March 3 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1575 Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi

1857 Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China

1861 Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs and granting them the full rights of free citizens [O.S. Feb 19]

1887 Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6 year old blind-deaf Helen Keller

1917 1st major strike of the Russian “February Revolution” starts at the giant Putilov factory in Petrograd [OS=Feb 18]

1921 Toronto’s Dr Banting & Dr Best announce discovery of insulin

1939 Mahatma Gandhi begins a fast in Mumbai (Bombay) to protest against autocratic rule in India

1943 Battle of the Bismarck Sea: Australian and American air forces devastate Japanese navy convoy

1991 Los Angeles police officers severely beat motorist Rodney King, the beating is famously captured on amateur video and later leads to riots when the police officers are acquitted

Today’s Historical Events

78 Origin of Saka Era (India)

468 St Simplicius elected to succeed Catholic Pope Hilarius

473 Glycerius appointed a puppet Emperor of the Western Empire by Burgundian king and patrician Gundobad (deposed 474)

493 Ostrogoten King Theodorik the Great beats Odoaker

1284 Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England

1409 Austrian civil war ends

1431 Bishop Gabriele Condulmer elected as Pope Eugene IV

1575 Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi

Today’s Historical Events in Flim and TV

1958 KTVU TV channel 2 in Oakland-San Francisco, California (IND) 1st broadcast

1966 WRFT (now WVFT) TV channel 27 in Roanoke, VA (IND) begins broadcasting

1975 1st People’s Choice Awards: John Wayne & Barbra Streisand win (Motion Pictures) and Alan Alda, Telly Savalas & Mary Tyler Moore win (TV)

1985 “Moonlighting” with Cybill Shepard & Bruce Willis premieres on ABC TV in the US

1990 Carole Gist (20) is the 1st African American to be crowned Miss USA in Wichita, Kansas

2002 33rd NAACP Image Awards: “Ali” wins Outstanding Motion Picture

2005 American rapper 50 Cent releases his album “The Massacre” (2005 Billboard Album of the Year, Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album 2006)

2006 37th NAACP Image Awards: “Crash” wins Outstanding Motion Picture

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1794 1st performance of Joseph Haydn’s 101st Symphony in D (“The Clock”) at the Hanover Rooms, in London, England

1842 1st performance of Felix Mendelssohn‘s 3rd (“Scottish”) Symphony in Leipzig Gewandhaus

1875 Georges Bizet‘s last and greatest opera “Carmen” premieres at the Opéra-Comique in Paris, France

1931 “The Star-Spangled Banner” officially becomes US national anthem by congressional resolution; lyrics by Francis Scott Key in 1814, set to John Stafford Smith’s 18th century tune “The Anacreontic Song”

1931 Cab Calloway records “Minnie the Moocher” (Jazz’s 1st million seller)

1940 American bandleader Artie Shaw records “Frenesi” on RCA Victor label

1944 Premiere performance of US Army Corporal Samuel Barber‘s 2nd Symphony by the Boston Symphony, conducted by Serge Koussevitzky in Boston, Massachusetts

1955 Elvis Presley makes his 1st TV appearance on a broadcast of radio show “Louisiana Hayride”

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1841 3rd Grand National: Horatio Powell wins aboard 14/1 Charity; first mare to win the race

1847 9th Grand National: Denny Wynne wins aboard 10/1 Mathew; regarded as the first Irish-trained horse to win the race

1852 14th Grand National: Alec Goodman wins first of 2 GN victories (1866) aboard Miss Mowbray

1869 31st Grand National: George Stevens wins his 4th GN aboard 100/7 outsider The Colonel; repeats with back-to-back victories the following year

1883 In the series decider England beats Scotland, 2 tries to 1 at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh to win the inaugural Home Nations Rugby Championship with an undefeated record

1904 England cricket all-rounder Bernard Bosanquet takes 6 for 51 as tourists dismiss Australia for 171 in the 4th Test in Sydney to regain the Ashes; take an unassailable, 3-1 series lead

1920 Montreal Canadiens scores NHL record 16 goals beating Quebec Bulldogs

1950 National-American Football League reverts to calling itself the NFL after 3 months