Frank Perdue(transformed a backyard egg business into one of the nation’s largest poultry processors, Perdue Farms)β
Terri Schiavo(died after a national controversy about the legality of terminating her medical life-support system)β
Bob Clarke(illustrator)β
Events
Abigail Adams wrote her husband, John, at the second Continental Congress about the proposed Declaration of Independence, Remember the ladies and be more favorable and generous to them than your ancestors.β
President Van Buren issued executive order establishing 10-hour workday for federal employeesβ
Commodore Matthew C. Perry signed Treaty of Kanagawa of friendship and trade with Japanβ
Wabash, Indiana, became first incorporated community to be completely illuminated by electricityβ
The Eiffel Tower was dedicated in Paris, Franceβ
United States took formal possession of Virgin Islands from Denmarkβ
Daylight Saving Time, greeted by opposition from farmers, went into effect for first timeβ
First dance marathon held in U.S.β
Longview Bridge (Lewis and Clark Bridge) opened in Washington/Oregonβ
Act creating Civilian Conservation Corps for unemployed young men signed by President FDRβ
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma opened on Broadwayβ
Newfoundland joined Canadian Federation as the tenth provinceβ
The Dalai Lama fleeing Chinese occupation of Tibet, was given political asylum by Indiaβ
NATO Supreme Military Headquarters formally opened in Casteau, Belgiumβ
In a television speech, President Lyndon Johnson announced he would neither seek nor accept nomination for another termβ
Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five, publishedβ
The first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, returned to the earth’s atmosphere more than 12 years after its launchβ
U.S. Army jury sentenced Lt. William Calley to life imprisonment for murder of S. Vietnamese civilians at My Lai in 1968β
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the mechanical life sustaining system could be removed from Karen Ann Quinlanβ
Team owners and the National Basketball Players Association agreed on a four-year labor contract which introduced revenue sharing for players for the first time in professional sportsβ
New Jersey judge Harvey R. Sorkow awarded custody of Baby Mβ to William and Elizabeth Stern and ruled that the surrogate parentsβ contracts were constitutionally protectedββ
Crayola announced that the color dandelion would be retired from its 24-crayon pack to be replaced by a color in the blue familyβ
Weather
March 30-31: St. Louis, Missouri, got 20.4 inches of snow in 24 hoursβ
The temperature reached 108 degrees F, Rio Grande City, Texasβ