March 21

March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). There are 285 days remaining.

Events

• 1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake for treason.
• 1788 - A fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans leaving most of the town in ruins.
• 1800 - Pius VII becomes Pope
• 1804 - Code Napoleon adopted as French civil law
• 1918 - World War I: Second Battle of the Somme[?] begins
• 1928 - Charles Lindbergh is presented the Congressional Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
• 1935 - Persia is renamed Iran
• 1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay[?], Burma
• 1952 - Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball[?], the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1960 - Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville[?], South Africa: Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180
• 1963 - Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes.
• 1965 - Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9[?] which is the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.
• 1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow protesting the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
• 1980 - On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas[?], the infamous character J.R. Ewing[?] is shot by an unseen assailant leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
• 1989 - Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie Pete Rose to baseball gambling.
• 1990 - After 75 years of South African rule Namibia becomes independent.
• 1999 - Bertrand Piccard[?] and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
• 2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh[?] along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Births

• 1685 - Johann Sebastian Bach, composer (+ 1750)
• 1763 - Jean Paul[?], poet and publicist (+ 1825)
• 1768 - Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier, French mathematician (+ 1830)
• 1806 - Benito Juarez, Mexican statesman and folk hero (+ 1872)
• 1839 - Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Russian composer (+ 1881)
• 1869 - Florenz Ziegfeld[?], theatrical producer (+ 1932)
• 1882 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson[?], actor (+ 1971)
• 1901 - Karl Arnold[?], politician (+ 1958)
• 1902 - Son House, blues musician (+ 1988)
• 1922 - Russ Meyer, pornographic film director, producer
• 1927 - Hans-Dietrich Genscher, politician
• 1958 - Gary Oldman, actor
• 1960 - Ayrton Senna, automobile racer (+ 1994)
• 1962 - Rosie O'Donnell, comedian, actress, talk show host, publisher
• 1962 - Matthew Broderick, actor

Deaths

• 1556 - Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1795 - Giovanni Arduino, geologist
• 1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, science fiction writer
• 1984 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor
• 1987 - Robert Preston[?], actor
• 2001 - Norma Macmillan, cartoon voice actress

Holidays and observances

• South Africa: Human Rights Day[?]
• Traditional date of vernal equinox, used for reckoning Easter. The real equinox usually occurs one day earlier.
• The third day of Quinquatria[?] in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
• Bahá'í Faith[?]: Naw Rúz - Bahá'í New Years
• Bahá'í Faith - Bahá (Splendor) - First day of the first month of the Bahá'í Calendar
• Bahá'í Faith - End of the fast (end of the 19 day sunrise to sunset fast
• World Day Of Sleep[?]- by World Health Organization

See Also:

March 20 - March 22 - February 21 - April 21 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December