1493 – Columbus arrived in Portugal, aboard his ship Nina, from his voyage to what is now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean. Some believe his real name is Fernandes Zarco, born
in Madeira.
http://lege.net/blog.lege.net/financialoutrage.org.uk/r
eformation.org/portuguese-columbus.html
    1629 - England granted a royal charter to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
    1636 - The oldest extant house of the English-speaking colonies, the Adam Thoroughgood House, was built near Norfolk, VA. Its design typified that of the small southern colonial brick farmhouse of the seventeenth century.
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/virginia/norfolk/
thoroughgood/house.html
    1636 - The oldest surviving timber-frame house in North America, the Fairbanks House, was built at Dedham, Mass.  Jonathan Fairbanke (Fairbank, Fairbanks) came from England to Boston in 1633, and in 1636/37 acquired land and settled in Dedham, Massachusetts, where he built the house on his farm land. The house is likely the oldest dwelling house in New England and the oldest house continuously owned by the builder and his lineal descendants. Since the original purchase, the estate has never had a mortgage upon it.
http://www.fairbankshouse.org/
    1681 - England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn (37) for 48,000 square miles that later became Pennsylvania. Penn originally called the land “Sylvania,” meaning woods, but the King wants to honor William Penn’s father and changed the decree
to Pennsylvania. Penn’s father had bequeathed him a claim of £15,000 against the king. King Charles also granted a royal charter, deed and governorship of Pennsylvania to William Penn. Penn later laid out the city of Philadelphia as a gridiron about 2 miles long, east to west, and a mile wide.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PENN/pnhome.html
    1747 - American revolutionary hero Casmir Pulaski was born at Winjary, Mazovia, Poland, the son of a count.  He is also known as the father of the American cavalry. Pulaski’s Legion became the training ground for American cavalry officers including "Light Horse" Harry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee, and the model for Lee's and Armand's legions. Thirteen Polish officers served under Pulaski in the legion. The best assessment of Pulaski's legion came from a British officer who called them simply "the best damned cavalry the rebels ever had". Reportedly he did not speak English. He was a patriot and military leader in Poland's fight against Russia of 1770-71 and went into exile at the partition of Poland in 1772. He came to American in 1777 to join the Revolution, fighting with General Washington at Brandywine and also serving at Germantown and Valley Forge. Congress acknowledged Pulaski's leadership and bravery and decided to commission him as Brigadier General and gave him command of four light Cavalry regiments. He organized the Pulaski Legion to wage guerrilla warfare against the British. In 1779, Pulaski and his legion were sent south to the besieged city of Charleston where he immediately raised morale and assisted in breaking the siege. A joint operation with the French was planned to recapture the city of Savannah. Against Pulaski's advice, the French commander ordered an assault against the strongest point of the British defense.  Seeing the allied troops falter, Pulaski galloped forward to rally the men, when he was mortally wounded by British cannon shot. He died two days later aboard the warship Wasp on Oct 11, 1779, and was buried at sea. Pulaski was the romantic embodiment of the flashing saber and the trumpets calling to the charge, and that is how history has remembered him. The larger-than-life aspect of his death has often obscured his steadier, quieter, and more lasting services. It was in the drudgery of forging a disciplined American cavalry that could shadow and report on British movements, in the long distance forage raids to feed and clothe the troops at Valley Forge, and the bitter hit and run rearguard actions that covered retreating American armies that slowed British pursuit, that gave Pulaski the title of "Father of the American Cavalry".  Pulaski Day is celebrated on the first Monday of March in Illinois.
http://webinstituteforteachers.org/2001/teams/holidays/pulpage.html
http://www.chipublib.org/003cpl/pulaski.html
http://www.iyp.org/polish/history/pulaski.html
http://webinstituteforteachers.org/2001/teams/holidays/pulpage.html
    1776 - Considered the US Marines’ first military engagement: Captain Samuel Nicholas and approximately 200 marines captured Fort Nassau in the Bahamas. Nicholas was assisted by 50 sailors under Lieutenant Thomas Weaver of the Cabot. This area was a major trading area and seaway to the Americas and a vital first battle, sending a message to European countries the revolution was serious to their commerce. The assault was a surprise attack and the fort surrendered without conflict The Americans captured large military stores, including about 100 cannon, 15 mortars, 5,400 shells, and 11,000 rounds of ammunition, and brought them back to New London, CT, on April 8. This naval expedition, which left the Delaware Capes on February 17, 1776, was under the command of Esek Hopkins of the “Alfred.”
