ON THIS DAY IN RECENT HISTORY ~ MARCH 24

ON THIS DAY IN RECENT HISTORY ~ MARCH 24

1874 - Harry Houdini, [Erich Weiss], Budapest, magician/escape artist, is born

1882 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet, author (b. 1807) dies

1890 - Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge”
1900 - New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground "Rapid Transit Railroad" that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
1901 - Ub Iwerks, American cartoonist originally worked with Walt Disney (d. 1971) is born
1905 – Jules Verne, author (b. 1828) dies
1909 – Clyde Barrow, murderer, thief [ Bonnie and Clyde] (d. 1934) is born
1911 - Joseph Barbera, animator (Hanna-Barbera) is born
1922 - Dave Appell, singer/musician/songwriter (In the Midnight Hour) is born
1923 - Murray Hamilton, Washington NC, actor (Rich Man Poor Man) is born
1924 - Norman Fell, Phila, actor (Mr Roper-3's Company, The End, Graduate) is born
1930 - Planet Pluto named
1930 – Steve McQueen, actor (d. 1980) is born
1932 - William Smith, Columbia Mo, actor (Rich Man Poor Man, Hawaii 5-0) is born
1937 - National Gallery of Art established by Congress
1941 - Glenn Miller begins work on his 1st movie for 20th Century Fox
1944 - 76 Allied officers escape Stalag Luft 3 (Great Escape)
1944 - 811 British bombers attack Berlin
1944 - In occupied Rome, Nazis execute more than 300 civilians
1944 - R. Lee Ermey, actor, is born
1947 - Congress proposes 2-term limitation on the presidency
1949 - 21st Academy Awards - "Hamlet," Laurence Olivier & Jane Wyman win
1949 - Nick Lowe, England, rock vocalist (Rockpile-Cruel to be Kind) is born
1951 - Dougie Thompson, rocker (Supertramp-Bloody Well Right) is born
1954 - Robert Carradine, LA California, actor (Slim-The Cowboys, Wavelength) is born
1955 - 1st seagoing oil drill rig placed in service
1955 - Tennessee Williams, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opens for 694 performances
1958 - Elvis Presley drafted into  the army (serial number 53310761)
1960 - US appeals court rules novel, "Lady Chatterly's Lover," not obscene
1962 - Mick Jagger & Keith Richards perform as Little Boy Blue & Blue Boys
1964 - Kennedy half-dollar issued
1965 - Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious by an electrical shock from a microphone stand. It was the first date of the Rolling Stones anniversary tour.
1966 - Selective Service announces college deferments based on performance
1972 - Disneyland's version of the Country Bear Jamboree opens in Bear Country.
1973 - Lou Reed was bitten on his rear end by a fan during a concert in Buffalo, NY. The male fan was ejected from the show.
1978 - Wings release "With a Little Luck"
1979 - Columbia flown on carrier aircraft lands at Kennedy Space Center
1981 - "Nightline with Ted Koppel" premieres on ABC
1986 - 58th Academy Awards - "Out of Africa," William Hurt & G Page win
1988 - Quarterback Dan Fouts retires
1989 - Mary Martin in "Peter Pan," 1st seen on TV since 1973
1989 - Worst US oil spill, Exxon's Valdez spills 11.3 mil gallons off Alaska
1992 - Space Shuttle STS-45 (Atlantis 11) launches into space
1992 - A Chicago judge ruled in the Milli-Vanilli class-action suit that $3.00 cash rebates would be given to anyone that could prove that they bought the group's music before November 27, 1990 (the date the lip synching scandal broke).
1994 - "Carousel" opens at Beaumont Theater NYC for 322 performances
1997 - 69th Academy Awards - "English Patient," T Cruise & Brenda Blythen win
2008 – Richard Widmark, film and tv actor (b.1914) dies