On March 19, 1931, Nevada Gov. Fred B. Balzar signed a measure that made the state the first to legalize gambling.

In 1945, during World War II, more than 800 service members were killed when a Japanese dive bomber attacked the carrier USS Franklin near Japan.

In 1953, the 25th Academy Awards ceremony was the first to be televised. “The Greatest Show on Earth” would win the Oscar for best picture.

In 1966, Texas Western (now the University of Texas at El Paso) became the first team to start five Black players in the NCAA basketball tournament’s championship game. They defeated top-ranked Kentucky 72-65.

In 2003, in a televised address, President George W. Bush announced that coalition forces had invaded Iraq. (He would declare victory just over five weeks later in his “Mission Accomplished” speech.)