This Week in History: March 7th – 13th

Welcome to this week’s edition of the staff blog’s ‘This Week in History!’ You will find historical facts, happenings, and associated books; #1 box office movies; and #1 NY Times best sellers from years gone by, all with book recommendations included based on each topic. This will be a weekly feature, so make sure to check out each week’s posting! NOTE: Click on any of the below book/movie titles to be taken to them in our online Café catalog!

 

NY Times Fiction Bestsellers

 

#1 Box Office Movies

 

This Week in History

  • March 7th
    • 1876- Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for the telephone. (United States/World)
    • 1923- Robert Frost’s famous poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ is first published by the New Republic. The poem would go on to be one that introduced many new students to poetry across public schools in America. (United States)
    • 1965- Civil rights protesters, led by John Lewis, are beaten while trying to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama by white Alabama state troopers. It would become known as ‘Bloody Sunday.’ (United States)
  • March 8th
    • 1917- The Russian Revolution begins in earnest. (World)
    • 1971- Joe Frazier retains his world heavyweight championship by winning in a 15-round decision over former champion Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The fight was later dubbed the ‘Fight of the Century.’ (United States)
    • 2014- Malaysia Airlines flight 370 disappears during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A massive search effort was launched to try to find the plane and any survivors, but it was ultimately called off in early 2017. (World)
  • March 9th
    • 1862- The Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack, two ironclad warships during the American Civil War, takes place. (United States)
    • 1959- The first Barbie doll debuts in New York City. (United States/World)
    • 1997- The rapper Notorious B.I.G is killed in Los Angeles. His murderer is still at large to this day. (United States)
  • March 10th
    • 1864- President Abraham Lincoln signs Ulysses S. Grant’s commission to command the U.S. Army during the Civil War. (United States)
    • 1933- The first German concentration camp of the Nazi regime opens in Munich at Dachau. (World)
    • 1969- James Early Ray pleads guilty to murdering Martin Luther King, Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He would later recant and say he did not kill King, and several of King’s children supported Ray’s claims of innocence. (United States)
  • March 11th
    • 1985- Mikhail Gorbachev is picked to succeed Konstantin Chernenko to lead the USSR. (World)
    • 2004- Madrid suffers a series of terrorist attacks when 10 bombs, detonated by Islamist militants, explode on four trains at three different rail stations, killing 191 people and injuring almost 1,800 others. (World)
    • 2011- The largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan causes massive devastation, and the ensuing tsunami decimates the Tohoku region of the country. It also causes a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which is considered to be the second-worst nuclear disaster in history, forcing the relocation of over 100,000 people. (World)
  • March 12th
    • 1933- FDR broadcasts first ‘fireside chat’ during the Great Depression. (United States)
    • 1938- Nazi Germany annexes Austria. (World)
    • 1947- The Truman Doctrine is announced. (United States/World)
  • March 13th
    • 1781- William Hershel discovers Uranus. (World)
    • 2005- Robert Iger is named as Disney’s new CEO. (United States/World)
    • 2020- Breonna Taylor is murdered by Louisville police officers as they burst into her apartment during a botched raid. Her murder, along with that of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, led to massive protests by Black Lives Matter activists and others calling for police/systemic racism reform. (United States)

Recommended Reading Related to Movies/Historical Happenings: