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March 26th
1026 - Conrad II was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XIX. 1150 - The dying curse of Lady Mabel de Tichborne, set up the tradition whereby Baron Tichborne must give any villager who applies, half a peck of flour, every year on this day. 1773 - Born this day, Nathaniel Bowditch, astronomer, author. Died in 1838. 1778 - Ludwig van Beethoven gave his first concert on this day aged 7 years. 1780 - The first Sunday newspaper in Britain was published - The British Gazette and Sunday Monitor. 1793 - The Holy Roman Emperor formally declared war on France. 1827 - Died this day, Ludwig van Beethoven, aged 57, in Vienna. His last words were reputed to be - 'I shall hear in heaven'. 1828 - Austrian composer Franz Schubert gave his only public concert, in Vienna. 1839 - The Henley Rowing Regatta was held for the first time. 1845 - The sticking plaster was invented. 1850 - Born this day, Edward Bellamy, author. Died in 1898. 1854 - Charles III, duke of Parma, was attacked by an assassin and died the next day. 1858 - Born this day, Jane Delano, nurse, teacher. 1859 - Born this day, [Alfred Edward] A.E. Housman, British poet. Died in 1936. 1871 - The Paris Commune, an insurrection of Paris against the French government, was formally set up. 1874 - Born this day, Robert Frost, Pulitzer prize-winning poet. Died in 1963. 1880 - Born this day, Duncan Hines, author, traveller. Died in 1959. 1885 - George Eastman manufactured the first commerical motion-picture film at his factory in Rochester, New York. 1886 - The first cremation took place in Britain at Woking in Surrey. (Another source says 1885). 1891 - Born this day, Chico Marx, of the Marx Brothers comedy team, was born in New York. 1898 - The world's first game reserve, the Sabi Game reserve, was designated in South Africa. 1909 - Born this day, Chips Rafferty [John Goffage], actor. Died in 1971. 1911 - Born this day, [Thomas Lanier] Tennesee Williams, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, whose works include A Streetcar Named Desire. Died in 1983. 1913 - The Bulgarians took Adrianople in the Balkan War. 1914 - Born this day, William Westmoreland, US Army General. 1916 - Born this day, Sterling Hayden [Sterling Relyea Walter], actor. Died in 1986. 1917 - Born this day, Rufus Thomas, singer, 1963 US No.10 single Walking The Dog, 1970 UK No.18 and US No.28 single Do The Funky Chicken. Died 15 December 2001. 1917 - At the start of the battle of Gaza, the British cavalry under Murray withdrew when 17,000 Turks blocked their advance. 1918 - In World War I (WWI), French Marshal Ferdinand Foch was appointed commander of the Allied armies on the western front. 1919 - Born this day, Strother Martin, Jr., actor. Died in 1980. 1921 - Born this day, Joe Loco [Jose Esteves, Jr.], jazz musician, arranger. Died in 1988. 1923 - Died this day, Sarah Bernhardt, French actress. The greatest 'tragedienne' of her day, she had her leg amputated in 1915 but continued her acting career. 1923 - Born this day, Bob Elliott, comedian. 1923 - Regular weather broadcasting began in Britain, broadcast by the BBC radio. 
