History for March 31

History for March 31 - On-This-Day.com:
Rene Descartes 1596 - Philosopher, "I think, therefore I am", Gordie (Gordon) Howe 1928 - Hockey player (Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers), Shirley Jones 1934 - Singer, Actress ("The Partridge Family")


Richard Chamberlain 1934 - Actor ("The Bourne Identity"), Christopher Walken 1943 - Actor ("The Deerhunter," "Pulp Fiction"), Al Gore 1948 - U.S. Vice President under President Bill Clinton
 

1776 - Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John that women were "determined to foment a rebellion" if the new Declaration of Independence failed to guarantee their rights.


1854 - The U.S. government signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan. The act opened the ports of Shimoda and Hakotade to American trade.


1885 - Binney & Smith Company was founded in New York City. The company later became Crayola, LLC.


1889 - In Paris, the Eiffel Tower officially opened.


1917 - The U.S. purchased and took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.


1918 - For the first time in the U.S., Daylight Saving Time went into effect.


1949 - Winston Churchill declared that the A-bomb was the only thing that kept the U.S.S.R. from taking over Europe.


1976 - The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from a respirator. Quinlan remained comatose until 1985 when she died.