This Day in History – March 26, 2011

1790 Congress passes Naturalization Act, requires 2-year residency 1804 Congress orders removal of Indians east of Mississippi to Louisiana 1804 Territory of Orleans organized in Louisiana Purchase 1824 1st performance of Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” 1827 Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer, dies in Wien (Vienna) at age 56 1845 Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precusor of bandaid 1859 1st sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury 1863 Voters in West Virginia approve gradual emancipation of slaves 1872 Thomas J Martin patents fire extinguisher 1885 Eastman Film Co manufactures 1st commercial motion picture film 1886 1st cremation in England 1903 American Hotel opens in Amsterdam 1910 US forbid immigration to criminals, anarchists, paupers & the sick 1926 The 1st lip-reading tournament held in America 1930 Congress appropriates $50,000 for Inter-American highway 1931 Leo Bentley bowls 3 consecutive perfect games in Lorain OH 1934 Driving tests introduced in Britain 1937 Spinach growers of Crystal City TX, erect statue of Popeye 1937 William H Hastie becomes 1st black federal judge (Virgin Islands) 1943 1st woman to receive air medal (US army nurse Elsie S Ott) 1945 British premier Churchill looks over at the Rhine (near Ginsberg) 1951 USAF flag approved 1953 Dr Jonas Salk announces new vaccine to prevent polio [myelitis] 1955 “Ballad of Davy Crockett” becomes the #1 record in US 1956 Medic Alert Foundation forms 1962 Supreme Court backs 1-man-1-vote apportionment of seats in state legislature 1970 Golden Gate Park Conservatory made city landmark 1973 Soap opera “The Young and the Restless” premieres 1973 Susan Shaw, is 1st woman in 171 years in London’s Stock exchange 1974 George Foreman TKOs Ken Norton in 2 for heavyweight boxing title 1982 Ground-breaking in Washington DC for Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1982 Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder release “Ebony & Ivory” in the UK 1987 National Federation of High School adopts college 3 point shot (21 feet) 1992 Mike Tyson sentenced to 10 years in rape of Desiree Washington 1995 Eric “Easy E” Wright, American rapper and record producer, dies at 31 (born 1963). 1997 In San Diego, California, 39 Heaven’s Gate cultists commit mass suicide at their compound. 1999 A Michigan jury finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man. 1999 The computer virus “Melissa” attacks about 250,000 PCs worldwide in about three days, using Microsoft Outlook to mail the virus to email addresses in the address book. This is the first virus capable of jumping from computer to computer on its own. 2001 The last edition of WCW Monday Nitro airs, ending the Monday Night Wars which had captivated audiences since the mid 1990s. 2008 Tata Motors of India announces it will buy Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor of the USA for US$2.3 billion. 2008 Advanced Micro Devices unveils the “Phenom” microprocessor for desktop personal computers. 2009 Mount Redoubt volcano in Alaska erupts, shooting a plume of ash and smoke into the atmosphere, up to 20,000m. 2010 US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agree to a new nuclear arms reduction treaty. The treaty limits both sides to 1,550 warheads, a cut of 25 percent for the Americans and 30 percent for the Russians. Once the treaty is ratified, each side would have seven years to carry out the reductions.]]]]> ]]>