On this day in History - Mar. 20

• 0043 BC - Ovid, was born, poet, (d. AD 17/AD 18).
• 0141 - 6th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
• 1413 - Henry IV of England .
• 1413 - King Henry IV of England,dies (b. 1367). He is succeed by his son Henry V
• 1568 - Albert of Prussia, dies, first duke of Prussia, (b. 1490)
• 1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.
• 1727 - Sir Isaac Newton, dies, physicist, (b. 1642) .
• 1739 - In India, Nadir Shah of Persia occupies Delhi and takes possession of the Peacock throne.
• 1760 - The "Great Fire" of Boston destroys 349 buildings.
• 1770 - Friedrich Hölderlin, was born, German poet, novelist, and dramatist, (d. 1843) .
• 1792 - In Paris, the Legislative Assembly approves the use of the guillotine.
• 1800 - French army defeats Turks at Helipolis Turkey, & advance to Cairo .
• 1811 - Napoleon II of France, was born (d. 1832). Son of Napoleon Bonaparte, Duke of Reichstadt.
• 1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000 beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
• 1816 - Morreu a Rainha de Portugal, D. Maria I.
• 1823 - Ned Buntline,was bor, "dime novelist", publisher, writer, publicist, (d. 1886) .
• 1828 - Henrik Ibsen,was born (d. 1906) Norwegian playwright and dramatist, (Peer Gynt, Hedda Gabler).
• 1831 - Solomon L. Spink, was born, U.S. Congressman from Illinois (d. 1881) .
• 1834 - Charles W. Eliot, was born, President of Harvard University, (d. 1926) .
• 1841 - Edgar Allen Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue, considered the first detective story, is published.
• 1848 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
• 1848 - Es asesinado el político y periodista Florencio Varela, en Montevideo.
• 1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published. Subtitled "Life Among the Lowly", became an instant success, selling 300,000 copies in its first year. It has been translated into twenty languages and performed as a play the world over.
• 1855 - Joseph Aspdin, dies, inventor of Portland cement (b. 1788) .
• 1856 - Frederick Winslow Taylor, was born, inventor, efficiency expert, (d. 1915) .
• 1861 - Un terremoto destruye casi por completo la ciudad argentina de Mendoza.
• 1870 - Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck, was born, German general (d. 1964) .
• 1874 - Börries von Münchhausen, was born, poet, (d. 1945) .
• 1883 - Signature of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
• 1890 - Beniamino Gigli, was born, tenor, (d. 1957) .
• 1890 - Lauritz Melchior, was born, opera singer, (d. 1973).
• 1890 - German emperor Wilhelm II fires republic chancellor Otto Von Bismarck .
• 1895 - Fredric Wertham, was born, Psychologist (d. 1981) .
• 1897 - Mother Ruby Muhammad,was born, matriarch of Black Islam .
• 1899 - At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place becomes the first woman executed in an electric chair.
• 1904 - Aleister Crowley invokes Horus in Egypt and declares the start of the New Aeon known as the Aeon Of The Crowned And Conquering Child.
• 1904 - B. F. Skinner, was born, behavioral psychologist, (d. 1990) .
• 1906 - Ozzie Nelson, was born, actor, band leader, (d. 1975) .
• 1906 - Army officers in Russia mutiny at Sevastopol.
• 1908 - Sir Michael Redgrave, was born, actor, (d. 1985) .
• 1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese nationalist party (KMT), is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
• 1914 - In New Haven, Connecticut the first international figure skating championship takes place.
• 1915 The French call off the Champagne offensive on the Western Front.
• 1915 - Rudolf Kirchschläger, was born, Austrian President, (d. 2000) .
• 1915 - Sviatoslav Richter, was born, Ukrainian pianist (d. 1997) .
• 1916 - Albert Einstein publishes his theory of relativity.
• 1917 - Dame Vera Lynn, was born, actress, singer .
• 1918 - The Bolsheviks of the Soviet Union ask for American aid to rebuild their army.
• 1921 - Rudolf Noelte, was born, film director, (d. 2002) .
• 1921 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, was born, singer, (d. 1973) .
• 1922 - Carl Reiner, was born, director, producer, actor, comedian .
• 1922 - Raymond Walter Goulding, was born. Radio comedian of Bob and Ray fame.
• 1922 - President Warren G. Harding orders U.S. troops back from the Rhineland.
• 1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
• 1925 - John Ehrlichman, was born, White House advisor to President Nixon.
• 1925 - George Nathaniel Curzon (Lord Curzon), dies, British statesman, (b. 1859) .
