Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.
What Time is It? It is flow of a sandstorm that will on each day compress somewhere into a structure – sandstone, selected and only remembered in the longue durée.
| 21 March 1871 | John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne (whose father, the 8th Duke of Argyll, is the serving Secretary of State for India), marries Princess Louise. |
| 21 March 1871 | Otto von Bismarck becomes the first Chancellor of the German Empire. |
| 21 March 1896 | Elizabeth Otis Dannelly died, American poet (b. 1838) |
| Monday, 21 March 1921 | The New Economic Policy starts in Soviet Russia. |
| Monday, 21 March 1921 | Irish War of Independence 1921. Headford Ambush: The Irish Republican Army kills at least 9 British Army troops. |
| Monday, 21 March 1921 | Arthur Grumiaux born, Belgian violinist (d. 1986) |
| Monday, 21 March 1921 | Xu Zuyao born, Chinese expert in materials science (d. 2017) |
| Monday, 21 March 1921 | Vasily Stalin born, Soviet general (d. 1962) |
| Monday, 21 March 1921 | Abdul Salam Arif born, President of Iraq (d. 1966) |
| Thursday, 21 March 1946 | Timothy Dalton born, Welsh actor |
| Tuesday, 21 March 1961 | Kassie DePaiva born, American actress |
| Tuesday, 21 March 1961 | Lothar Matthäus born, German footballer |
| Thursday, 21 March 1991 | Richard Jones declares Democrats’ support for New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner’s reform of the Legislative Council, ensuring passage of the legislation. |
| Thursday, 21 March 1991 | Antoine Griezmann born, French footballer |
| Thursday, 21 March 1991 | Leo Fender died, American instrument maker (b. 1909) |
| Monday, 21 March 2011 | Cricket: Tasmania win their second Sheffield Shield, beating New South Wales by seven wickets at Bellerive Oval. |
| Monday, 21 March 2011 | Nikolai Andrianov died, Soviet-Russian gymnast (b. 1952) |
| Monday, 21 March 2016 | The International Criminal Court finds former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the first time the ICC convicted someone of sexual violence. |
| Monday, 21 March 2016 | Barack Obama visits Cuba, marking the first time a sitting US president has visited the island nation since president Calvin Coolidge visited in 1928. |
| Monday, 21 March 2016 | Andrew Grove died, Hungarian-American electronic executive (b. 1936) |

Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch
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