March 16 in Pop Culture History
1850 – Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published.1926 – American Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts. It reached a height of 41 feet.
1942 – The first V-2 rocket test launched. It exploded at lift-off.
1958 – The Ford Motor Company produced its 50 millionth automobile, a Thunderbird.
1961 – Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, MD, was formally dedicated.
1968 – General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, an Oldsmobile Toronado.
1968 – #1 Hit March 16, 1968 – April 12, 1968: Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay
1969 – 1776 (Broadway Musical) Opened on March 16, 1969 and Closed: February 13, 1972
1978 – The Amoco Cadiz wrecked off the coast of Portsall, France, spilling 68 million gallons of oil.
1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson was taken hostage in Beirut. He was released on December 4, 1991.
2005 – Robert Blake, star of the 1970s television detective show Baretta, was acquitted of the murder of his 44-year-old wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.
