What I Really Know About Spring Cleaning
by Betty Patton, Larksville, PA; reprinted from AARP Bulletin March 2013
Every stroke of my cloth evokes memories I had almost forgotten. As I polish my dining room table, I remember all the family and friends who have gathered there. Sometimes there was sadness, other times joyful celebration.
Old newspapers cast aside remind me of events past. I turn to the windows and wipe away a film of dust and grime. Now I see the ambulance in a driveway across the street; it seems that many facets of life are before me.
Moving on to my clothes closet with an array of mothballs and plastic, I see a dress I wore on my first date with the man who was to become my husband. Then, cleaning the mirrors, I question: Who is this woman before me? She has an assortment of wrinkles.
I am happy to dust the breakfront, standing majestically with old and new china on display. I meander about in the kitchen, cleaning the refrigerator that contains all the joys of my heart and palate.
I have had time to concentrate on things that enriched my life in so many ways.
Spring cleaning brings me back to who I really am. It is a reunion with family and friends and a myriad of tucked-away remembrances. Dust may have settled, but the value of all I see before me has left me with a feeling of pride. If I had any doubt about missing life's journeys, I know the evidence here disputes that. I will be back next spring with my dusters and cloths. I have learned that this is a labor of love.
50th Anniversaries, Holidays, National Observances and Birthdays
50th anniversaries
March 8
Malcolm X publicly announces his departure from the Nation of Islam and his intention to form a new Black Nationalist organization that will work with other civil rights leaders.
March 9
The first Mustang rolls off the assembly line at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Mich., and debuts the following month at the New York World's Fair with a suggested retail price of $2,368. Ford forecasts fewer than 100,000 sales in the first year, but by the 18-month mark it has manufactured 1 million Mustangs.
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rules in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan that public officials must prove malice to claim libel and recover damages.
March 14
A jury in Dallas, Texas, finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby will appeal his conviction and death sentence and win a new trial, but he dies of lung cancer as the date for his new trial is being set.
March 15
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor marry (for the first time) in Montreal.
March 26
"Funny Girl" opens at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway with Barbra Streisand as the late Fanny Brice.
March 27
The strongest earthquake in American history, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale, slams southern Alaska, creating a deadly tsunami. Some 128 people are killed and thousands injured.
March national months, observances and holidays
Brain Injury Awareness Month
National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
National Kidney Month
National Nutrition Month
National Save Your Vision Month
Women's History Month
March 1: St. David's Day
March 2: Academy Awards
March 2: Read Across America Day
March 4: Mardi Gras
March 5: Ash Wednesday
March 17: St. Patrick's Day
March milestone birthdays
5 things you didn't know about Ron Howard, movie director (born March 1, 1954)
His original family name, changed by his father, was Beckenholdt.
Before he played Opie on "The Andy Griffith Show" in 1960, he appeared in six episodes of "Dennis the Menace" as Dennis' friend Stewart.
He studied film at the University of Southern California but left without earning a degree.
He got the role of Steve Bolander in the 1973 film "American Graffiti" after the casting director saw a videotape of Howard's performance in the pilot of the yet-unsold TV show "Happy Days," in which Howard portrayed a similar character, Richie Cunningham.
At age 23 in 1977, he made his directorial debut with the car-chase action film "Grand Theft Auto."
50
March 7: Wanda Sykes
March 17: Rob Lowe
March 18: Bonnie Blair (speed skater)
March 23: Hope Davis (actress)
March 29: Elle Macpherson
March 30: Tracy Chapman
March 30: Ian Ziering (Steve, "Beverly Hills 90210")
60
March 1: Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke, "The Dukes of Hazzard")
March 1: Ron Howard
March 4: Catherine O'Hara (actress)
March 17: Lesley-Anne Down
March 23: Kenneth Cole
March 24: Robert Carradine
70
March 1: Roger Daltrey
March 4: Bobby Womack
March 17: John Sebastian
March 17: Pattie Boyd (George Harrison's and Eric Clapton's ex-wife)
March 19: Lynda Bird Johnson
March 21: Timothy Dalton
Mar 26: Diana Ross
80
March 7: Willard Scott
March 11: Sam Donaldson
March 25: Gloria Steinem
March 26: Alan Arkin
March 31: Shirley Jones
March 31: Richard Chamberlain
Freebies, Scams and Savings Tips
March free stuff
Monthlong: Tax return preparation from AARP volunteers for low-to middle-income filers. For nearby locations, call 888-227-7669 or visit aarp.org/applications/VMISLocator/searchTaxAideLocations.action.
