March 26th is

Nougat Day

Spinach Day

Legal Assistants Day

Live Long and Prosper Day *

Epilepsy Awareness Purple Day

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MORE! Mary Beale, Mahadevi Verma and Nancy Pelosi, click

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WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Eastern Christianity – Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel

Bangladesh – Independence Day

Mali – Martyr’s/Democracy Day

United States – Hawaii:
Prince Kūhiō Day

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On This Day in HISTORY

908 – Emperor Zhu Wen, who had coerced Li Zhu, last emperor of the Tang dynasty, into abdicating in Zhu Wen’s favor in 907, has the 15-year-old former emperor poisoned

1031 – Malcolm III born, King of Alba (Scots), called ‘Canmore’ (great chief), who will reign from 1058 to 1093; the character of the same name in Shakespeare’s Macbeth is based on him

Malcolm III with Margaret, his second wife

1169 – Saladin became the vizier of Egypt, and repented “wine-drinking and turned from frivolity to assume the dress of religion” according to Arab sources of the day

Saladin (before A.D. 1185)/Saladin’s elite garrison at Siege of Acre

1344 – The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder is used

1351 – Combat of the Thirty: 30 Breton knights challenge and defeat 30 English knights

1484 – William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop’s Fables

“The Fox and the Grapes” story in William Caxton’s version of Aesop’s Fables

1516 – Conrad Gessner born, Swiss naturalist; five-volume  Historia animalium marks the beginning of modern zoology

1633 – Mary Beale born, English Baroque portrait painter, one of the first women to earn a living as an artist, who was the breadwinner for her family; the daughter of a church rector, many of her subjects were clergymen, including John Tillotson, who went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury; her book Observations, though never published, is one of the first instructional books written by a woman

Self Portrait by Mary Beale circa 1666

1636 – Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands

1682 – The Natchez tribe makes first contact with Europeans when Henri de Tonti of the La Salle expedition encounters them at the Mississippi River – further contact with the French and English claiming their territory will not go well for the Natchez

1698 – Prokop Diviš born, Czech theologian and natural scientist; while trying to create a device to prevent thunderstorms, he accidentally invented one of the first grounded lightning rods

1753 – Benjamin Thompson born, American inventor; a percolator, pressure cooker and kitchen stove

1773 –  Nathaniel Bowditch born, American mathematician and navigator; founder of modern maritime navigation;  his book The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel, and also on thousands of private vessels

The New American Practical Navigator by Nathaniel Bowditch

1824 – Julie-Victoire Daubié born, French feminist, author, scholar and journalist; the first woman to graduate from a French university. In 1844, she earned a teacher’s certificate of ability, and studied zoology at the Museum of Natural History in Paris with the naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. Despite her exceptional education for a girl from a poor family, and no French laws explicitly barring women from attending university, her applications for admittance were rejected by numerous French universities. She continued studying while working as a governess. In 1859, the Imperial Academy of Science and Fine Letters of Lyon held an essay competition. Daubié wrote a nearly-300-page work, “The Poor Woman in the 19th Century. Female Conditions and Resources,” detailing professional and academic exclusion for women, wage inequality, and other travails. The essay took first prize, and the academy gave her admittance. In 1861, she was the first woman to present herself at the baccalaureate exams, and became the first female baccalaureate in France. She was 37 years old. After graduation, she continued to write about the conditions faced by women, and set up an embroidery shop, which was run by her niece. In 1871, at Lyon she became the first woman literature graduate. She died at age 50 of tuberculosis

1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra NY

1839 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held, annual rowing event on the Thames River

1859 – A.E. Houseman born, English poet

1871 – Elections held of Commune council of the Paris Commune

1873 – Dorothea Bleek born in South Africa, German anthropologist, philogist and author; studied the Bush people; Mantis and His Hunter and Bushman Dictionary

Dorothea Bleek, wearing a hat and gloves, to lecture on the Bushmen

1874 – Robert Frost born, iconic American poet

1875 – Syngman Rhee born, Korean journalist/politician, South Korea’s 1st President

1876 – Kate Richards O’Hare born, American socialist, editor, orator and activist; arrested in 1919 and sentenced to 5 years in prison after giving an anti-war speech during WWI; she is pardoned in 1920

