Unix Timestamp: 1206921600
Monday, March 31. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Iranian seizure of British Navy personnel:

The United States rules out exchanging five Iranian officials seized in Irbil, Iraq, in January 2007 for the 15 Royal Navy sailors seized by Iran. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6512927.stm (BBC)

Four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA are killed, and their bodies mutilated, after being ambushed in Fallujah, Iraq.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli troops exchange gunfire with guards of Yasir Arafat in Ramallah. A suicide bomber identified as Shadi Tubasi, a resident of the refugee c Jenin, kills 14 and wounds more than 40 in Haifa. Later, a suicide bomber wounds four members of an intensive-care unit, one critically, in a paramedics' dispatch station in Efrat. In the past 18 months, according to the Associated Press, 1262 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and on 401 on the Israeli side.

American Tejano pop singer Selena is murdered at a motel in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The journal "Nature" reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete "Australopithecus afarensis" skull (see Human evolution).

The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act of Singapore comes into force.

President of Peru Alberto Fujimori issues Decree Law 25418, dissolving the Congress of the Republic of Peru, imposing censorship and having opposition politicians arrested, setting off the 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis.

Approximately 500,000 people march on Washington, D. C. in support of abortion rights in advance of oral arguments in the case of "Planned Parenthood v. Casey".

The Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (without the presence of Serb political delegates) proclaims independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Bosnian War: Serb troops, following a mass rebellion of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina against the Bosnian declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, besiege the city of Sarajevo.

The Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan to win the WWF Chionship in a Title for Title, winner takes all match at WrestleMania VI in front of nearly 68,000 at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario

Strangeways Prison riot: The longest prison riot in Britain's history begins at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, and continues for 3 weeks and 3 days, until April 25.

The Second Battle of Trafalgar: A massive anti-poll tax demonstration in Trafalgar Square, London, turns into a riot 471 people are injured, and 341 arrested.

The Community Charge (poll tax) takes effect in England and Wales amid widespread protests

Two Japanese government-owned corporations, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, and Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation, are privatized and change their names to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, and Japan Tobacco.

WrestleMania debuts at Madison Square Garden.

Eighth seeded Villanova defeats national powerhouse Georgetown 66–64 to win the first 64 team field NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky.

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train.

The Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) is formed in Lusaka, Zambia.

New York City's Transport Works Union Local 100 goes on strike, which continues for 11 days.

The Mariel boatlift from Cuba begins.

Conrail (Consolidated Rails Corporation) is formed by the U.S. government, to take control of 13 major Northeast Class-1 railroads that had filed for bankruptcy protection. Conrail takes control at midnight, as a government-owned and operated railroad until 1986, when it is sold to the public.

The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that coma patient Karen Ann Quinlan can be disconnected from her ventilator. She remains comatose and dies in 1985.

Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

The Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect is first reported by astronomerPatrick Moore.

Rwanda recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not seek re-election.

The film "2001: A Space Odyssey" premieres in Washington, D.C.

Bombs explode at midnight in two department stores in Frankfurt-am-MainAndreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin are later arrested and sentenced for arson.

U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signs the Consular Treaty.

The military overthrows Brazilian PresidentJoão Goulart in a coup, starting 21 years of dictatorship in Brazil.

The 1962 New York City newspaper strike ends after 114 days.

April ndash IBM sells the first compiler for the FORTRAN scientific programming language.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella", the team's only musical written especially for television, is telecast live and in color by CBS, starring Julie Andrews in the title role. The production is seen by millions, but this 1957 version is not to be telecast again for more than 40 years, when a kinescope of it is shown.

Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.

Éire leaves the British Commonwealth and becomes the Republic of Ireland.

The former British colony of Newfoundland joins Canada as its 10th province.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is founded.

Jackie Robinson, the first African American in modern Major League Baseball,!recall Moses Welday Walker in 1884 signs a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

King George II of Greece is succeeded by his brother King Paul I.

The leaders of the Kurdish People's Republic of Mahabad, the second Kurdish state in the history of Iran, are hanged at the Chuwarchira Square in Mahabad after that country had been overrun by the Iranian army.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" opens on Broadway, heralds a new era in integrated stage musicals, becomes an instantaneous stage classic, and goes on to be Broadway's longest-running musical up to that time (1948).

WWII: Commerce raiding

Neville Chamberlain gives a speech in the House of Commons offering the British guarantee of the independence of Poland.

The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rant unemployment in the United States.

An earthquake destroys Managua, Nicaragua, killing 2,000 people.

The Motion Pictures Production Code is instituted in the United States, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in motion pictures for the next 40 years.

Radio station "WOWO" in Ft. Wayne, Indiana begins broadcasting.

