1. In 1829, Mississippi Governor Abram L. Scott signed a bill establishing the University of Mississippi in Oxford, making it the state's first public university.

2. On March 16, 1919, Mississippi Senator Theodore G. Bilbo introduced a bill in Congress proposing the creation of an "Americanization Board" to "assimilate the immigrant population" of the United States. The bill was met with widespread opposition and never passed.

3. In 1966, civil rights activist and NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer was killed in a firebombing attack on his home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Dahmer had been actively registering African American voters and had been targeted by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

4. On March 16, 1994, Mississippi Governor Kirk Fordice signed into law a bill replacing the state flag, which had previously featured the Confederate battle emblem, with a new design featuring a blue field with a red, white, and blue stripe and a magnolia tree in the center.

5. In 2005, Mississippi blues musician R.L. Burnside died at age 78. Burnside was known for his unique style of Delta blues, using a thumb-picked guitar and incorporating elements of funk, rock, and electronic music. He released over 20 albums throughout his career and was a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.