Welcome to Today In History for Wednesday, March 5, 2008.

Historical Events

Welcome to Today In History for Wednesday, March 5, 2008.

1179 – 3rd Lateran Council (11th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1461 – Henry VI was deposed by Duke of York during War of the Roses
1496 – English king Henry VII hires John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) to explore
1528 – Utrecht governor Maarten van Rossum plunders The Hague
1558 – Smoking tobacco introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes
1579 – Betuwe joins Union of Utrecht
1616 – Copernicus’ “de Revolutionibus” placed on Catholic Forbidden index
1623 – 1st American temperance law enacted, Virginia
1651 – South Sea dike in Amsterdam breaks after storm
1684 – Emperor Leopold I, Poland and Venice sign Heilig Covenant of Linz
1743 – 1st US religious journal, The Christian History, published, Boston
1746 – Jakobijnse troops leave Aberdeen
1750 – 1st American Shakespearean production-”altered” Richard III, NYC
1760 – Princess Carolina marries Gen Charles Christian van Nassau-Weilburg
1766 – Don Antonio de Ulloa takes possession of Louisiana Terr from French
1770 – Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a US Senator (Mississippi)
1770 – Boston Massacre, British troops kill 5 in crowd. Crispus Attackus becomes 1st black to die for American freedom
1783 – King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski grants rights to Jews of Kovno
1795 – Treaty of Basel-Prussia ends war with France
1795 – Amsterdam celebrates Revolution on the Dam; Square of Revolution
1807 – 1st performance of Ludwig von Beethoven’s 4th Symphony in B
1820 – Dutch city of Leeuwarden forbids Jews to go to synagogues on Sundays
1821 – Monroe is 1st pres inaugurated on March 5th, because 4th was Sun
1836 – Mexico attacks Alamo
1836 – Samuel Colt manufactures 1st pistol, 34-caliber “Texas” model
1845 – Congress appropriates $30,000 to ship camels to western US
1849 – Zachary Taylor sworn in as 12th president
1856 – Georgia becomes 1st state to regulate railroads
1856 – Covent Garden Opera House destroyed in a fire
1862 – Union troops under brig-gen Wright occupy Fernandina Florida
1864 – 1st track meet between Oxford and Cambridge
1868 – US Senate organizes to decide charges against Pres Andrew Johnson
1868 – Stapler patented in England by C H Gould
1868 – Arrigo Boito’s opera “Mefistofele,” premieres in Milan
1872 – George Westinghouse Jr patents triple air brake for trains
1877 – Rutherford B Hayes inaugurated as 19th US president
1894 – Seattle authorizes 1st municipal employment office in US
1896 – Italians governor of Eritrea, Gen Baldissera, reaches Massawa
1896 – Italian premier Crispi resigns
1897 – American Negro Academy forms
1899 – 1st performance of Edward MacDowell’s 2nd Concerto in D
1900 – American Hall of Fame found
1903 – Definitive treaty for construction of Baghdad railway drawn
1907 – 1st radio broadcast of a musical composition aired
1908 – 1st ascent of Mt Erebus, Antarctica
1910 – Ramon Inclan’s “La Farsa Infantil de la Cabeza del Dragon,” premieres
1910 – Stanley Cup: Montreal Wanderers beat Ottawa Senators, 3-1
1912 – Spanish steamer “Principe de Asturias” sinks NE of Spain, 500 die
1917 – 1st jazz recording for Victor Records released
1919 – Louis Hirsch and Harold Atteridge’s musical premieres in NYC
1922 – “Nosferatu” premieres in Berlin
1923 – 1st old age pension plans in US established by Montana and Nevada
1923 – Montana and Nevada become 1st states to enact old age pension laws
1924 – Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corp becomes IBM
1924 – Frank Carauna, becomes 1st to bowl 2 successive perfect 300 games
1924 – King Hussein of Hedzjaz appoints himself kalief
1927 – 1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property
1928 – Karl Zuckmayer’s “Der Hauptmann von K”penick,” premieres in Berlin
1931 – Gandhi and British viceroy Lord Irwin sign pact
1933 – FDR proclaims 10-day bank holiday
1933 – Germany’s Nazi Party wins majority in parliament (43.9%-17.2M votes)
1934 – Mother-in-law’s day 1st celebrated (Amarillo, Tx)
1935 – 1st premature baby health law in US (Chicago)
1936 – Spitfire makes it’s 1st flight (Eastleigh Aerodrome in Southampton)
1942 – Bosnia Tito establishes 3rd Proletarit Brigade in Bosnia
1942 – Dmitri Shostakovitch’ 7th Symphony, premieres in Siberia
1942 – Japanese troop march into Batavia
1943 – RAF bombs Essen Germany
1943 – Anti fascist strikes in Italy
1944 – 1st performance of Walter Piston’s 2nd Symphony
1945 – Allies bombs The Hague, Netherlands
1945 – Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Patch meet in Luneville
1945 – US 7th Army Corps captures Cologne
1945 – US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Gretchen Merrill
1946 – Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech (Fulton Missouri)
1948 – Actor Eli Wallach marries actress Anne Jackson
1948 – US rocket flies record 4800 KPH to 126k height
1949 – Bradman plays his last innings in 1st-class cricket, gets 30
1952 – Terence Rattigan’s “Deep Blue Sea,” premieres in London
