Adolf Hitler

March 23, 1933

Adolf Hitler passes the Enabling Act which effectively gave him dictatorial powers. He then used that power to ban other political parties.

Dan Quayle - "If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure"

March 23, 1990

U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle in a speech to the Phoenix Republican Forum comments, "If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure."

Cold Fusion

March 23, 1989

Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons report that they had produced fusion at near room temperature. Despite much media frenzy, the inability of others to reproduce their results led the scientific community to eventually reject their claim.

Beat the Clock

March 23, 1950

The TV show Beat the Clock debuts on CBS with Bud Collyer as emcee. Contestants had to complete challenges before the timer ran out. This show provided a then unknown James Dean his first job in TV (1952), testing the challenges done on the show. Host Bud Collyer was also famous for having voiced Superman/Clark Kent on radio and in cartoons.

Mussolini

March 23, 1919

Benito Mussolini organizes the Fascio de Combattimento, which became the nucleus of the Fascist Party (1921).

U.S. Polygamy Ban

March 23, 1882

The Edmunds Act is signed into law making polygamy a felony and bigamous cohabitation a misdemeanor. More than 1300 men were convicted under this law, but not the women, as they were seen as victims.
Those practicing, or approving of, polygamy were banned from voting and holding public office.

Princess Eugenie (Eugenie Victoria Helena)

Born March 23, 1990

British royalty, second child of Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York.

Chaka Khan (Yvette Marie Stevens)

Born March 23, 1953

American singer, songwriter. Music: Tell Me Something Good (1974).

First Person to Run a 4-Minute Mile

Roger Bannister

Born March 23, 1929 d. 2018

British runner. First person to run a 4-minute mile (1954, 3 minutes 59.4 seconds). According to his book, The Four-Minute Mile, his training consisted primarily of 30-minute runs consisting of hard intervals, 3-4 times a week.

Marty Allen

Born March 23, 1922 d. 2018

American comedian, with his famous catchphrase "Hello Dere!" TV: Regular on Hollywood Squares.

Morris Frank

Born March 23, 1908 d. 1980

American pioneer for the blind. Blind himself, he brought Buddy the first seeing eye dog in the U.S. (1928) over from Switzerland and co-founded The Seeing Eye, the first dog guide school in the U.S.

Arthur St. Clair

Born March 23, 1737 d. 1818

15th president of the Continental Congress (1787-88).

Madeleine Albright (Marie Jana Korbelová)

Died March 23, 2022 b. 1937

American diplomat. Madeleine Albright served as the United States Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. She was the first female U.S. Secretary of State.
In 1948, Albright immigrated with her family to the United States from Czechoslovakia and she became a U.S. citizen in 1957.

Creator of the Pet Rock

Gary Dahl

Died March 23, 2015 b. 1936

American entrepreneur. Creator of the Pet Rock (1975). While sitting in a bar listening to people complain about their pets, he joked that he had the perfect pet - a rock.
He then sold rocks to people as pets, complete with instructions. From the Pet Rock manual: "To be sure, training a rock to come when it's called requires extraordinary patience."

Elizabeth Taylor

Died March 23, 2011 b. 1932

British-American Oscar-winning actress. She was the first woman paid $1 million to appear in a film (1963, Cleopatra). Film: Lassie Come Home (1943), A Place in the Sun (1951), Butterfield 8 (1960, Oscar), and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966, Oscar).

George Segal

Died March 23, 2021 b. 1934

American actor. Film: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966, Oscar nomination). TV: Just Shoot Me! (1997-2003, Jack Gallo) and The Goldbergs (2013-21, Albert "Pops" Solomon).

Lola Albright

Died March 23, 2017 b. 1924

American actress, singer. TV: Peter Gunn (1958-61, Peter Gunn's girlfriend).

Joe Garagiola Sr.

Died March 23, 2016 b. 1926

American baseball player, sportscaster.

Giulietta Masina (Guilia Anna Masina)

Died March 23, 1994 b. 1921

Italian actress, wife of Federico Fellini. Film: La Strada (1954, Gelsomina), and Nights of Cabiria (1956, Cannes Best Actress, as the prostitute).

First Black Woman U.S. Ambassador

Patricia Roberts Harris

Died March 23, 1985 b. 1924

American lawyer, educator. She was the first black woman U.S. ambassador (1965-67, Luxembourg) and the first woman to hold two cabinet positions: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1977-79) and Secretary of Health Education and Welfare (1979-81).

John Haley "Zoot" Sims

Died March 23, 1985 b. 1925

American saxophonist. He played with Bobby Sherwood, Benny Goodman, and Woody Herman.

Barney B. Clark

Died March 23, 1983 b. 1921

American dentist. He was the first person to have a permanent artificial heart successfully implanted (Dec. 2, 1982), performed by Dr. Robert Jarvik.

Peter Lorre (Laszlo Loewenstein)

Died March 23, 1964 b. 1904

American actor. Film: The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942, Ugarte), and star of the Mr. Moto movies (1930s).

Harry Thurston Peck

Died March 23, 1914 b. 1856

American educator, magazine editor, coined the word "Bestseller" (1895).

Morrison Remick Waite

Died March 23, 1888 b. 1816

American jurist, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1874-88).

Founded Boston Female Medical School

Samuel Gregory

Died March 23, 1872 b. 1813

American medical educator. He founded Boston Female Medical School (1848), the first medical school exclusively for women, because he was opposed to male doctors attending births.
By 1852, this school was called the New England Female Medical College. It merged with the Boston University School of Medicine in 1874 to become one of the first co-ed medical schools in the world.
Dr. Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler graduated in 1864 and was the first African American woman to earn a medical degree.

Julius III (Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte)

Died March 23, 1555 b. 1487

Italian religious leader, 221st Pope (1550-55).