Pictured: the commemorative plaque to Andrew Hallidie in Portsmouth Square. He was born on this day in 1836.
Today is Friday, March 16, 2018 the 75th day of the year with 290 days remaining.
- Sunrise: 7:08am
- Sunset: 6:42pm
...giving us 11 hours and 59 minutes of daylight. 3% of the waning moon will be visible (new moon tomorrow).
Tides at the Golden Gate
- High: 12:11am/11:42pm
- Low: 5:35am/5:44pm
Special international celebrations today…
- St. Urho's Day - Finland
It’s also…
- Black Press Day - USA
- Freedom of Information Day - USA
- National Artichoke Hearts Day
- Campfire Girls Day
- Curlew Day
- Goddard Day
- Lips Appreciation Day
- National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence
- No Selfies Day
- Panda Day
- World Sleep Day
On this day in…
1190 - The Crusaders began the massacre of Jews in York, England.
1521 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines. He was killed the next month by natives.
1527 - The Emperor Babur defeated the Rajputs at the Battle of Kanvaha in India.
1621 - Samoset walked into the settlement of Plymouth Colony, later Plymouth, MA. Samoset was a native from the Monhegan tribe in Maine who spoke English.
1802 - The U.S. Congress established the West Point Military Academy in New York.
1836 - The Republic of Texas approved a constitution.
1850 - The novel "The Scarlet Letter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was published for the first time.
1871 - The State of Delaware enacted the first fertilizer law.
1882 - The U.S. Senate approved a treaty allowing the United States to join the Red Cross.
1883 - Susan Hayhurst graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. She was the first woman pharmacy graduate.
1907 - The world's largest cruiser, the British Invincible was completed at Glasgow.
1908 - China released the Japanese steamship Tatsu Maru.
1909 - Cuba suffered its first revolt only six weeks after the inauguration of Gomez.
1913 - The 15,000-ton battleship Pennsylvania was launched at Newport News, VA.
1915 - The Federal Trade Commission began operation.
1917 - Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicated his throne.
1918 - Tallulah Bankhead made her New York acting debut with a role in "The Squab Farm."
1926 - Physicist Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fuel rocket.
1928 - The U.S. planned to send 1,000 more Marines to Nicaragua.
1935 - Adolf Hitler ordered a German rearmament and violated the Versailles Treaty.
1939 - Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.
1945 - Iwo Jima was declared secure by the Allies. However, small pockets of Japanese resistance still existed.
1946 - Algerian nationalist leader Ferhat Abbas was freed after spending a year in jail.
1946 - India called British Premier Attlee's independence off contradictory and a propaganda move.
1947 - Martial law was withdrawn in Tel Aviv.
1950 - Congress voted to remove federal taxes on oleomargarine.
1964 - Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were reinstated to the NFL after an 11-month suspension for betting on football games.
1964 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted a $1 billion war on poverty program to Congress.
1968 - U.S. troops in Vietnam destroyed a village consisting mostly of women and children. The event is known as the My-Lai massacre.
1978 - Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas. Moro was later murdered by the group.
1982 - Russia announced they would halt their deployment of new nuclear missiles in Western Europe.
1984 - Mozambique and South Africa signed a pact banning the support for one another's internal enemies.
1984 - William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped by gunmen. He died while in captivity.
1985 - "A Chorus Line" played its 4,000 performance.
1985 - Terry Anderson, an Associated Press newsman, was taken hostage in Beirut. He was released in December 4, 1991.
1987 - "Bostonia" magazine printed an English translation of Albert Einstein’s last high school report card.
1988 - Indictments were issued for Lt. Colonel Oliver North, Vice Admiral John Poindexter of the National Security Council, and two others for their involvement in the Iran-Contra affair.
1988 - Mickey Thompson and his wife Trudy were shot to death in their driveway. Thompson, known as the "Speed King," set nearly 500 auto speed endurance records including being the first person to travel more than 400 mph on land.
1989 - In the U.S.S.R., the Central Committee approved Gorbachev's agrarian reform plan.
1989 - The Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee approved large-scale agricultural reforms and elected the party's 100 members to the Congress of People's Deputies.
1993 - In France, ostrich meat was officially declared fit for human consumption.
1994 - Tonya Harding pled guilty in Portland, OR, to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up the attack on her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. She was fined $100,000. She was also banned from amateur figure skating.
1994 - Russia agreed to phase out production of weapons-grade plutonium.
1995 - NASA astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to visit the Russian space station Mir.
1998 - Rwanda began mass trials for 1994 genocide with 125,000 suspects for 500,000 murders.
1999 - The 20 members of the European Union's European Commission announced their resignations amid allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement.
Today’s birthday celebrants include (or included)...
- James Madison 1751
- George S. Ohm 1787 - Physicist and mathematician
- Rosa Bonheur 1822 - Artist, sculptor
- Andrew S. Hallidie 1836 - Originated the cable railway transportation system in San Francisco
- Maxim Gorky 1868 - Writer known as Alexei Maximovich Peshkov
- Conrad Nagel 1897 - Actor
- Henny Youngman 1906 - Comedian, violinist
- Josef Mengele 1911 - Known as the "the Angel of Death" during World War II
- Leo McKern 1920 - Actor
- Jerry Lewis 1926 - Actor, comedian
- Reuben "Ruby" Braff 1927 - Trumpeter, cornetist
- Tommy Flanagan 1930 - Pianist, composer
- Betty Johnson 1932 - Singer
- R. Walter Cunningham 1932 - Astronaut (Apollo 7)
- Bernardo Bertolucci 1940 - Director
- Chuck Woolery 1941 - Game show host ("Love Connection", "Lingo")
- Jerry Jeff Walker 1942 - Singer, songwriter
- Robin Williams 1947 - Country singer
- Erik Estrada 1949 - Actor ("CHiPs")
- Victor Garber 1949 - Actor
- Kate Nelligan 1951 - Actress
- Ray Benson 1951 - Country singer (Asleep at the Wheel)
- Hollis Stacy 1954 - Golfer
- Nancy Wilson 1954 - Musician (Heart)
- Isabelle Huppert 1955 - Actress
- Ozzie Newsome 1956 - Football player
- Flava Flav 1959 - Rapper (Public Enemy)
- Jimmy DeGrasso 1963 - Musician (Megadeth)
- Patty Griffin 1964 - Folk singer
- Rodney Peete 1966 - Football player
- Lauren Graham 1967 - Actress ("Gilmore Girls," "Parenthood")
- Judah Friedlander 1969 - Actor ("30 Rock")
- Alan Tudyk 1971 - Actor ("Firefly")
- Brooke Burns 1978 - Actress ("Baywatch"), game show host ("Dog Eat Dog")
- Wolfgang Van Halen 1991 - Musician (Van Halen)