1954 – “Girl in Pink Tights” opens at Mark Hellinger NYC for 115 perfs
1955 – Elvis Presley’s 1st TV appearance on “Louisiana Hayride” show
1955 – WBBJ TV channel 7 in Jackson, TN (ABC) begins broadcasting
1956 – “King Kong,” 1st televised
1956 – Mickey Wright wins LPGA Jacksonville Golf Open
1957 – Eamon de Valera’s Fianna Fail-party wins election in Ireland
1957 – Sgt Bilko satirizes Elvis Presley (Elvis Pelvin)
1958 – KDUH TV channel 4 in Scottsbluff-Hay Spring, NB (ABC) 1st broadcast
1958 – Explorer 2 fails to reach Earth orbit
1959 – Iran and US sign economic and military treaty
1960 – Worlds Ladies Fig Skating Champions in Vanc won by Carol E Heiss (USA)
1960 – Men’s Fig Skating Championship in Vancouver won by Alain Giletti (FRA)
1960 – Ice Pairs Championship at Vancouver won by Wagner and Paul (CAN)
1960 – Ice Dance Championship at Vancouver won by Denny and Jones (GRB)
1960 – Elvis Presley ends 2-year hitch in US Army
1962 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 – Beatles record “From Me to You” and “Thank You Girl”
1964 – Emergency crisis proclaimed in Ceylon due to social unrest
1964 – Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr, announces a baseball team is moving there
1965 – 1st performance of Walter Piston’s 8th Symphony
1965 – Ernie Terrel beats Eddie Machen in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1966 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1966 – Player reps elect Marvin Miller, as exec dir of Players’ Assn
1966 – Bob Seagren pole vaults 5.19m indoor world record
1966 – 75 MPH air currents causes BOAC 707 crash into Mount Fuji, 124 die
1967 – WEDN TV channel 53 in Norwich, CT (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 – US launches Solar Explorer 2 to study the Sun
1969 – Joe Orton’s “What the Butler Saw,” premieres in London
1969 – Gustav Heinemann elected president of West-Germany
1969 – Gold reaches then record high ($47 per ounce) in Paris
1970 – Edison Theater opens at 240 W 47th St NYC
1970 – Nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect
1970 – SDS Weathermen terrorist group bomb 18 West 11th St in NYC
1972 – Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis leaves communist party
1973 – Yankee pitchers Peterson and Kekich announce they swapped wives
1974 – “Candide” opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 740 performances
1974 – Ralph Stewart failed in 2nd Islander penalty shot
1976 – British œ falls below $2 for 1st time
1978 – “Hello, Dolly!” opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 152 perfs
1978 – Landsat 3 launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif
1979 – Voyager I’s closest approach to Jupiter (172,000 miles)
1980 – Earth satellites record gamma rays from remnants of supernova N-49
1981 – US govt grants Atlanta $1 million to search for black boy murderer
1981 – Men’s Figure Skating Champions in Hartford won by Scott Hamilton (USA)
1981 – Ice Pairs Champ at Hartford won by Irina Vorobieva and I Lisovski (URS)
1981 – Ice Dance Championship at Hartford won by Jayne Torvill and C Dean (GRB)
1981 – “Bring Back Birdie” opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 4 perfs
1982 – Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus sends back data
1982 – Gaylord Perry (with 297 wins) signs with Seattle Mariners
1983 – Bob Hawke (Labour) defeats Australian PM Malcolm Fraser (Cons)
1983 – NSW beat Western Australia by 54 runs to win Sheffield Shield
1984 – Supreme Court (5-4): city may use public money for Nativity scene
1984 – US accuse Iraq of using poison gas
1985 – NY Islander Mike Bossy is 1st to score 50 goals in 8 straight seasons
1986 – “Today” tabloid launched (Britain’s 1st national color newspaper)
1989 – Elly Verhulst runs world record 3000 m indoor (8:33.82)
1989 – Blains McCallister wins Honda Golf Classic shooting 266
1989 – 19th Easter Seal Telethon raises $37,002,000
1991 – Iraq repealed its annexation of Kuwait
1991 – Reggie Miller (Indiana) begins NBA free throw streak of 52 games
1992 – Ethic committee votes to reveal congressmen who bounced checks
1993 – Marlins beat Astros 12-8 in their 1st spring training game
1993 – Former Wash DC Mayor Marion Barry divorces his wife Effi
1993 – Fokker 100 crashes at Skopje Macedonia, 81 die
1993 – Boston Celtic Larry Bird undergoes backfusion surgery
1994 – Singer Grace Slick arrested for pointing a gun at a cop
1994 – PBA National Championship won by David Traber
1994 – Largest milkshake (1,955 gallons of chocolate-Nelspruit S Africa)
1994 – Dottie Mochrie wins Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Golf Championship
1995 – 21st People’s Choice Awards: Tim Allen wins
1995 – Estonia Centrumlinkse Coalition party wins parliamentary election
1995 – Graves of czar Nicholas and family found in St Petersburg
1995 – Marc Velzeboer skates world record 3 km short track (5:00.26)
1996 – Earl Weaver and Jim Bunning, elected to Hall of Fame
1997 – Tommy Lasorda, Nellie Fox and Willie Wells for Hall of Fame
1998 – Mariah Carey divorces Tommy Lee Jone