On This Day In History
Did You Know?
Swami Vivekananda initiates Margaret Noble (Sister Nivedita) into vow of Brahmacharya, first western woman received into Indian monastic order
Today in History in 1898
Would You Believe?
British Airways flight from London mistakenly flies to Edinburgh, Scotland instead of Düsseldorf, Germany when wrong flight plan submitted
Today in History in 2019
March 26th
1027 Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II Holy Roman Emperor, founder of the Salian dynasty
1812 Earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale destroys 90% of Caracas, Venezuela and kills an estimated 15,000–20,000 people
1871 Municipal elections bring revolutionaries to power in Paris to form Commune government
1909 In support of Mohammed Ali Shah’s coup d’etat against the constitutional government in Persia, a Russian military force invades northern Persia to relieve the siege of Tabriz
1942 First “Eichmann transport” to Auschwitz & Birkenau concentration camps
1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announces that he has successfully tested a vaccine to prevent Polio, clinical trials began the next year
1966 Large-scale anti-Vietnam War protests take place in the United States, including in New York, Washington, D.C. and Chicago
1971 Bangladesh (East Pakistan) under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declares its independence from Pakistan
Did You Know?
Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precursor of band-aid
Today in History in 1845
Would You Believe?
Richard III of England (1452-1485) is reburied at Leicester Cathedral in England, after being discovered under a carpark in Leicester in 2012
Today in History in 2015
March 27th
1513 Spaniard Juan Ponce de León and his expedition first sight Florida
1625 Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland ascends the English throne
1914 1st successful non-direct blood transfusion is performed by Dr. Albert Hustin in Brussels
1958 Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet Premier as well as First Secretary of the Communist Party
1977 583 die in aviation’s worst ever disaster when two Boeing 747s collide at Tenerife airport in Spain
Did You Know?
The Great Alaska Earthquake (9.2 magnitude) and resulting tsunami kill 139 people in the largest US earthquake and second largest ever recorded
Today in History in 1964
Would You Believe?
“Back for Good” single released by British boy band Take That, reaches No. 1 in 31 countries
Today in History in 1995
March 28th
364 Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor
1854 Great Britain and France declare war on Russia, expanding the Crimean War
1910 1st seaplane to take off from water under its own power is piloted by Henri Fabre from the Étang de Berre lagoon at Martigues, France
1939 Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to the Nationalists headed by Francisco Franco
1946 Cold War: The United States State Department releases the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
1979 A partial meltdown at Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the US results in the release of radioactive gas and iodine into the atmosphere but no deaths
Did You Know?
Turkish cities Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara
Today in History in 1930
Would You Believe?
World’s largest dinosaur footprint at 1.7 metres found in Kimberley, Western Australia
Today in History in 2017
Quote from Lana Anal on March 28, 2025, 1:22 pmDid You Know?
Turkish cities Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara
Today in History in 1930
Would You Believe?
World’s largest dinosaur footprint at 1.7 metres found in Kimberley, Western Australia
Today in History in 2017
It must be a case of history repeating itself Lana !😜
Thanks BR! 🤗 My mistake. It was the 27th that was wrong rather than the 28th being a duplicate. Took me about 10 attempts to post it yesterday when the site was cracking up and in the end I must've grabbed the 28th by mistake! Well spotted. Fixed now.
March 29th
845 Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving
1549 The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded
1901 Edmund Barton is elected Prime Minister in Australia’s first parliamentary election
1912 Captain Robert Falcon Scott, storm-bound in a tent near South Pole, makes last entry in his diary “the end cannot be far”
1961 After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria
1974 Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi’an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China’s 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang
1999 The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 10006.78 – above the 10,000 mark for the first time ever
2022 In a major victory for Ukraine, Russia announces it is withdrawing its badly mauled forces from around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv
Did You Know?
Movie star Jimmy Stewart is promoted to full colonel, one of the few Americans to rise from private to colonel in four years
Today in History in 1945
Would You Believe?
Beatle records officially go on sale in Russia
Today in History in 1986
March 30th
240 BC 1st recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet
1856 The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia sign the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War
1867 Alaska Purchase: US buys Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 ($109 million in 2018), roughly 2 cents an acre
1870 15th Amendment to the US constitution is adopted, guarantees right to vote regardless of race
1959 Dalai Lama flees China and is granted political asylum in India
1972 Northern Ireland’s Government and Parliament dissolved by the British Government and ‘direct rule’ from Westminster is introduced
Did You Know?
Vincent van Gogh‘s “Sunflowers” sells for a record 22.5 million pounds ($39.7 million)
Today in History in 1987
Would You Believe?
World’s most valuable tip – New York police detective Robert Cunningham offers waitress Phyllis Penzo half of $1 lottery ticket, next day they win $6 million
Today in History in 1984
31st March
1146 Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine are present and join the Crusade.
1492 Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon issue the Alhambra Decree which expels Jews from their kingdoms
1657 English Parliament makes the Humble Petition and Advice to Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell offering him the crown: he declines
1889 Eiffel Tower officially opens in Paris. Designed by Gustave Eiffel and built for the Exposition Universelle, at 300m high it retains the record for the tallest man made structure for 41 years.
1920 British parliament accepts Irish Home Rule law