POPnews - March 1st

[Although thought to be in use since Roman times, and on record as a symbol of Wales since 830 CE, the red dragon is at risk from the Welsh Christian Party - whose leader George Hargreaves vowed during the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections to have it removed if elected as it was clearly the sign of the Devil. The Party took not one of the 60 seats on offer, and polled less than 9,000 votes; by contrast, the Green Party also failed to win any seats, but still got more than 33,000 votes.]
589 CE - By tradition Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, died.

1562 - Over 1,000 Huguenots were massacred by Catholics loyal to Francis, Duc de Guise in Wassy; this atrocity marked the start of the French Wars of Religion, which would only be quelled by the Edict of Nantes, issued by King Henri IV in 1598.

1565 - The city of Rio de Janeiro was founded by Estácio de Sá.

1692 - Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba (an Arawak slave) were brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.

1781 - The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.

1815 - Napoleon returned to the French mainland, having escaped from Elba, where he'd been banished under the terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

1845 - US President John Tyler signed a bill authorizing the annexation of the Republic of Texas.

1872 - Yellowstone National Park was established as the world's first national park.

1912 - Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.

1936 - Construction on Hoover Dam was completed.

1953 - Joseph Stalin collapsed, having suffered a stroke; he died four days later.

1954 - Four Puerto Rican nationalists - Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodríguez - attacked the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives, including Alvin M. Bentley (R-Michigan), who took a bullet to the chest, Clifford Davis (D-Tennessee), who was shot in the leg, Ben F. Jensen (R-Iowa), who was shot in the back, as well as George Hyde Fallon (D-Maryland) and Kenneth A. Roberts (D-Alabama).

1961 - The Peace Corps was established when President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10924; the Peace Corps Act was passed by Congress in September of that year. Since it was formed more than 187,000 people have served in 139 countries.

1966 - The Soviet Union's Venera 3 space probe crashed on Venus, making it the first human spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.

1971 - A bomb exploded in a men's room in the US Capitol; a far-left proto-revolutionary group calling itself the Weather Underground claimed responsibility.

1973 - Palestinian Black September terrorists stormed the Saudi embassy in the capital of Sudan, resulting in the Khartoum diplomatic assassinations.

1980 - NASA's Voyager 1 probe confirmed that Janus (one of the more elusive moons of Saturn) existed.

2004 - Terry Nichols was convicted of state murder charges and of being an accomplice to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

2006 - Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the new debating chamber - called the Senedd - at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff, marking a milestone in Welsh devolution.
*