Today is Wednesday, March 28, the 88th day of 2012. There are 278 days left in the year.
1797 ― Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patents a washing machine
1866 ― first ambulance goes into service
1891 ― First world weightlifting championship held
1910 ― First seaplane, takes off from water at Martigues, France (Henri Fabre)
1922 ― First microfilm device introduced
1939 ― Dutch hunter shoots English bombers down
1959 ― Eleven days after Tibet uprising, China dissolves Tibet's government and installs Panchen Lama
1979 ― Major nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, Middletown, Pa. (no deaths)
1990 ― Michael Jordan scores 69 points, fourth time he scores 60 points in a game
1995 ― World's largest bank-Japan's Mitsubishi Bank and Bank of Tokyo merge