Muriel – Ruy Belo Março 21, 2006

Às vezes se te lembras procurava-te
retinha-te esgotava-te e se te não perdia
era só por haver-te já perdido ao encontrar-te
Nada no fundo tinha que dizer-te
e para ver-te verdadeiramente
e na tua visão me comprazer
indispensável era evitar ter-te
Era tudo tão simples quando te esperava
tão disponível como então eu estava
Mas hoje há os papéis há as voltas a dar
há gente à minha volta há a gravata
Misturei muitas coisas com a tua imagem
Tu és a mesma mas nem imaginas
como mudou aquele que te esperava
Tu sabes como era se soubesses como é
Numa vida tão curta mudei tanto
que é com certo espanto que no espelho da manhã
distraído diviso a cara que me resta
depois de tudo quanto o tempo me levou
Eu tinha uma cidade tinha o nome de madrid
havia as ruas as pessoas o anonimato
os bares os cinemas os museus
um dia vi-te e desde então madrid
se porventura tem ainda para mim sentido
é ser solidão que te rodeia a ti
Mas o preço que pago por te ter
é ter-te apenas quanto poder ver-te
e ao ver-te saber que vou deixar de ver-te
Sou muito pobre tenho só por mim
no meio destas ruas e do pão e dos jornais
este sol de Janeiro e alguns amigos mais
Mesmo agora te vejo e mesmo ao ver-te não te vejo
pois sei que dentro em pouco deixarei de ver-te
Eu aprendi a ver a minha infância
vim a saber mais tarde a importância desse verbo para os gregos
e penso que se bach hoje nascesse
em vez de ter composto aquele prelúdio e fuga em ré maior
que esta mesma tarde num concerto ouvi
teria concebido aqueles sweet hunters
que esta noite vi no cinema rosales
Vejo-te agora vi-te ontem e anteontem
E penso que se nunca a bem dizer te vejo
se fosse além de ver-te sem remédio te perdia
Mas eu dizia que te via aqui e acolá
e quando te não via dependia
do momento marcado para ver-te
Eu chegava primeiro e tinha de esperar-te
e antes de chegares já lá estavas
naquele preciso sítio combinado
onde sempre chegavas sempre tarde
ainda que antes mesmo de chegares lá estivesses
se ausente mais presente pela expectativa
por isso mais te via do que ao ter-te à minha frente
Mas sabia e sei que um dia não virás
que até duvidarei se tu estiveste onde estiveste
ou até se exististe ou se eu mesmo existi
pois na dúvida tenho a única certeza
Terá mesmo existido o sítio onde estivemos?
Aquela hora certa aquele lugar?
À força de o pensar penso que não
Na melhor das hipóteses estou longe
qualquer de nós terá talvez morrido
No fundo quem nos visse àquela hora
à saída do metro de serrano
sensivelmente em frente daquele bar
poderia pensar que éramos reais
pontos materiais de referência
como as árvores ou os candeeiros
Talvez pensasse que naqueles encontro
sem que talvez no fundo procurássemos
o encontro profundo com nós mesmos
haveria entre nós um verdadeiro encontro
como o que apenas temos nos encontros
que vemos entre os outros onde só afinal somos felizes
Isso era por exemplo o que me acontecia
quando há anos nas manhãs de roma
entre os pinheiros ainda indecisos
do meu perdido parque de villa borghese
eu via essa mulher e esse homem
que naqueles encontros pontuais
Decerto não seriam tão felizes como neles eu
pois a felicidade para nós possível
é sempre a que sonhamos que há nos outros
Até que certo dia não sei bem
Ou não passei por lá ou eles não foram
nunca mais foram nunca mais passei por lá
Passamos como tudo sem remédio passa
e um dia decerto mesmo duvidamos
dia não tão distante como nós pensamos
se estivemos ali se madrid existiu
Se portanto chegares tu primeiro porventura
alguma vez daqui a alguns anosjunto de califórnia vinte e um
que não te admires se olhares e me não vires
Estarei longe talvez tenha envelhecido
Terei até talvez mesmo morrido
Não te deixes ficar sequer à minha espera
não telefones não marques o número
ele terá mudado a casa será outra
Nada penses ou faças vai-te embora
tu serás nessa altura jovem como agora
tu serás sempre a mesma fresca jovem pura
que alaga de luz todos os olhos
que exibe o sossego dos antigos templos
e que resiste ao tempo como a pedra
que vê passar os dias um por um
que contempla a sucessão de escuridão e luz
e assiste ao assalto pelo sol
daquele poder que pertencia à lua
que transfigura em luxo o próprio lixo
que tão de leve vive que nem dão por ela
as parcas implacáveis para os outros
que embora tudo mude nunca muda
ou se mudar que se não lembre de morrer
ou que enfim morra mas que não me desiluda
Dizia que ao chegar se olhares e não me vires
nada penses ou faças vai-te embora
eu não te faço falta e não tem sentido
esperares por quem talvez tenha morrido
ou nem sequer talvez tenha existido

Ruy Belo (n. S. João da Ribeira 1933, m. Rio Maior 1978)

Pelo Sonho é que vamos – Sebastião da Gama

Pelo Sonho é que vamos,
comovidos e mudos.
Chegamos? Não chegamos?
Haja ou não haja frutos,
pelo sonho é que vamos.
Basta a fé no que temos,
Basta a esperança naquilo
que talvez não teremos.
Basta que a alma demos,
com a mesma alegria,
ao que desconhecemos
e do que é do dia-a-dia.
Chegamos? Não chegamos?
– Partimos. Vamos. Somos.

Sebastião da Gama

TABACARIA – Fernando Pessoa

“Je ne suis rien. Je ne serai jamais rien. Je ne peux vouloir être rien. À part ça, je porte en moi tous les rêves du monde”.

