Today's Trivia and What Happened on March 18

Who is on the U.S. $1000 bill?

Who is on the U.S. $1000 bill? Close Large View

Puzzle AnswerPresident Grover Cleveland.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
0

Quote: The one who loves the least controls the relationship. - Robert Anthony

Quote: The one who loves the least controls the relationship. - Robert Anthony Close Large View

Thumbs Up
12
Thumbs Down
0

What Happened On

Empty frame from which thieves cut out Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) Empty frame from which thieves cut out Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633)

Empty frame from which thieves cut out Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) Empty frame from which thieves cut out Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633)
Close Large View

$500 Million Art Theft - Can you earn the $10,000,000 reward?

March 18, 1990

A pair of thieves dressed as policemen steal 13 works of art valued at over $500,000,000 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, including works by Rembrandt, Manet, and Degas, in what is the largest property theft in history. The two fake policemen pushed the Museum door buzzer, stating they were responding to a disturbance, and requested to be let in. The museum guard broke protocol and let them in. The fake officers then handcuffed him and a second security guard and proceeded to steal the works of art.
Evidence collected from the scene, including handcuffs and duct tape that may have contained DNA, was lost by the FBI.
The case remains unsolved and none of the artwork has been recovered. There is a $10 million reward for information leading to the recovery of all 13 works of art in good condition. One clue is the fact that thieves seem to have made odd choices in their selection of art to steal, as there were more valuable pieces that could have just as easily been stolen.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
1

Arab Oil Embargo Ends

Arab Oil Embargo Ends Close Large View

Arab Oil Embargo Ends

March 18, 1974

The Arab Oil Embargo on the U.S. is ended. It had started the previous October when OAPEC (Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) declared an oil embargo on the U.S., Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the U.K. for supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo targeted the U.S. for resupplying the Israeli military during the war. During the embargo, the price of oil had risen nearly 400%, from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Alexey A. Leonov Alexey A. Leonov

Alexey A. Leonov Alexey A. Leonov
Close Large View

First Space Walk

March 18, 1965

The first space walk is conducted by Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov. He exited the capsule Voskhod 2 for a 12-minute and 9-second spacewalk.
Leonov almost didn't make it back into the spacecraft. During his spacewalk, his spacesuit had inflated in the vacuum of space to the point where he could not fit back through the airlock. He had to open a valve to allow some of his suit's pressure to bleed off and was just barely able to get back in.
While on the mission, Leonov drew a small sketch of an orbital sunrise, producing the first ever work of art made in outer space.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Join Us on Facebook

Grand Master Molay and Templars Burned at the Stake Grand Master Molay and Templars Burned at the Stake

Grand Master Molay and Templars Burned at the Stake Grand Master Molay and Templars Burned at the Stake
Close Large View

End of the Knights Templar

March 18, 1314

Grand Master of the Knights Templar (1292-1307) Jacques de Molay and other Templars are burned at the stake, bringing about an end to the order. In 1307, King Philip IV of France, who was deeply in debt to the Knights Templars, arrested Molay and tortured him into making a false confession. When Molay recanted his confession, Philip had him burned at the stake in front of Notre Dame de Paris.
The order for their arrest was issued on Friday October 13, 1307, which is claimed to be the basis for the belief that Friday the 13th is bad luck.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
1

Terri Schiavo

March 18, 2005

After a lengthy legal battle over the right of her husband to do so, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed resulting in her death 13 days later. She had suffered a cardiac arrest in 1990 that left her severely brain damaged.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Why Should We Hear About Body Bags and Deaths

Why Should We Hear About Body Bags and Deaths Close Large View

Why Should We Hear About Body Bags and Deaths

March 18, 2003

"But why should we hear about body bags, and deaths, and how many, what day it's gonna happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's, it's not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" - Former First Lady Barbara Bush commenting on the impending Iraq War on the TV show Good Morning America.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
4

Money

March 18, 1986

The U.S. Treasury announced that U.S. currency would undergo its first major change in 50 years, including micro printing on the paper and on threads woven into the paper.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

First U.S. Navy Ship Named in Honor of a Black Naval Officer

First U.S. Navy Ship Named in Honor of a Black Naval Officer Close Large View

First U.S. Navy Ship Named in Honor of a Black Naval Officer

March 18, 1972

The USS Jesse L. Brown is launched. Jesse L. Brown was the first black American naval aviator and the first black naval officer killed in combat (1950, Korea).

Thumbs Up
4
Thumbs Down
0

NATO

NATO Close Large View

NATO

March 18, 1949

The text of the North Atlantic Treaty that would establish NATO is made public. It would be signed by 12 nations the following month. It was put together by World War II allies. Moscow called it a weapon of war.

