Here’s a brief look back in time on this day, March 22.
In 1893, the first women’s collegiate-level basketball game is held at Smith College in Massachusetts. It was between the college’s freshman and sophomore classes, having been played with a soccer ball instead of a basketball. The first game played between two colleges is played three years later when Stanford faced U.C. Berkeley.
In 1933, 32nd U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes the Cullen-Harrison Act, which legalizes beer and wine that contained an alcoholic content of 3.2% or below. This was towards the end of Prohibition, which concludes in December of this year. Legislators and Roosevelt himself believed that drinks containing 3.2% of alcohol was considered too low to intoxicate someone. When he passed the law, Roosevelt himself allegedly said: “I think this would be a good time for a beer”. He is reported to have been an active drinker despite Prohibition banning all sales of beverages containing an alcoholic content of 5% or above.
In 1972, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is passed by the U.S. Senate. The law is proposed to eliminate discrimination based on gender, granting equal rights to all U.S. citizens regardless of sex. However, the bill still remains in limbo after failing to make multiple deadlines for states to ratify it. For an amendment to become enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, it must be ratified by three-fourths of its states within a deadline set by Congress. As of 2026, this means that 38 out of 50 states need to ratify. So far, 38 have done so by 2026, but not within the congressional deadline which was set in the mid-70s. Pushes for states to amend the ERA continue today.
In 2005, the writer’s sister is born in Greencastle, IN. Happy birthday, Ashley!