Today in History - March 21 | 'Quiet, gentle' young man orchestrated death on delivery
American serial bomber Mark Conditt blew himself up in his car during a chase with police in Austin, Texas, on March 21, 2018.
Shortly before his death, Conditt, 23, confessed on video to making and setting off a series of bombs that killed two people and injured five.
The idea that Conditt could be a skilled bomb maker seemed unthinkable to his family who said he was a quiet and kind person.
But when police raided Conditt's home days before his violent death, they discovered homemade explosive material in his room.
After building his bombs, he would send some of them via the FedEx delivery service. One device detonated in a FedEx warehouse injuring workers.
He also left his homemade bombs in cardboard boxes on front porches of victims selected at random.
On March 21, 1963, the infamous island prison on Alcatraz island in San Francisco Bay closed.
Surrounded by shark infested waters and strong currents, the maximum security jail had a reputation for being escape proof.
But the cost of shipping essential supplies from the mainland proved too much for the US federal government.
U2
Irish rock band U2 climbed to the top of the UK charts on March 21, 1987, with their iconic album The Joshua Tree.
It boasted enduring hit songs such as With Or Without You, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, and Where The Streets Have No Name.
South African police shot dead 69 black protesters in what became known as the Sharpeville massacre on March 21, 1960.
About 7000 protesters had gathered outside the Sharpeville police station to protest against laws restricting the movement of people based on their race when police began firing into the crowd.
No police officer involved in the massacre was ever convicted.
On March 21, 2006, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent the first ever tweet on the social media channel, "just setting up my twttr".
Twitter grew to become a popular platform for free expression and social activism.
In October 2022, the business was acquired by tech titan Elon Musk and is known today as X.
Russia completed its illegal seizure of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine on March 21, 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion in response to the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Moscow leader Victor Yanukovich by a popular uprising.
It also paved the way for Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during which Moscow annexed more land from the war-torn country.
Hit US television show Dallas left viewers on tenterhooks when the programme's villain, oil baron JR Ewing, played by Larry Hagman, was gunned down by a mystery shooter on March 21, 1980.
The dramatic finale of the series spawned the popular phrase, "Who Shot J.R.?" plot that left viewers guessing who pulled the trigger.
They had to wait until November 1980 when a new series went to air.
A plot to assassinate Germany's Adolf Hitler came within 120 seconds of success on March 21, 1943.
During a visit to a military museum in Berlin, the Nazi leader was accompanied by an army officer carrying a secret bomb stashed in his suitcase who planned to blow both of them up.
But in the last seconds, Hitler suddenly decided to make a quick exit before the would-be suicide bomber could detonate his device.
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