March 31, 2021

500 years ago
1521

Religion
Ferdinand Magellan and 50 of his men came ashore to present-day Limasawa to participate in the first Catholic mass in the Philippines.

400 years ago
1621

Died on this date
Philip III/II, 42. King of Spain, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia, 1598-1621. King Felipe III of Spain and Filipe II of Portugal acceded to his thrones upon the death of his father Philip I/II. Felipe III/Filipe II reigned when the Spanish Empire was at its height; he achieved temporary peace with the Dutch, and military success during the early years of the Thirty Years' War, but he was criticized for relying too much on chief minister Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, 1st Duke of Lerma, and his kingdom was declared bankrupt in 1607. King Felipe III/Filipe II took ill after leaving Portugal in 1619, and never recovered. He died from a pulmonary embolism, two weeks before his 43rd birthday, as the result of prolonged immobilzation, and was succeeded by his son Felpe IV/Filipe III.

390 years ago
1631

Died on this date
John Donne, 59. English clergyman and poet. Very Rev. Donne was born into a recusant Roman Catholic family, but eventually converted to Anglicanism. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1615, and was Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1621 until his death. Very Rev. Donne was known for his sermons, but was best known as the most prominent of the metaphysical poets, writing love poems, sonnets, religious poems, and satires.

350 years ago
1671

Died on this date
Anne Hyde, 34. English royal family member. Miss Hyde, daughter of Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, met James, Duke of York, son of King Charles I, in the Netherlands, where he had fled after his father's execution in 1649. The couple were married in 1660, with Anne becoming Duchess of York and Albany. Anne converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism soon after their marriage, and James later converted to Catholicism, which eventually led to the Glorious Revolution in 1688. The couple had eight children; six died in early childhood, but the survivors went on to become Queen Mary II and Queen Anne. Anne, Duchess of York and Albany died of breast cancer, 19 days after her 34th birthday. The Duke of York married Mary of Modena, a Roman Catholic, two years later, and acceded to the throne as King James II in 1685, but was deposed in the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

270 years ago
1751

Died on this date
Frederick, Prince of Wales, 44. U.K. royal family member. Frederick, the eldest but estranged son of King George II, was born in Hanover and was left there at the age of 7 in the care of his grand-uncle when his grandfather King George I and the future George II went to England upon George I's accession to the throne in 1714. Frederick didn't see his parents again until 1728, when he went to England the year after his father acceded to the throne; Frederick was created Prince of Wales in 1729. He was a patron of the arts and sciences, and was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1728 until his death. Prince Frederick married Augusta of Saxe-Gotha in 1736; the couple had nine children, the last of whom was born after Prince Frederick died of what may have been a pulmonary embolism. Prince Frederick was heir apparent to the throne, but when he died, that distinction was passed on to his eldest son, who acceded to the throne in 1760 as King George III.

260 years ago
1761

Disasters
The 1761 Lisbon earthquake struck off the Iberian Peninsula with an estimated magnitude of 8.5, six years after another earthquake had destroyed the city.

200 years ago
1821

Academia
McGill College (forerunner of McGill University) was granted a Royal charter.

170 years ago
1851

Born on this date
Francis Bell. Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1925. Sir Francis, a member of the Reform Party, was the first native-born Prime Minister of New Zealand. He held various cabinet posts from 1912 until becoming Prime Minister on May 14, 1925, four days after the death of William Massey. Sir Francis held the office for just 16 days, declining the party's offer to continue, and was replaced by Gordon Coates. Sir Francis died on March 13, 1936, 18 days before his 85th birthday.

