18 Mar 1945
In Europe, US Third Army captured Boppard, Germany. Soviet 1st Polish Army captured Kolberg, Germany while other Soviet units approached Gdynia and Danzig.
In the Pacific, U.S. Fast Carrier Task Force 58 (Fifth Fleet) set up operations off Japan and the home island of Okinawa. USS Missouri escorted U.S. carriers while the carriers conducted operations. USS Yorktown, operating off Japan, began launching strikes on airfields on Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku. Yorktown was struck by a single bomb that killed five but otherwise caused minimal damage to the vessel or its operations. USS Franklin arrived in position south of Japan and launched F4U Corsair fighters against targets in Kagoshima Prefecture.

 

May 19
2003 - President George W. Bush ordered air strikes on Baghdad thus launching the Iraq War.

1947 - Glen Close was born.

1962 - Bob Dylan released his first album.

1931 - Las Vegas legalized gambling.

 

19 Mar 1945

In Europe, US Seventh Army captured Worms, Germany. George Patton received permission to take the US 3rd Army across the Rhine River. Soviet troops captured the heights over Zoppot, Germany. As the Allies advance, Albert Speer defies Hitler's orders for a scorched earth policy.

In the Pacific, Aircraft from U.S. Fast Carrier Task Force 58 (Fifth Fleet) conducted heavy bombing naval bases in Kobe and Kure, Japan. USS Yorktown continued air operations against the three southernmost islands of Japan.

With the fleet operating approximately fifty miles off Japan, the carriers USS Wasp and USS Franklin were hit by air attack. This is notable as it presented an issue where US combat air patrol would be proven ineffective against the massive assault of enemy aircraft, mostly kamikaze. Continued strikes of this type would ultimately result in a command change of the task force from the competent yet more cautious Spruance of Fifth Fleet to the more aggressive tactics of Halsey's US Third Fleet command by May 1945.

Also notable, the Franklin bombing was the deadliest of any attack on a single US vessel not sunk by enemy action. Only the Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941 and the Indianapolis in July 1945 were deadlier, but both were sunk.

 

March 20
1957 - Spike Lee was born
1928 - Fred"Mr." Roger's was born
2020 - Kenny Roger's passed away
1969 - John and Yoko were married in Gibraltar
1948 - Ice hockey great defenseman Bobby Orr was born in Parry Sound,Ontario
1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic Uncle Tom's Cabin was published.

Today - Spring starts at 5:24 pm.
Cabin

 

1963: The U.S. federal prison on San Francisco Bay's Alcatraz Island, which had held some of the most dangerous civilian prisoners—including Al Capone and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz”—was closed this day in 1963.

 

On this day in history, March 20, 1854, Republican Party founded to oppose expansion of slavery
Anti-slavery activists motivated as pending Kansas-Nebraska Act overturned Missouri Compromise.

The birthplace of the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin. The movement that would create the anti-slavery party first met here on March 20, 1854. (MPI/Getty Images)

 

On March 19, 1977, T Rex played their last gig, appearing at The Locarno in Portsmouth, England. Bandleader Marc Bolan was killed in an automobile accident later that year, on September 16, 1977.

 

May 21
2980 - Carter announced the US. was boycotting the Summer Olympics in Moscow over the Soviet's invasion of Afghanistab.

1965 - Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights activists began a protest March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

1685 - German composer Johan Sebastián Bach was born.

 

1928: President Calvin Coolidge presents the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh, a captain in the US Army Air Corps Reserve, for making the first solo trans-Atlantic flight. On June 11, 1927, Lindbergh had received the first Distinguished Flying Cross ever awarded.

 

On this day in history, March 21, 1952, first rock concert held in Cleveland, ends in chaos, conflict
Moondog Coronation Ball, promoted by rock 'n' roll pioneer Alan Freed, set stage for rebellious image.


Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland, March 21, 1952, organized by DJ Alan Freed and record-store owner Leo Mintz, is regarded as the first-ever rock 'n' roll concert. (y GAB Archive/Redferns)

 

On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. led thousands of non-violent protesters as they began a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama to the state capitol in Montgomery.

 

21 Mar 1945

Soviet forces captured Braunsberg East Prussia, Germany. US First Army advanced toward Siegburg, Germany.

 

On March 22, 1765 the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years' War. The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents, and playing cards. The legislation was particularly contentious in America.

 

March 22
1765 - As stated above the Stamp Act

1976 - Reese Witherspoon was born

1931 - William Shatner was born

1908 - American author of Westerns Lois L'Amour was born

 

1933: President Franklin Roosevelt signs a bill legalizing the sale and possession of beer and wine.

 

On this day in history, March 22, 1934, Masters Tournament tees off for first time in Augusta, Georgia
'A tradition unlike any other' pits best golfers aiming for glory in one of the most spectacular settings in sports.


Preparing for the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia: Horton Smith drives the ball for good distance during a practice round on the Augusta National Golf Club course, where he would participate in the Masters Tournament starting April 2. Bobby Jones is shown at left center. Smith won the first Masters in 1934. (Getty Images)

 

March 23
1806 - Lewis and Clark began their return trip to St. Louis Missouri after a nearly year journey.

1912 - German born American engineer Wernher von Braun was born.

1998 - The movie Titanic won 11 Academy Awards tying Ben Hur.

1908 - Joan Crawford was born.

1857 - Elisha Otis installed the first commercial elevator in a New York City department store

1775 - Patrick Henry declared "Give me liberty or give me death"

 

1752: Pope Stephen II was elected to succeed Zacharias and then died 2 days later.

1840: First photo of the moon was taken.

1965: Gemini 3 was launched - 1st US 2-man space flight.

 

On this day in history, March 23, 1775, patriot Patrick Henry demands, 'Give me liberty or give me death!'
Virginia orator called on colony to raise troops to battle Brits four weeks before Battle of Lexington ignited American Revolution.


American statesman Patrick Henry (1736-1799) delivers his patriotic "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech before the Virginia Assembly, March 23, 1775. (Original artwork printed by Currier & Ives/photo by MPI/Getty Images)

 

On March 23, 1956 RCA Victor released Elvis Presley's debut album titled 'Elvis Presley'. It was both the first Rock 'n Roll record to make it to #1 on Billboard's album charts (stayed at #1 for ten weeks). It was also the first Rock 'n Roll album to sell a million records.