04/03/10

Frederick I Barbarossa became King of Germany in 1152.  Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico in 1519.  The National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck was founded in 1824.  It was renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institute in 1858.  Jeanette Rankin from Montana became the first woman to serve in the US House of Representatives in 1911.

Born today:  Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), Alan Sillitoe (1928), Miriam Makeba (1932-2008), and Kenny Dalglish (1951).

It is the feast day of St. Basil and his companions.