150 years ago
1871

Born on this date
Arthur Griffith. Irish journalist and politician. Mr. Griffith founded the nationalist newspaper The United Irishman in 1899, and founded the political party Sinn Féin in 1905, serving as its president from 1911-1917. He represented East Cavan (1918-1921) and Cavan (1921-1922) in the Teachta Dála, and represented Fermanagh and Tyrone in the Northern Ireland Parliament (1921-1922), serving as Ireland's Minister for Home Affairs (1919-1921) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1921-1922). Mr. Griffith led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that produced the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, and served as President of Dáil Éireann from January 10, 1922 until his death from a cerebral hemorrhage resulting from heart failure at the age of 51 on August 12, 1922.

130 years ago
1891

Born on this date
Victor Varconi. Hungarian-born actor. Mr. Varconi, born Mihály Várkony began acting in silent films in his native country before appearing in films in Germany and Austria in the early 1920s. He became the first Hungarian to act in an American movie when he played a supporting role in Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo (1924). Mr. Varconi played Pontius Pilate in The King of Kings (1927) and continued to have prominent roles in silent movies, but his Hungarian accent wasn't suited to American sound movies, and his roles diminished, although he appeared in movies until 1959. He and fellow Hungarian native Bela Lugosi appeared together in The Black Camel (1931). Mr. Varconi died of a heart attack on June 6, 1976 at the age of 85.

120 years ago
1901

Opera
Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák, with libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, received its premiére performance at the National Opera House in Prague.

110 years ago
1911

Born on this date
Freddie Green. U.S. musician. Mr. Green was a jazz guitarist who played with Count Basie's band from 1937 until his death on March 1, 1987, 30 days before his 76th birthday. Mr. Green also performed with artists such as Buck Clayton and Sarah Vaughan.

100 years ago
1921

Born on this date
Lowell Fulson. U.S. musician. Mr. Fulson, aka Lowell Fulsom, was a guitarist and songwriter who was the most important figure in West Coast blues in the 1940s and '50s. He recorded seven songs which reached the top ten of the Billboard rhythm and blues singles chart, with Blue Shadows reaching #1 and its B-side, Low Society Blues, reaching #8 in 1950. Mr. Fulson died from complications of kidney disease, diabetes, and congestive heart failure on March 7, 1999, 24 days before his 78th birthday.

Peggy Rea. U.S. actress. Miss Rea was a character actress who appeared in numerous television programs from the 1950s through the 1990s, often in matronly roles. She played Jean Kelly in 51 episodes of the comedy series Grace Under Fire (1993-1998). Miss Rea died of heart failure on February 5, 2011 at the age of 89.

Defense
The Royal Australian Air Force was formed.

Hockey
NHL/PCHA
Stanley Cup
Finals
Ottawa Senators (NHL) 2 @ Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA) 3 (Best-of-five series tied 2-2)

90 years ago
1931

Died on this date
Knute Rockne, 43. U.S. football coach. Mr. Rockne, a native of Norway, was head coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1918 until his death. He was credited with popularizing the forward pass. The Fighting Irish compiled a record of 105 wins, 12 losses, and 5 ties in 13 seasons under Mr. Rockne, and became an American institution. His teams won national championships in 1919; 1920; 1924; 1929; and 1930. Mr. Rockne, who was flying from Kansas City to Los Angeles to make a football movie, was killed along with six other people when their plane’s engines failed and it crashed in a pasture near Bazaar, Kansas. The biographical movie Knute Rockne, All American, starring Pat O’Brien, was released in 1940. Mr. Rockne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1951.

Education
Quebec education secretary Athanase David presented an agreement on education of Jewish students in the province.

Disasters
An earthquake in Nicaragua destroyed Managua, killing 2,000 people.

80 years ago
1941

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): The Woodpecker Song--Kate Smith; Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (5th month at #1)

War
The Cuban government seized an Italian freighter as a "precautionary measure," while the crews of a German freighter and an Italian liner set fire to their ships in Costa Rican ports.

Diplomacy
Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka arrived in Rome to exchange personal greetings with Italian leaders.

German Minister to Yugoslavia Viktor von Heeren left Belgrade for Berlin; the Italian diplomatic colony also left.