    1776 - The Continental Army fortified Dorchester with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
   1781 - Birthday of Rebecca Gratz - U.S. philanthropist and educator. RG devoted most of her life to improving the conditions of abused and poor women and children by organizing assistance programs that became models for reform throughout the new country. Born into a socially prominent Colonial/American Jewish family in Philadelphia, she organized the Female Association of the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances (1801), an orphan asylum (1815), and a female Hebrew benevolent society and a Hebrew Sunday school society. She served as the model for Rebecca in Sir Walter Scott's “Ivanhoe.” who was, like the real life Rebecca, brave, intelligent and devoted to helping those not as fortunate as she.
http://www.philsch.k12.pa.us/schools/moffet/pa_women/
rebecca_%20gratz.htm
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Gratz.html
    1789 - The first Congress, 9 Senators and 13 Representatives, met at New York, NY, declared the Constitution in effect and The Bill of Rights was adopted.  A quorum was obtained in the House Apr 1 and in the Senate April 5, and the first Congress was formally organized Apr 6. Electoral votes were counted, and George Washington was declared President (69 votes) and John Adams Vice President (34 votes). Although the Continental Congress had set the first Wednesday of March, 1789 as the date for the new government to convene, a quorum was not present to count the electoral votes April 6. Highways were non-existent and travel between states was horrible.  President Washington did not take the oath of office until Apr 30, 1789. All subsequent presidential terms, except successions following the death of an incumbent, until Franklin D. Roosevelt's second term, began Mar 4. The 20th Amendment in 1933 changed the date to noon on the 20th day of January.
    1791 - Vermont became the 14th state. Known as the Green Mountain State, that is also what the French phrase ‘vert mont' means. Montpelier is Vermont's capital city. "Hail Vermont" is the state song which goes right along with the state motto: Vermont, Freedom and Unity. The hermit thrush stands alone as the state bird; and the red clover is the colorful state flower which attracts the state insect, the honeybee. The Morgan horse is the state animal. The state tree is the sugar maple which makes all that famous Vermont maple syrup.
    1791 - Israel Jacobs was elected by Pennsylvania to the House of Congress, the first Jewish congressman.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000036
    1793 - George Washington was inaugurated in Philadelphia for a second term as President of the United States.  He gave the shortest inaugural address in history, 133 words.
    1797 - John Adams inaugurated as 2nd President of US
    1801 - Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as the third president of the United States; he was the first to be inaugurated in the new capital of Washington.  The Marine Band performed at a Presidential Inauguration for the first time.     
    1809 - Madison became the first President inaugurated in American -made clothes.
    1811 - The first Bank of the United States was forced to liquidate its assets and shutter its doors after suffering the slings of local bankers and state-centric politicians. Founded in 1791, the creation of the bank had been one of the first acts of the newly formed U.S. Congress. But the bank was an almost instant source of controversy.  Though backed by Federal funds, the bank was essentially a private company, complete with investors, which engendered a loud and powerful chorus of critics. Some feared that the bank would become an all too potent central institution and would be federally based rather that state based. Many merchants hoping to open their own state-based financial institutions carped over the competition from the bank's network of branch offices. The call for dissolution grew louder when it was revealed that the bank's coffers leaned heavily on foreign investments, most notably from British interests. So, even though the bank was profitable and paid out relatively handsome dividends to investors, the critics won out and forced its demise.
   1815- Educator Myrtilla Miner was born near Brookfield, NY. Against considerable opposition, she bravely founded and operated the Colored Girls School in Washington, D.C., in the face of a hostile society. It was supported by the Quakers and donations from abolitionists. Although it changed locations and names - the latest being the District of Columbia Teachers College - it maintained Miner's original intent: to teach teachers who would teach others. Harriet Beecher Stowe gave $1000 of her Uncle Tom's Cabin royalties to the school.  A carriage accident in 1864 severely injured her and Miner died shortly after her return to Washington, DC.
http://www.famousamericans.net/myrtillaminer/
    1825 - John Quincy Adams inaugurated as 6th President
    1826 – The first railroad was chartered, Granite Railway in Quincy, Massachusetts.
    1830 – John Quincy Adams returned to the House of Representatives to represent the district of Plymouth, MA.  He was the first former president to do so and served for eight consecutive terms.
    1837 - City of Chicago incorporates.
http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/timeline/inc.html
    1837 - Martin Van Buren inaugurated as 8th President
    1841 - President William Henry Harrison caught a fatal cold while standing hatless without a coat in the drizzle at his own Presidential inauguration. He also had the longest inauguration speech (8,443 words) in history. A month later, he became the first U.S. President to die in office.
    1845 - James K Polk inaugurated as 11th President
    1847 – Birthday of Pioneer obstetrician and medical educator Anna Elizabeth Broomall.   In 1887, as professor of obstetrics for the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, she established a maternity outpatient service in a poor area of South Philadelphia for the purpose of student education.  By 1895, many students cared for three or four women who were giving birth. The low mortality rate under Dr. Broomall was less than one-tenth of a percent among more than 2,000 mothers. A Quaker, Broomall wore black gowns and had a brisk, quiet nature that was formidable when angry. She was not admitted to the all-male Philadelphia Obstetrical Society until 1892 although her writings were presented to members.  The associated Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1861.  In 1993, the college and hospital merged with Hahnemann Medical School. In 2003, the two colleges were absorbed by the Drexel University College of Medicine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Bonnie_Montgomery/
Anna_Elizabeth_Broomall.
    1829 - President Andrew Jackson introduced the ‘spoils system' when he rewarded Simon Cameron with a political appointment for political assistance.
    1830 - John Quincy Adams returned to the House of Representatives to represent the district of Plymouth, MA. He was the first former President to do so and served for eight consecutive terms.
