March 23
1775
Patrick Henry declared “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
1806
Lewis and Clark began their return journey east.
1877
The first Easter egg roll was held on the White House lawn.
1919
Benito Mussolini founded his own party in Italy, the Fasci di Combattimento.
1983
U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposed a space-based missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star Wars.”
1998
The motion picture epic “Titanic” won 11 Oscars at the 70th Academy Awards, tying it with “Ben-Hur” for the most ever.
2001
Russia’s Mir space station ended its 15-year orbit of the Earth, splashing down in the South Pacific.
2003
A U.S. Army convoy was ambushed in Iraq with 11 killed and seven captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
2010
President Barack Obama signed a health-care overhaul bill, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, into law.
Birthdays
Akira Kurosawa
Pronunciation: [äkE´rä kOOrO´säwä]
1910–1998, Japanese film director, scriptwriter, and producer, born in Tokyo.
John Bartram
botanist (1699)
Pierre Simon Laplace
astronomer and mathematician (1749)
William Smith
geologist (1769)
Juan Gris
artist (1887)
Erich Fromm
psychoanalyst and author (1900)
Joan Crawford
actress (1908)
Wernher von Braun
scientist (1912)
Donald Malcolm Campbell
automobile and boat racer (1921)
Roger Bannister
physician, athlete (1929)