1839: ‘OK’ enters national vernacular. 1839, the initials “O.K.” are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for “oll korrect,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct” at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.
During the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice among younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang when talking to one another. Just as teenagers today have their own slang based on distortions of common words, such as “kewl” for “cool” or “DZ” for “these.
1857: American inventor Elisha Otis installed the first commercial elevator, in a department store in New York City.
1888: The Football League meets for the first time
The league featuring teams from England and Wales was the world’s oldest Association Football league. In 1992, its top 22 teams formed the Premier League.
You will also like...
1909: Days after his term ends as President of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt journeys to East Africa on a three-month hunting expedition sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute which will receive 11000 specimens killed on the trip. Roosevelt and his sons killed 512 animals, including 43 birds, 29 zebra, 27 antelope, 17 lions, 11 elephants, 11 black rhinos, 9 hyenas, 7 cheetahs, and 3 leopards, No compensation was given to African peoples for the loss of so much wildlife.
1933: The Enabling Act of 1933 grants Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers in Germany. Hitler was awarded the legal right to issue laws even if in breach of the German constitution.
1956: Pakistan becomes the world’s first Islamic republic. The Dominion of Pakistan also included the area of modern-day Bangladesh or East Pakistan, which seceded in 1971.
1973: John Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, was granted permanent residence in the United States.
The news came on the same day John Lennon was issued a 60-day notice to leave the country.
1983: In a nationwide television address, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars, a proposed strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks.
1988: Today in Nigeria’s history, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was freed from prison after serving two years for exporting foreign cash.
1998: James Cameron’s epic drama Titanic (1997) won 11 Academy Awards, tying the record set by Ben-Hur (1959).
1999: The Federal Government of Nigeria frees eight officers convicted for their roles in the 1990 coup attempt; says they are granted clemency, not pardon.
2001: The Russian space station Mir plunges into the sea. Although designed for only 5 years of service, the Soviet/Russian space station Mir ended 15 years in orbit when it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, falling into the South Pacific Ocean.
2011: Dame Elizabeth Taylor was a British-American actress, one of the 20th century’s biggest film stars, died in Los Angeles at the age of 79.
2016: Researchers in England declared that the skull in William Shakespeare’s grave was probably stolen and replaced with someone else’s by grave robbers.
2021: The Suez Canal, one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes, was blocked after the mega-freighter Ever Given ran aground; it took six days to move the vessel.
2021: A minute’s silence, held at midday, was part of a day of reflection to mark one year since the first coronavirus lockdown. One year on, the UK’s official death toll had risen from 364 to 126,172.
Births on This Day, March 23
Ama Ata Aidoo,
Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian writer and playwright in Abeadzi, Gold Coast, was the first African woman to be a published playwright, for her 1964, The Dilemma of the Ghost, she was awarded the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for her 1992 novel Changes. Serving briefly as Ghana’s Secretary for Education, she was a lifelong educationist and promoter of women’s education.
Ahdaf Soueif, 74 years
Ahdaf Soucif Egyptian writer, in Cairo, Egypt. Her popular novels have been translated into 21 languages and are read worldwide. Her 1999 novel The Map of Love was critically acclaimed and sold more than one million copies.
Damon Albarn, 56 years
Damon Albarn OBE is an English musician. He is the frontman and main lyricist of the rock band Blur and the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual band Gorillaz.
Russell Howard, 44years
Russell Joseph Howard is an English comedian, television presenter, radio presenter, and actor. He has hosted his television shows, Russell Howard’s Good News and The Russell Howard Hour, and appeared on the topical panel TV show Mock the Week.
Wernher von Braun (23 March 1912 – 16 June 1977)
Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was a German-American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany, and later a pioneer of rocket and space technology in the United States. He died at the age of 65.
Kindly like, comment, follow, and share.
