306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.
315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
677 – Climax of the Siege of Thessalonica by the Slavs in a three-day assault on the city walls.
864 – The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings.
1137 – Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Louis, later King Louis VII of France, at the Cathedral of Saint-André in Bordeaux.
1139 – Battle of Ourique: The Almoravids, led by Ali ibn Yusuf, are defeated by Prince Afonso Henriques who is proclaimed King of Portugal.
1261 – The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.
1278 – The naval Battle of Algeciras takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista resulting in a victory for the Emirate of Granada and the Maranid Dynasty over the Kingdom of Castile.
1467 – The Battle of Molinella: The first battle in Italy in which firearms are used extensively.
1536 – Sebastián de Belalcázar on his search of El Dorado founds the city of Santiago de Cali.
1538 – The city of Guayaquil is founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.
1547 – Henry II of France is crowned.
1554 – Mary I marries Philip II of Spain at Winchester Cathedral.
1567 – Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
1593 – Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
1603 – James VI of Scotland is crowned king of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707.
1609 – The English ship Sea Venture, en route to Virginia, is deliberately driven ashore during a storm at Bermuda to prevent its sinking; the survivors go on to found a new colony there.
1693 – Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Mexico.
1722 – Dummer’s War begins along the Maine-Massachusetts border.
1755 – British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians.
1759 – French and Indian War: In Western New York, British forces capture Fort Niagara from the French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
1783 – American Revolutionary War: The war’s last action, the Siege of Cuddalore, is ended by a preliminary peace agreement.
1788 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his Symphony No. 40 in G minor (K550).
1792 – The Brunswick Manifesto is issued to the population of Paris promising vengeance if the French royal family is harmed.
1797 – Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain).
1799 – At Abu Qir in Egypt, Napoleon I of France defeats 10,000 Ottomans under Mustafa Pasha.
1814 – War of 1812: An American attack on Canada is repulsed.
1824 – Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua.
1837 – The first commercial use of an electrical telegraph is successfully demonstrated in London by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.
1853 – Joaquin Murrieta, the famous Californio bandit known as the “Robin Hood of El Dorado”, is killed.
1861 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden–Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
1866 – The United States Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to be promoted to this rank.
1868 – The Wyoming Territory is established.
1869 – The Japanese daimyōs begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 17, 1869).
1894 – The First Sino-Japanese War begins when the Japanese fire upon a Chinese warship.
1898 – In the Puerto Rican Campaign, the United States seizes Puerto Rico from Spain.
1908 – Ajinomoto is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in kombu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it.
1909 – Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from Calais to Dover, England, United Kingdom in 37 minutes.
1915 – RFC Captain Lanoe Hawker becomes the first British pursuit aviator to earn the Victoria Cross.
1917 – Sir Robert Borden introduces the first income tax in Canada as a “temporary” measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
1925 – Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established.
1934 – The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.
1940 – General Henri Guisan orders the Swiss Army to resist German invasion and makes surrender illegal.
1942 – The Norwegian Manifesto calls for nonviolent resistance to the German occupation.
1943 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by the Grand Council of Fascism and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
1944 – World War II: Operation Spring is one of the bloodiest days for the First Canadian Army during the war.
1946 – Nuclear weapons testing: Operation Crossroads: An atomic bomb is detonated underwater in the lagoon of Bikini Atoll.
1956 – Forty-five miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51.
1957 – The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, under President Habib Bourguiba.
1958 – The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.
1961 – Cold War: In a speech John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.
1965 – Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival, signaling a major change in folk and rock music.
1969 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This is the start of the “Vietnamization” of the war.
1973 – Soviet Mars 5 space probe is launched.
1976 – Viking program: Viking 1 takes the famous Face on Mars photo.
1978 – Puerto Rican police shoot two nationalists in the Cerro Maravilla murders.
1978 – Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
1979 – Another section of the Sinai Peninsula is peacefully returned by Israel to Egypt.
1983 – Black July: Thirty-seven Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by the fellow Sinhalese prisoners.
1984 – Salyut 7 cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.
1993 – Israel launches a massive attack against Lebanon in what the Israelis call Operation Accountability, and the Lebanese call the Seven-Day War.
1993 – The Saint James Church massacre occurs in Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa.
1994 – Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, that formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948.
1995 – A gas bottle explodes in Saint Michel station of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). Eight are killed and 80 wounded.
1996 – In a military coup in Burundi, Pierre Buyoya deposes Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.
2000 – Concorde Air France Flight 4590 crashes at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, killing 113 people.
2007 – Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India’s first female president.
2010 – WikiLeaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history.
2018 – As-Suwayda attacks: Coordinated attacks occur in Syria.
2019 – National extreme heat records set this day in the UK, Belgium and Germany during the July 2019 European heatwave.
Births on July 25
975 – Thietmar, bishop of Merseburg (d. 1018)
1016 – Casimir I the Restorer, duke of Poland (d. 1058)
1109 – Afonso I, king of Portugal (d. 1185)
1165 – Ibn Arabi, Andalusian Sufi mystic, poet, and philosopher (d. 1240)
1261 – Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1312)
1291 – Hawys Gadarn, Welsh noblewoman (d. 1353)
1336 – Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1404)
1394 – James I, king of Scotland (d. 1437)
1404 – Philip I, Duke of Brabant (d. 1430)
1421 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (d. 1461)
1450 – Jakob Wimpfeling, Renaissance humanist (d. 1528)
1486 – Albrecht VII, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1547)
1498 – Hernando de Aragón, Archbishop of Zaragoza (d. 1575)
1532 – Alphonsus Rodriguez, Jesuit lay brother and saint (d. 1617)
1556 – George Peele, English translator, poet, and dramatist (d. 1596)
1562 – Katō Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord (d. 1611)
1573 – Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer and Jesuit (d. 1650)
1581 – Brian Twyne, English archivist (d. 1644)
1605 – Theodore Haak, German scholar (d. 1690)
1633 – Joseph Williamson, English politician (d. 1701)
1654 – Agostino Steffani, Italian composer and diplomat (d. 1728)
1657 – Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, German composer (d. 1714)
1658 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, Scottish general (d. 1703)
1683 – Pieter Langendijk, Dutch playwright and poet (d. 1756)
1750 – Henry Knox, American general and politician, 1st United States Secretary of War (d. 1806)
1753 – Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, French-Spanish captain and politician, 10th Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (d. 1810)
1797 – Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1889)
1806 – Maria Weston Chapman, American abolitionist (d. 1885)
1839 – Francis Garnier, French captain and explorer (d. 1873)
1844 – Thomas Eakins, American painter, sculptor, and photographer (d. 1916)
1847 – Paul Langerhans, German pathologist, physiologist and biologist (d. 1888)
1848 – Arthur Balfour, Scottish-English lieutenant and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1930)
1857 – Frank J. Sprague, American naval officer and inventor (d. 1934)
1865 – Jac. P. Thijsse, Dutch botanist and conservationist (d. 1945)
1866 – Frederick Blackman, English physiologist and academic (d. 1947)
1867 – Max Dauthendey, German author and painter (d. 1918)
1867 – Alexander Rummler, American painter (d. 1959)
1869 – Platon, Estonian bishop and saint (d. 1919)
1870 – Maxfield Parrish, American painter and illustrator (d. 1966)
1875 – Jim Corbett, Indian hunter, environmentalist, and author (d. 1955)
1878 – Masaharu Anesaki, Japanese philosopher and scholar (d. 1949)
1882 – George S. Rentz, American commander (d. 1942)
1883 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1947)
1886 – Edward Cummins, American golfer (d. 1926)
1894 – Walter Brennan, American actor (d. 1974)
1894 – Gavrilo Princip, Bosnian Serb revolutionary (d. 1918)
1895 – Ingeborg Spangsfeldt, Danish actress (d. 1968)
1896 – Jack Perrin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1967)
1896 – Josephine Tey, Scottish author and playwright (d. 1952)
1901 – Ruth Krauss, American author and poet (d. 1993)
1901 – Mohammed Helmy, Egyptian physician and Righteous Among the Nations (d.1982)
1901 – Lila Lee, American actress and singer (d. 1973)
1902 – Eric Hoffer, American philosopher and author (d. 1983)
1905 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-Swiss novelist, playwright, and memoirist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
1905 – Georges Grignard, French race car driver (d. 1977)
1905 – Denys Watkins-Pitchford, English author and illustrator (d. 1990)
1906 – Johnny Hodges, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1970)
1908 – Bill Bowes, English cricketer (d. 1987)
1908 – Ambroise-Marie Carré, French priest and author (d. 2004)
1908 – Jack Gilford, American actor (d. 1990)
1914 – Woody Strode, American football player and actor (d. 1994)
1915 – S. U. Ethirmanasingham, Sri Lankan businessman and politician
1915 – Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1944)
1916 – Lucien Saulnier, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
1917 – Fritz Honegger, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 1999)
1918 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (d. 1986)
1920 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist, chemist, and academic (d. 1958)
1921 – Adolph Herseth, American soldier and trumpet player (d. 2013)
1921 – Lionel Terray, French mountaineer (d. 1965)
1923 – Estelle Getty, American actress (d. 2008)
1923 – Edgar Gilbert, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2013)
1923 – Maria Gripe, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2007)
1924 – Frank Church, American lawyer and politician (d. 1984)
1924 – Scotch Taylor, South African cricketer and hockey player (d. 2004)
1925 – Benny Benjamin, American R&B drummer (The Funk Brothers) (d. 1969)
1925 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (d. 1986)
1925 – Dick Passwater, American race car driver
1925 – Jutta Zilliacus, Finnish journalist and politician
1926 – Whitey Lockman, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2009)