Thumbs Up
5
Thumbs Down
0

First Flight of the Douglas A-1

March 18, 1945

It was the U.S. Navy's first single-seat, carrier-based dive bomber.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Birthdays

Vanessa Williams

Vanessa Williams Close Large View
This is a birthday

Vanessa Williams

Born March 18, 1963

Miss New York, the first black Miss America (1983). She was forced to relinquish her crown (July 1984) after Penthouse magazine announced it would publish nude photos of her with another woman. Film: Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) and Eraser (1996).

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Isaac Woodard

Isaac Woodard Close Large View
This is a birthday

The Blinding of Isaac Woodard

Isaac Woodard

Born March 18, 1919 d. 1992

African-American war veteran, civil rights victim. In 1946, while traveling home after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, African-American Isaac Woodard still in uniform, is attacked and beaten by several South Carolina police officers over a dispute with a bus driver over the use of a restroom. He was then arrested and further beaten by the chief of police for reportedly answering "yes" instead of "yes, sir". The attack left Woodard completely and permanently blind. Suffering from partial amnesia, he was fined $50 and denied medical treatment for two days. When South Carolina wouldn't pursue the case, U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered a federal investigation. The sheriff was acquitted by an all-white jury in federal court in South Carolina. This incident was the subject of Woody Guthrie's song, The Blinding of Isaac Woodard.

Thumbs Up
1
Thumbs Down
1

Add Trivia to Your Web Page

Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland Close Large View
This is a birthday

Grover Cleveland

Born March 18, 1837 d. 1908

American politician. 22nd and 24th U.S. President (1885-89, 1893-97) and Governor of New York (1883-85). He avoided the Civil War draft by hiring someone to take his place. In 1893, President Cleveland had a tumor in mouth secretly removed. Under the guise of going on a fishing trip, he had doctors remove the tumor while aboard a friend's yacht. They removed the tumor along with about five teeth and a large part of his upper left jaw. When a reporter uncovered the story, Cleveland denied it and launched a smear campaign to discredit the reporter. Cleveland is the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Cleveland was the first and only U.S. president married in the White House and the second to wed while in office. He married 21-year-old Frances Folsom, making her the youngest U.S. First Lady.
Their first child Ruth Cleveland was born between his terms as U.S. President and became an instant media sensation, popularly known as "Baby Ruth". In 1921, seventeen years after her death, the Curtiss Candy Company renamed their Kandy Kake (1900–1920) candy bar "Baby Ruth" in honor of her. Coincidently, the famous baseball player Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth) had hit 54 home runs the year before and had been the home run leader since 1918. Had they named it "Babe Ruth", they probably would have had to compensate him.
Grover Cleveland's portrait graces the U.S. $1,000 bill.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
1

John Caldwell Calhoun

John Caldwell Calhoun Close Large View
This is a birthday

First U.S. Vice-President to Resign

John Caldwell Calhoun

Born March 18, 1782 d. 1850

American politician. 7th U.S. Vice-President (1824-32). After a disagreement with President Andrew Jackson, he became the first U.S. Vice-President to resign. He then went on to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
1

This is a birthday

Irene Cara (Irene Cara Escalera)

Born March 18, 1959 d. 2022

Oscar-Grammy-winning singer, actress. Film: Fame (1980, Coco Hernandez and sang title song). Music: Flashdance… What a Feeling (1983, Oscar, Grammy). TV: The Electric Company (1971-72, member of the show's band Short Circus), Roots: The Next Generations (1979) and Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980).

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Kevin Dobson

Born March 18, 1943 d. 2020

American actor. TV: Kojak (Lt. Crocker) and Knots Landing (Mack).

Thumbs Up
5
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Wilson Pickett

Born March 18, 1941 d. 2006

American R&B and soul singer. Music: In the Midnight Hour (1965, #1), Mustang Sally (1966), and 634-5789 (1966, #1).

Thumbs Up
4
Thumbs Down
0

Charley Pride

Charley Pride Close Large View
This is a birthday

Charley Pride

Born March 18, 1934 d. 2020

American Hall of Fame Grammy-winning country singer, baseball player (Memphis Red Sox, 1954). He is considered the most successful black country singer and was the first country singer to perform the national anthem at a Super Bowl (1974). He became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis Presley. During the peak years of his recording career (1966–87), he had 30 #1 hits and won the Entertainer of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards (1971).

