This Day In History

On March 23
1775 During a speech before the second Virginia Convention, revolutionary Patrick Henry responds to the increasingly oppressive British rule over the American colonies by declaring, "Give me liberty or give me death!"
1857 Elisha Otis installs the first modern passenger elevator in a public building at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway in New York City.
1919 Benito Mussolini breaks with the Italian Socialists and establishes the nationalist Fasci di Combattimento, commonly known as the Fascist Party.
1929 The first telephone is installed in the White House.
1942 During World War II, the United States Government begins evacuating Japanese-Americans from West Coast homes and moving them to detention centers.
1965 The first two-person American space flight takes off from Cape Kennedy. Astronauts Virgil Grissom and John Young are aboard.
1972 Evil Knievel breaks 93 bones after successfully jumping 35 cars on his motorcycle.
1983 On national television, President Reagan calls for the development of technology to intercept enemy missiles. The proposal became known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, also dubbed the "Star Wars" program.
1994 Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's National Hockey League (NHL) career record with his 802nd goal.
1999 NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana gave formal approval for air strikes against Serbian targets