1925 - Born this day, Pierre Boulez, conductor, composer. 1929 - Born this day, Maurice Simon, jazz musician, tenor saxophonist. 1930 - Born this day, Sandra Day O'Connor, US Supreme Court Justice. 1931 - Born this day, Leonard Nimoy, actor, (Star Trek, Mr. Spock), director. 1932 - Born this day, Dick Nolan, American football. 1934 - Born this day, Gino Cappelletti, American football. 1934 - Born this day, Alan Arkin, actor. 1934 - Driving tests were introduced in Britain. 1936 - Born this day, Fred Paris, of the Five Satins (In The Still Of The Night). 1937 - Joe DiMaggio said he'd take Ty Cobb's advice and use a 36 or 37-ounce baseball bat instead of a 40-ounce stick during that season. The result? 'Joltin' Joe' hit .346 during the season with 46 home runs - the most he ever hit in a single year. In the words of Yankee broadcaster Mel Allen, "How about that!" During his 13-year career with the Yankees, DiMaggio connected for 2,214 hits, 361 homers, batted a .325 average, played in 1,736 total games and came to the plate to bat 6,821 times. 1937 - Born this day, Wayne 'The Wall' Embry, basketball. 1937 - Popeye the sailor man became the first cartoon character to have his statue erected in Crystal City, Texas. 1939 - Born this day, James Caan, in The Bronx, New York, NY, actor. 1940 - Born this day, Braulio Baeza, National Horse Racing Hall of Famer, jockey. 1940 - Born this day, Rod Lauren, singer. 1941 - Jimmie Lunceford and his orchestra recorded the tune, Battle Axe for Decca Records. Lunceford began with the Chickasaw Syncopaters, a 10-piece band, in the late 1920s. By 1934, he would add names like Sy Oliver, Willie Smith, Earl Caruthers, Joe Thomas, Al Norris, Moses Allen, and James Crawford to form orchestras that would entertain through the mid-1940s. 1941 - Born this day, Barclay Plager, hockey. Died in 1988. 1942 - Born this day, Erica Jong [Mann], writer. 1943 - Born this day, Bob Woodward, investigative reporter. 1944 - Born this day, Diana Ross [Diane Earle], singer, in Detroit, Michigan. (Motown), formerly with the Supremes. 1964 UK and US No.1 single Baby Love plus 30 other UK top 40 hits, and solo, 1980 US No.1 single Upside Down, 1986 UK No.1 single Chain Reaction. 1945 - The Battle of Iwo Jima ended (World War II (WWII)); about 22,000 Japanese troops were killed or captured in the fighting and more than 4,500 US troops were also killed. 1945 - The Japanese attempted to reinforce a garrison at Kiska in the Aleutians but were intercepted by a US naval force at the battle of Komandorski Islands. 1945 - Died this day, David Lloyd George, British statesman and former Prime Minister. 1947 - Born this day, Ian Tough, actor, comic (The Krankies). 1948 - Born this day, Steven Tyler [Tallarico], rock musician, Aerosmith, 1987 UK No.45 single Dude (Looks Like A Lady), 1989 UK No.13 single Love In An Elevator, plus other UK singles chart entires. 1987 UK No.37 album Permanent Vacation, 1989 UK No.3 album Pump. 1998 US No.1 single I Don't Want To Miss A Thing. 1948 - Born this day, Richard Tandy, keyboards, bass, vocals, Electric Light Orchestra, 1979 UK No.3 and US No.4 single Don't Bring Me Down, plus 26 other top 40 UK hits. 1949 - Born this day, Fran Sheehan, bass, Boston, 1977 UK No.22 single More Than A Feeling, 1986 US No.1 single Amanda. 1949 - Born this day, Vicki Lawrence, Emmy Award-winning actress, singer (Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia). 1950 - Born this day, Martin Short, actor. 1950 - Born this day, Teddy Pendergrass, soul singer, 1978 US No.25 single Close The Door, 1994 UK No.35 single The More I Get The More I Want. One time member of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. 1951 - The US Air Force flag was approved. The flag included the coat of arms, 13 white stars and the Air Force seal on a blue background. 1953 - The first polio vaccine was unveiled by Dr. Jonas Salk of Pittsburgh University. It was so successful that by 1961 the incidence of polio had decreased by 95 per cent. (poliomyelitis.) 1953 - Born this day, Lincoln Chafee, Senator Rhode Island. 1953 - Born this day, William Lyall, keyboards, Pilot, 1975 UK No.1 single January. Also worked with Sheena Easton and The Bay City Rollers. Died in 1989. 1954 - Born this day, Curtis Sliwa, Guardian Angels Founder. 1955 - There was a complete absence of papers from the newsstands and corner stores today as a strike of 700 electricians and maintenance engineers dragged on. It ended on April 21st. 1955 - Britain's Grand National steeplechase was won by Quare Times. 1955 - Born this day, Martin Price, 808 state, 1989 UK No.10 single Pacific State. 1956 - Red Buttons made his debut as a television actor in a presentation of Studio One on CBS television. 1956 - Born this day, Stephanie Mills, singer, 1980 UK No.4 and US No.6 single Never Knew Love Like This Before. 1957 - Ricky Nelson recorded his first tunes, I'm Walkin' and A Teenager's Romance. 1957 - Born this day, Leeza Gibbons, TV hostess. 1957 - Born this day, Paul Morley, Art Of Noise, 1988 UK No.5 single with Tom Jones, Kiss, music writer. 1958 - London's first parking tickets were issued. 1959 - Died this day, Raymond Chandler, novelist, whose works include The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. 