    1849 - The US did not have a President for one day.  Senator David Atchison was the President Pro Tempore when Polk's term was to end on March 3rd. History records the term of President James K. Polk ended on Sunday March 4, 1849, and President-Elect Zachary Taylor refused to take the oath of office on a Sunday, so Senator Atchison is said to have been President of the United States for one day. In reality President Polk's term was extended for one day, and David Atchison spent the entire day on which he was supposed to have been President in bed ill.
http://www.galleryofhistory.com/archive/10_2000/master/
david_rice_atchison.htm
http://www.atchison.net/genealogy/drice.htm
http://www.picturehistory.com/find/p/3966/mcms.html
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4972  
  1861 - Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th President of the United States. In a stirring inaugural address, delivered under the watchful guard of riflemen, Lincoln appealed for the preservation of the Union, threatened by the recent secession of seven Southern states opposed to the new leader's policy against the expansion of slavery. Attempting to retain his support in the North without further alienating the South, Lincoln called for compromise, promising he would not initiate force to maintain the Union or interfere with slavery in the states in which it existed. He did, however, vow to retain federal property. One month later, his refusal to surrender or evacuate Fort Sumter in South Carolina, prompted the Confederates to launch the first attack of the Civil War.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar04.html
    1861 – The Confederacy adopted the stars and bars flag.
    1865 - President Lincoln inaugurated for his 2nd term as President.
    1867 - Birthday of the first black woman in the U.S. to hold a D.D.S. degree, Ida Gray, was born in Clarksville, Tenn.
http://www.toptags.com/aama/bio/women/drgray.htm
    1869 - Ulysses Grant inaugurated as 18th President
    1880 - For the first time halftone engraving was used in New York City's "Daily Graphic".
    1881 - James A. Garfield inaugurated as 20th President. Eliza Ballou Garfield became the first mother of a United States President to live in the White House, when she moved in with her son.
    1881 - California became the first state to pass plant quarantine legislation
    1885 - Grover Cleveland was inaugurated as the first Democratic President since the Civil War
    1889 - Benjamin Harrison inaugurated as 23rd President.
    1893 - Grover Cleveland was inaugurated for a second but nonconsecutive term as President. In 1885, he had become 22nd President of the US and, in 1893, the 24th. Originally a source of some controversy, the Congressional Directory for some time listed him only as the 22nd president. The Directory now lists him as both the 22nd and 24th Presidents though some historians continue to argue that one person cannot be both. Benjamin Harrison served during the intervening term, defeating Cleveland in electoral votes, though not in the popular vote.
    1897 - William McKinley inaugurated as 25th President of US.
    1897 – Francis Joseph “Lefty” O'Doul, baseball player, manager, restaurant owner, bon vivant and close friend of Joe DiMaggio, was born at San Francisco. O'Doul switched from pitching to the outfield and became one of the greatest players not in the Hall of Fame. His career batting average was .349 including hitting .398 in 1929 and .383 in 1930.  After retiring in 1934, O'Doul then returned to the Pacific Coast League as manager of the San Francisco Seals from 1935-51, later managing several other teams in the circuit and becoming the most successful manager in PCL history. One of his outstanding accomplishments while managing the Seals was developing the young Joe DiMaggio.  O'Doul refused to take credit for DiMaggio's success, saying "I was just smart enough to leave him alone."  O'Doul was instrumental in spreading baseball's popularity in Japan, serving as the sport's goodwill ambassador before and after World War II.  The Tokyo Giants, sometimes considered "Japan's Baseball Team," were named by him in 1935 in honor of his longtime association with the New York Giants; the logo and uniform of the Giants in Japan strongly resemble their North American counterparts.   The popular restaurant and bar he founded still operates as Lefty O’Doul’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge and still serves his original recipe for Bloody Mary. He died at San Francisco, Dec 7, 1969.
    1888 - Knute Rockne was born at Voss, Norway. Rockne played end at the University of Notre Dame and, in 1918, was appointed head coach at his alma mater. Over 13 seasons, Rockne became a living legend, and Notre Dame Football rose to a position of unprecedented prominence.  He was an early innovator, using shifts before the snap and multiple formations.  He also was among the few, and was the most successful, at using the forward pass in his offense.  His teams won 105 games and three national championships against only 12 losses and 5 ties. His teams were undefeated and untied five times.  He is regarded among the great, if not the greatest college football coaches in history.  Rockne died in a plane crash at Bazaar, KS, on March 31, 1931.
    1891 - Arthur “Dazzy” Vance, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, was born at Orient, IA. Vance “dazzled” opposing teams with his pitching prowess. He won 197 games over 16 years, mostly with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955. Died at Homosassa Springs, FL, Feb 16, 1961.
    1891 – Birthday of Lois W., born Lois Burnham, co-founder of Al-Anon, in Brooklyn.
    1901 - President William McKinley inaugurated for 2nd term as President.
    1901 – Bridge master Charles Goren was born
    1902 - American Automobile Association, AAA, founded in Cleveland, Ohio   
    1903 – Birthday of William C. Boyd in Dearborn, MO.  An immunochemist, with his wife Lyle, during the 1930s, made a worldwide survey of the distribution of blood types. He discovered that blood groups are inherited and not influenced by environment. By genetic analysis of blood groups, he hypothesized that human races are populations that differ by alleles. On that basis, he divided the world population into 13 geographically distinct races with different blood group gene profiles. Boyd co-wrote the book “Races and People” with Isaac Asimov.
    1906 – Charles Walgreen, founder of the pharmacy chain, was born in Chicago.
