March 24

Birthdays:

1977 ~ Jessica Chastain, American actress.

1976 ~ Payton Manning, American football player.  He graduated from high school in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1951 ~ Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer.

1941 ~ Michael Masser (d. 2015), American ex-stockbroker who wrote hit romantic ballads.

1940 ~ Bob Mackie (né Robert Gordon Mackie), American fashion designer.

1930 ~ Steve McQueen (d. 1980), American actor.

1926 ~ Dario Fo, Italian writer and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature.

1924 ~ Norman Fell (d. 1998), American actor.

1919 ~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American author and poet.  He was a co-founder of the City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.

1917 ~ John Kendrew (d. 1997), British molecular biologist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1911 ~ Joseph Barbera (d. 2006), American animator and co-founder of Hanna-Barbera.

1909 ~ Clyde Barrow (d. 1934), American criminal, who along with his partner, Bonnie Parker (1910 ~ 1924), robbed banks throughout the South and Midwest until he was killed in a shoot-out in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

1903 ~ Adolf Butenandt (d. 1995), German chemist and recipient of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on sex hormones.  He was a member of the Nazi party and in accordance with government policy did not accept the award when it was granted.  Following World War II, however, he accepted the award.

1902 ~ Thomas E. Dewey (d. 1971), American politician who ran against Harry S Truman.  Newspapers erroneously reported that he had won the Presidential election.  He had also served as the 47^th Governor of New York state.  He died 6 days before his 69^th birthday.

1892 ~ Marston Morse (d. 1977), American mathematician.

1887 ~ Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle (d. 1933), American actor.

1886 ~ Edward Weston (d. 1958), American photographer.

1884 ~ Peter Debye (d. 1966), Dutch chemist and recipient of 1936 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

1874 ~ Harry Houdini (né Ehrich Weiss, d.1926), Hungarian-born American magician.

1862 ~ Frank Weston Benson (d. 1951), American painter.

1855 ~ Andrew Mellon (d. 1937), American banker, industrialist and financier.  He was the 49^th US Secretary of the Treasury and served under President Warren G. Harding.

1835 ~ Joseph Stefan (d. 1893), Austrian mathematician.

1834 ~ William Morris (d. 1896), English poet, artist and social reformer.

1828 ~ Horace Gray (d. 1902), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was nominated to the High Court by President Chester Arthur.  He served from December 1881 until his death in December 1902.

1809 ~ Joseph Liouville (d. 1882), French mathematician.

1693 ~ John Harrison (d. 1776), British carpenter and clockmaker.  He invented the Marine chronometer.  He died on his 83^rd birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2015 ~ A GermanWings airplane carrying 150 passengers and crew crashed in the French Alps, after it reached its cruising altitude, killing all aboard.  There was speculation that the co-pilot deliberately caused the plane to crash in a massive mass murder-suicide.

1989 ~ The Exxon Valdez spilled over 240,000 barrels of petroleum after running aground in the Prince William Sound in Alaska.

1976 ~ Armed forced overthrew the government of Argentinean President Isabel Perón, which began a 7-year dictatorial period called the National Reorganization Process.  Since 2006, this has become a public holiday known as Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice.

1958 ~ Elvis Presley was drafted into the Army.

1944 ~ 76 American prisoners began to break out of Stalag Luft III.  Of the 76 escapees, 73 were ultimately captured.  Fifty of the men were executed.  This event was later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape.

1900 ~ Ground was broken in New York City for the underground Rapid Transit Railroad, linking Manhattan and Brooklyn.

1882 ~ Robert Koch reported his discovery of mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

1854 ~ Venezuela abolished slavery.

1837 ~ Canada gave African-Canadian men the right to vote.

1829 ~ The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Roman Catholic Relief Act, which allowed Catholics to serve in Parliament.

1765 ~ The British Parliament passed the Quartering Act which required the American colonies to provide food and housing to British troops.

1721 ~ Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt.  These concertos are now referred to as the Brandenburg Concertos.

1707 ~ The Acts of Union of 1707 was signed, officially uniting the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, thereby creating the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1603 ~ James VI of Scotland became King James I of England.

Good-Byes:

2010 ~ Robert Culp (b. 1930), American actor.

2002 ~ César Milstein (b. 1927), Argentine biochemist and recipient of the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

1993 ~ John Hersey (b. 1914), American author best known for his novels A Bell for Adono and The Wall.

1953 ~ Mary of Teck, Queen Consort to King George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1867).

1950 ~ James Rudolph Garfield (b. 1865), 23^rd United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President Theodore Roosevelt.  He was also the son of slain President James Garfield.

1915 ~ Margaret Lindsay Huggins (b. 1848), Irish astronomer.

1915 ~ Karol Olszewski (b. 1846), Polish chemist, mathematician and physicist.

1905 ~ Jules Verne (b. 1828), French science fiction writer.

1886 ~ Ward Hunt (b. 1810), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Ulysses S. Grant.  He served from December 1872 until January 1882.

1885 ~ Jacob Thompson (b. 1810), 5^th United States Secretary of the Interior.  He served under President James Buchanan.

1882 ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (b. 1807), American poet.

1776 ~ John Harrison (b. 1693), British carpenter and clockmaker.  He invented the Marine chronometer.  He died on his 83^rd birthday.

1603 ~ Queen Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533).

1575 ~ Joseph ben Ephraim Karo (b. 1488), Spanish-Portuguese rabbi.

1455 ~ Pope Nicholas V (né Tommaso Parentucelli, b. 1397).  He was Pope from March 1447 until his death on this date 8 years later.