1981 President Reagan shot

American Revolution
1775 King George endorses New England Restraining Act

Automotive
2009 President Obama announces auto industry shakeup

Civil War
1825 Samuel Bell Maxey born

Cold War
1948 Henry Wallace criticizes Truman’s Cold War policies

Crime
1981 Ronald Reagan is shot by John Hinckley, Jr.

Disaster
1980 Oil workers drown in North Sea

General Interest
1814 Allies capture Paris
1855 Violence disrupts first Kansas election
1867 Seward’s Folly
1870 15th Amendment adopted

Hollywood
1981 Obsessed Jodie Foster fan John Hinckley Jr. shoots President Reagan

Literary
1820 Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty, is born

Music
1974 John Denver has his first #1 hit with “Sunshine On My Shoulders”

Old West
1891 “Sockless” Simpson rallies populist farmers

Presidential
1981 Reagan is shot

Sports
1965 Bill Bradley scores 58 points for Princeton

Vietnam War
1965 Bomb explodes outside U.S. Embassy in Saigon
1972 North Vietnamese launch Nguyen Hue Offensive

World War I
1918 Allied troops halt Germans at Moreuil Wood

World War II
1940 Japanese set up puppet regime at Nanking

1979 Israel-Egyptian peace agreement signed

American Revolution
1776 South Carolina approves new constitution

Automotive
2008 Ford sells Jaguar and Land Rover to India’s Tata

Civil War
1864 McPherson takes over the Army of the Tennessee

Cold War
1950 McCarthy charges that Owen Lattimore is a Soviet spy

Crime
1987 Torture chamber uncovered in Philadelphia

Disaster
1872 Deadly earthquake hits California

General Interest
1953 Salk announces polio vaccine
1997 Heaven’s Gate cult members found dead

Hollywood
2000 American Beauty tops Academy Awards

Literary
1920 F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first novel published

Music
1955 Black music gets whitewashed, as Georgia Gibbs hits the pop charts with “The Wallflower (Dance With Me, Henry)”

Old West
1832 The steamboat Yellowstone heads for Montana

Presidential
1804 Jefferson presented with a “mammoth loaf” of bread

Sports
1979 Michigan State defeats Indiana State in NCAA championship

Vietnam War
1969 Antiwar demonstration in Washington
1975 Hue falls to the communists

World War I
1917 First Battle of Gaza

World War II
1941 Naval warfare gets new weapon

1989 Exxon Valdez runs aground

American Revolution
1765 Parliament passes the Quartering Act

Automotive
2007 Ferrari’s around-the-world relay stops in L.A.

Civil War
1862 Wendall Phillips booed in Cincinnati

Cold War
1977 United States and Cuba engage in direct negotiations

Crime
1998 A school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas, kills five

Disaster
1989 Exxon Valdez runs aground in Alaska
2015 Germanwings pilot intentionally crashes plane, killing 150 people

General Interest
1603 Queen Elizabeth I dies
1996 Shannon Lucid enters Mir
1999 NATO bombs Yugoslavia

Hollywood
2002 Halle Berry, Denzel Washington triumph at Oscars

Literary
1955 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens

Music
1958 Elvis Presley is inducted into the U.S. Army

Old West
1834 John Wesley Powell born

Presidential
1949 Truman signs off on aid to Palestine

Sports
1976 Peyton Manning born

Vietnam War
1965 First teach-in conducted
1975 North Vietnamese launch “Ho Chi Minh Campaign”

World War I
1918 German forces cross the Somme River

World War II
1944 Wingate dies in Burma

1839 OK enters national vernacular

American Revolution
1775 Patrick Henry voices American opposition to British policy

Automotive
1937 Craig Breedlove, land-speed record holder, born

Civil War
1862 Jackson is defeated at Kernstown

Cold War
1983 Reagan calls for new antimissile technology

Crime
1979 Two men sentenced in murder of former Chilean diplomat

Disaster
1913 Tornadoes devastate Nebraska

General Interest
1919 Mussolini founds the Fascist party
1983 Artificial-heart patient dies
1994 Leading Mexican presidential candidate assassinated