    1906 – Sportscaster Eloy “Buck” Canel was born in Argentina.  Canel announced the Mets and Yankees games in Spanish during the 1970s over radio station WHOM, which was then a Spanish in New York City. The feeds were occasionally broadcast to Latin American radio stations.  He died in 1980.
    1909 – Birthday of billionaire Harry Helmsley, best known for his late marriage to Leona Helmsley, in Manhattan.” The best advice I ever got was from my mother," he once noted. "It was simply, 'Buy real estate.' And like a dutiful son, I bought and bought and continue to buy throughout the country." At one point, he owned twenty-seven hotels, 50,000 apartments, and the Empire State Building to boot. Owning real estate proved to be quite lucrative for Helmsley, whose net worth was estimated at $1.7 billion by Forbes magazine in 1996. These far-flung achievements belied Helmsley's rather humble origins: the son of a dry goods salesman, Helmsley opted to skip college to enter the real estate business. However, whatever Helmsley's achievements in the business world, it's likely that he will always be remembered as the husband of the notorious Leona Helmsley. Dubbed the "Queen of Mean," for her domineering rule over the duo's hotel chain, Leona bore the brunt of the scorn and punishment for her and Harry's well-publicized trial for tax evasion in the late 1980s. Leona was slapped with a stiff fine and served eighteen months in prison for her tax crimes, while Harry, who had since decayed into senility, was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Harry Helmsley died on January 4, 1997. Leona died in 2007.
    1909 - Though fair weather was forecast, President Taft was inaugurated amidst a furious storm. About ten inches of wet snow disrupted travel and communications. The storm drew much criticism against the U.S. Weather Bureau.  Taft also used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the Constitution’s Ineligibility clause, to appoint Philander Knox as Secretary of State.  That clause prohibits the President from appointing a current or former member of Congress to a civil office position that was created, or to a civil office position for which the pay and/or benefits (collectively, "emoluments") were increased, during the term for which that member was elected until the term has expired. The rollback, first implemented by an Act of Congress, in 1909, reverts the emoluments of the office to the amount they were when that member began his or her elected term.
    1913 - Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as the 28th United States president, only the second Democrat since the Civil War.
    1913 – The New York Yankees became the first Major League team to hold spring training outside the US when they traveled to Bermuda.
    1913 - Department of Commerce and Labor were split into separate departments at cabinet-level.
    1913 – The first U.S. law regulating the shooting of migratory birds passed  
    1913 – Actor John Garfield was born Jacob Julius Garfinkle in NYC. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of film’s major stars. Called to testify before the U.S. Congressional House Committee on Un-American Activities, he denied Communist affiliation and refused to "name names," effectively ending his film career. Some have alleged that the stress of this incident led to his premature death at 39 from a heart attack. Garfield is acknowledged as a predecessor of such method actors as Brando, Montgomery Clift, and James Dean. 
    1917 - The first female congressional representative was Jeanette Rankin, who was elected as a Republican from Montana and served from March 4, 1917 to March 4, 1919, and from January 3, 1941 to January 3, 1942. Montana women had the vote several years before the 1920 Federal amendment.  She would serve only one term because as a pacifist she voted against the U.S. entry into World War I. Ironically she was sent back to Congress just in time to cast the dissenting vote for the U.S. entry into World War II after the Japanese attack on U.S. installations at Pearl Harbor.
    1922 - F. Scott Fitzgerald's “The Beautiful & Damned” is published.
http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/index.html
    1924 - Guitarist Nat Reese born Salem, VA
http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/Vandalia2k/natreese.html
http://www.fiddletunes.com/pages/natr.htm
    1924 – “Happy Birthday to You” was first published by Claydon Sunny 
    1925 - In the first radio broadcast of a presidential inauguration, Calvin Coolidge took the oath of office in Washington DC.  It was broadcast over 21 stations.
    1927 - Trumpet player Cy Touff’s birthday, born Cyril James Touffn Chicago.  He served in the Army from 1944 to 1946 and in the military he played trombone. After the war he switched to bass trumpet and worked with Woody Herman and Sandy Mosse among others. He joined Herman's band in 1953 and in 1954-55 played with a reduced version of the band that also included Richie Kamuca. He and Mosse co-led an octet called “Pieces of Eight” late in the 1950s into the next decade.  He died in 2003
http://music.manumba.com/C/Cy_Touff.html
http://www.jazzinstituteofchicago.org/index.asp?target=/jazzgram/
bronzeville/cytouff.asp
    1929 – Charles Curtis became the first Native-American to be elected Vice-President of the US.
    1930 - ‘The Ole Redhead', Red Barber, began his radio career broadcasting on WRUF at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He would soon become one of the best known sports voices in the United States.
    1930 - The first mosaic pavement, similar to the mosaics of the ancient world, was laid on Canal Street, New Orleans, LA. The mosaic effect was secured by mixing chipped meteorite, Crown Point spar, and mica with the cement, then pouring the mixture into diamond-shaped brass stripped forms, sanding it down and polishing it. It was part of the project referred to as the ‘Beautification of Canal Street.”
http://theoldentimes.com/canal_st.html
http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/dpc/cityscapes/charles.asp
    1930 - In competition sanctioned by the Women's International Bowling Congress in Buffalo, New York, Emma Fahning became the first woman bowler to make a perfect score.