1926 – Bernard Thompson, British television producer and director (d. 1998)
1926 – Beatriz Segall, Brazilian actress (d. 2018)
1927 – Daniel Ceccaldi, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
1927 – Midge Decter, American journalist and author
1927 – Sadiq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani politician, 10th Governor of Punjab (d. 2000)
1927 – Jean-Marie Seroney, Kenyan activist and politician (d. 1982)
1928 – Dolphy, Filipino actor, singer, and producer (d. 2012)
1928 – Mario Montenegro, Filipino actor (d. 1988)
1928 – Nils Taube, Estonian-English businessman (d. 2008)
1929 – Judd Buchanan, Canadian businessman and politician, 36th Canadian Minister of Public Works
1929 – Somnath Chatterjee, Indian lawyer and politician, 14th Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 2018)
1929 – Eddie Mazur, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1995)
1930 – Murray Chapple, New Zealand cricketer and manager (d. 1985)
1930 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian actress and singer (d. 2010)
1930 – Alice Parizeau, Polish-Canadian journalist and criminologist (d. 1990)
1930 – Herbert Scarf, American economist and academic (d. 2015)
1930 – Annie Ross, Scottish-American singer and actress
1931 – James Butler, English sculptor and educator
1932 – Paul J. Weitz, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
1934 – Don Ellis, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1978)
1934 – Claude Zidi, French director and screenwriter
1935 – Barbara Harris, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
1935 – Adnan Khashoggi, Saudi Arabian businessman (d. 2017)
1935 – Gilbert Parent, Canadian educator and politician, 33rd Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (d. 2009)
1935 – John Robinson, American football player and coach
1935 – Larry Sherry, American baseball player and coach (d. 2006)
1935 – Lars Werner, Swedish lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1936 – Gerry Ashmore, English race car driver
1936 – Glenn Murcutt, English-Australian architect and academic
1937 – Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, English archaeologist and academic
1940 – Richard Ballantine, American-English journalist and author (d. 2013)
1941 – Manny Charlton, Spanish-born Scottish rock musician and songwriter
1941 – Nate Thurmond, American basketball player (d. 2016)
1941 – Emmett Till, American lynching victim (d. 1955)
1942 – Bruce Woodley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1943 – Jim McCarty, English singer and drummer
1943 – Erika Steinbach, Polish-German politician
1944 – Sally Beauman, English journalist and author (d. 2016)
1946 – José Areas, Nicaraguan drummer
1946 – Nicole Farhi, French fashion designer and sculptor
1946 – John Gibson, American radio host
1946 – Rita Marley, Cuban-Jamaican singer
1946 – P. Selvarasa, Sri Lankan politician
1946 – Ljupka Dimitrovska, Macedonian-Croatian pop singer (d. 2016)
1948 – Steve Goodman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
1950 – Mark Clarke, English singer-songwriter and bass player
1951 – Jack Thompson, American lawyer and activist
1951 – Verdine White, American bass player and producer
1952 – Eduardo Souto de Moura, Portuguese architect, designed the Estádio Municipal de Braga
1953 – Joseph A. Tunzi, Chicago based author, foremost expert on Elvis Presley
1953 – Robert Zoellick, American banker and politician, 14th United States Deputy Secretary of State
1954 – Ken Greer, Canadian guitarist, keyboard player, and producer
1954 – Sheena McDonald, Scottish journalist
1954 – Walter Payton, American football player and race car driver (d. 1999)
1954 – Jochem Ziegert, German footballer and manager
1955 – Iman, Somalian-English model and actress
1955 – Randall Bewley, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
1956 – Andy Goldsworthy, English-Scottish sculptor and photographer
1956 – Frances Arnold, American scientist and engineer
1957 – Mark Hunter, English politician
1957 – Steve Podborski, Canadian skier
1958 – Alexei Filippenko, American astrophysicist and academic
1958 – Thurston Moore, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1959 – Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
1959 – Geoffrey Zakarian, American chef and author
1960 – Alain Robidoux, Canadian snooker player
1960 – Justice Howard, American photographer
1960 – Māris Martinsons, Latvian film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor
1962 – Carin Bakkum, Dutch tennis player
1962 – Doug Drabek, American baseball player and coach
1963 – Denis Coderre, Canadian politician, 44th Mayor of Montreal
1963 – Julian Hodgson, Welsh chess player
1964 – Anne Applebaum, American journalist and author
1964 – Tony Granato, American ice hockey player and coach
1964 – Breuk Iversen, American designer and journalist
1965 – Marty Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1965 – Illeana Douglas, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
1965 – Dale Shearer, Australian rugby league player
1966 – Daryl Halligan, New Zealand rugby player and sportscaster
1966 – Maureen Herman, American bass player
1966 – Diana Johnson, English politician
1967 – Matt LeBlanc, American actor and producer
1967 – Ruth Peetoom, Dutch minister and politician
1967 – Tommy Skjerven, Norwegian footballer and referee
1968 – Rudi Bryson, South African cricketer
1968 – Shi Tao, Chinese journalist and poet
1969 – Jon Barry, American basketball player and sportscaster
1969 – Annastacia Palaszczuk, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Queensland
1971 – Roger Creager, American singer-songwriter
1971 – Tracy Murray, American basketball player
1971 – Billy Wagner, American baseball player and coach
1972 – David Penna, Australian rugby league player and coach
1973 – Dani Filth, English singer-songwriter
1973 – Kevin Phillips, English footballer
1973 – Igli Tare, Albanian footballer
1974 – Lauren Faust, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1974 – Julia Laffranque, Estonian lawyer and judge
1974 – Kenzo Suzuki, Japanese rugby player and wrestler
1975 – Jody Craddock, English footballer and coach
43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.
900 – The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (the earliest known written document found in what is now the Philippines): the Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Tondo, as represented by the Honourable Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pailah, pardons from all debt the Honourable Namwaran and his relations.
1092 – The Diocese of Pisa is elevated to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Urban II
1506 – The three-day Lisbon Massacre comes to an end with the slaughter of over 1,900 suspected Jews by Portuguese Catholics.
1509 – Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.
1526 – The last ruler of the Lodi dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi is defeated and killed by Babur in the First Battle of Panipat.
1615 – The Wignacourt Aqueduct is inaugurated in Malta.
1782 – The city of Rattanakosin, now known internationally as Bangkok, is founded on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke.
1789 – George Washington’s reception at Trenton is hosted by the Ladies of Trenton as he journeys to New York City for his first inauguration.
1792 – Tiradentes, a revolutionary leading a movement for Brazil’s independence, is hanged, drawn and quartered.
1802 – Twelve thousand Wahhabis under Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad, invaded city of Karbala, killed over three thousand inhabitants, and sacked the city.
1806 – Action of 21 April 1806: A French frigate escapes British forces off the coast of South Africa.
1809 – Two Austrian army corps are driven from Landshut by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon as two French corps to the north hold off the main Austrian army on the first day of the Battle of Eckmühl.
1821 – Benderli Ali Pasha arrives in Constantinople as the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire; he remains in power for only nine days before being sent into exile.
1836 – Texas Revolution: The Battle of San Jacinto: Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1856 – Australian labour movement: Stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne march from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day.
1894 – Norway formally adopts the Krag–Jørgensen bolt-action rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports. When the U.S. Congress issued a declaration of war on April 25, it declared that a state of war had existed from this date.
1914 – Ypiranga incident: A German arms shipment to Mexico is intercepted by the U.S. Navy near Veracruz.
1918 – World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as “The Red Baron”, is shot down and killed over Vaux-sur-Somme in France.
1926 – Al-Baqi cemetery, former site of the mausoleum of four Shi’a Imams, is leveled to the ground by Wahhabis.
1934 – The “Surgeon’s Photograph”, the most famous photo allegedly showing the Loch Ness Monster, is published in the Daily Mail (in 1999, it is revealed to be a hoax).
1945 – World War II: Soviet forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
1948 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 47 relating to Kashmir conflict is adopted.
1952 – Secretary’s Day (now Administrative Professionals’ Day) is first celebrated.
1958 – United Airlines Flight 736 collides into a United States Air Force fighter jet near Arden, Nevada in what is now Enterprise, Nevada.
1960 – Brasília, Brazil’s capital, is officially inaugurated. At 09:30, the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
1962 – The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World’s Fair in the United States since World War II.
1963 – The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Bahá’í Faith.
1964 – A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds (0.95 kg) of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.
1965 – The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair opens for its second and final season.
1966 – Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
1967 – A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d’état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
1975 – Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Thiệu flees Saigon, as Xuân Lộc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
1977 – Annie opens on Broadway.
1982 – Baseball: Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers becomes the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
1985 – The compound of the militant group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord surrenders to federal authorities in Arkansas after a two-day government siege.
1987 – The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that detonates in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
1989 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
1993 – The Supreme Court in La Paz, Bolivia, sentences former dictator Luis García Meza to 30 years in jail without parole for murder, theft, fraud and violating the constitution.
2004 – Five suicide car bombers target police stations in and around Basra, killing 74 people and wounding 160.
2010 – The controversial Kharkiv Pact (Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas Treaty) is signed in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev; it was unilaterally terminated by Russia on March 31, 2014.
2012 – Two trains are involved in a head-on collision near Sloterdijk, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, injuring 116 people.
2014 – The American city of Flint, Michigan switches its water source to the Flint River, beginning the ongoing Flint water crisis which has caused lead poisoning in up to 12,000 people, and 15 deaths from Legionnaires disease, ultimately leading to criminal indictments against 15 people, five of whom have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
2019 – Eight bombs explode at churches, hotels, and other locations in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday; more than 200 people are killed.
