On this day in History - Mar. 21

• 0717 - Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid.
• 1076 - Robert I, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1011)
• 1098 - The monastery in Citeaux, France was founded by St. Robert, marking the beginning of the Roman Catholic Cistercian religious order.
• 1188 - Accession to the throne of Japan by emperor Antoku.
• 1306 - Robert II, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1248)
• 1349 - 3,000 Jews were killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany.
• 1413 - Henry V becomes King of England.
• 1487 - Nicholas of Flue dies (b. 1417). Swiss hermit and saint.
• 1521 - Maurice, Elector of Saxony was born (d. 1553)
• 1527 - Hermann Finck was born (d. 1558). German composer.
• 1542 - Henry VIII issued a a statute against witchcraft.
• 1556 - Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury was burned at the stake for violating heresy laws revised under the Roman Catholic queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary.
• 1617 - Pocahontas dies (b. c. 1595). Native American, daughter of Powhatan.
• 1656 - James Ussher dies (b. 1581). Irish Catholic archbishop.
• 1676 - Henri Sauval dies (b. 1623). French historian.
• 1685 - Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach (d. 1750). German composer and organist; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque music to its culmination, creating masterful and vigorous works in almost every musical form known in his period.
• 1713 - Francis Lewis was born (d. 1803). American signatory to the Declaration of Independence
• 1729 - John Law dies (b. 1671). Scottish economist.
• 1734 - Robert Wodrow dies (b. 1679). Scottish historian.
• 1751 - Johann Heinrich Zedler dies (b. 1706). German publisher.
• 1762 - Nicolas Louis de Lacaille dies (b. 1713). French astronomer.
• 1763 - Jean Paul was born (d. 1825). German writer.
• 1768 - Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier was born in Auxerre. French mathematician and physicist.
• 1772 - Jacques-Nicolas Bellin dies (b. 1703). French cartographer.
• 1788 - Almost the entire city of New Orleans, LA, was destroyed by fire. 856 buildings were destroyed.
• 1790 - Thomas Jefferson reported to U.S. President George Washington as the new secretary of state.
• 1795 - Giovanni Arduino dies (b. 1714). Italian geologist.
• 1800 - With the church leadership driven out of the Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
• 1801 - The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.
• 1801 - Andrea Luchesi dies (b. 1741). Italian composer.
• 1804 - Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc d'Enghien dies executed (b. 1772)
• 1804 - Code Napoléon was adopted as French civil law.
• 1806 - Benito Juarez was born (d. 1872). Mexican Statesman and national hero.
• 1813 - James Jesse Strang was born.
• 1821 - First revolutionary act in Monastery of Agia Lavra, Kalavryta, Greek War of Independence.
• 1824 - A fire at a Cairo ammunitions dump killed 4,000 horses.
• 1826 - The Rensselaer School in Troy, NY, was incorporated. The school became known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was the first engineering college in the U.S.
• 1835 - Charles Darwin & Mariano Gonzales met at Portillo Pass.
• 1839 - Modest Mussorgsky was born (d. 1881). Russian composer.
• 1843 - Preacher William Miller of Massachusetts predicted the world would end on this date. The world did not end, but Miller's ideas led to the creation of the Adventist churches in America.
• 1843 - Robert Southey dies (b. 1774). English poet.
• 1843 - Guadalupe Victoria dies (b. 1786). First President of Mexico.
• 1844 - The Baha'i calendar began (Baha 1, 1). This is the first day of the first year of the Bahá'í calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Bahá'í Faith as the Bahá'í New Year or Náw-Rúz.
• 1844 - The original date predicted by William Miller for the return of Christ.
• 1846 - Nascimento de Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, desenhador e ceramista. Personagem sempre ligada a uma certa rebeldia, é autor da famosa figura do «Zé Povinho».
• 1850 - Miguel Pedrorena dies. American settler
• 1851 - Emperor Tu Duc ordered that Christian priests be put to death.
• 1851 - Yosemite Valley was discovered in California.
• 1854 - Alick Bannerman was born (d. 1924). Australian cricketer.
• 1857 - Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000.
• 1858 - British forces in India lift the siege of Lucknow, ending the Indian Mutiny.
