On March 17, 1969, Golda Meir took power in Israel, beginning a stint as prime minister that would last through five crucial years in the nation’s history [70090c49]. Today is Sunday, March 17, the 77th day of 2024. There are 289 days left in the year. This is St. Patrick’s Day. In 1762, New York held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade. In 1776, the Revolutionary War Siege of Boston ended as British forces evacuated the city. In 1905, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt married Franklin Delano Roosevelt in New York. In 1941, the National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C. In 1942, six days after departing the Philippines during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater. In 1950, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced they had created a new radioactive element, 'californium.' In 1966, a U.S. Navy midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb that had fallen from a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain. In 1970, the United States cast its first veto in the U.N. Security Council, killing a resolution that would have condemned Britain for failing to use force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia. In 2003, edging to the brink of war, President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his country. Iraq rejected Bush’s ultimatum, saying that a U.S. attack to force Saddam from power would be 'a grave mistake.' In 2010, Michael Jordan became the first ex-player to become a majority owner in the NBA as the league’s Board of Governors unanimously approved Jordan’s $275 million bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats from Bob Johnson. In 2013, two members of Steubenville, Ohio’s celebrated high school football team were found guilty of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl and sentenced to at least a year in juvenile prison in a case that rocked the Rust Belt city of 18,000 people. In 2016, finally bowing to years of public pressure, SeaWorld Entertainment said it would no longer breed killer whales or make them perform crowd-pleasing tricks. In 2020, the Kentucky Derby and the French Open were each postponed from May to September because of the coronavirus. In 2023, the International Criminal Court said it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine [70090c49].
Golda Meir's tenure as prime minister of Israel lasted for five crucial years in the nation's history [70090c49].
In addition to Golda Meir becoming prime minister of Israel, there have been several other notable events that have occurred on March 17 throughout history. These include the first St. Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1762, the opening of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1941, and the announcement of the creation of the radioactive element 'californium' by scientists at the University of California at Berkeley in 1950. Other events include the United States casting its first veto in the U.N. Security Council in 1970, Michael Jordan becoming the first ex-player to become a majority owner in the NBA in 2010, and the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 [6c2f3972] [70090c49].
On May 20, 1956, the US dropped the first hydrogen bomb from the air over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific [e7017e0d]. This event marked a significant development in the history of nuclear weapons. Other major events that have occurred on May 20 include Cuba being handed over to a republican government in 1902, Iraq accepting a UN plan to sell limited quantities of oil in 1996, and East Timor declaring its independence in 2002. Additionally, on May 20, 2005, French philosopher Paul Ricoeur passed away at the age of 92, and in 2012, Northern Italy was struck by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake [e7017e0d].