    1931 - Alice Mitchell Rivlin was born in Philadelphia.  U.S. economist.   She was a member of the Federal Reserve Board and director of the Congressional Budget Office which she created to put an end to the piecemeal budgetary enactment by Congress. She also set up long term fiscal planning for Congress. She was the first woman appointed vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board (1996) and was staff member of the influential Brookings Institute. Her other positions included deputy director, U.S. Office Management and Budget (1993-94). She is a self-described liberal Democrat.
    1931 - Robert “Bob” Johnson, hockey player, coach and executive, was born at Minneapolis, MN.  Johnson played college hockey at the University of Minnesota and began coaching high school hockey in 1956. He moved to Colorado College in 1963 and to the University of Wisconsin in 1967. Johnson's Badgers won three NCAA titles. He coached four US National teams and the1976 Olympic team. Johnson became head coach of the Calgary Flames in 1982 and led them to five straight Stanley Cup playoff appearances. He became executive director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States in 1987 and coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990. They won the Stanley Cup a year later. Johnson was named coach of the US team for the 1991 Canada Cup, but surgery for a brain tumor prevented his participation. He was known throughout the hockey world for his favorite saying, “It's a good day for hockey.” Died at Colorado Springs, CO, Nov 26, 1991.
     1932 - Birthday of Miriam Makeba in Johannesburg, South Africa.   vocalist of international fame. She is one of the world's most prominent black African performers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Her best known number in the U.S. was "The Click Song."  http://www.music.org.za/artists/makeba.htm
    1933 - Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in as 32nd United States President.  He pledged to pull U.S. out of Depression and said "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
    1933 - Frances Perkins became the first woman appointed to the president's cabinet when she was appointed Secretary of Labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
http://www.undelete.org/woa/woa03-04.html
    1934 - Singer/Actress/Television personality Barbara McNair was born in Chicago.
http://www.barbaramcnair.com/
http://members.tripod.com/SoulfulKindaMusic/bmcnair.htm
    1934 – The Easter Cross on Mt. Davidson in San Francisco was dedicated.
    1936 – The Hindenburg had its maiden voyage.
    1937 - Actor/producer/writer/composer/comedian and this night's host, George Jessel, welcomed the glamorous crowd to the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, the setting for the 9th Annual Academy Awards show. Which film was which, you ask? The envelope, if you please... For the films of 1936: Outstanding Production/Best Picture: "The Great Ziegfeld" (from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer); Best Director: Frank Capra for "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town"; Actor: Paul Muni ("The Story Of Louis Pasteur"); Actor in a Supporting Role: Walter Brennan ("Come and Get It"); Best Actress: Louise Rainer ("The Great Ziegfeld"); Actress in a Supporting Role: Gale Sondergaard ("Anthony Adverse"); Best Song: Dorothy Fields & Jerome Kern for "The Way You Look Tonight" from the movie, "Swing Time".
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148036.html
    1937 - Saxophonist Barney Wilen was born in Nice, France.  He died in 1996
http://www.loustal.nl/barney_wilen%20cd-audio.htm
http://www.sunnysidezone.com/Artists/wilen.html
    1939 - vocalist Barbara McNair born Racine, WS
http://www.showbizmall.com/b_mcnair/mc_p1.htm
    1939 – Pitcher Jack Fisher was born in Frostburg, MD.  Have gave up two of baseball’s more famous HRs:  Ted Williams’ 521st in his final Major League at bat, in Fenway Park, (September 28, 1960); and Roger Maris’ 60th home run of the 1961 season (September 26, 1961) that broke Babe Ruth’s record.  He also, he gave up the first home run in Shea Stadium history, to Willie Stargell of the Pirates.
    1940 - Bob Chester Band records “Octave Jum'” (Bluebird 10649)
    1941 - Trumpet player Bobby Shew born Albuquerque NM
http://www.bobbyshew.com/bio.html
    1942 - On Okeh Records in Chicago, Illinois, Dick Jurgen's orchestra recorded "One Dozen Roses".
    1942 - Pianist/arranger David Matthews born, Sonora, KY
http://community-2.webtv.net/falconbird/RECENTRELEASESIVE/page3.html
http://www.walterwhite.com/davem.JPG
http://www.dmband.com/index.asp
    1942 - Shirley Temple starred in "Junior Miss" on CBS radio. The show, which was heard for the first time, cost $12,000 a week to produce and stayed on the air until 1954.
    1942 - On West 44th Street in New York, the Stage Door Canteen opened, becoming widely known as a club for men in the armed forces and a place to spend lonely hours. The USO, the United Service Organization, would grow out of the ‘canteen' operation, providing entertainment for American troops around the world.