Monthlong: These sites may offer free "simple" federal tax returns: Express1040.com, Free File (irs.gov/uac/Free-File:-Do-Your-Federal-Taxes-for-Free), TaxAct.com and TurboTax (turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/free-edition.jsp).
March 14, Pi Day: Check the Internet for free museum admission and pie slices by searching "Pi Day freebies."
March 20: Free Italian ice at participating Rita's (ritasice.com).
Yearlong Freebies
Books, CDs, DVDs, Internet access, classes and lectures: At 17,000 public libraries across the country.
Cash back: Rebate websites such as BeFrugal.com, CouponCactus.com, Ebates.com and Extrabux.com pay back a percentage of online purchases from select retailers.
Computer security software: Avast! (avast.com/index), AVG (http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage) and Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download).
Computer software for word processing, spreadsheets and other features: OpenOffice.org.
Credit report: Get three credit reports per year (one from each reporting bureau) at annualcreditreport.com. Scores cost extra.
Diet and exercise plans: FatSecret.com, MyFitnessPal.com and SparkPeople.com.
Factory tours: FactoryToursUSA.com.
Grocery-shopping apps to compare prices or use coupons: CardStar.com, CouponSherpa.com, KeyRingApp.com, .com, and
Hotel freebies: Check Priceline.com.
Home improvement workshops: Held weekends in local Home Depot (homedepot.com) and Lowe's (lowes.com) stores.
Medications (such as antibiotics): Meijer (meijer.com/pharmacy), Publix (publix.com/pharmacy/Free-Medications.do), ShopRite (shoprite.com/in-our-store/pharmacy) and other chains.
Military and veterans freebies: Various freebies and discounts at military.com, militaryandveteransdiscounts.com, themilitarywallet.com and VeteranOwnedBusiness.com.
Free or discounted tickets to sporting and other events for enrolling at vettix.org.
Wedding gowns for military brides at bridesacrossamerica.com.
Movies and TV shows to watch online: Crackle.com and Hulu.com.
Recipes: AllRecipes.com and Epicurious.com.
Restaurants: Some chain restaurants offer freebies on your birthday or anniversary if you subscribe to their e-newsletters or email clubs.
If you're a kid (or dining with one), certain restaurants offer "Kids Eat Free" promotions. Check MyKidsEatFree.com for details.
Go to your favorite businesses' Facebook pages and see if they offer free food and other stuff by clicking on "Like."
Samples of products: freesamples.org, getitfree.us, mrfreestuff.com, shop4freebies.com, startsampling.com, sweetfreestuff.com, TheFreeSite.com and TotallyFreeStuff.com. (To receive information without overloading your primary email, open a free dedicated account at Yahoo or Gmail.)
Free shipping: FreeShipping.org lists everyday shipping freebies and discounts.
Travel insurance: Check whether your credit card provides free travel insurance and other on-the-road perks.
March scam of the month: Dialing for deception
The telephone industry was born on March 10, 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell used his newfangled telecommunicating device to successfully converse with his assistant. Today, scammers use the phone for all kinds of trickery to collect personal and financial information.
No matter the reason given, you should never provide requested personal or financial information when you receive unsolicited calls. In addition to telemarketers who shouldn't be calling anyone on the do not call registry, this also applies to live or taped warnings about "account problems" supposedly from your bank or credit card company, self-described Medicare or other government employees, notices that there's an undeliverable package for you, or congratulation notifications for winning a lottery or other prize.
But also be careful when requested to dial callback numbers for these or other reasons. Despite seeming all-American, their area codes may be for foreign countries where the 011 international calling code is not required.
