On this day, March 23
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!”
1806 Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, having reached the Pacific coast, began their journey back east.
1933 The German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, which effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers.
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 five-hour flight.
1981 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions.
1994 Aeroflot Flight 593, an Airbus A310, crashed in Siberia with the loss of all 75 people on board; it turned out that a pilot’s teenage son who was allowed to sit at the controls had accidentally disengaged the autopilot, causing loss of control.
1998 “Titanic” tied an Academy Awards record by winning 11 Oscars.
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.
2010 Claiming a historic triumph, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, a $938 billion health care overhaul.
2018 President Donald Trump released an order banning most transgender troops from serving in the military except under “limited circumstances.”
2021 A cargo ship ran aground and became wedged in the Suez Canal; hundreds of ships would be prevented from passing through the canal until the vessel was freed six days later.
2022 NATO estimated that up to 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed in four weeks of fighting in Ukraine, where the country’s defenders put up stiffer-than-expected resistance.
Today’s birthdays: Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, 72. Singer Chaka Khan, 71. Actor Amanda Plummer, 67. Actor Hope Davis, 60. Actor Richard Grieco, 59. Actor Marin Hinkle, 58. Actor Kelly Perine, 55. Actor-singer Melissa Errico, 54. Rock musician John Humphrey (The Nixons), 54. Actor Randall Park, 50. Actor Michelle Monaghan, 48. Actor Keri Russell, 48. Actor Anastasia Griffith, 46. Gossip columnist-blogger Perez Hilton, 46. Actor Nicholle Tom, 46. Actor Brandon Dirden, 46. Country singer Brett Young, 43. Actor Nicolas Wright, 42. Actor Ben Rappaport, 38. NBA guard Kyrie Irving, 32.