Births on April 21
1132 – Sancho VI, king of Navarre (d. 1194)
1488 – Ulrich von Hutten, German religious reformer (d. 1523)
1523 – Marco Antonio Bragadin, Venetian lawyer and military officer (d. 1571)
1555 – Ludovico Carracci, Italian painter and etcher (d. 1619)
1619 – Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch founder of Cape Town (d. 1677)
1630 – Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten, Dutch-English painter (d. 1700)
1631 – Francesco Maidalchini, Catholic cardinal (d. 1700)
1642 – Simon de la Loubère, French mathematician, poet, and diplomat (d. 1729)
1651 – Joseph Vaz, Sri Lankan priest, missionary, and saint (d. 1711)
1652 – Michel Rolle, French mathematician and academic (d. 1719)
1671 – John Law, Scottish economist (d. 1729)
1673 – Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1742)
1713 – Louis de Noailles, French general (d. 1793)
1730 – Antonín Kammel, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1788)
1752 – Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, French engineer, hydrographer, and politician, French Minister of Marine and the Colonies (d. 1807)
1752 – Humphry Repton, English gardener and author (d. 1818)
1774 – Jean-Baptiste Biot, French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (d. 1862)
1775 – Alexander Anderson, Scottish-American illustrator and engraver (d. 1870)
1790 – Manuel Blanco Encalada, Spanish-Chilean admiral and politician, 1st President of Chile (d. 1876)
1810 – John Putnam Chapin, American politician, 10th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1864)
1811 – Alson Sherman, American merchant and politician, 8th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1903)
1814 – Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, English art collector and philanthropist (d. 1906)
1816 – Charlotte Brontë, Cornish-English novelist and poet (d. 1855)
1837 – Fredrik Bajer, Danish lieutenant and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1922)
1838 – John Muir, Scottish-American environmentalist and author (d. 1914)
1851 – Charles Barrois, French geologist and palaeontologist (d. 1939)
1854 – William Stang, German-American bishop (d. 1907)
1864 – Max Weber, German economist and sociologist (d. 1920)
1868 – Alfred Henry Maurer, American painter (d. 1932)
1870 – Edwin Stanton Porter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1941)
1874 – Vincent Scotto, French actor and composer (d. 1952)
1882 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1961)
1885 – Tatu Kolehmainen, Finnish runner (d. 1967)
1887 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (d. 1978)
1889 – Marcel Boussac, French businessman (d. 1980)
1889 – Paul Karrer, Russian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Sr., Russian-American violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1985)
1892 – Freddie Dixon, English motorcycle racer and racing driver (d. 1956)
1893 – Romeo Bertini, Italian runner (d. 1973)
1898 – Maurice Wilson, English soldier, pilot, and mountaineer (d. 1934)
1899 – Randall Thompson, American composer and academic (d. 1984)
1903 – Luis Saslavsky, Argentinian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
1904 – Jean Hélion, French painter (d. 1987)
1904 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (d. 1945)
1905 – Pat Brown, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of California (d. 1996)
1911 – Ivan Combe, American businessman, developed Clearasil (d. 2000)
1911 – Kemal Satır, Turkish physician and politician (d. 1991)
1912 – Eve Arnold, Russian-American photojournalist (d. 2012)
1912 – Marcel Camus, French director and screenwriter (d. 1982)
1913 – Norman Parkinson, English photographer (d. 1990)
1914 – Angelo Savoldi, Italian-American wrestler and promoter, co-founded International World Class Championship Wrestling (d. 2013)
1915 – Garrett Hardin, American ecologist, author, and academic (d. 2003)
1915 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor (d. 2001)
1916 – Estella B. Diggs, American businesswoman and politician (d. 2013)
1918 – Eddy Christiani, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
1919 – Don Cornell, American singer (d. 2004)
1919 – Roger Doucet, Canadian tenor (d. 1981)
1919 – Licio Gelli, Italian financer (d. 2015)
1920 – Edmund Adamkiewicz, German footballer (d. 1991)
1922 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist and screenwriter (d. 1987)
1922 – Allan Watkins, Welsh-English cricketer (d. 2011)
1923 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (d. 2009)
1924 – Ira Louvin, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player (d. 1965)
1925 – Anthony Mason, Australian soldier and judge, 9th Chief Justice of Australia
1925 – John Swinton of Kimmerghame, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire (d. 2018)
1926 – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and her other realms
1926 – Arthur Rowley, English footballer, manager and cricketer (d. 2002)
1927 – Ahmed Arif, Turkish poet and author (d. 1991)
1928 – Jack Evans, Welsh-Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996)
1930 – Hilda Hilst, Brazilian author, poet, and playwright (d. 2004)
1930 – Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (d. 1989)
1930 – Dieter Roth, German-Swiss illustrator and sculptor (d. 1998)
1930 – Jack Taylor, English footballer and referee (d. 2012)
1931 – Morgan Wootten, American high school basketball coach (d. 2020)
1932 – Slide Hampton, African-American trombonist and composer
1932 – Elaine May, American actress, comedian, director, and screenwriter
1932 – Angela Mortimer, English tennis player
1933 – Edelmiro Amante, Filipino lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
1933 – Easley Blackwood, Jr., American pianist, composer, and educator
1933 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (d. 2014)
1935 – Charles Grodin, American actor and talk show host
1935 – Thomas Kean, American academic and politician, 48th Governor of New Jersey
1936 – James Dobson, American evangelist, psychologist, and author, founded Focus on the Family
1936 – Reg Fleming, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2009)
1937 – Gary Peters, American baseball player
1937 – Ben Zinn, Israeli-born American academic and former international soccer player
1939 – John McCabe, English pianist and composer (d. 2015)
1939 – Sister Helen Prejean, American nun, activist, and author
1939 – Reni Santoni, American actor
1940 – Jacques Caron, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1940 – Souleymane Cissé, Malian director, producer, and screenwriter
1941 – David L. Boren, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Oklahoma
1942 – Geoffrey Palmer, New Zealand politician, 33rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
1945 – Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Indian cricketer and umpire
1945 – Mark Wainberg, Canadian researcher and HIV/AIDS activist (d. 2017)
1945 – Diana Darvey, English actress, singer and dancer (d. 2000)
1947 – Al Bumbry, American baseball player
1947 – Iggy Pop, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1947 – John Weider, English bass player
1948 – Gary Condit, American businessman and politician
1948 – Paul Davis, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2008)
1948 – Josef Flammer, Swiss ophthalmologist
1948 – Dieter Fromm, German runner
1949 – Patti LuPone, American actress and singer
1950 – Shivaji Satam, Indian actor
1951 – Tony Danza, American actor and producer
1951 – Michael Freedman, American mathematician and academic
1951 – Bob Varsha, American sportscaster
1951 – Steve Vickers, Canadian ice hockey player
1952 – Gerald Early, American author and academic
1952 – Cheryl Gillan, British businesswoman and politician, Secretary of State for Wales
1953 – John Brumby, Australian politician, 45th Premier of Victoria
1954 – Ebiet G. Ade, Indonesian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – James Morrison, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1955 – Murathan Mungan, Turkish author, poet, and playwright
1955 – Doug Soetaert, Canadian ice hockey player
1956 – Peter Kosminsky, English director, producer, and screenwriter
1956 – Phillip Longman, German-American demographer and journalist
1957 – Hervé Le Tellier, French linguist and author
1957 – Jesse Orosco, American baseball player
1957 – Herbert Wetterauer, German painter, sculptor, and author
1958 – Andie MacDowell, American model, actress, and producer
1958 – Yoshito Usui, Japanese illustrator (d. 2009)
1958 – Michael Zarnock, American author
1959 – Tim Jacobus, American illustrator and painter
1959 – Olga Kuragina, Russian pentathlete
1959 – Arno Pijpers, Dutch footballer and coach
1959 – Robert Smith, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1960 – Michel Goulet, Canadian ice hockey player and scout
1960 – Julius Korir, Kenyan runner
1961 – Cathy Cavadini, American voice actress
1961 – Carey Hayes, American screenwriter and producer
1961 – Chad Hayes, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Neale Marmon, English-German footballer, coach, and manager
1961 – David Servan-Schreiber, French physician, neuroscientist, and author (d. 2011)
1962 – Les Lancaster, American baseball player and coach
1962 – Craig Robinson, American basketball player and coach
1962 – Aavo Sarap, Estonian footballer and coach
1963 – Ken Caminiti, American baseball player (d. 2004)
1963 – Roy Dupuis, Canadian actor
1963 – John Cameron Mitchell, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1964 – Alex Baumann, Czech-Canadian swimmer
1964 – Ludmila Engquist, Russian-Swedish hurdler
1965 – Ed Belfour, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – Karen Foster, American model and actress
1965 – Gary Grant, American basketball player
1965 – Thomas Helmer, German footballer
1965 – Fiona Kelleghan, American academic, critic and librarian
1967 – Emilio Valle, Cuban hurdler
1968 – Peter van Vossen, Dutch footballer and coach
1969 – John Kibowen, Kenyan runner
1969 – Toby Stephens, English actor
1970 – Jeff Anderson, American actor, director, and screenwriter
1970 – Glen Hansard, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1970 – Rob Riggle, American actor and comedian
1970 – Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
1971 – Axl Rotten, American wrestler (d. 2016)
1971 – Michael Turner, American author and illustrator (d. 2008)
1972 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan runner (d. 2001)
1972 – Gwendal Peizerat, French ice dancer
1973 – Steve Backshall, English naturalist, writer, and television presenter
1973 – Jonathan Nsenga, Belgian hurdler and coach
1974 – Maksim Gruznov, Estonian footballer
1974 – Orlando Jordan, American wrestler
1974 – David Peachey, Australian rugby league player
1975 – Danyon Loader, New Zealand swimmer
1976 – Rommel Adducul, Filipino basketball player
1976 – Petero Civoniceva, Fijian-Australian rugby league player
1977 – Gyula Koi, Hungarian scholar and educator
1977 – Jamie Salé, Canadian figure skater
1978 – Jacob Burns, Australian footballer
1978 – Jukka Nevalainen, Finnish drummer
1978 – Yuliya Pechonkina, Russian hurdler
1979 – Virginie Basselot, French chef
1979 – Tobias Linderoth, French-Swedish footballer and coach
1979 – James McAvoy, Scottish actor
1980 – Jeff Keppinger, American baseball player
1980 – Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Tony Romo, American football player
1981 – Mads Junker, Danish footballer
1982 – Khalif Barnes, American football player
1982 – Micheal Luck, Australian rugby league player
1982 – Carnell Williams, American football player
1983 – Paweł Brożek, Polish footballer
1983 – Marco Donadel, Italian footballer
1983 – Tarvaris Jackson, American football player (d. 2020)
1984 – Shayna Fox, American voice actress
1986 – Audra Cohen, American tennis player
1986 – Alexander Edler, Swedish ice hockey player
1986 – Rodney Stuckey, American basketball player
1986 – Mirko Valdifiori, Italian footballer
1987 – Nadif Chowdhury, Bangladeshi cricketer
1987 – Eric Devendorf, American basketball player
1987 – Leroy George, Dutch footballer
1987 – Anastasia Prikhodko, Ukrainian singer
1988 – Ricky Berens, American swimmer
1988 – Jencarlos Canela, American singer-songwriter and actor
1988 – Pedro Mosquera, Spanish footballer
1988 – Adam Rooney, Irish footballer
1989 – Tatyana McFadden, Russian-American sprinter and skier
1989 – Carlos Muñoz, Chilean footballer
1990 – Aleksandar Prijović, Swiss-born Serbian footballer
1992 – Isco, Spanish footballer
1992 – Rene Santos, Brazilian footballer
1992 – Joc Pederson, American baseball player
1994 – Mitchell Weiser, German footballer
Deaths on April 21
234 – Emperor Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (b. 181)
586 – Liuvigild, king of the Visigoths
847 – Odgar, Frankish archbishop of Mainz
866 – Bardas, de facto regent of the Byzantine Empire