• 1859 - In Philadelphia, the first Zoological Society was incorporated.
• 1863 - George Owen Squier was born (d. 1934). American inventor and Major General in U.S. Signal Corp.
• 1868 - The Sorosos club for professional women was formed in New York City by Jennie June. It was the first of its kind.
• 1869 - Florenz Ziegfeld was born (d. 1932). American theatrical producer.
• 1871 - Otto von Bismarck is appointed Chancellor of the German Empire.
• 1871 - Journalist Henry Morton Stanley began his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.
• 1876 - John Tewksbury was born (d. 1968). American athlete.
• 1880 - Hans Hofmann was born. German painter who was an influential art teacher and a pioneer in the use of improvisatory techniques whose work paved the way for American painters to develop Abstract Expressionism.
• 1880 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson was born (d. 1971). American actor.
• 1881 - Samuel Courtauld dies (b. 1793). American-born textile magnate
• 1882 - Bascom Lunsford was born in Mars Hill, North Carolina (d. 4 Sep 1973). American folk musician who was called "Minstrel of the Appalachians"
• 1884 - Ezra Abbot dies (b. 1819). American bible scholar.
• 1885 - Pierre Renoir was born (d. 1952). French stage and film actor and director.
• 1887 - Celebração do Jubileu do imperador alemão Guilherme I.
• 1887 - Portugal: Nasce em Lisboa Luís Filipe, Duque de Bragança (m. 1908)
• 1895 - Zlatko Baloković was born (d. 1955). Croatian violinist.
• 1900 - After the death of founder Dwight L. Moody, the Bible Institute for Home and Foreign Missions changed its name to Moody Bible Institute.
• 1901 - Karl Arnold was born (d. 1958). German politician.
• 1902 - Son House was born (d. 1988). American musician.
• 1902 - In New York, three Park Avenue mansions were destroyed when a subway tunnel roof caved in.
• 1904 - The British Parliament vetoed a proposal to send Chinese workers to Transvaal.
• 1904 - Forrest Mars Sr. was born (d. 1999). American candymaker.
• 1904 - Nikolaos Skalkottas was born (d. 1949). Greek composer.
• 1905 - Sterilization legislation was passed in the State of Pennsylvania. The governor vetoed the measure.
• 1905 - Phyllis McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon (d. 22 Feb 1978). Poet.
• 1906 - Ohio passed a law that prohibited hazing by fraternities after two fatalities.
• 1906 - Jim Thompson was born. American designer and businessman
• 1907 - The U.S. Marines landed in Honduras to protect American interests in the war with Nicaragua.
• 1907 - The first Parliament of Transvaal met in Pretoria.
• 1908 - A passenger was carried in a bi-plane for the first time by Henri Farman of France.
• 1909 - Russia withdrew its support for Serbia and recognized the Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina on March 31, 1909.
• 1910 - The U.S. Senate granted ex-President Teddy Roosevelt a yearly pension of $10,000.
• 1910 - Julio Gallo was born (d. 02 May 1993).Vintner: Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery, Modesto, CA;
• 1910 - Nadar dies (b. 1820). French photographer.
• 1913 - George Abecassis was born (d. 1991). English race car driver.
• 1914 - Paul Tortelier was born (d. 1990). French cellist.
• 1915 - Foi publicado o primeiro número da revista portuguesa Orpheu .
• 1918 - The Second Battle of the Somme began during World War I.
• 1919 - The Chinese High School is established in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee.
• 1920 - Georg Ots was born (d. 1975). Estonian singer.
• 1920 - Manolis Chiotis was born (d. 1970). Greek bouzouki virtuoso and song writer.
• 1921 - Arthur Grumiaux was born (d. 1986). Belgian violinist.
• 1921 - Fonty Flock (Truman Fontello) was born. American race car driver.
• 1922 - Russ Meyer was born (d. 2004). American film director and producer.
• 1922 - Mujibur Rahman was born (d. 1975). Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
• 1923 - Philip Abbott was born (d. 1998). American actor.
