Milestones: March 18, 2024

March 18, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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‘WORST TORNADO’ — THE TRI-STATE TORNADO, WHICH HAS BEEN DEEMED THE WORST TWISTER IN U.S. HISTORY, SWEPT THE MIDWEST on Wednesday, March 18, 1925. The tornado, which was part of an outbreak hitting other parts of the South, materialized around 1 p.m. local time at Ellington, Missouri, which is located in the East-Central part of that state. The twister then traveled northeast (the typical tornado path) for 219 miles, hitting southern Illinois the hardest and claiming 695 lives, more than 500 of whom were in southern Illinois. More than a mile wide, the tornado exceeded more than 70 mph and spent more than three hours on the ground on its way to southwestern Indiana, cutting a path of devastation of 164 square miles.

At that time, the technology now available to track tornadoes locally, such as WSR-88 Doppler radar, had not yet been developed. The Fujita scale of wind intensity would not go into use for another 45 years.

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AFTER THE GOLD RUSH — HENRY WELLS AND WILLIAM G. FARGO JOINED FORCES WITH SEVERAL OTHER INVESTORS TO LAUNCH THEIR EPONYMOUS SHIPPING COMPANY, on March 18, 1852. The New York City businessmen were responding to the California gold rush that started three years earlier, which created a huge demand for cross-country shipping and banking services. By July 1952, Wells Fargo & Company, as it was then called, was making its first freight shipment across the continent to mining camps in California. The company partnered with independent stagecoach companies that could provide the fastest possible transportation of cargo that included documents, inventory — and gold dust. Wells & Fargo’s financial services included the purchase and sale of gold dust, paper bank draft and loans to invest in California’s new economy. Then Wells, Fargo & Company expanded further, forming the Overland Mail Company that was nicknamed the “Butterfield Line.” That provided both mail and passenger service. Later, Wells, Fargo and Co. merged with several other “Pony Express” and stagecoach lines becoming a major transportation leader.

Now called Wells Fargo, the company is one of the nation’s largest banks and provides a full range of services, including mortgages.

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THE JAPANESE INTERNMENT — THE UNITED STATES, RESPONDING TO THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK THREE MONTHS PRIOR, CREATED THE WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY on March 18, 1942, to round up all persons of Japanese descent. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February 1942 had already started gathering German, Italian and Japanese non-citizens because of the enmity between their homelands and the United States. But Japanese Americans, even if they were U.S. citizens, were being brought in and collectively suspected of being spies. They were also barred from military security sites. The War Relocation Authority took into custody 120,000 men, women, and children on the West Coast alone. Other Japanese Americans who had managed not to be interned were finally recognized as willing to fight for the United States and were permitted to join the U.S. military.

The 442nd Regiment consisting of Japanese Americans who fought in the Italian campaign became the single most decorated unit in U.S. history for its size. The regiment won 4,667 medals, awards, and citations.

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ALGERIAN INDEPENDENCE — FRANCE AND THE LEADERS OF THE FRONT DE LIBERATION NATIONALE ENDED 130 YEARS OF FRENCH COLONIAL RULE on March 18, 1962, when they signed a peace agreement that also ended the seven-year Algerian War. Le Front de Liberation Nationale had been established in 1954 as a guerrilla organization with the goal of winning independence from France, but through bloodshed. The Algerian War was a divisive issue in France, and when Charles de Gaulle returned to power after having previously led the nation during World War II, he was given authorization to draft a new national constitution. He visited Algeria, but he and the European Algerians disagreed on details. Instead, de Gaulle granted Muslims full French citizenship rights, declaring that Algeria should have autonomy in moving forward. This time it was the European Algerians who caused violence, but it did not pre-empt the peace treaty.

Algeria now has a dual-executive form of government with a president and a prime minister. The president is elected for five-year terms and appoints the prime minister. There are also judiciary and legislative structures.

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‘OPERATION BREAKFAST’ — FOR THE FIRST TIME DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, THE U.S. MILITARY DIVERTED B-52 BOMBERS from their targets to attack what were believed to be Communist base camps and supply areas in Cambodia. President Richard M. Nixon on March 15, 1969, approved this mission which was named Operation Breakfast. The mission had a detrimental effect on then-neutral Cambodia. Even though the Viet Cong were the target, the 14-month bombing campaign — known as the “Menu” — hit innocent civilians. The U.S. military dropped 110,000 tons of bombs over more than 3,600 flights — and they kept it secret from the American public.

The New York Times finally broke the story about Operation Breakfast in May 1969. However, it did not elicit much public outrage.

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SHEET MUSIC WAVE — IRVING BERLIN’S “ALEXANDER’S RAGTIME BAND” WAS COPYRIGHTED ON MARCH 18, 1911, ushering in a sheet music sales rave. Sheet music was even more popular at the time than shellac 78 rpm records, since pop music could be sung in groups of people socializing. The most popular song at the time was “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” which became a multimillion-selling smash hit. Originally an instrumental piece, the hit later acquired lyrics that are still familiar to some people more than a century later: ”Come on and hear, Come on and hear…”

Irving Berlin’s prolific writing would add richly to the American popular music canon: among them the songs “White Christmas,” “God Bless America” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

See previous milestones, here.