Não sou nada.
Nunca serei nada.
Não posso querer ser nada.
À parte isso, tenho em mim todos os sonhos do mundo.
Janelas do meu quarto,
Do meu quarto de um dos milhões do mundo que ninguém sabe quem é
(E se soubessem quem é, o que saberiam?),
Dais para o mistério de uma rua cruzada constantemente por gente,
Para uma rua inacessível a todos os pensamentos,
Real, impossivelmente real, certa, desconhecidamente certa,
Com o mistério das coisas por baixo das pedras e dos seres,
Com a morte a pôr humidade nas paredes e cabelos brancos nos homens,
Com o Destino a conduzir a carroça de tudo pela estrada de nada.
Estou hoje vencido, como se soubesse a verdade.
Estou hoje lúcido, como se estivesse para morrer,
E não tivesse mais irmandade com as coisas
Senão uma despedida, tornando-se esta casa e este lado da rua
A fileira de carruagens de um comboio, e uma partida apitada
De dentro da minha cabeça,
E uma sacudidela dos meus nervos e um ranger de ossos na ida.
Estou hoje perplexo como quem pensou e achou e esqueceu.
Estou hoje dividido entre a lealdade que devo
À Tabacaria do outro lado da rua, como coisa real por fora,
E à sensação de que tudo é sonho, como coisa real por dentro.
Falhei em tudo.
Como não fiz propósito nenhum, talvez tudo fosse nada.
A aprendizagem que me deram,
Desci dela pela janela das traseiras da casa,
Fui até ao campo com grandes propósitos.
Mas lá encontrei só ervas e árvores,
E quando havia gente era igual à outra.
Saio da janela, sento-me numa cadeira. Em que hei-de pensar?
Que sei eu do que serei, eu que não sei o que sou?
Ser o que penso? Mas penso ser tanta coisa!
E há tantos que pensam ser a mesma coisa que não pode haver tantos!
Génio? Neste momento
Cem mil cérebros se concebem em sonho génios como eu,
E a história não marcará, quem sabe?, nem um,
Nem haverá senão estrume de tantas conquistas futuras.
Não, não creio em mim.
Em todos os manicómios há doidos malucos com tantas certezas!
Eu, que não tenho nenhuma certeza, sou mais certo ou menos certo?
Não, nem em mim…
Em quantas mansardas e não-mansardas do mundo
Não estão nesta hora génios-para-si-mesmos sonhando?
Quantas aspirações altas e nobres e lúcidas –
Sim, verdadeiramente altas e nobres e lúcidas -,
E quem sabe se realizáveis,
Nunca verão a luz do sol real nem acharão ouvidos de gente?
O mundo é para quem nasce para o conquistar
E não para quem sonha que pode conquistá-lo, ainda que tenha razão.
Tenho sonhado mais que o que Napoleão fez.
Tenho apertado ao peito hipotético mais humanidades do que Cristo,
Tenho feito filosofias em segredo que nenhum Kant escreveu.
Mas sou, e talvez serei sempre, o da mansarda,
Ainda que não more nela;
Serei sempre o que não nasceu para isso;
Serei sempre só o que tinha qualidades;
Serei sempre o que esperou que lhe abrissem a porta ao pé de uma parede sem porta
E cantou a cantiga do Infinito numa capoeira,
E ouviu a voz de Deus num poço tapado.
Crer em mim? Não, nem em nada.
Derrame-me a Natureza sobre a cabeça ardente
O seu sol, a sua chuva, o vento que me acha o cabelo,
E o resto que venha se vier, ou tiver que vir, ou não venha.
Escravos cardíacos das estrelas,
Conquistámos todo o mundo antes de nos levantar da cama;
Mas acordámos e ele é opaco,
Levantámo-nos e ele é alheio,
Saímos de casa e ele é a terra inteira,
Mais o sistema solar e a Via Láctea e o Indefinido.
(Come chocolates, pequena;
Come chocolates!
Olha que não há mais metafísica no mundo senão chocolates.
Olha que as religiões todas não ensinam mais que a confeitaria.
Come, pequena suja, come!
Pudesse eu comer chocolates com a mesma verdade com que comes!
Mas eu penso e, ao tirar o papel de prata, que é de folhas de estanho,
Deito tudo para o chão, como tenho deitado a vida.)
Mas ao menos fica da amargura do que nunca serei
A caligrafia rápida destes versos,
Pórtico partido para o Impossível.
Mas ao menos consagro a mim mesmo um desprezo sem lágrimas,
Nobre ao menos no gesto largo com que atiro
A roupa suja que sou, sem rol, pra o decurso das coisas,
E fico em casa sem camisa.
(Tu, que consolas, que não existes e por isso consolas,
Ou deusa grega, concebida como estátua que fosse viva,
Ou patrícia romana, impossivelmente nobre e nefasta,
Ou princesa de trovadores, gentilíssima e colorida,
Ou marquesa do século dezoito, decotada e longínqua,
Ou cocote célebre do tempo dos nossos pais,
Ou não sei quê moderno – não concebo bem o quê -,
Tudo isso, seja o que for, que sejas, se pode inspirar que inspire!
Meu coração é um balde despejado.
Como os que invocam espíritos invocam espíritos invoco
A mim mesmo e não encontro nada.
Chego à janela e vejo a rua com uma nitidez absoluta.
Vejo as lojas, vejo os passeios, vejo os carros que passam,
Vejo os entes vivos vestidos que se cruzam,
Vejo os cães que também existem,
E tudo isto me pesa como uma condenação ao degredo,
E tudo isto é estrangeiro, como tudo.)
Vivi, estudei, amei, e até cri,
E hoje não há mendigo que eu não inveje só por não ser eu.
Olho a cada um os andrajos e as chagas e a mentira,
E penso: talvez nunca vivesses nem estudasses nem amasses nem cresses
(Porque é possível fazer a realidade de tudo isso sem fazer nada disso);
Talvez tenhas existido apenas, como um lagarto a quem cortam o rabo
E que é rabo para aquém do lagarto remexidamente.
Fiz de mim o que não soube,
E o que podia fazer de mim não o fiz.
O dominó que vesti era errado.
Conheceram-me logo por quem não era e não desmenti, e perdi-me.
Quando quis tirar a máscara,
Estava pegada à cara.
Quando a tirei e me vi ao espelho,
Já tinha envelhecido.
Estava bêbado, já não sabia vestir o dominó que não tinha tirado.
Deitei fora a máscara e dormi no vestiário
Como um cão tolerado pela gerência
Por ser inofensivo
E vou escrever esta história para provar que sou sublime.
Essência musical dos meus versos inúteis,
Quem me dera encontrar-te como coisa que eu fizesse,
E não ficasse sempre defronte da Tabacaria de defronte,
Calcando aos pés a consciência de estar existindo,
Como um tapete em que um bêbado tropeça
Ou um capacho que os ciganos roubaram e não valia nada.
Mas o dono da Tabacaria chegou à porta e ficou à porta.
Olhou-o com o desconforto da cabeça mal voltada
E com o desconforto da alma mal-entendendo.
Ele morrerá e eu morrerei.
Ele deixará a tabuleta, e eu deixarei versos.
A certa altura morrerá a tabuleta também, e os versos também.
Depois de certa altura morrerá a rua onde esteve a tabuleta,
E a língua em que foram escritos os versos.
Morrerá depois o planeta girante em que tudo isto se deu.
Em outros satélites de outros sistemas qualquer coisa como gente
Continuará fazendo coisas como versos e vivendo por baixo de coisas como tabuletas,
Sempre uma coisa defronte da outra,
Sempre uma coisa tão inútil como a outra,
Sempre o impossível tão estúpido como o real,
Sempre o mistério do fundo tão certo como o sono de mistério da superfície,
Sempre isto ou sempre outra coisa ou nem uma coisa nem outra.
Mas um homem entrou na Tabacaria (para comprar tabaco?),
E a realidade plausível cai de repente em cima de mim.
Semiergo-me enérgico, convencido, humano,
E vou tencionar escrever estes versos em que digo o contrário.
Acendo um cigarro ao pensar em escrevê-los
E saboreio no cigarro a libertação de todos os pensamentos.
Sigo o fumo como uma rota própria,
E gozo, num momento sensitivo e competente,
A libertação de todas as especulações
E a consciência de que a metafísica é uma consequência de estar mal disposto.
Depois deito-me para trás na cadeira
E continuo fumando.
Enquanto o Destino mo conceder, continuarei fumando.
(Se eu casasse com a filha da minha lavadeira
Talvez fosse feliz.)
Visto isto, levanto-me da cadeira. Vou à janela.
O homem saiu da Tabacaria (metendo troco na algibeira das calças?).
Ah, conheço-o: é o Esteves sem metafísica.
(O dono da Tabacaria chegou à porta.)
Como por um instinto divino o Esteves voltou-se e viu-me.
Acenou-me adeus gritei-lhe Adeus ó Esteves!, e o universo
Reconstruiu-se-me sem ideal nem esperança, e o dono da Tabacaria sorriu.

