Frozen in Time
A look back at the week that was
Robert Foran III
Associate Editor
March 24th — U.S. Congress proposes limiting the United States presidency to two terms. — 1947
March 25th — RCA manufactures its first color TV set and begins mass production. — 1954
March 26th — German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven dies in Vienna. He had been deaf for the later part of his life, but said on his deathbed, “I shall hear in heaven.” Still lucid, though weak, his final words were “pity, pity—too late” when the ailing composer was told that a gift of wine he had been expecting had finally arrived. — 1827
Courtesy photo
Portrait of Beethoven, by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820
March 27th — At 5:36 p.m. “the Good Friday earthquake” shook Southcentral Alaska with magnitude 9.2 on the Richter scale. The disaster reportedly killed 115 people in Alaska and more than a dozen others in California and Oregon, as it was the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded. — 1964
March 28th — The day after they are married, Eric Clapton sings ”Wonderful Tonight” to his new wife, Pattie Boyd (George Harrison’s ex-wife) at his concert in Tucson, Arizona. Clapton admits he wrote the song about her while waiting for her to get ready to go out. — 1979
March 29th — Brian Johnson of the band ‘Geordie’ gets a new, more high-profile gig: replacing the deceased Bon Scott in AC/DC. Johnson’s first album with the band is ‘Back In Black,’ which becomes the second-best selling album worldwide. — 1980
March 30th — The United States purchases Alaska from Russia. Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to the purchase from Russia for $7.2 million. At the time, critics thought Seward was crazy and called the deal “Seward’s Folly.” Seward was laughed at for his willingness to spend so much on “Seward’s icebox” and Andrew Johnson’s “polar bear garden.” — 1867