On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Óscar Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador, El Salvador by a right-wing death squad. Romero had become unpopular with conservative elements in the country when he began speaking out against government repression of the nation’s poor and of his fellow priests. Read a biography of Archbishop Óscar [...]
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On March 24, 1661, William Ledda, executed in Boston, became the last Quaker in the American colonies to be put to death for his religious beliefs. Learn more about the persecution of the Quakers in colonial Massachusetts.
On March 23, 1956, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan became the world’s first Islamic republic. Unfortunately, democracy in Pakistan collapsed quickly after General Ayub Khan lead a successful coup d’etat. Since that time, Pakistan has vacillated between military and civilian government. Pakistan was governed by the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan, until it was superseded by [...]
On March 23, 1918, 101 leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World union (“The Wobblies”) were put on trial in Chicago for conspiracy to obstruct America’s participation in World War I. Learn more about the Wobblies from the Constitutional Rights Foundation.
On March 22, 1945, the League of Arab States was formed in Cairo, Egypt to promote the cultural and political interests of the Arab World. Since then, the original six-nation roster of Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Transjordan (now Jordan), Lebanon, and Iraq has now expanded to 22 member states. Read the Charter of the League [...]
On March 22, 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a revenue-raising measure under which all pamphlets, almanacs, newspapers, bonds, notes, leases, insurance policies, and legal papers had thenceforward to be issued on stamped paper that could only be purchased from the king’s officers. American colonists objected to the Act, saying that Parliament did [...]
March 21 is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
On March 21, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. began his third march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest racial discrimination in the Jim Crow South. By March 25, over 25,000 people led by Dr. King reached Montgomery, Alabama. Specifically, the march called attention to the suppression of African-American voting rights and a police assault [...]
On March 20, 1899, Martha Place, convicted of the murder of her stepdaughter, became the first woman to die in the electric chair. The execution was carried out at New York’s Auburn Prison.
On March 20, 1602, the States-General of the Netherlands established the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The creation edict granted VOC a monopoly over Dutch colonial activities in Asia for twenty-one years. During that time, VOC became the world’s first multinational company and the first to issue stock. Read a history of the VOC and [...]