The most common foreign area codes used by scammers are 876, 809 or 284, but other Caribbean calling cons occur with area codes 242, 246, 264, 268, 340, 345, 441, 473, 649, 664, 758, 784, 787, 868, 869 or 939. Canadian area codes also don't require a 011 calling code and include 204, 289, 306, 403, 416, 418, 450, 506, 514, 519, 604, 613, 647, 705, 709, 778, 780, 807, 819, 867, 902 and 905.
March best buys
China and flatware: Between the holidays and the upcoming wedding season, retailers dish out discounts.
Frozen foods: Credit it to National Frozen Food Month: You can go on a feeding frenzy now and fill your freezer for less.
Gardening tools: Before spring fever hits, inventory may be sparse. But what's available should be cheaper than in coming months.
Golf clubs: New inventory is months away, but the rush begins for retailers trying to unload existing stock.
Health club memberships: Before New Year's resolutions fade and promotions for bathing suit season begin, run to the gym to bargain on a membership.
Perfume: Save dollars on scents in this quiet selling period between Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.
Skis: The season's ending at many resorts, so save money with discounted leftovers.
Winter outwear: Who thinks about parkas, gloves and hats toward the end of March? Retailers with leftover inventory, that's who. Look for deals and be ready for next winter's wrath.
March sales tax holidays
None this month.
Fun Places to Go This Month
This list isn't comprehensive, and dates weren't all confirmed when we went to press, so verify the information with the websites provided and check your local newspaper for other ideas.
March great vacations
March 1-9
Philadelphia International Flower Show
(theflowershow.com)
Philadelphia, Pa.
The world's largest indoor flower show draws horticultural buffs like bees to nectar. Some quarter-million flower lovers wander through the gardens, admire rare specimens and buy plants for the coming gardening season. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has been mounting these shows, benefiting local charities, since 1829. This year's theme, ARTiculture, celebrates the history of art from Michelangelo to Monet.
March 15
Greenest, Grandest St. Patrick's Day Parade
(dublinohiousa.gov/events)
Dublin, Ohio
This St. Patrick's Day, take a trip to Dublin-Ohio, that is, where some 20,000 people gather for the annual wearin' of the green. Dublin is home to one of America's largest Irish music festivals each August, but it's on St. Patty's Day that the hard-core Irishmen and women turn out for the parade, followed by fortification at one of the town's 100 restaurants and pubs.
March book fairs
March TBA
BookMania!
(http://www.libraryfoundationmc.org/)
Stuart, Fla.
The festival features panel discussions, book signings and readings by nationally recognized authors. Free.
March 7-8
Washington Antiquarian Book Fair
(wabf.com)
Arlington, Va.
Scores of dealers sell rare books, maps, prints, autographs and other ephemera. Admission.
March 14-16
Florida Antiquarian Book Fair
(http://floridabookfair.blogspot.com/)
St. Petersburg, Fla.
The fair offers a variety of books for sale, as well as signings, antique maps, prints and other ephemera. Admission.
March 15-16
Tucson Festival of Books
(tucsonfestivalofbooks.org)
Tucson, Ariz.
With appearances by more than 400 authors, book signings, workshops, children's activities and a wide selection of books in a variety of genres. Free.
March 19-23
Virginia Festival of the Book
(vabook.org)
Charlottesville, Va.
This five-day festival features programs for readers of all ages, with panels, readings and discussions with authors, illustrators and publishers. Most events free.
March film festivals
Feb. 22-March 2
Sedona International Film Festival
(sedonafilmfestival.org)
Sedona, Ariz.
The motto for this indie film fest is "Where Movies Rock!" Organizers emphasize the area's red rock formations and stunning sunsets as a unique backdrop for the week's 145 films, parties and workshops.
Feb. 27-March 2
Macon Film Festival
(maconfilmfestival.com)
Macon, Ga.
This small festival is all about independent films, American and international, which are shown at two different historic theaters in downtown Macon.
March 5-9
Omaha Film Festival
(omahafilmfestival.org)
Omaha, Neb.
This will be the ninth year of what's known as OFF, a prized opportunity for area film lovers who live far from the glitzy movie-opening cities to indulge in the year's best independent films.
March 7-16
Miami International Film Festival
(miamifilmfestival.com)
Miami and Miami Beach, Fla.
Miami Dade College sponsors this 30-year-old festival. The schedule includes a long list of American movies, but a key element is its Ibero-American film showcase, focusing on film from the Spanish-speaking world.
March 7-15
South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival
(sxsw.com)
Austin, Texas
A haven for fans of independent films, the festival has an accompanying conference, with includes talks by film-industry insiders, and workshops and networking for up-and-comers. It's paired with the cutting-edge SXSW Music Festival.
March 13-23
CAAMFest
(caamedia.org)
San Francisco, Calif.
North America's largest festival for Asian and Asian American cinema (formerly known as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival) is in its 32nd year and still growing, screening about 130 films at theaters in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland.
March 13-23
San Diego Latino Film Festival
(sdlatinofilm.com)
San Diego, Calif.
This major showcase for Latino cinema usually features about 160 films and more than 100 guest filmmakers and actors.
March 19-30
Cleveland International Film Festival
(clevelandfilm.org)
Cleveland, Ohio
The Cleveland International Film Festival emphasizes international movies, with a varied group of some 180 features and 150 short subject films from more than 60 countries screened at the city's downtown Tower City Cinemas.
March 25-30
Ann Arbor Film Festival
(aafilmfest.org)
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Established in 1963, Ann Arbor's is the oldest experimental film festival in the nation, with a mission to "support bold, visionary filmmakers," and offering a group of about 180 films culled from some 2,500 submissions.
March 28-April 6
Atlanta Film Festival
(atlantafilmfestival.com/2013-fest)
Atlanta, Ga.
This annual gathering of movie buffs has been screening films since 1976. Today it offers 150 diverse flicks, including genre films such as horror and sci-fi, which organizers select from 2,000 international entries.
March food and wine festivals
March TBA
MidAtlantic Wine + Food Festival
(foodandwinefeast.com)
Wilmington, Del.
This will be third year of the fest, which features top regional chefs, food-and-wine pairing dinners and a gospel brunch. Admission.
March 1-2
NYC Vegetarian Food Festival
(http://nycvegfoodfest.com)
New York City, N.Y.
Tastes and full meals from New York City's top vegetarian restaurants are the highlight of this event, which draws foodies interested in a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. Health and wellness vendors and animal welfare organizations are also on hand. Admission.
March 6-9
BB&T Charleston Wine + Food Festival
(http://charlestonwineandfood.com/)
Charleston, S.C.
This is a celebration of Lowcountry cuisine provided by top chefs, with food displayed in grand tasting tents. It also features an outdoor living and grilling area with tastings and demonstrations. Must be 21 to be admitted. Admission supports culinary scholarship programs.
March 6-9
Laguna Beach a la Carte-A Food & Wine Experience
(lagunabeachinfo.com/foodies/alacarte)
Laguna Beach, Calif.
The big event at this festival, along with high-end winemaker dinners, is Laguna Beach Uncorked on Saturday night. The fest also features tastings from 25 wineries and many local restaurants. Admission.
March 8-9
Marathon Seafood Festival
(marathonseafoodfestival.com)
Marathon, Fla.
Fresh local seafood is the main attraction at this popular event in the Florida Keys. Live music and an artist village are also featured. Admission.
March 10-15
Hilton Head Island Wine & Food Festival
(hiltonheadwineandfood.com)
Hilton Head, S.C.
Great Chefs of the South dinners are held around the island, and a wine tasting and silent auction is held on the last day. Admission.
March 13-16
Taste of the Beach
(obxtasteofthebeach.com/home.htm)
Kitty Hawk, N.C.
This festival offers a wide array of food and drink, tastings of seafood and other culinary treats, as well as wine and beer, cooking classes and restaurant tours. Admission.
Diet, Health and Recipes
March health tip of the month
March is National Kidney Month, the perfect time to remind adults age 60-plus to get a yearly urine test to screen for kidney disease. The National Kidney Foundation recently changed its screening guidelines in light of new Johns Hopkins University research that says 59 percent of Americans-about 136 million people-will develop moderate kidney disease in their lifetime.
March superfood of the month: Broccoli
The super powers of broccoli, the butt of jokes for years, could make you seem a fool if you don't eat it. Two phytochemicals-glucosinolates and isothiocyanates-appear to neutralize cancer-causing substances and, in the case of broccoli, could lower the risk for prostate cancer. Broccoli is high in fiber, antioxidants and vitamins such as A, C, B9 (folate) and K. That means your eyes, red blood cells, immune system, bones and tissues all benefit from this vegetable.
March fitness tip of the month
Ready to step up your training but not quite sure how? If you can walk continuously for 20 minutes, you might be ready to try running. Many running stores and some gyms offer beginner's running programs, which guide novices through a walk-run routine a few times a week until they're running continuously for 20 or 30 minutes. Or try an online program: Cool Running's Couch to 5K (coolrunning.com) is especially popular, as is Runner's World's 8-Week Beginner's Program (runnersworld.com). Be sure to check with your doctor before starting any vigorous exercise program.
Medical breakthrough of the month: Possible cure for HIV
On March 3, 2013, doctors announced that a baby had been functionally cured of HIV for the first time. The baby, who was born in rural Mississippi, received faster and stronger treatment than most babies born to mothers who have HIV. The baby's mother was not diagnosed with the virus until she was in labor, so she did not get the prenatal treatment that could have prevented the virus from passing to her baby. Doctors speculate that the aggressive treatment may have removed the virus from the baby's blood before it could take hold in the body. "You could call this about as close to a cure, if not a cure, that we've seen," Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health told the Associated Press. Scientists are working on developing treatment that can be used in the 300,000 babies who are born with HIV each year, mainly in poor countries where only about 60 percent of infected women get treatment.
March recipe of the month: Spinach Dahl
As winter heads toward spring, enjoy this warm dahl, which is delicious on rice or as a tasty soup.
By blogger Cynthia Nelson, www.tasteslikehome.org, from AARP's ThinkFood: Recipes for Brain Fitness (Posit Science), aarp.org/ThinkFoodCookbook.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 cup yellow split peas or split moong dal, soaked overnight in water
1 whole hot pepper of your choice
3 cups fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (can substitute yellow or brown mustard seeds)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
Rinse soaked peas twice, drain, and add to a 4-or 5-quart pot. Add 5 cups water and the whole hot pepper and stir.
Cover pot, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Let peas cook until you have the consistency of a pea soup. Most of the peas should have melted; use the back of your spoon to mash.
Once the desired consistency has been reached, add the spinach and season the peas with salt to taste. Cover and reduce heat to low.
While the peas are simmering, heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Toss in mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the cumin and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the garlic and cook until it just starts to color.
Remove spice mixture from heat and pour the contents into the simmering dhal. Stir everything together and let it simmer for one minute more.
Remove from heat and serve with rice, roti or bread-or eat it as a soup.
This Day in History
March 1, 1932: The 20-month-old son of aviators Charles and Anne Lindbergh is kidnapped from their mansion outside of Hopewell, N.J. The kidnapping and murder would gain immense publicity as the "crime of the century"; Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who pleaded innocent, would be convicted of the crime and executed in April 1936.
March 2, 1949: Capt. James Gallagher lands the Lucky Lady II at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first-ever, nonstop, around-the-world flight. A crew of 14 flew the B-50 Superfortress bomber on its 94-hour flight, refueling the aircraft four times while in the skies.
March 3, 1931: More than 100 years after Francis Scott Key penned the lyrics, President Herbert Hoover signs legislation making "The Star-Spangled Banner" America's national anthem.
March 4, 1917: Jeannette Rankin takes her seat in the House of Representatives as a Republican representative from Montana. She is the first woman to serve in Congress.
March 5, 1946: In a speech at Missouri's Westminster College, Winston Churchill calls the divide between Eastern and Western Europe an "iron curtain."
March 6, 1981: After 19 years, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time as the anchor of The CBS Evening News, telling viewers "and that's the way it is: Friday, March 6, 1981." Dan Rather will begin hosting the program the following week.
