Today is Wednesday, March 17th, the 76th day of the year 2021. There are still 289 days in the year. This is St. Patrick’s Day.
Today’s highlight in history:
March 17, 1762The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in New York.
On this date:
In 1776The Revolutionary War siege of Boston ended when British forces evacuated the city.
In 1936Pittsburgh’s Great St. Patrick’s Day Flood began when the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers and their tributaries, swollen by rain and melted snow, passed the flood stage. The flood was blamed for more than 60 deaths.
In 1941The National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, DC
In 1959The Dalai Lama fled Tibet to India after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
In 1966, a US Navy submarine, found a missing hydrogen bomb dropped from a US Air Force B-52 bomber in the Mediterranean Sea off Spain. (It was a few more weeks before the bomb was actually recovered.)
In 1969Golda Meir became Prime Minister of Israel.
In 1970The United States first vetoed the UN Security Council, killing a resolution condemning Britain for not using force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.
In 1988Avianca Flight 410, a Boeing 727, crashed after taking off in a mountain in Colombia, killing all 143 people on board.
In 199229 people were killed in the bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Illinois, Senator Alan Dixon was defeated in his first re-election by Carol Moseley-Braun, who later became the first black woman in the US Senate.
In 2003President George W. Bush was on the verge of war and gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his country. Iraq rejected Bush’s ultimatum, saying a US attack to force Saddam out of power was “a grave mistake”.
In 2009US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested by North Korea while reporting on North Korean refugees living across the border in China. (Both were convicted of illegally entering North Korea and sentenced to 12 years of forced labor. Both were released in August 2009 after former President Bill Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.) The Seattle Post-Intelligencer released its final print edition.
In 2010Michael Jordan became the first ex-player to become a majority owner in the NBA when the League’s Board of Governors unanimously approved Jordan’s $ 275 million offer to purchase the Charlotte Bobcats from Bob Johnson.
Ten years ago: The UN Security Council paved the way for international air strikes against Moammar Gaddafi’s armed forces and voted to authorize military actions to protect civilians and the introduction of a no-fly zone over Libya. US drone missiles hit a village in Pakistan; US officials said the target audience was heavily armed and some of its members were affiliated with al-Qaeda, but Pakistani officials said the rockets hit a community meeting and killed four Taliban fighters and 38 civilians and tribal police officers. Country entertainer Ferlin Husky, 85, died in Westmoreland, Tennessee.
Five years ago: The Obama administration officially concluded that the Islamic State Group is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. An Arizona man was convicted of a terrorist attack linked to an attack on a Prophet Muhammad comic book contest in Texas. This was the second conviction in the United States related to the Islamic State Group. Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, an American-born Muslim convert, was later sentenced to 30 years in prison. SeaWorld Entertainment eventually bowed to years of public pressure, saying it would stop breeding killer whales or trick them into performing philanthropic tricks.
A year ago: A three-week housing order was in effect in six counties in the San Francisco area. Most residents had to stay inside and only venture out for food, medicine, or exercise. Iranian state television warned that “millions” could die if Iranians continued to travel and ignored health guidelines. The coronavirus death toll in Iran was close to 1,000. Further cinemas closed nationwide; AMC, the country’s largest chain, said their theaters would close for at least six to twelve weeks. Bus drivers in Detroit were stranded after most drivers failed to show up for work. The Kentucky Derby and the French Open were both postponed from May to September. A case of the coronavirus was reported in West Virginia, the only US state that had not seen one at the time. When Florida, Arizona, and Illinois held the presidential primaries, hundreds of pollers dropped out, forcing state officials to quarrel. Joe Biden won the first victories and increasingly withdrew from the Democratic race.
Today’s birthdays: Former NAACP National Chair Myrlie Evers-Williams is 88 years old. Former astronaut Ken Mattingly is 85 years old. Singer-songwriter John Sebastian (The Lovin ‘Spoonful) is 77 years old. Former NSA director and former CIA director Michael Hayden is 76 years old. The musician Harold Brown (War; Lowrider Band) is 75 years old. The actor Patrick Duffy is 72 years old. The actor Kurt Russell is 70 years old. Country singer Susie Allanson is 69 years old. The actor Lesley-Anne Down is 67 years old. Actors Mark Boone Jr. and Gary Sinise are country singers Paul Overstreet are 66. Actor Christian Clemenson is 63. Former basketball and baseball player Danny Ainge is 62. Actors Arye Gross and Vicki Lewis are 61. Actor Casey Siemaszko is 60. The writer and director Rob Sitch is 59. Actor Rob Lowe is 57. Rock singer Billy Corgan and musician Van Conner (Screaming Trees) are 54 years old. The actor Mathew St. Patrick is 53 years old. The actor Yanic Truesdale is 52 years old. Rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur and Olympic gold medal soccer player Mia Hamm are 49 years old. The musician Caroline Corr (The Corrs), actor Amelia Heinle and sing er Keifer Thompson (Thompson Square) are 48. Actor Marisa Coughlan is 47. Actor Natalie Zea and sports reporter Tracy Wolfson are 46. Actor Brittany Daniel is 45. Singer and TV Personality Tamar Braxton is 44. Musician Geoff Sprung (Old Dominion) is 43. Reggaeton singer Nicky Jam is 40. TV personality Rob Kardashian (TV: “Keeping Up With The Kardashians”) is 34. The pop / rock Singer-songwriter Hozier is 31. Actors Eliza Hope Bennett and John Boyega are 29. Olympic champions, swimmer Katie Ledecky is 24. Actor Flynn Morrison is 16.
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