Today’s almanac March 23: the day the last carrier pigeon was sold

Baron Wernher von Braun, architect of the Reich’s missile development, was born on March 23, 1912. His successes did not escape the Americans: after the war he was one of over a thousand Nazi scientists who “migrated” to the States to be used against the new enemy, the USSR.

In 1945 von Braun arrived in the USA, where he was destined to become the “father” of the space program. And it mattered little to the Americans that he had been a member of the SS and that concentration camp prisoners were used to build his rockets, in inhumane conditions. For centuries, homing pigeons have flown the skies – in a more peaceful way. Also called “war pigeons”, they have always been praised for their reliability and ability to transmit messages over long distances. They served profitably in the Stars and Stripes Army in both world wars and in Korea. But with the development of new technologies they became obsolete: the US military sold the last pigeon on March 23, 1957.

Born of the day

Joan CrawfordMarch 23, 1904, American actress

Akira KurosawaMarch 23, 1910, Japanese director and screenwriter

Piero ChiaraMarch 23, 1913, writer

Armando Testa23 March 1917, advertiser, designer and animator

Ugo TognazziMarch 23, 1922, actor, film director and writer

Anna FendiMarch 23, 1933, stylist and entrepreneur

Franco BattiatoMarch 23, 1945, singer-songwriter, composer and writer

Corinne CleryMarch 23, 1950, French actress

Serena GrandiMarch 23, 1956, actress and television personality

Gianni Infantino23 March 1970, sports manager, Swiss lawyer and current president of FIFA

Walter SamuelMarch 23, 1978, Argentine football coach and former footballer

Andrea DoviziosoMarch 23, 1986, motorcycle racer

Deaths of the day

StendhalMarch 23, 1842, French writer

The PasserMarch 23, 1851, brigand

Piero MartinettiMarch 23, 1943, philosopher

Cristobal BalenciagaMarch 23, 1972, Spanish stylist

Peter KolosimoMarch 23, 1984, writer and journalist

Giulietta Masina, March 23, 1994, actress

Lauretta MasieroMarch 23, 2010, actress

Elizabeth TaylorMarch 23, 2011, British actress

Giancarla Re MursiaMarch 23, 2016, editor, translator and writer

Cino TortorellaMarch 23, 2017, television host and television author

Lucia BosèMarch 23, 2020, actress

Saint of the day

San Turibio de Mogrovejo, Spanish Catholic archbishop. Born in 1538 in Mayorga, he studied canon law in Valladolid and at the University of Salamanca, where he remained as a teacher. Philip II of Spain assigned him the role of head of the Inquisition court in Granada, and then in 1579 he became archbishop of Lima, then a Spanish colony. Here he carried out his pastoral work, learning the local language and engaging in the evangelization of the indigenous populations. He was responsible for the birth of the first seminary in all of Latin America. He died on March 23, 1605 following a fever contracted during a visit to Pacasmayo.