TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS FRIDAY, MARCH 23, the 82nd day of 2018. There are 283 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date in 1775, Patrick Henry delivered an address to the Virginia Provincial Convention in which he is said to have declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
In 1792, Joseph Haydn’s “Symphony No. 94 in G Major” (known as the “Surprise” symphony because of an unexpected crashing chord in the second movement) had its first public performance in London.
In 1806, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, having reached the Pacific coast, began their journey back east.
In 1914, the first installment of “The Perils of Pauline,” the silent film serial starring Pearl White, premiered in the greater New York City area.
In 1933, the German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers.
In 1942, the first Japanese-Americans evacuated by the U.S. Army during World War II arrived at the internment camp in Manzanar, Calif.
In 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic.
In 1965, America’s first two-person space mission took place as Gemini 3 blasted off with astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and John W. Young aboard for a nearly 5-hour flight.
In 1968, UCLA defeated North Carolina, 78-55, to win college basketball’s NCAA championship.
In 1973, before sentencing a group of Watergate break-in defendants, Chief U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica read aloud a letter he’d received from James W. McCord Jr. which said there was “political pressure” to “plead guilty and remain silent.” In 1983, President Ronald Reagan first proposed developing technology to intercept incoming enemy missiles — an idea that came to be known as the Strategic Defense Initiative. Dr. Barney Clark, recipient of a Jarvik permanent artificial heart, died at the University of Utah Medical Center after 112 days with the device.
In 1998, “Titanic” tied an Academy Awards record by winning 11 Oscars, including best picture, director (James Cameron) and song (“My Heart Will Go On”).
In 2003, during the Iraq War, a U.S. Army maintenance convoy was ambushed in Nasiriyah; 11 soldiers were killed, including Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa; six were captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was rescued on April 1, 2003.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Movie director Mark Rydell is 89. International Motorsports Hall-of-Famer Craig Breedlove is 81. Singer-producer Ric Ocasek is 69. Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is 66. Singer Chaka Khan is 65. Actress Amanda Plummer is 61. Actress Catherine Keener is 59. Actress Hope Davis is 54. Actor Richard Grieco and country musician Kevin Griffin (Yankee Grey) are 53. Actress Marin Hinkle is 52. Rock singer-musician Damon Albarn (Blur) is 50. Actresssinger Melissa Errico and rock musician John Humphrey (The Nixons) are 48. Bandleader Reggie Watts (TV: “The Late Late Show With James Corden”) is 46. Actor Randall Park is 44. Actresses Michelle Monaghan and Keri Russell are 42. Actresses Anastasia Griffith and Nicholle Tom, gossip columnist-blogger Perez Hilton and country singer Paul Martin (Marshall Dyllon) are 40. Country singer Brett Young is 37. Actor Nicolas Wright is 36.