• 1923 - Shri Mataji Nirmala Srivastava was born. Indian founder of Sahaja Yoga
• 1923 - Mort Lindsey was born. Bandleader: The Merv Griffin Show; composer of score: 40 Pounds of Trouble.
• 1925 - Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signed into law a prohibition against the teaching of evolution in public schools. Later that year John Scopes would violate the law, leading to the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial.
• 1925 - Hugo Koblet was born (d. 1964). Swiss cyclist.
• 1925 - Peter Brook was born. British film director and producer
• 1927 - Hans-Dietrich Genscher was born. German politician
• 1928 - U.S. President Calvin Coolidge gave the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh Charles Lindbergh for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
• 1930 - James Coco was born (d. 25 Feb 1987). Actor: The Chair, Ensign Pulver, Man of La Mancha;
• 1930 - Dinis Machado was born. Portuguese writer.
• 1932 - Walter Gilbert was born. American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 - Joseph Silverstein was born. American violinist and conductor.
• 1933 - Dachau, the first Nazi Germany concentration camp, is completed.
• 1934 - Al Freeman, Jr. was born. American actor (A Patch of Blue, Roots: The Next Generation, Hot L Baltimore, Malcolm X, Finian’s Rainbow, Ensign Pulver) .
• 1934 - A fire destroyed Hakodate, Japan, killing about 1,500.
• 1934 - Franz Schreker dies (b. 1878). Austrian composer.
• 1935 - Incubator ambulance service began in Chicago, IL.
• 1935 - Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, which means 'Land of the Aryans'.
• 1935 - Brian Clough was born (d. 2004). English footballer and football manager.
• 1936 - Ed Broadbent was born. Canadian politician
• 1936 - Mike Westbrook was born. British jazz composer, bandleader and pianist
• 1936 - Alexander Glazunov dies (b. 1865). Russian composer.
• 1937 - Ponce Massacre of 18 people and a 7-yr-old girl in Ponce, Puerto Rico by police squad ordered by US-appointed PR Governor, Blanton C. Winship.
• 1939 - Kathleen Widdoes was born. American actress "As the World Turns"
• 1940 - Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1940 - Solomon Burke was born. American singer.
• 1941 - The last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, fell to the British.
• 1942 - Françoise Dorléac was born (d. 1967). French actress.
• 1943 - Massacre of the town of Kalavryta, Greece by German Nazi troops.
• 1943 - Vivian Stanshall was born (d. 1995). English musician, artist, actor, writer, Bonzo Dog Band.
• 1943 - István Gyulai was born (d. 2006). Hungarian General Secretery of the IAAF.
• 1944 - Marie-Christine Barrault was born. French actress.
• 1945 - Rose Stone was born. American musician (Sly & the Family Stone)
• 1945 - World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma
• 1945 - During World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.
• 1946 - The Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington. Washington was the first black player to join a National Football League team since 1933.
• 1946 - The United Nations set up a temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City.
• 1946 - Timothy Dalton was born. Welsh actor
• 1949 - Slavoj Zizec was born. Slovenian sociologist, philosopher and cultural critic.
• 1949 - Eddie Money was born. American musician.
• 1950 - Roger Hodgson was born. Musician, former member of Supertramp
• 1951 - Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos) was born.
• 1951 - Russell Thompkins Jr was born. American singer (The Stylistics)
• 1951 - Willem Mengelberg dies (b. 1871). Dutch conductor.
• 1952 - Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1953 - The Boston Celtics beat Syracuse Nationals (111-105) in four overtimes to eliminate them from the Eastern Division Semifinals. A total of seven players (both teams combined) fouled out of the game.
• 1955 - Angelina Muniz was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian actress
• 1956 - 28th Academy Awards - "Marty," Anna Magnani and Ernest Borgnine win.
• 1956 - Ingrid Kristiansen was born. Norwegian runner.
• 1957 - Shirley Booth made her TV acting debut in "The Hostess with the Mostest" on CBS.
• 1958 - Sabrina Le Beauf was born. American actress.
• 1958 - Gary Oldman was born. English actor.
• 1958 - Cyril M. Kornbluth dies (b. 1923). American writer.
• 1959 - Nobuo Uematsu was born. Japanese composer.