Kate Richards O’Hare: women pay price of war quote –
her photo in 1915 – WWI bombed field in the same year

1879 – Othmar Ammann born in Switzerland, American engineer; designed the George Washington Bridge and the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge

1881 – Guccio Gucci born, Italian fashion designer, founded Gucci

1885 – The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada

1888 – Elsa Brändström born, Swedish nurse, philanthropist and aid worker, known as the “Angel of Siberia” by German and Austrian prisoners of war in Russia during WWI

1885 – Eastman Dry Plate & Film Co. begins making commercial motion picture film

1898 – The Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR – South African Republic) issues a proclamation banning the hunting of game in the area between the Crocodile River in the south and the Sabie River in the north, and between the Lebombo Range in the east and the Drakensberg Range in the west, marking the area which became the Sabie Game Reserve, the second reserve in Africa. It was renamed Kruger National Park in 1926, and opened to the public for viewing animals and plants in 1927

1900 – Maria Autsch born, German Trinitarian Sister known as Angela Maria of the Heart of Jesus, called the ‘Angel of Auschwitz’; arrested by the Nazis for saying Hitler is a calamity for Europe; after anti-Hitler sentiments were discovered in her diary, she was sent to the women’s camp at Ravensbruck in 1940, then moved to Auschwitz, where she took care of inmates who were sick, often giving them a share of her rations; in 1943, she was moved to Birkenau where she worked in the infirmary until she was killed during an Allied bombing raid in 1944

1904 – Joseph Campbell born, American mythologist and author

1907 – Mahadevi Verma born, one of the four major Hindi poets of the Chhayavaad Neo-romantic movement in modern Hindi literature, author, illustrator, Indian freedom fighter and educator. She was the first head mistress of Allahabad (Prayag) Mahila Vidyapeeth in 1933, a private Hindi cultural and literary for girls, and was later its chancellor.  Several of her works are now included in the Hindu core syllabus

1911 – Tennessee Williams born, American playwright, and poet; known for The Glass Menagerie; A Streetcar Named Desire; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Sweet Bird of Youth; and The Night of the Iguana. The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was awarded to A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948 and to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1955

1913 – Jacqueline de Romilly born, French philologist, author, and scholar, of Jewish ancestry; prohibited from teaching during the occupation of France by the Vichy government, later became the first woman nominated to the Collège de France, and the second woman in the Académie française; known for work on culture and language of Ancient Greece

1925 – Pierre Boulez born, French pianist, composer, and conductor

1925 – Vesta Roy born, Republican politician; first woman to serve as President of the New Hampshire Senate (1982) and as Acting Governor of the state (December 1982, during Governor Hugh Gallen’s illness); served in the Royal Canadian Airforce during WWII, named as a Leading Air Woman; member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives (1972-1973) and as a NH state senator (1978-1986)

1926 – Toni Carabillo born, women’s issues activist, National Organization for Women (1968-87), co-authored the “Feminist Chronicles 1953-1993”

1930 – Sandra Day O’Connor born, American lawyer, Republican politician and judge; first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court (1981-2006); served as a Judge on the Arizona Court of Appeals (1979-1981) and on the Maricopa County Superior Court (1975-1979); first woman Majority Leader in the Arizona state Senate (serving as a senator for three different districts 1969-1975)

1930 – Gregory Corso born, American ‘Beat’ poet

1931 – Swissair is founded as the national airline of Switzerland

1931 – Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union is founded in Vietnam

1931 – Live Long and Prosper Day * – Leonard Nimoy born, American actor and director, best known for playing Spock on Star Trek. He made his first appearance as Spock in the 1964 television pilot, and gave his final performance of the character in the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness

1934 – The United Kingdom driving test is introduced

1939 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists begin final offensive of the war

1940 – Nancy Pelosi born, American Democratic politician, Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, first and to-date only woman to be Speaker of the House (2007-2011 and incumbent since January 2019); House Minority Leader (2003-2007 and 2011-2019); House Minority Whip (2002-2003); U.S. Representative from California since 1987