(15-1-1928)

Fernando Pessoa

Dia Internacional da Poesia

Neste Dia Internacional da Poesia o nosso espaço destinado à Poesia vai ser um pouco mais alargado para transcrevermos três poemas de que gostamos muito:

Tabacaria de Fernando Pessoa, uma vez mais

Pelo Sonho é que vamos de Sebastião da Gama e

Muriel de Ruy Belo, até porque hoje também se dá a efeméride do nascimento de Bach a quem o poema alude. Três poemas incontornáveis e inefáveis da rica literatura portuguesa.

E não se esqueçam, todos os dias, mas hoje especialmente, de ler poesia.

On this day in History – Mar. 21

• 1076 – Robert I, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1011)
• 1098 – The monastery in Citeaux, France was founded by St. Robert, marking the beginning of the Roman Catholic Cistercian religious order.
• 1306 – Robert II, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1248)
• 1349 – 3,000 Jews were killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany.
• 1413 – Henry V becomes King of England.
• 1487 – Nicholas of Flue dies (b. 1417). Swiss hermit and saint.
• 1521 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony was born (d. 1553)
• 1527 – Hermann Finck was born (d. 1558). German composer.
• 1542 – Henry VIII issued a a statute against witchcraft.
• 1556 – Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury was burned at the stake for violating heresy laws revised under the Roman Catholic queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary.
• 1656 – James Ussher dies (b. 1581). Irish Catholic archbishop.
• 1676 – Henri Sauval dies (b. 1623). French historian.
• 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach (d. 1750). German composer and organist; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque music to its culmination, creating masterful and vigorous works in almost every musical form known in his period.
• 1713 – Francis Lewis was born (d. 1803). American signatory to the Declaration of Independence
• 1729 – John Law dies (b. 1671). Scottish economist.
• 1734 – Robert Wodrow dies (b. 1679). Scottish historian.
• 1751 – Johann Heinrich Zedler dies (b. 1706). German publisher.
• 1762 – Nicolas Louis de Lacaille dies (b. 1713). French astronomer.
• 1763 – Jean Paul was born (d. 1825). German writer.
• 1768 – Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier was born in Auxerre. French mathematician and physicist.
• 1772 – Jacques-Nicolas Bellin dies (b. 1703). French cartographer.
• 1788 – Almost the entire city of New Orleans, LA, was destroyed by fire. 856 buildings were destroyed.
• 1790 – Thomas Jefferson reported to U.S. President George Washington as the new secretary of state.
• 1795 – Giovanni Arduino dies (b. 1714). Italian geologist.
• 1800 – With the church leadership driven out of the Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
• 1801 – The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.
• 1801 – Andrea Luchesi dies (b. 1741). Italian composer.
• 1804 – Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc d’Enghien dies executed (b. 1772)
• 1804 – Code Napoléon was adopted as French civil law.
• 1806 – Benito Juarez was born (d. 1872). Mexican Statesman and national hero.
• 1813 – James Jesse Strang was born.
• 1824 – A fire at a Cairo ammunitions dump killed 4,000 horses.
• 1826 – The Rensselaer School in Troy, NY, was incorporated. The school became known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was the first engineering college in the U.S.
• 1835 – Charles Darwin & Mariano Gonzales met at Portillo Pass.
• 1839 – Modest Mussorgsky was born (d. 1881). Russian composer.
• 1843 – Preacher William Miller of Massachusetts predicted the world would end on this date. The world did not end, but Miller’s ideas led to the creation of the Adventist churches in America.
• 1843 – Robert Southey dies (b. 1774). English poet.
• 1843 – Guadalupe Victoria dies (b. 1786). First President of Mexico.
• 1844 – The Baha’i calendar began (Baha 1, 1).
• 1846 – Nascimento de Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, desenhador e ceramista. Personagem sempre ligada a uma certa rebeldia, é autor da famosa figura do «Zé Povinho».
• 1851 – Emperor Tu Duc ordered that Christian priests be put to death.
• 1851 – Yosemite Valley was discovered in California.
• 1857 – Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000.
• 1858 – British forces in India lift the siege of Lucknow, ending the Indian Mutiny.
• 1859 – In Philadelphia, the first Zoological Society was incorporated.
• 1868 – The Sorosos club for professional women was formed in New York City by Jennie June. It was the first of its kind.
• 1869 – Florenz Ziegfeld was born (d. 1932). American theatrical producer.
• 1871 – Journalist Henry Morton Stanley began his famous expedition to Africa.
• 1876 – John Tewksbury was born (d. 1968). American athlete.
• 1880 – Hans Hofmann was born. German painter who was an influential art teacher and a pioneer in the use of improvisatory techniques whose work paved the way for American painters to develop Abstract Expressionism.
• 1880 – Gilbert M. ‘Broncho Billy’ Anderson was born (d. 1971). American actor.
• 1881 – Samuel Courtauld dies (b. 1793). American-born textile magnate
• 1882 – Bascom Lunsford was born in Mars Hill, North Carolina (d. 4 Sep 1973). American folk musician who was called “Minstrel of the Appalachians“
• 1884 – Ezra Abbot dies (b. 1819). American bible scholar.
• 1887 – Celebração do Jubileu do imperador alemão Guilherme I.
• 1887 – Portugal: Nasce em Lisboa Luís Filipe, Duque de Bragança (m. 1908)
• 1895 – Zlatko Baloković was born (d. 1955). Croatian violinist.
  1900 – After the death of founder Dwight L. Moody, the Bible Institute for Home and Foreign Missions changed its name to Moody Bible Institute.
• 1901 – Karl Arnold was born (d. 1958). German politician.
• 1902 – Son House was born (d. 1988). American musician.
• 1902 – In New York, three Park Avenue mansions were destroyed when a subway tunnel roof caved in.
• 1904 – The British Parliament vetoed a proposal to send Chinese workers to Transvaal.
• 1904 – Forrest Mars Sr. was born (d. 1999). American candymaker.
• 1905 – Sterilization legislation was passed in the State of Pennsylvania. The governor vetoed the measure.
• 1905 – Phyllis McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon (d. 22 Feb 1978). Poet.
• 1906 – Ohio passed a law that prohibited hazing by fraternities after two fatalities.
• 1906 – Jim Thompson was born. American designer and businessman
• 1907 – The U.S. Marines landed in Honduras to protect American interests in the war with Nicaragua.
• 1907 – The first Parliament of Transvaal met in Pretoria.
• 1908 – A passenger was carried in a bi-plane for the first time by Henri Farman of France.
• 1909 – Russia withdrew its support for Serbia and recognized the Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina on March 31, 1909.
• 1910 – The U.S. Senate granted ex-President Teddy Roosevelt a yearly pension of $10,000.
• 1910 – Julio Gallo was born (d. 02 May 1993).Vintner: Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery, Modesto, CA;
• 1910 – Nadar dies (b. 1820). French photographer.
• 1913 – George Abecassis was born (d. 1991). English race car driver.
• 1915 – Foi publicado o primeiro número da revista portuguesa Orpheu .
• 1918 – The Second Battle of the Somme began during World War I.
• 1919 – The Chinese High School is established in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee.
• 1920 – Georg Ots was born (d. 1975). Estonian singer.
• 1921 – Arthur Grumiaux was born (d. 1986). Belgian violinist.
• 1921 – Fonty Flock (Truman Fontello) was born. American race car driver.
