It is Friday, before March 31, 90 2023. There are 275 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History: On March 31, 1991, the Warsaw Pact ended the war.
In the year 13292, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling the Jews from Spanish land, except for those who wanted to convert to Christianity.
In 1814, Paris was occupied by a coalition of Russian, Prussian, and Austrian forces; he forced the abdication of the emperor Napoleon into the capitulation of the French.
In 1917, the United States took formal possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
In 1931, College of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne (noot RAHK’-nee), 43, was killed in a TWA plane crash in Bazaar, Kansas.
In 1968, at the conclusion of a national address on Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned the audience by saying, “I will not seek, and will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
In 1993, actor Brandon Lee, 28, was accidentally shot to death on the set of a movie in Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was hit by a bullet fragment that was lodged in the center of the gun.
In 1995, baseball players agreed to end their 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against the club’s owners.
In 2004, four American foreign contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; Enraged mobs drag the burnt and twisted bodies of the two from the bridge.
In 2005, Terri Schiavo (SHY’-voh), 41, died in a nursing home in Pinellas Park, Florida, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed during a right-to-death battle.
In 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu took office as Israel’s new prime minister after the Knesset approved his government.
In 2019, rapper Nipsey Hussle fatally shot outside a clothing store he had set up to help the struggling South Los Angeles neighborhood rebuild; he 33
In 2020, Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially stepped down from their duties as members of the royal family.
Ten years ago: Pope Francis made the happiest day of Christianity at the Vatican with a fervent plea for world peace, as he celebrated the first day of Easter as his pontiff. The Houston Astros, coming off a consecutive 100-loss season in the National League, made a huge American debut, beating the Texas Rangers last night 8-2.
Five years ago: Amid tight security, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and her family returned to Pakistan for the first time since she was shot in the head in 2012 for her work advocating for the education of young women. The Mormon Church has injected some diversity into what was a white leadership board by choosing the first ever Latin American Apostle and the first ever Asian apostles. Hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Cambridge, England, as the remains of physicist and author Stephen Hawking were carried to a private funeral.
One year on: Russian forces have begun evacuating the Chernobyl nuclear plant after soldiers dug up “significant doses” of radiation from trenches at the heavily contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company said. President Joe Biden has ordered the release of 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserves, including a six-month order to curb energy price spikes. Scientists have announced that they have somehow determined the complete genetic blueprint for human life.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor William Daniels is 96. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 89. Actor Shirley Jones is 89. Musician Herb Alpert is 88. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is 83. Former US Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is 83. Actor Christopher Walken is 80. Comedian Gabe Kaplan is 79. Sen. Angus King I-Maine is 79. Rock musician Mick Ralphs (Mad Company; Mott Hoople) is 79. Former President Al Gore is 76. Author David Eisenhower is 75. Actor Rhea Perlman is 75. Actor Ed Marinaro is 73. Stone musician Angus Young (AC/DC) is 68. Actor Marc McClure is 66. Actor William McNamara is 58. Alt-Russian musician Bob Crawford (Avett Brothers) is 52. Actor Ewan McGregor is 52. Actor Erica Tazel is 48 Actor Judi Shekoni is 45 .Rapper Tony Yayo is 45. Actor Kate Micucci is 43. Actor Brian Tyree Henry is 41. Actor Melissa Ordway is 40. Musician and producer Jack Antonoff (Fun, Taylor Swift) is 39. Actor Jessica Szohr is 38.
