Today in History: March 17, Golda Meir becomes prime minister of Israel
Israeli Premier Golda Meir gestures to newsmen September 16, 1970 at New York’s Kennedy Airport on her arrival from Tel Aviv. She flew to the U.S. aboard an El Al Jetliner for talks with president Nixon, Secretary of State William P. Rogers and other top U.S. officials on the middle east situation.(AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
Today in History:
On March 17, 1969, Golda Meir took power in Israel, beginning a stint as prime minister that would last through five crucial years in the nation’s history.
On this date:
In 1762, New York held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade.
In 1776, the Revolutionary War Siege of Boston ended as British forces evacuated the city.
In 1905, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt married Franklin Delano Roosevelt in New York.
In 1941, the National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C.
In 1942, six days after departing the Philippines during World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater.
In 1950, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley announced they had created a new radioactive element, “californium.”
In 1966, a U.S. Navy midget submarine located a missing hydrogen bomb that had fallen from a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain. (It took several more weeks to actually recover the bomb.)
In 1970, the United States cast its first veto in the U.N. Security Council, killing a resolution that would have condemned Britain for failing to use force to overthrow the white-ruled government of Rhodesia.
In 2003, edging to the brink of war, President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his country. Iraq rejected Bush’s ultimatum, saying that a U.S. attack to force Saddam from power would be “a grave mistake.”
In 2010, Michael Jordan became the first ex-player to become a majority owner in the NBA as the league’s Board of Governors unanimously approved Jordan’s $275 million bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats from Bob Johnson.
In 2013, two members of Steubenville, Ohio’s celebrated high school football team were found guilty of raping a drunken 16-year-old girl and sentenced to at least a year in juvenile prison in a case that rocked the Rust Belt city of 18,000 people.
In 2016, finally bowing to years of public pressure, SeaWorld Entertainment said it would no longer breed killer whales or make them perform crowd-pleasing tricks.
In 2020, the Kentucky Derby and the French Open were each postponed from May to September because of the coronavirus.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court said it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine.