March 23
Today in America's Present Past
1775 | Virginia statesman Patrick Henry delivered his famous “Give Me Liberty Speech.”
1823 | Politician Schuyler Colfax was born.
1857 | The first elevator was installed in the U.S. by Elisha Otis.
1857 | Culinary pioneer Fannie Farmer was born.
1862 | Outlaw and cleric Nathanial Reed was born.
1862 | Civil War: Battle of Kernstown, Virginia.
1868 | The University of California was founded.
1870 | SCOTUS: Justice Bradley was sworn in.
1882 | Congress: Passed the Edmunds Act outlawing polygamy.
1903 | The Wright Brothers file for a flying machine patent (granted as #821,393)
1905 | Actress Joan Crawford was born.
1908 | Korean agents assassinate American diplomat Durham Stevens in San Francisco, California.
1912 | Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was born.
1933 | Psychologist Philip Zimbardo was born.
1937 | Race car driver Craig Breedlove was born.
1937 | Boxer Tony Burton was born in Flint, Michigan.
1938 | Musician Dave Pike was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1946 | Chemist Gilbert N. Lewis died.
1947 | Actor Terry Alexander was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1952 | Entrepreneur Rex Tillerson was born.
1953 | Entertainer Chaka Khan was born.
1957 | The U.S. Army sells its last carrier pigeons used for communication.
1965 | Poet Gary Whitehead was born.
1965 | Gemini 3 launched. Astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young performed the first two-man U.S. spaceflight. Young famously smuggled a corned beef sandwich onto the craft.
1968 | Author Edwin O’Connor died.
1983 | Cold War: Republican President Reagan gave a speech proposing the Strategic Defense Initiative.
1985 | Politician Patricia Roberts Harris died.
1991 | Culinary inventor Dominic Bellissimo died.
1992 | Nobel economist F. A. Hayek died.
2010 | POTUS: Democrat President Obama signed the “Affordable Care Act.”
2011 | Actress Elizabeth Taylor died.
2022 | Diplomat Madeleine Albright died.