A very active day in world history. So many events to choose from.
1401 Timur sacks Baghdad
When a list of Very Bad People in History is drawn up, one will see the familiar names of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Jack the Ripper. Spare a moment to remember Timur the Lame or Tamerlane, the Mongol conqueror who killed people on an industrial scale, perhaps as much as 5% of the world’s population at the time. He exterminated Christianity in Central Asia, sacked Delhi, Isfahan and Baghdad and left towers of skulls behind him.
1603 King James I succeeds Elizabeth of England
Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, never named an heir lest it provoke a rebellion against her. Fortunately her advisers had secretly arranged for James VI of Scotland to become her successor. He possessed the virtues of possessing Tudor blood, being male and a Protestant. When Elizabeth’s last words “All my possessions for a moment of time” had been spoken, James was summoned to London and the crown.
1603 The establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate
Tokugawa Ieyasu was a powerful feudal lord who clawed his way to the top of Japanese politics with a series of bloody victories over his rivals. The emperors of the time were regarded as ceremonial figureheads who might designate a shogun, or military governor. Tokugawa and his descendants held that post until their dynasty was overthrown in the mid-19th century and the power of the emperors restored.
1707 The Act of Union unites Scotland and England
Though England and Scotland had shared monarchs since 1603, the two counties had remained legally separate. The possibility that Scotland might chose its own ruler led the English to propose closer ties. Scotland, which was in dire financial straits and substantially undeveloped, saw economic advantage in Union. Once united significant differences in law and church structure still remained.
1944 Ardeatine Massacre in Rome
Following the ousting of Benito Mussolini as Italian Duce and the surrender of Italian armies to the Allies, German forces occupied the country. On March 23, a column of military police was marching through Rome when Communist partisans exploded a roadside bomb which killed dozens of the soldiers. Hitler ordered immediate reprisals with 10 Italians to be killed for each German casualty. The victims were chosen from already jailed political prisoners or Jews but that did not provide the required number so random raids and street round-ups were used to make up the remainder. The 330 prisoners were taken to a nearby quarry and shot 5 at a time.
1980 Archbishop Oscar Romero is assassinated
Oscar Romero (1917-80) was an El Salvadoran cleric who opposed the human rights abuses of the government and was murdered while saying mass. He is considered a martyr and has been beatified by the Church.