941 – Bajkam, de facto regent of the Abbasid Caliphate
1073 – Pope Alexander II
1109 – Anselm of Canterbury, Italian-English archbishop and saint (b. 1033)
1136 – Stephen, Count of Tréguier Breton noblemen (b. c. 1058/62)
1142 – Peter Abelard, French philosopher and theologian (b. 1079)
1213 – Maria of Montpellier, Lady of Montpellier, Queen of Aragon (b. 1182)
1329 – Frederick IV, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1282)
1400 – John Wittlebury, English politician (b. 1333)
1509 – Henry VII of England (b. 1457)
1557 – Petrus Apianus, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1495)
1574 – Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1519)
1591 – Sen no Rikyū, Japanese exponent of the tea ceremony (b. 1522)
1650 – Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, Japanese samurai (b. 1607)
1668 – Jan Boeckhorst, Flemish painter (b. c. 1604)
1699 – Jean Racine, French playwright and poet (b. 1639)
1719 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1640)
1720 – Antoine Hamilton, Irish-French soldier and author (b. 1646)
1722 – Robert Beverley, Jr., English historian and author (b. 1673)
1736 – Prince Eugene of Savoy (b. 1663)
1740 – Thomas Tickell, English poet and author (b. 1685)
1758 – Francesco Zerafa, Maltese architect (b. 1679)
1815 – Joseph Winston, American soldier and politician (b. 1746)
1825 – Johann Friedrich Pfaff, German mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
1852 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (b. 1787)
1863 – Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Baronet, Irish politician (b. 1782)
1900 – Vikramatji Khimojiraj, Indian ruler (b. 1819)
1910 – Mark Twain, American novelist, humorist, and critic (b. 1835)
1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, German captain and pilot (b. 1892)
1924 – Eleonora Duse, Italian actress (b. 1858)
1930 – Robert Bridges, English poet and author (b. 1844)
1932 – Friedrich Gustav Piffl, Bohemian cardinal (b. 1864)
1938 – Muhammad Iqbal, Indian-Pakistani philosopher and poet (b. 1877)
1941 – Fritz Manteuffel, German gymnast (b. 1875)
1945 – Walter Model, German field marshal (b. 1891)
1946 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist and philosopher (b. 1883)
1948 – Aldo Leopold, American ecologist and author (b. 1887)
1952 – Leslie Banks, American actor, director and producer (b. 1890)
1954 – Emil Leon Post, Polish-American mathematician and logician (b. 1897)
1956 – Charles MacArthur, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1895)
1965 – Edward Victor Appleton, English-Scottish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
1971 – François Duvalier, Haitian physician and politician, 40th President of Haiti (b. 1907)
1973 – Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
1973 – Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1910)
1974 – Chic Harley, American football player (b. 1894)
1977 – Gummo Marx, American vaudevillian and talent agent (b. 1893)
1978 – Sandy Denny, English singer-songwriter (b.1947)
1978 – Thomas Wyatt Turner, American biologist and academic (b. 1877)
1980 – Alexander Oparin, Russian biochemist and academic (b. 1894)
1980 – Sohrab Sepehri, Iranian poet and painter (b. 1928)
1983 – Walter Slezak, Austrian-American actor and singer (b. 1902)
1984 – Marcel Janco, Romanian-Israeli artist (b. 1895)
1984 – Hristo Prodanov, Bulgarian engineer and mountaineer (b. 1943)
1985 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer, created the monokini (b. 1922)
1985 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian banker and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (b. 1910)
1986 – Marjorie Eaton, American painter and actress (b. 1901)
1986 – Salah Jahin, Egyptian poet, playwright, and composer (b. 1930)
1987 – Gustav Bergmann, Austrian-American philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1906)
1989 – James Kirkwood, Jr., American actor, playwright, and author (b. 1924)
1990 – Erté, Russian-French illustrator (b. 1892)
1991 – Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (b. 1909)
1996 – Zora Arkus-Duntov, Belgian-born American engineer and race car driver (b. 1909)
1996 – Dzhokhar Dudayev, Chechen general and politician, 1st President of Ichkeria (b. 1944)
1996 – Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1925)
1996 – Jimmy Snyder, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
1998 – Jean-François Lyotard, French sociologist and philosopher (b. 1924)
1999 – Buddy Rogers, American actor (b. 1904)
2003 – Nina Simone, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and activist (b. 1933)
2004 – Mary McGrory, American journalist (b. 1918)
2005 – Gerry Marshall, English race car driver and journalist (b. 1941)
2006 – Johnny Checketts, New Zealand commander and pilot (b. 1912)
2006 – T. K. Ramakrishnan, Indian politician (b. 1922)
2006 – Telê Santana, Brazilian footballer and manager (b. 1931)
2007 – Lobby Loyde, Australian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1941)
2009 – Vivian Maier, American photographer (b. 1926)
2010 – Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
2010 – Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spanish businessman, seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1920)
2010 – Kanagaratnam Sriskandan, Sri Lankan-English engineer and civil servant (b. 1930)
2011 – Catharina Halkes, Dutch theologian and academic (b. 1920)
2012 – Doris Betts, American author and academic (b. 1932)
2012 – Charles Colson, American lawyer and activist, founded Prison Fellowship (b. 1931)
2012 – Albert Falco, French captain and diver (b. 1927)
2012 – Charles Higham, English-American author and poet (b. 1931)
2012 – Jerry Toppazzini, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931)
2013 – Chrissy Amphlett, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (b. 1959)
2013 – Shakuntala Devi, Indian mathematician and astrologer (b. 1929)
2013 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, author, and educator (b. 1905)
2013 – Gordon D. Gayle, American general and historian (b. 1917)
2014 – Herb Gray, Canadian lawyer and politician, 7th Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1931)
2014 – Janet Gray Hayes, American politician, 60th Mayor of San Jose (b. 1926)
2014 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (b. 1936)
2014 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (b. 1930)
2015 – M. H. Abrams, American author, critic, and academic (b. 1912)
2015 – Steve Byrnes, American sportscaster and producer (b. 1959)
2015 – John Moshoeu, South African footballer and manager (b. 1965)
2015 – Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Indian politician, Governor of Assam (b. 1927)
2015 – Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters, Canadian general (b. 1920)
2015 – Betsy von Furstenberg, German-American actress (b. 1931)
2016 – Prince, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (b. 1958)
2017 – Ugo Ehiogu, English footballer (b. 1972)
2018 – Verne Troyer, American actor (b. 1969)
2018 – Nabi Tajima, Japanese supercentenarian, oldest Japanese and Asian person ever, last verified person born in the 19th century (b. 1900)
845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of Venice.
1461 – Battle of Towton: Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Edward IV of England, bringing a temporary stop to the Wars of the Roses.
1500 – Cesare Borgia is given the title of Captain-General and Gonfalonier by his father Rodrigo Borgia after returning from his conquests in the Romagna.
1549 – The city of Salvador da Bahia, the first capital of Brazil, is founded.
1632 – Treaty of Saint-Germain is signed returning Quebec to French control after the English had seized it in 1629.
1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden dies after being shot in the back at a midnight masquerade ball at Stockholm’s Royal Opera 13 days earlier. He is succeeded by Gustav IV Adolf.
1806 – Construction is authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, becoming the first United States federal highway.
1809 – King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden abdicates after a coup d’état. At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland’s four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden.
1831 – Great Bosnian uprising: Bosniaks rebel against Turkey.
1847 – Mexican–American War: United States forces led by General Winfield Scott take Veracruz after a siege.
1849 – The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.
1857 – Sepoy Mangal Pandey of the 34th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry mutinies against the East India Company’s rule in India and inspires the protracted Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny.
1865 – American Civil War: Federal forces under Major General Philip Sheridan move to flank Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee as the Appomattox Campaign begins.
1867 – Queen Victoria gives Royal Assent to the British North America Act which establishes Canada on July 1.
1871 – Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria.
1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.
1882 – The Knights of Columbus is established.
1886 – John Pemberton brews the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta.
1911 – The M1911 .45 ACP pistol becomes the official U.S. Army side arm.
1927 – Sunbeam 1000hp breaks the land speed record at Daytona Beach, Florida.
1930 – Heinrich Brüning is appointed German Reichskanzler.
1936 – Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the votes in the 1936 German parliamentary election and referendum.
1941 – The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement goes into effect at 03:00 local time.
1941 – World War II: British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy forces defeat those of the Italian Regia Marina off the Peloponnesian coast of Greece in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
1942 – The Bombing of Lübeck in World War II is the first major success for the RAF Bomber Command against Germany and a German city.
1945 – World War II: Last day of V-1 flying bomb attacks on England.
1945 – World War II: The German 4th Army is almost destroyed by the Soviet Red Army.
1946 – Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, one of Mexico’s leading universities, is founded.
1947 – Malagasy Uprising against French colonial rule in Madagascar.
1951 – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage.
1957 – The New York, Ontario and Western Railway makes its final run, the first major U.S. railroad to be abandoned in its entirety.
1961 – The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C., to vote in presidential elections.
1962 – Arturo Frondizi, the president of Argentina, is overthrown in a military coup by Argentina’s armed forces, ending an 111⁄2 day constitutional crisis.
1971 – My Lai Massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
1973 – Vietnam War: The last United States combat soldiers leave South Vietnam.
1973 – Operation Barrel Roll, a covert American bombing campaign in Laos to stop communist infiltration of South Vietnam, ends.
1974 – NASA’s Mariner 10 becomes the first space probe to fly by Mercury.
1974 – Terracotta Army was discovered in Shaanxi province, China.
1982 – The Canada Act 1982 receives the Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth II, setting the stage for the Queen of Canada to proclaim the Constitution Act, 1982.
1984 – The Baltimore Colts load its possessions onto fifteen Mayflower moving trucks in the early morning hours and transfer its operations to Indianapolis.
1990 – The Czechoslovak parliament is unable to reach an agreement on what to call the country after the fall of Communism, sparking the so-called Hyphen War.
1993 – Catherine Callbeck becomes premier of Prince Edward Island and the first woman to be elected in a general election as premier of a Canadian province.
1999 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above the 10,000 mark (10,006.78) for the first time, during the height of the dot-com bubble.
1999 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in India strikes the Chamoli district in Uttar Pradesh, killing 103.
2002 – In reaction to the Passover massacre two days prior, Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield against Palestinian militants, its largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
2004 – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia join NATO as full members.
2010 – Two suicide bombers hit the Moscow Metro system at the peak of the morning rush hour, killing 40.
2013 – At least 36 people are killed when a 16-floor building collapses in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
2014 – The first same-sex marriages in England and Wales are performed.
