What Happened On
John F. Kennedy Accused of Buying Election
March 15, 1958
After having been accused of using his father's money and influence to buy the election, John F. Kennedy reads a telegram he said he received from his dad: "Dear Jack, Don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for a landslide."
This was during a speech to the Gridiron Club, Washington, D.C.
Kennedy had been re-elected to the U.S. Senate with 73.6 percent of the vote, the largest winning margin in the history of Massachusetts politics.
Oktyabrskaya and a T-34 tank similar to hers
Photo Credit: Bundesarchiv
Oktyabrskaya and a T-34 tank similar to hersPhoto Credit: Bundesarchiv
"Fighting Girlfriend" Killed in Battle
March 15, 1944
Mariya Oktyabrskaya is killed in battle. When she had learned her husband had been killed fighting the Germans during WWII she sold all of her possessions and bought a tank for the Red Army. Her conditions were that the tank be named "Fighting Girlfriend" and that she be allowed to drive it. Seen at first as a publicity stunt, she fought in several battles proving herself an able and skilled tank driver. She died of wounds received while repairing her tank under heavy fire after it had been hit by a German anti-tank shell.
She was the first female tank driver awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union award (the Soviet Union's highest award for bravery during combat).
First escalator, at Coney Island, NY
First escalator, at Coney Island, NY
First Escalator
March 15, 1892
The escalator is patented, by American inventor Jesse Wilford Reno. The idea for his "inclined elevator" was originally part of his proposal to build an underground New York City subway. The subway proposal was rejected, but the inclined elevator caught on. It included a rubber-coated moving handrail and a comb of projected fingers on the ends to help prevent feet from getting caught in the mechanism. The first one was demonstrated at Coney Island, New York, and transported some 75,000 people during its two-week stay there. It was then moved to the Manhattan entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869
Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869
First Professional Baseball Team
March 15, 1869
The Cincinnati Red Stockings is organized, becoming the first professional baseball team. The team consisted of 10 players who went on salary till November. They would post a perfect season of 67-0, the only perfect season in professional baseball history.
Assassination of Caesar, by Vincenzo Camuccini
Assassination of Caesar, by Vincenzo Camuccini
Beware the Ides of March
March 15, 44 B.C.
Julius Caesar is assassinated on the Ides of March by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Brutus. According to the historian Plutarch, a fortune teller had warned Caesar, "beware the Ides of March." This event was immortalized in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.
The word Ides is from Latin, meaning to divide, and is the 15th day of March, May, July, October, and the 13th day of the other months in the ancient Roman calendar. At one time, the Ides of March marked the new year.
First Black American Catholic Archbishop
March 15, 1988
Eugene A. Marino is appointed Archbishop of Atlanta. After becoming Archbishop, Marino became involved in addressing the sexual misconduct of priests. However, after moving to Atlanta, Marino began an affair with a female lay minister. Marino resigned when this was revealed in 1990.
First U.S. Blood Bank
March 15, 1937
The first U.S. blood bank opens.
American Legion
March 15, 1919
Delegates representing veterans of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe meet in Paris and form the patriotic organization the American Legion.
Russian Revolution
March 15, 1917
Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates his throne, ending the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty. He and the royal family were killed the following year by the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.
First American Roman Catholic Cardinal
March 15, 1875
John McCloskey, archbishop of New York, is selected.
Maine
March 15, 1820
Maine becomes 23rd U.S. state.
First Catholic Nun Ordained in the U.S.
March 15, 1729
Ceremony of Profession is held for Sister St. Stanislaus Hachard, of New Orleans.
Birthdays
Bean on the Moon
Bean on the Moon
Alan L. Bean
Born March 15, 1932 d. 2018
American astronaut. The fourth man to walk on the Moon (1969).
General Andrew Jackson
Born March 15, 1767 d. 1845
American politician. 7th U.S. President (1829-37), the only U.S. President to fight in a duel (1806). He shot and killed Charles Dickinson.
Note: Vice-President Aaron Burr killed former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel during his vice-presidency (1804) and Abraham Lincoln was challenged to a duel, but wittingly convinced his adversary it was ill advised.
Jimmy Baio (James Joseph Baio)
Born March 15, 1962
American actor. TV: Soap (1977-81, Billy Tate). He is the cousin of actor Scott Baio.
