Milestones: March 19, 2024

March 19, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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IRAQ WAR — THE U.S. WAR ON IRAQ WAS LAUNCHED ON MARCH 19, 2003, ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF A DEADLINE the U.S. had imposed on ruler Saddam Hussein to leave the country. The coalition forces, with military personnel from the United Kingdom, began bombing Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad around 9:34 p.m. Eastern time. (Baghdad is 7 time zones ahead of Washington, D.C.) President George Bush’s belief (based on specious intelligence) that Hussein had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction was a major driver in his launching the military operation, which became a protracted eight-year war. Although President Bush declared the end of major combat less than two months later, the fighting turned into guerrilla warfare.

Iraqis toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein in April 2003. His sons were killed in a U.S. military raid in Mosul on July 22, 2003. Five months later, Hussein, who had gone into hiding, was captured without resistance on Dec. 13, 2003, and was placed on trial. On December 20, 2006, he was executed.

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THE DOUBLE LIFE OF TOM MCKEAN — ONE OF THE UNITED STATES’ FOUNDING FATHERS SERVED IN THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS AT THE SAME TIME HE WAS CHIEF JUSTICE OF PENNSYLVANIA. COLONEL THOMAS MCKEAN, born on March 19, 1734, had a keen interest in and aptitude for the law. Moving to Delaware to read law, he quickly found a niche in both legal and political circles, and, in 1765, he began representing “the Lower Counties” of that colony, particularly during the Stamp Act debacle. McKean was one of three delegates from Delaware: He and Caesar Rodney were in favor of independence, but the third, George Read, was a Tory. It is said that McKean had to fetch a seriously ill Rodney from his home in order to break a stalemate in Delaware’s vote. McKean left to join Washington’s army right after Congress declared independence.

During his 22 years as chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, McKean also handed down several decisions that embraced and then led to the establishment of judicial review.

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EARLY PASSION FOR THE LAW — EARL WARREN, WHO WOULD BECOME CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES, WAS BORN ON MARCH 19, 1891, into a financially conservative family whose values centered on the importance of a good work ethic and education. Although reportedly an average student overall, Earl Warren, even from his childhood, was fascinated by the law, and in particular with courtroom proceedings and the attorneys’ quick-witted abilities. Later, when Chief Justice Fred Vinson died in 1953, Earl Warren was a natural choice to succeed him, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower named him chief justice. Both were moderates and didn’t adhere to partisan politics. Chief Justice Warren, who led the Supreme Court during the school segregation cases, gradually shifted from conservative to liberal, with a legacy of being able to unify an often-divided group of justices.

Chief Justice Earl Warren retired in 1969. His successor had a similar name: Warren Earl Burger, a conservative who nonetheless upheld most of Chief Justice Warren’s decisions.

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SERVED CONGRESS FOR 35 YEARS — EDITH NOURSE ROGERS, WHO WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE LONGEST-SERVING WOMEN IN THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES’ HISTORY, was born on March 19, 1881. Starting her career as a volunteer with the YMCA and Red Cross in France during the first World War, Nourse Rogers became the presidential representative in charge of assisting disabled veterans during three successive administrations. When her husband, seven-term Congressmember John Jacob Rogers, died in 1925 while still in office, she was elected to fill the vacancy. At the time, she had already gained a reputation as a strong organizer, and she proved to be a capable legislator as well, winning re-election 17 times. One of her bills established the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (May 14, 1942) during WWII. She also drafted a major portion of the G.I. Bill of Rights, which gave college opportunities, job training and low-interest mortgages to returning World War II veterans.

Edith Nourse Rogers was the longest-serving woman congressmember until 2012, when current Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) outpaced her. Kaptur has served Congress since January 1983 and is in her 21st term.

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STANDARDIZING THE CLOCK — U.S. STANDARD TIME BECAME LAW ON MARCH 19, 1918, in part to globalize a uniform zoning system that had been established in the 19th century for both railroad travel and weather forecasting. The March 1918 law also authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to establish “daylight saving time,” with the goal of saving fuel and promoting other wartime economies, and which was first launched on Easter Sunday of that year, March 31. Decades later, Congress enacted The Uniform Time Act of 1966, which made the observance of Daylight Saving Time more consistent. Only Arizona and Indiana chose not to participate. The start date of Daylight Saving Time was extended in 1986 to begin on the first Sunday of April, and then again in 2005, to extend it even earlier to the second Sunday of March.

Daylight Saving Time began this year on March 10, 2024, and will end on Nov. 3, 2024.

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OSCARS MAKE THEIR TV DEBUT — THE ACADEMY AWARDS WERE BROADCAST ON TELEVISION FOR THE FIRST TIME ON MARCH 19, 1953, giving Americans the chance to view from their own homes the winners of the film industry’s most coveted honors. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was established in May 1927, as a nonprofit organization with the goal of promoting the film industry. The first Academy Awards were presented two years later at a banquet ceremony in Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel. However, the winners were already known, having been named several months earlier. For the first decade of the Academy Awards’ existence, the winners’ names were provided to newspapers the night of the ceremony so deadlines could be met. However, a newspaper that chose not to wait until after the festivities caused the rules to change, and the sealed-envelope system went into effect.

NBC broadcast that 1953 Academy Awards ceremony, with Bob Hope as master of ceremonies. The Best Picture statuette was awarded to Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

See previous milestones, here.