Almanac - Thursday 3/31/22

The National Council of Women of the U.S. was organized by Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Julia Ward Howe, and Sojourner Truth, among others, in 1888. It is the oldest non-sectarian women’s organization in the U.S.

Today in 1988, Toni Morrison won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved.

and born on this day in 1889 in Lehigh, Oklahoma, Muriel Hazel Wright was an American teacher, historian and writer about the Choctaw Nation. She wrote several books about Oklahoma, and was unofficially called "Historian of Oklahoma."

Women’s Herstory birthdays today also include…

1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415)

1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)

1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)

1833 – Mary Abigail Dodge, American writer and essayist (d. 1896)

1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986)

1913 – Etta Baker, African-American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)

1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)

1914 – Dagmar Lange, Swedish author (d. 1991)

1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012)

1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violinist and educator (d. 2002)

1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, British aristocrat, socialite and author (d. 2014)

1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (d. 2011)

1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne Inc. (d. 2007)

1931 – Tamara Tyshkevich, Belarusian shot putter (d. 1997)

1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (d. 1999)

1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer

1934 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author (d. 2009)

1935 – Judith Rossner, American author (d. 2005)

1936 – Marge Piercy, American poet and novelist

1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 22nd Governor of Kerala (d. 2019)

1938 – Antje Gleichfeld, German runner

1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013)

1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician

1943 – Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer

1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)

1947 – Wendy Overton, American tennis player

1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress

1950 – Sandra Morgen, American anthropologist and academic (d. 2016)

1965 – Patty Fendick, American tennis player and coach

1970 – Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia

1974 – Natali, Russian singer, composer and songwriter

1980 – Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger

1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress

1980 – Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese actress, voice actress and singer

1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter

1983 – Ashleigh Ball, Canadian voice actress and musician

1983 – Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician

1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete

1990 – Lyra McKee, Irish journalist (d. 2019)

1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player

1994 – Samira Asghari, Afghan member of the International Olympic Committee

1994 – Tyler Wright, Australian surfer

1995 – Fiona Brown, footballer

1996 – Liza Koshy, American actress, comedian, and television host

Other historical events falling on this day include…

1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.

1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.

1901 – Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák premieres at the National Opera House in Prague.

1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.

1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.

1917 – According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.

1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.

1930 – The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.

1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.

1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.

1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.

1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.

1968 – American President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks to the nation of "Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam" in a television address. At the conclusion of his speech, he announces: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."

1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.

1990 – Approximately 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.

1991 – Georgian independence referendum: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union.

1995 – Selena is murdered by her fan club president Yolanda Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas.

1998 – Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license.

And more birthdays today include…

1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1650)

1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1809)

1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929)

1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)

1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999)

1911 – Freddie Green, American guitarist (d. 1987)

1921 – Lowell Fulson, African-American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)

1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and academic (d. 1998)

1926 – John Fowles, English novelist (d. 2005)

1927 – Cesar Chavez, American labor union leader and activist (d. 1993)

1927 – Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot (d. 2010)

1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)

1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)

1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993)

1940 – Barney Frank, American lawyer and politician

1940 – Patrick Leahy, American lawyer and politician

1942 – Michael Savage, American far-right radio host and author

1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian

1948 – Al Gore, American soldier and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate

1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter