In This Week LogoIn This Week in …

  • 461 CE., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland (17 March 461);
  • 1834, the 6 Tolpuddle Martyrs are sentenced to Australia’s New South Wales penal colony for their trade union activities (18 March 1834);
  • 1931, Nevada legalises gambling in an attempt to pull itself out of the Great Depression. Population of Las Vegas? c. 5,000 (19 March 1931);
  • 1413, Henry IV of England dies and is succeeded by his son, Henry V (20 March 1413);
  • 1963, Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco Bay closes down and transfers the last of its prisoners (21 March 1963);
  • 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Beer and Wine Revenue Act as the government moves to end prohibition (22 March 1933);
  • 1919, Benito Mussolini breaks with the Socialists and founds the Fasci di Combattimento (23 March 1919).