashville, Tennessee and was buried there. 1820 - On this date in 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise between the North and the South, Maine was admitted into the Union as the 23rd state. Administered as a province of Massachusetts since 1647, the entrance of Maine as a free state was agreed to by Southern senators in exchange for the entrance of Missouri as a slave state. In 1604, French explorer Samuel de Champlain visited the coast of Maine and claimed it as part of the French province of Acadia. However, French attempts to settle Maine were thwarted when British forces under Sir Samuel Argall destroyed a colony on Mount Desert Island in 1613. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, a leading figure in the Plymouth Company, initiated British settlement in Maine after receiving a grant and royal charter, and upon Gorges' death in 1647 the Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed jurisdiction. Gorges' heirs disputed this claim until 1677, when Massachusetts agreed to purchase Gorges' original proprietary rights. As part of Massachusetts, Maine developed early fishing, lumbering, and shipbuilding industries and in 1820 was granted statehood. In the 19th century, the promise of jobs in the timber industry lured many French Canadians to Maine from the Canadian province of Quebec, which borders the state to the west. With 90 percent of Maine still covered by forests, Maine is known as the Pine Tree State and is the most sparsely populated state east of the Mississippi River. 1854 - Born this day, Emil von Behring, first recipient of the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1901. 1878 - Cuba: General Maceo and General Martinez met at Mangos de Baragua where Maceo explained the rebels opposition to the Zanjon Treaty. This meeting became known as the Protest at Baragua. 1907 - On the 15th of March, Finnish women got their first taste of political power, by winning their first seats in the Finnish Diet (parliament). As a result of a strong women's movement, backed by the Social Democratic party. Finland stood out among the whole of Europe as being the first to elect women to parliament. The previous year, Finland had been the first country in Europe to grant women the vote as part of a complete reform. It was only the third country in the world to do so - following New Zealand in 1893, and Australia in 1902. Women elsewhere in Europe and North America continued to press for the right to vote and hoped that the Finnish decision would boost their campaigns. 1909 - 'The world's most beautiful store' opened in London's Oxford Street, named after its owner Gordon Selfridge. 1912 - Born this day, Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins, blues guitarist, singer. Influenced Bob Dylan & Jimi Hendrix. Died 30 January 1982 aged 70. 1916 - Born this day, Harry James, American band leader and trumpet player. He is best remembered for his hit You Made Me Love You. 1917 - On the 15th of March, Russian Tsar Nicholas II stepped down from his throne after the Pertrograd garrison refused to put down the wave of strikes and demonstrations that had been raging for the previous few weeks. The came to be known as the February Revolution as the Russian Julian calendar is 13 days behind. Strikes sparked off by food shortages began among women textile workers on 8 March and quickly spread to other sectors. The Tsar’s authority finally collapsed, ending a thousand years of royal rule in Russia. A provisional government was formed on 12 March, but it struggled for power with the Pertrograd soviet, a council of delegates chosen by workers and soldiers. The people were strongly against the war being fought together with the Allied powers, in which the army lost millions of troops and suffered a series of defeats. However the provisional government wanted to continue the hugely unpopular war with Germany, provoking mass demonstrations in April. The Bolsheviks tried to overthrow the government, winning popular support with their demand for "peace, land and bread". On 7 November, the Bolshevik revolutionaries ousted the provisional government and seized power - completing Russia’s second revolution in nine months. A new socialist government, known as the Soviet (Council) of People’s Commissars was set up, with Vladimir Ilyich Lenin as its chairman. 1922 - Born this day, Eddie Calvert, 1955 UK No.1 with Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White. 1931 - Born this day, James Mitchell, The Memphis Horns, worked with Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Sam And Dave, Elvis Presley, The Doobie Brothers, Otis Redding. Died 18 December 2000. 1932 - Born this day, Arif Mardin, producer, arranger. Worked with Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Roberta Flack, Wilson Pickett, Average White Band, The Bee Gees. 1933 - Hitler proclaimed the Third Reich, which he said would endure for 1,000 years. 1935 - Born this day, Judd Hirsch, actor. 1940 - Born this day, Frank Dobson, former Labour MP and Health Secretary. 1940 - Born this day, Phil Lesh, bass, The Grateful Dead, 1970 UK No.69 and US No.127 album Workingman's Dead. 1942 - Born this day, Hughie Flint, Blues Band, McGuinness Flint, 1970 UK No.2 When I'm Dead And Gone. 1943 - Born this day, David Cronenberg, film director. 