TODAY IN HISTORY: Elvis in the Army

In 1603, the Elizabethan era ended in England with the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Her 45-year reign is generally regarded as a golden age where theatre and the arts flourished, and England extended its economic clout through exploration. It also flexed its muscle as a political power with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Elizabeth’s death not only marked the end of an era, it also marked the end of the Tudor line of rulers.

In 1634, the first Roman Catholic mass in English North America was celebrated at St. Mary’s, Maryland.

In 1933, the first concentration camps were set up by Germany’s Nazi government — the Dachau camp near Munich.

In 1936, the Detroit Red Wings won the longest game in NHL history. Mud Bruneteau’s goal at 16:30 of the sixth overtime period gave the Wings a 1-0 victory over the visiting Montreal Maroons. The Stanley Cup semifinal game ended at 2:25 a.m. on March 25th.

In 1944, what became known as “The Great Escape” took place when 76 Allied prisoners escaped from a German prisoner-of-war camp through a man-made tunnel. Only three of the escapees made it home — 50 were captured and murdered and 23 were returned to prison camps.

In 1958, Elvis Presley entered the U.S. Army. After receiving the standard G.I. haircut, he was quoted as saying “Hair today, gone tomorrow.” Presley had actually received his draft notice the previous December, but was granted a 60-day deferment to complete the movie “King Creole.” Some say rock ‘n’ roll died when Presley entered the service. Certainly, after he was discharged in March 1960, Presley himself was no longer a rock ‘n’ roll performer. He became primarily a movie star and middleof-the-road singer.

In 1980, Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero, a vocal opponent of the military in El Salvador, was assassinated while saying mass in a small chapel at a hospital called “La Divina Providencia” in San Salvador. Several men, believed to be part of a death squad, were arrested for the murder but were later released.

In 1989, the second-worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history occurred as the supertanker “Exxon Valdez” ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and began leaking 41 million litres of crude. (The worst was the Deepwater Horizon oil platform disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.)

In 1990, “Black Velvet,” taken from the self-titled debut album by Toronto rocker Alannah Myles, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. The song was a tribute to Elvis Presley.