This Day in History – March 29, 2011

1461 – Battle near Towton Field, 33,000 die (War of the Roses). 1673 – English King Charles II accepts Test Act: Roman Catholic excluded of public functions. 1795 – Beethoven (24) debuts as pianist in Vienna. 1827 – 20,000 attend Ludwig von Beethovens burial in Vienna. 1848 – Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam. 1852 – Ohio makes it illegal for children under 18 and women to work more than ten hours a day. 1867 – British North America Act (Canadian constitution) is passed. 1867 – US Congress approves Lincoln Memorial. 1882 – Knights of Columbus chartered for Catholic men. 1886 – Chemist John Pemberton begins to advertise for Coca-Cola (with cocaine). 1908 – Daily newspaper comic strip Mr. A. Mutt adds character Jeff, creating popular Mutt & Jeff. 1912 – Captain Robert Scott, blizzard-bound in a tent 18 km from the South Pole, makes last entry in his diary “the end cannot be far”. 1912 – Robert F Scott British pole explorer (Antarctica), dies. 1917 – Birth of Man O’War racehorse (winner of 20 out of 21 races and $249,465). 1927 – Henry O D Segrave races his Sunbeam car to a record 203.79 mph at Daytona; first auto to exceed 200 mph (322 kph). 1936 – Nazi propaganda claims 99 percent of Germans voted for Nazi candidates. 1942 – British cruiser Trinidad torpedoes itself in the Barents Sea. 1943 – Meat, butter and cheese rationed in US (784 gram/week, two kilogram for GI’s). 1961 – 23rd Amendment to US Constitution is ratified, allows Washington, DC residents to vote for President. 1961 – After a 4.5-year trial, Nelson Mandela is acquitted on treason charge. 1964 – First true Pirate Radio station, Radio Caroline (England). 1971 – Development of a serum hepatitis vaccine for children announced. 1973 – The last U.S. combat troops leave South Vietnam as Hanoi frees the remaining American prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. 1986 – The Beatles’ records officially go on sale in Russia. 1987 – Wrestlemania III is held in Pontiac, Michigan; a record crowd of 93,173 watch Hulk Hogan beat Andre the Giant. 1989 – First US private commercial rocket takes suborbital test flight (New Mexico). 1990 – New York City’s Zodiac killer shoots second victim, Germaine Montenesdro. 1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 (10,006.78) for the first time. 2003 – World Health Organization doctor Carlo Urbani, who first identified SARS, dies of the disease. 2004 – The Republic of Ireland bans smoking in all enclosed work places, including restaurants, pubs and bars. 2005 – Death of Johnnie Cochran, American lawyer (born 1937). 2009 – At least 22 people are killed and 132 injured in a stampede before a World Cup of soccer qualifying match in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. 2010 – Two female suicide bombers kill at least 38 people on Moscow metro trains, injuring 72 others. The attack is quickly blamed on the North Caucasus.]]]]> ]]>