ICONS
1904 Dr Seuss [Theodor Geisel] children's book author (Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who!) was born in Springfield, Mass. He wrote and illustrated 44 children's books. However, they are still enjoyed by many adults.
WAR!
1776 Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston.
1943 The World War II Battle of the Bismarck Sea began; U.S. and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on a Japanese convoy.
1966 215,000 US soldiers in Vietnam.
TERRORISM
1973 "Black September" terrorists occupy Saudi Embassy in Khartoum.
1981 Aircraft hijacked by 3 Pakistani terrorists.
1982 Terror group "The Illuminated Path" frees 260 prisoners in Peru.
1998 The U.N. Security Council unanimously endorsed Secretary-General Kofi Annan's deal to open Iraq's presidential palaces to arms inspectors.
2003 Iraq crushed another six Al Samoud II missiles, as ordered by U.N. weapons inspectors.
2007 The bodies of 14 kidnapped policemen were found northeast of Baghdad.
DISASTER
1910 2 trains crash in snow storm in Wellington WA, 118 die.
1933 Most powerful earthquake in 180 years hit Japan.
1938 Landslides & floods cause over 200 deaths (Los Angeles CA).
1944 Fumes from locomotive stalled in a tunnel suffocates 521 in Italy.
1989 Exxon Houston runs aground in Hawaii, spills 117,000 gallons of oil.
1995 Ferry boat sinks off Sumbe Angola, 42+ killed.
2007 A charter bus carrying a college baseball team from Bluffton University in Ohio plunged off an Atlanta highway ramp and slammed into the pavement below, killing seven people.
TYPICAL
1939 Massachusetts Legislature votes to ratify the Bill of Rights; 147 years late.
BELOVED
1950 Silly Putty invented.
SURE THEY DID
1977 The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a strict code of ethics.
TABLOIDS
2007 Anna Nicole Smith was buried in the Bahamas following a lavish memorial service.
NANNY STATE
1789 Pennsylvania ends prohibition of theatrical performances.
JEWS
1915 Vladmir Jabotinsky forms a Jewish military force to fight in Palestine.
ZEAL
1817 1st Evangelical church building dedicated, New Berlin PA.
POLITICS
1807 Congress bans slave trade effective January 1, 1808.
1836 The Republic of Texas formally declared its independence from Mexico.
1853 Territory of Washington organized after separating from Oregon Territory.
1861 US Congress creates Dakota & Nevada Territories out of the Nebraska & Utah territories.
1877 Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popular vote. Shades of Al Gore and the 2000 election.
1917 Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship as President Wilson signed the Jones-Shafroth Act.
POLICE STATE
1994 Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh promises to surrender if taped statement is broadcast; it is, but he doesn't.
PROGRESS
1866 1st US company to make sewing needles by machine incorporated, Connecticut.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1923 Time magazine debuts.
1977 Future Tonight Show host Jay Leno debuts with host Johnny Carson.
1978 1st broadcast of "Dallas" on CBS TV.
1983 Final episode of MASH; 125,000,000 viewers; most-viewed TV show ever.
DISNEY
1976 Walt Disney World logged its 50 millionth guest.
SPORTS
1962 Wilt Chamberlain scores incredible 100 points in an NBA game.
1991 Del Ballard Jr throws most famous gutter ball in PBA Tour history.
PARKS
1899 Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state was established.
IMMIGRATION
1819 US passed its 1st immigration law.
WOMEN
1903 Martha Washington Hotel, catering to women only, opens in New York NY.
MOVIES
1933 The motion picture "King Kong" had its world premiere in New York.
1965 The movie version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "The Sound of Music" had its world premiere at New York's Rivoli Theater.
OUTLAWS
1867 Jesse James-gang robs bank in Savannah MO, 1 dead.
EURO-WEENIES
1989 12 European nations agree to ban chlorofluorocarbon production by 2000.
ASSASSINATION
1973 Cleo Noel US ambassador to Sudan is assassinated.
1979 Sir Richard Sykes British ambassador is assassinated in Holland.
CRICKET
1898 Australia complete a 4-1 series annihilation of England.
SCANDAL
2007 Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned following a scandal over substandard conditions for wounded Iraq soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
EXPORERS
1958 A multinational expedition led by British geologist and explorer Vivian Fuchs completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica by way of the South Pole in 99 days.
BORN
1793 The first president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, was born near Lexington, Va.
1917 Desi Arnaz Santiago Cuba, singer/actor (Ricky Ricardo-I Love Lucy).
BIRTHDAYS
Actress Jennifer Jones is 89. Bluegrass singer-musician Doc Watson is 85. Actor John Cullum is 78. Author Tom Wolfe is 78. Former Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is 77. Actress Barbara Luna is 69. Actor Jon Finch is 67. Author John Irving is 66. Singer Lou Reed is 66. Actress Cassie Yates is 57. Actress Laraine Newman is 56. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., is 55. Singer Jay Osmond is 53. Pop musician John Cowsill (The Cowsills) is 52. Tennis player Kevin Curren is 50. Country singer Larry Stewart (Restless Heart) is 49. Rock singer Jon Bon Jovi is 46. Blues singer-musician Alvin Youngblood Hart is 45. Actor Daniel Craig is 40. Rock musician Casey (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) is 32. Rock singer Chris Martin (Coldplay) is 31. Actress Heather McComb is 31. Actress Bryce Dallas Howard is 27. Actor Robert Iler ("The Sopranos") is 23.
DEATH
1991 James "Cool Papa" Bell Negro baseball league great, dies at 87.
March 2, the 62nd day of 2008. There are 304 days left in the year.
images:
* pcart
* Red Planet
* modernmechanix
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