1941 – Lella Lombardi born, Italian Formula One driver, first woman to have a top six finish in a World Championship race, at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, and the second woman to qualify for a Formula One race. Died from cancer at age 50

1942 – First women prisoners arrive at Auschwitz in German-occupied Poland, from Ravensbruck in Germany and Pored in Slovakia

1942 – Erica Jong born, American author and poet; Fear of Flying

1944 – Diana Ross born, American singer, record producer and actress, founding member of The Supremes, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee

1949 – Vicki Lawrence born, American comedian, actress and singer; best known for the many characters she played on The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978).  After she was diagnosed with CIU (chronic idiopathic urticaria, a severe form of hives), she became the spokesperson for the “CUI & You” campaign of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

1950 – Alan Silvestri born, American composer and conductor; best known for his film and television scores, including the movies Romancing the Stone; Back to the Future; Who Framed Roger Rabbit; Cast Away; Forrest Gump; and The Mummy Returns. He composed the music for the TV series Tales from the Crypt, and the science documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

1954 – Dorothy Porter born, Australian poet; her noir verse novel, The Monkey’s Mask, was a surprise hit and revitalized Australian poetry publishing

1957 – Shirin Neshat born, Iranian visual artist based in New York City; known primarily for work in film, video and photography

Rebellious Silence (1994) – by Shirin Neshat

1958 – The African Regroupment Party is launched at a meeting in Paris

1964 – The musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand, opens on Broadway

1966 – Lillian Greenwood born, British Labour politician; Chair of the Transport Select Committee since 2017; Member of Parliament for Nottingham South since 2010

1970 – South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu implements a land reform program to solve the problem of land tenancy

1971 – East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins

1974 – Gaura Devi leads a group of 27 women of Reni village of the Garhwal Himalayas, to prevent the cutting of trees; they resort to hugging the trees to protect them and give rise to the Chipko Movement in India

1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force

1979 – Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C.

1980 – Margaret Brennan born, American journalist; current moderator of the CBS program Face the Nation since 2018; CBS White House correspondent, covered Washington (2012-2018); anchor of InBusiness with Margaret Brennan (2009-2012) for Bloomberg Television; worked at CNBC as a producer and researcher for Louis Rukeyser’s Wall Street (2002-2009)

1981 – Social Democratic Party is founded as a party in the UK

1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, D.C.

1985 – Keira Knightly born, English stage and film actress; came to worldwide prominence in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, after making a breakthrough co-starring in the 2002 independent film Bend It Like Beckham. In 2008, she was the face of  an Amnesty International campaign to support human rights, marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She has also traveled to Ethiopia on behalf of Comic Relief, and to South Sudan on behalf of Oxfam. She has campaigned for women’ rights, against domestic violence, and was a signatory on Amnesty International’s letter to Prime Minister David Cameron as part of their campaign for women’s rights in Afghanistan. She was one of the celebrities in a video from the United Nations refugee agency to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis

1991 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur, the South Common Market

1992 – Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is sentenced to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant

1999 – Dr. Jack Kevorkian is convicted of second-degree murder for giving a lethal injection to an ailing man whose death is shown on 60 Minutes

2000 – Vladimir Putin is elected president of Russia

2005 – The BBC broadcasts “Rose” (starring Christopher Eccleston), the first returning episode of Doctor Who, after its cancellation in 1989; now the world’s longest running TV science-fiction series

2008 – Epilepsy Awareness Purple Day * is started by Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia, Canada, to encourage awareness of epilepsy and to contradict the myths about it – supporters wear purple today

2011 – More than 250,000 people take to London’s streets to protest Britain’s toughest spending cuts since WWII

2017 – Anti-corruption protests are held in 99 Russian cities; an independent poll shows 38% of those polled support the protests and 25% of those polled hold Vladimir Putin personally responsible for high-level corruption

2018 – Health officials in Rockland County, New York, declared a state of emergency, barring unvaccinated children from public spaces for 30 days following a measles outbreak. So far, 153 measles cases have been confirmed in the county, which is about 40 miles from New York City. Most of the measles patients are unvaccinated children. “We will not sit idly by while children in our community are at risk,” County Executive Ed Day said. “This is a public health crisis, and it’s time we sound the alarm.”

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