Germany and Italy protested to the U.S. State Department against the seizure of their merchant ships.

Academia
City College of New York registrar John Kenneth Ackley was suspended pending a trial before the Board of Higher Education on charges that he was a member of the Communist Party.

Economics and finance
TNEC urged a "permanent decentralization" of economic and political power to safeguard democracy in a report to Congress based on its two-year investigation of corporations.

The U.S. Justice Department announced that a grand jury had indicted three of the country's largest drug manufacturers on charges of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act by fixing the price of insulin.

Labour
The U.S. National Defense Mediation Board announced the settlement of the Congress of Industrial Organizations Steel Workers Organizing Committee at Vanadium Steel Corporation's plant in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.

Deportation procedures against Australian-born CIO leader Harry Bridges began in San Francisco.

75 years ago
1946

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Rum and Coca-Cola--The Andrews Sisters (2nd month at #1)

Died on this date
John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, 59. U.K. military officer and politician. Viscount Gort served with the British Expeditionary Force in France in World War I--winning the Victoria Cross in 1918--and commanded the force in the first year of World War II; the force was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. He served as Governor of Gibraltar (1941-1942); Governor of Malta (1942-1944); and High Commissioner for Palestine and High Commissioner for Trans-Jordan (1944-1945). Viscount Gort died of liver cancer.

Politics and government
In Greece's first parliamentary elections in 10 years, the right-wing Greek Populist Party won a majority of 200 seats, as leftists boycotted the elections.

The moderate leftist cabinet of Socialist Prime Minister Achille van Acker took office in Belgium, with former Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak as Foreign Minister.

Social Democrats in the Western zones of Berlin rejected a merger with Communists, but voted for continued cooperation, while Soviet authorities prevented a vote in their zone.

Former Italian Prime Minisers Vittorio Orlando, Ivanoe Bonomi, and Francesco Nitti, along with philosopher Benedetto Croce, announced the formation of the right-wind Democratic Union.

Diplomacy
The U.S.S.R. paid the United Nations $1.7 million, its share of the UN's $25-million working capital fund.

Defense
The U.S. State, War, and Navy Departments announced that the Army and Navy Staff College would be reorganized as the National War College and would give courses in civilian subjects pertinent to national defense.

Medicine
The American Chemical Society awarded its Priestly Medal to Sir Ian Morris Heilbron of the United Kingdom for his work with penicillin and vitamins.

Health
The American Geographical Society announced plans for the compilation of an Atlas of Diseases to aid in the study of the relationship between environment and health.

Religion
The World Council of Churches established a loan fund to help rebuild church buildings destroyed in World War II.

70 years ago
1951

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): Silver Dollar--Art Mooney and his Orchestra (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in the U.S.A. (Billboard): If--Perry Como (Best Seller--4th week at #1; Disc Jockey--5th week at #1; Jukebox--1st week at #1)

U.S.A. Top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Be My Love--Mario Lanza (5th week at #1)
2 If--Perry Como
3 My Heart Cries for You--Guy Mitchell
--Dinah Shore
--Vic Damone
--Jimmy Wakely
4 You’re Just in Love--Perry Como
5 The Tennessee Waltz--Patti Page
--Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
--Les Paul and Mary Ford
--Jo Stafford
6 Aba Daba Honeymoon--Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter
7 Mockin’ Bird Hill--Les Paul and Mary Ford
--Patti Page
8 A Penny a Kiss--Tony Martin and Dinah Shore
9 Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)--Patti Page
10 The Roving Kind--Guy Mitchell
--The Weavers

Singles entering the chart were Lonesome Gal by Dinah Shore (#25); Always You, with versions by Bobby Wayne; and Nat King Cole (#30); and Shenandoah Waltz, with versions by the Baron Eliot Octet; and Tommy Tucker and his Orchestra (#31).

