This Day in USA History
March 22

What happened in history on this day: March 22? On March 22 in ... 1865 - Raid at Wilson's: Chickaswas, Alabama, to Macon, Georgia. 1903 - Niagara Falls runs out of water because of a drought. 1929 - US Coast Guard vessel sinks Canadian schooner suspected of carrying liquor. 1933 - President Franklin Roosevelt makes wine and beer with up to 3.2 percent alcohol legal. 1935 - Blood tests are authorized as evidence in court cases (New York). 1941 - Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State goes into operation. 1944 - 600+ US 8th Air Force bombers attack Berlin, Germany. 1945 - US third Army crosses Rhine at Nierstein. 1946 - First US rocket to leave the Earth's atmosphere (50 miles up). 1954 - First shopping mall opened in Southfield, Michigan, USA. 1957 - Earthquake gives San Francisco, California the shakes. 1965 - US confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong. 1967 - Howard Hughes buys the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada, for US$13.2 million. 1972 - US Congress approves Equal Rights Amendment (never ratified). 1975 - Walt Disney World Shopping Village opens. 1978 - Karl Wallenda, famed aerialist, dies at age 73 while attempting to walk a wire suspended 123 feet in the air between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1982 - Third Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 3 launched. 1984 - Teachers at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with Satanic ritual abuse of the schoolchildren. 1985 - NASA launches Intelsat VA. 1988 - US Congress overrides Reagan's veto of sweeping civil rights bill. 1989 - US Supreme Court upholds one person one vote rule of New York City, New York Board of Estimate. 1990 - Anchorage Alaska jury finds Captain Hazelwood innocent of Valdez oil spill. 1991 - Law enforcement officers raid fraternities at University of Virginia seizing drugs. 1991 - New York Daily News begins using motto "Forward with New York". 1991 - Pamela Smart (high school teacher) found guilty in New Hampshire of manipulating her student-lover to kill her husband. 1992 - US Air New York to Cleveland crashes on take off at La Guardia, 27 die. 1996 - Cheryl Depew, of Florida, crowned 13th Miss Hawaiian Tropic International. 1996 - Capcom releases the Resident Evil game for the PlayStation in the US. The game innovates by creating the survival-horror genre. 1996 - STS 76 (Atlantis 16), launches into orbit. 1999 - U.S. pro-euthanasia doctor Jack Kevorkian goes on trial for murder in Pontiac, Michigan. 2003 - The United States and the United Kingdom begin their "shock and awe" campaign, with a massive air strike on military targets in Baghdad, Iraq. Births on March 22 1908 - Birth of Louis D L'Amour in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA; author (Hondo, Jubal Sackett). 1908 - Birth of Maurice H Stans in Shakope, Minnesota, USA; US Secretary of Commerce (1969-72). 1913 - Birth of James Westerfield in Nashville, Tennessee, USA; actor (Jungle Heat, Lucky Johnny). 1913 - Birth of Karl Malden in Chicago, Illinois, USA; actor (Mike - The Streets of San Francisco, American Express commercials). 1916 - Birth of George Wyle in New York City, New York, USA; orchestra leader (The Jerry Lewis Show, The Flip Wilson Show). 1917 - Birth of Virginia Grey in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (Another Thin Man, Idiot's Delight, Idaho). 1924 - Birth of Bill Wendell in New York City, New York, USA; TV announcer (Late Night With David Letterman). 1930 - Birth of Stephen Sondheim in New York City, New York, USA; lyricist/composer (Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods, West Side Story, A Little Night Music). 1931 - Birth of Burton Richter; American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate. 1935 - Birth of M[ichael] Emmet Walsh in Ogdensburg, New York, USA; actor (Wildcats, War Party). 1943 - Birth of George Benson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; singer/guitarist ("Greatest Love of All"). 1951 - Birth of Howard Reitzes in Southgate, California, USA; rocker (Iron Butterfly). 1952 - Birth of Bob Costas in Queens, New York, USA; sportscaster/talk show host (Later). 1953 - Birth of Thomas H Andrews; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Maine). 1959 - Birth of Matthew Modine in Loma Linda, California, USA; actor (Full Metal Jacket, Pacific Heights). 1963 - Birth of Rich Monteleone in Tampa, Florida, USA; pitcher (California Angels). 1966 - Birth of Sean Berry in Santa Monica, California, USA; infielder (Houston Astros). 1970 - Birth of Jason Rouser in Tucson, Arizona, USA; 200 metre/400 metre runner. 1970 - Birth of Travis Richards in Crystal, Minnesota, USA; US hockey defenseman (Olympics-1994). 1975 - Birth of Dax Griffin in Atlanta Georgia, USA; actor (Tim Truman - Sunset Beach). 1976 - Birth of Kellie Shanygne Williams in Washington DC; actress (Laura - Family Matters). 1979 - Birth of Mariah Leanne Bergmann; Miss Kansas Teen-USA (1997). 1981 - Birth of MIMS; American rapper. Deaths on March 22 1956 - George A L Sarton, Belgian/US historian, dies at age 71. 1975 - Asa Smith Bushnell Jr, Secretary of US Olympics (1945-65), dies at age 75. 1978 - Karl Wallenda, famed aerialist, dies at age 73 while attempting to walk a wire suspended 123 feet in the air between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1994 - Walter Lantz, American cartoonist (Woody Woodpecker), dies at age 93 (born 1899). 1999 - Death of David Strickland, American actor (suicide) (born 1969). 2001 - Death of William Hanna, American animation studio executive (born 1910). 2003 - Death of Milton G. Henschel, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and 5th President of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (born 1920).         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