March 31st

On this day - March 31st 1889 - The official opening of the Eiffel Tower 

The Eiffel tower was constructed as the entrance for the 1889 World Fair held in Paris. The world fair was held to mark 100 years anniversary for the French Revolution. The tower is named after Gustave Eiffel, the engineer whose company designed it. The construction of the building started in January 1887 and finished by March 1889. On March 31st took Gustave Eiffel a group of government official and some press up in the tower to celebrate that the tower was finished. When it was build was it the tallest man-made structure in the world and the Eiffel tower held this record for 41 years. The tower was initially criticized by some of the leading artists in France, but it has grown in popularity ever since. It is today the worlds most visited paid monument, a cultural icon and the tallest structure in France.  

"Not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude." - Eiffel talking about what the tower would represent.

March 30th

On this day - March 30th 1964 - The debut of "Jeopardy!" game show  

Jeopardy! is an american TV Quiz show where the participants are given the answer and has to come up with the question. The original version aired from 1964 until 1975. A new version premiered in 1984 and is still running today. In the original game clue values ranged from $10 to $50. Today it ranges fro $200 to $1000. Up to 1984 received all the contestants their winnings in cash, but in today's version is it only the winner who receives the cash gained during the game. The first proposed name for the game show was "Whats the Question?", but the name was changed even before the show premiered.

March 29th

On this day - March 29th 1974 - Farmers discovered the "Terracotta Army" 

The Terracotta Army is a collection of statues in found buried in China. The statures depicts the armies of Qin Shi Huang who was the first emperor of China. The statues was created for the emperors funeral in 210 or 209 bce. It is estimated that the collection consists of over 8000 soldiers and 500 horses. The Statues was discovered in 1974 when some local farmers were digging a water well. There had been reports of Terracotta pieces found in the area for centuries before the farmers discovery, but it was their discovery on this day in 1974 that prompted an investigation from archaeologists.

CC Ingo 

March 28th

On this day - March 28th 2006 - Student Protest in France

The youth protest in France started earlier in February 2006 and was against the bill to deregulate labour laws regarding first time hires and workers under the age of 26. The proposed changes would make it easier for employers to fire employees during first two years of their hire. The main part was that employers would not need to site a reason for their decision to fire the employee for the first two years. This proposed change was so unpopular that on February 7th between 200 000 and 400 000 people took part in 187 protests in France. The protest gained traction and over a million took part in protests on the 7th and 9th of March, 38 universities were even on strike. The protest escalated trough March and on the 28th 1.055 million (according to the police, 2.71 million according to the union) people marched against the proposed change in law. On April 11th the legislation was scraped and by April 18th all the universities were reopened. 

Protest at Paris Jessieu Campus, Origin 

   

March 27th

On this day - March 27th 1977 - The worst aviation accident in history 

On Sunday 27th of March 1977 died 583 people when two airplanes collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport. The two planes that crashed was from Pan-Am and KLM Only 61 people from the Pan-Am flight survived the accident and its the deadliest aviation accident of all time. The reason for the accident was a miscommunication which led the KLM pilot to take of without clearance from the Air Traffic control. Take-off had been complicated because of a thick layer of fog at the airport and a bomb explosion on Gran Canaria Airport, which made diversions to other airports necessary. Radio interference also complicated the communication and made the KLM crew believe they were cleared for take of.

Memorial in Tenerife for the 583 people who died  

March 26th

On this day – March 26th 2005 – The relaunch of Doctor Who 

Doctor Who, a TV show about a time-traveling Time Lord and his companions traveling in a spaceship disguised as a blue police box. The first series was  aired in 1963 and ran until 1989 when it was closed down. No one knows why BBC decided to end the show, but disagreement inside BBC have been discussed as one of the main reasons. An attempt to renew the show as a television film failed in 1996, while the relaunch in 2005 has been a huge success. The relaunch was due to central BBC workers belief in a future of what had been a defining TV show for BBC and Great Britain. Russel T. Davis was the writer in the five first years of the new version, while C. Eccleston played The Doctor. David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi have all played The Doctor in the modern version of the series. Doctor Who have since its relaunch been showed in over 50 countries all around the world and it is considered a British institution.

“In 900 years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important” - Eleventh Doctor

"Don' turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink" - Tenth Doctor

The Tardis , picture by Aussiegal

March 25th

On this day - March 25th 1306 - Robert the Bruce became King of the Scots 

Robert the Bruce reigned from 1306 and until his death in 1329. He was crowned as the king after inheriting the right to the throne from his dad, and after killing Cromyn, his greatest opponent. He was known as a warrior and led Scotland in its first War of independence, where his troops won several fights against the English. Robert the Bruce's fighting led to the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328, where Scotland gained independence.
Robert the Bruce is remembered as a national hero in Scotland today. He supported William Wallace in his fights against England, and he is therefore portrayed in the movie Braveheart.

March 24th

On this day - March 24th 1989  - Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Alaska

The oil spillage happened when one of Exxon's tankers, bound for California, hit a reef outside of Alaska. It is one of the biggest human created environmental disasters of all times and due to its location was the accident hard to respond to. A total of 2100km of coastline ended up being covered in oil as a result of the accident. Exxon shipping company was blamed for the accident, among other because they failed in contributing with rested and prepared crew for their tanker. The oil spillage continued to affect the wildlife and the nearby population for years after the oil spillage. It is estimated that at least 100.000 seabirds and 2800 sea otters was killed due to the accident. After several court cases was the victims of the oil-spillage awarded $500 millions in punitive damages.

March 23rd

On this day - March 23rd 1933 - The passing of the "Enabling Act" made Hitler a dictator

The enabling act, or Ermächtigungesetz, which was passed in 1933 was an amendment to the German constitution. The act gave the German Cabinet the power to enact laws without the approval of the Reichstag. Effectively this act gave Adolf Hitler the power to create whichever law he saw fit. The law was passed in the Reichstag, led by Hermann Göring on March 23rd 1933, after ruls of procedures were changed to make it easier to pass the act.

This act, together with the limitations of civil rights after the Reichtags Fire Decree passed in February 1933, made Hitler into the de facto dictator of Germany. The Enabling act was to last for four years before it had to be re-instated by the Reichstag, which was done in

Hitlers speech after the act was passed. From the Bundesarchive. 

22nd march

On this day - March 22 1765 - The "Stamp Act" was passed by the British Parlament

The stamp act was an direct tax on many types of printed paper enforced on the British colonies in 1765. This included legal documents, playing cards, newspapers and magazines. The law was passed in the House of Commons on a 205 against 49 vote on March 22nd. It was implemented by the British government on their American colonies on November 1st 1765. The purpose of the tax was to cover the British expenses from having British troops stationed in the colonies. The tax was immensely unpopular among the colonies, mainly because they felt that tax was created without their consent. This led to protests under the slogan "No taxation  without representation". This was the first joint colonial response to British regulation of the colonies and it contributed to the american revolution just a few years later. The act was repealed on March 18th 1766, just a few months after it was implemented.

One penny stamps

March 21st

On this day - March 21st 2006 - Twitter is founded 

Twitter is the social media service where you share your 140 character messages called tweets. Tweets are then sorted by the hashtags used for example #TwitterHistory. Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Noah Glass the service launched in July 2006 but was founded on this day. In 2013 Twitter was one of the ten most visited sites on the internet and it is described as the sms of the internet. There are more than 500 million registered users where 332 million are considered active as of May 2015. Twitter has attracted users from all walks of life from world leaders such as Barack Obama to Queen Elizabeth II to the normal person in the street. The oldest Twitter accounts all belong to Twitter employees they were created on this day. 

March 20th

On this day - March 20th 1602 - The Dutch East India Company was founded 

The Dutch East India Company was established in 1602 when the Dutch government helped establish a company and granted it a 21-year long monopoly in Dutch spice-trade and Asian trade. The background for the monopoly was to limit price-risks for traders, mainly in the spice industry. The company was also granted the rights to build forts, maintain armies and conclude treaties with Asian rulers. The English East Indian Company had been established for the same reason two years earlier. The Dutch East India company grew into a huge and very successful firm. It grew into a multinational company (the first in the world), they sent almost a million Europeans to work in Asia and traded over 2.5 million ton Asian goods. The first of many foreign port was acquired in Jakarta in 1619. The native inhabitants in Jakarta was either driven away, killed or starved to death.

The firm went bankrupt and was dissolved in 1799, almost 200 years after it was first established.

March 19th

On this day - March 19th 1962 - Bob Dylan released his first album 

Robert Allen Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan, released his first album on march 19th. The title of the album was simply "Bob Dylan". It was released on Colombian Records and was produced by John Hammon. The album was recorded over three sessions in November 1961. The release did not receive much attention and it did not sell well in the beginning. However, because the costs for recording the album had been incredible low, avoided the album financial disaster. Bob Dylan released his next album only a year after this album was released. The album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" achieved much more success than his first try and Bob Dylan went on to become an iconic and well known singer and song writer. His first album was re-released in 2010.

March 18th

On this day - March 18th 1965 - The first person to walk in space 

On March 16th left the Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov his spacecraft for 12 minutts and 9 seconds for a walk in Space. He thereby became the first human to do Extravehicular activities, which is the official term for activities done in space outside of the spacecraft. Leonov was connected to the spacecraft with a long cable and pulling this cable was the only way he could control is motions while in space. In June the same year did the US their first spacewalk when Edward White left his spacecraft for 21 minutes. The first person to successfully stay outside of the spacecraft for longer periods was Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin who worked on the aircraft for over two hours in 1966.

March 17th

On this day - March 17th 1992 - South Africa referendum on apartheid 

In 1992 held South Africa a referendum on whether or not they should continue with the reforms for ending apartheid. The reforms was begun by President F.W. de Klerk in 1990 and their ultimate goal was to end the apartheid system which was implemented in 1948. The referendum was open only to the white voters and they were asked "Do you support continuation of the reform process which the State President began on 2 February 1990 and which is aimed at a new Constitution through negotiation?" 2.800 000 people turned up to vote which equal 85 percent of the voters. 68.73% voted to continue the work to end apartheid which gave F. W. de Klerk the legitimacy to continue with the reforms. In 1993 received F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela the Nobels Peace Prize.  In 1994 held South Africa their first multi-racial election and Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa. 

March 16th

On this day - March 16th 1988 - The largest chemical attack against a civil population in history

The Halabja chemical attack, or Halabja massacre, was an genocidal attack against the Kurdish people in the last days of the Iran-Iraq War. Between 3200 and 5000 people were killed instantly, while many more died of complications from the chemicals in the years that followed. Most of the injured and killed in this attack were civilians, and the attack is the largest chemical attack against a civil population ever. The attack started in the evening of March 16th when Iraq's army started dropping chemical bombs on the residential area of Halabja city in Kurdistan. It is believed that the chemical dropped were of different types, including Mustard gass and nerve agents and the attack lasted for five hours. Saddam Hussein blamed Iran for the attack, but it has later been proved that it most likely was Saddam Hussein who was behind the attack.

March 15th

On this day - March 15th 1892 - Liverpool FC is formed 

Liverpool FC was formed by following a disagreement in Everton where John Houlding the owner of Anfield wanted Everton to buy Anfield. Houlding had lent the ground to Everton for free until Everton stated to make a profit. The official split happened in a meeting on the 12th of March 1892 where Houlding uttered the famous words "I'm here on a trial, and a criminal never takes the chair". He then left the meeting with 18-19 other members. With his closest friends from Everton, Liverpool was formed in Houldings house. William E. Barclay was the one to suggest the name Liverpool.
It was not until June 3rd that the Board of Trade recognized Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Ltd. Liverpool is now one of the most popular clubs in the world and not without merits. Liverpool FC holds 18 first division series wins, 4 second division and 1 for Lancashire League, 7 FA Cups, 8 League Cups, 15 Charity Shield, 1 Super Cup , 5 European Cup (Champions League), 3 UEFA Cups and 3 UEFA Super Cups. Happy birthday Liverpool 

John Houlding

March 14th

On this day - March 14th 1943 - the Krakow Ghetto was liquidated

The Krakow ghetto was a Jewish ghetto in Poland. The ghetto was established in 1941 when the Jews in Krakow had to move into the ghetto. The liquidation of the ghetto started in June 1942 and lasted until March 14th 1943. The former inhabitants were sent to concentration camps where most of them met their death. In the final liquidation of the ghetto on the 13th and 14th of march was 8000 Jews who were deemed fit for work sent to Plaszow labour camp. Those who were considered unfit for work, about 2000 people, were killed. Those who was capture was sent to Auschwitz. The ghetto commander Amon Göth was hanged as a war criminal after the war ended. The ghetto is portrayed in the movie Schindler's List.