    1943 - Actress Greer Garson's acceptance speech for the Best Actress Academy award for her role in “Mrs. Miniver’, lasted 5½ minutes, an industry record. As the press poked fun at her talkativeness, the story became more and more exaggerated, and Garson's speech was "remembered" as being a tedious hour-long ordeal. It became an embarrassing Hollywood legend for the talented and elegant Irish actress. Following the incident, time deadlines for acceptance speeches were established by the Academy, which, more often than not, weren't observed by award winners. The 15th Academy Awards presentation drew Hollywood luminaries to the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles to celebrate the great work done during the year 1942. Everybody seemed to like "Mrs. Miniver" (from Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer) better than any other movie that year. That movie was so good that it won William Wyler the Best Director Oscar; Greer Garson the Best Actress statuette; Teresa Wright the Best Actress in a Supporting Role prize; Joseph Ruttenberg the Cinematography/black-and-white Oscar; and George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West and Arthur Wimperis the Writing/Screenplay award. Ah, but there was more to celebrate on that March night in 1943: James Cagney was presented the Best Actor Oscar for "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and Van Heflin was voted Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "Johnny Eager". And one other award is worth mentioning: a guy named Irving Berlin picked up the Best Song Oscar for a little ditty he had written for the film, "Holiday Inn": "White Christmas", the most-played song in the history of popular music.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0148205.html
    1943 - The Japanese convoy carrying troops of the 51st Division is again struck by Allied planes from the 5th Air Force. PT-boats join the attacks. Over the course of the three days, all the Japanese transports and 4 destroyers are sunk and at least 3500 troops are lost. Australian and American air forces have shot down 25 planes for the loss of 5 of their own. This is considered a serious defeat by the Japanese and a setback for their defense of New Guinea.
    1944 - *McGILL, TROY A., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Troop G, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: Los Negros Islands, Admiralty Group, 4 March 1944. Entered service at: Ada, Okla. Birth: Knoxville, Tenn. G.O. No.: 74, 11 September 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy at Los Negros Island, Admiralty Group, on 4 March 1944. In the early morning hours Sgt. McGill, with a squad of 8 men, occupied a revetment which bore the brunt of a furious attack by approximately 200 drink crazed enemy troops. Although covered by crossfire from machineguns on the right and left flank he could receive no support from the remainder of our troops stationed at his rear. All members of the squad were killed or wounded except Sgt. McGill and another man, whom he ordered to return to the next revetment. Courageously resolved to hold his position at all cost, he fired his weapon until it ceased to function. Then, with the enemy only 5 yards away, he charged from his foxhole in the face of certain death and clubbed the enemy with his rifle in hand-to-hand combat until he was killed. At dawn 105 enemy dead were found around his position. Sgt. McGill's intrepid stand was an inspiration to his comrades and a decisive factor in the defeat of a fanatical enemy.
    1944 - The U.S. Eighth Air Force launches the first American bombing raid against the German capital. The RAF flew 35 major raids between November 1943 and March 1944 and lost 1,047 aircraft, with an even greater number damaged. Fourteen U.S. bomber wings took off for Germany from England on the evening of March 4; only one plane reached Berlin (the rest dropped their loads elsewhere; few planes were lost to German defenses). In retrospect, the initial American attack was considered "none too successful" (as recorded in the official history of U.S. Army Air Force). Subsequent attacks in March were more effective.
    1944 - Singer Mary Wilson born Detroit, Mi.
http://www.missnancywilson.com/
    1945 – Former University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams was born in Collingswood, NJ.  In 2001, Williams led Maryland to the first Final Four in school history. In 2002, Williams led the Terrapins to their first and only NCAA National Championship, defeating Indiana 64–52. Williams is the only coach to ever win a national championship without a single McDonald’s All-American on the roster since its inception.
    1947 – “The Two Mrs. Carrolls”, a murder drama starring Humphrey Bogart as a psychopathic artist who paints his wives as Angels of Death then kills them, opened in theaters. The film also starred Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith, and Nigel Bruce.
    1948 – “The Naked City”, an innovative film noir crime drama set in New York City and starring Barry Fitzgerald as the detective in charge, opened in United States theaters. The film's style has been copied countless times over the years, and later served as the basis of a popular television series of the same name.
    1949 – The UN Security Council recommended membership for Israel
    1950 - When Walt Disney released "Cinderella", it was Disney's first full-length, animated, feature film in eight years. It is still one of the top selling movies in both DVD and VHS format.
    1951 - Top Hits
“If” - Perry Como
“My Heart Cries for You” - Guy Mitchell
“Tennessee Waltz” - Patti Page
“There's Been a Change in Me” - Eddy Arnold
    1952 - Ronald and Nancy Reagan's wedding took place at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley, CA. Ronald Reagan was 41 and Nancy Davis (born Anne Frances Robbins) was 30. They were both actors; William Holden served as best man. This was Reagan's second marriage. His first marriage to actress Jane Wyman in 1940 produced daughter Maureen Elizabeth Reagan in 1941, adopted son Michael Edward Reagan (born 1942), in 1945 and daughter Christina Reagan in 1947, who was born prematurely and died within a few days. Nancy and Ronald have two children: Patricia Ann Reagan (Patti Davis), born in 1952, and Ronald Prescott Reagan, in 1958.  Another trivia answer: he is the first US president who had been divorced. “Love You, Ronnie“ was written by Nancy Reagan.  Ronald Reagan, no matter what else was going on in his life or where he was--traveling to make movies for G.E., in the California governor's office, at the White House, or on Air Force One, and sometimes even from across the room--Ronald Reagan wrote letters to Nancy Reagan, to express his love, thoughts, and feelings, and to stay in touch. Whether you remember him fondly or not, the book is quite revealing about a man who loved his wife no matter how busy he was or where he was; he always thought about his Nancy.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/
103-3975609-1805410
    1952 - Ernest Hemingway writes his publisher that he has finished his short novel “The Old Man and the Sea.” He told him it was the best writing he had ever done. The critics agreed: the book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and became one of his best-selling works. It was first published in “Life” magazine.
