TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Wednesday, March 31, the 90th day of 2021. There are 275 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On March 31, 1931, Notre Dame college football coach Knute Rockne (noot RAHK’nee), 43, was killed in the crash of a TWA plane in Bazaar, Kan. On this date:
■ In 1917, the United States took formal possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
■ In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Emergency Conservation Work Act, which created the Civilian Conservation Corps.
■ In 1943, “Oklahoma!,” the first musical play by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, opened on Broadway.
■ In 1968, at the conclusion of a nationally broadcast address on Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned listeners by declaring, “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
■ In 1991, the Warsaw Pact military alliance came to an end.
■ In 1995, Mexican-American singer Selena QuintanillaPerez, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
■ In 2004, four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
■ In 2005, Terri Schiavo, 41, died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a wrenching right-to-die court fight.
■ In 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu took office as Israel’s new prime minister after the Knesset approved his government.
Ten years ago: Moammar Gadhafi struck a defiant stance after two high-profile defections from his regime, saying the Western leaders who had decimated his military with airstrikes should resign immediately — not him. (Gadhafi’s message was in the form of a scroll across the bottom of state TV as he remained out of sight.)
Five years ago: A man who was convicted of fatally beating another man to death after a night of drinking and drug use in 1994 was put to death in Georgia. A 34-year-old Illinois man fatally shot a Virginia state trooper at a busy bus terminal in Richmond before being killed by other troopers.
One year ago: The White House released new projections that the number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. could range from 100,000 to 240,000 even if current social distancing guidelines were maintained. CNN’s Chris Cuomo anchored his CNN show from the basement of his home after testing positive for the coronavirus. A temporary hospital in a New York City convention center began accepting patients.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Richard Chamberlain is 87. Actor Shirley Jones is 87. Musician Herb Alpert is 86. Actor Christopher Walken is
78. Comedian Gabe Kaplan is 77. Former Vice President Al Gore is 74. Author David Eisenhower is 73. Actor Rhea Perlman is 73. Actor William McNamara is 56. Actor Erica Tazel is 46. Actor Judi Shekoni is 43. Rapper Tony Yayo is
43. Actor Kate Micucci is 41. Actor Brian Tyree Henry (TV: “Atlanta” Stage: “Book of Mormon”) is 39. Actor Melissa Ordway is 38. Jazz musician Christian Scott is 38. Pop musician Jack Antonoff (fun.) is 37. Actor Jessica Szohr is 36.