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SALEM WITCH TRIALS
On
the 1st of March, 1692, Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne and a servant named
Tituba were arrested for "witchcraft" in the village of Salem. The
situation led to one of the darkest times in early American history.
What caused the hysteria of the "Salem Witch Trials" era?
DRESDEN - SMASHED to ATOMS
Following
heavy RAF bombardment on the German city of Dresden, during February of
1945, America's 8th Air Force bombed the city - again - on the 2nd of
March. Not just reduced to rubble, Dresden - according to one of its
city officials - had been "smashed to atoms."
JOHN DILLINGER - JAIL BREAK with a WOODEN PISTOL
On
the 3rd of March - 1933 - John Dillinger was in the Lake County jail,
in Crown Point (Indiana). Reportedly using a homemade gun, which he'd
fashioned from a wooden washboard, Dillinger escaped confinement. After
his jail break, Dillinger stole a car - the sheriff's - and drove it
over state lines. That was a federal offense, enabling J. Edgar Hoover
and the special agents of the Bureau of Investigation (the predecessor
of the FBI) to pursue Dillinger.
FDR - FIRST INAUGURAL - "FEAR ITSELF"
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt was the last American president to take the oath of office in
March. Thereafter, a constitutional amendment moved inaugural dates to
January 20th. Becoming president during a time of national crisis, FDR
told the American people (and the people of the world): "The only
thing we have to fear is fear itself."
CHURCHHILL and the IRON CURTAIN
On
the 5th of March, 1946, Winston Churchill was no longer Prime Minister
of Britain. He'd been voted-out of office the year before, but Churchill
was never really out of politics. Invited to give a speech in Fulton,
Missouri, the elder statesman coined the phrase of an era when he said
that an "iron curtain has descended across the Continent."
SR-71 - FASTEST PLANE SETS A RECORD
On
the 6th of March, 1990, an SR-71 Blackbird set a speed record when it
flew across the United States in 67 minutes and 54 seconds. The amazing
plane averaged 2,124 miles per hour during the trip.
HELEN KELLER GETS A TEACHER
Before
Anne Sullivan became her teacher, Helen Keller was incorrigibly unruly.
Locked inside a dark world, where she could neither see nor hear, the
child caused major disruptions in her family's life. Then ... on the 3rd
of March, 1887, Sullivan joined the Keller household. Step by step, she
began to help Helen change her world.
"NOSFERATU"
On the 5th of March,
1922, "Nosferatu" - a silent film based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" -
premiered in Berlin. For many film scholars, the work still defines the
horror genre.
FIRE BOMBS over TOKYO
During
March of 1945, American B-29 bombers began to fly incendiary-bomb
missions over Tokyo. Move the video forward - to 3:45 - to see what
happened to the Japanese people, and their capital city, on the night of
March 9/10, 1945.
MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER - ARRIVAL at MARS
The
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - known as the MRO - arrived at Mars on the
10th of March, 2006 after traveling seven months. What is the MRO -
and - how does it work?
SENDAI EARTHQUAKE and TSUNAMI
After
a massive 8.9 earthquake occurred near Sendai, Japan - on March 11,
2011 - a deadly tsunami came ashore. The closed-circuit television
system at Sendai airport recorded what happened as sea water paralyzed
the airport.
SENDAI EARTHQUAKE - CHAOS in a GROCERY STORE
When
the Sendai earthquake struck, on the afternoon of March 11th, people in
Japan were going about their daily business. Grocery-store workers and
shoppers alike dealt with the chaos which erupted as goods started to
fly-off the shelves.
FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT EXPLOSION
The day after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake impacted Japan, a nuclear
power plant at the Fukushima complex exploded. This clip shows what
happened.
JULIUS CAESAR and the IDES of MARCH
On
the 15th of March - in 44 B.C. - Julius Caesar (dictator of Rome) was
assassinated by three of his close associates. This animated version, of
Shakespeare's play, summarizes what happened on that world-changing
day.
DISCOVERY of ANTI-MATTER
On
the 15th of March, 1962, five research groups announced the discovery
of anti-matter. What is anti-matter? Can scientists create it in CERN's
"Large Hadron Collider?
JAPANESE-AMERICANS - RELOCATED
On
the 18th of March, 1942, the U.S. government established the War
Relocation Authority to take Japanese-Americans into custody. The
reasoning behind this relocation of American citizens is explained in a
government-produced film.