Diplomacy
In a speech endorsed by the U.S. State Department, Republican Party foreign affairs adviser John Foster Dulles gave the "suggested" outlines of a peace treaty with Japan, including limitation of Japanese rule to the home islands, continued U.S. administration of the Ryukyu and Bonin islands and eventual Japanese membership in a Pacific defense alliance.

Defense
U.S. President Harry Truman ordered draft deferment of college students who had high scholastic standings or received high marks on special aptitude tests to be given by the government this spring and summer.

Technology
Remington Rand delivered the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.

Economics and finance
U.S. Commerce Secretary Charles Sawyer told the Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee that government sales of surplus World War II ships had been made to private groups with full knowledge that the transactions might lead to large profits and avoidance of federal taxes.

Swimming
NCAA championships @ Austin, Texas
Yale University won the national championship.

60 years ago
1961

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Wooden Heart--Elvis Presley (2nd week at #1)

On television tonight
The Twilight Zone, on CBS
Tonight’s episode: Long Distance Call, starring Billy Mumy, Lili Darvas, and Philip Abbott

This was the sixth and last episode to be shot on videotape instead of film. The videotaped episodes were transferred to film for television broadcast, but were restored to their original format for release on videocassette and DVD.

50 years ago
1971

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Hot Love--T. Rex (2nd week at #1)

Space
The satellite ISIS 2, a U.S.-Canada collaboration, was launched. Its mission was to study ionization in the atmosphere.

Crime
The court-martial jury that had convicted U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley of murder two days earlier for his role in the 1968 massacre of civilians in the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai sentenced him to life imprisonment along with dismissal from the service and forfeiture of his pay and allowances, but he was to retain his status and pay until the case was reviewed by another command.

Terrorism
FLQ terrorist Paul Rose was sentenced in Montreal to life in prison for his role in the October 1970 kidnapping and murder of Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and the kidnapping of British Trade Commissioner James Cross.

Diplomacy
India introduced a resolution to the United Nations charging that the killing of rebels in Bangladesh by Pakistani soldiers "amounts to genocide."

Disasters
Four pilots on a Western Airlines training flight were killed when it crashed and burned on landing at Ontario, California.

40 years ago
1981

Died on this date
Enid Bagnold, 91. U.K. authoress and playwright. Miss Bagnold wrote novels, plays, and poems in a career spanning more than 50 years. She was best known for the novel National Velvet (1935) and the play The Chalk Garden (1955). Miss Bagnold was married to Sir Roderick Jones, chairman of Reuters news service, from 1920 until his death in 1962.

Movies
After a one-day postponement because of the assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Reagan, the Academy Awards for 1980 were presented, with Ordinary People named Best Picture. Other Oscars included: Director--Robert Redford (Ordinary People); Actor--Robert De Niro (Raging Bull); Actress--Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner's Daughter); Supporting Actor--Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People); Supporting Actress--Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard); Foreign Language Film--Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears.





Crime
The doctors treating U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who had been shot in Washington by John Hinckley the previous day, admitted that Mr. Reagan, who was making tremendous progress, had been in danger of losing his life immediately after the shooting. He had been having breathing problems, was having chest pains, was spitting up blood, and his blood pressure was low and falling. Mr. Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady, who had been shot in the head, was showing miraculous improvement; he was conscious and could move his right arm and leg, despite extensive damage to his brain tissue.

Terrorism
An Indonesian jet with 55 passengers and crew members aboard that had been held hostage at Bangkok for two days was rushed by Indonesian commandos, who killed four of the five hijackers and freed the hostages. The gun battle lasted three minutes.

