Paracultural Calendar for March 1

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *752 BC*, *Romulus*, legendary first king of Rome,
celebrates the first Roman triumph after his victory over the Caeninenses,
following The Rape of the Sabine Women.

***

As of this day in the year *743 AD*, because of an official decree,
citizens of the Holy Roman Empire are no longer allowed to export their
servants and/or children to slave traders from "heathen" lands. This might
seem like a progressive move at first glance, but it had the unintended
consequence of creating a white slave-trade deficit that sent shockwaves
through the global economy.

***

On this day in *1562*, 23 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy,
France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.

***

On this day in *1633*, *Samuel de Champlain* reclaims his role as commander
of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.

***

On this day in *1692*, *Sarah Good*, *Sarah Osborne* and *Tituba* are
brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning
what would become known as the Salem witch trials.

***

On this day in *1780*, Pennsylvania becomes the first American state to
abolish hereditary slavery. Children of Pennsylvania slaves were thereafter
born "free"… to do what, exactly, Godzilla only knows.

***

On this day in *1790*, the first United States census is authorized.

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On this day in *1811*, King *Muhammad Ali Pasha*, founder of the modern
state of Egypt, personally oversees the murders of over 500 Mameluke
warriors in a single day's slaughter. I don't have a joke, here. I just
like the word "Mameluke". We don't use it nearly enough these days.

***

On this day in *1872*, Yellowstone National Park is established as the
world's first national park.

***

On this day in *1893*, electrical engineer *Nikola Tesla* gives the first
public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.

***

On this day in *1896*, *Henri Becquerel* discovers radioactivity.

***

On this day in *1910*, the worst avalanche in United States history buries
a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington,
killing 96 people.

***

On this day in *1912*, *Albert Berry* makes the first parachute jump from a
moving airplane.

***

On this day in *1932*, *Charles Lindbergh Jr*, the 20-month-old son of
Nazi-sympathizing aviation legend *Charles Lindbergh Sr*, is kidnapped from
his nursery in New Jersey. The child's corpse would be discovered buried
not very far from the Lindbergh home, two months later, after the family
paid a $70,000 ransom. If any of you old-timers know any Lindbergh Baby
Jokes, kindly send them to yer old pal Jerky. I'm chokin' for a chuckle!

***

On this day in *1936*, the Hoover Dam is completed.

***

On this day in *1937*, the first ever permanent automobile license plates
are issued, in the state of Connecticut. Prior to that, drivers had to
chalk in their license numbers on small blackboards that were affixed to
the front of every vehicle sold.

***

On this day in *1947*, the International Monetary Fund begins financial
operations.

***

On this day in *1953*, Soviet Premier *Joseph Stalin* suffers a stroke and
collapses; he dies four days later.

***

On this day in *1954*, the Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is
detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst
radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.

***

On this day in *1954*, Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States
Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.

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On this day in *1961*, American President *John F. Kennedy* establishes the
Peace Corps.

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On this day in *1966*, Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus
becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.

***

On this day in *1970*, Family-man *Charles Manson* releases his first
album. Entitled Lie, the folk-tinged collection of melodies fails to find
an audience. You know, maybe if Manson had scored a gold record, things
might not have soured so quickly for the hippies. In other words… it's a
good thing it flopped!

***

On this day in *1971*, a bomb explodes in a men's room in the United States
Capitol: the *Weather Underground* claims responsibility.

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On this day in *1989*, the United States becomes a member of the Berne
Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

***

On this day in *1990*, *Steve Jackson Games* is *raided by the United
States Secret Service <http://www.sjgames.com/SS/>*, prompting the later
formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

***

On this day in *1998*, *Titanic* became the first film to gross over $1
billion worldwide.
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