ON THIS DAY
On this day Mar 26-Apr1 2017 (week 13)
March 26, 2017 - April 1, 2017 - This week features the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, the Tenerife aircraft disaster, the marriage of screen stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, the French post-impressionist painter Georges Seurat,the purchase of Alaska by the U.S. from Russia, the arrival of 6,745 immigrants at Ellis Island in New York City, the creation of Nunavut in Canada to provide autonomy for the Inuit people.
March 26, 1827: Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the world’s greatest composers, died in Vienna at age 56. Many of his finest works were composed after he became totally deaf
March 27, 1977: In the world’s worst aircraft disaster two Boeing 747s collided on the runway at Tenerife airport, killing 583 people out of a total of 644 on board
March 28, 1920: Silent screen stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks got married after both divorced their former spouses, a potentially career-ending move at the time
March 29, 1891: Georges Seurat, French post-impressionist painter who developed Pointillism, which uses small dots of colour to create an image, died at age 31
March 30, 1867: The United States purchased Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7.2 million, approximately two cents an acre. Alaska joined the Union as a state in 1959
March 31, 1913: A record 6,745 immigrants arrived at Ellis Island in New York City. About one third of the current U.S. population can trace their ancestors to Ellis Island
April 1,1999: A new territory, Nunavut, “our land”, was created in Canada to provide autonomy for the Inuit people. It comprises most of the Canadian Arctic archipelago