1880 – Born in Ioannina, Mid’hat bej Frashëri, Albanian diplomat, writer and politician. Among others, he was among the fathers of Albanian nationalism. In his youth he was a clerk of the Ottoman Empire, activist of the National Renaissance and participant and chairman of the Congress of Bitola, after the declaration of Independence of Albania he was a minister, diplomat of the Albanian state, chairman of the National Front and the “Free Albania” Committee. In the world of letters, he has his contribution as a publicist, writer, translator and albanologist. He started writing literary works in 1897 and started publishing the National Calendar, which he published without interruption until 1928. In his journalistic writings he used the nicknames Lumo Skëndo and Mali Kokojka, while in various publications he used the nickname Ismail Malosmani. In 1901 he wrote the biography of Naim Frashëri, the summary “Hi dhe shpuzë”, the study on Albanians and their future baptized as “The Reception of Albania”, sociopolitical and ethnic essay “Our Wounds”. Mit’hat Frashëri has also published several works in French: “L’affaire de l’Epire”, “La population de l’Epire”, “Les Albanais chez eux et à l’étranger”, “Albanais et Slaves”. Mit’hat Frashëri has translated into Albanian the works “Guillaume Tell” by Lamartini, “Do good without throwing in the sea” by Franc Hoffmann, “Robinson Crusoe” by Defoe and “Psychology of education” by G. Le Bon. After the liberation of Albania, it was decided to seize the property of Mid’hat Bey Frashëri. One of the seized objects was the personal library of Mid’hat bej Frashëri. Today about 40,000 volumes of this library are preserved (and are part) of the National Library of Albania. For this reason, the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports of the Republic of Albania and the National Library of Albania decided that the award for bibliophilia be named Bibliophile Lumo Skëndo. This award will be awarded annually on World Book Day by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports and the National Library of Albania. This award was first presented on April 23, 2006.
1927– Dies in Zheger, Yugoslav Kingdom, Idriz Seferi, was an Albanian patriotic figure and Kachak leader. A member of the League of Prizren and that of Peja, along with Isa Boletini, he organized and led the uprising of 1910 and 1912 against the Ottoman authorities, and against the Serbs during the First Balkan War. He continued to fight against the Serbs in the first part of 1914-’16 of the First World War, while in the second half of the war he fought against the Bulgarians. On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his death and on the eve of the 105th anniversary of the Independence of Albania, a statue was placed in Gjilan. After his death he was decorated with the order Hero of Kosovo – by the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi.
1931 – Scottsboro boys arrested in Alabama and charged with rape. The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenagers, ages 13 to 20, unjustly charged in Alabama for raping two white women on a train in 1931. The legal case group from this incident dealt with racism and entitlement. for a fair trial.
1942 – Born in Memphis, Aretha Franklin. Franklin was a singer, pianist, and American civil rights, activist. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. By the late 1960s, Aretha Franklin had come to be known as the “Queen of the Spirit.”
1957 – Formally established, the European Economic Community, with West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg as the first members. The European Economic Community was a regional organization aiming to create economic integration between its member countries. It was created by the Treaty of Rome. Following the formation of the European Union in 1993, the EC was incorporated and renamed the European Community.
1969 – During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first bed for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. As the Vietnam War was escalating, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono held two beds for Peace, one at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam and one at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Each was intended to be non-violent anti-war protests and tests to promote peace.
1975 – Died at the age of 68, King Faisal. Faisal was King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975. Faisal was King Abdulaziz’s third son. His mother, Tarfa, was a member of the Al-Sheikh family who has produced many prominent Saudi religious leaders. Faisal emerged as a royal influential politician. He was shot dead by his mentally unstable nephew.
1995 – WikiWikiWeb, the world’s first wiki and part of the Portland model deposition, is made public by Ward Cunningham. WikiWikiWeb is a user-editable website. The name WikiWikiWeb was originally also applied to the web-based wiki software written in the Perl programming language and later renamed to “WikiBase”. This site was recently hacked.
2006 – Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged presidential election in Belarus, 2006. They clash with police and military forces. Opposition leader Alexander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested. Presidential elections were held on March 19th. The result was a victory for current President Alexander Lukashenko. However, Western observers judged the election to be false.