• 1960 - Robert Sweet (Stryper) was born .
• 1960 - Apartheid: About 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired upon demonstrators.
• 1960 - Ayrton Senna was born (d. 1994). Brazilian Formula 1 car racer who was 3 time Formula 1 World Champion.
• 1961 - Lothar Matthäus was born. German soccer player.
• 1961 - Shawn Lane was born. American guitar virtuoso
• 1962 - Mark Waid was born. American comic book writer
• 1962 - Rosie O'Donnell was born. American comedian, actress, talk show host, and publisher
• 1962 - Matthew Broderick was born. American actor
• 1963 - Alcatraz Island, the federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, CA, closed.
• 1962 - Rosie O'Donnell American comedian, actress, talk show host, and publisher.
• 1963 - Ronald Koeman was born. Dutch footballer and football manager
• 1963 - Shawon Dunston was born. Baseball player
• 1964 - In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Non ho l'età" (I'm not old enough).
• 1964 - Jesper Skibby was born. Professional cyclist
• 1964 - Ahmed Radhi was born. Iraqi international football star
• 1965 - The U.S. launched Ranger 9. It was the last in a series of unmanned lunar explorations.
• 1965 - More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. began a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.
• 1965 - Xavier Bertrand was born. French politician
• 1966 - Cynthia Geary was born .
• 1967 - MC Maxim (Prodigy) was born .
• 1967 - Jonas "Joker" Berggren was born. Swedish musician (Ace of Base)
• 1967 - Maxim Reality was born. British MC (The Prodigy)
• 1968 - Battle of Karameh in Jordan between Israeli Defense Forces and Fatah.
• 1968 - Andrew Copeland (Sister Hazel) was born.
• 1968 - DJ Premier (Preemo) was born. Hip hop producer
• 1969 - Ali Daei was born. Iranian footballer
• 1970 - The first Earth Day proclamation was issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
• 1970 - Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the "agony of defeat guy" in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports.
• 1970 - In Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dana wins the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "All Kinds of Everything".
• 1971 - Two U.S. platoons in Vietnam refused their orders to advance.
• 1971 - Hélder was born. Portuguese footballer.
• 1972 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states c0ould not require one year of residency for voting eligibility.
• 1972 - Chris Candido was born (d. 2005). Professional wrestler.
• 1973 - Ananda Lewis was born. American model and television personality
• 1973 - Antoni Szalowski dies at 65. Composer.
• 1974 - An attempt was made to kidnap Princess Anne in London's Pall Mall.
• 1975 - Justin Pierce was born (d. 2000). British actor.
• 1975 - Mark Williams was born. Welsh snooker player.
• 1975 - Fabricio Oberto was born. Argentine Basketball player, playing for San Antonio Spurs.
• 1975 - Joe Medwick dies (b. 1911). Baseball player.
• 1976 - Liza Harper was born. French actress.
• 1977 - Paloma Duarte was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actress.
• 1978 - Kevin Federline was born. Dancer/Hip Hop Artist.
• 1978 - Rani Mukherjee was born. Bollywood actress of Indian origin.
• 1978 - Cristian Guzmán was born. Baseball player
• 1979 - Egyptian Parliament unanimously approve peace treaty with Israel.
• 1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
• 1980 - On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase "Who Shot JR?"
• 1980 - Ronaldinho was born. Brazilian football player.
• 1980 - Marit Bjørgen was born. Norwegian cross-country skier.
• 1980 - Deryck Whibley was born. Canadian guitarist and singer (Sum41)
• 1980 - Peter Stoner dies (b. 1888). American mathematician, astronomer and Christian apologist.
• 1982 - Aaron Hill was born. American baseball player
• 1984 - A Soviet submarine crashed into the USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Japan.
• 1984 - Shauna Grant dies - suicide (b. 1963). American actress.
• 1985 - Sir Michael Redgrave dies (b. 1908). English actor.
• 1985 - In Langa, South Africa, at least 21 demonstrators were killed at a march to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings.
• 1985 - Larry Flynt offered to sell his pornography empire for $26 million or "Hustler" magazine alone for $18 million.
