March 21

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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.
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
1940 - Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France
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.
2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.

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
1946 - Timothy Dalton, shakespherean actor, James Bond actor
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
1884 - Ezra Abbot, american bible scholar
1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth, science fiction writer
1984 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor
1987 - Robert Preston, actor
2001 - Norma Macmillan, cartoon voice actress
2003 - Wolfgang Kartte, politician

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
Bah&aacute'&iacute Faith - Bahá (Splendor) - First day of the first month of the Bahá'í Calendar
Bah&aacute'&iacute Faith - End of the fast (end of the 19 day sunrise to sunset fast
Ostara - Neopagan festival of Ostara
World Day Of Sleep- by World Health Organization