Today in History

Today is Thursday, March 14, the 75th day of 2024. There are 292 days left in the year.

Today’s highlight in history:

On March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein, who would revolutionize physics and the human understanding of the universe, was born in Ulm, Germany.

On this date:

In 1794, Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America’s cotton industry.

In 1939, the republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation of Czech areas and the separation of Slovakia.

In 1951, during the Korean War, United Nations forces recaptured Seoul.

In 1962, Democrat Edward M. Kennedy officially launched in Boston his successful candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts once held by his brother, President John F. Kennedy. (Edward Kennedy served in the Senate for nearly 47 years.)

In 1964, a jury in Dallas found Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, and sentenced him to death. (Both the conviction and death sentence were overturned, but Ruby died before he could be retried.)

In 1967, the body of President John F. Kennedy was moved from a temporary grave to a permanent memorial site at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

In 1980, a LOT Polish Airlines jet crashed while attempting to land in Warsaw, killing all 87 people aboard, including 22 members of a U.S. amateur boxing team.

In 1990, the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies held a secret ballot that elected Mikhail S. Gorbachev to a new, powerful presidency.

In 1995, American astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to enter space aboard a Russian rocket as he and two cosmonauts blasted off aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, headed for the Mir space station.

In 2011, Neil Diamond, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, Darlene Love, Dr. John and Leon Russell were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 2015, Robert Durst, a wealthy eccentric linked to two killings and his wife’s disappearance, was arrested by the FBI in New Orleans on a murder warrant a day before HBO aired the final episode of a serial documentary about his life. (Durst would be convicted in the shooting death of his friend, Susan Berman; he died in January 2022 while serving a life sentence in California.)

In 2018, Stephen Hawking, the best-known theoretical physicist of his time, died at his home in Cambridge, England, at the age of 76; he had stunned doctors by living with the normally fatal illness ALS for more than 50 years.

In 2021, female performers including Beyoncé and Taylor Swift swept the top honors at the Grammy Awards; Beyoncé’s 28th win made her the most decorated woman in Grammy history.

In 2022, country music legend Dolly Parton announced she was pulling out of the nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, saying she hadn’t “earned that right.” (She would later reverse course and accept induction into the hall.)

Today’s Birthdays: Michael Caine is 91. Composer-conductor Quincy Jones is 91. Actor Raymond J. Barry is 85. Country singer Michael Martin Murphey is 79. Rock musician Walt Parazaider (payr-ah-ZAY’-dur) (formerly with Chicago) is 79. Actor Steve Kanaly is 78. Comedian Billy Crystal is 76. Actor-writer-comedian-radio personality Rick Dees is 73. Country singer Jann Browne is 70. Actor Adrian Zmed is 70. Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, is 66. Actor Laila Robins is 65. Actor Tamara Tunie (tuh-MAH’-ruh TOO’-nee) is 65. Producer-director-writer Kevin Williamson is 59. Actor Elise Neal is 58. Actor Gary Anthony Williams is 58. Actor Megan Follows is 56. Rock musician Michael Bland is 55. Country singer Kristian Bush is 54. Actor Betsy Brandt is 51. Actor Grace Park is 50. Actor Daniel Gillies is 48. Actor Corey Stoll is 48. Actor Jake Fogelnest is 45. Actor Chris Klein is 45. Actor Ryan Cartwright (TV: “Kevin Can Wait”) is 43. Actor Kate Maberly is 42. Singer-musician Taylor Hanson (Hanson) is 41. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, is 40. Actor Jamie Bell is 38. Rock musician Este Haim (HY’-uhm) (Haim) is 38. NBA star Stephen Curry is 36. Actor Ansel Elgort is 30. Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles is 27. Actor James Freedson-Jackson (Film: “The Strange Ones”) is 22.