Black Press Day commemorates the founding of the first newspaper published by Black Americans, Freedom's Journal, on March 16, 1827. Today celebrates 199 years of Black journalism, which, among other things, advocated for truth telling, civil-rights and community empowerment. The Black press played a very signiicant role in the history and cultural development, such as it is, of the US of A. It had an especially profound effect on the US' Black population and communities. The number of Black newspapers is dwindling, for all the same reasons as the number of all newspapers is dwindling. That is unfortunate because today and especially tomorrow we shall need them more than ever.

It is also Freedom of Information Day. It is not about the Freedom of Information Act passed in 1966, but the ideas or concepts of public access to government information and the public’s right to know. This, in the US of A, isn't really something that our government approves of. In my mind's eye I see a myriad armed octopus holding at the end of each tentacle rubber stamps bearing words like "classified", "secret", "top secret", "internal use only", "confidential" and many, many more such bits of verbiage.

I couldn't pass up Curlew Day. It is on today's date (or around today's date) that long-billed curlews arrive at the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to begin courting and nesting. Over 500 of the birds make the refuge their nesting home each year. On account of this, today is known as Curlew Day! The day has been observed at least since 1986. Curlews can be found on every continent except Antarctica and some migrate over 3,700 miles non-stop. As of March 9, 2026, the Umatilla Wildlife Refuge is still in existence and operation.

On this day in history:

597 BC – The first siege of Jerusalem by the Neo-Babylonian Empire ended with the city surrendering to king Nebuchadnezzar

1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refused to recant were burnt to death after the Fall of Montségur. This was part of Medieval Inquisition follow-up to Pope Innocent III's Albigensian Crusade

1621 – Samoset, an Abenaki, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and said "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."

1802 – The US Army Corps of Engineers was established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point, only later was it assigned to dam rivers and drain wetlands

1815 – Prince Willem proclaimed himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands,

1827 - The first newspaper published by black Americans, Freedom's Journal, was founded.

1898 – In Melbourne, the representatives of five colonies adopted a constitution which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.

1916 – The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing crossed the US–Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa. They didn't get him, even with Apache help

1926 – History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launched the first known liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.

1935 – Adolf Hitler ordered Germany to rearm itself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription was reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.

1936 – Warmer-than-normal temperatures rapidly melted snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, leading to a major flood in Pittsburgh.

1939 – From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia to be a German protectorate.

1945 – The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.

1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany was destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in at least 4,000 deaths.

1966 – Launch of Gemini 8 with astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott. It would perform the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit.

1968 – The My Lai massacre occurred; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers were killed by American troops. One US fall guy soldier served 3.5 years house arrest.

1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz split in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time.

1988 – Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter were indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States in the Iran–Contra affair

1988 – The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.

1995 – Mississippi formally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.

2003 – American activist Rachel Corrie is murdered in Rafah by being run over by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer while trying to obstruct the demolition of a home.

2005 – Israel officially handed over limited control of Jericho to the PA

2014 – Crimea voted in referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. after the Ukrainian coup d'etat

2020 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93%

Some people who were born on this day:

I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up—they have no holidays.

