March 1

Ohio_Counties_18021803, Ohio is admitted as the 17th state to the U.S.

1872, Yellowstone Park is set aside as the nation’s first national park.

March 2

1998, data sent back from the Galileo spacecraft indicated that a liquid ocean existed on the surface of one of Jupiter’s moons.

March 3

1836, Texans celebrate their first Independence Day with the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence, officially separating from Mexico and created the Republic of Texas.

March 4

1791, after the original thirteen colonies became states, Vermont was admitted as the fourteenth state.

March 5

1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd in Boston, killing five men. The event is recorded as the Boston Massacre.

March 6

1899, Bayer registers Aspirin as a trademark.

1912, The Oreo cookie is introduced by Nabisco.

March 8

1969, Mount Etna erupted in Sicily. Thousands perished because they would not evacuate after warnings of rumblings and small noxious gas leaks. In three days it ejected massive amounts of poisonous gas, killing 3,000 around the mountain. Then ash exploded out and lava began to flow from the crater; a death toll of over 20,000.

March 9

1935, Porky Pig made his cartoon debut in “I Haven’t Got a Hat.” The stuttering pig did not have a large role but his popularity caught on, soon he was starring in dozens of films. Mel Blanc became the voice of Porky in 1937, and remained the character’s voice until his death in 1989.

March 11

Blizzard_1888_011888, referred to as the Great White Hurricane, the Great Blizzard of 1888 began along the eastern seaboard of the U.S. Overnight snowfall was between 40 and 58 inches from New Jersey to Massachusetts with snowdrifts reported at 30 — 40 feet high! Severe winds of 80 mph drove the snow to such heights. The temperature in New York City dropped to its record low with a high of 9°F.

March 12

1993, the Great Blizzard of ’93 began in the Gulf of Mexico, dumping 12 inches of snow in Birmingham and Alabama. 4 inches in the Florida panhandle, and 15” in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. Hurricane force winds of a Cat 2 hurricane coupled with an arctic high pressure system which moved down from Canada into the plains, all collided creating a super storm called a Cyclonic Blizzard. Power was out from the Gulf of Mexico to Maine. The storm produced thunder-snow (snow with thunder and lightning) in the panhandle of Texas, all the way to Pennsylvania. Some areas had snowdrifts over 30 feet high. Two feet or more of snow fell in Chattanooga, TN, Hartford, CT and Pittsburgh, PA.

March 14

1945, The Royal Air Force dropped its first Grand Slam bomb on Germany. The bomb was a midsize, 22,000 pound upscaled version of the Tall Boy. The bomb was designed to penetrate the ground, create a cavern and explode setting off a small earthquake to destabilize its intended target. The bombs also were used for destroying railways and bridges.

March 15

1672, King Charles II of England would not conform to the Church of England, and to Catholics in an attempt to end the persecution of Protestants.

March 19
1918, the U.S. government set up time zones and also approved daylight savings time.
March 20

1922, the USS Langley (CV-1) is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.

March 22

1960, Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles H. Townes received the first patent for a Laser. Townes would eventually win a shared Nobel Prize for Physics in 1964 with two Soviet physicists.

March 24

1707, the Acts of Union 1707 are signed by Scotland and England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

March 28

1929, Mickey Mouse began wearing white gloves in his cartoon The Opry House. He has been drawn with white gloves ever since. Originally it was so his hands could be distinguished from his black body.

March 31

Isabel_la_Católica-21492, Queen Isabella of Castile issued her Alhambra decree which required Jews to convert to Christianity or by expatriated.

 Posted by on 03/27/2013 Almanac   Add comments