Important Events From This day in History – 21 March

Today in History

• 2006 Jack Dorsey sends the world’s first Twitter message or tweet

  The microblogging service transformed the landscape of communication and social networking. In 2012, approximately 340 million tweets were sent per day.

• 1985 South African Police kill at least 21 black people commemorating a similar mass shooting 25 years before

  Sharpeville massacre in 1985 killed 69 unarmed people. It was a watershed moment in South African history.

• 1970 Earth Day is celebrated for the first time

  The first edition was only available in a few cities in the United States. Earth Day is now observed by approximately 1 billion people worldwide.

• 1952 The world’s first rock and roll concert is held in Cleveland, Ohio

  DJ Alan Freed presented the concert, which was closed down after only one song because of overcrowding.

• 1943 A plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bomb fails

  Rudolf von Gersdorff, a German Wehrmacht officer, failed to assassinate the dictator but was able to defuse his bombs just before they exploded, avoiding suspicion.