1944 - Born this day, David Costell, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, 1965 US No.1 single This Diamond Ring plus 11 other US Top 40 hits. 1944 - Born this day, Mike Love, singer, The Beach Boys, 1966 UK and US No.1 single Good Vibrations, plus over 25 other US and UK top 40 singles. 1966 classic album Pet Sounds. 1944 - Born this day, Sly Stone [Sylvester Stewart], vocals, guitar, keyboards, in Dallas, Texas, Sly and the Family Stone, 1968 UK No.7 and US No.8 single Dance To The Music, 1969 US No.1 single Everyday People, Family Affair. 1946 - Born this day, Howard Scott, War, 1973 US No.2 single Cisco Kid, 1976 UK No.12 single Low Rider. 1947 - Born this day, Hernandez Lugo, ? & The Mysterians, 1966 US No.1 and UK No.37 single 96 Tears. 1947 - Born this day, Ry Cooder, guitarist, 1979 album Bop Till You Drop, 1985 film soundtrack album Paris Texas. 1948 - Born this day, Stephen Nisbett, drums, Steel Pulse, 1978 UK No.35 single Prodigal Son. 1957 - Born this day, Gary Newbon, sports presenter. 1946 - Born this day, Lynda La Plante, thriller writer. 1949 - Born this day, John Duttine, actor (To Serve Them All Our Years). 1949 - Almost four years after the end of World War II (WWII), clothes rationing in Great Britain ended. 1953 - Born this day, Judi Spiers, TV presenter. 1955 - Fats Domino recorded Ain't It A Shame. 1955 - Born this day, Dee Snider, Twisted Sister, 1983 UK No.18 single I Am, I'm Me. 1956 - Colonel Tom Parker becomes Elvis Presley's manager. 1956 - The Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady opened on Broadway in New York starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison. 1958 - ITV's pop show Oh Boy, was broadcast for the first time in the UK. 1959 - Born this day, Ben Okri, novelist. 1961 - This weeks UK singles chart featured at No.5, Clarence Frogman Henry with (I don't know why I love you) But I Do, at No.4 was Ricky Nelson with Hello Marylou, No.3 was The Shadows with The Frightened City, No.2 was Del Shannon and Runaway, and at No.1 was Elvis Presley with Surrender. 1962 - Born this day, Steve Coy, Dead Or Alive, 1985 UK No.1 single You Spin Me Round, Like A Record. 1962 - Born this day, Terence Trent D'arby, 1988 UK No.2 single Sign Your Name plus 8 other UK top 40 hits. 1988 US No.1 single Wishing Well. 1962 - No Strings starring Diahann Carroll opened on Broadway. 1963 - Kyu Sakamoto started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Sukiyaki, the first ever Japanese song to do so. It made No.6 on the UK chart, and was also a No.10 UK single for Kenny Ball. 1963 - Born this day, Bret Michaels, Poison, 1988 UK No.13 and US No.1 single Every Rose Has Its Thorn. 1964 - Born this day, Rockwell [Kennedy Gordy], 1984 US No.2 and UK No.6 single Somebody's Watching Me. The son of Motown boss Berry Gordy. 1964 - The decade's most famous affair culminated in marriage for Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. She declared, 'it will last forever', but when they travelled they reportedly had to rent the hotel rooms around them so nobody would hear them brawling. 1965 - Kim Novak married actor Richard Johnson. He had starred with her in 1965's The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders. They divorced the following year. 1965 - Bob Dylan recorded his first 'electric' hit, Like A Rolling Stone. 1966 - Sandy Posey recorded Born A Woman. 1967 - Guitarist Peter Green quit the John Mayall Band. 1968 - Born this day, Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray, 1999 UK No.10 single Every Morning. 1969 - Cream started a two week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their album Goodbye. 1969 - Tommy Roe started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Dizzy, it was also No.1 in the UK. In 1991 Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff took the song to No.1 on the UK chart. 1969 - Led Zeppelin appeared at The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England. 1971 - Born this day, Penny Lancaster, Rod Stewart's lover. 1972 - Born this day, Mark Hoppus, Blink 182, 2000 UK No.2 single All The Small Things, 2001 US No.1 album Take Off Your.... 1972 - A Los Angeles disc jockey played Donny Osmond's Puppy Love for 90 straight minutes. Police eventually raided the station, suspecting foul play. 1974 - A federal grand jury ruled that President Nixon was involved in a 1972 conspiracy to cover up White House involvement in the Watergate burglary. 1974 - The Emerson, Lake & Palmer film, Pictures At An Exhibition, premiered in Los Angeles. 1974 - Abba's debut album Waterloo, entered the UK chart for the first time peaking at No.28. 1974 - Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Billy Don't Be A Hero, The song was a UK No.1 for Paper Lace. 1974 - Ray Stevens was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with a song about the latest British craze of running naked in a public place called The Streak. 1975 - Led Zeppelin went to No.1 on the UK chart with their double album Physical Graffiti, the first on their own 'Swan Song' label, it also spent six weeks at No.1 in the US. 1975 - Born this day, Will.i.am, Black Eyed Peas, 2003 UK No.1 single Where Is The Love. 1975 - Olivia Newton-John went to No.1 on the US album chart with Have You Ever Been Mellow, the singers second US No.1. 1975 - The Doobie Brothers went to No.1 on the US singles chart with Black Water, the groups first of two US No.1's. 1976 - The Sex Pistols recorded their first demo's in Clapham's Majestic Studio's followed by a gig that night at The 100 club, London. 