This Day in History

This Day in History March 26 1872 An earthquake felt from Mexico to Oregon rocks the Owens Valley in California, killing 30 people 1930 Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, is born in El Paso, Texas— she served as a judge in Arizona and as a member of the Arizona legislature before her appointment to the Supreme Court 1953 American medical researcher Jonas Salk announces that he has successfully developed a polio vaccine 1968 Alt rock guitarist James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins is born in Chicago, Illinois 1971 English band the Rolling Stones’ lips and tongue logo appears for the first time when it is used on VIP passes for a show at the Marquee Club in London—it was designed by John Pasche, a student at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London, who would also design the 1973 album cover for Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon 1979 In a ceremony at the White House, Egypt and Israel sign a historic peace agreement, ending three decades of conflict between the two nations and establishing diplomatic and economic ties 1979 Earvin “Magic” Johnson leads the Michigan State Spartans to a 75-64 victory over Larry Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game—both players would become NBA legends, winning multiple championships in the 1980s 1988 “Man in the Mirror” becomes the fourth of a record five #1 hits from Michael Jackson’s album Bad 1994 Seattle grunge band Soundgarden’s album Superunknown reaches #1 on the Billboard 200 1997 39 people from the Heaven’s Gate cult are found dead in San Diego, California, after committing ritual mass suicide in order to reach what they believed was an extraterrestrial spacecraft following the Hale-Bopp Comet 2008 American band the B-52’s become the B-52s with the release of their album Funplex—the apostrophe, which is grammatically incorrect because apostrophes show possession, was simply an error made by a friend that designed their logo 30 years earlier 2008 Ford Motor Company announces the sale of its Jaguar and Land Rover divisions to the Tata Group, one of India’s oldest and largest business conglomerates, for $2.3 billion 2020 Total confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. reach 82,404, making the U.S. the world leader in reported coronavirus cases, surpassing China’s 81,782 and Italy’s 80,589 2020 Mr. Seeley’s son Andrew arrives safely in Arizona after his long and stressful journey home from Ghana, which had closed its borders because of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe 2021 Citing expanded vaccine distribution and declining case numbers, Arizona governor Doug Ducey lifted all restrictions on businesses and events and prohibited the enforcement of most local mask mandates—masks are still required at public schools in Arizona 2021 At least five people were killed yesterday as multiple tornadoes touched down in Alabama and Georgia—there is a possibility of more storms today 2021 American actress Jessica Walter, known best for her role on the TV series Arrested Development, died Wednesday in New York City at age 80 2021 Basketball player Oscar Frayer, a senior at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, was killed in a car accident in California on Tuesday, just three days after the school’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament—his older sister was also killed in the accident 2021 According to research announced yesterday, the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines are effective in pregnant and lactating women, who can also pass protective antibodies to their newborns— the study also found no evidence of more side effects in pregnant and lactating women than in the general population 2021 Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law yesterday a sweeping overhaul of state elections that includes new restrictions on voting by mail and greater legislative control over how elections are run— the new law is opposed by many voting rights groups.

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