Today in History for March 19: US launches attack on Iraq in 2003

• 1279 A Mongolian victory at the naval Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China
• 1644 200 members of Peking imperial family and court commit suicide in loyalty to the Emperor
• 1863 Confederate cruiser SS Georgiana destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, and medicines then valued over $1,000,000. Wreck discovered exactly 102 years later by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence.
• 1918 US Congress authorizes time zones & approves daylight saving time
• 1920 US Senate rejects Treaty of Versailles for 2nd time refusing to ratify League of Nations' covenant (maintaining isolation policy)
• 1932 The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened
• 1931 Nevada legalizes gambling
• 1953 25th Academy Awards: "Greatest Show on Earth", Gary Cooper & Shirley Booth win (1st time televised)
• 1962 "Bob Dylan," the first studio album by the iconic singer, is released
• 1973 Dean tells Nixon, "There is a cancer growing on the Presidency"
• 1982 Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the U.K.
• 1987 American televangelist Jim Bakker resigns amid rape accusation by his secretary, Jessica Hahn
• 2003 Invasion of Iraq by American and British-led coalition begins without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion
• 2014 Russia captures the Ukrainian naval base in Sevastopol

Birthdays: 

• 1848 Wyatt Earp, American sheriff (OK Corral), born in Monmouth, Illinois (d. 1929)
• 1904 John Sirica, US federal judge (Watergate hearings), born in Waterbury, Connecticut (d. 1992)
• 1906 Adolf Eichmann, German Nazi officer (SS-Obersturmbannführer, Holocaust organizer), born in Solingen, German Empire (d. 1962)
• 1914 Jiang Qing [Madame Mao], Chinese communist and wife of Mao Zedong, born in Zhucheng, Shandong, China (d. 1991)
• 1920 Tige Andrews, American character actor (Mod Squad, he Detectives Starring Robert Taylor), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2007)
• 1925 Brent Scowcroft, Lt Gen (USAF)/National Security Council, born in Ogden, Utah
• 1944 Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian-born assassin (killed Robert F. Kennedy)
• 1952 Harvey Weinstein, American film producer(Miramax), born in New York City
• 1955 Bruce Willis, American actor (Moonlighting, Die Hard), born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany
• 1962 Ivan Calderón, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 2003)
• 1983 Matt Sydal, American professional wrestler.

Deaths:

• 1950 Edgar Rice Burroughs, sci-fi author (Tarzan of the Apes), dies at 74
• 1993 Jeff Ward, drummer (9 Inch Nails), commits suicide at 30
• 2005 John De Lorean, American automobile engineer (b. 1925)
• 2008 Arthur C. Clarke, English sci-fi author (2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood's End), dies at 90
• 2013 Harry Reems, American actor, dies from pancreatic cancer at 65
• 2015 Michael Brown, American musician and songwriter (Don't Walk Away Renee), dies at 65
• 2017 Jimmy Breslin, American author and columnist (NY Post, News, Newsday), dies at 88.

-- Compiled by Henry Frederick, Headline Surfer, Orlando, Fla.