Births on March 29
1001 – Sokkate, king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (d. 1044)
1187 – Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (d. 1203)
1373 – Marie d’Alençon, French princess (d. 1417)
1517 – Carlo Carafa, Italian cardinal (d. 1561)
1553 – Vitsentzos Kornaros, Greek poet and playwright (d. 1614)
1561 – Santorio Santorio, Italian biologist (d. 1636)
1584 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general and politician (d. 1648)
1602 – John Lightfoot, English priest, scholar, and academic (d. 1675)
1620 – Edward Digges, English barrister and colonist
1629 – Alexis of Russia, Tsar of Russia (d. 1676)
1713 – John Ponsonby, Irish politician (d. 1789)
1735 – Johann Karl August Musäus, German author (d. 1787)
1747 – Johann Wilhelm Hässler, German pianist and composer (d. 1822)
1769 – Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, French general and politician, 12th Prime Minister of France (d. 1851)
1780 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish adventurer (d. 1841)
1790 – John Tyler, American lawyer and politician, 10th President of the United States (d. 1862)
1799 – Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1869)
1802 – Johann Moritz Rugendas, German landscape painter of Spanish America (d. 1858)
1816 – 10th Dalai Lama (d. 1837)
1824 – Ludwig Büchner, German physiologist, physician, and philosopher (d. 1899)
1826 – Wilhelm Liebknecht, German journalist and politician (d. 1900)
1862 – Adolfo Müller-Ury, Swiss-American painter (d. 1947)
1863 – Walter James, Australian politician, 5th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1943)
1867 – Cy Young, American baseball player and manager (d. 1955)
1869 – Aleš Hrdlička, Czech-American anthropologist and scholar (d. 1943)
1869 – Sir Edwin Lutyens, British architect (d. 1944)
1870 – Pavlos Melas, French-Greek captain (d. 1904)
1871 – Tom Hayward, English cricketer (d. 1939)
1872 – Hal Colebatch, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1953)
1873 – Tullio Levi-Civita, Jewish-Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1941)
1874 – Lou Henry Hoover, American wife of Herbert Hoover, 33rd First Lady of the United States (d. 1944)
1876 – Friedrich Traun, German sprinter and tennis player (d. 1908)
1884 – Ed Archibald, Canadian pole vaulter (d. 1965)
1885 – Dezső Kosztolányi, Hungarian author and poet (d. 1936)
1888 – Enea Bossi, Sr., Italian-American engineer, designed the Budd BB-1 Pioneer and Bossi-Bonomi Pedaliante (d. 1963)
1889 – Warner Baxter, American actor (d. 1951)
1889 – Howard Lindsay, American producer, playwright, librettist, director and actor (d. 1968)
1890 – Bert Bliss, English international footballer, inside forward (d. 1968)
1891 – Yvan Goll, French-German poet and playwright (d. 1950)
1891 – Alfred Neubauer, Austrian race car driver and manager (d. 1980)
1892 – József Mindszenty, Hungarian cardinal (d. 1975)
1893 – Astrid Holm, Danish actress (d. 1961)
1895 – Ernst Jünger, German philosopher and author (d. 1998)
1896 – Wilhelm Ackermann, German mathematician (d. 1962)
1899 – Lavrentiy Beria, Georgian-Russian general and politician (d. 1953)
1900 – Bill Aston, English race car driver (d. 1974)
1900 – John McEwen, Australian farmer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1980)
1902 – Marcel Aymé, French author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1967)
1902 – Don Miller, American football player and coach (d. 1979)
1902 – William Walton, English composer (d. 1983)
1903 – Douglas Harkness, Canadian colonel and politician, 14th Canadian Minister of National Defence (d. 1999)
1906 – James Bausch, American decathlete and football player (d. 1974)
1907 – Braguinha, Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2006)
1908 – Arthur O’Connell, American actor (d. 1981)
1908 – Dennis O’Keefe, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1968)
1909 – Moon Mullican, American country and western singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1967)
1912 – Hanna Reitsch, German soldier and pilot (d. 1979)
1914 – Phil Foster, American actor (d. 1985)
1914 – Chapman Pincher, Indian-English historian, journalist, and author (d. 2014)
1916 – Peter Geach, English philosopher and academic (d. 2013)
1916 – Eugene McCarthy, American poet and politician (d. 2005)
1917 – Tommy Holmes, American baseball player (d. 2008)
1918 – Pearl Bailey, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
1918 – Lê Văn Thiêm, Vietnamese mathematician and academic (d. 1991)
1918 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam’s Club (d. 1992)
1919 – Eileen Heckart, American actress (d. 2001)
1920 – John M. Belk, American businessman and politician (d. 2007)
1920 – Clarke Fraser, American-Canadian geneticist and academic (d. 2014)
1920 – Pierre Moinot, French author (d. 2007)
1920 – Theodore Trautwein, American lawyer and judge (d. 2000)
1921 – Sam Loxton, Australian cricketer, footballer, and politician (d. 2011)
1923 – Geoff Duke, English-Manx motorcycle racer (d. 2015)
1923 – Betty Binns Fletcher, American lawyer and judge (d. 2012)
1923 – Bob Haymes, American singer-songwriter, and actor (d. 1989)
1926 – Moshe Sanbar, Hungarian-Israeli banker and economist (d. 2012)
1927 – John McLaughlin, American journalist and producer (d. 2016)
1927 – John Vane, English pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1928 – Romesh Bhandari, Pakistani-Indian politician, 13th Foreign Secretary of India (d. 2013)
1928 – Keith Botsford, Belgian-American journalist, author, and academic (d. 2018)
1928 – Vincent Gigante, American boxer and mobster (d. 2005)
1929 – Sheila Kitzinger, English activist, author, and academic (d. 2015)
1929 – Richard Lewontin, American biologist, geneticist, and academic
1929 – Lennart Meri, Estonian director and politician, 2nd President of Estonia (d. 2006)
1929 – Utpal Dutt, Indian Bengali actor, director and playwright (d. 1993)
1930 – Anerood Jugnauth, Mauritian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Mauritius
1931 – Ștefan Andrei, Romanian politician, 87th Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2014)
1931 – Sopubek Begaliev, Kyrgyzstani economist and politician (d. 2002)
1931 – Aleksei Gubarev, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2015)
1931 – Norman Tebbit, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1933 – Jacques Brault, Canadian poet and academic
1934 – Shahryar Khan, Indian-Pakistani politician and diplomat, 20th Foreign Secretary of Pakistan
1936 – Richard Rodney Bennett, English-American composer and educator (d. 2012)
1936 – Mogens Camre, Danish politician (d. 2016)
1936 – John A. Durkin, American lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
1936 – Judith Guest, American author and screenwriter
1936 – Joseph P. Teasdale, American lawyer and politician, 48th Governor of Missouri (d. 2014)
1937 – Roberto Chabet, Filipino painter and sculptor (d. 2013)
1937 – Smarck Michel, Haitian businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Haiti (d. 2012)
1937 – Gordon Milne, English footballer
1938 – Bert de Vries, Dutch politician
1939 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (d. 2008)
1939 – Terence Hill, Italian actor, director, and producer
1400 – The Trần dynasty of Vietnam is deposed, after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule, by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
1568 – The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.
1708 – James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth as part of the planned French invasion of Britain.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle.
1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” begin their arduous journey home.
1821 – Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.
1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
1857 – Elisha Otis’s first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
1862 – American Civil War: The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign. Although a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond.
1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
1879 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.
1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hưng Hóa, northern Vietnam.
1888 – In England, The Football League, the world’s oldest professional association football league, meets for the first time.
1889 – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, British India.
1901 – Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured at Palanan, Isabela by the forces of General Frederick Funston.
1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete’s union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
1918 – First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming prisoners of war
1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
1931 – Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian independence movement.
1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
1939 – The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of the Slovak air force in Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and beginning the Slovak–Hungarian War.
1940 – The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All-India Muslim League.
1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. This date is now celebrated as Republic Day in Pakistan.
1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
1977 – The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.
1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
1980 – Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
1982 – Guatemala’s government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.
1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
1991 – The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking the 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed into the Kuznetsk Alatau mountain, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia, killing 75.
1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay’s Vice President Luis María Argaña.
2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
2003 – Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.
2008 – Official opening of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India
2009 – FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.
2018 – President of Peru Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigns from the presidency amid a mass corruption scandal before certain impeachment by the opposition-majority Congress of Peru.
2019 – The Kazakh capital of Astana was renamed to Nur-Sultan.
2019 – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces declared military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after four years of fighting, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper cells across Syria and Iraq.
Births on March 23
1338 – Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (d. 1374)
1430 – Margaret of Anjou (d. 1482)
1514 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (d. 1548)
1599 – Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663)
1614 – Jahanara Begum, Mughal princess (d. 1681)
1643 – Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado, Spanish Dominican lay sister and mystic (d. 1731)
1699 – John Bartram, American botanist and explorer (d. 1777)
1732 – Princess Marie Adélaïde of France (d. 1800)
1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
1750 – Johannes Matthias Sperger, Austrian bassist and composer (d. 1812)
1754 – Jurij Vega, Slovene mathematician, physicist and artillery officer (d. 1802)
1769 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general and diplomat (d. 1832)
1769 – William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
1823 – Schuyler Colfax, American journalist and politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
1826 – Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1917)
1834 – Julius Reubke, German pianist and composer (d. 1858)
1838 – Marie Adam-Doerrer, Swiss women’s rights activist and unionist (d. 1908)
1842 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian-German historian, businessman and composer (d. 1909)
1842 – Susan Jane Cunningham, American mathematician (d. 1921)
1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
1862 – Nathaniel Reed, American criminal (d. 1950)
1868 – Dietrich Eckart, German journalist and politician (d. 1923)
1869 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (d. 1964)
1869 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Turkish-Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955)
1872 – Michael Joseph Savage, Australian-New Zealand union leader and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940)
1874 – Grantley Goulding, English hurdler (d. 1947)
1874 – J. C. Leyendecker, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1951)
1876 – Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, poet and activist (d. 1924)
1876 – Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Burmese poet, writer and political leader (d. 1964)
1878 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1934)
1880 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician, Finnish Minister of the Interior (d. 1922)
1881 – Lacey Hearn, American sprinter (d. 1969)
1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist and paleographer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
1882 – Emmy Noether, Jewish German-American mathematician, physicist and academic (d. 1935)
1884 – Joseph Boxhall, English sailor (d. 1967)
1885 – Platt Adams, American jumper and politician (d. 1961)
1885 – Roque González Garza, Mexican general and acting president (1915) (d. 1962)
1886 – Frank Irons, American long jumper (d. 1942)
1887 – Josef Čapek, Czech painter and poet (d. 1945)
1887 – Rudolf Kinau, German author (d. 1975)
1887 – Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1927)
1887 – Sidney Hillman, Lithuanian-born American labor leader (d. 1946)
1891 – Po Kya, Burmese author and educationist (d. 1942)
1893 – Cedric Gibbons, Irish-American art director and production designer (d. 1960)
1893 – Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu, Indian engineer and businessman (d. 1974)
