Today in History: March 21

In 1935, Persia officially changed its name to Iran. In this Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016 file photo, an Iranian woman holds the national flag during a rally commemorating the 37th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, in Tehran, Iran. The nationwide rallies commemorate Feb. 11, 1979, when followers of Ayatollah Khomeini ousted U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Jim Lowrie, a guard on Alcatraz's cell block, looks over the empty cell block after the last of the prisoners left the Rock for removal to other prisons, March 21, 1963 in San Francisco. (AP Photo)
In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates and closed at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Jim Lowrie, a guard on Alcatraz’s cell block, looks over the empty cell block after the last of the prisoners left the Rock for removal to other prisons, March 21, 1963 in San Francisco. (AP Photo)
A Hararo woman holds the new Namibian flag which is to be hoisted in a ceremony when Nambia becomes independent after being under South African rule for 75 years, in Windhoek, Namibia, March 19, 1990. (AP Photo/John Parkin)
In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule. A Hararo woman holds the new Namibian flag which is to be hoisted in a ceremony when Nambia becomes independent after being under South African rule for 75 years, in Windhoek, Namibia, March 19, 1990. (AP Photo/John Parkin)
In 2006, the social media website Twitter was established with the sending of the first “tweet” by co-founder Jack Dorsey, who wrote: “just setting up my twttr.” This Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, file photo, shows a Twitter app on an iPhone screen, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
On this day in 1925, the so-called "Monkey Trial'' ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes found guilty of violating state law for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The conviction was later overturned on a technicality. (AP Photo)
In 1925, Tennessee Gov. Austin Peay (pee) signed the Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of the Theory of Evolution in public schools. (Tennessee repealed the law in 1967.) On this day in 1925, the so-called “Monkey Trial” ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes found guilty of violating state law for teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. The conviction was later overturned on a technicality. (AP Photo)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for a “major breach of trust;” the apology came after it was revealed that the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, whose clients included the Trump campaign, may have used data improperly obtained from Facebook users to try to sway elections. FILE – In this April 18, 2018, file photo, a graphic from the Cambridge Analytica website is displayed on a computer screen in New York. Among the most troubling cases of what made 2018 so ominous was the revelation in March that political data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica swept up personal information of millions of Facebook users for the purpose of manipulating national elections. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Vladimir "Spider" Sabich of Kyburz, Calif., spins through gate in men's slalom at Vail International Team races on March 7, 1969. Sabich, who had best time in first run, placed fifth, the only American in the top 15. Austria was first, France second and U.S. tied for third with Switzerland. (AP Photo/Robert D. Scott)
In 1976, champion skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich was shot and killed by his girlfriend, actress-singer Claudine Longet, in the home they had shared in Aspen, Colorado; Longet, who maintained the shooting was an accident, served 30 days in jail for negligent homicide. Vladimir “Spider” Sabich of Kyburz, Calif., spins through gate in men’s slalom at Vail International Team races on March 7, 1969. Sabich, who had best time in first run, placed fifth, the only American in the top 15. Austria was first, France second and U.S. tied for third with Switzerland. (AP Photo/Robert D. Scott)
(1/7)
Jim Lowrie, a guard on Alcatraz's cell block, looks over the empty cell block after the last of the prisoners left the Rock for removal to other prisons, March 21, 1963 in San Francisco. (AP Photo)
A Hararo woman holds the new Namibian flag which is to be hoisted in a ceremony when Nambia becomes independent after being under South African rule for 75 years, in Windhoek, Namibia, March 19, 1990. (AP Photo/John Parkin)
On this day in 1925, the so-called "Monkey Trial'' ended in Dayton, Tennessee, with John T. Scopes found guilty of violating state law for teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The conviction was later overturned on a technicality. (AP Photo)
Vladimir "Spider" Sabich of Kyburz, Calif., spins through gate in men's slalom at Vail International Team races on March 7, 1969. Sabich, who had best time in first run, placed fifth, the only American in the top 15. Austria was first, France second and U.S. tied for third with Switzerland. (AP Photo/Robert D. Scott)
Jim Lowrie, a guard on Alcatraz's cell block, looks over the empty cell block after the last of the prisoners left the Rock for removal to other prisons, March 21, 1963 in San Francisco. (AP Photo)

Today is Thursday, March 21, the 80th day of 2019.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 21, 2006, the social media website Twitter was established with the sending of the first “tweet” by co-founder Jack Dorsey, who wrote: “just setting up my twttr.”

On this date:

In 1556, Thomas Cranmer, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, was burned at the stake for heresy.

In 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.

In 1788, fire broke out in New Orleans on Good Friday, destroying 856 out of more than 1,100 structures; one death was reported.

In 1918, during World War I, Germany launched its Spring Offensive on the Western Front, hoping to break through the Allied lines before American reinforcements could arrive. (Although successful at first, the Spring Offensive ultimately failed.)

In 1925, Tennessee Gov. Austin Peay (pee) signed the Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of the Theory of Evolution in public schools. (Tennessee repealed the law in 1967.)

In 1935, Persia officially changed its name to Iran.

In 1945, during World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.

In 1963, the Alcatraz federal prison island in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates and closed at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1976, champion skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich was shot and killed by his girlfriend, actress-singer Claudine Longet, in the home they had shared in Aspen, Colorado; Longet, who maintained the shooting was an accident, served 30 days in jail for negligent homicide.

In 1981, Michael Donald, a black teenager in Mobile, Alabama, was abducted, tortured and killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan. (A lawsuit brought by Donald’s mother, Beulah Mae Donald, later resulted in a landmark judgment that bankrupted one Klan organization.)

In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule.

In 2007, former Vice President Al Gore made an emotional return to Congress as he pleaded with House and Senate committees to fight global warming; skeptical Republicans questioned the science behind his climate-change documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Ten years ago: In Oakland, Calif., parolee Lovelle Mixon shot and killed two motorcycle officers, then killed two SWAT team members while holed up in an apartment before he was killed by law enforcement. A busload of activists representing working- and middle-class families paid visits to the lavish Connecticut homes of American International Group executives to protest the tens of millions of dollars in bonuses awarded by the struggling insurance company after it had received a massive federal bailout. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (hah-meh-neh-EE’) dismissed overtures from President Barack Obama, saying Tehran did not see any change in U.S. policy under its new administration.

Five years ago: A federal judge ruled that Michigan’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, striking down a law widely embraced by voters a decade earlier. (More than 300 same-sex couples in four Michigan counties wed the next day before an appeals court suspended the decision; two Detroit-area nurses are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the marriage ban.) Character actor James Rebhorn, 65, died in South Orange, New Jersey.

One year ago: As a SWAT team moved in on his SUV, Mark Conditt, the suspect in the deadly bombings that had terrorized Austin, Texas for three weeks, used one of his own devices to take his own life. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for a “major breach of trust;” the apology came after it was revealed that the data mining firm Cambridge Analytica, whose clients included the Trump campaign, may have used data improperly obtained from Facebook users to try to sway elections. The fourth nor’easter in three weeks dumped more than a foot of snow on some parts of the East Coast.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up