• 1985 - Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings. At least 21 demonstrators were killed.
• 1985 - Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
• 1985 - Sir Michael Redgrave dies (b. 1908). English actor.
• 1987 - Dean Paul Martin dies (b. 1951). American musician and actor (Billy-Misfits of Science).
• 1987 - Robert Preston dies (b. 1918). American actor.
• 1988 - 23rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Randy Travis and Hank Williams, Jr.
• 1988 - La derechista Alianza Republicana Nacionalista gana las elecciones municipales y legislativas de El Salvador.
• 1988 - Brian Johnson was born. Runner
• 1989 - Randall Dale Adams was released from a Texas prison after his conviction was overturned. The documentary "The Thin Blue Line" had challenged evidence of Adams' conviction for killing a police officer.
• 1989 - Regresa a su país, tras 42 años de exilio, el escritor paraguayo Augusto Roa Bastos.
• 1989 - Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling.
• 1990 - Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
• 1990 - "Normal Life" with Moon Unit & Dweezil Zappa premiered on CBS-TV.
• 1990 - Australian businessman Alan Bond sold Van Gogh's "Irises" to the Gerry Museum. Bond had purchased the painting for $53.9 million in 1987.
• 1990 - "Sydney" starring Valerie Bertinelli premiered on CBS-TV.
• 1990 - Namibia became independent of South Africa. Sam Nujoma becomes president.
• 1991 - 27 people were lost at sea when two U.S. Navy anti-submarine planes collided.
• 1991 - The U.N. Security Council lifted the food embargo against Iraq.
• 1991 - Leo Fender dies (b. 1909). American guitar manufacturer.
• 1992 - John Ireland dies (b. 1914). Canadian film actor and director.
• 1993 - Pope John Paul II declared Duns Scotus a saint.
• 1993 - (CCB) Cultural Center of Belém in Lisbon opened to the public /Em Lisbo abre ao público o Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB).
• 1993 - António Quadros dies. Portuguese writer.
• 1994 - Dudley Moore was arrested for hitting his girlfriend.
• 1994 - Actress and Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg hosted the 66th Annual Academy Awards show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) awarded "Schindler’s List", nominated in no less than 12 categories, with seven Oscars: beginning with Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Stephen Zaillian); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Allan Starski, Ewa Braun); Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski); Best Film Editing (Michael Kahn); Best Music/Original Score (John Williams); Best Director (Steven Spielberg); and culminating with Best Picture (Producers Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen and Branko Lustig). "Philadelphia" (nominated five times) scored two awards, Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Music/Song, "Streets of Philadelphia" to Bruce Springsteen. "The Piano" (nominated in eight categories) won Best Actress (Holly Hunter)and Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin), and Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Jane Campion); "Jurassic Park" received the Best Sound award (Gary Summers, Gary Rydstrom, Shawn Murphy, Ron Judkins), the Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing award (Gary Rydstrom, Richard Hymns), and the Best Effects, Visual Effects award (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, Michael Lantieri). Tommy Lee Jones picked up the Best Supporting Actor award for "The Fugitive", a film nominated in seven categories.
• 1994 - Wayne Gretzky tied Gordie Howe's NHL record of 801 goals.
• 1994 - Bill Gates of Microsoft and Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular Communications announced a $9 billion plan that would send 840 satellites into orbit to relay information around the globe.
• 1994 - 66th Academy Awards - "Schindler's List," Tom Hanks and Holly Hunter win
• 1994 - Lydia Collett was born. Prodigy fashion designer
• 1994 - Macdonald Carey dies (b. 1913). American actor.
• 1994 - Dack Rambo dies (b. 1941). American actor.
• 1994 - Lili Damita dies (b. 1904). French actress.
• 1995 - New Jersey officially dedicated the Howard Stern Rest Area along Route 295.
• 1995 - Tokyo police raided the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo in search of evidence to link the cult to the Sarin gas released on five Tokyo subway trains.
• 1997 - W. V. Awdry dies (b. 1911). English children's writer.
• 1998 - Galina Ulanova dies (b. 1910). Russian prima ballerina assoluta.
• 1999 - Ernie Wise dies (b. 1925). British comedian.
