Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

March 11

2004
Madrid Train Bombings: Terrorists set off a series of ten bombings during rush hour aboard four commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. 192 people were killed and 2,050 were injured.

1993
First woman U.S. Attorney General: Janet Reno, appointed by Pres. Bill Clinton, is confirmed.

1985
Mikhail Gorbachev takes office as leader of the Soviet Union. He is the superpower's fourth leader in three years.

1980
John Hinckley, Jr. watches the movie Taxi Driver. This would provide the inspiration for his attempted assassination of Pres. Reagan.

1971
Partridge Family: The TV group's Doesn't Somebody Want to be Wanted is certified gold.

1942
General Douglas MacArthur leaves the Philippines, later declaring "I shall return," during World War II.

1941
World War II: Pres. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Bill, allowing the U.S. to supply military aid to the Allies.

1927
First armored car robbery: Members of Flathead gang dynamite a Brink's armored car en route outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and make off with $104,000.

1888
Blizzard of 1888: One of the most famous snow storms in U.S. history, killing 400 people and creating 30-foot snow drifts.

1864
First woman assistant Army surgeon: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker begins serving as a contract surgeon.

1861
Civil War: The Confederate Constitution is passed by the Confederate Congress.

1956
Joey Buttafuoco, New York auto body shop owner.  After having an affair with under-aged Amy Fisher, she shot his wife in the face. Buttafuoco later pleaded guilty to statutory rape.

1952     d. 2001
Douglas Adams, British author, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1980).

1936
Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court justice.

1934
Sam Donaldson, American reporter. TV: ABC Weekend News and PrimeTime Live.

1931
Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born American publisher of the New York Post and Village Voice.

1928
Peter Roger Hunt, British director. Film: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

1916
Lord Harold Wilson, British politician, prime minister (1964-70, 74-76) and Labor Party leader.

1910     d. 1920
Jacinta Marto. She was one of the three children who claim to have seen the Virgin Mary near Fátima, Portugal (1917).

1903     d. 1992
Lawrence Welk, American orchestra leader, "Ah-one, an' ah-two."

1898     d. 1968
Dorothy Gish, American silent-film actress. Film: Remodeling Her Husband (1920) and Nell Gwyn (1926).

1893     d. 1946
Wanda Gag, American author, artist. She is known for her translation and illustration of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

1890     d. 1974
Vannevar Bush, American electrical engineer, developed the first electronic analogue computer (1930s).

1885     d. 1948
Malcolm Campbell, British auto racer. He was the first to travel five miles in a minute in an automobile.

1819     d. 1910
Marius Petipa, French-born Russian choreographer. Stage: The Sleeping Beauty (1890) and Swan Lake (1895).

1811     d. 1877
Urbain Le Verrier, French astronomer. Both he and J.C. Adams, working independently, correctly predicted the existence and orbit of Neptune (1845). The planet was discovered the following year using Le Verrier's calculations.

1731     d. 1814
Robert Treat Paine, American politician, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

1544     d. 1595
Torquato Tasso, Italian poet of the late Renaissance. He spent seven years confined to an insane asylum. Writings: Gerusalemme liberato (1575, which is considered one the great masterpieces of European literature).

1970     b. 1889
Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer, author, creator of Perry Mason (1933).

1957     b. 1888
Richard E. Byrd, American naval aviator. He and Floyd Bennett became the first to fly over the North Pole (1926), and he was the first to fly over the South Pole (1929).

1955     b. 1881
Sir Alexander Fleming, English bacteriologist. He discovered the bacteria fighting capabilities of penicillin (1928), for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize (1945).

1847     b. 1774
Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman), American folk hero who devoted his life to planting apple seeds. It is said that his usual dress consisted of bare feet, a burlap sack for a shirt, and a tin pan hat.

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