    1953 - Snow was reported on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
    1953 - Percussionist Emilio Estefan born Havana, Cuba
http://www.gloriaheaven.com/emilio7.htm
http://www.gloriaheaven.com/emilio_family.htm
    1954 - Sax player Ricky Ford born, Boston MA
http://www.ejn.it/mus/ford.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000044U32/
inktomi-musicasin-20/102-1682336-8966565
    1953 - Snow was reported on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
    1954 - African-American scientist and attorney J Ernest Wilkins is named Undersecretary of Labor by President Eisenhower. He was born in Farmington, Missouri. He became a government official and lawyer. He was the son of a Baptist minister. He became an assistant secretary of labor in charge of international affairs. He was the first African-American to hold this position and the second African-American to hold a sub-cabinet post. He was the ranking African-American in the nation’s capital during the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. He became internationally known for his position. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Wilkins, a Republican, as vice-chair of the newly established President's Committee on Government Contracts. Vice-President Richard M. Nixon chaired the panel that had been set up by executive order to enforce federal policy prohibiting discrimination due to race, creed, or national origin in employment or promotion of individuals who worked in establishments involved in government business. Wilkins died of a heart attack, January 19, 1959. He lay in state at Foundry Methodist Church in downtown Washington, D.C., the first time an African-American had been so honored. From “Notable Black American Men”
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/
Mathematicians/Wilkins_Ernest.html
    1955 - 1st radio facsimile transmission sent across the continent
    1959 - Top Hits
“Stagger Lee” - Lloyd Price
“Donna” - Ritchie Valens
“Charlie Brown” - The Coasters
“Don't Take Your Guns to Town” - Johnny Cash
    1959 - The winners of the first Grammy Awards were announced. Domenico Modugno's "Volare" was named Record of the Year; Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" was Album of the Year and The Champs "Tequila" won best R&B performance. Variety magazine seemed to take great delight when it later reported - "The record academy has snubbed the rock. Not one rock 'n' roll record was nominated."
    1959 - Pioneer IV spacecraft missed the Moon and became the 2nd (1st U.S.) artificial planet 
    1960 - It is revealed, in connection with the current congressional investigation into payola, that Federal Communications Chairman John Doerfer took a six-day trip to Florida courtesy of Storer Broadcasting.  A man ahead of his time!
http://64.227.206.20/Music_Orb/MusicOrbdb/musicorbdb_84.html
    1960 – Lucy filed for divorce from Desi.
    1961 - This is the official Commemoration of the founding of the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961 by President John. F. Kennedy. It is observed on the first Tuesday in March.
http://peacecorps.gov/indexf.cfm
    1966 - A severe blizzard raged across Minnesota and North Dakota. The blizzard lasted four days producing up to 35 inches of snow, and wind gusting to 100 mph produced snow drifts 30 to 40 feet high. Bismarck, ND reported zero visibility for 11 hours. Traffic was paralyzed for three days.
    1966 – John Lennon of The Beatles:  “We are more popular than Jesus" 
    1967 - Top Hits
“Ruby Tuesday” - The Rolling Stones
“Love is Here and Now You're Gone” - The Supremes
“Baby I Need Your Lovin'” - Johnny Rivers
“The Fugitive” - Merle Haggard
    1968 - Martin Luther King Jr announces plans for Poor People's Campaign
http://www.howardri.org/MLKing%20Workshop.html
http://www.daveyd.com/mlkdaypolitic.html
    1968 - “The Dick Cavett Show” premiered on television. He began his television career on ABC with a daytime talk show that subsequently became a late-night program competing with Johnny Carson. Cavett, with his Yale background, had a reputation as an intellectual host and was particularly adept at the one-man interview. He has since appeared on the CBS, PBS and USA networks hosting a variety of shows.
    1970 - New York Rangers set then NHL record of 126 games without being shut-out
    1970 – Jacksonville St. became the first college basketball team to average over 100 points per game
    1972 - Badfinger receives a gold record for "Day after Day".
    1974 - Time-Life, now Time-Warner, issued a new magazine called, "People"; which had an initial run of one million copies. It became the most successful celebrity weekly ever published, and its weekly circulation hit 3,424,858 by 1994. Mia Farrow was on the first front cover.
http://people.aol.com/people/aboutus/magfacts.html
http://people.aol.com/people/index.html
    1975 - Top Hits
“Best of My Love” - The Eagles
“Have You Never Been Mellow” - Olivia Newton-John
“Black Water” - The Doobie Brothers
“It's Time to Pay the Fiddler” - Cal Smith
    1976 - San Francisco Giants were bought for $8 million by Bob Lurie and Bud Herseth from the founding Stoneham family and vowed not to move the team.