1960 - The University of Southern California (USC) captured the NCAA swimming title, becoming the first Pacific Coast school to do so. 1960 - The Aintree Grand National was televised today for the first time. 1960 - Born this day, Jennifer Grey, actress. 1960 - Lonnie Donegan was the first British act to enter the charts at No.1, when My Old Man's A Dustman went straight to the top of the charts. 1960 - Born this day, Marcus Allen, American football. 1961 - Born this day, William Hague, former leader of the Conservatives, MP. 1961 - Born this day, Leigh Bowery, outrageous artist and performer. Died in 1994. 1962 - Born this day, John Stockton, basketball. 1964 - Edward Clark set the fastest speed record ever noted by an American swimmer. He was timed at 4.89 miles-per-hour at the Yale University pool. 1964 - The Fall of the Roman Empire with Sophia Loren opened into US theatres. 1964 - Former Beatles drummer Pete Best appeared on TV's I've Got A Secret. 1964 - Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre. It ran there for over three years. 1965 - Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman all received electric shocks from a faulty microphone on stage in Denmark, Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious for several minutes. 1965 - The Walker Brothers made their UK TV debut on Ready Steady Go!. 1966 - The Beatles 'butcher' album cover for their Yesterday And Today album was photographed. 1968 - Died this day, Little Willie John, US blues artist, in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. Co-wrote and was the first to record, Fever - covered by Peggy Lee, and Need Your Love So Bad which was coverd by Fleetwood Mac. 1968 - Born this day, James Jonas Iha, guitar, Smashing Pumpkins, 1995 US No.1 album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, 1996 UK No.7 single Tonight Tonight. 1969 - Marcus Welby, a TV movie, was seen on ABC-TV. Ratings showed the program to be so popular that it was turned into a long-running series starring Robert Young. 1969 - Marvin Gaye was at No.1 on the UK singles chart, with I Heard It Through The Grapevine. The song had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight & The Pips. 1970 - Peter Yarrow of the folk group, Peter, Paul and Mary, pleaded guilty to charges of 'taking immoral liberties' with a fourteen-year-old girl in Washington DC. The group had just won a Grammy for Best Children's Record with their entertaining Peter, Paul & Mommy. Yarrow was later pardoned by President Gerald Ford. 1970 - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it would prohibit any new combination of radio and TV ownership in the same city to prevent control of public opinion by a few people. 1971 - Born this day, John Hendy, East 17, 1994 UK No.1 single Stay Another Day, plus over 15 other UK top 40 singles. 1971 - William Conrad starred as Cannon on CBS-TV. This was a one-time TV event that became a popular series that year. 1971 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared East Pakistan the independent republic of Bangladesh. 1971 - Died this day, Harold McNair, session sax and flute player, of lung cancer. Worked with Donovan, Melanie and Ginger Baker's Air Force. 1972 - The Los Angeles Lakers broke a National Basketball Association record by winning 69 of 82 games. 1973 - President Anwar Sadat of Egypt took over the premiership, saying 'the stage of total confrontation (with Israel) has become inevitable'. 1973 - Daytime TV soap opera, The Young and the Restless, starring Julianna McCarthy as Liz Foster Brooks and Robert Colbert as Stuart Brooks, debuted on CBS. 1973 - Died this day, Noel Coward, playwright, director, actor, songwriter. 1973 - The first woman stockbroker began working at the London Stock Exchange. Trader Susan Shaw became the first woman to be allowed on the floor of the LSE in its 171-year history. 1974 - David Essex received a gold record for the hit Rock On. Though a million seller, Rock On never made it to No.1 on the pop-rock charts, stalling at number five in the US and No.3 in the UK. It was on the charts for a total of 14 weeks in the US and 11 weks in the UK. Essex, whose real name is David Cook portrayed the role of Christ in the London production of Godspell and has starred in several British films in 1970. 1975 - Tommy, the film based on the rock opera by the group, The Who, premiered in London. 1976 - Died this day, Duster Bennett, one man blues band, killed in a car accident. 1970 album Smiling Like I'm Happy. Worked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac and B.B. King. 1976 - Keith Richards girlfriend Anita Pallenberg gave birth to a baby boy, Tara, (he died ten weeks later from pneumonia). 1977 - Hall and Oates started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Rich Girl, the duo's first US No.1, it was not a hit in the UK. 1977 - Born this day, Kevin Davies, footballer, Southampton striker. 1979 - Michigan State and Indiana State met in the all-time highest rated basketball telecast. The NBC coverage earned a 24.1 rating. Indiana State's unprecedented 33 consecutive-win streak came to a crushing end as the Spartans of Michigan State won 76-34. A pair of future NBA Hall of Famers played against each other that night: Larry Bird, later of the Boston Celtics, scored 19 points while Magic Johnson, even later, of the Los Angeles Lakers, scored 24 points. 