Patent and Trademark Office transferred to the Department of Commerce.

Frank Heath and his horse "Gypsy Queen" leave Washington, D.C. to begin a two-year journey to visit all 48 states.

AprilndashOctober ndash "Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes" in Paris, giving a name to the Art Deco style.

The Government of Ireland Act 1920 is presented in the British Parliament.

A general strike begins in the Ruhr.

The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies, which become the US Virgin Islands, after paying $25 million to Denmark.

Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

April ndash Albert Einstein works on the special theory of relativity as well as the theory of Brownian motion.

German Emperor Wilhelm II asserts German equality with France in Morocco, triggering the Tangier or First Moroccan Crisis.

British expedition to Tibet ndash Battle of Guru: British troops under Colonel Francis Younghusband defeat ill-equipped Tibetan troops.

Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after "The New York Times".

Aleister Crowley begins writing Liber Al vel Legis, better known as The Book of the Law, a text central to Thelema. He completes this task on April 10.

The Entente Cordiale is signed between the UK and France.

The Irish Guards are formed by Queen Victoria.

King George of Greece becomes absolute monarch of Crete.

In France, the length of a legal workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours.

The world's first fingerprinting bureau is formally opened by the Buenos Aires Chief of Police it had been operating unofficially since the previous year.

April ndash The Johnson County War breaks out between small farmers and large ranchers in Wyoming.

The Eiffel Tower is inaugurated (opens May 6). At 300 m, the its height exceeds the previous tallest structure in the world by 130 m. Contemporary critics regard it as aesthetically displeasing.

The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.

April - The government of Cape Colony sets a deadline for the surrender of weapons by the Basuto people. Non-compliance leads to the Basuto Gun War.

Wabash, Indiana becomes the first electrically lit city in the world.

Thomas Mundy Peterson is the first African-American to vote in an election.

April ndash The "'Chicago Base Ball Club"', later to be known as the Chicago White Stockings, and ultimately the Chicago Cubs, play their first game against the St. Louis Unions of the National Association of Base Ball Players, an amateur league.

The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.

CommodoreMatthew Perry of the U.S. Navy signs the Treaty/Convention of Kanagawa with the Japanese government (the Tokugawa Shogunate), opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade (see History of Japan).

The paddle steamer

Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch Railway line opened up to Werneth in North West England.

AprilndashSeptember ndash Felix Mendelssohn pays his first visit to Britain. This includes the first London performance of his concert overture to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and his trip to Fingal's Cave.

AprilndashSeptember ndash Felix Mendelssohn pays his first visit to Britain. This includes the first London performance of his concert overture to "A Midsummer Night\'s Dream" and his trip to Fingal's Cave.

Pope Pius VIII succeeds Pope Leo XII as the 253rd pope.

Greek War of Independence: Start of Chios Massacre, during which 20,000 Greeks on the island of Chios are slaughtered by Ottoman troops and 23,000 exiled.

Anti-Napoleonic troops occupy Paris.

Easter Sunday) ndash Mission San Buenaventura is founded in Las Californias, part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain.

Intolerable Acts: The British Parliament passes the Boston Port Act, closing the port of Boston, Massachusetts as punishment for the Boston Tea Party.

Bishop Benjamin Hoadly, acting on the advice of King George, begins the Bangorian Controversy by saying that God favors churches with no government.

A major earthquake strikes Van in Ottoman Armenia.

Fearing the spread of the Black Death (plague), Edinburgh Town Council prohibits all gatherings except weddings and funerals.

April ndash The Twelve Years' Truce between the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Empire expires, and both sides prepare to resume the Eighty Years' War.

King Philip IV of Spain begins his 44-year rule.

April ndash The Twelve Years\\' Truce between the Dutch Republic and the Spanish Empire expires, and both sides prepare to resume the Eighty Years' War.

The Nine Years War (Ireland) is ended by the submission of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, to the English Crown and the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont.

The Nine Years War (Ireland) is ended by the submission of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, to the English Crown and the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont.

Henry II succeeds his father Francis I as King of France.

France and Spain agree to a ceasefire.

Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Alhambra decree, expelling all Jews from Spain unless they convert to Roman Catholicism.

Pope Gregory XI excommunicates all members of the government of Florence and places the city under an interdict.

King Baldwin III of Jerusalem exiles his mother Melisende, with whom he has been jointly reigning, to Nablus.

Constantine I established his capital in Augusta Treverorum (Trier). He begins a major expansion of the city, strengthening the walls with fortified gates, building a palace complex and the Imperial Baths.

After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great marries Fausta Flavia Maxima, the daughter of the retired co-emperor Maximian.