Today in history–March 25

40 or 41: Jesus of Nazareth is crucified by Roman authorities at Jerusalem.

1634: The first settlers land in the new proprietary colony of Maryland.  It is owned by Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, the maiden name of whose wife is Anne Arundel.

1802: France and England sign the Treaty of Amiens, which purports to be a “Definitive Treaty of Peace” between them.  Truth in advertising laws don’t apply to governments.

1807: Great Britain becomes the first major nation to abolish the slave trade with enactment of the Slave Trade Act.

1894: In protest against unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893, Jacob Coxey leads a group of men from Massilon, Ohio, on a trek to Washington.  “Coxey’s Army,” 500 strong, will reach the capitol in April, where they will disband after Coxey is arrested for walking on the Capitol grass.

1918: Future New York University Law Review editor Howard William Cohen is born at Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  As “Howard Cosell” he’ll give up law in 1954 to do a radio program featuring Little League players.

1931: Nine black teenagers are arrested for rape in Scottsboro, Alabama. One of them, Haywood Patterson, will ultimately be tried four times, getting death sentences in three successive trials before winning a 75-year term in the fourth.

1957: The Treaty of Rome creates the European Economic Community.  The original members are Belgium, Frnace, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and West Germany.

2004: Air Holland goes bankrupt when business falls off after unproved allegations of marijuana use by pilots.