Arab Oil Embargo
March 18, 1974
The Arab Oil Embargo on the U.S. is ended. It had started the previous October when OAPEC (Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) declared an oil embargo on the U.S., Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and the U.K. for supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo targeted the U.S. for resupplying the Israeli military during the war. During the embargo, the price of oil had risen nearly 400%, from US$3 per barrel to nearly $12.
Iraq War Begins
March 19, 2003
The Iraq War begins. U.S. President George W. Bush announced, “…coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.”
The U.S. began bombing Iraq the following day.
Typhoid Mary
March 20, 1907
Mary Mallon is apprehended in New York. Known as Typhoid Mary, Mallon was the first recorded U.S. case of a healthy carrier of typhoid. She is suspected of directly infecting 51 people, three of whom died, with typhoid while working as a cook. She herself remained healthy. Outbreaks of typhoid followed her wherever she worked. She was put in quarantine for three years, but released when she promised not to work as a cook. However, after release she resumed working as a cook causing several more typhoid outbreaks. She was then put in quarantine for the remainder of her life.