• 1922 – Russ Meyer was born (d. 2004). American film director and producer.
• 1923 – Shri Mataji Nirmala Srivastava was born. Indian founder of Sahaja Yoga
• 1923 – Mort Lindsey was born. Bandleader: The Merv Griffin Show; composer of score: 40 Pounds of Trouble.
• 1925 – Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signed into law a prohibition against the teaching of evolution in public schools. Later that year John Scopes would violate the law, leading to the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial.
• 1927 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher was born. German politician
• 1928 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge gave the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh Charles Lindbergh for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
• 1930 – James Coco was born (d. 25 Feb 1987). Actor: The Chair, Ensign Pulver, Man of La Mancha;
• 1930 – Dinis Machado was born. Portuguese writer.
• 1932 – Walter Gilbert was born. American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 – Joseph Silverstein was born. American violinist and conductor.
• 1934 – Al Freeman, Jr. was born. American actor (A Patch of Blue, Roots: The Next Generation, Hot L Baltimore, Malcolm X, Finian’s Rainbow, Ensign Pulver) .
• 1934 – A fire destroyed Hakodate, Japan, killing about 1,500.
• 1934 – Franz Schreker dies (b. 1878). Austrian composer.
• 1935 – Incubator ambulance service began in Chicago, IL.
• 1935 – Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, which means ‘Land of the Aryans‘.
• 1935 – Brian Clough was born (d. 2004). English footballer and football manager.
• 1936 – Alexander Glazunov dies (b. 1865). Russian composer.
• 1939 – Kathleen Widdoes was born. American actress “As the World Turns”
• 1940 – Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1940 – Solomon Burke was born. American singer.
• 1941 – The last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, fell to the British.
• 1943 – Vivian Stanshall was born (d. 1995). English musician, artist, actor, writer, Bonzo Dog Band.
• 1943 – István Gyulai was born (d. 2006). Hungarian General Secretery of the IAAF.
• 1944 – Marie-Christine Barrault was born. Actress.
• 1945 – Rose Stone was born. American musician (Sly & the Family Stone)
• 1945 – World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma
• 1945 – During World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.
• 1946 – The Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington. Washington was the first black player to join a National Football League team since 1933.
• 1946 – The United Nations set up a temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City.
• 1946 – Timothy Dalton was born. Welsh actor
• 1949 – Slavoj Žižek was born. Slovenian sociologist, philosopher and cultural critic
• 1950 – Roger Hodgson was born. Musician (Supertramp).
• 1951 – Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos), was born.
• 1951 – Russell Thompkins, Jr. (The Stylistics) was born.
• 1951 – Willem Mengelberg dies (b. 1871). Dutch conductor.
• 1952 – Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1953 – The Boston Celtics beat Syracuse Nationals (111-105) in four overtimes to eliminate them from the Eastern Division Semifinals. A total of seven players (both teams combined) fouled out of the game.
• 1955 – Angelina Muniz was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian actress
• 1956 – 28th Academy Awards – “Marty,” Anna Magnani and Ernest Borgnine win.
• 1956 – Ingrid Kristiansen was born. Norwegian runner.
• 1957 – Shirley Booth made her TV acting debut in “The Hostess with the Mostest” on CBS.
• 1958 – Sabrina Le Beauf was born. American actress.
• 1958 – Gary Oldman was born. English actor.
• 1958 – Cyril M. Kornbluth dies (b. 1923). American writer.
• 1959 – Nobuo Uematsu was born. Japanese composer.
• 1960 – Robert Sweet (Stryper) was born .
• 1960 – Apartheid: About 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired upon demonstrators.
• 1960 – Ayrton Senna was born (d. 1994). Brazilian automobile racer F1
• 1961 – Lothar Matthäus was born. German soccer player
• 1962 – Matthew Broderick was born. American actor
• 1962 – Rosie O’Donnell was born. American comedian, actress, talk show host, and publisher.
• 1963 – Alcatraz Island, the federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, CA, closed.
• 1962 – Rosie O’Donnell American comedian, actress, talk show host, and publisher.
• 1963 – Ronald Koeman was born. Dutch footballer and football manager
• 1964 – In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing “Non ho l’età” (I’m not old enough).
• 1965 – The U.S. launched Ranger 9. It was the last in a series of unmanned lunar explorations.
• 1965 – More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. began a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.
• 1966 – Cynthia Geary was born .
• 1967 – MC Maxim (Prodigy) was born .
• 1967 – Jonas “Joker” Berggren was born. Swedish musician (Ace of Base)
• 1967 – Maxim Reality was born. British MC (The Prodigy)
• 1968 – Israeli forces crossed Jordan River and attacked PLO bases.
• 1968 – Andrew Copeland (Sister Hazel) was born.
• 1970 – The first Earth Day proclamation was issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
• 1970 – Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the “agony of defeat guy” in the opening credits of ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
• 1970 – In Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dana wins the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing “All Kinds of Everything”.
• 1971 – Two U.S. platoons in Vietnam refused their orders to advance.
• 1971 – Hélder was born. Portuguese footballer.
• 1972 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not require one year of residency for voting eligibility.
• 1973 – Antoni Szalowski dies at 65. Composer.
• 1974 – An attempt was made to kidnap Princess Anne in London’s Pall Mall.
• 1975 – Justin Pierce was born (d. 2000). British actor.
• 1975 – Mark Williams was born. Welsh snooker player.
• 1975 – Fabricio Oberto was born. Argentine Basketball player, playing for San Antonio Spurs.
• 1976 – Liza Harper was born. French actress.
• 1977 – Paloma Duarte was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actress.
• 1978 – Kevin Federline was born. Dancer/Hip Hop Artist.
• 1979 – Egyptian Parliament unanimously approve peace treaty with Israel.
• 1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
• 1980 – On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase “Who Shot JR?”
• 1980 – Ronaldinho was born. Brazilian football player.
• 1980 – Marit Bjørgen was born. Norwegian cross-country skier.
• 1980 – Deryck Whibley was born. Canadian guitarist and singer (Sum41)
• 1984 – A Soviet submarine crashed into the USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Japan.
• 1984 – Shauna Grant dies -suicide (b. 1963). American actress.
• 1985 – Sir Michael Redgrave dies (b. 1908). English actor.
• 1985 – In Langa, South Africa, at least 21 demonstrators were killed at a march to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings.
• 1985 – Larry Flynt offered to sell his pornography empire for $26 million or “Hustler” magazine alone for $18 million.
• 1985 – Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings. At least 21 demonstrators were killed.
• 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
• 1987 – Dean Paul Martin dies (b. 1951). American musician and actor (Billy-Misfits of Science).
• 1987 – Robert Preston dies (b. 1918). American actor.
• 1988 – 23rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Randy Travis and Hank Williams, Jr.
