March 15th Major News Events

1957 US Photogenic Search

1957 : A search took place in nine counties for the most photogenic girl. This person would represent the Golden Gate Bridge during the 20th Anniversary celebration.

1964 U.S.A. Taylor Burton Marry

1964 : Actress Elizabeth Taylor and actor Richard Burton were married for the first time getting divorced in June 1974 only to get married again in October 1975 which lasts less than 12 months.

1965 Soviet Union Satellites Launched

1965 : Three artificial satellites were launched by the Soviet Union. These unmanned objects were reported as revolving around the earth approximately once every 106 minutes. Mayak radio transmitters were placed on board of these artificial space objects as well.

1966 U.S.A. Rioting

1966 : Racial rioting broke out again in the Watts area of Los Angeles.

1972 Vietnam War

1972 : This was considered one of the days of heaviest attack during the Vietnam War. U.S. destroyed a major North Vietnamese camp in two days, and 30 North Vietnamese ground troops were wiped out. Additional casualties occurred in the Central Highlands.

1974 United Kingdom John Poulson

1974 : A high profile case involving British MPs, health authorities and civil servants and the architect John Poulson has ended with Poulson and the high ranking senior Scottish civil servant William George Pottinger both being jailed for five years for corruption after being found guilty of bribing public figures to win contracts.

1976 United Kingdom Underground Train Bomb

1976 : The driver of a London Underground train is shot dead while chasing a gunman who detonated a bomb on his train.

1981 Syria Hostages Released

1981 : The 147 passengers and crew of a Pakistan Airways Boeing 720 aircraft held hostage for nearly two weeks are released in Syria, this follows the Pakistan government releasing 54 political prisoners from prison.

1988 Japan Seiken Tunnel

1988 : Passengers were stuck in Seiken Tunnel, which just recently opened up in Tokyo just a couple of days before this time. This delay was caused by a power outage, during which time people were held up underground for three hours 460 feet underground.

1990 Iraq Farzad Bazoft Executed

1990 : The Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft is executed in Iraq after being convicted of spying, both Britain and the United Nations condemned the execution but has not cut diplomatic and trade relations with Iraq.

1990 Indonesia Aeroflot

1990 : An announcement was made regarding the re-instatement of the Soviet airline Aeroflot service to Indonesia, after an eight-year ban. Spying allegations were the reason Indonesia did not allow flights from the Soviet Union prior to this time.

1990 Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev

1990 : Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the first and only executive president of the Soviet Union.

1991 U.S.A. Rodney King

1991 : Four Los Angeles police officers are indicted for the beating of Rodney King.

1998 U.S.A. Titanic

1998 : The Movie Titanic surpassed Star Wars to become the highest grossing film in North American box offices.

2000 U.S.A. Goodyear Blimp

2000 : A new Goodyear Blimp was launched, about a half a year after the previous Blimp had crashed. A woman described her experience while riding this airship for about 45 minutes. She said the ride was rougher than expected, but she also said it feels like an airplane (the buffeting).

2004 U.S.A. Martha Stewart

2004 : Martha Stewart is forced to resign from the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia 10 days after she is convicted for insider trading.

2006 Iraq Saddam Hussein describes his court as a comedy

2006 : The former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, began his formal defense in his trial for crimes against humanity by saying that the court was a 'comedy.' The judge closed the hearing to the public when Hussein told the Iraqi people to 'resist [the] invaders.' Hussein and seven co-accused are being prosecuted for the deaths of 148 people in the Shi’ite village of Dujail, which followed a 1982 assassination attempt on him.

2006 US Nuclear shelter found in New York City

2006 : A stockpile of provisions that were made for the survival of residents if New York City had been hit by a nuclear attack has been found inside the masonry foundations of Brooklyn Bridge. City workers had been conducting a regular structural inspection of the bridge when they came across the cold-war-era hoard of water drums, medical supplies, survivor blankets, drugs and food in the 350,000 Civil Defense All Purpose Survival Crackers. These are said to been put there in the 1950s.

2007 The U.N. Security Council agree to sanction Iran

2007 : A new sanctions package has been created to put pressure on Iran's nuclear program. It has been agreed by the six countries handling the issue at the U.N. The package includes an arms embargo and economic penalties. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made a formal request to attend the Security Council's vote on the draft.

2011 Syria Protests Staged in Damascus

2011 : Rare protests erupt in the Syrian capital of Damascus with hundreds of people calling for democratic reforms in the country. Witnesses said that police did not use force to break up the protests but did arrest several people. Pro-government supporters reportedly helped to break up the protests later in the day by attacking the demonstrators.

2012 Libyan Stock Exchange Reopens

2012 : Libya has reopened its stock exchange for the first time since the fall of the Gaddafi regime, after much internal conflict after a prolonged battle between the regime and rebels. The exchange features ten companies and trade on its first day was worth about three billion US dollars. The move was made to show the world that Libya is trying to regain its stability, especially in financial matters, and the exchange planned to expand by adding oil companies, telecoms, and property firms soon.

2013 US Republican Senator Changes Stance

2013 : Republican senator Rob Portman from the US state of Ohio has announced that he has reversed his position on gay marriage. the Reversal of opinion came after his son came out as gay. Portman had previously voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act which strictly defined marriage as a commitment between a man and woman.

2014 Ukraine and Russia Crimea Tensions

2014 : Thousands gathered in Moscow to protest against Russian intervention in the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine. The next day (March 16) citizens of Crimea voted in a referendum on whether or not to join Russia. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of joining Russia, however, critics say that the results could not be accurate as the region was currently being occupied by Russian troops and many boycotted the referendum in protest. The next day (March 17) the Crimean parliament officially applied to join Russia and Russian president Vladimir Putin recognized the region as a sovereign nation. The international community did not support or recognize any of these actions as legal.