Today in History, 3/19

1687: Robert Cavelier de La Salle, while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, is murdered by his own men.
1863: The SS Georgiana, said to be the most powerful Confederate cruiser, sinks on its maiden voyage.
1813: David Livingstone, missionary and explorer, is born. He is the subject of the famous quote "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" when H.M. Stanley found him in Africa.1821: Richard Francis Burton, explorer and adventurer, is born.1848: Wyatt Earp is born. I recommend Henry Fonda's portrayal of him in "My Darling Clementine."1883: General Joseph Stilwell is born. I recommend Barbara Tuchman's Stilwell and the American Experience in China.1891: Earl Warren, 14th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is born.1894: Moms Mabley, gravel-voiced comedianne, is born.

1905: Albert Speer, "architect of the Third Reich" is born. His memoirs, Inside the Third Reich, is a good read, although I have my doubts that he was as innocent as he paints himself in the book.1906: Adolf Eichmann, "architect of the Holocaust" is born. Nobody's making the case that he was without guilt.
1915: Pluto is photographed for the first time.
1916: Eric Christmas is born. He played the mousy principal in the Porky's movie trilogy.
1916: Eight American planes take off a mission to search for Pancho Villa. It is the first US air combat mission in history.
1918: The US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.
1920: The US Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time.
1928: Patrick McGoohan is born. He played Number 6 on The Prisoner and King Edward I in Braveheart.1931: Gambling is legalized in Nevada.
1936: Ursula Andress is born. She played Honey Rider in Doctor No.1941: The Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black unit of the Army Air Corp is activated.1945: Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering that the entire German infrastructure be destroyed, rather than allow it to be captured by the Allies. The man responsible for carrying out this order, Albert Speer, recognized that it would mean the destruction of Germany as a nation and deliberately failed to follow the order.
1955: Bruce Willis is born.1979: C-SPAN goes on the air.

Today in History elements mostly cribbed from The History Channel, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Jewish World Review, The Writer's Almanac and anything else I can dig up.