Table of Contents March 20 Fun Facts, Trivia and History |
March 20 History Highlights |
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Traditional March 20 Information |
| Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was the creator of Mister Rogers’Neighborhood and hosted all 895 episodes. He was the composer of its more than 200 songs and the puppeteer who imagined 14 characters into being. Throughout his career, Fred Rogers was a champion of children in general and PBS in particular. In 1969, he famously testified before a Senate subcommittee that was considering cutting funding for public television. Senator John Pastore was in charge of the proceedings, and after two days of hearings, he remained distinctly unimpressed, until Mister Rogers took the microphone. When Fred spoke, he changed the face of children’s television and transformed the way we think about the inner lives of young children. (misterrrogers.org) |
March 20 is… |
| Earth Day Day of Happiness Proposal Day Ravioli Day Won’t You Be My Neighbor Day World Storytelling Day |
March 20 Birthday Quotes |
“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.” “Writing is the basis of all, because creating something that didn’t even exist before is like taking an empty canvass. It is a wonderful thing to make something out of nothing. You’ve got an empty page, you’ve got an idea, and then you start typing and that is the most thrilling thing of all. And then if it becomes a movie or something else that’s a plus, but the original writing of it is what’s very exciting.” “I believe in destiny. But I also believe that you can’t just sit back and let destiny happen. A lot of times, an opportunity might fall into your lap, but you have to be ready for that opportunity. You can’t sit there waiting on it. A lot of times you are going to have to get out there and make it happen.” “In some ways, it would be nice to stay younger, but I feel pretty happy about growing older… Personally, I don’t have a lot of the regular hand-ups with getting older that some people do. I’ve never tried to disguise my age. People find out anyway.” |
March 20 Birthdays |
| 1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (died in 1981) 1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American character actor (died in 1979) 1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (died in 1975) 1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American gospel singer-songwriter (died in 1973) 1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer and actress (died in 2020) 1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer (died in 1984) 1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader (died in 2017) 1922 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died in 2020) 1928 – Fred Rogers, American children’s television host (died in 2003) 1931 – Hal Linden, American actor 1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (died in 1996) 1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter and actor (died in 2008) 1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player 1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress 1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter 1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress 1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress 1986 – Ruby Rose, Australian actress |
March 20 History |
| 1345 – According to scholars at the University of Paris, the Black Death was created today, from what they called “a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars in the 40th degree of Aquarius, occurring on the 20th of March 1345.” Actually, the bubonic plague came from infected fleas from sickened and dead rats. 1602 – The Dutch East India Company was established. 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was published. 1854 – In Ripon, Wisconsin, former members of the Whig Party formed the Republican Party. 1900 – Nikola Tesla received a US Patent (#645,576) for the wireless transmission of electric power, 1961 – #1 Hit March 20, 1961 – April 2, 1961: Elvis Presley – Surrender 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) was established. March 20, 19** Birthday (fictional) Big Bird, Sesame Street 1971 – #1 Hit March 20, 1971 – April 2, 1971: Janis Joplin – Me and Bobby McGee 1982 – Rock Guitarist Randy Rhodes died in a plane crash. 1982 – #1 Hit March 20, 1982 – May 7, 1982: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll 1985 – Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. 1987 – The FDA approved the sale of AZT (azidothymidine) 1995 – The Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) cult released Sarin gas into the Tokyo subway system, killing a dozen people and sickening thousands. 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opened in Carlsbad, California. 2010 – #1 Hit March 20, 2010 – March 26, 2010: Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris – Break Your Heart 2014 – Broadway Show – Aladdin (Musical) March 20, 2014 #1 Hit March 20, 2021 – March 26, 2021: What’s Next – Drake |
Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts |
| A group of Bees is called a Grist or Hive or Swarm or Nest. The word “dialogue” has all the full-time vowels in it. There are more people who have learned English as a second language than there are native speakers. UNPROVEN SCIENCE: Walking through doorways make you forget. Meaning both “friend” and “something you feed to sharks,” I can’t think of a single word with two more wildly divergent and unrelated definitions than “chum.” In 1953, Rock Hudson was elected Mayor of Universal City. Winnie the Pooh’s first name is Edward. The Subaru logo represents the stars in the Pleiades constellation which is known as ‘Subaru’ in Japanese. In a room with 23 people, it’s more likely than unlikely that at least two of them share the same birthday. Never stop pushing yourself. Some say that 8 hours of sleep is enough. Why stop there? Strive for 9, 10, even 11 hours. #StriveForGreatness “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” – Oliver (Oliver Hardy) in Sons of the Desert, 1933 The biggest film of 1964: Mary Poppins (Musical) earned ~ $102,300,000 “Silly Caucasian girl likes to play with Samurai swords.” – O-Ren Ishii Phonetic isn’t spelled phonetically, there is no anagram for an anagram, there isn’t another word for thesaurus and ironically most people do not understand irony. I wonder if I’ll live long enough to witness land ownership disputes on the moon. |
More Pop Culture History Resources |