• 1988 – La derechista Alianza Republicana Nacionalista gana las elecciones municipales y legislativas de El Salvador.
• 1989 – Randall Dale Adams was released from a Texas prison after his conviction was overturned. The documentary “The Thin Blue Line” had challenged evidence of Adams’ conviction for killing a police officer.
• 1989 – Regresa a su país, tras 42 años de exilio, el escritor paraguayo Augusto Roa Bastos.
• 1989 – Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling.
• 1990 – Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
• 1990 – “Normal Life” with Moon Unit & Dweezil Zappa premiered on CBS-TV.
• 1990 – Australian businessman Alan Bond sold Van Gogh’s “Irises” to the Gerry Museum. Bond had purchased the painting for $53.9 million in 1987.
• 1990 – “Sydney” starring Valerie Bertinelli premiered on CBS-TV.
• 1990 – Namibia became independent of South Africa. Sam Nujoma becomes president.
• 1991 – 27 people were lost at sea when two U.S. Navy anti-submarine planes collided.
• 1991 – The U.N. Security Council lifted the food embargo against Iraq.
• 1991 – Leo Fender dies (b. 1909). American guitar manufacturer.
• 1993 – Pope John Paul II declared Duns Scotus a saint.
• 1993 – (CCB) Cultural Center of Belém in Lisbon opened to the public /Em Lisbo abre ao público o Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB).
• 1993 – António Quadros dies. Portuguese writer.
• 1994 – Dudley Moore was arrested for hitting his girlfriend.
• 1994 – Actress and Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg hosted the 66th Annual Academy Awards show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) awarded “Schindler’s List”, nominated in no less than 12 categories, with seven Oscars: beginning with Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Stephen Zaillian); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Allan Starski, Ewa Braun); Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski); Best Film Editing (Michael Kahn); Best Music/Original Score (John Williams); Best Director (Steven Spielberg); and culminating with Best Picture (Producers Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen and Branko Lustig). “Philadelphia” (nominated five times) scored two awards, Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Music/Song, “Streets of Philadelphia” to Bruce Springsteen. “The Piano” (nominated in eight categories) won Best Actress (Holly Hunter)and Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin), and Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Jane Campion); “Jurassic Park” received the Best Sound award (Gary Summers, Gary Rydstrom, Shawn Murphy, Ron Judkins), the Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing award (Gary Rydstrom, Richard Hymns), and the Best Effects, Visual Effects award (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, Michael Lantieri). Tommy Lee Jones picked up the Best Supporting Actor award for “The Fugitive”, a film nominated in seven categories.
• 1994 – Wayne Gretzky tied Gordie Howe’s NHL record of 801 goals.
• 1994 – Bill Gates of Microsoft and Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular Communications announced a $9 billion plan that would send 840 satellites into orbit to relay information around the globe.
• 1994 – 66th Academy Awards – “Schindler’s List,” Tom Hanks and Holly Hunter win
• 1994 – Macdonald Carey dies (b. 1913). American actor.
• 1994 – Dack Rambo dies (b. 1941). American actor.
• 1995 – New Jersey officially dedicated the Howard Stern Rest Area along Route 295.
• 1995 – Tokyo police raided the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo in search of evidence to link the cult to the Sarin gas released on five Tokyo subway trains.
• 1997 – W. V. Awdry dies (b. 1911). English children’s writer.
• 1998 – Galina Ulanova dies (b. 1910). Russian prima ballerina assoluta.
• 1999 – Ernie Wise dies (b. 1925). British comedian.
• 1999 – 71st Annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Hosting the festivities which had moved from the traditional Monday night to Sunday evening, was comedienne Whoopi Goldberg. A beautiful lady, Gwyneth Paltrow, emotionally accepted the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Shakespeare in Love”. It was a beautiful night for the film with 13 nominations and seven wins including the win of Best Picture of the 1998 year; Best Supporting Actress (Dame Judi Dench); Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Martin Childs, Jill Quertier); and Best Music/Original Musical or Comedy Score (Stephen Warbeck). This was the first time in nine years that the film that won Best Picture did not win for Best Director. Steven Spielberg was the winning director for “Saving Private Ryan” (which also won four more of the golden statuettes). It was a beautiful moment when the Best Supporting Actor Oscar was awarded to James Coburn (“Affliction”), his first Academy Award nomination in over 70 films. But the most beautiful moment/s of the long (Oscar’s longest to date) evening was when Sophia Loren said, “and the Oscar goes to Roberto!” (Best Actor: La Vita è bella – Roberto Benigni). In plain English, “Life is Beautiful”. Roberto Benigni was the first actor in a foreign language film to receive an Oscar. Benigni had received an Oscar earlier in the evening for Best Foreign Film (“Life is Beautiful”) when he pirouetted on top of seat backs, hopping and dancing to the stage. Roberto Benigni truly made the evening bella, bella!
• 1999 – Israel’s Supreme Court rejected the final effort to have American Samuel Sheinbein returned to the U.S. to face murder charges for killing Alfred Tello, Jr. Under a plea bargain Sheinbein was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
• 1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
• 2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had overstepped its regulatory authority when it attempted to restrict the marketing of cigarettes to youngsters.
• 2001 – Nintendo released Game Boy Advance.
• 2001 – Chung Ju-young dies (b. 1915). Korean industrialist.
• 2001 – Norma Macmillan dies (b. 1921). Voice actress.
• 2002 – Herman Talmadge dies (b. 1913). American politician.
• 2002 – Pope John Paul II makes his first public statements about the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests and the subsequent cover-ups
• 2002 – In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was charged with murder for his role in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pear. Three other Islamic militants that were in custody were also charged along with seven more accomplices that were still at large.
• 2002 – In Paris, an 1825 print by French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce was sold for $443,220. The print, of a man leading a horse, was the earliest recorded image taken by photographic means.
• 2003 – It was reported that the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 235.27 (2.8%) at 8,521.97. It was the strongest weekly gain in more than 20 years.
• 2004 – In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority.
• 2005 – In Red Lake, Minnesota, 10 are killed in a school shooting, the worst since the Columbine High School massacre.
• 2005 – Barney Martin dies (b. 1923). American actor.
• 2005 – Bobby Short dies (b. 1924). American singer.
• 2006 – Naw-Ruz: the Baha’i New Year is celebrated after a month of fasting.
• Earth Day
• Japan: Vernal Equinox Day (public holiday)
• World Day Of Sleep – by World Health Organization
• World Poetry Day – by UNESCO
• World Forestry Day – United Nations
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – by United Nations
• Namibia: Independence Day
• Benito Juárez Day, a Fiestas Patrias in Mexico

