1. The first successful powered flight in NC history occurred on March 19, 1908. Orville Wright piloted a Wright Flyer for a distance of 1 mile in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks.

2. On March 19, 1963, pioneering politician and civil rights activist Thelma Thorton was appointed as a North Carolina State Senator. She was the first black woman to hold the position in the state's history.

3. The Battle of Bentonville, which was the last major Civil War battle fought in North Carolina, began on March 19, 1865. Approximately 80,000 Union troops clashed with the 20,000-strong Confederate Army of Tennessee in Johnston County.

4. March 19, 1960, is also significant for civil rights in North Carolina. It was the date when sit-in protests at segregated lunch counters began in Greensboro, which ignited a nationwide movement for equality.

5. In 1931, the infamous Scottsboro Boys trial began on March 19 in Alabama. Nine black teenagers, who were accused of raping two white women, were tried and convicted in a highly controversial case that became a symbol of racial injustice. The trial and subsequent appeals lasted for years and became a widely recognized cause celebre for the American Communist Party.