Hollywood
1998 James Cameron’s Titanic wins 11 Academy Awards
2011 Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79

Literary
1999 Thomas Harris delivers Hannibal manuscript

Music
1969 Jim Morrison prompts a “Rally for Decency”

Old West
1806 Lewis and Clark depart Fort Clatsop

Presidential
1962 Jackie Kennedy receives horse from governor of Pakistan

Sports
1994 Wayne Gretzky scores number 802

Vietnam War
1961 U.S. plane shot down over Laos
1970 Prince Sihanouk issues a call for arms

World War I
1918 Paris hit by shells from new German gun

World War II
1944 Germans slaughter Italian civilians

1871 Stanley begins search for Livingstone

American Revolution
1778 Massacre at Hancock’s Bridge

Automotive
1960 Formula One champ Ayrton Senna born

Civil War
1863 Edwin V. Sumner dies

Cold War
1980 Carter tells U.S. athletes of Olympic boycott

Crime
1963 Alcatraz closes its doors

Disaster
1932 Series of tornadoes hits Southeast U.S.

General Interest
1804 Napoleonic Code approved in France
1918 Second Battle of the Somme begins
1960 Massacre in Sharpeville
1965 Selma to Montgomery march begins

Hollywood
1980 Famous Dallas cliffhanger airs

Literary
1678 Reward offered for identity of pamphlet author

Music
1952 The Moondog Coronation Ball is history’s first rock concert

Old West
1882 “Broncho Billy” Anderson born

Presidential
1980 Carter announces Olympic boycott

Sports
1980 Ronaldinho is born

Vietnam War
1967 North Vietnam rejects Johnson overture
1972 Khmer Rouge shell Phnom Penh

World War I
1918 Germany begins major offensive on the Western Front

World War II
1943 Another plot to kill Hitler foiled

1965 LBJ sends federal troops to Alabama

American Revolution
1778 King Louis XVI receives U.S. representatives

Automotive
1928 Auto pioneer James Packard dies

Civil War
1861 Willie and Tad Lincoln get the measles

Cold War
1953 Khrushchev begins his rise to power

Crime
1995 Tokyo subways are attacked with sarin gas

Disaster
1345 Black Death is created, allegedly

General Interest
1413 Henry V ascends upon father’s death
1854 Republican Party founded
1995 Nerve gas attack on Tokyo subway

Hollywood
1948 20th annual Academy Awards celebrated

Literary
1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published

Music
1982 Joan Jett tops the pop charts with “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”

Old West
1823 Ned Buntline born

Presidential
1965 LBJ pledges federal troops to Alabama civil-rights march

Sports
1934 Babe Didrikson goes to the mound for Philly

Vietnam War
1954 Americans alarmed about impending French defeat
1968 Retired Marine Commandant comments on conduct of war

World War I
1915 Britain and Russia divide future spoils of war
World War II
1945 British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma

461 A.D Saint Patrick dies

American Revolution
1776 British evacuate Boston

Automotive
1834 Auto pioneer Gottlieb Daimler born

Civil War
1863 Battle of Kelly’s Ford, Virginia

Cold War
1990 Lithuania rejects Soviet demand to renounce its independence

Crime
2011 Clark pleads guilty in Yale grad student slaying

Disaster
1906 Earthquakes kill more than 1,200 in Taiwan

General Interest
1762 First St. Patrick’s Day parade
1776 The British evacuate Boston
1901 Van Gogh paintings shown

