Today in History

Mar 20, 2022, 9:00 AM | Updated: 9:03 pm

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today in History

Today is Monday, March 21, the 80th day of 2022. There are 285 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On March 21, 1965, civil rights demonstrators led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. began their third, successful march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

On this date:

In 1685, composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany.

In 1935, Persia officially changed its name to Iran.

In 1945, during World War II, Allied bombers began four days of raids over Germany.

In 1952, the Moondog Coronation Ball, considered the first rock and roll concert, took place at Cleveland Arena.

In 1972, the Supreme Court, in Dunn v. Blumstein, ruled that states may not require at least a year’s residency for voting eligibility.

In 1990, Namibia became an independent nation as the former colony marked the end of 75 years of South African rule.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin wrapped up their summit in Helsinki, Finland, still deadlocked over NATO expansion, but able to agree on slashing nuclear weapons arsenals.

In 2006, the social media website Twitter was established with the sending of the first “tweet” by co-founder Jack Dorsey, who wrote: “just setting up my twttr.”

In 2007, former Vice President Al Gore made an emotional return to Congress as he pleaded with House and Senate committees to fight global warming; skeptical Republicans questioned the science behind his climate-change documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

In 2016, laying bare a half-century of tensions, President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro prodded each other over human rights and the longstanding U.S. economic embargo during an unprecedented joint news conference in Havana.

In 2019, President Donald Trump abruptly declared that the U.S. would recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, a major shift in American policy.

In 2020 during a White House briefing, President Donald Trump doubled down on his support for the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for the coronavirus, while Dr. Anthony Fauci said the evidence was “anecdotal.”

Ten years ago: A previously divided U.N. Security Council sent a strong and united message to the Syrian government and its opposition, telling both sides to immediately implement proposals by international envoy Kofi Annan to end Syria’s yearlong bloodshed. Meting out unprecedented punishment for a bounty system that targeted key opposing players, the NFL suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton without pay for the coming season and indefinitely banned the team’s former defensive coordinator; Commissioner Roger Goodell fined the Saints $500,000 and took away two draft picks.

Five years ago: U.S. and British officials announced they were barring laptops and tablets from the cabins of some international flights because of longstanding concerns about terrorists targeting jetliners. On the second day of his Senate confirmation hearing, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch declared he’d made no promises to President Donald Trump or anyone else about how he would vote on abortion or other issues. Chuck Barris, whose game show empire included “The Dating Game,” “The Newlywed Game” and “The Gong Show,” died at his home in Palisades, New York, at age 87.

One year ago: Officials in Miami Beach extended an emergency 8 p.m. curfew for at least another week; the move came after after fights, gunfire, property destruction and dangerous stampedes broke out among huge crowds of people during the spring break season.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Kathleen Widdoes is 83. Songwriter Chip Taylor (“Wild Thing”) is 82. Folk-pop singer-musician Keith Potger (The Seekers) is 81. Actor Marie-Christine Barrault is 78. Singer-musician Rose Stone (Sly and the Family Stone) is 77. Actor Timothy Dalton is 76. Singer Ray Dorset (Mungo Jerry) is 76. Rock singer-musician Roger Hodgson (Supertramp) is 72. Rock musician Conrad Lozano (Los Lobos) is 71. R&B singer Russell Thompkins Jr. is 71. Comedy writer-performer Brad Hall is 64. Actor Sabrina LeBeauf is 64. Actor Gary Oldman is 64. Actor Kassie Depaiva is 61. Actor Matthew Broderick is 60. Comedian-actor Rosie O’Donnell is 60. Actor Cynthia Geary is 57. Hip-hop DJ Premier (Gang Starr) is 56. Rock musician Jonas “Joker” Berggren (Ace of Base) is 55. Rock MC Maxim (Prodigy) is 55. Rock musician Andrew Copeland (Sister Hazel) is 54. Actor Laura Allen is 48. Rapper-TV personality Kevin Federline is 44. Actor Sonequa Martin-Green (TV: “The Walking Dead”) is 37. Actor Scott Eastwood is 36. Tennis player Karolina Pliskova is 30. Actor Jasmin Savoy Brown is 28. Actor Forrest Wheeler is 18.