The Dirty Mac. Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards performing in the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968. (Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg in the foreground.) Wikipedia
The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below..
The Dirty Mac—The Dirty Mac, a supergroup featuring John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and Mitch Mitchell, performed Yer Blues and Whole Lotta Yoko on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968. The special, featuring other notable acts, was not released until 1996. Secret Service agents cover Press Secretary James Brady and the police officer Thomas Delahanty during the assassination attempt of Reagan. WikipediaJohn Hinckley Jr. WikipediaJodie Foster, 1989. Wikipedia
Jodie Foster—On 30 March 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot and wounded US President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. Reagan underwent emergency surgery and recovered, while White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty were also injured. Driven by erotomania and an obsession with Jodie Foster, Hinckley attempted to assassinate the President to impress her. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent time in a psychiatric hospital until 2016, when he was released to the care of his mother and under supervision. He was granted an unconditional release in 2022. Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Wikipedia
Alexander II—In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. The purchase, negotiated by Secretary of State William H. Seward, was ratified by the Senate in May and became effective in October. Despite initial scepticism, Alaska became a state in 1959. Glamis Castle. Wikipedia
Glamis Castle—Glamis Castle, in Angus, Scotland, is the ancestral home of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. It has been the Lyon family residence since the 14th century, and it holds significant historical importance as the childhood home of Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, better known as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Notably, it was also the birthplace of her youngest daughter, Princess Margaret in 1930.
Berwick-upon-Tweed—a border town between England and Scotland, changed hands 13 times before being surrendered to England in 1482. Its ramparts, originally built by Edward I and rebuilt by Elizabeth I, are in good repair.
19th-century engraving of Berwick Castle by William Miller after J. M. W. Turner, with Berwick Old Bridge from 1624 in the background. Wikipedia
All of the following have a connection to today, 30 March.
On this day in 1945, British rock musician Eric Clapton was born. In 1968, Clapton appeared in a temporary supergroup with John Lennon. Which of the following was the name of the supergroup?
The Dirty Mac
The Dirty Look
The Dirty Laundry
On this day in 1981, President Ronald Reagan was the victim of a failed assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. An obsession with whom was the motivation behind Hinckley’s attack on the President?
Carrie Fisher
Jane Fonda
Jodie Foster
William H. Seward, the Secretary of State under U.S. President Andrew Johnson, signed the Alaska Purchase on 30th March. This treaty ceded Russian North America to the United States. Who was the Russian Tsar at the time of the purchase?
Alexander II
Catherine II
Nicholas II
Today in 2025, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, passed away in her sleep at Windsor at the age of 101. She was the queen consort of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1936 to 1952 and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II. Where was her childhood home and the birthplace of her second daughter, Princess Margaret?
Edinburgh Castle
Glamis Castle
Eilean Donan Castle
On this day in 1296, England’s King Edward I sacked a town that had changed hands over a dozen times from the 12th to the 15th century. Which town was it?
Calvin Coolidge—was US President on the 26 March 1925. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th US President, served from 1923 to 1929. He is known for his small-government conservatism, taciturn personality, and support for racial equality. Coolidge oversaw economic growth during the “Roaring Twenties” but is criticised for failing to address economic inequality and for his potential role in the Great Depression.
World War I—The First Battle of Gaza, fought on 26 March 1917, was a British defeat during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. The British Desert Column, nearing capture of Gaza, withdrew due to darkness and Ottoman reinforcements.
2000—Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, has served as President of Russia since 2012, with previous terms from 2000 to 2008. His rule has been marked by economic growth, military conflicts, authoritarian tendencies, and human rights violations. Putin’s actions have led to international sanctions and a war crimes warrant. Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat with U.S. president Jimmy Carter at Camp David in September 1978. Wikipedia
Camp David, Maryland—the Camp David Accord was reached the previous September (1978) when President Carter hosted Egypt’s President Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Begin at his Maryland retreat.
