March 18

ON THIS DAY IN RECENT HISTORY ~ MARCH 18

 

 

1926 – Peter Graves, actor, (Mission Impossible, d. 2010) is born.
1930 - Boston Bruins win record 20th NHL home game
1931 - 1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick)
1932 - John Updike, Shillington Pa, poet/novelist (Rabbit Run d. 2009) is born
1938 - Charley Pride, Sledge Miss, country singer (Sweet Country) is born
1940 - Benito Mussolini joins Hitler in Germany's war against France & Britain
1941 - Wilson Pickett, Prattville Alabama, R&B singer (Funky Broadway)
1942 - 2 black players, Jackie Robinson & Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox, they are allowed to work out.
1944 - Nazi Germany occupies Hungary
1944 - 2,500 women trample guards & floorwalkers to purchase 1,500 alarm clocks announced for sale in a Chicago Illinois dept store
1945 - 1,250 US bombers attacks Berlin
1947 - Barry Wilson, Engld, rock drummer (Procol Harum-Whiter Shade of Pale)
1948 - Philips begin experimental TV broadcasting
1950 - "Touch & Go" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 176 performances
1950 - John Hartman, Falls Church Va, rock drummer (Doobie Brothers)
1952 - Communist offensive in Korea
1953 - Boston Braves move to Milwaukee
1955 - I Hatojama recognized as premier of Japan
1958 - Dodgers announces mascot/clown Emmett Kelly will not perform in 1958
1959 - President Dwight D Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill
1960 - Patricia Farinelli, LA California, playmate (December, 1981)
1960 - Richard Biggs, Columbus Ohio, actor (Marcus-Days of Our Lives)
1961 - Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced
1962 - Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor, is born
1962 - Mike Rowe, American television personality, is born
1962 - Gary "U.S." Bonds performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
1963 - Vanessa L Williams, Millwood NY, 1st black Miss America (1983)/singer) is born
1963 - "Tovarich" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 264 performances
1964 - Christina Ferguson, Phoenix Az, playmate (Apr, 1983)
1965 - "Do I Hear a Waltz?" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 220 performances
1965 - Rolling Stones fined £5 each for public urination
1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
1966 - Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1
1967 - Beatles' "Penny Lane," single goes #1
1967 - The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction opens in New Orleans Square at Disneyland, California.  This is the last major attraction that Walt Disney works on before his death.
1970 - Mail service paralyzed by 1st major postal strike
1973 - "Seesaw" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 296 performances
1976 - James McCartney, father of Paul McCartney, dies at 73
1977 - Clash releases their 1st recording "White Riot"
1977 - US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, N Korea & Cambodia
1977 - Vietnam hands over MIA to US
1978 - 250,000 attend rock concert California Jam II in Ontario Calif
1979 - Adam Levine, American singer (Maroon 5) is born
1979 - "On the 20th Century" closes at St James Theater NYC after 460 perfs
1981 - The first episode of "The Greatest American Hero" aired on ABC.
1982 - Singer Teddy Pendergrass' spinal cord severed in a car accident
1985 - Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Willie Mays & Mickey Mantle
1987 - Gerber survey find most popular names for newborns (Jessica & Matthew)
1989 - 27th space shuttle mission, STS-29 (Discovery 8), returns to Earth
1989 - California Quake amusement ride opens at Universal Studios
1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.
1990 - 1st free elections in East Germany, Conservatives beat Communists
1990 - Biggest US art robbery, $100's millions at Gardner Museum, Boston
1992 - Donna Summer gets a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame
1992 - Leona Helmsley sentence to 4 years for tax evasion
1993 - "Sisters Rosensweig" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 556 perfs
1994 - Zsa Zsa Gabor files for bankruptcy
1995 - Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17 month NBA retirement
2001 - John Phillips, American musician (The Mamas and the Papas) (b. 1935) dies
2003 - Disney Records releases the soundtrack from Piglet's Big Movie, featuring music by Carly Simon.
2003 - British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language.
2009 - Natasha Richardson, English actress (b. 1963) dies
2010 - Fess Parker, American actor (Disney’s Davy Crockett, b. 1924) dies