Today’s almanac March 22: when in 1974 Faysal ascended the throne and changed Arabia but was killed by his nephew

On March 22, 1945, in Cairo, the Arab League was born, the regional organization of the Arab states of the Middle East and part of Africa. The founders were Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Transjordan – that is, today’s Jordan – Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Today there are 22 members. The alliance, daughter of pan-Arab ideals, wants to foster “closer relations between the member countries, coordinating the political activities of these second principles of collaboration, as well as safeguarding their respective sovereignty and independence and considering in a general perspective the affairs and interests of the Arab States”. Faysal of Saudi Arabia was not pan-Arab but pan-Islamist. On 22 March 1958 the then crown prince and prime minister obtained full powers from his half-brother Saud, who however remained king. The power struggle between the two continued until 1964, when the entire royal family deposed the ruler and placed the younger Faisal on the throne. He implemented important reforms to modernize the country and was killed by his nephew in 1975.

Born of the day

Anthony van Dyck22 March 1599, Flemish painter

Chico MarxMarch 22, 1887, American comedian, actor and pianist

Karl MaldenMarch 22, 1912, American actor who won an Oscar in 1952

Nino ManfrediMarch 22, 1921, actor, director, comedian and singer

Marcel Marceau22 March 1923, French theater actor and mime

Lea Pericoli22 March 1935, tennis player, television presenter and journalist

Betty CurtisMarch 22, 1936, singer

Anna Maria Gambineri, March 22, 1936, television announcer

Fausto Bertinotti22 March 1940, former politician and trade unionist

George BensonMarch 22, 1943, American guitarist, singer and composer

Fanny Ardant, 22 March 1949, French actress and director

Matthew ModineMarch 22, 1959, American actor

Giulia BongiornoMarch 22, 1966, lawyer and politics

Mario Cipollini22 March 1967, former road cyclist

Reese WitherspoonMarch 22, 1976, American actress, film producer

Deaths of the day

Johann Wolfgang Goethe22 March 1832, German poet, writer and playwright

Giuseppe CencelliMarch 22, 1899, politician

Raffaele VivianiMarch 22, 1950, actor, playwright, composer and poet

Michele SindonaMarch 22, 1986, fixer, banker and criminal

William HannaMarch 22, 2001, American director, television producer and film producer

Tomas MilianMarch 22, 2017, Cuban actor, screenwriter and singer

Alberto ArbasinoMarch 22, 2020, writer, journalist and poet

Saint of the day

Santa Lea of ​​Rome. Widowed young, she frequented the nobles of Rome devoted to Saint Jerome. She entered the community of Santa Marcella, where she led a chaste and poverty-stricken life and where she committed herself to teaching other women to live the Gospel. She was supposed to accompany Girolamo to Bethlehem but she died early in Ostia. She is considered the mother of virgins and the patroness of widows.