Under Friday, March 17, the book of history records, among other things:
1793: In Mainz, the Rhenish-German national convention is constituted, which proclaims the detachment from the Reich (“Mainz Republic”).
1813: King Friedrich Wilhelm III. of Prussia declares war on France.
1848: The uprising once morest Austrian rule breaks out in Venice.
1898: The German-language premiere of Henrik Ibsen’s “Brand” takes place in Berlin.
1908: First use of photo telegraphy in forensics: The London “Daily Mirror” publishes the mug shot of a jewel thief transmitted by video radio from Paris. An English innkeeper recognizes the man and arranges for his arrest.
1918: The German army administration calls on the population to make the dogs – especially larger breeds – available for use in the homeland’s wars.
1923: Heavy clashes between monarchists and social democratic workers with dead and injured in the 14th district of Vienna Penzing.
1933: Foundation of the SS Leibstandarte “Adolf Hitler” from initially 120 men of the former Munich bodyguard under the command of Sepp Dietrich. It is the “Fuhrer’s” private army with no ties to the NSDAP.
1938: Austria is plundered: integration of the National Bank into the German Reichsbank. 243 million Schilling gold reserves and 121 million in foreign currency holdings are brought to Berlin. The relation between the value of the Schilling and the Reichsmark is set at 1 RM = 1.5 ATS.
1943: The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, who fled to Germany, gives his approval in Croatia for the formation of a Bosniak-Muslim SS division of 12,000 volunteers with the name “Handschar” (curved dagger).
1948: Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg sign the Brussels Pact, the forerunner of the Western European Union (WEU).
1953: Reprivatisation of Britain’s steel industry nationalized under the previous Labor government.
1963: Gunong Agung volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali erupted, killing almost 1,900 people in the days that followed.
1988: Fred Sinowatz, Federal Chancellor from 1983 to 1986, announces his resignation as SPÖ chairman. He took over the leadership of the party from Bruno Kreisky in 1983. His successor as head of government, Franz Vranitzky, takes over the SPÖ presidency.
1993: The Vienna Museum of Applied Arts, which has been completely renovated and partially rebuilt, is reopened.
1998: China’s National People’s Congress elects economic reformer Zhu Rongji as the new prime minister. His predecessor, Li Peng, becomes chairman of the parliament.
2003: US President George W. Bush definitely rules out a diplomatic solution to the Iraq conflict.
2003: President Svetozar Marović, who is also Chairman of the Council of Ministers, introduces the first government of the State Union of Serbia-Montenegro. Of the five ministers, three are from Serbia and two are from Montenegro.
2003: Labor majority leader in the House of Commons, former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, has resigned in protest at British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s pro-US course on Iraq.
2013: The widow of Franz Jägerstätter, who was executed by the Nazis and later beatified, died at the age of 100.
birthdays: Anton Dominik Ritter von Fernkorn, Austria Sculptor and caster of German origin (1813-1878); Lida Winiewicz, Austria playwright and television writer (1928-2020); Penelope Margaret Lively, British writer (1933); Rudolf Nureyev, Russian dancer and choreographer (1938-1993); Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien, British Catholic Theologian; Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh (1938-2018); Bakili Muluzi, President of Malawi 1994-2004 (1943); Letsie III, King of Lesotho (1963).
days of death: Ernest Johann Nepomuk von Herberstein, Austria. catholic Theologian; first Bishop of Linz (1731-1788); Christian Doppler, Austria mathematician and physicist (1803-1853); Anselm Karl Borromäus Salzer, Austria literary historian and catholic Theologian; Benedictine (1856-1938); Ernst Deutsch-Dryden, Austria costume designer and artist (1887-1938); Helen Hayes, US actress (1900-1993); Haldan K. Hartline, US Physiologist; Nobel Prize 1967 (1903-1983); Walter Nigg, Swiss theologian (1903-1988); Rainer Pichler, Austria Author (1942-1998).
name days: Gertrude, Patrick, Gerda, Gertrud, Kurt, Johannes, Diemut, Konrad, Josef, Alexius.
