This Day in USA History
March 21

What happened in history on this day: March 21? On March 21 in ... 1864 - Battle at Henderson's Hill (Bayou Rapids), Louisiana. 1865 - Battle of Bentonville ends, last Confederate effort to stop Sherman. 1907 - US invades Honduras. 1913 - Flood in Ohio, USA, kills 400. 1924 - First foreign language course broadcast on US radio (WJZ, New York City, New York). 1924 - Mass Investors Trust becomes first mutual fund set up in US. 1928 - Charles Lindbergh is presented the US Congressional Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight. 1937 - Ponce massacre, police kill 19 at Puerto Rican Nationalist parade. 1946 - United Nations sets up temporary headquarters at Hunter College (Bronx). 1947 - US President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to swear allegiance to the United States. 1952 - Alan Freed presents Moondog Coronation Ball at old Cleveland Arena, 25,000 attend first rock and roll concert ever. 1952 - Tornadoes in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama and Kentucky cause 343 deaths. 1956 - 28th Academy Awards: Marty, Ernest Borgnine and Anna Magnani win. 1958 - First presentation of West Point's Sylvanus Thayer Award. 1963 - Alcatraz federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, California closed. 1964 - The US Treasury announces it is now redeeming silver certificates for silver dollars at a rate of 1 million coins per day, and will exhaust its supply in two weeks. 1965 - Martin Luther King Jr begins march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. 1965 - US Ranger 9 launched, last American unmanned lunar space probe; will take 5,814 pictures before lunar impact. 1966 - US Supreme Court reverses Massachusetts' ruling that film Fanny Hill is obscene. 1969 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. 1972 - US Supreme Court rules states can't require one-year residency to vote. 1980 - Mafioso Angelo Bruno is assassinated in Atlantic City. 1980 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. 1983 - Only known typo on Time Magazine cover ("contol" instead of "control"), all recalled. 1984 - Soviet submarine crashes into USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier off Japan. 1984 - Part of Central Park is named Strawberry Fields honoring John Lennon. 1988 - 23rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Randy Travis and Hank Williams Jr. 1989 - First sea test of Trident 2 missile self-destructs, Cape Canaveral. 1991 - 27 lost at sea when two US Navy anti-submarine planes collide. 1994 - 66th Academy Awards. Film director Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List wins seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Best Actor: Tom Hanks. Best Actress: Holly Hunter. 1994 - Novell announces it is acquiring WordPerfect Corporation for US$1.4 billion, and will acquire Quattro Pro from Borland International for US$145 million. 2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules the government lacks authority to regulate tobacco as an addictive drug, throwing out the Clinton administration's main anti-smoking initiative. 2005 - Ten are killed in the Red Lake High School massacre in Minnesota, the worst school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre. Births on March 21 1901 - Birth of Carmelita Geraghty in Rushville, Indiana, USA; actress (My Best Girl, Texas Ranger). 1910 - Birth of Nick Castle in Brooklyn, New York, USA; choreographer (Dinah Shore, Judy Garland). 1913 - Birth of Max Youngstein in New York City, New York, USA; film producer (United Artists). 1919 - Birth of Lois Collier in Salley, South Carolina, USA; actress (Mary - Boston Blackie, Slave Girl). 1921 - Birth of Logan Ramsey in Long Beach, California, USA; actor (Head, Joy Sticks, Say Yes). 1923 - Birth of Mort Lindsey in Newark, New Jersey, USA; orchestra leader (The Merv Griffin Show). 1923 - Birth of Philip Abbott in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; actor (Arthur Ward - The FBI). 