March 13th

On this day - March 13th 1996 - The Dunblane School massacre, one of the deadliest mass murders in the UK

Sixteen elementary school children and one teacher were shot and killed in the Dunblane Massacre in Scotland. The shooter, 43 year old Thomas Hamilton, drove to the school in the morning on march 13th. He thereafter cut the wires to the telephone at the school before endring the school building. When he was about to be confronted by the PE teacher in the gymnasium started he shooting at random. He injured 32 people, killed sixteen 5-6 years old children and one teacher before he took his own life.

Two new gun laws were passed in the UK after the massacre which effectively ended the ownership of private handheld guns illegal in the UK.

Picture by PaddyBriggs

March 12th

On this day - March 12th 1947 - The Truman doctrine was announced

The Truman Doctrine became the name of the American foreign policy towards the Soviet Union during after the second world war. It is by many seen as the starting point for the cold war conflict between the USA and the Soviet Union. the Truman doctrine was also an important contributor to the created of NATO in 1949. The policy got its name after the american president Henry S. Truman who announced the plans in 1947. The Truman Doctrine changed American policy towards the Soviet Union from relaxation of tension to containment. In 1948 was the doctrine further developed when Truman pledged to contain Soviet threat in Turkey and Greece. The aim of the policy was simply to keep more countries from becoming communist and aid was a central part of the implementation of the policy.

 "it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."

March 11th

On this day - March 11th 2004 - The Madrid Train bombings

The Madrid train bombings (known in Spain as 11-M) was a coordinated near simultaneous bombing against the morning commuter trains. The four trains attacked had thirteen bombs inn all, but three failed to go off. The attack took place three days before Spain's general election. The bombings killed 191 people and injured over 1800. The official investigation found that the attacks were directed by an al-Qaeda inspired terrorist cell, with no direct connections to al_Qaeda. The miners who sold the explosives to the terrorist were also arrested. The attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in Spanish history and its among the worst in European history. It was the worst attack in Europe since the Lockerbie bombing. On April 3rd four of the suspects from the March attack died in a suicide explosion in Leganés, this suicide attack also killed a police officer. The trail against the 29 accused started on February 15th 2007 and in the end 21 were found guilty and two were sentenced to more than 40,000 years in prison. 

Atocha Station - Photo by Roberto_Garcia

March 10th

On this day - March 10th 2006 - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached Mars 

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was designed to conduct reconnaissance on Mars. The MRO was built by Lockheed Martin and the mission was managed the California Institute for Technology. The mission was under the direction of NASA. It was launched August 12th 2005 and got into orbit around Mars on March 10th 2006. When the MRO reached orbit it joined the five other active spacecrafts either on Mars or in orbit at the time the most crafts around Mars. The MRO mission is to survey the planet for future landing sites, monitor the weather and climate and search for liquids. The equipment for sending data back to Earth is also more advanced and the bandwidth supported by the MRO was more than all the other Mars missions combined. A side mission for the MRO was to find the previously lost Mars Polar Lander and Beagle 2. Beagle 2 was found in the beginning of 2015. After the main mission is completed the MRO will aid future probes with communicating with Earth and function as a navigation system for future probes.

March 9th

On this day - March 9th 1959 - The first appearance of the Barbie doll

Barbie is an american doll first presented in 1959 who has since grown into becoming one of the worlds most popular toys. The German toy-doll Bild Lilli was the inspiration for the american doll and the name Barbie was created based on the name Barbara. The first Barbie was introduced as both a blondine and an brunette and it was first presented on the American International Toy Fair in New York. Barbie was one of the first toys to be promoted through Television and 350,000 dolls was sold the first year. It is estimated that over 1 billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide since 1959.

March 8th

On this day - March 8th 1910 - De Laroche became the first woman to get a pilot licence.

Raymonde de Laroche was a french woman born in 1882 with an huge interest for flying. She got her first flying lesson in October 1909 from her friend, Voisin, who was an aviator and an aeroplane builder. She soon started flying, and learned to master both take off and landing. She received her pilots licence on March 8th from the Aeroclub of France. This made her into the first woman in the world to receive a pilots license. She died in an accident when she was test-flying a new plane in France in 1912.

Happy women's day to all our readers!