1977 - The Sex Pistols held a party on a boat sailing down The River Thames, they performed Anarchy In The UK, outside The Houses Of Parliament and members from the party were arrested when the boat docked later that day. 1977 - Born this day, Joe Bourdon, DJ, Linkin Park, 2002 US No.2 and UK No.4 single In The End, 2002 US No.2 and 2001 UK No.4 album Hybrid Theory. 1977 - British Leyland today told 3,000 strikers to return to work or face the sack. Some 40,000 British Layland workers have been laid off by the dispute. The Labour government wants discipline restored to the state car company. 'Foreign firms are simply waiting to pour cars into this country', said Prime Minister James Callaghan. 1977 - Born this day, Dawn Acton, actress (Tracy Barlow - Coronation Street). 1978 - Appearing at Hull University, were Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers. 1979 - Bonnie Bramlett punched out Elvis Costello after he put down Ray Charles during a Stephen Stills concert in Columbus, Ohio. 1982 - Pete Farndon bass player with The Pretenders was fired from the group, he went to form a group with Topper Headon from The Clash. He was found dead in his bath on 14 April 1983. 1983 - Cathy Smith was arrested for second-degree murder for providing the drugs that killed John Belushi. 1984 - Only 21 of Britain's 174 coal mines were working as strikes against the Coal Board's 5.2% pay offer and its pit closure programme became official. 1985 - Bryan Ferry went to No.1 on the UK album chart with Boys And Girls, his first solo No.1 LP. 1985 - Dire Straits started a nine week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Brothers In Arms. 1985 - The Crowd were at No.1 in the UK with You'll Never Walk Alone, recorded to raise funds for The Bradford City Football disaster that killed over 50 people. 1986 - U2 and Sting headlined a concert in New Jersey celebrating 25 years of Amnesty International. 1986 - Starship went to No.1 on the US singles chart with Sara, it reached No.66 in the UK. 1986 - The Bangles were at No.2 on the UK singles chart with Manic Monday, a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher. It also made No.2 in the US, it was held off No.1 by Prince with Kiss. 1988 - During Bruce Sprinsteen’s stay in Rome during a world tour paparazzi took a shot of Bruce in his underpants sharing an intimate moment with his backing singer Patti Scialfa. The picture confirms the rumour that Bruce and Patti are having an affair. 1989 - Nirvana’s debut album Bleach was released in the US. The title came from a sign 'Bleach Your Works' that the band had seen urging drug users to bleach their needles. 1989 - Appearing at Sheffield University, was James, tickets were £4.50. 1989 - The Rolling Stones signed a $70 million contract, to play 50 North American dates. It was the largest contract in rock history. 1991 - Paula Abdul started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Rush Rush, her 5th US No.1, and a No.6 hit in the UK. 1992 - Appearing live The Beastie Boys at The Marquee Club in London. 1993 - Appearing at The Riverside, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, were Jamiroquai. 1996 - Died this day, Ella Fitzgerald, US jazz singer, aged 78. 1960 US No.27 and UK No.19 single Mack The Knife. 1997 - The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Mama, their fourth UK No.1. 1997 - U2 went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their album Pop. 1998 - Madonna scored her sixth UK No.1 album with Ray Of Light, no other female artist has had more than three UK No.1 albums. 2000 - Mick Jagger was ordered to increase his child support payments to Brazilian model Luciana Morad to $10,000. Mick was asked to confirm that he was the father of her child by the court, Ms Morad was seeking a $10 million settlement. 2000 - Sir Paul McCartney confirmed that he and former model Heather Mills had become 'an item'. The couple had met after working on the same charity project. 2000 - The Countess of Wessex (Sophie Rhys-Jones) helped to launch a £5m appeal to establish a crime research centre in memory of murdered TV presented Jill Dando. 2000 - Rapper Flesh-N-Bone of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony was convicted of assault with a firearm and for being an ex-convict in criminal possession of a firearm for threatening a friend with an AK-47. 2001 - The Jimmy Young Show on BBC Radio 2 was cut short by a fire alarm. 2002 - Four Britons were among 16 people killed as an aircraft crashed in Cuba. 2002 - Alica Keys made an appearance at The House Of Commons in London. Labour MP David Lammy booked the singer in an attempt to make Parliament more accessible to young people. 2002 - At Wembley Arena, London, the opening night of 'The Pop Idol' tour featuring Will Young, Gareth Gates and the other Top 10 finalists from the TV talent show. 2002 - Yoko Ono unveiled a 7 foot bronze statue of John Lennon overlooking the check-in hall of Liverpool John Lennon airport. The rebranding of the airport featured a sketch of Lennon's face with the words 'Above Us Only Skies'. 2002 - A rare autographed copy of The Beatles album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, sold at auction for £34,000, more than five times the estimated price. 2003 - Prime Minister Tony Blair embarked on a last-minute round of telephone diplomacy as a second Gulf war loomed. |
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.