Updated March 30, 2012, 2:28 pm
On March 31, 1968,President Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not run for another term of office.
On March 31, 1927, Cesar Chavez, who became the leader of migrant American farm workers, was born. Following his death on April 23, 1993, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling Jews unwilling to convert to Christianity. 1889 French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the Eiffel Tower to mark its completion. 1917 The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark. 1943 The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Oklahoma!” opened on Broadway. 1945 “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway. 1976 The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. (Quinlan remained comatose and died in 1985.) 1992 The U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six men accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and a French airliner. 1995 Singer Selena, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club. 1995 Baseball players agreed to end a 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against club owners. 1999 Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets. (They were acquited in 2000.) 2004 Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged their burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge. 2005 Terri Schiavo died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a wrenching right-to-die dispute. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., turns 72 years old today.
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Actor Ewan McGregor turns 41 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg
1928 Gordie Howe, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 84 1934 Richard Chamberlain, Actor, turns 78 1934 Shirley Jones, Actress (“The Partridge Family”), turns 78 1935 Herb Alpert, Musician, turns 77 1940 Patrick Leahy, U.S. senator, D-Vt., turns 72 1943 Christopher Walken, Actor, turns 69 1945 Gabe Kaplan, Actor, comedian (“Welcome Back Kotter”), turns 67 1948 Al Gore, Former vice president, Nobel Peace Prize winner, turns 64 1948 Rhea Perlman, Actress (“Cheers”), turns 64 1950 Ed Marinaro, Actor (“Hill Street Blues”), turns 62 1955 Angus Young, Rock musician (AC/DC), turns 57 1983 Christian Scott, Jazz trumpeter, turns 29 1985 Jessica Szohr, Actress (“Gossip Girl”), turns 27
Historic Birthdays
Cesar Chavez 3/31/1927 – 4/23/1993 American organizer and leader of migrant American farm workers.Go to obituary »
53 Rene Descartes 3/31/1596 – 2/11/1650
French mathematician, scientist and philosopher77 Franz Joseph Haydn 3/31/1732 – 5/31/1809
Austrian composer of the Classical period74 Edward Fitzgerald 3/31/1809 – 6/14/1883
English writer and translator (“Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”)87 James M. Cox 3/31/1870 – 7/15/1957
American newspaper publisher and governor of Ohio (1913-15, 1917-21)50 Arthur Griffith 3/31/1872 – 8/12/1922
Irish journalist and principal founder of Sinn Fein movement57 Serge Diaghilev 3/31/1872 – 8/19/1929
Russian impresario; created Ballets Russes in 190968 Jack Johnson 3/31/1878 – 6/10/1946
American boxer; heavyweight champion81 Sir Lawrence Bragg 3/31/1890 – 7/1/1971
Australian-born English Nobel Prize-winning physicist93 John McCloy 3/31/1895 – 3/11/1989
American diplomat, lawyer, and presidential adviser84 Octavio Paz 3/31/1914 – 4/19/1998
Mexican Nobel Prize-winning poet, writer and diplomat