On this day in History – Mar. 21

• 1076 – Robert I, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1011)
• 1098 – The monastery in Citeaux, France was founded by St. Robert, marking the beginning of the Roman Catholic Cistercian religious order.
• 1306 – Robert II, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1248)
• 1349 – 3,000 Jews were killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany.
• 1413 – Henry V becomes King of England.
• 1487 – Nicholas of Flue dies (b. 1417). Swiss hermit and saint.
• 1521 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony was born (d. 1553)
• 1527 – Hermann Finck was born (d. 1558). German composer.
• 1542 – Henry VIII issued a a statute against witchcraft.
• 1556 – Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury was burned at the stake for violating heresy laws revised under the Roman Catholic queen Mary I, known as Bloody Mary.
• 1656 – James Ussher dies (b. 1581). Irish Catholic archbishop.
• 1676 – Henri Sauval dies (b. 1623). French historian.
• 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach (d. 1750). German composer and organist; one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Western world. He brought polyphonic baroque music to its culmination, creating masterful and vigorous works in almost every musical form known in his period.
• 1713 – Francis Lewis was born (d. 1803). American signatory to the Declaration of Independence
• 1729 – John Law dies (b. 1671). Scottish economist.
• 1734 – Robert Wodrow dies (b. 1679). Scottish historian.
• 1751 – Johann Heinrich Zedler dies (b. 1706). German publisher.
• 1762 – Nicolas Louis de Lacaille dies (b. 1713). French astronomer.
• 1763 – Jean Paul was born (d. 1825). German writer.
• 1768 – Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier was born in Auxerre. French mathematician and physicist.
• 1772 – Jacques-Nicolas Bellin dies (b. 1703). French cartographer.
• 1788 – Almost the entire city of New Orleans, LA, was destroyed by fire. 856 buildings were destroyed.
• 1790 – Thomas Jefferson reported to U.S. President George Washington as the new secretary of state.
• 1795 – Giovanni Arduino dies (b. 1714). Italian geologist.
• 1800 – With the church leadership driven out of the Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII was crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
• 1801 – The Battle of Alexandria was fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis in Egypt.
• 1801 – Andrea Luchesi dies (b. 1741). Italian composer.
• 1804 – Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc d’Enghien dies executed (b. 1772)
• 1804 – Code Napoléon was adopted as French civil law.
• 1806 – Benito Juarez was born (d. 1872). Mexican Statesman and national hero.
• 1813 – James Jesse Strang was born.
• 1824 – A fire at a Cairo ammunitions dump killed 4,000 horses.
• 1826 – The Rensselaer School in Troy, NY, was incorporated. The school became known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was the first engineering college in the U.S.
• 1835 – Charles Darwin & Mariano Gonzales met at Portillo Pass.
• 1839 – Modest Mussorgsky was born (d. 1881). Russian composer.
• 1843 – Preacher William Miller of Massachusetts predicted the world would end on this date. The world did not end, but Miller’s ideas led to the creation of the Adventist churches in America.
• 1843 – Robert Southey dies (b. 1774). English poet.
• 1843 – Guadalupe Victoria dies (b. 1786). First President of Mexico.
• 1844 – The Baha’i calendar began (Baha 1, 1).
• 1846 – Nascimento de Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, desenhador e ceramista. Personagem sempre ligada a uma certa rebeldia, é autor da famosa figura do «Zé Povinho».
• 1851 – Emperor Tu Duc ordered that Christian priests be put to death.
• 1851 – Yosemite Valley was discovered in California.
• 1857 – Earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000.
• 1858 – British forces in India lift the siege of Lucknow, ending the Indian Mutiny.
• 1859 – In Philadelphia, the first Zoological Society was incorporated.
• 1868 – The Sorosos club for professional women was formed in New York City by Jennie June. It was the first of its kind.
• 1869 – Florenz Ziegfeld was born (d. 1932). American theatrical producer.
• 1871 – Journalist Henry Morton Stanley began his famous expedition to Africa.
• 1876 – John Tewksbury was born (d. 1968). American athlete.
• 1880 – Hans Hofmann was born. German painter who was an influential art teacher and a pioneer in the use of improvisatory techniques whose work paved the way for American painters to develop Abstract Expressionism.
• 1880 – Gilbert M. ‘Broncho Billy’ Anderson was born (d. 1971). American actor.
• 1881 – Samuel Courtauld dies (b. 1793). American-born textile magnate
• 1882 – Bascom Lunsford was born in Mars Hill, North Carolina (d. 4 Sep 1973). American folk musician who was called “Minstrel of the Appalachians“
• 1884 – Ezra Abbot dies (b. 1819). American bible scholar.
• 1887 – Celebração do Jubileu do imperador alemão Guilherme I.
• 1887 – Portugal: Nasce em Lisboa Luís Filipe, Duque de Bragança (m. 1908)
• 1895 – Zlatko Baloković was born (d. 1955). Croatian violinist.
  1900 – After the death of founder Dwight L. Moody, the Bible Institute for Home and Foreign Missions changed its name to Moody Bible Institute.
• 1901 – Karl Arnold was born (d. 1958). German politician.
• 1902 – Son House was born (d. 1988). American musician.
• 1902 – In New York, three Park Avenue mansions were destroyed when a subway tunnel roof caved in.
• 1904 – The British Parliament vetoed a proposal to send Chinese workers to Transvaal.
• 1904 – Forrest Mars Sr. was born (d. 1999). American candymaker.
• 1905 – Sterilization legislation was passed in the State of Pennsylvania. The governor vetoed the measure.
• 1905 – Phyllis McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon (d. 22 Feb 1978). Poet.
• 1906 – Ohio passed a law that prohibited hazing by fraternities after two fatalities.
• 1906 – Jim Thompson was born. American designer and businessman
• 1907 – The U.S. Marines landed in Honduras to protect American interests in the war with Nicaragua.
• 1907 – The first Parliament of Transvaal met in Pretoria.
• 1908 – A passenger was carried in a bi-plane for the first time by Henri Farman of France.
• 1909 – Russia withdrew its support for Serbia and recognized the Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia-Herzegovina on March 31, 1909.
• 1910 – The U.S. Senate granted ex-President Teddy Roosevelt a yearly pension of $10,000.
• 1910 – Julio Gallo was born (d. 02 May 1993).Vintner: Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery, Modesto, CA;
• 1910 – Nadar dies (b. 1820). French photographer.
• 1913 – George Abecassis was born (d. 1991). English race car driver.
• 1915 – Foi publicado o primeiro número da revista portuguesa Orpheu .
• 1918 – The Second Battle of the Somme began during World War I.
• 1919 – The Chinese High School is established in Singapore by Tan Kah Kee.
• 1920 – Georg Ots was born (d. 1975). Estonian singer.
• 1921 – Arthur Grumiaux was born (d. 1986). Belgian violinist.
• 1921 – Fonty Flock (Truman Fontello) was born. American race car driver.
• 1922 – Russ Meyer was born (d. 2004). American film director and producer.
• 1923 – Shri Mataji Nirmala Srivastava was born. Indian founder of Sahaja Yoga
• 1923 – Mort Lindsey was born. Bandleader: The Merv Griffin Show; composer of score: 40 Pounds of Trouble.
