Updated March 14, 2012, 2:28 pm
On March 15, 1965, addressing a joint session of Congress, President Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American’s right to vote.
On March 15, 1858, Liberty Hyde Bailey, a botanist who traveled around the world to collect and classify thousands of plants, was born. Following his death on Dec. 25, 1954, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
44 B.C. Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included Brutus and Cassius. 1493 Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, concluding his first voyage to the Western Hemisphere. 1820 Maine became the 23rd state. 1913 President Woodrow Wilson held the first open presidential news conference. 1919 The American Legion was founded in Paris. 1956 The Lerner and Loewe musical “My Fair Lady” opened on Broadway. 1964 Actress Elizabeth Taylor and actor Richard Burton were married; it was her fifth marriage, his second. 1965 Addressing a joint session of Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson called for new legislation to guarantee every American’s right to vote. 1972 “The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola’s epic gangster movie based on the Mario Puzo novel and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premiered in New York. 1975 Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, the husband of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, died at age 69. 1985 The first Internet domain name, symbolics.com, was registered by the Symbolics Computer Corp. of Massachusetts. 2003 Hu Jintao was chosen to replace Jiang Zemin as the president of China. 2003 The World Health Organization issued a worldwide health alert for the respiratory illness SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg turns 79 years old today.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis turns 33 years old today.
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
1932 Alan L. Bean, Astronaut, turns 80 1935 Judd Hirsch, Actor (“Taxi”), turns 77 1940 Phil Lesh, Rock musician (Grateful Dead), turns 72 1941 Mike Love, Rock singer (The Beach Boys), turns 71 1943 Sly Stone, Rock singer, musician, turns 69 1947 Ry Cooder, Rock musician, turns 65 1955 Dee Snider, Rock singer (Twisted Sister), turns 57 1957 Park Overall, Actress (“Empty Nest”), turns 55 1961 Fabio, Model, turns 51 1962 Terence Trent D’Arby, R&B singer, turns 50 1963 Bret Michaels, Rock singer (Poison), turns 49 1964 Rockwell, R&B singer, turns 48 1968 Mark McGrath, Rock singer (Sugar Ray), turns 44 1969 Kim Raver, Actress (“24”), turns 43 1972 Mike Tomlin, Football coach, turns 40 1975 Eva Longoria, Actress (“Desperate Housewives”), turns 37 1975 will.i.am, Rapper, musician (Black Eyed Peas), turns 37 1981 Young Buck, Rapper, turns 31
Historic Birthdays
Liberty Hyde Bailey 3/15/1858 – 12/25/1954 American botanist and writer.Go to obituary »
58 Franciscus Sylvius 3/15/1614 – 11/15/1672
German physician, physiologist and chemist78 Andrew Jackson 3/15/1767 – 6/8/1845
7th president of the United States (1829-37)69 William Lamb Melbourne 3/15/1779 – 11/24/1848
English prime minister and adviser to Queen Victoria83 Jules Chevalier 3/15/1824 – 10/21/1907
French priest, author and founder of the Sacred Heart Missionaries63 Emil von Behring 3/15/1854 – 3/31/1917
German Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist68 Christian Michelsen 3/15/1857 – 6/28/1925
Norwegian prime minister; separated Norway from Sweden in 190577 Harold Ickes 3/15/1874 – 2/3/1952
American statesman77 Henri Saint Cyr 3/15/1902 – 7/27/1979
Swedish equestrian; winner of two Olympic gold medals67 Harry James 3/15/1916 – 7/5/1983
American trumpeter and bandleader
