31 March 1943

The official New York opening for “Oklahoma” occurred on March 31, 1943.

The photograph below presents the principal cast members of the original Broadway production of “Oklahoma”.


The rare color photograph below captures an ensemble number performed by the original Broadway cast of “Oklahoma”.


On the same night of the “Oklahoma” Broadway opening, General George Patton’s troops in North Africa began an all-night march that ended with a successful surprise attack on a German panzer division early the following morning.

That same night, Allied bombers set off from Britain to mount an air attack on the German-occupied harbor of Rotterdam. Owing to heavy fog, the bombers flew off-course, and in error bombed a civilian area of Rotterdam. Hundreds of Rotterdam citizens, already suffering under a repressive German occupation, were killed in the raid.

Crematorium II at Auschwitz went into service on March 31, 1943.