LBJ sends federal troops to Alabama to protect a civil rights march

Born on This Day

Fred Rogers

1928 - 2003

Cardigan-wearing host of the long-running children's TV show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."

Henrik Ibsen

1828 - 1906

Norwegian playwright who pushed 19th-century theater into grittier realism in dramas like "A Doll's House" and "Hedda Gabler."

Spike Lee

1957 -

Oscar-winning filmmaker who pushed Black perspectives into mainstream Hollywood in films like "Do the Right Thing."

Fred RogersGetty Images

Henrik IbsenCorbis via Getty Images

Spike LeeGetty Images

1973

MAR20

Puerto Rican-born Roberto Clementea 15-time All-Star with a .317 career batting averageis elected to the Baseball Hall of Famethe first Latin American player to receive that honor.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major eventsfamous birthsnotable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on March 20th

1345

Black Death is createdallegedly

According to scholars at the University of Paristhe Black Death is created on March 201345from what they call “a triple conjunction of SaturnJupiter and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquariusoccurring on the 20th of March 1345.″ The Black Deathalso known as the Plagueswept across Europethe Middle […]

3:04m read

1413

Henry V ascends upon father’s death

King Henry IVthe first English monarch of the Lancastrian dynastydies after years of illnessand his eldest sonHenry Vascends to the English throne. In 1399Henry Bolingbroke was crowned King Henry IV of England following the forced abdication of King Richard IIwho was greatly weakened by internal conflicts stemming from […]

1778

King Louis XVI receives U.S. representatives

Benjamin FranklinSilas Deane and Arthur Lee present themselves to France’s King Louis XVI as official representatives of the United States on March 201778. Louis XVI was skeptical of the fledgling republicbut his dislike of the British eventually overcame these concerns and France officially recognized the United States in February 1778. Some of […]

1:50m read

1852

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is published

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novelUncle Tom’s Cabinis published. The novel sold 300,000 copies within three months and was so widely read that when President Abraham Lincoln met Stowe in 1862he reportedly said“So this is the little lady who made this big war.” Stowe was born in 1811the seventh child of […]

1:16m read

1854

Republican Party founded

In RiponWisconsinformer members of the Whig Party meet to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories. The Whig Partywhich was formed in 1834 to oppose the “tyranny” of President Andrew Jacksonhad shown itself incapable of coping with the national crisis over slavery. With the […]

1861

Willie and Tad Lincoln get the measles

On March 201861President Abraham Lincoln’s sonsWillie and Tadare diagnosed with the measlesadding to the president’s many troubles. Few U.S. presidents worked as hard in office as Abraham Lincoln did during the Civil War. Besides managing his generals and the war effortLincoln had to deal with prospective office-seekersforeign affairs[…]

1:34m read

1995

Tokyo subways are attacked with sarin gas

Several packages of deadly sarin gas are set off in the Tokyo subway system killing twelve people and injuring over 5,000 on March 201995. Sarin gas was invented by the Nazis and is one of the most lethal nerve gases known to man. Tokyo police quickly learned who had planted the chemical weapons and […]

2:10m read

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