• 1926 - Princess Louise of Sweden , dies (b. 1929) .
• 1928 - Fred Rogers, television performer ).
• 1928 - Fred Rogers, was born (d. 2003). Television performer (Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.
• 1932 - The German dirigible, Graf Zepplin, makes the first flight to South America on regular schedule.
• 1933 - Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed.
• 1934 - Queen Regent Emma of the Netherlands, dies (b. 1858) .
• 1934 - Willie Brown, was born, mayor of San Francisco, California .
• 1937 - Jerry Reed, was born, country musician.
• 1939 - Brian Mulroney, was born. Eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada .
• 1939 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt names William O. Douglas to the Supreme Court.
• 1940 - The British Royal Air Force conducts an all-night air raid on the Nazi airbase at Sylt, Germany.
• 1943 - The Allies attack Field Marshall Erwin Rommel's forces on the Mareth Line in North Africa.
• 1947 - Fallece Pedro Emilio Coll, escritor venezolano.
• 1948 - John de Lancie, was born, actor .
• 1948 - Bobby Orr, was born, ice hockey player .
• 1948 - The 20th Academy Awards takes place at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Darryl F. Zanuck’s "Gentleman’s Agreement" take the Best Picture prize, the Best Director (Elia Kazan), and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm). Best Actor went to Ronald Colman for "A Double Life"; Best Actress to Loretta Young for "Farmer’s Daughter"; Best Supporting Actor to Edmund Gwenn for "Miracle on 34th Street"; and Best Music/Song to Allie Wrubel (music), Ray Gilbert (lyrics) for "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" from "Song of the South".
• 1950 - William Hurt, was born, American actor .
• 1952 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
• 1952 - Actor/comedian Danny Kaye hosted the 24th Annual Academy Awards, in the RKO Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. Humphrey Bogart surprised the ‘experts’ by winning an Academy Award for "African Queen". Most thought that Marlon Brando would win Best Actor for "A Streetcar Named Desire". The top film was Arthur Freed’s "An American in Paris" in spite of the favouritism for Critics goes for "A Place in The Sun" or "Streetcar" for Best Picture of 1951. Best Director was George Stevens for "A Place in the Sun". "A Streetcar Named Desire" won awards for Karl Malden (Best Supporting Actor), Vivien Leigh (Best Actress) and Kim Hunter (Best Supporting Actress). The Best Music/Song Oscar was presented to Hoagy Carmichael (music), and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) for "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" from "Here Comes the Groom".
• 1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France.
• 1957 - Shelton "Spike" Lee, was born, American film director, actor (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X).
• 1958 - Holly Hunter, was born, actress .
• 1964 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
• 1962 - Stephen Sommers, was born, film director .
• 1964 - Natacha Atlas, was born, Belgian singer .
• 1964 - Tracy Chapman, was born, musician .
• 1965 - In Naples, Italy, France Gall wins the tenth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (Wax doll, talking doll).
• 1965 - President Lyndon B. Johnson orders 4,000 troops to protect the Selma-Montgomery civil rights marchers.
• 1966 - The World Cup is stolen from Central Hall , London .
• 1969 - Marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono .
• 1969 - Senator Edward Kennedy calls on the United States to close all bases in Taiwan.
• 1974 - A failed kidnap attempt is made on Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
• 1974 - Paula Garces, was born, actress .
• 1974 - Andrzej Pilipiuk, was born, Polish writer .
• 1974 - Chet Huntley, dies, television journalist .
• 1976 - Chester Bennington, was born, musician (Linkin Park ).
• 1976 - Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco Bank.
• 1979 - REXX programming language created.
• 1982 - U.S. scientists return from Antarctica with the first land mammal fossils found there.
• 1982 - Moreira , was born. Portuguese Football player - goalkeeper of Benfica.
• 1985 - Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod dog sled race.
• 1986 - Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France .
• 1986 - Winta, was born, Norwegian pop star .
• 1987 - The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
• 1990 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
• 1990 - Lev Yashin, dies, famous Soviet football goalkeeper .
• 1993 - An Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Warrington, North West England, killing two children.
• 1995 - Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway .
• 1996 - In Los Angeles, California, Erik and Lyle Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
• 1997 - Tony Zale, dies, Boxer, (b. 1913) .
• 2000 - Gene Eugene, dies, actor, singer, (b. 1961) .
• 2000 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.
• 2003 - invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.
• 2003 - Sailor Art Thomas, dies, professional wrestler .
• 2004 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, dies, (b. 1909).
• 2004 - Millions worldwide protest the 2003 Iraq War under the slogan, "The World STILL Says No To War!".