March 7, 1965: Hundreds of civil rights marchers are attacked by Alabama state police at the Edmund Pettus Bridge while attempting to walk from Selma to Montgomery.
March 8, 1884: Susan B. Anthony appears before Congress to ask for a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote.
March 9, 1862: With Lt. John L. Worden commanding the USS Monitor and Lt. Catesby Roger Jones in temporary command of the CSS Virginia (formerly the Union frigate Merrimac), the ships clash for four hours off the coast of Hampton Roads, Va. The first battle between two ironclad naval vessels ends in a draw.
March 10, 1969: James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. nearly a year earlier. Ray is sentenced to 99 years in prison, yet he will retract his guilty plea three days later and, until his death in April 1998, assert that he was merely part of a large politically motivated conspiracy to murder King.
March 11, 1959: Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun," starring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, opens at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York; it is the first play written by an African-American woman to premiere on Broadway.
March 12, 1993: Janet Reno is sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Byron White as the first female U.S. attorney general. The attorney general's niece, also named Janet Reno, holds the Bible during the ceremony at the White House.
March 13, 1954: Milwaukee Brave outfielder Bobby Thomson breaks his ankle in spring training and is replaced by Hank Aaron, who plays for the next 23 seasons, racking up 755 home runs.
March 14, 1995: U.S. astronaut Norman Thagard is the first American to travel aboard a Russian rocket, lifting off on a Soyuz spacecraft with two cosmonauts, bound for a 115-day mission at the Mir space station.
March 15, 1956: Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison star in the Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe musical "My Fair Lady," which opens at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway on this day.
March 16, 1961: Exactly 35 years after Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket, the Goddard Space Flight Center-a $27 million NASA research facility named in his honor-is dedicated in Greenbelt, Md. Goddard's pioneering rocket, known as "Nell," traveled 41 feet in the air during its 2.5-second flight on March 16, 1926.
March 17, 1762: Irish soldiers serving in the British colonial army honor Ireland's patron saint with the first St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City.
March 18, 1959: President Dwight Eisenhower approves Hawaiian statehood.
March 19, 1953: With Bob Hope hosting, the Academy Awards ceremony is televised for the first time. Thirty-four million Americans watch as Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" takes home the award for best picture during the NBC television broadcast.
March 20, 1985: Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Her time: 18 days, 20 minutes, 17 seconds. The next three Iditarod races will be won by another female musher, Susan Butcher.
March 21, 1965: The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leads about 3,000 people in a march for civil rights from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. By the time the group arrives four days later, their numbers have swelled to 25,000.
March 22, 1963: The Beatles release their debut LP album, "Please Please Me," in the United Kingdom. The album is renamed "Introducing…the Beatles" for its release in the United States in January 1964.
March 23, 1965: Astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young blast off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., aboard their Gemini 3 spacecraft, the Molly Brown, inaugurating the era of American two-person space flight.
March 24, 2002: Halle Berry becomes the first African-American to win a best actress Academy Award, for her role in "Monster's Ball."
March 25, 1957: Customs agents seize 520 copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl." A federal judge later rules the poem is not obscene.
March 26, 1982: One hundred Vietnam veterans break ground for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
March 27, 1997: Dexter King, a son of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., meets in a prison hospital with James Earl Ray, who was convicted in the assassination. The dying Ray tells King, "I had nothing to do with the shooting of your father." King replies: "I believe you."
March 28, 1990: Fifty-four years after Jesse Owens silenced Hitler's claims of racial superiority at the 1936 Olympics, he is posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. His widow accepts the honor from President George H.W. Bush.
March 29, 1999: Wayne Gretzky, hockey's "Great One," scores his final goal in the National Hockey League. Playing for the New York Rangers, Gretzky completes his professional career with 1,072 goals, breaking Gordie Howe's record of 1,071.
March 30, 1867: Secretary of State William H. Seward signs a treaty with Russian diplomat Eduard de Stoeckl, purchasing the territory of Alaska (ridiculed in the press as Seward's icebox) for $7.2 million, at roughly 2 cents per acre.
March 31, 1968: At the end of a televised address about the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson stuns viewers by announcing his "irrevocable" decision not to seek a second full term as president of the United States.
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