March 7th

On this day - March 7th 1985 - The "We are the world" single was released

"We are the world" was a charity song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The song was recorded by the "group" USA for Africa who consisted of singers such as Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Bob Dylan. All the income from the song went to famine relief in Africa. The background and idea for the song came from the British song "Do they know its Christmas" which were released in 1984 and whose income all went to charity. Another reason was the 1983-85 famine in African (in particular Ethiopia) where over one million people starved to death. We are the world became the fasted selling american pop single of all time and was a huge commercial success. Over 63 million american dollars was raised from the song and its merchandise. In 2010 was a remake of the song created, but this time to aid the survivors of the Haiti earthquake (January 12th).

"We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving"

March 6th

On this day - March 6th 1957 - Ghana declared itself independent from the UK

The lad area which is Ghana today has a long and rich history, but in the 19th century became United Kingdom the colonial power of the region. In the 1900 was the borders set and the country was titled the British gold coast.  This lasted until 1957 when Ghana declared itself independent and thus became the first sub-saharan Africa country to declare itself independent from the European colonial powers. The independent country took the name Ghana which means Warrior King. Kwame Nkrumah was elected as the first president and he held this position until 1966 when he was overthrown in the first of many military coup. Ghana is one of the countries in the world that produces the most coca beans in the world, but the country is also a producer of oil and gas.  Happy birthday Ghana!

March 5th

On this day - March 5th 1946 - Churchill coined the term "Iron Curtain" about Soviet domination of East-Europe

The former British prime minister Winston Churchill talked about the Iron Curtain in his Sinews of Peace address in 1946. This concept was used to describe the soviet dominated eastern Europe during the cold war conflict. The Iron Curtains was seen as a dividing line between the western and the eastern parts of Europe. The term was not popular at the time, and it was severely criticized in the Soviet Union. Stalin even replied to Churchills speech and defended the Soviets friendship with the eastern states as a safeguard against another invasion. However, as the cold war continued did the term gain popularity and it grew into a well used metaphor for the division between east and west Europe. Physically, the curtain was maintained with border control, except in Berlin where the famous Berlin Wall was built.



"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "Iron Curtain" has descended across the continent". 

March 4th

On this day - March 4th 1665 - England declared war against the Netherlands

In 1665 started the second anglo-dutch war which lasted until 1667. Tis was the second conflict between the two countries, and two more were yet to come. The reason for the conflict was Englands wish to end the dutch trade domination of world trade. Although England started out as the most successful ended the conflict with the Netherlands as the winner. The reason the Netherlands won this war was simply because they were in a better financial situation than England. This ment that they could continue supplying their fleet with new ships as the war dragged on, and in the end this led to their victory. In fact, the war led to increased share in the world trade for the Netherlands who could increase their world trade without fear of the English, who did not have enough ships left. In 1667 was the treaty of Breda signed between the two countries.

March 3rd

On this day - March 3rd 1923 - Time Magazine is published

Time Magazine was created in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce and it was the first weekly news magazine in the United States. The mission was to tell the news trough people and its well known for the cover depicting one person. The magazine is well known for its Time Person of the Year where Time selects the individual or several individuals who have had the biggest impact on headlines over the past year. The list og Times Person of the Year includes many famous people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Bill Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg. Some of the people has also been controversial such Adolf Hitler in 1938, this caused Time to have a special edition in 1945 with Hitler and a red cross over. Happy birthday Time Magazine

March 2

On this day - March 2 1933 - The first King Kong movie was released

The first King Kong movie was released in New York in 1933 and the movie has since been ranked as the greatest horror movie by all times. The movie tells the story of the gigantic pre-historic ape, Kong, an his attempt to possess a young woman.The script's first draft was written by Edgar Wallace who died before production started. The idea was director Cooper's, who were facinated by apes and who saw an commercial appeals in the idea of a huge ape and a pretty girl horror movie. Four models of King was built for the movie. The models were made of wood, cloths and rubber. The movie became known for its innovative use of special effects at the time. The movie was released to the rest of the world on march 23d and it was a box office success. The movie has since been recreated twice. Once in 1976 (King Kong) and once in 2005 (King Kong).

March 1st

On this day - March 1st 1872 - Yellowstone became the worlds first national park 

Yellowstone is a national park in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming in the USA. The area was established as a national park in 1872 and it was the first natural area in the world to be given this status. The term "National Park" was not used about the area in 1872, but the purpose of the creation of the park was the same as national parks has today. The national park was created when President Ulysses, S. Grant signed the Act of Dedication. The park cover an area over 8000 square km and native Americans have lived in the area for at least 11,000 years.