Three Mile Island (Life Imitates Art)

March 28, 1979

Nuclear reactor number 2 at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station has a partial meltdown. This resulted in the release of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine into the environment. The accident was due largely to operator error, inadequate training, and design flaws.
The movie The China Syndrome had premiered just 12 days earlier. It told the fictional story of TV reporters who uncovered major safety violations and filmed a nuclear accident at a power plant. The nuclear power industry derided the film, claiming it was absurd and nothing like that could ever happen. And then 12 days later…
U.S. President Jimmy Carter (who had specialized in nuclear power while serving in the United States Navy) toured the damaged reactor after the event.

Marriage of the Century - Pickford and Fairbanks Wed

March 28, 1920

The Hollywood legends Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. are married. Known as the "King and Queen of Hollywood", the event was called the "marriage of the century".
They divorced in 1936.

Barnum & Bailey's Circus

March 28, 1881

The Barnum & Bailey Circus is formed when P.T. Barnum combines his circus with the Cooper and Bailey Circus. It was initially named "P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show On Earth", later changing the name to "Barnum & Bailey's Circus". The following year, they acquired Jumbo, billed as the "World's Largest Elephant." When Barnum died 10 years later, James Anthony Bailey bought out the circus from his widow.

First U.S. Patent for a Washing Machine

March 28, 1797

A U.S. patent is issued to Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire. Called the Box Mangler, it consisted of a large box filled with rocks, resting on a series of long wooden rollers. Washing was laid flat on a sheet and wound round one of the rollers. Two people pulled on levers to move the heavy box back and forth over the rollers.

Jimmie Dodd (James Wesley Dodd)

Born March 28, 1910 d. 1964

American actor. The 45-year-old actor/song writer was the first leader (1955-59) of the Mouseketeers on TV's The Mickey Mouse Club and composer of the opening theme song, The Mickey Mouse Club March. Dodd also did short homilies on the show encouraging young viewers to make the right moral choices; these became known as "Doddisms".
Dodd also played Lullaby Joslin in several Western B-movie episodes of The Three Mesquiteers.

Sister Lúcia dos Santos (Lúcia de Jesus Rosa Santos)

Born March 28, 1907 d. 2005

Roman Catholic Carmelite nun. She claimed that at the age of ten she and her two cousins, Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto, saw and were spoken to by the Virgin Mary near Fátima, Portugal (1917) in what became known as the Our Lady of Fatima visions. Both of her cousins died several years after the sighting in the Great Influenza Epidemic.

Marlin Perkins

Born March 28, 1905 d. 1986

American zoo director, TV personality. Host of TV's Wild Kingdom from 1963 to 1985. During his previous show, Zoo Parade (1950-57), Perkins was bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a rehearsal. This event has become an urban legend as many people "remember" seeing it on television, however, it wasn't filmed and consequently was never broadcast. (This type of false memory shared by multiple people is known as the "Mandela Effect.")

August Anheuser Busch, Jr.

Born March 28, 1899 d. 1989

American beer-company executive. After learning the family business, Busch became superintendent of Anheuser-Busch brewing operations in 1924 and head of the brewing division after his father's death in 1934. By 1957, it had become the largest brewery in the world.
He was owner of the St. Louis Cardinals franchise in Major League Baseball from 1953 until his death.