30 years ago
1991

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Unchained Melody--The Righteous Brothers (6th week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Crazy--Seal (4th week at #1)

Austria's Top 10 (Ö3)
1 Joyride--Roxette
2 Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)--C & C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams
3 Kränk di net--Jazz Gitti & her Disco Killers
4 Secret Love--Bee Gees
5 Crazy--Seal
6 No Coke--Dr. Alban
7 Unchained Melody--The Righteous Brothers
8 Hello Afrika--Dr. Alban featuring Leila K.
9 Sister Soul & Mr. Beat--Beat 4 Feet featuring Kim Cooper
10 3 A.M. Eternal (Live at the S.S.L.)--The KLF

Singles entering the chart were Do the Bartman by the Simpsons (#17); Mea Culpa Part II by Enigma (#21); Easier to Walk Away by Elton John (#28); and Auberge by Chris Rea (#30).

World events
Nearly 99% of voters in a referendum in the Soviet republic of Georgia supported the country's independence from the Soviet Union.

Politics and government
In the first multiparty national election since World War II, Albanian voters chose to stick with the ruling Workers’ (Communist) Party. The Workers’ Party won about two-thirds of the popular vote and a large majority in parliament. The opposition Democratic Party did well in urban areas, but rural voters backed the Communists.

Curling
Men's world championship @ Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg
Final
Scotland 7 Canada 2

The David Smith rink, representing Scotland, stole a point in the 7th end and scored 3 points in the 8th to break the game open and defeat the Kevin Martin rink of Avonair Curling Club in Edmonton, representing Canada. Mr. Martin's rink had posted a 9-0 record in round robin play and had defeated Eigel Ramsfjell's Norweginan rink 5-3 in the semi-finals. Mr. Smith's rink had gone 7-2 in the round robin before defeating Steve Brown's American rink 4-2 in the semi-finals.



Hockey
NHL
Montreal 1 @ Quebec 4

25 years ago
1996

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Ridin' Low--L.A.D.

#1 single in Austria (Ö3): Lemon Tree--Fool's Garden (2nd week at #1)

#1 single in Switzerland: Children--Robert Miles (7th week at #1)

#1 single in Scotland (OCC): The X-Files--Mark Snow

20 years ago
2001

Died on this date
Clifford Shull, 85. U.S. physicist. Dr. Shull was awarded a share of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the development of the neutron diffraction technique" and "for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matter."

Brian Cole, 22. U.S. baseball player. Mr. Cole was an outfielder in the New York Mets organization (1998-2000) and was regarded as the organization's most exciting prospect, batting .306 with 42 home runs and 193 runs batted in in 320 games. Mr. Cole was driving home from spring training when his sport utility vehicle flipped over on the Florida interstate highway, killing him.

World events
Before dawn, Serbian police and security forces attempted to arrest former President Slobodan Milosevic at his home in Belgrade. The arrest, for allegations of corruption while in office, was unrelated to his indictment by an international tribunal for war crimes. His supporters, fearing an attempt to arrest him, had massed at his compound. At 2 A.M., 100 or more police officers appeared at the compound, joined at 2:30 A.M. by special forces units. A Yugoslav army unit also barred access to the compound for a while. Shots were exchanged by the authorities and by bodyguards and armed supporters of Mr. Milosevic in the compound, with two police officers wounded. The standoff continued throughout the day.

Economics and finance
Canada’s softwood lumber deal with the United States expired. U.S. companies immediately began asking Washington to establish anti-dumping and countervailing duties against Canadian products.

Basketball
NCAA
Men's Championship @ Minneapolis
Semi-finals
Duke 95 Maryland 84
Arizona 80 Michigan State 61

Duke overcame a 22-point deficit to advance to the final. Michigan State was the defending national champion.







10 years ago
2011

Died on this date
Mary Greyeyes, 90. Canadian soldier. Private Greyeyes, a native of Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, sreved with the Canadian Women's Army Corps from 1942-1946, becoming the first Canadian Indian woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces. She died in Vancouver.

Gil Clancy, 88. U.S. boxing trainer and broadcaster. Mr. Clancy worked with boxers such as Emile Griffith, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, and Oscar De La Hoya. He was a colour commentator on boxing telecasts in the 1980s and '90s, and won the Sam Taub Award in 1983 for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism. Mr. Clancy was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.