• 1999 - 71st Annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Hosting the festivities which had moved from the traditional Monday night to Sunday evening, was comedienne Whoopi Goldberg. A beautiful lady, Gwyneth Paltrow, emotionally accepted the Best Actress Oscar for her role in "Shakespeare in Love". It was a beautiful night for the film with 13 nominations and seven wins including the win of Best Picture of the 1998 year; Best Supporting Actress (Dame Judi Dench); Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Martin Childs, Jill Quertier); and Best Music/Original Musical or Comedy Score (Stephen Warbeck). This was the first time in nine years that the film that won Best Picture did not win for Best Director. Steven Spielberg was the winning director for "Saving Private Ryan" (which also won four more of the golden statuettes). It was a beautiful moment when the Best Supporting Actor Oscar was awarded to James Coburn ("Affliction"), his first Academy Award nomination in over 70 films. But the most beautiful moment/s of the long (Oscar's longest to date) evening was when Sophia Loren said, “and the Oscar goes to Roberto!” (Best Actor: La Vita è bella - Roberto Benigni). In plain English, "Life is Beautiful". Roberto Benigni was the first actor in a foreign language film to receive an Oscar. Benigni had received an Oscar earlier in the evening for Best Foreign Film ("Life is Beautiful") when he pirouetted on top of seat backs, hopping and dancing to the stage. Roberto Benigni truly made the evening bella, bella!
• 1999 - Israel's Supreme Court rejected the final effort to have American Samuel Sheinbein returned to the U.S. to face murder charges for killing Alfred Tello, Jr. Under a plea bargain Sheinbein was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
• 1999 - Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
• 1999 - Ernie Wise dies (b. 1925). British comedian.
• 2000 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had overstepped its regulatory authority when it attempted to restrict the marketing of cigarettes to youngsters.
• 2001 - Nintendo released Game Boy Advance.
• 2001 - Anthony Steel dies (b. 1920). English actor.
• 2001 - Chung Ju-young dies (b. 1915). Korean industrialist.
• 2001 - Norma Macmillan dies (b. 1921). Voice actress.
• 2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
• 2002 - British schoolgirl Amanda Dowler is abducted in broad daylight on her way home from school in Surrey.
• 2002 - Herman Talmadge dies (b. 1913). American politician.
• 2002 - Pope John Paul II makes his first public statements about the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests and the subsequent cover-ups
• 2002 - In Paris, an 1825 print by French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce was sold for $443,220. The print, of a man leading a horse, was the earliest recorded image taken by photographic means.
• 2002 - Herman Talmadge dies (b. 1913). American politician.
• 2003 - It was reported that the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 235.27 (2.8%) at 8,521.97. It was the strongest weekly gain in more than 20 years.
• 2003 - Umar Wirahadikusumah dies (b. 1924). Fourth Vice President of Indonesia.
• 2004 - In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority.
• 2004 - Ludmilla Tchérina dies (b. 1924). French ballet dancer and actress.
• 2005 - In Red Lake, Minnesota, 10 are killed in a school shooting, the worst since the Columbine High School massacre.
• 2005 - Barney Martin dies (b. 1923). American actor.
• 2005 - Bobby Short dies (b. 1924). American singer.
• 2006 - Naw-Ruz: the Baha'i New Year is celebrated after a month of fasting.
• Earth Day
• World Poetry Day - by UNESCO
• World Forestry Day - United Nations
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - by United Nations
• Namibia: Independence Day
• Benito Juárez Day, a Fiestas Patrias in Mexico
• Persian(Iranian) New Year's Day (Norouz): (also celebrated in many other countries of Asia) Iranian calendar.
• Harmony Day in Australia.
• China: Chunfen.
• Egypt: Mother's Day
• Poland: Truant's Day
• South Africa: Human Rights Day.
• Astrology: First day of star sign Aries.
• The third day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
• Naw-Rúz - Holy day for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith and first day of the Bahá'í calendar.
• Bahá'í Faith - End of the 19-day sunrise-to-sunset
• Ostara - Neopagan festival of Ostara.
• World Down Syndrome Day
• Lebanon: Mother's Day