Sly and the Family Stone (Sly Stone second from left)
Sly and the Family Stone (Sly Stone second from left)
Sly Stone (Sylvester Stewart)
Born March 15, 1944
American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer, songwriter. Frontman for Sly and the Family Stone, known for the development of soul, funk, rock, and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mike Love
Born March 15, 1941
American singer, with The Beach Boys. Music: Surfin' USA (1963), I Get Around (1964, #1), Help Me Rhonda, (1965, #1), and Good Vibrations (1966, #1).
Judd Hirsch
Born March 15, 1935
American Tony-Emmy-winning actor. TV: Taxi (1978-83, Alex Reiger), Dear John (1988-92, John Lacey), and NUMB3RS (2005-10, Alan Eppes). Film: Ordinary People (1980), Running on Empty (1988), Independence Day (1996), and A Beautiful Mind (2001).
Macdonald Carey
Born March 15, 1913 d. 1994
American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Days of Our Lives (Dr. Horton and narrator for the opening, "Like sands through the hourglass…") and Roots (1977, Squire James).
Emil von Behring
Born March 15, 1854 d. 1917
German Nobel-winning physiologist, bacteriologist. He discovered tetanus and diphtheria vaccines (1890).
Deaths
Oktyabrskaya and a T-34 tank similar to hers
Photo Credit: Bundesarchiv
Oktyabrskaya and a T-34 tank similar to hersPhoto Credit: Bundesarchiv
Fighting Girlfriend
Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya
Died March 15, 1944 b. 1905
Soviet tank driver. What would you do to avenge your spouse's death? Oktyabrskaya bought a tank and fought the Germans.
When she learned her husband had been killed fighting the Germans during WWII she sold all of her possessions and bought a tank for the Red Army. Her conditions were that the tank be named "Fighting Girlfriend" and that she be allowed to drive it. Seen at first as a publicity stunt, she fought in several battles proving herself an able and skilled tank driver. She died of wounds received while repairing her tank under heavy fire after it had been hit by a German anti-tank shell.
She was the first female tank driver awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union award (the Soviet Union's highest award for bravery during combat).
Assassination of Caesar, by Vincenzo Camuccini
Assassination of Caesar, by Vincenzo Camuccini
Julius Caesar
Died March 15, 44 B.C. b. 100 B.C.
Roman general, statesman. He was assassinated by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Brutus. A fortune teller had warned Caesar, "beware the Ides of March." The Ides of March falls on the 15th, the day Caesar was assassinated.
David Brenner
Died March 15, 2014 b. 1936
American comedian. TV: Hollywood Squares (panelist) and The Tonight Show (guest host). He was a pioneer in observational comedy (Have you ever noticed…).
Ron Silver
Died March 15, 2009 b. 1946
American Tony-winning actor. TV: Rhoda (Gary Levy).
Ann Sothern
Died March 15, 2001 b. 1909
American actress. Film: Heroine of the Maisie movies (1939-47). TV: My Mother the Car (voice of the car).
Benjamin Spock
Died March 15, 1998 b. 1903
American pediatrician. Author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1946), which was one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies in its first six months and 50 million by the time of Spock's death in 1998.
He won a gold medal for rowing in the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1968, he was convicted of conspiracy to aid others in draft evasion and sentenced to two years.
Morrie Brickman
Died March 15, 1994 b. 1917
American cartoonist. Created the small society (1966). He also created the Mr. Yoyo character for Duncan Yoyos.
Aristotle Socrates Onassis
Died March 15, 1975 b. 1906
Greek shipping executive, husband of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
1950 Harlem Globetrotters World Series Team - Owner-Coach Abe Saperstein (right)
1950 Harlem Globetrotters World Series Team - Owner-Coach Abe Saperstein (right)
Abe Saperstein
Died March 15, 1966 b. 1902
English-born basketball coach Hall of Famer. He formed and coached the Harlem Globetrotters (1927). Although the original players were from the Chicago area, Saperstein chose the name "New York Harlem Globe Trotters" as Harlem was considered the center of African-American culture at the time. Ironically, they did not play in Harlem until 1968, more than 40 years later.
At 5′3″ Saperstein is the shortest male member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. The Globetrotters won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1940.
Davidson Black
Died March 15, 1934 b. 1884
Canadian anthropologist. He discovered the race Homo erectus (1927) when he identified a single hominid tooth as the "Peking Man."