Today is Friday, March 31, the 90th day of 2023. There are 275 days left in the year. Summer arrives in 82 days (June 21, 2023). There are 181 days until fall (September 23, 2023).
Here are some notable events in history on this day — some that still have an impact on us:
In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling Jews from Spanish soil, except those willing to convert to Christianity.
In 1814, Paris was occupied by a coalition of Russian, Prussian and Austrian forces; the surrender of the French capital forced the abdication of Emperor Napoleon.
In 1917, the United States took formal possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
In 1931, Notre Dame college football coach Knute Rockne, 43, was killed in the crash of a TWA plane in Bazaar, Kansas.
In 1968, at the conclusion of a nationally broadcast address on Vietnam, President Lyndon B. Johnson stunned listeners by declaring, “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
In 1993, actor Brandon Lee, 28, was accidentally shot to death during the filming of a movie in Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was hit by a bullet fragment that had become lodged inside a prop gun.
In 1995, baseball players agreed to end their 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against club owners.
In 2004, four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
In 2005, Terri Schiavo, 41, died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a wrenching right-to-die court fight.
In 2013, Pope Francis marked Christianity’s most joyous day at the Vatican with a passionate plea for world peace as he celebrated his first Easter Sunday as pontiff.
In 2018, hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets of Cambridge, England, as a hearse carried the remains of physicist and author Stephen Hawking to a private funeral.
In 2020, Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan officially stepped down from duties as members of the royal family.
In 2022, Russian troops began leaving the Chernobyl nuclear plant after soldiers got “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches at the highly contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company said.
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Today’s Birthdays: Actor William Daniels is 96. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 89. Actor Shirley Jones is 89. Musician Herb Alpert is 88. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is 83. Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is 83. Actor Christopher Walken is 80. Comedian Gabe Kaplan is 79. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is 79. Rock musician Mick Ralphs (Bad Company; Mott the Hoople) is 79. Former Vice President Al Gore is 76. Author David Eisenhower is 75. Actor Rhea Perlman is 75. Actor Ed Marinaro is 73. Rock musician Angus Young (AC/DC) is 68. Actor Marc McClure is 66. Actor William McNamara is 58. Alt-country musician Bob Crawford (The Avett Brothers) is 52. Actor Ewan McGregor is 52. Actor Erica Tazel is 48. Actor Judi Shekoni is 45. Rapper Tony Yayo is 45. Actor Kate Micucci is 43. Actor Brian Tyree Henry is 41. Actor Melissa Ordway is 40. Musician and producer Jack Antonoff (Fun, Taylor Swift) is 39. Actor Jessica Szohr is 38.
