- 1760] Fight fire with fire: Boston's "Great Fire of 1760" destroys 349 shops and homes along King and Congress Streets. As a result of this fire and several others, Boston will become the first town in the nation to have professional fire fighters (3/20)...
- 1852] Debuted on this date: Harriet Beecher Stowe's book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (subtitled 'Life Among The Lowly') is published. It's also made into a silent movie (3/20)...
- 1952] Cleveland rocks: A riot breaks out at the "Moondog Coronation Ball" in Cleveland as Alan Freed aka 'King of The Moondogs' hosts what many consider the spark that ignited Rock 'n' Roll (3/21)...
- 1954] The Real Hoosiers: Milan beats Muncie Central for the Indiana state high school title in the game that the movie "Hoosiers" was based on. The final score of the game was 32-30. Obviously there was no clock in use yet (3/20)...
- 1958] "Happy Trails": Movie producer and third husband of Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Todd dies in a plane crash (aboard "Lucky Liz") (3/22). The couple had been married for just one year. Todd was 51...1978] Karl Wallenda, 73-year old patriarch of The Flying Wallendas, falls to his death while attempting to walk a cable extended between two hotels in San Juan (PR) (3/22)...1987] Dean Martin Jr. dies in a plane crash during a blizzard. Martin was serving in the Air National Guard at the time (3/21). The former member of Dino, Desi and Billy was just 35...
- 1963] Wedding Bells: Barbra Streisand and Elliott Gould walk down the aisle (3/21). The marriage will last for 8 years...1969] John Lennon and Yoko Ono rock down the aisle in Gibraltar (3/20). To commemorate what would have been their 30th anniversary in 1999, a set of postage stamps was issued in Gibraltar. Only John's death separates the two...
- 1973] Going to Hall: Eleven weeks after he's killed on a mercy mission, Roberto Clemente is voted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in a special election (3/20). The Puerto Rican star's last hit is number 3,000, a double off of the Mets' Jon Matlack on September 30, 1972. Clemente was only 38 at the time of his death...
- 1976] Guilty as charged: Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is convicted of armed robbery for her part in a San Francisco bank holdup (3/20)...1981] Jean Harris is sentenced to 15-to-life for the murder of lover Dr. Hyman Tarnower (3/20). Harris is released, her sentence commuted by New York Governor Mario Cuomo after 12 years served in 1992...1995] Colin Ferguson is sentenced to life for the LIRR massacre in which he killed 6 people in 1993 (3/22). He serves his sentence at Attica Prison...1996] Erik and Lyle Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of their parents. Both are serving a life term in prison (3/20)...
- 1991] City tragedies: Eric Clapton's 4-year old son Conor dies when he falls out the window of a 53rd floor apartment in Manhattan (3/20). Clapton will win a Grammy for his song written about Conor, "Tears in Heaven."...1995] Twelve are killed, more than 5,500 sickened when the nerve gas Sarin is released in the Tokyo subway system. Terrorists belonging to a doomsday cult in Japan are responsible for the attack (3/20)...
- 2004] Gotcha: The U.S. military charges 6 soldiers with abusing inmates at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (3/20)...For more on March 20 -22:
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