~~ Henny Youngman

1750 – Caroline Herschel, astronomer
1774 – Matthew Flinders, navigator and cartographer
1789 – Georg Ohm, physicist and mathematician
1799 – Anna Atkins, botanist and photographer
1821 – Eduard Heine, mathematician and academic
1823 – William Henry Monk, organist and composer
1836 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, engineer and inventor
1846 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, mathematician and academic
1846 – Rebecca Cole, physician and social reformer
1846 – Jurgis Bielinis, book smuggler
1859 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, physicist and inventor
1869 – Willy Burmester, violinist
1881 – Fannie Charles Dillon, composer
1885 – Giacomo Benvenuti, composer and musicologist
1906 – Henny Youngman, violinist and comedian
1909 – Don Raye, songwriter
1918 – Frederick Reines,physicist and academic
1929 – Betty Johnson, singer
1930 – Tommy Flanagan, pianist and composer
1930 – Minoru Miki, composer
1931 – Alan Heyman, musicologist and composer
1934 – Roger Norrington, violinist and conductor
1936 – Raymond Vahan Damadian, nventor, invented the MRI
1936 – Fred Neil, folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1940 – Vagif Mustafazadeh, pianist and composer
1940 – Keith Rowe, guitarist
1942 – Jerry Jeff Walker, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1943 – Harry van Hoof, conductor, composer, and music arranger
1945 – Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor
1946 – Sigmund Groven, harmonica player and composer
1946 – Guesch Patti,singer
1948 – Michael Owen Bruce, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1948 – Richard Desjardins, singer, songwriter, and director
1949 – Elliott Murphy, singer, songwriter, and journalist
1951 – Ray Benson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1954 – Jimmy Nail, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1954 – Tim O'Brien, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist
1954 – Nancy Wilson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress
1958 – Phillip Wilcher, pianist and composer
1964 – Patty Griffin, singer- and ongwriter
1966 – H.P. Baxxter, musician
1967 – Tracy Bonham, singer and violinist
1967 – John Darnielle, musician and novelist
1967 – Ronnie McCoury, bluegrass mandolin player, singer, and songwriter
1970 – Joakim Berg, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1976 – Blu Cantrell, singer, songwriter, and producer
1979 – Leena Peisa, keyboard player and songwriter
1985 – Eddy Lover, singer and songwriter
1988 – Jhené Aiko, singer, songwriter and rapper
1991 – Wolfgang Van Halen, bassist

Some people who died on this day:

When an Englishman has professed his belief in the supremacy of Shakespeare amongst all poets, he feels himself excused from the general study of literature. He also feels himself excused from the particular study of Shakespeare.

~~ Aubrey Beardsley

1457 – Ladislaus Hunyadi, politician
1698 – Leonora Christina Ulfeldt, countess, author of Jammers Minde
1736 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi,composer
1838 – Nathaniel Bowditch, ocean navigator and mathematician
1841 – Félix Savart, physicist and mathematician
1898 – Aubrey Beardsley, author and illustrator
1914 – John Murray, oceanographer, biologist, and limnologist
1925 – August von Wassermann, bacteriologist and hygienist
1935 – John Macleod, physician and physiologist, discovered & isolated insulin
1936 – Marguerite Durand, actress, journalist, and activist
1961 – Václav Talich, violinist and conductor
1965 – Alice Herz, activist
1970 – Tammi Terrell, singer
1975 – T-Bone Walker, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1985 – Roger Sessions, composer, critic, and educator
1990 – Ernst Bacon, pianist, composer, and conductor
1991 – Chris Austin, country singer
2003 – Rachel Corrie, activist
2010 – Ksenija Pajčin, singer, dancer, and model
2015 – Don Robertson, pianist and composer
2016 – Frank Sinatra Jr., singer and actor
2019 – Dick Dale, surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter
2025 – Jesse Colin Young, singer and songwriter (

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Black Press Day
Freedom of Information Day
Curlew Day
Goddard Day

Today's Tunes

Pancho Villa

10th Cavalry

Mississippi

Fannie Charles Dillon

Don Raye,

1929 – Betty Johnson

???

1930 – Tommy Flanagan

Minoru Miki,

Roger Norrington

Fred Neil

Vagif Mustafazadeh

Jerry Jeff Walker

Michael Owen Bruce

Elliott Murphy

Ray Benson

Tim O'Brien

Nancy Wilson

Patty Griffin

Ronnie McCoury

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Tammi Terrell

T-Bone Walker

Dick Dale

Jesse Colin Young

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open Thread, Black Press Day, Pancho Villa, Mississippi, Jerry Jeff Walker, Giovanni Pergolesi, Tammi Terrell, T-Bone Walker, Dick Dale, Jesse Colin Young