4th March anniversaries

• Birth
• event
  • 1675
  • Great Britain
  • John Flamsteed appointed first Astronomer Royal of England
  • 1824
  • Great Britain
  • Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) founded (called the 'National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck' until 1854)
  • 1859
  • United States
  • "The charter of the French Opera House in New Orleans was adopted, allowing finances to be raised to build it. (It opened in December 1859)"
  • 1882
  • Great Britain
  • "Britain's first electric trams started running, Leytonstone, East London"
  • 1890
  • Great Britain
  • Forth railway bridge opens – took six years to build
  • 1908
  • United States
  • "175 people were killed in the Collinwood School Fire, near Cleveland, Ohio ."
  • 1909
  • United States
  • "Birth of Harry Helmsley, American property investor"
  • 1909
  • United States
  • "US Congress approved Congressional Gold Medals for the Wright brothers, who pioneered powered flight"
  • 1933
  • Austria
  • The Austrian Parliament was suspended indefinitely because of voting irregularities. Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss governed by emergency.
  • 1933
  • United States
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as the 32nd President of the United States. He pledged to lead the country out of the Great Depression.
  • 1933
  • United States
  • Labour Secretary Frances Perkins became the first woman to serve in the US Cabinet.
  • 1968
  • Great Britain
  • Wimbledon became an open tennis championship as authorities voted to admit professional players as well as amateurs.
  • 1969
  • Great Britain
  • Kray Twins found guilty of murder
  • 1979
  • United States
  • A photo taken by the USAs Voyager 1 space probe revealed the first evidence of Jupiters rings
  • 1987
  • United States
  • US President Ronald Reagan accepted full responsibility for the Iran-Contra scandal
  • 1989
  • Great Britain
  • "6 people died and 94 were injured in a train crash at Purley, Surrey, UK"
  • 1989
  • United States
  • "Time Inc. and Warner Communications announced their merger to form Time-Warner, the worlds largest media and entertainment company"
• Death
  • 1832
  • France
  • "Death of Jean-François Champollion, French Egyptologist who played a major role in deciphering hieroglyphics"
  • 1858
  • United States
  • "Death of Matthew C. Perry, American naval commander who opened Japan to the West."