March 17th Major News Events

1949 Switzerland Porsche

1949 : The first car with a Porsche badge is shown at International Automobile Show in Geneva, Switzerland on a Porsche 356.

1953 U.S.A. Railway Income Drop

1953 : According to a report made just recently, Sante Fe Railway experienced an income drop of over $3,345,000. This difference income was compared and contrasted between 1952 and 1951.

1965 Vietnam War

1965 : Word was out that the United States had invaded communist regions of Laos. The U.S. had dropped more than 20 tons of bombs in this location.

1968 England Anti Vietnam War Demonstrators

1968 : 10,000 Anti Vietnam war demonstrators rally at Trafalgar square peacefully but when the demonstration moves outside the United States embassy in London, the demonstration turns violent with 130 injured, fifty taken to hospital including up to 25 police officers.

1969 Israel Golda Meir

1969 : Golda Meir becomes first female Prime Minister of Israel, she had been born in Russia but the family had emigrated to the United States and she had gone to school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was one of twenty-four signatories (two of them women) of the Israeli declaration of independence on May 14, 1948.

1972 Hearing Impaired

1972 : The first part of an article printed in a local West Virginia newspaper described the plight of hearing-impaired children. In this state, inadequate help was being provided, according to this report. This report, as well as part two of it, was printed to help detect and treat hearing impaired children.

1978 Lebanon Israel Attacks

1978 : Israel continues it's attacks on southern Lebanon forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in vans, lorries and old buses to head for the safety of Beirut . The Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon are in retaliation for the bus hijacking in Tel Aviv in which 35 people were killed and 100 others were injured 5 days earlier.

1984 England Boat Race

1984 : The 130th Cambridge / Oxford Boat Race is postponed for 24hrs after the Cambridge boat collides with a barge and sinks. The Boat Race dates back to 1829, with the first race held on 10 June at Henley-on-Thames. The current race is over the four and a quarter mile distance from Putney to Mortlake along the River Thames through London and pits students from Cambridge and Oxford universities . Cambridge currently lead the series since 1829 by 79-73.

1985 U.S.A. Richard Ramirez

1985 : Richard Ramirez, the infamous Night Stalker, starts his killing spree when he kills two women in separate attacks in Los Angeles.

1988 U.S.A. Warts

1988 : Precaution warning was given regarding the use of Carbon Dioxide treatment for warts. Although this has been a proven treatment for removing warts, doctors performing this procedure were advised to be careful not to allow the wart virus vapors to enter into the air.

1990 U.S.A. Pointdexter

1990 : An update was made dated today (March 17, 1990) regarding the 5,000 computer erased by Pointdexter the day before resigning as Reagan’s national security adviser. FBI agent Ellen Glasser had testified to this fact on the previous Thursday. Moreover, Glasser also revealed that Poindexter told the FBI three days after resigning that he (Pointdexter) had no knowledge of early Iran shipments and profits made by Nicaragua Contras. Further information was printed about Pointdexter, indicating that he assisted a request made by Oliver North to Divert arms profits to the Contras. Pointdexter was also involved in the shipping of missiles to the Contras in 1985.

2000 Ireland Bubbles Float Downwards Guinness

2000 : This was a big debate in the city of Ireland-one of the more peaceful and lighthearted this nation has ever taken part in. The question was asked why the bubbles float downwards rather than upwards when Guinness beer is poured into a glass.

2003 U.S.A. Iraq Invasion

2003 : Two days prior to the US invasion of Iraq President George W. Bush gave a final ultimatum to Saddam Hussein that he had 48 hours for him and his sons to leave Iraq.

2007 U.S.A. March on the Pentagon

2007 : Thousands of demonstrators have marched to the Pentagon to mark the fourth anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq and the fortieth anniversary of the march that occurred during the Vietnam War. This has coincided with demonstrations in Washington, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and elsewhere. The liberal group MoveOn.org is holding many small protest vigils around the country, and Saturday’s march is organized by the Answer Coalition, which uses the letters for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, and is associated with the Workers World Party.

2008 U.S.A. IRS announces stimulus payments Dates

2008 : The Internal Revenue Service will begin to send more than 130 million economic stimulus payments in May and the Social security number will determine the date checks are sent.

2008 Kosovo becomes independent

2008 : Kosovo's parliament has declared independence from Serbia. The Kosovan Prime Minister has promised a democracy that respects the rights of all ethnic communities, and the Serbian Prime Minister has denounced the United States for its help there. The U.N. Security Council was split on the issue, with Russia saying that there was no need to change the 1999 resolution that handed Kosovo to the U.N.

European Union foreign ministers have ended talks on Kosovo's independence from Serbia, with its member states being divided in their recognition of it. France has said that it would recognize its independence, but several other states, especially Spain, were unhappy about the legal ramifications if held. President Bush has said that Kosovo's people were 'independent,' but stopped short of a formal recognition of the country. Russia has backed Serbia in its refusal to recognize the succession.

2009 Seattle newspaper is the first major newspaper to be produced online only

2009 : The 146 year old Seattle Post-Intelligencer has printed its final edition, before becoming a solely online operation. Its owner has failed to find a buyer for the paper, which was put on sale in January. The newspaper industry has been badly hit by the financial markets, and a number of other titles face closure. The online-only venture is the first by any U.S. paper. The Post-Intelligencer said it will be maintaining seattlepi.com, making it the nation's largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news print.

2010 Obama says he will be pursuing 'aggressive sanctions' on Iran

2010 : President Barack Obama has said that the United States would pursue 'aggressive sanctions' to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Obama, who has been pursuing dialogue with Iran as a cornerstone of his administration's foreign policy, has said he was successful in getting the international community to isolate Tehran. 'As we've seen, the Iranian government has been more concerned about preventing their people from exercising their democratic and human rights than trying to solve this problem diplomatically,' he said today.

2014 El Salvador Electoral Court Confirms Sanchez Ceren Win

2014 : El Salvador's electoral court has confirmed Salvador Sanchez Ceren the winner of a hotly contested presidential election in the Central American country. The election was held on March 9 and ex-rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren won 50.11 percent of the vote compared to opposing candidate Norman Quijano's 49.89 percent. Sanchez Ceren would become the country's first leftist ex-rebel president.