Hollywood
2000 Julia Roberts collects $20 million for Erin Brockovich

Literary
1894 Novelist and playwright Paul Green is born

Music
1958 The Champs’ “Tequila” is the #1 song on the U.S. pop charts

Old West
1804 Jim Bridger born

Presidential
1905 Franklin Roosevelt marries Eleanor Roosevelt

Sports
1902 Bobby Jones is born

Vietnam War
1964 National Security Council reviews situation
1970 Results of Peers investigation announced

World War I
1917 Shakeup in French government

World War II
1940 Todt named Reich Minister for Weapons and Munitions

1879 Albert Einstein born

American Revolution
1776 Alexander Hamilton is named captain of artillery company

Automotive
1922 Mack Truck founder killed in car crash

Civil War
1862 Battle of New Bern, North Carolina

Cold War
1990 Gorbachev elected president of the Soviet Union

Crime
1950 The FBI debuts 10 Most Wanted

Disaster
1980 Boxing team among casualties in Polish Air crash

General Interest
1964 Jack Ruby sentenced to death
1991 Birmingham Six released

Hollywood
1948 Billy Crystal is born

Literary
1887 Sylvia Beach, bookstore owner and publisher of Ulysses, is born

Music
1958 The Recording Industry Association of America awards first Gold Record to Perry Como for “Catch A Falling Star”

Old West
1919 Max Brand publishes his first novel

Presidential
1967 JFK’s body moved to permanent gravesite

Sports
1997 President Clinton expresses desire to return to golf course

Vietnam War
1965 Allies launch second wave of Rolling Thunder
1969 Nixon discusses the possibility of U.S. troop withdrawals

World War I
1915 German cruiser Dresden sinks

World War II
1943 Germans recapture Kharkov

Lead Story
1933 FDR gives first fireside chat

American Revolution
1776 Public Notice urges recognition of “humane ladies”

Automotive
1921 Italian auto titan Gianni Agnelli born

Civil War
1864 Red River Campaign begins

Cold War
1947 Truman Doctrine is announced

Crime
1969 London police conduct drug raid at home of George Harrison
2003 Police recover Elizabeth Smart and arrest her abductors

Disaster
1988 Hail causes stampede at soccer match in Nepal

General Interest
1888 The Blizzard of 1888
1930 Gandhi leads civil disobedience
1938 Germany annexes Austria
1993 Reno sworn in as attorney general

Hollywood
1982 Richard Pryor releases Live on the Sunset Strip

Literary
1922 Jack Kerouac is born

Music
2003 The Dixie Chicks backlash begins

Old West
1888 Chinese laborers excluded from U.S.

Presidential
1933 FDR broadcasts first fireside chat

Sports
1903 New York Highlanders join American League

Vietnam War
1968 McCarthy does well in the Democratic primary
1972 Australians withdraw from South Vietnam

World War I
1917 Russian army lends support to rebels in February Revolution

World War II
1938 Hitler announces an Anschluss with Austria

1997-Paul McCartney knighted

American Revolution
1779-Congress establishes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Automotive
2009-Toyota sells 1 millionth hybrid in U.S.

Civil War
1862-Lincoln shuffles the Union command

Cold War
1985-Mikhail Gorbachev picked to succeed Chernenko

Crime
1989-COPS makes TV debut

Disaster
1888-Great Blizzard of ’88 hits East Coast

General Interest
1861-Confederate constitution adopted
1941-FDR signs Lend-Lease
1942-MacArthur leaves Corregidor
1990-Lithuania proclaims its independence
2004-Terrorists bomb trains in Madrid

Hollywood
1989-COPS debuts on Fox

Literary
1818-Frankenstein published

Music
1903-Lawrence Welk is born

Old West
1884-Gunslinger Ben Thompson dies

Presidential
1947-Truman thanks Herbert Hoover for aiding post-WWII reconstruction

Sports
1901-Newspaper reports signing of so-called Chief Tokohama

Vietnam War
1967-Heavy battle rages during Operation Junction City

World War I
1918-First cases reported in deadly influenza epidemic

World War II
1942-MacArthur leaves the Philippines