March 23rd
1775
Patrick Henry declared "Give me liberty, or give me death."
1806
Lewis and Clark began their return journey east.
1919
Benito Mussolini founded his own party in Italy, the Fasci di Combattimento.
1952
Bill Mosienkp (Chicago Black Hawks) scored the fastest hat trick in NHL history. He scored 3 goals in 21 seconds.
1983
U.S. President Ronald Reagan proposed a space-based missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative or “Star Wars.”
1994
Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings broke Gordie Howe's National Hockey League career record with his 802nd goal.
1998
The motion picture epic “Titanic” won 11 Oscars at the 70th Academy Awards, tying it with “Ben-Hur” for the most ever.
2001
Russia's Mir space station ended its 15-year orbit of the Earth, splashing down in the South Pacific.
2003
A U.S. Army convoy was ambushed in Iraq with 11 killed and seven captured, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
Birthdays
87 Marty Allen Comedian
60 Ric Ocasek Rock musician (The Cars)
56 Chaka Khan R&B singer
54 Moses Malone Basketball Hall of Famer
52 Amanda Plummer Actress
50
seagarsmoker Cigar Asylum Inmate
45 Hope Davis Actress
45 John Pinette Comedian
44 Richard Grieco Actor
44 Kevin Griffin Country musician (Yankee Grey)
43 Marin Hinkle Actress ("Two and a Half Men," "Once and Again")
39 Melissa Errico Actress, singer
36 Jason Kidd Basketball player
33 Michelle Monaghan Actress
33 Keri Russell Actress
31 Paul Martin Country singer (Marshall Dyllon)
31 Nicholle Tom Actress
31 Perez Hilton Television personality and blogger
69 Joan Crawford 3/23/1908 - 5/10/1977 American motion picture actress