TUSKEGEE EXPERIMENT - 99TH PURSUIT SQUADRON
The first
African-American pilot squadron - known as the 99th Pursuit - became
active on the 19th of March, 1941. It was known as the "Tuskegee
Experiment."
"UNCLE TOM'S CABIN"
Originally
published on March 20, 1852, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" - a book by Harriet
Beecher Stowe - was vitally important as an American anti-slavery tool
during the country's pre-civil war years. In recent times, however,
negative views of the work (and its stereotypical characters) have
overshadowed its contemporary significance.
EINSTEIN'S THEORY of GENERAL RELATIVITY
Isaac Newton discovered the concept of gravity, but no one before Einstein figured out what caused gravity. Einstein's insight - known as his general theory of
relativity - is that all massive bodies, like stars and galaxies, bend
(or curve) space and time. When other objects - like the Earth - pass
through that curvature, they experience the curvature's impact. It is
this bending, or curving, of space and time which causes gravity. Put
differently, one could say that gravity is the curvature of space and
time. This video helps to explain Einstein's theory of general
relativity (which he published on March 20, 1916).
BATTLE of the SOMME - HISTORIC FOOTAGE
Hoping
to break through the Allied line - before U.S. reinforcements arrived -
German troops launched the second battle of the Somme on March 21,
1918. This clip, from the first battle of the Somme, depicts what it
was like to be in the trenches. According to the U.K. National
Archives, the film from which this clip is excerpted "proved more
popular than the official films that the War Office had made during the
war..."
A VISIT TO TITAN - SATURN'S LARGEST MOON
In
the mid-seventeenth century, Christiaan Huygens discovered Saturn's
largest moon - known as Titan - on the 25th of March, 1655. Centuries
later, a probe called Huygens - delivered from a spacecraft called
Cassini - paid a visit to Titan. This video depicts what the probe
"saw" as it made its descent to Titan's surface.
TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FIRE
March
25, 1911 was a Saturday - a beautiful day. Everyone who worked at the
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, in New York City, was looking forward to
Sunday - their only non-working day. Some of the girls were singing, and
quitting time was not far off. Then ... they saw flames in their
workplace.
DEATH of BEETHOVEN
On
the 26th of March, 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven died a very painful
death. What happened to cause his death - and - how did he spend his
last months?
UNDERSTANDING BEETHOVEN'S 5TH SYMPHONY
Beethoven
died on the 26th of March, 1827. Still regarded as one of the most
important composers in the world, Beethoven was a legend in his own
lifetime. In this clip, go back in time to the early days of television
to watch Leonard Bernstein explain Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
BEETHOVEN'S MUSIC - 2ND MOVEMENT, 7TH SYMPHONY
Some
lovers of classical music consider the second movement of Beethoven's
Seventh Symphony to be one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever
written. See it performed by the Berlin Philharmonic (under the
direction of Herbert Von Karajan who never looks at a score and keeps
his eyes shut throughout).
DISASTER at TENERIFE
The
world's worst airline accident happened on the island of Tenrife, in
the Canaries, on the 27th of March, 1977. Although 583 people died (when
two Boeing 747s collided as one of them tried to take-off), some
individuals aboard one of the planes - a Pan American jet - survived.
This video includes their stories and recreates what happened when KLM
Flight 4805 struck Pan Am Flight 1736.
VIRGINIA WOOLF - SURVIVING VOICE RECORDING
Virginia Woolf, the famous British author, drowned in a river
near her home on the 28th of March, 1941. A single recording of her
voice survives.
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION of PRESIDENT REAGAN
A
few months after his first inauguration, President Reagan was leaving a
Washington D.C. building when shots rang out. It was the 30th of March,
1981. Historical footage of the attempted assassination, as it
happened, was somehow filed away - then rediscovered, twenty-five years
later. This clip, of that event, depicts the chaotic situation which
ensued immediately after the shooting.
PRESIDENT REAGAN DESCRIBES the SHOOTING
After
he recovered from his very serious injuries, President Reagan describes
what happened during the attempted assassination and its ensuing
events.
EIFFEL TOWER
The Eiffel Tower draws about 7 million annual visitors, but most people may not realize it was originally slated for a very short lifespan. A single vote, in favor of retaining the wonder of
Paris, kept the tower from being disassembled twenty years after it was
erected.
POLL TAX - RIOTS in BRITAIN
So many people were upset about the "Community Charge" - more
popularly known as the "Poll Tax" - that riots erupted throughout
Britain in March of 1990. The will of the people was clearly at odds
with the will of the sitting Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher - and
most (but not all) members of her government. |