1926 - Birth of Virginia Weidler in Hollywood, California, USA; actress (Babes on Broadway). 1928 - Birth of James W Kinnear in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; CEO (Texaco). 1929 - Birth of James Coco in Bronx, New York, USA; actor (Man of La Mancha, Murder by Death). 1932 - Birth of Joseph Silverstein in Detroit, Michigan, USA; violinist (Denver Symphony Orchestra). 1934 - Birth of Al Freeman Jr in San Antonio, Texas, USA; actor (One Life to Live, My Sweet Charlie). 1934 - Birth of Lister Carney in Bellaire, Ohio, USA; 200 metre runner (Olympics-silver-1960). 1937 - Birth of Tom Flores in Fresno, California, USA; NFL quarterback/coach (Oakland Raiders). 1939 - Birth of Martha Hudson in Eastman, Georgia, USA; 4X100 metre relayer (Olympics-gold-1960). 1944 - Birth of Charles Edward Greene in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, USA; 4x100 metre runner (Olympics-gold-1968). 1945 - Birth of Rose[mary] Stone in Dallas, Texas, USA; vocalist/pianist (Sly and the Family Stone - "Everyday People"). 1948 - Birth of Nancy Addison Altman in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Jillian Coleridge Ryan - Ryan's Hope). 1949 - Birth of Eddie Money [Mahoney] in Brooklyn, New York, USA; singer/guitarist ("Take Me Home Tonight", "Two Tickets to Paradise"). 1953 - Birth of Carl Wolfson in Washington DC, USA; comedian (Thicke of the Night). 1953 - Birth of Robert "Shotgun" Johnson in Miami, Florida, USA; rock drummer (KC and the Sunshine Band - "Give it Up"). 1954 - Birth of Mary Jane Smith in Van Nuys, California, USA; WPVA volleyball player (National-9th-1993). 1955 - Birth of Jean Marie Hon in San Francisco, California, USA; actress (Jane - Man From Atlantis). 1957 - Birth of Sabrina Le Beauf in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; actress (Sondra - Crosby Show). 1958 - Birth of Brad Hall in Santa Barbara, California, USA; comedian (Saturday Night Live). 1961 - Birth of Kassie DePaiva [Wesley] in Morganfield, Kentucky, USA; actress (Chelsea - Guiding Light, Evil Dead 2, Blair - One Life to Live). 1962 - Birth of Matthew Broderick in New York City, New York; actor (Inspector Gadget, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, WarGames, Biloxi Blues). 1963 - Birth of Sharon June Howe Pederson in Glencoe, Minnesota, USA; rocker (Vixen - "Rev It Up"). 1963 - Birth of Shawon Dunston in Brooklyn, New York, USA; infielder (San Francisco Giants). 1966 - Birth of Al Iafrate in Dearborn, Michigan, USA; NHL defenseman (San Jose Sharks). 1967 - Birth of Elaina Oden in Orange, California, USA; volleyball middle blocker (Olympics-bronze-1992, 1996). 1968 - Birth of Jeff Lazaro in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA; American hockey forward (Olympics-1994). 1972 - Birth of Chris Ball in Costa Mesa, California, USA; kayak (alternate-Olympics-1996). 1972 - Birth of Michele Michael; Miss Maryland-USA (1996). 1992 - Birth of Bobby Preston, American actor. Deaths on March 21 1921 - "Big Jim" Colisimo, US gangster, is murdered by Al Capone. 1958 - Cyril M Kornbluth, American sci-fi writer (Space Merchants), dies at age 34. 1980 - Death of Peter Stoner, American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist (born 1888). 1987 - Robert Preston, American actor (Harold Hill - Music Man), dies from lung cancer in Montecito, California at age 68 (born 1918). 1992 - Death of Natalie Sleeth, American composer (born 1930). 1994 - Dack Rambo, actor (Jack Ewing - Dallas), dies from AIDS at age 52. 1994 - Macdonald Carey, American actor (Days of Our Lives), dies of cancer at 81 (born 1913).         Your Ad Here You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history. Bookmark this URL:   http://thisdayinhistoryinfo.info/usa/   and revisit each day. (this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events) Or, visit my Timelines of History page. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of the United States of America Today in Disney History Today in Sports History Chronology of World War II Chronology of Personal Computers