11 History Lessons + 4 Births & 5 Deaths for March 31, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1492 – Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain issue the Alhambra Decree, ordering the expulsion of Jews from Spain.
- 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened in Paris.
- 1917 – The United States takes possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
- 1930 – The cities of Constantinople and Angora are officially renamed Istanbul and Ankara by Turkey.
- 1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
- 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, which later becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the moon.
- 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not seek re-election.
- 1970 – Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite, re-enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up after 12 years in orbit.
- 1991 – The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved.
- 1992 – The USS Missouri, site of Japan’s WWII surrender, is decommissioned.
- 2004 – Google announces Gmail as an invitation-only service, leading many to believe it’s an April Fool’s joke.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1948 – Al Gore, former U.S. Vice President and environmental advocate (77)
- 1964 – Christopher Walken, actor known for The Deer Hunter and Catch Me If You Can (61)
- 1965 – Shirley Jones, singer and actress (The Partridge Family) (60)
- 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor (Trainspotting, Star Wars) (54)
Today’s Deaths:
- 1727 – Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician (84)
- 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist (Jane Eyre) (38)
- 1980 – Jesse Owens, American Olympic track and field legend (66)
- 1993 – Brandon Lee, actor and son of Bruce Lee, accidentally killed on set of The Crow (28)
- 1995 – Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, American singer and cultural icon (23)
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