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U.S. Combat Troops Leave South Vietnam

Back in the day on March 29th, 1973, the last remaining U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam. The withdrawal followed a Paris peace accord that was struck two months prior between the United States, North and South Vietnam and the Vietcong. It was also two years to the date after Lieutenant William …

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The Assassination of Oscar Romero

Back in the day on March 24th, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated. Thirty years ago, in the midst of a bloody civil war, Romero gave a homily a day before his death that was broadcast throughout the Central American nation. In it, he implored the rank and file members …

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The Enabling Act of 1933

Back in the day on March 23rd, 1933, Adolf Hitler consolidated his dictatorial powers in Germany through the passage of the Enabling Act. Euphemistically titled the “Law for the Removal of the Distress of People and Reich,” the legislation effectively dissolved any notions of democratic governance in the European country and firmly entrenched …

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The Southern Manifesto

Back in the day on March 12th, 1956, the so-called Southern Manifesto was introduced in a Congressional speech by Representative Howard Smith. An identical version initially drafted by Senator Strom Thurmond was also presented in the U.S. Senate as well. The Manifesto was in direct response to the Supreme Court Ruling in the case of …

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A Raisin in the Sun

Back in the day on March 11th, 1959, “A Raisin in the Sun” became the first play written by an African-American woman and directed by an African-American man to stage on Broadway. The storyline centered on the decision of a black family to move from the south side of Chicago to an all-white …

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The Death of Harriet Tubman

Back in the day on March 10th, 1913, Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia in Auburn, New York. Born into slavery in Maryland under the name Araminta Ross, Tubman dedicated much of her life to the cause of dismantling the system of slavery in the Southern United States. Fearing being sold and separated from …

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The Lynching of Moss, McDowell and Stewart

Back in the day on March 9th, 1892, a white mob in Memphis, Tennessee lynched Thomas Moss, Clavin McDowell, and Henry Stewart. The three African-American men had just recently opened “The People’s Grocery Company,” before it became a focus of racist hatred. The new black-owned establishment was located directly across the …

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The Gnadenhutten Massacre

Back in the day on March 8th, 1782, peaceful Christianized native peoples were massacred in Ohio. With the American Revolutionary War being waged, some Delaware natives supported the British while others initially signed a treaty with the Americans. Those converted to Christianity in the Moravian missionary villages, including Gnadenhutten, maintained a non-hostile position of neutrality. …

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Ban on Racial Segregation in Schools Upheld

Back in the day on March 5th, 1956, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the ban of racial segregation in state schools, colleges, and universities. The 1954 ruling in the famed Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case had been defied by the University of North Carolina when …

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The Explosion of La Coubre

Back in the day on March 4th, 1960, the French steamboat, La Coubre exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. The 4,310-ton vessel had been carrying Belgian grenades and munitions. As it was being unloaded at the port, the first blast killed numerous dock workers sending people into panic. Half an hour later, …

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