Moments in Time – March 15, 2023

#MiddleburyCT

• On March 27, 1909, fingerprint evidence was used to solve a murder case for the first time. The world’s first official Fingerprint Bureau had already been created in Scotland Yard in 1901, while the first Fingerprint Bureau debuted in Calcutta, India, in 1897.
• On March 29, 1943, Americans who had already been subjected to the rationing of gasoline were given books allowing them to purchase only set amounts of meat, cheese, butter and cooking oils per month as well.
• On March 31, 1943, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first musical, “Oklahoma!” (originally titled “Away We Go”), debuted on Broadway. Based on the 1931 play “Green Grow the Lilacs” by Lynn Riggs, the beloved theatrical staple about a young farm girl named Laurey and her two suitors continues to be produced across the country.
• On April 2, 1992, mob boss John Gotti, aka the “Teflon Don,” was finally convicted in New York of racketeering, murder, obstruction of justice, hijacking, illegal gambling, extortion, tax evasion and loan sharking, thanks largely to the testimony of a former high-ranking Mafia member. Gotti received a life sentence without the possibility of parole, and died in prison in 2002.
• On April 1, 1999, David Smith was arrested and charged with originating the “Melissa” email virus, which infected more than a million computers worldwide and caused more than $80 million in damage.
• On March 28, 2000, racial tensions showed no signs of abating in the African country of Zimbabwe as President Robert Mugabe pushed forward with his plan to remove Zimbabwean farms from white ownership. The latest death occurred when a white farmer was shot by squatters occupying his land.
• On March 30, 2011, Peru welcomed the return of hundreds of Inca artifacts with a lavish ceremony after they’d been out of the country for nearly a century. The items were taken from the ancient site of Machu Picchu and held at Yale University, prompting the Peruvian government to launch an extended campaign against the school, insisting the artifacts had only been on loan.

© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.