1894 – Arthur Grimsdell, English international footballer wing half and cricketer (d. 1963)
1895 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (d. 2001)
1895 – Dane Rudhyar, French-American astrologer, author and composer (d. 1985)
1898 – Louis Adamic, Slovenian-American author, translator and politician (d. 1951)
1898 – Madeleine de Bourbon-Busset, Duchess of Parma (d. 1984)
1899 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
1900 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and sociologist (d. 1980)
1901 – Bon Maharaja, Indian guru and religious writer (d. 1982)
1903 – Frank Sargeson, New Zealand author (d. 1982)
1904 – Joan Crawford, American film actress (d. 1977)
1905 – Lale Andersen, German chanson singer-songwriter (d. 1972)
1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
1909 – Charles Werner, American cartoonist (d. 1997)
1910 – Jerry Cornes, English runner, colonial officer and educator (d. 2001)
1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1998)
1912 – Eleanor Cameron, Canadian-American author and critic (d. 1996)
1912 – Neil McCorkell, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 2013)
1912 – Wernher von Braun, German-American physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
1913 – Abidin Dino, Turko-French painter and illustrator (d. 1993)
1914 – Milbourne Christopher, American magician and author (d. 1984)
1915 – Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (d. 2014)
1915 – Vasily Zaytsev, Russian captain (d. 1991)
1917 – Harry Cranbrook Allen, English historian (d. 1998)
1918 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (d. 1992)
1918 – Helene Hale, American politician (d. 2013)
1918 – Naoki Kazu, Japanese football player (d.1940s)
1919 – Carl Graffunder, American architect and educator (d. 2013)
1920 – Neal Edward Smith, American pilot, lawyer and politician
1920 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
1921 – Donald Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1967)
1921 – Peter Lawler, Australian public servant (d. 2017)
1922 – Marty Allen, American comedian and actor (d. 2018)
1922 – Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor (d. 1990)
1923 – Angelo Ingrassia, American soldier and judge (d. 2013)
1924 – Rodney Mims Cook, Sr., American lieutenant and politician (d. 2013)
1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor, invented Liquid Paper (d. 1980)
1924 – Olga Kennard, English crystallographer and academic
1924 – John Madin, English architect (d. 2012)
1925 – David Watkin, English cinematographer (d. 2008)
1929 – Roger Bannister, English runner, neurologist and academic (d. 2018)
1929 – Michael Manser, English architect and engineer (d. 2016)
1931 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player and author (d. 2016)
1931 – Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (d. 2013)
1932 – Don Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
1933 – Norman Bailey, English opera singer and educator
1933 – Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist and academic
1934 – Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 2017)
1934 – Mark Rydell, American actor, director and producer
1935 – Barry Cryer, English comedian, actor and screenwriter
1936 – Jannis Kounellis, Greek painter and sculptor (d. 2017)
1937 – Craig Breedlove, American race car driver
1937 – Tony Burton, American actor, comedian, boxer and football player (d. 2016)
1937 – Robert Gallo, American physician and academic
1938 – Jon Finlayson, Australian actor and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1942 – Michael Haneke, Austrian director, producer and screenwriter
1942 – Jimmy Miller, American record producer and musician (d. 1994)
1942 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian, scholar and activist (d. 1980)
1943 – Andrew Crockett, Scottish-English economist and banker (d. 2012)
1943 – Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Finnish singer, author and director (d. 2001)
1944 – B. P. Gavrilov, Russian rugby player (d. 2006)
1944 – Tony McPhee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1944 – Michael Nyman, English composer of minimalist music and pianist
1945 – Franco Battiato, Italian singer-songwriter and director
1945 – David Grisman, American mandolin player and composer
1946 – Alan Bleasdale, English screenwriter and producer
1947 – Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, American author
1948 – Wasim Bari, Pakistani cricketer
1948 – Marie Malavoy, German-Canadian educator and politician
1949 – Ric Ocasek, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (d. 2019)
1950 – Corinne Cléry, French actress
1950 – Phil Lanzon, English keyboard player and songwriter
1950 – Ahdaf Soueif, Egyptian author and translator
1951 – Ron Jaworski, American football player and sportscaster
1951 – Adrian Reynard, English businessman, founded Reynard Motorsport
1952 – Francesco Clemente, Italian painter and illustrator
1952 – Kent Lambert, New Zealand rugby player
1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
1952 – Rex Tillerson, American businessman, engineer and diplomat; 69th United States Secretary of State
1953 – Bo Díaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer-songwriter
1953 – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian zoologist and businesswoman
1954 – Geno Auriemma, Italian-American basketball player and coach
1954 – Kenneth Cole, American fashion designer, founded Kenneth Cole Productions
1954 – Paul Price, English born, Welsh international footballer, defender and manager
1955 – Moses Malone, American basketball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
1956 – José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese academic and politician, 115th Prime Minister of Portugal
1957 – Lucio Gutiérrez, Ecuadorian politician, 52nd President of Ecuador
1957 – Robbie James, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 1998)
1957 – Amanda Plummer, American actress
1958 – Etienne De Wilde, Belgian cyclist
1958 – Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
1958 – Hugh Grant, Scottish business executive
1959 – Catherine Keener, American actress
1960 – Nicol Stephen, Baron Stephen, Scottish lawyer and politician, 2nd Deputy First Minister of Scotland
1961 – Roger Crisp, English philosopher and academic
1961 – Craig Green, New Zealand rugby player
1961 – Helmi Johannes, Indonesian journalist and producer
1962 – Steve Redgrave, English rower
1963 – Míchel, Spanish footballer and manager
1963 – Juan Ramón López Caro, Spanish footballer and manager
1963 – Ana Fidelia Quirot, Cuban runner
1964 – Hope Davis, American actress
1965 – Gary Whitehead, American poet and painter
1966 – Lorenzo Daniel, American sprinter
1966 – Vasilis Vouzas, Greek footballer and manager
1968 – Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter, producer and actor
1968 – Mike Atherton, English cricketer and journalist
1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer and manager
1968 – Pierre Palmade, French actor and screenwriter
1971 – Yasmeen Ghauri, Canadian model
1971 – Gail Porter, Scottish model and television host
1971 – Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
1971 – Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Japanese wrestler
1972 – Jonas Björkman, Swedish-Monégasque tennis player and coach
1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
1972 – Judith Godrèche, French actress and author
1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
1973 – Wim Eyckmans, Belgian race car driver
1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player and coach
1974 – Randall Park, American actor, director and screenwriter
1975 – Burak Gürpınar, Turkish drummer
1975 – Andy Turner, English footballer, winger and manager
1976 – Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist and race car driver
1976 – Smriti Irani, Indian actress, producer and politician, Indian Minister of Human Resource Development
1976 – Dougie Lampkin, English motorcycle racer
1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress
1976 – Joel Peralta, Dominican baseball player
1976 – Keri Russell, American actress
1976 – Ricardo Zonta, Brazilian race car driver
1976 – Sa Beining, Chinese host
1977 – Miklos Perlus, Canadian actor and screenwriter
1978 – Simon Gärdenfors, Swedish illustrator
1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentinian footballer
1979 – Mark Buehrle, American baseball player
1979 – Donncha O’Callaghan, Irish rugby player
1981 – Erin Crocker, American race car driver
1981 – Tony Peña, Jr., Dominican baseball player
1981 – Shelley Rudman, English bobsledder
1981 – Giuseppe Sculli, Italian footballer
1981 – Brett Young, American country music singer
1982 – José Contreras Arrau, Chilean footballer
1982 – Andrea Musacco, Italian footballer
1982 – Evgeni Striganov, Estonian ice dancer
1983 – Hakan Balta, Turkish footballer
1983 – Mo Farah, Somali-English runner
1983 – Sascha Riether, German international footballer
1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer
1984 – Ryan Araña, Filipino basketball player
1984 – Brandon Marshall, American football player
1985 – Maurice Jones-Drew, American football player
1985 – Bethanie Mattek-Sands, American tennis player
1986 – Patrick Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
1986 – Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer
1986 – Brett Eldredge, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1986 – Kangana Ranaut, Indian actress
1987 – Alan Toovey, Australian footballer
1988 – Dellin Betances, American baseball player
1988 – Jason Kenny, English cyclist
1988 – Michal Neuvirth, Czech ice hockey player
1989 – Ayesha Curry, Canadian-American chef, author and television personality
1989 – Nikola Gulan, Serbian footballer
1989 – Sarah McKenna, English rugby player
1989 – Luis Fernando Silva, Mexican footballer
1990 – Jaime Alguersuari, Spanish race car driver
1990 – Robert Zickert, German footballer
1991 – Gregg Wylde, Scottish footballer
1992 – Tolga Ciğerci, German-Turkish footballer
1992 – Kyrie Irving, Australian-American basketball player
1993 – Kyle Lovett, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Aytaç Kara, Turkish footballer
1994 – Nick Powell, English footballer
1995 – Kevin Kauber, Estonian footballer
1995 – Jan Lisiecki, Canadian pianist
1995 – Ozan Tufan, Turkish footballer
1996 – Alexander Albon, Thai-British race car driver
Deaths on March 23
851 – Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 793)
1022 – Zhen Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 968)
1103 – Eudes I, duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, English politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1310)
1369 – Peter, king of Castile and León (b. 1334)
1483 – Yolande, duchess of Lorraine (b. 1428)
1548 – Itagaki Nobukata, Japanese samurai (b. 1489)
1555 – Julius III, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1487)
1559 – Gelawdewos, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1521)
1596 – Henry Unton, English diplomat (b. 1557)
1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish philologist and scholar (b. 1547)
1618 – James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, Scottish police officer and politician (b. 1575)
1629 – Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, English landowner and politician (b. 1580)
1675 – Anthoni van Noordt, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1619)
1680 – Nicolas Fouquet, French politician (b. 1615)
1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French historian and author (b. 1670)
1747 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French general (b. 1675)
1748 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German organist and composer (b. 1684)
1754 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and critic (b. 1693)
1783 – Charles Carroll, English barrister and politician (b. 1723)
45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius.
455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire; he forces Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor, Valentinian III, to marry him.
1001 – The Raja of Butuan in what is now the Philippines sends a tributary mission to the Song dynasty.
1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
1452 – The Battle of Los Alporchones is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the Emirate of Granada and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile and Murcia resulting in a Christian victory.
1560 – Fort Coligny on Villegagnon Island in Rio de Janeiro is attacked and destroyed during the Portuguese campaign against France Antarctique.
1677 – The Siege of Valenciennes, during the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France’s taking of the city.
1776 – American Revolution: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.
1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy.
1824 – The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch.
1842 – The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed.
1852 – Annibale De Gasparis discovers in Naples the asteroid Psyche from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars.
1861 – The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
1921 – The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.
1939 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins.
1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1942 – Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.
1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
1948 – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name “californium”.
1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
1958 – The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite.
1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.
1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
1968 – As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.
1988 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
2000 – Five hundred and thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.
2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed.
Births on March 17
763 – Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph (d. 809)
1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
1473 – James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
1523 – Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Catholic cardinal (d. 1584)
1537 – Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō (d. 1598)
1611 – Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Swedish field marshal (d. 1662)
1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichord player and composer (d. 1729)
1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish philosopher and theologian (d. 1732)
1686 – Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver (d. 1755)
1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (d. 1806)
1777 – Patrick Brontë, Irish-English priest and author (d. 1861)
1777 – Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1864)
1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator (d. 1847)
1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, English poet and educator (d. 1849)
1804 – Jim Bridger, American fur trader and explorer (d. 1881)
1806 – Norbert Rillieux, African American inventor and chemical engineer (d. 1894)
1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and author (d. 1897)
1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (d. 1900)
1839 – Josef Rheinberger, Liechtensteiner-German organist and composer (d. 1901)
1846 – Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator (d. 1901)
1849 – Charles F. Brush, American businessman and philanthropist, co-invented the Arc lamp (d. 1929)
1849 – Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (d. 1934)
1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist (d. 1930)
1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1930)
1866 – Pierce Butler, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1939)
1867 – Patrice Contamine de Latour, Spanish poet (d. 1926)
1877 – Edith New, British militant suffragette (d. 1951)
1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian-German psychoanalyst and philosopher (d. 1920)
1880 – Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1952)
1880 – Lawrence Oates, English lieutenant and explorer (d. 1912)
1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
1884 – Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player (d. 1934)
1885 – Ralph Rose, American track and field athlete (d. 1913)
1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (d. 1974)
1888 – Paul Ramadier, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1961)
1889 – Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (d. 1931)
1891 – Ross McLarty, Australian politician, 17th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1962)
1892 – Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1923)
1894 – Paul Green, American playwright and academic (d. 1981)
1895 – Lloyd Rees, Australian painter (d. 1988)
1901 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (d. 1970)
1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (d. 1971)
1904 – Chaim Gross, Austrian-American sculptor and educator (d. 1991)
1906 – Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (d. 1996)
1907 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)
1907 – Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1988)
1910 – Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1991)
1912 – Bayard Rustin, American activist (d. 1987)
1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (d. 2008)
1915 – Robert S. Arbib Jr., American ornithologist, writer and conservationist (d. 1987)
1915 – Ray Ellington, English drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
1915 – Bill Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider (d. 2011)
1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965)
1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, 12th Israeli Minister of Communications (d. 2009)
1922 – Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 2014)
1924 – Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (d. 2013)
1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor (d. 2015)
1926 – Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright (d. 2014)
1927 – Betty Allen, American soprano and educator (d. 2009)
1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2007)
1930 – Paul Horn, American-Canadian flute player and saxophonist (d. 2014)
1930 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1991)
1931 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (d. 2011)
1931 – David Peakall, English-American chemist and toxicologist (d. 2001)
1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American journalist and activist
1933 – Penelope Lively, English author
1935 – Fred T. Mackenzie, American biologist and academic
1935 – Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor
1936 – Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (d. 2019)
1936 – Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovakian composer and conductor (d. 2016)
1936 – Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
1937 – Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina
1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
1938 – Keith O’Brien, Northern Ireland-born Scottish cleric, theologian, and cardinal (d. 2018)
1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (d. 2007)
1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
1939 – Bill Graham, Canadian academic and politician, 4th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, English sailor and first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe
1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
1940 – Mark White, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Texas (d. 2017)
1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese soldier and politician
1941 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
1941 – Max Stafford-Clark, English director and academic
1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer and rapist (d. 1994)
1943 – Jeff Banks, Welsh fashion designer
1943 – Andrew Brook, Canadian philosopher, author, and academic
1944 – Pattie Boyd, English model, author, and photographer
1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
1944 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
1947 – Dennis Bond, English footballer, midfielder
1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-American songwriter and producer
1948 – William Gibson, American-Canadian author and screenwriter
1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and manager
1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor, director, and producer
1949 – Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach
1949 – Stuart Rose, English businessman
1951 – Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor and producer
1952 – Barry Horne, English activist (d. 2001)
1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist (d. 2001)
1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (d. 2013)
1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American activist and politician
1955 – Paul Overstreet, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor, director, and bass player
1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American author and illustrator
1956 – Rory McGrath, British comedian, television personality, and writer
1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 2003)
1958 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
1959 – Danny Ainge, American baseball and basketball player
1959 – Paul Black, American singer-songwriter and drummer
1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress and singer
1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2006)
1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
1962 – Carsten Almqvist, Swedish business executive
1962 – Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician
1962 – Janet Gardner, American singer and guitarist
1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress
1962 – Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, and producer
1963 – Roger Harper, Guyanese cricketer and coach
1964 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer and journalist
1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor and producer
1964 – Jacques Songo’o, Cameroonian footballer and coach
1965 – Andrew Hudson, South African cricketer
1966 – Andrew Rosindell, English journalist and politician
1967 – Jason Alchin, Australian rugby league player
1967 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer
1967 – Barry Minkow, American pastor and businessman
1968 – Eri Nitta, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
1968 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor and producer
1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French skier
1969 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founded own eponymous brand (d. 2010)
1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Gene Ween, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player and coach
1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player
1972 – Torquil Campbell, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and drummer
1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player and manager
1974 – Mark Dolan, English comedian and television host
1975 – Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter
1975 – Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
1975 – Test, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 2009)
1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2009)
1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
1977 – Tamar Braxton, American singer-songwriter and actress
1978 – Zachery Kouwe, American journalist
1979 – Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Gregory, American adult film actress
1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer
1979 – Samoa Joe, American professional wrestler
1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
1980 – Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistani tennis player
1981 – Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer
1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
1981 – Nicky Jam, American-Puerto-Rican singer and songwriter
1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
1983 – James Heath, English golfer
1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
1983 – Attila Vajda, Hungarian sprint canoeist
1984 – Ryan Rottman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1913)
2006 – İstemihan Taviloğlu, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1945)
2007 – John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (b. 1924)
2007 – Roger Bennett, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1959)
2008 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (b. 1937)
2010 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1950)
2010 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2011 – Michael Gough, English actor (b. 1916)
2011 – Ferlin Husky, American country music singer (b. 1925)
2012 – Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria (b. 1923)
2012 – Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (b. 1919)
2013 – William B. Caldwell III, American general (b. 1925)
2013 – Lawrence Fuchs, American scholar and academic (b. 1927)
2013 – A.B.C. Whipple, American journalist and historian (b. 1918)
2014 – Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (b. 1974)
2014 – Joseph Kerman, American musicologist and critic (b. 1924)
2014 – Rachel Lambert Mellon, American gardener, philanthropist, art collector and political patron (b. 1910)
2015 – Frank Perris, Canadian motorcycle racer (b. 1931)
2016 – Meir Dagan, Israeli general (b. 1945)
2016 – Zoltán Kamondi, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1960)
2018 – Mike MacDonald, Canadian comedian (b. 1954)
2018 – Phan Văn Khải, the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances on March 17
Children’s Day (Bangladesh)
Christian feast day:
Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
Gertrude of Nivelles
John Sarkander
Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
Patrick of Ireland
March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
Saint Patrick’s Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated in the English-speaking world and to a lesser degree in other parts of the world.
473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
1575 – Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Sultan of Bengal Daud Khan Karrani’s army at the Battle of Tukaroi.
1585 – The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek near Savannah, Georgia.
1799 – The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison.
1820 – The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
1845 – Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
1849 – The Territory of Minnesota is created.
1857 – Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, concludes.
1861 – Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs.
1865 – Opening of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the founding member of the HSBC Group.
1873 – Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any “obscene literature and articles of immoral use” through the mail.
1875 – Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen receives its première at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
1875 – The first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey is played in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as recorded in the Montreal Gazette.
1878 – The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano.
1885 – The American Telephone & Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York.
1891 – Shoshone National Forest is established as the first national forest in the US and world.
1910 – Rockefeller Foundation: John D. Rockefeller Jr. announces his retirement from managing his businesses so that he can devote all his time to philanthropy.
1913 – Thousands of women march in the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C.
1918 – Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, agreeing to withdraw from World War I, and conceding German control of the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine. It also conceded Turkish control of Ardahan, Kars and Batumi.
1923 – TIME magazine is published for the first time.
1924 – The 407-year-old Islamic caliphate is abolished, when Caliph Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman Caliphate is deposed. The last remnant of the old regime gives way to the reformed Turkey of Kemal Atatürk.
1924 – The Free State of Fiume is annexed by the Kingdom of Italy.
1931 – The United States adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem.
1938 – Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
1939 – In Bombay, Mohandas Gandhi begins a hunger strike in protest at the autocratic rule in British India.
1940 – Five people are killed in an arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Flamman in Luleå, Sweden.
1942 – World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people.
1943 – World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
1944 – The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
1945 – World War II: American and Filipino troops recapture Manila.
1945 – World War II: The RAF accidentally bombs the Bezuidenhout area of The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.
1951 – Jackie Brenston, with Ike Turner and his band, records “Rocket 88”, often cited as “the first rock and roll record”, at Sam Phillips’s recording studios in Memphis, Tennessee.
1953 – A De Havilland Comet (Canadian Pacific Air Lines) crashes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11.
1958 – Nuri al-Said becomes Prime Minister of Iraq for the eighth time.
1969 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
1972 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.
1974 – Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard.
1980 – The USS Nautilus is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.
1985 – Arthur Scargill declares that the National Union of Mineworkers’ national executive voted to end the longest-running industrial dispute in Great Britain without any peace deal over pit closures.
1985 – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake strikes the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless.
1986 – The Australia Act 1986 commences, causing Australia to become fully independent from the United Kingdom.
1991 – An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
2005 – James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. This is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.
2005 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling.
2005 – Margaret Wilson is elected as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, beginning a period lasting until August 23, 2006 where all the highest political offices (including Elizabeth II as Head of State), were occupied by women, making New Zealand the first country for this to occur.
2013 – A bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan, kills at least 45 people and injured 180 others in a predominately Shia Muslim area.