• 1925 – Tennessee Governor Austin Peay signed into law a prohibition against the teaching of evolution in public schools. Later that year John Scopes would violate the law, leading to the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial.
• 1927 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher was born. German politician
• 1928 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge gave the Congressional Medal of Honor to Charles Lindbergh Charles Lindbergh for his first trans-Atlantic flight.
• 1930 – James Coco was born (d. 25 Feb 1987). Actor: The Chair, Ensign Pulver, Man of La Mancha;
• 1930 – Dinis Machado was born. Portuguese writer.
• 1932 – Walter Gilbert was born. American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 – Joseph Silverstein was born. American violinist and conductor.
• 1934 – Al Freeman, Jr. was born. American actor (A Patch of Blue, Roots: The Next Generation, Hot L Baltimore, Malcolm X, Finian’s Rainbow, Ensign Pulver) .
• 1934 – A fire destroyed Hakodate, Japan, killing about 1,500.
• 1934 – Franz Schreker dies (b. 1878). Austrian composer.
• 1935 – Incubator ambulance service began in Chicago, IL.
• 1935 – Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, which means ‘Land of the Aryans‘.
• 1935 – Brian Clough was born (d. 2004). English footballer and football manager.
• 1936 – Alexander Glazunov dies (b. 1865). Russian composer.
• 1939 – Kathleen Widdoes was born. American actress “As the World Turns”
• 1940 – Paul Reynaud becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1940 – Solomon Burke was born. American singer.
• 1941 – The last Italian post in East Libya, North Africa, fell to the British.
• 1943 – Vivian Stanshall was born (d. 1995). English musician, artist, actor, writer, Bonzo Dog Band.
• 1943 – István Gyulai was born (d. 2006). Hungarian General Secretery of the IAAF.
• 1944 – Marie-Christine Barrault was born. Actress.
• 1945 – Rose Stone was born. American musician (Sly & the Family Stone)
• 1945 – World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma
• 1945 – During World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.
• 1946 – The Los Angeles Rams signed Kenny Washington. Washington was the first black player to join a National Football League team since 1933.
• 1946 – The United Nations set up a temporary headquarters at Hunter College in New York City.
• 1946 – Timothy Dalton was born. Welsh actor
• 1949 – Slavoj Žižek was born. Slovenian sociologist, philosopher and cultural critic
• 1950 – Roger Hodgson was born. Musician (Supertramp).
• 1951 – Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos), was born.
• 1951 – Russell Thompkins, Jr. (The Stylistics) was born.
• 1951 – Willem Mengelberg dies (b. 1871). Dutch conductor.
• 1952 – Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio
• 1953 – The Boston Celtics beat Syracuse Nationals (111-105) in four overtimes to eliminate them from the Eastern Division Semifinals. A total of seven players (both teams combined) fouled out of the game.
• 1955 – Angelina Muniz was born in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian actress
• 1956 – 28th Academy Awards – “Marty,” Anna Magnani and Ernest Borgnine win.
• 1956 – Ingrid Kristiansen was born. Norwegian runner.
• 1957 – Shirley Booth made her TV acting debut in “The Hostess with the Mostest” on CBS.
• 1958 – Sabrina Le Beauf was born. American actress.
• 1958 – Gary Oldman was born. English actor.
• 1958 – Cyril M. Kornbluth dies (b. 1923). American writer.
• 1959 – Nobuo Uematsu was born. Japanese composer.
• 1960 – Robert Sweet (Stryper) was born .
• 1960 – Apartheid: About 70 people were killed in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police fired upon demonstrators.
• 1960 – Ayrton Senna was born (d. 1994). Brazilian automobile racer F1
• 1961 – Lothar Matthäus was born. German soccer player
• 1962 – Matthew Broderick was born. American actor
• 1962 – Rosie O’Donnell was born. American comedian, actress, talk show host, and publisher.
• 1963 – Alcatraz Island, the federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, CA, closed.
• 1962 – Rosie O’Donnell American comedian, actress, talk show host, and publisher.
• 1963 – Ronald Koeman was born. Dutch footballer and football manager
• 1964 – In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing “Non ho l’età” (I’m not old enough).
• 1965 – The U.S. launched Ranger 9. It was the last in a series of unmanned lunar explorations.
• 1965 – More than 3,000 civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. began a march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.
• 1966 – Cynthia Geary was born .
• 1967 – MC Maxim (Prodigy) was born .
• 1967 – Jonas “Joker” Berggren was born. Swedish musician (Ace of Base)
• 1967 – Maxim Reality was born. British MC (The Prodigy)
• 1968 – Israeli forces crossed Jordan River and attacked PLO bases.
• 1968 – Andrew Copeland (Sister Hazel) was born.
• 1970 – The first Earth Day proclamation was issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
• 1970 – Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the “agony of defeat guy” in the opening credits of ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
• 1970 – In Amsterdam, Netherlands, Dana wins the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing “All Kinds of Everything”.
• 1971 – Two U.S. platoons in Vietnam refused their orders to advance.
• 1971 – Hélder was born. Portuguese footballer.
• 1972 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not require one year of residency for voting eligibility.
• 1973 – Antoni Szalowski dies at 65. Composer.
• 1974 – An attempt was made to kidnap Princess Anne in London’s Pall Mall.
• 1975 – Justin Pierce was born (d. 2000). British actor.
• 1975 – Mark Williams was born. Welsh snooker player.
• 1975 – Fabricio Oberto was born. Argentine Basketball player, playing for San Antonio Spurs.
• 1976 – Liza Harper was born. French actress.
• 1977 – Paloma Duarte was born in São Paulo. Brazilian actress.
• 1978 – Kevin Federline was born. Dancer/Hip Hop Artist.
• 1979 – Egyptian Parliament unanimously approve peace treaty with Israel.
• 1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
• 1980 – On the season finale of the soap opera Dallas, the infamous character J.R. Ewing is shot by an unseen assailant, leading to the catchphrase “Who Shot JR?”
• 1980 – Ronaldinho was born. Brazilian football player.
• 1980 – Marit Bjørgen was born. Norwegian cross-country skier.
• 1980 – Deryck Whibley was born. Canadian guitarist and singer (Sum41)
• 1984 – A Soviet submarine crashed into the USS Kitty Hawk off the coast of Japan.
• 1984 – Shauna Grant dies -suicide (b. 1963). American actress.
• 1985 – Sir Michael Redgrave dies (b. 1908). English actor.
• 1985 – In Langa, South Africa, at least 21 demonstrators were killed at a march to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings.
• 1985 – Larry Flynt offered to sell his pornography empire for $26 million or “Hustler” magazine alone for $18 million.
• 1985 – Police in Langa, South Africa, opened fire on blacks marching to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville shootings. At least 21 demonstrators were killed.
• 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
• 1987 – Dean Paul Martin dies (b. 1951). American musician and actor (Billy-Misfits of Science).
• 1987 – Robert Preston dies (b. 1918). American actor.
• 1988 – 23rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Randy Travis and Hank Williams, Jr.
• 1988 – La derechista Alianza Republicana Nacionalista gana las elecciones municipales y legislativas de El Salvador.
