March 31st
1492
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling Jews from Spanish soil,
except those willing to convert to Christianity.
1880
Wabash, Indiana became the first town in the world to be illuminated by electrical lighting.
1889
French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the Eiffel Tower, officially marking its completion.
1917
The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
1933
Congress authorized the Civilian Conservation Corps.
1943
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma" opened on Broadway.
1945
The Tennessee Williams play "The Glass Menagerie" opened on Broadway.
1949
Newfoundland entered confederation as Canada's 10th province.
1953
Stanley Kubrick's first film feature, a war drama titled "Fear and Desire" premiered in New York.
1968
President Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not seek another term in office.
1976
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan, who was in a persistant vegetative state,
could be disconnected from her respirator.
(Quinlan who remained unconsious died in 1985.)
1986
167 people died when a Mexican Airlines Boeing 727 crashed in a remote mountainous region of Mexico.
1991
The Warsaw Pact spent the last day of its existance as a military alliance.
1993
Actor Brandon Lee, 28, was accidentally killed during the filming of a movie in Wilmington, North Carolina by a prop gun.
1995
Mexican-American singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by Yolanda Saldivar, the founder of her fan club.
2004
Tim and Pam Rivers of Indiana won the Powerball and took a cash payout of $49,946,510.27.
2007
An Unknown in Wisconsin won the Powerball and took the cash option of $19,321,993.13.