History for March 26

History for March 26 - On-This-Day.com:
William C. Westmoreland 1914 - U.S. Army general, Strother Martin 1919 - Actor, Leonard Nimoy 1931 - Actor ("Star Trek")


James Caan 1939 - Actor, Bob Woodward 1943 - Journalist, Diana Ross 1944 - Singer


1910 - The U.S. Congress passed an amendment to the 1907 Immigration Act that barred criminals, paupers, anarchists and carriers of disease from settling in the U.S.


1942 - The Germans began sending Jews to Auschwitz in Poland.


1953 - Dr. Jonas Salk announced a new vaccine that would prevent poliomyelitis.


1995 - Seven of the 15 European Union states abolished border controls.

1996 - The International Monetary Fund approved a $10.2 billion loan for Russia to help the country transform its economy.

1997 - The 39 bodies of Heaven's Gate members are found in a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. The group had committed suicide thinking that they would be picked up by a spaceship following behind the comet Hale-Bopp.


1999 - In Michigan, Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a terminally ill man a lethal injection and putting it all on videotape on September 17, 1998 for "60 Minutes."


2000 - In Russia, acting President Vladimir Putin was elected president outright. He won a sufficient number of votes to avoid a runoff election.