    1977 – The first CRAY 1 supercomputer was shipped to Los Alamos Laboratories, New Mexico
    1978 - Chicago Daily News, founded in 1875, publishes last issue http://www.bbbirthday.50megs.com/History/1stpic.gif
    1978 - Andy Gibb hit the top of the music charts with "(Love is) Thicker Than Water", which had a 2 week stay at #1. The Bee Gees also set a record with their single, "How Deep Is Your Love", from the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack which stayed in the top 10 for an unprecedented 17 weeks. At the age of 30, Gibb died on March 10, 1988, of an inflammatory heart virus in Oxford, England.
http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/AndyGibb.html
    1978 - "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" by Johnny Mathis and Denice Williams, enters the soul chart where it hits Number One next month and stays there for four weeks.
    1978 - The Bee Gees were the hottest act around when they helped their younger brother Andy to the top spot on Billboard's Hot 100 by writing his hit, "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water". Their own tune, "Stayin' Alive" was pushed back to number 2, while another of their compositions, "Emotion" by Samantha Sang, sat at number 4 and "Night Fever" was number 5.
    1979 - Voyager I photo revealed Jupiter's rings
    1980 - "Coal Miner's Daughter," the film biography of country singer Loretta Lynn, premiered in Nashville. Lynn was played on screen by Sissy Spacek, who also did all the singing in the movie.
http://www.imdb.com/Title?0080549
    1981 - Forward Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens scored the 1,000th point of his career, a goal in a 9-02 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Lafleur finished with 1,353 points and entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.
    1983 - Montana became the first state to ban sex discriminatory rates in all insurance. Under the prevailing discriminatory rate structure, women were paying up to 30% more for the *same* insurance coverage as men whether it was auto, health, disability, or old age income insurance even though actuary tables indicated women were less accident prone and lived longer.
    1983 - Top Hits
“Baby, Come to Me” - Patti Austin with James Ingram
“Shame on the Moon” - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
“Stray Cat Strut” - Stray Cats
“Why Baby Why” - Charley Pride
    1984 - The Television Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the formation of the Television Academy Hall of Fame at Burbank, CA. The first inductees were Lucille Ball, Milton Berle, Paddy Chayefsky, Norman Lear, Edward R. Murrow, William S. Paley and David Sarnoff.
    1985 - Supreme Court upholds right of Oneida nation of New York to sue for lands illegally taken in 1795.
http://www.oneidanation.org/index2.shtml
    1985 - "Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care" was published with Dr. Michael Rothenberg sharing authorship with Dr. Benjamin Spock, ‘The Baby Doc'. It was the fifth edition of the book to be published. 30,000,000 copies had been printed -- second only to the Bible in the best seller category.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671537628/
inktomi-bkasin-20/102-1682336-8966565
    1985 - EPA ordered a virtual ban on leaded gasoline.
    1987 - Rain and high winds prevailed in the northwestern U.S. A wind gust to 69 mph at Klamath Falls, OR was their highest in 25 years, and winds at the Ashland Ranger Station in the Siskiyou Mountains of northern California reached 85 mph.
    1987 - President Reagan addressed the nation on the Iran-Contra affair. He took full responsibility for the affair acknowledging his overtures to Iran had "deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal. Michale Ledeen, Pentagon employee, later authored "Perilous Statecraft: An Insider's Account of the Iran-Contra Affair."
    1988 - Snow and freezing rain made travel hazardous in Ohio and Indiana. A six car pile-up resulted near Columbus, OH, with seven injuries reported. Up to two inches of ice glazed central Indiana. Up to ten inches of snow blanketed northern Ohio.
    1988 - Hot Tuna was the headline act as the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco reopened. Joining group members Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen and Paul Kantner for the special occasion were Grace Slick and Papa John Creech. All at one time or another had been members of Jefferson Airplane and-or Jefferson Starship. The Fillmore was one of the leading venues for San Francisco's psychedelic bands in the 1960s.
http://www.hottuna.com/
   1988 - Snow and freezing rain made travel hazardous in Ohio and Indiana. A six car pile-up resulted near Columbus OH, with seven injuries reported. Up to two inches of ice glazed central Indiana. Up to ten inches of snow blanketed northern Ohio.
    1989 - Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. announced plans to merge.
    1990 - A Pacific cold front working its way across the western U.S. produced heavy snow over parts of Idaho, Nevada and Utah. Up to eleven inches of snow blanketed the valleys of northwest Utah, while 12 to 25 inches fell across the mountains of northern Utah. Up to six inches of snow blanketed the valleys of east central Nevada, while more than a foot of snow was reported in the high elevations. In Idaho, 6 to 8 inches of snow was reported around Aberdeen and American Falls.
    1991 - Top Hits
“All the Man that I Need” - Whitney Houston
“Someday” - Mariah Carey
“One More Try” - Timmy -T-
“Walk on Faith” - Mike Reid
    1992 - AT&T announced it would close thirty-one offices around the country and replace nearly one-third of its operators with computerized information systems. Some 18,000 operators would be replaced with voice-recognition software, which could provide phone numbers and other information
    1994 - Four Muslim fundamentalists were found guilty of bombing the landmark World Trade Center in New York.
    1994 - Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16), launches into orbit
    1998 - The Supreme Court (Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services) ruled that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
    1999 - Cher has her first Billboard number one single in 25 years with "Believe." The last time she topped the chart was with 1974's "Dark Lady."
    2002 - Seven American Special Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.    
    2011 - The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) states it could save $5.5 billion in 30 years if dollar bills are replaced with coins.