1979 - On this date in 1979, in a ceremony at the White House, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed a historic peace agreement, ending three decades of hostilities between Egypt and Israel and establishing diplomatic and commercial ties. Less than two years earlier, in an unprecedented move for an Arab leader, Sadat traveled to Jerusalem, Israel, to seek a permanent peace settlement with Egypt's Jewish neighbour after decades of conflict. Sadat's visit, in which he met with Begin and spoke before Israel's parliament, was met with outrage in most of the Arab world. Despite criticism from Egypt's regional allies, Sadat continued to pursue peace with Begin, and in September 1978 the two leaders met again in the United States, where they negotiated an agreement with US President Jimmy Carter at Camp David, Maryland. The Camp David Accords, the first peace agreement between the state of Israel and one of its Arab neighbours, laid the groundwork for diplomatic and commercial relations. Seven months later, a formal peace treaty was signed. For their achievement, Sadat and Begin were jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize for Peace. Sadat's peace efforts were not so highly acclaimed in the Arab world, Egypt was suspended from the Arab League, and on 6 October 1981, Muslim extremists assassinated Sadat in Cairo. Nevertheless, the peace process continued without Sadat, and in 1982 Egypt formally established diplomatic relations with Israel. 1980 - The Police became the first Western pop group to play in Bombay, India for over ten years when they played a one off gig in the city. 1981 - Comedienne Carol Burnett won a $1.6 million libel suit against The National Enquirer. The Florida-based gossip publication had written an article depicting Burnett as intoxicated during an altercation with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger while in a Washington restaurant. Burnett donated the money to charities. 1981 - The so-called Gang of Four launched the Social Democratic Party. 1982 - Appearing at Nite Moves, in Glasgow, Scotland, were Blancmange. 1983 - Duran Duran had their first UK No.1 with their eighth single release Is There Something I Should Know. The group were on a US promotional trip where they were greeted by 5,000 screaming fans at an instore appearance in New York. 1983 - Tears For Fears scored their first UK No.1 album with The Hurting. 1985 - Radio stations in South Africa banned all of Stevie Wonder's records after he dedicated the Oscar he had won the night before at The Academy Awards to Nelson Mandela. 1987 - The National Federation of High School Associations adopted the college distance, three-point shot, with a perimeter of 21 feet from the centre of the backboard. 1988 - Aswad were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with Don't Turn Around. 1988 - Michael Jackson started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Man In The Mirror, it was a No.21 hit in the UK. 1988 - Morrissey went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo LP Viva Hate. 1989 - The first free elections were held in the USSR. 1989 - New Order and Happy Mondays were appearing at the Birmingham NEC, tickets were £9. 1990 - Died this day, Halston, a leading designer of women's clothes in the 70s, at the age of 57. 1992 - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was jailed for 10 years for rape. (Another source says 6 years). 1994 - Soundgarden entered the US album chart at No.1 with Superunknown. 1995 - Died this day, Eazy-E, rapper, of AIDS in Los Angeles aged 31. 1996 - The International Monetary Fund approved a $10.2 billion loan for Russia to help the country further transform its economy. 1997 - The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult were found dead in a house in California. Apparently they committed suicide when the comet Hale-Bopp appeared in our skies. 1998 - Leonardo DiCaprio, aged 23, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against Playgirl magazine. (Why?) 2000 - Phil Collins won an Oscar at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song with You'll Be In My Heart from the Disney animated feature Tarzan. 2000 - Union chiefs at Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant urged 10,000 workers to co-operate with a sabotage probe. 2000 - Melanie C scored her first solo UK No.1 single with Never Be The Same The Again. She replaced ex Spice Girl Geri Halliwell from the top of the charts. 2000 - Santana started a two week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Supernatural. 2001 - The toy figure of Eminem was facing a ban from UK shops. Woolworth's and Hamleys were refusing to stock the dolls. Psychologists warned parents who buy the dolls for children will be inadvertently giving their approval to bad language. 2002 - Duwayne Brooks, survivor of the racist attack that killed Stephen Lawrence in south London, won the right to sue police for alleged mistreatment. 2003 - Kelly Rowland postponed her European tour because of the war in Iraq. The dates were due to start in the UK on 13 April. 2003 - America admitted its warplanes were probably responsible for hitting a Baghdad market, killing a reported 14 Iraqi civilians and injuring 30 others. |
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.