Historical Events on March 25th

1634 - Maryland was founded by English colonists sent by the second Lord Baltimore. 1807 - In England, royal assent is given for an act by Parliament to abolish the slave trade, less than four weeks after the U.S. Congress banned the importation of slaves from Africa into the United States. 1865 - Confederate forces captured Fort Stedman in Virginia. 1894 - Jacob S. Coxey began leading an "army" of unemployed from Massillon, Ohio to Washington, D.C. to demand help from the federal government. 1911 - In a tragedy that galvanized America's labor movement, 146 immigrant workers were killed when fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York. 1913 - The home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened in New York City. 1918 - French composer Claude Debussy died in Paris. 1947 - A coal mine explosion in Centralia, Illinois, claimed 111 lives. 1957 - The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community. 1965 - Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks. 1990 - 87 people, most of them Honduran and Dominican immigrants, were killed when fire raced through an illegal social club in New York City. 1992 - Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who'd spent ten months aboard the orbiting Mir space station, thereby missing the upheaval in his homeland, finally returned to Earth. 1994 - American troops completed their withdrawal from Somalia. 2000 - Christie LaVonne Mangrum and James Anthony Campbell are married in Stephenville, Texas.

Birthdays on March 25th

1133 - Henry II, King of England (1154-89) 1797 - John Winebrenner, US, clergyman, founded Church of God 1839 - William Bell Wait, US, educated the blind 1867 - Arturo Toscanini; Parma, Italy; conductor 1867 - Gutzon Borglum, sculptor (Mt Rushmore) 1881 - Bela Bartok, Hungary, composer/pianist (Concerto for Orchestra) 1892 - Andy Clyde Scotland, actor (George-Real McCoys, Cully-Lassie) 1893 - Edward Hart (Rep-D-NJ)/1st chairman of Unamerican Activities Committee 1899 - Bella Spewack, Hungary, playwright (Kiss Me Kate) 1901 - Ed Begley; Hartford, CT; actor (Mr Koppel-Leave it to Larry) 1903 - Frankie Carle; Providence, RI; orchestra leader (Golden Touch) 1905 - Binnie Barnes, London, actress (Last of the Mohicans, 3 Musketeers) 1906 - Howard Pyle (Gov-R-AZ, 1951-55) 1908 - Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte, British theater & hotel director 1908 - David Lean, director (Dr. Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter) 1909 - Jay Blackton, NYC, orchestra leader (Inside USA with Chevrolet) 1921 - Nancy Kelly; Lowell, Mass; actress (Double Exposure, Jesse James) 1921 - Simone Signoret; Weisbaden, Germany; (Casque d'Or, Room at the Top) 1922 - Eileen Ford, modeling agency head 1923 - Lee Hale; Tacoma, WA; choral director (The Entertainers) 1924 - Julia Perry; Lexington, KY; composer (Selfish Giant) 1925 - Flannery O'Connor, GA, novelist (A Good Man Is Hard to Find) 1926 - Laszlo Papp, Hungary, Olympic Boxer (Gold-1948, 1952, 1956) 1927 - Leslie Claudius, India, field hockey (Olympic gold-1948, 52, 56) 1928 - James A. Lovell, Jr; Cleveland, OH; USN/astronaut (Gemini 7, 12, Apollo 8, 13) 1929 - Kenneth Haigh; Yorkshire, England; actor (Search for the Nile) 1931 - Bohumil Goli n, Czech, volleyball player (Olympic bronze-1968) 1934 - Gloria Steinem; Toledo, OH; feminist/publisher (Ms. Magazine) 1934 - Johnny Burnette, Memphis, guitarist (Trains Kept A-Rollin, You're 16) 1938 - Hoyt Axton; Duncan, OK; actor (Black Stallion, Junkman, Rousters) 1940 - Anita Bryant; Barnsdall, OK; singer/former Miss America 1942 - Aretha Franklin; Memphis, Tenn; Soul Sister #1/singer (Respect) 1942 - Paul Michael Glaser Cambridge Mass, actor (Starsky-Starsky & Hutch) 1943 - Pavel Lednev USSR, pentathelete (Olympic gold-1980) 1946 - Bonnie Bedelia NYC, actress (Die Hard, Heart Like a Wheel, New Land) 1947 - Elton John [Reginald Kenneth Dwight] England, singer (Rocketman) 1949 - Nick Lowe, England, rocker (Rockpile-Cruel to be Kind) 1953 - Mary Gross; Chicago, IL; actress/comedian (SNL, Club Paradise, Feds) 1960 - Haywood Nelson, NYC, actor (Haywood-Grady, Dwayne-What's Happening) 1960 - Steve Norman, rocker (Spandau Ballet-True) 1965 - Sarah Jessica Parker; Nelsonville, OH; actress (Square Pegs, LA Story) 1967 - Debi Thomas, US, figure skater (Olympic bronze-1988)

Is our wedding date significant to you, but you still don't know why? Perhaps you once read Shel Silverstein's wonderful book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and remember this poem:

"MERRY..." No one's hangin' stockin's up, No one's bakin' pie, No one's lookin' up to see A new star in the sky. No one's talkin' brotherhood, No one's givin' gifts, And no one loves a Christmas tree On March the twenty-fifth.