They believed a spacecraft was arriving to take them as immortal extraterrestrials to a better place—
All of the following relate to today’s date, 26 March.
Who was the president of the United States of America 100 years ago today, 26 March 1925?
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
What conflict saw the First Battle of Gaza take place on this date?
The Six Day War
World War I
World War II
When was Vladimir Putin, a Russian intelligence officer and politician, elected president of Russia for the first time.
2000
2004
2006
Where did talks, mediated by US President Jimmy Carter, between Menachem Begin, the Israeli Prime Minister, and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt take place? These talks led to an historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that was signed on 26 March 1979.
Camp David, Maryland
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Plains, Georgia
Why did these members of Heaven’s Gate kill themselves? On 26 March 1997 the bodies of 39 members of Heaven’s Gate were found after a mass suicide.
They believed they alone would be reincarnated as gods in an earthly paradise
They believed a spacecraft was arriving to take them as immortal extraterrestrials to a better place
They believed they had to poison themselves to meet Jesus
How long had this interlude lasted? After a hiatus, the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who made a triumphant return to television with a new episode in which Christopher Eccleston reprised the iconic role of the Doctor.
E.V. Haughwout Building, 488-492 Broadway, New York City. Wikipedia
Steam—The E.V. Haughwout Building, NYC installed the world’s first successful passenger elevator in 1857. The steam-powered hydraulic lift, designed by Elisha Graves Otis, was a novelty that attracted customers to the five storey department store.
Akira Kurosawa—Akira Kurosawa, a Japanese filmmaker, directed 30 films over seven decades. His bold and dynamic style, influenced by Western cinema, earned him international acclaim. Notable works include Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Red Beard.
President Ronald Reagan—The Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI), introduced by President Reagan in 1983, was a missile defence system designed to protect the US from Soviet ICBMs using various platforms. Known as “Star Wars,” it faced criticism for its technical feasibility and potential to destabilise the MAD doctrine and escalate the arms race. Although the programme ended in 1993, some elements were revived in 2019 by the Space Development Agency.
Ben-Hur (1959)—Films with the most awards: Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) each earned 11 Academy Awards. (Wikipedia)
2001—Mir, the first modular space station, was launched in 1986 and operated for 15 years. It served as a microgravity research laboratory for experiments in biology, physics, astronomy and more. Mir held records for the longest continuous human presence in space and the longest single human spaceflight until surpassed by the ISS.
Mir’s re-entry into the atmosphere over Fiji, 2001. Satobs
Otis free-fall safety demonstration in 1853. Wikipedia
All of the following relate to today, 23 March.
On 23 March 1857 the first commercial elevator was installed in a New York City department store, it was powered by…
Steam
Electricity
Water
Born today in 1910, a Japanese film director who according to Encyclopædia Britannica ‘won worldwide acclaim with subtle, brilliantly composed films, such as Rashōmon (1950) and Seven Samurai (1954), that combined Japanese historic themes with a Western sense of action and drama”; he was…
Yasujirō Ozu
Ishirō Honda
Akira Kurosawa
On this date a nationwide television address in the US announced a space based defence system against nuclear attacks which came to be known as “Star Wars”; the address was made by…
President Jimmy Carter
President Ronald Reagan
President George HW Bush
On this day in 1998 Titanic won 11 Academy Awards equalling the record set by…
All About Eve (1950)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Godfather (1972)
The space station Mir returned to Earth on 23 March. It had been launched by the Soviet space agency in 1986 with a design life expectancy of five years. In what year did it re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere?
1991
1996
2001
Approach view of the Mir Space Station viewed from Space Shuttle Endeavour during the STS-89 rendezvous. A Progress cargo ship is attached on the left, a Soyuz manned spacecraft attached on the right. Image ID: STS089-340-035 NASA/Wikipedia
Montreal, Quebec – William Shatner, a Canadian actor, is renowned for his prolific output and self-deprecating humour, which have solidified his place in North American pop culture. He is best known for his iconic role as Captain James T. Kirk in the science fiction television series Star Trek (1966–69) and several Star Trek films.
Amerigo Vespucci—is best remembered for the place named after him. He believed Brazil was part of a new continent, inspiring Waldseemüller to name it “America”—the Latinised Amerigo—in 1507. This name became standard on maps of the New World. Ruins of the Great Dam of Marib, Yemen. Wikipedia
Yemen—The Arab League, formed in Cairo in 1945 with seven members, is a regional organisation in the Arab world. It now has 22 members and its main goals are to strengthen relations, safeguard independence, and consider the affairs of Arab countries.
1934—The 1934 Masters Tournament, the first of its kind, was held at Augusta National Golf Club. Horton Smith won the event with a 284 (−4), one stroke ahead of Craig Wood.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat—the following quote is about Lloyd Webber and Rice’s collaboration: “The names of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice are, of course, forever bound together in musical theatre history, like those of Gilbert and Sullivan.”—Theatre critic Mark Shenton on the partnership of Lloyd Webber and Rice.
All of the following are about today’s date, 22 March, but in a variety of years.
William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. Wikipedia
William Shatner was born today in 1931 in the Canadian city of…
Montreal, Quebec
Toronto, Ontario
Vancouver, British Columbia
On this day in 1508, Ferdinand II of Aragon commissioned a new chief navigator of the Spanish Empire. Born in the Republic of Florence, he was…
Amerigo Vespucci
Vasco da Gama
Christopher Columbus.
The Arab League was formed this day in Cairo by Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Transjordan (now Jordan) and…
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
The first Masters Tournament took place at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on this date in…
1934
1938
1941
The 22nd March 1948 saw the birth of the English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is well known for his collaboration with Tim Rice. The first of their works to be performed publicly was…
Sophia Myles—Wikipedia describes her as “an English actress… best known in film for portraying Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds(2004), Isolde in Tristan & Isolde (2006), Darcy in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Erika in Underworld(2003) and Underworld: Evolution (2006), and Freya in Outlander (2008)”.
Caldwell, New Jersey—Stephen Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th US President, was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War and the first to serve two non-consecutive terms. Known for his honesty and principled approach, he blocked legislative excesses during his first term and championed political reform, fiscal conservatism, and classical liberalism, gaining support from both Democrats and Republicans. His presidency saw significant legislation such as the Interstate Commerce Act and the Dawes Act. However, his stance on government intervention during the economic collapse and the legacy of the Dawes Act have resulted in mixed assessments of his legacy.
Wilfred Owen, an English poet and soldier, expressed anger at war’s cruelty and waste through his poetry. Based on his World War I experiences, his war poetry was about the horrors of trenches and gas warfare. At only 25 years of age, he was killed in action at the Battle of the Sambre on 4 November 1918, exactly a week before the war’s end. His best-known works— most of which were published posthumously— are Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum est, Futility, and Spring Offensive.
Final draft of Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen, penned by the author. WikipediaHonoree Queen Latifah speaks at the Kennedy Center Honors dinner at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Saturday, December 2, 2023. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett) Wikipedia
Queen Latifah—American musician and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album, All Hail the Queen, which blended diverse styles and feminist themes. The name Latifah is Arabic for “delicate” or “sensitive”.
Neville Chamberlain—Prime Minister of the UK from 1937 to 1940—is known for his policy of appeasement towards Hitler’s Germany. He served in various government positions, including Chancellor of the Exchequer, before becoming Prime Minister. Despite signing the Munich Agreement with Hitler in 1938, the latter’s invasion of Poland less than a year later compelled Chamberlain to declare war on Germany.
Chamberlain holding up the paper signed by both Hitler and himself on his return to Great Britain from Munich, Germany. Wikipedia
Sheelah’s Day
Sheelah’s Day is celebrated on 18 March, the day after Saint Patrick’s Day, and is observed in the Irish diaspora in Australia and Canada. Although there are no Sheelahs included in my post today, all of the questions are about people born on 18 March.