• 1989 – Randall Dale Adams was released from a Texas prison after his conviction was overturned. The documentary “The Thin Blue Line” had challenged evidence of Adams’ conviction for killing a police officer.
• 1989 – Regresa a su país, tras 42 años de exilio, el escritor paraguayo Augusto Roa Bastos.
• 1989 – Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling.
• 1990 – Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
• 1990 – “Normal Life” with Moon Unit & Dweezil Zappa premiered on CBS-TV.
• 1990 – Australian businessman Alan Bond sold Van Gogh’s “Irises” to the Gerry Museum. Bond had purchased the painting for $53.9 million in 1987.
• 1990 – “Sydney” starring Valerie Bertinelli premiered on CBS-TV.
• 1990 – Namibia became independent of South Africa. Sam Nujoma becomes president.
• 1991 – 27 people were lost at sea when two U.S. Navy anti-submarine planes collided.
• 1991 – The U.N. Security Council lifted the food embargo against Iraq.
• 1991 – Leo Fender dies (b. 1909). American guitar manufacturer.
• 1993 – Pope John Paul II declared Duns Scotus a saint.
• 1993 – (CCB) Cultural Center of Belém in Lisbon opened to the public /Em Lisbo abre ao público o Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB).
• 1993 – António Quadros dies. Portuguese writer.
• 1994 – Dudley Moore was arrested for hitting his girlfriend.
• 1994 – Actress and Comedienne Whoopi Goldberg hosted the 66th Annual Academy Awards show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) awarded “Schindler’s List”, nominated in no less than 12 categories, with seven Oscars: beginning with Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Stephen Zaillian); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Allan Starski, Ewa Braun); Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski); Best Film Editing (Michael Kahn); Best Music/Original Score (John Williams); Best Director (Steven Spielberg); and culminating with Best Picture (Producers Steven Spielberg, Gerald R. Molen and Branko Lustig). “Philadelphia” (nominated five times) scored two awards, Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Music/Song, “Streets of Philadelphia” to Bruce Springsteen. “The Piano” (nominated in eight categories) won Best Actress (Holly Hunter)and Best Supporting Actress (Anna Paquin), and Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Jane Campion); “Jurassic Park” received the Best Sound award (Gary Summers, Gary Rydstrom, Shawn Murphy, Ron Judkins), the Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing award (Gary Rydstrom, Richard Hymns), and the Best Effects, Visual Effects award (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, Michael Lantieri). Tommy Lee Jones picked up the Best Supporting Actor award for “The Fugitive”, a film nominated in seven categories.
• 1994 – Wayne Gretzky tied Gordie Howe’s NHL record of 801 goals.
• 1994 – Bill Gates of Microsoft and Craig McCaw of McCaw Cellular Communications announced a $9 billion plan that would send 840 satellites into orbit to relay information around the globe.
• 1994 – 66th Academy Awards – “Schindler’s List,” Tom Hanks and Holly Hunter win
• 1994 – Macdonald Carey dies (b. 1913). American actor.
• 1994 – Dack Rambo dies (b. 1941). American actor.
• 1995 – New Jersey officially dedicated the Howard Stern Rest Area along Route 295.
• 1995 – Tokyo police raided the headquarters of Aum Shinrikyo in search of evidence to link the cult to the Sarin gas released on five Tokyo subway trains.
• 1997 – W. V. Awdry dies (b. 1911). English children’s writer.
• 1998 – Galina Ulanova dies (b. 1910). Russian prima ballerina assoluta.
• 1999 – Ernie Wise dies (b. 1925). British comedian.
• 1999 – 71st Annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Hosting the festivities which had moved from the traditional Monday night to Sunday evening, was comedienne Whoopi Goldberg. A beautiful lady, Gwyneth Paltrow, emotionally accepted the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Shakespeare in Love”. It was a beautiful night for the film with 13 nominations and seven wins including the win of Best Picture of the 1998 year; Best Supporting Actress (Dame Judi Dench); Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Martin Childs, Jill Quertier); and Best Music/Original Musical or Comedy Score (Stephen Warbeck). This was the first time in nine years that the film that won Best Picture did not win for Best Director. Steven Spielberg was the winning director for “Saving Private Ryan” (which also won four more of the golden statuettes). It was a beautiful moment when the Best Supporting Actor Oscar was awarded to James Coburn (“Affliction”), his first Academy Award nomination in over 70 films. But the most beautiful moment/s of the long (Oscar’s longest to date) evening was when Sophia Loren said, “and the Oscar goes to Roberto!” (Best Actor: La Vita è bella – Roberto Benigni). In plain English, “Life is Beautiful”. Roberto Benigni was the first actor in a foreign language film to receive an Oscar. Benigni had received an Oscar earlier in the evening for Best Foreign Film (“Life is Beautiful”) when he pirouetted on top of seat backs, hopping and dancing to the stage. Roberto Benigni truly made the evening bella, bella!
• 1999 – Israel’s Supreme Court rejected the final effort to have American Samuel Sheinbein returned to the U.S. to face murder charges for killing Alfred Tello, Jr. Under a plea bargain Sheinbein was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
• 1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
• 2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had overstepped its regulatory authority when it attempted to restrict the marketing of cigarettes to youngsters.
• 2001 – Nintendo released Game Boy Advance.
• 2001 – Chung Ju-young dies (b. 1915). Korean industrialist.
• 2001 – Norma Macmillan dies (b. 1921). Voice actress.
• 2002 – Herman Talmadge dies (b. 1913). American politician.
• 2002 – Pope John Paul II makes his first public statements about the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests and the subsequent cover-ups
• 2002 – In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was charged with murder for his role in the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pear. Three other Islamic militants that were in custody were also charged along with seven more accomplices that were still at large.
• 2002 – In Paris, an 1825 print by French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce was sold for $443,220. The print, of a man leading a horse, was the earliest recorded image taken by photographic means.
• 2003 – It was reported that the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 235.27 (2.8%) at 8,521.97. It was the strongest weekly gain in more than 20 years.
• 2004 – In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority.
• 2005 – In Red Lake, Minnesota, 10 are killed in a school shooting, the worst since the Columbine High School massacre.
• 2005 – Barney Martin dies (b. 1923). American actor.
• 2005 – Bobby Short dies (b. 1924). American singer.
• 2006 – Naw-Ruz: the Baha’i New Year is celebrated after a month of fasting.
• Earth Day
• Japan: Vernal Equinox Day (public holiday)
• World Day Of Sleep – by World Health Organization
• World Poetry Day – by UNESCO
• World Forestry Day – United Nations
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – by United Nations
• Namibia: Independence Day
• Benito Juárez Day, a Fiestas Patrias in Mexico