TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, MARCH 28, the 87th day of 2021. There are 278 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1979, America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurred with a partial meltdown inside the Unit 2 reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania.
In 1797, Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire received a patent for a washing machine.
In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, ruled 6-2 that Wong, who was born in the United States to Chinese immigrants, was an American citizen.
In 1935, the notorious Nazi propaganda film “Triumph des Willens” (Triumph of the Will), directed by Leni Riefenstahl, premiered in Berlin with Adolf Hitler present.
In 1941, novelist and critic Virginia Woolf, 59, drowned herself near her home in Lewes, East Sussex, England.
In 1942, during World War II, British naval forces staged a raid on the Nazioccupied French port of St. Nazaire in Operation Chariot, destroying the only dry dock on the Atlantic coast capable of repairing the German battleship Tirpitz.
In 1977, “Rocky” won best picture at the 49th Academy Awards; Peter Finch was honored posthumously as best actor for “Network;” and his co-star, Faye Dunaway, was recognized as best actress.
In 1978, in Stump v. Sparkman, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, 5-3, the judicial immunity of an Indiana judge against a lawsuit brought by a young woman who’d been ordered sterilized by the judge when she was a teenager.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the widow of U.S. Olympic legend Jesse Owens.
In 1999, NATO broadened its attacks on Yugoslavia to target Serbian military forces in Kosovo in the fifth straight night of airstrikes; thousands of refugees flooded into Albania and Macedonia from Kosovo.
In 2000, in a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court, in Florida v. J.L., curtailed police power in relying on anonymous tips to stop and search people.
In 2003, American-led forces in Iraq dropped thousand-pound bombs on Republican Guard units guarding the gates to Baghdad and battled for control of the strategic city of Nasiriyah. President George W. Bush warned of “further sacrifice” ahead in the face of unexpectedly fierce fighting.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Author Mario Vargas Llosa is 85. Country musician Charlie McCoy is 80. Movie director Mike Newell is 79. Actor Dianne Wiest is 75. Country singer Reba McEntire is 66. Olympic gold medal gymnast Bart Conner is 63. Actor Alexandra Billings (TV: “Transparent”) is 59. Rapper Salt (Salt-N-Pepa) is 55. Movie director Brett Ratner and country singer Rodney Atkins are 52. Actor Vince Vaughn is 51. Rapper Mr. Cheeks (Lost Boyz) is 50. Rock musician Dave Keuning is 45. Actor Annie Wersching is 44. Actor Julia Stiles is 40. Singer Lady Gaga is 35. Electronic musician Clayton Knight (Odesza) is 33.