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March 28
March 28 is the 87th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (88th in Leap years). There are 278 days remaining. Events * 845 - Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collect a huge ransom in exchange for leaving. * 1776 - Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco. * 1834 - The United States Senate censures President Andrew Jackson for his actions in defunding the Second Bank of the United States. * 1854 - Crimean War: United Kingdom and France declare war on Russia. * 1862 - American Civil War: Battle of Glorieta Pass - In New Mexico, Union forces succeed in stopping the Confederate invasion of New Mexico territory. The battle began on March 26. * 1910 - Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane after taking off from a water runway near Martinques, France. * 1930 - Constantinople and Angora change their names to Istanbul and Ankara. * 1939 - Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid, ending the war. * 1942 - World War II: In occupied France, United Kingdom naval forces raid the German-occupied port of St. Nazaire. * 1964 - The first pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, is established. * 1979 - In Pennsylvania, a pump in the reactor cooling system fails at Three Mile Island, resulting in the evaporation of some contaminated water and almost causing a nuclear meltdown. * 1990 - President George H. W. Bush presents Jesse Owens with the Congressional Gold Medal. * 1994 - In South Africa, Zulus and African National Congress supporters battle in central Johannesburg resulting in eighteen deaths. * 2002 - The exhibit "The Italians: Three Centuries of Italian Art" opens at the National Gallery of Australia. Births * 1609 - King Frederick III of Denmark (+ 1670) * 1862 - Aristide Briand, politician, winner of the Nobel Prize in peace 1926 (+ 1932) * 1868 - Maxim Gorky, author (+ 1936) * 1890 - Paul Whiteman, bandleader * 1897 - Sepp Herberger, football coach (+ 1977) * 1902 - Dame Flora Robson, actress (+ 1984) * 1904 - Werner Bahlsen, biscuit producer (+ 1985) * 1905 - Marlin Perkins, naturalist, television host (+ 1986) * 1921 - Dirk Bogarde, actor (+ 1999) * 1924 - Freddie Bartholomew, actor (+ 1992) * 1928 - Zbigniew Brzezinski, National security advisor * 1936 - Mario Vargas Llosa, author and politician * 1955 - Reba McEntire, country music singer, actress * 1970 - Vince Vaughn, actor Deaths * 193 - Pertinax, Roman Emperor (assassination) * 1794 - Marquis de Condorcet, mathematician, philosopher, and political scientist * 1814 - Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, inventor of the guillotine * 1868 - James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, British military leader * 1870 - George Henry Thomas, American general * 1881 - Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer * 1914 - Edmund Muskie, United States politician (+ 1996) * 1941 - Virginia Woolf, writer * 1943 - Sergei Rachmaninov, composer and pianist * 1944 - Rick Barry, basketball star * 1948 - Dianne Wiest, actress * 1953 - Jim Thorpe, athlete * 1958 - W.C. Handy - Blues composer * 1969 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, US General of the Army, 34th President of the United States * 1979 - Emmett Kelly, clown * 1987 - Maria von Trapp, singer * 1994 - Eugne Ionesco, playwright * 2000 - Anthony Powell, British novelist