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

John Updike

Born March 18, 1932 d. 2009

American Pulitzer-winning author. Writings: The Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom series which included Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, each of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
0

Peter Graves

Peter Graves Close Large View
This is a birthday

Peter Graves (Peter Duesler Aurness)

Born March 18, 1926 d. 2010

American actor. TV: Mission Impossible (1967-73, Jim Phelps). Film: Airplane! (1980).
His older brother was actor James Arness.

Thumbs Up
4
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Pierre Plantard

Born March 18, 1920 d. 2000

French "historian." His claims about the Priory of Sion were the basis of such books as Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982) and The Da Vinci Code (2003). He also claimed he was descended from King Dagobert II, and therefore was a Merovingian claimant to the throne of France.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Smiley Burnette (Lester Alvin Burnette)

Born March 18, 1911 d. 1967

American actor. Film: He was Gene Autry's comic partner in 81 Western films. TV: Petticoat Junction (train engineer Charlie Pratt).

Thumbs Up
1
Thumbs Down
1

This is a birthday

Herman Tarnower

Born March 18, 1910 d. 1980

American physician, author. Writings: The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet (1978), which promoted a high-protein low-carbohydrate diet known as the Scarsdale diet. He was killed by his ex-lover Jean Harris.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Robert Donat

Born March 18, 1905 d. 1958

English Oscar-winning actor. Film: The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), The 39 Steps (1935, Richard Hannay), and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939, Oscar, title role).

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Rudolf Diesel

Born March 18, 1858 d. 1913

German engineer and inventor of the diesel engine (1892).

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Joshua Ballinger Lippincott

Born March 18, 1813 d. 1886

American publisher. Founder of J.B. Lippincott & Co. (1836).

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
0

This is a birthday

Francis Lieber

Born March 18, 1800 d. 1872

German-born American historian, political economist. Creator and first editor of the Encyclopaedia Americana (1829-33). He created the Lieber Code during the American Civil War (1863, aka Code for the Government of Armies in the Field). The Lieber Code is considered the first document to comprehensively outline rules regulating the conduct of war, and laid the foundation for the Geneva Conventions.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Deaths

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry Close Large View
This is a death

Chuck Berry (Charles Edward Anderson Berry)

Died March 18, 2017 b. 1926

American rock 'n' roller. He served two years in prison (1962-64) for transporting a 14-year-old across state lines to work as a hat-check girl in his St. Louis nightclub. He was also accused of having sex with her. He was convicted and served 20 months in prison. He had hired her, but fired her after two weeks. Several days after she was fired she was arrested for prostitution and told police about her relationship with Berry, which led to his arrest.
Music: Roll Over Beethoven (1956), Sweet Little Sixteen (1958), Johnny B Goode (1958), and My Ding-A-Ling (1972, #1).

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Osborne 1 Osborne 1
Photo Credit: Bilby

Osborne 1 Osborne 1
Photo Credit: Bilby
Close Large View
This is a death

Created the "Osborne Effect", Which Bankrupted His Company

Adam Osborne

Died March 18, 2003 b. 1939

Thailand-born British-American personal computer pioneer. He created the first commercially available portable computer, the Osborne 1 (1981). He is also credited with the "Osborne Effect," after announcing the development of his company's new advanced computers. Buyers chose to wait for the new computers, thus killing the sales of the current Osborne 1, bankrupting the company.

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
1

Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed Close Large View
This is a death

Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman)

Died March 18, 1845 b. 1774

American folk hero. He devoted his life to planting apple seeds. It is said that his usual dress consisted of bare feet, a burlap sack for a shirt, and a tin pan hat.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

Fess Parker

Fess Parker Close Large View
This is a death

Fess Parker (Fess Elisha Parker, Jr.)

Died March 18, 2010 b. 1924

American actor. TV: Disneyland (1955-56, Davy Crockett) and Daniel Boone (1964-70, title role). His portrayal of Davy Crockett launched the coonskin hat craze in the U.S.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

This is a death

John Phillips

Died March 18, 2001 b. 1935

American folk singer, with The Mamas and the Papas. Music: California Dreamin' and Monday, Monday.

Thumbs Up
3
Thumbs Down
0

This is a death

William Crapo Durant

Died March 18, 1947 b. 1861

American auto manufacturer. Founder of Buick Motor Car Co. (1905), General Motors (1908), Chevrolet Motor Co (1915), and Durant Motors Inc (1921).

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
0

This is a death

Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV)

Died March 18, 1584 b. 1530

Czar of Russia (1533-84). He was the first "Tsar of All the Russias".

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
1

This is a death

Honorius III

Died March 18, 1227 b. ????

Italian religious leader, 177th Pope (1216-27).

Thumbs Up
2
Thumbs Down
0