Today is Wednesday, March 27th, the 87th day of 2024. There are 279 days left this year.
Today's history highlights:
On March 27, 1973, The Godfather won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Picture, but star Marlon Brando refused to accept the Oscar for Best Actor, in what would become one of the most famous Oscar moments. I was gifted with a moment. She was replaced by actor and activist Sasheen Littlefeather, who spoke out about the portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood. (In 2022, months before her death, the Academy was scheduled to apologize for the “abuse” Littlefeather suffered at the time.)
In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted what is now Florida.
Charles I ascended the throne of England in 1625 following the death of James I.
In 1794, Congress approved an “act providing for a naval armament” of six armed ships.
In 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States, planted the first two of 3,000 cherry trees given to the United States as a gift from the mayor of Tokyo.
In 1945, during World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that Germany's defenses on the Western Front had been defeated.
In 1964, Alaska was hit by a magnitude 9.2 earthquake (the strongest in North American history) and a tsunami, killing approximately 130 people.
In 1968, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (Gagarin), who became the first human to orbit the Earth in 1961, died when his MiG-15 jet crashed during a routine training flight near Moscow. He was 34 years old.
Construction of the TransAlaska Pipeline began in 1975 and was completed two years later.
In 1977, it was the worst disaster in aviation history. Her KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747, attempting to take off in heavy fog, collided with a Pan Am 747 on the airport runway in Tenerife (ten-uh-REEF') in the Canary Islands, killing 583 people. .
In 1980, the Alexander Kielland, a floating oil platform in the North Sea, capsized in a storm, killing 123 workers.
In 2012, award-winning poet Adrienne Rich died at age 82 in Santa Cruz, California, and art critic Hilton Kramer died at age 83 in Harpswell, Maine.
In 2018, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wrote an op-ed on the New York Times website calling for repeal of the Second Amendment, which allows for significant gun control legislation.
In 2019, Facebook announced an extension of its hate speech ban, banning the promotion and support of white nationalism and white separatism.
In 2022, Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Oscar stage and won the Best Actor award just minutes later. (Smith was later expelled from the Motion Picture Academy and given a 10-year ban from the Oscars.)
Today's birthdays: Actor Julian Glover 89 years old, actor Jerry Lacy 88 years old, actor/director Austin Pendleton 84 years old, actor Michael York 82 years old, rock musician Tony Banks (Genesis) 74 years old, rock musician Andrew・Faris (INXS) is 65 years old, and jazz musician Dave Koz (Cars) is 61 years old. Film director Quentin Tarantino is 61 years old. Rock musician Derrick McKenzie (Jamiloquai) is 60 years old. Rock musician Johnny April (Staind) is 59 years old. Actor Talitha Soto is 57 years old. Actor Ben Koldyke is 56 years old. Actor Paulie. Perrette is 55 years old, singer Mariah Carey is 54 years old, rock musician Brendan Hill (Blues Traveler) is 54 years old, actor Elizabeth Mitchell is 54 years old, actor Nathan Fillion is 53 years old, hip-hop singer Fergie is 49 years old, jazz musician Tia Fuller is 48 years old, and actor Emily is 55 years old. Anne Lloyd is 40 years old. MLB catcher Buster Posey is 37 years old. Actor Brenda Song is 36 years old. Pop singer-songwriter Kimbra is 34 years old. Actor Taylor Aetherian is 29 years old. Actor/R&B singer Halle Bailey is 24 years old. Classical crossover singer Amira Willihagen (TV: “Holland's Got Talent”) is 20 years old.
