March 13.
1638. The so called "New College" in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which had been formed only two years earlier, receives a bequeath of 779 pounds (half of the decedent's estate) and 400 books from the recently deceased John Harvard, who had been friends of the school's first schoolmaster, Nathaniel Eaton. As a result, the college is renamed in his honor -- Harved College. It was subsequently renamed Harvard University in 1780.
1865. The Confederate States of America, in a moment of supreme irony, agree to the use of African American troops. This notwithstanding Georgian Confederate leader Howell Cobb's previously proclamation that "if slaves make good soldiers, our entire theory of slavery is wrong."
1925. The State of Tennessee passes a new law, called the Butler Act:
Quote:
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"That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the Story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals."
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The law paves the way for a teacher who intentionally violated the law at the behest of the ACLU which agreed to fund his defense. The teacher was John Scopes, and the trial that resulted would become famous -- the Scopes Trial.
1943. The Nazi SS begins the final elimination of the Jews in the Krakow Ghetto in Poland. Originally housing 60-80 thousand Jews, after completion of this task all Jews have either been sent to labor sites, concentration camps, or been murdered on site.
1954. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu begins in Vietnam. Lasting nearly two months, the battle ends in a decisive defeat for occupying French forces. The French defeat is primarily due to their serious underestimation of the native Vietnamese, their possession of heavy artillery, and their ability to move such artillery through very difficult terrain into the hills surrounding the French base.
1962. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Lemnitzer presents the plan for Operation Northwoods to Secretary of Defense McNamara. The plan proposes that the CIA conduct acts or fake acts of terrorism in American cities and around Guantanomo Bay to justify US military involvement in Cuba. The report is rejected and Lemnitzer is sacked. The proposal comes to light in 1997 as a result of inquiries into JFK's death.
1986. Microsoft IPO's. Regrettably, Amnorix does not participate. Reportedly, Rain Man participates early, but gets out quick after making a killing -- doubling his money!! If he'd only held on he may have been able to buy all of Madagascar and visit it as often as he likes, and have a whole fleet of bikes with a SWAT team of former FBI agents to defend them from local ne'er-do-wells.