Births on March 3
1455 – John II of Portugal (d. 1495)
1455 – Ascanio Sforza, Catholic cardinal (d. 1505)
1506 – Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja (d. 1555)
1520 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (d. 1575)
1583 – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English-Welsh soldier, historian, and diplomat (d. 1648)
1589 – Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch minister, theologian, and academic (d. 1676)
1606 – Edmund Waller, English poet and politician (d. 1687)
1652 – Thomas Otway, English playwright and author (d. 1685)
1678 – Madeleine de Verchères, Canadian rebel leader (d. 1747)
1756 – William Godwin, English journalist and author (d. 1836)
1778 – Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1841)
1793 – William Macready, English actor and manager (d. 1873)
1800 – Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist and paleontologist (d. 1862)
1803 – Thomas Field Gibson, English manufacturer who aided the welfare of the Spitalfields silk weavers (d. 1889)
1805 – Jonas Furrer, Swiss politician (d. 1861)
1816 – William James Blacklock, English-Scottish painter (d. 1858)
1819 – Gustave de Molinari, Dutch-Belgian economist and theorist (d. 1912)
1825 – Shiranui Kōemon, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1879)
1831 – George Pullman, American engineer and businessman, founded the Pullman Company (d. 1897)
1839 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian businessman, founded Tata Group (d. 1904)
1841 – John Murray, Canadian-Scottish oceanographer and biologist (d. 1914)
1845 – Georg Cantor, Russian-German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1918)
1847 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-American engineer and academic, invented the telephone (d. 1922)
1860 – John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player and manager (d. 1925)
1866 – Fred A. Busse, American lawyer and politician, 39th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1914)
1868 – Émile Chartier, French philosopher and journalist (d. 1951)
1869 – Henry Wood, English conductor (d. 1944)
1871 – Maurice Garin, Italian-French cyclist (d. 1957)
1873 – William Green, American union leader and politician (d. 1952)
1880 – Florence Auer, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1962)
1880 – Yōsuke Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1946)
1882 – Elisabeth Abegg, German anti-Nazi resistance fighter (d. 1974)
1882 – Charles Ponzi, Italian businessman (d. 1949)
1883 – Cyril Burt, English psychologist and geneticist (d. 1971)
1883 – Paul Marais de Beauchamp, French zoologist (d. 1977)
1887 – Lincoln J. Beachey, American pilot (d. 1915)
1891 – Damaskinos of Athens, Greek archbishop (d. 1949)
1893 – Beatrice Wood, American illustrator and potter (d. 1998)
1895 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
1895 – Matthew Ridgway, American general (d. 1993)
1898 – Emil Artin, Austrian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1962)
1900 – Edna Best, British stage and film actress, appeared on early television in 1938 (d. 1974)
1902 – Ruby Dandridge, African-American film and radio actress (d. 1987)
1901 – Claude Choules, English-Australian soldier (d. 2011)
1903 – Vasily Kozlov, Belarusian general and politician (d. 1967)
1906 – Artur Lundkvist, Swedish poet and critic (d. 1991)
1911 – Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
1911 – Hugues Lapointe, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1982)
1913 – Margaret Bonds, American pianist and composer (d. 1972)
1913 – Harold J. Stone, American actor (d. 2005)
1914 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter and sculptor (d. 1973)
1916 – Paul Halmos, Hungarian-American mathematician (d. 2006)
1917 – Sameera Moussa, Egyptian physicist and academic (d. 1952)
1918 – Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
1920 – Julius Boros, American golfer and accountant (d. 1994)
1920 – James Doohan, Canadian-American actor and soldier (d. 2005)
1920 – Ronald Searle, English-French soldier and illustrator (d. 2011)
1921 – Diana Barrymore, American actress (d. 1960)
1922 – Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2002)
1923 – Barney Martin, American police officer and actor (d. 2005)
1923 – Doc Watson, American bluegrass singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2012)
1924 – Tomiichi Murayama, Japanese soldier and politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Japan
1926 – James Merrill, American poet and playwright (d. 1995)
1927 – Pierre Aubert, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 2016)
1930 – Ion Iliescu, Romanian engineer and politician, 2nd President of Romania
1934 – Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, English politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
1934 – Jimmy Garrison, American bassist and educator (d. 1976)
1935 – Mal Anderson, Australian tennis player
1935 – Michael Walzer, American philosopher and academic
1935 – Zhelyu Zhelev, Bulgarian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of Bulgaria (d. 2015)
1939 – Larry Burkett, American author and radio host (d. 2003)
1939 – M. L. Jaisimha, Indian cricketer (d. 1999)
1940 – Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian author and journalist
1940 – Perry Ellis, American fashion designer, founded Perry Ellis (d. 1986)
1940 – Jean-Paul Proust, French-Monacan police officer and politician, 21st Minister of State of Monaco (d. 2010)
1941 – Mike Pender, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – George Miller, Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
1945 – Hattie Winston, American actress
1947 – Clifton Snider, American author, poet, and critic
1947 – Jennifer Warnes, American singer-songwriter and producer
1948 – Snowy White, English guitarist
1949 – Ron Chernow, American historian, journalist, and author
1949 – Bonnie J. Dunbar, American engineer, academic, and astronaut
1949 – Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player (d. 2011)
1950 – Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Bangladeshi politician
1951 – Andy Murray, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1951 – Heizō Takenaka, Japanese economist and politician
1952 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor and producer (d. 2008)
1953 – Robyn Hitchcock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – Zico, Brazilian footballer and coach
1954 – Keith Fergus, American golfer
1954 – John Lilley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1954 – Édouard Lock, Moroccan-Canadian dancer and choreographer
1955 – Darnell Williams, English-American actor and director
1956 – Zbigniew Boniek, Polish footballer and manager
1956 – John Fulton Reid, New Zealand cricketer
1957 – Stephen Budiansky, American historian, journalist, and author
1957 – Thom Hoffman, Dutch actor and photographer
1958 – Miranda Richardson, English actress
1959 – Ira Glass, American radio host and producer
1959 – Duško Vujošević, Montenegrin basketball player and coach
1960 – Neal Heaton, American baseball player and coach
1961 – Mary Page Keller, American actress and producer
1961 – John Matteson, American biographer
1961 – Perry McCarthy, English race car driver
1961 – Fatima Whitbread, English javelin thrower
1962 – Glen E. Friedman, American photographer
1962 – Jackie Joyner-Kersee, American heptathlete and long jumper
1962 – Herschel Walker, American football player and mixed martial artist
1963 – Martín Fiz, Spanish runner
1963 – Khaltmaagiin Battulga, 5th President of Mongolia
1964 – Raúl Alcalá, Mexican cyclist
1964 – Laura Harring, Mexican-American model and actress, Miss USA 1985
1964 – Glenn Kulka, Canadian ice hockey player and wrestler
1965 – Dragan Stojković, Serbian footballer and manager
1966 – Tone Lōc, American rapper, producer, and actor
1966 – Timo Tolkki, Finnish guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1968 – Brian Cox, English keyboard player and physicist
1968 – Brian Leetch, American ice hockey player
1970 – Julie Bowen, American actress
1970 – Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer and coach
1971 – Charlie Brooker, English journalist, producer, and author
1971 – Tyler Florence, American chef and author
1972 – Darren Anderton, English international footballer, midfielder and sportscaster
1973 – Xavier Bettel, Luxembourger lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Luxembourg
1973 – Matthew Marsden, English actor and martial artist
1974 – David Faustino, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1976 – Fraser Gehrig, Australian footballer
1976 – Isabel Granada, Filipino-Spanish actress (d. 2017)
1976 – Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, Estonian politician, 28th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
86 BC – Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus ending the Siege of Athens and Piraeus.
293 – Emperor Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi (“Four Rulers of the World”).
317 – Crispus and Constantine II, sons of Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius Iunior, son of Emperor Licinius, are made Caesares.
350 – Vetranio is asked by Constantina, sister of Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar.
834 – Emperor Louis the Pious is restored as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire. After his re-accession to the throne, his eldest son Lothair I flees to Burgundy.
1457 – The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination.
1476 – Forces of the Catholic Monarchs engage the combined Portuguese-Castilian armies of Afonso V and Prince John at the Battle of Toro.
1562 – Sixty-three Huguenots are massacred in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
1565 – The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.
1628 – Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
1633 – Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.
1642 – Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine), becomes the first incorporated city in the United States.
1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.
1700 – Sweden introduces its own Swedish calendar, in an attempt to gradually merge into the Gregorian calendar, reverts to the Julian calendar on this date in 1712, and introduces the Gregorian calendar on this date in 1753.
1713 – The siege and destruction of Fort Neoheroka begins during the Tuscarora War in North Carolina, effectively opening up the colony’s interior to European colonization.
1781 – The Articles of Confederation goes into effect in the United States.
1790 – The first United States census is authorized.
1793 – French Revolutionary War: Battle of Aldenhoven during the Flanders Campaign.
1796 – The Dutch East India Company is nationalized by the Batavian Republic.
1803 – Ohio becomes the 17th state of The United States.
1805 – Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.
1811 – Leaders of the Mamluk dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
1815 – Georgetown University’s congressional charter is signed into law by President James Madison.
1836 – A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
1845 – United States President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
1852 – Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
1854 – German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in a canal near Charlottenburg.
1867 – Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state; Lancaster, Nebraska is renamed Lincoln and becomes the state capital.
1868 – The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is founded at the University of Virginia.
1870 – Marshal F. S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the Paraguayan War.
1872 – Yellowstone National Park is established as the world’s first national park.
1873 – E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York begins production of the first practical typewriter.
1881 – The first Minnesota State Capitol burns down.
1886 – The Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore is founded by Bishop William Oldham.
1893 – Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.
1896 – Battle of Adwa: An Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
1896 – Henri Becquerel discovers radioactive decay.
1901 – The Australian Army is formed.
1910 – The deadliest avalanche in United States history buries a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington, killing 96 people.
1914 – The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.
1917 – The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.
1919 – March 1st Movement begins in Korea under Japanese rule.
1921 – The Australian cricket team captained by Warwick Armstrong becomes the first team to complete a whitewash of The Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.
1921 – Following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in the RSFSR, the Kronstadt rebellion began, with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.
1932 – Charles Lindbergh’s son is kidnapped.
1936 – The Hoover Dam is completed.
1939 – An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explodes at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.
1941 – World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.
1942 – World War II: Japanese forces land on Java, the main island of the Dutch East Indies, at Merak and Banten Bay (Banten), Eretan Wetan (Indramayu) and Kragan (Rembang).
1946 – The Bank of England is nationalised.
1947 – The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
1949 – Indonesian Army recaptures and occupies for six hours its capital city Yogyakarta from the Dutch.
1950 – Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.
1953 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.
1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
1954 – Armed Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
1956 – The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
1956 – Formation of the East German Nationale Volksarmee.
1958 – Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first U.S. member of the Roman Curia.
1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
1961 – Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.
1964 – Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe.
1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet’s surface.
1966 – The Ba’ath Party takes power in Syria.
1971 – President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
1972 – The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani Province.
1973 – Black September storms the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, resulting in the assassination of three Western hostages.
1974 – Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
1981 – Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
1983 – First collection of twelve Swatch models was introduced in Zürich, Switzerland.
1990 – Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
1991 – Uprisings against Saddam Hussein begin in Iraq, leading to the death of more than 25,000 people mostly civilian.
1992 – Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
1998 – Titanic became the first film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
2002 – The Envisat environmental satellite successfully launches aboard an Ariane 5 rocket to reach an orbit of 800 km (500 mi) above the Earth, which was the then-largest payload at 10.5 m long and with a diameter of 4.57 m.
2003 – Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
2003 – The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
2005 – In Roper v. Simmons, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the execution of juveniles found guilty of murder is unconstitutional.
2006 – English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.
2007 – Tornadoes break out across the southern United States, killing at least 20 people, including eight at Enterprise High School.
2008 – The Armenian police clash with peaceful opposition rally protesting against allegedly fraudulent presidential elections, as a result ten people are killed.
2014 – Thirty-five people are killed and 143 injured in a mass stabbing at Kunming Railway Station in China.
Births on March 1
1105 – Alfonso VII, king of León and Castile (d. 1157)
1261 – Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester (d. 1326)
1389 – Antoninus of Florence, Italian archbishop and saint (d. 1459)
1432 – Isabella of Coimbra (d. 1455)
1456 – Vladislaus II of Hungary (d. 1516)
1547 – Rudolph Goclenius, German philosopher and lexicographer (d. 1628)
1554 – William Stafford, English courtier and conspirator (d. 1612)
1577 – Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland (d. 1635)
1597 – Jean-Charles della Faille, Flemish priest and mathematician (d. 1652)
1611 – John Pell, English mathematician and linguist (d. 1685)
1629 – Abraham Teniers, Flemish painter (d. 1670)
1647 – John de Brito, Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr (d. 1693)
1657 – Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian and author (d. 1740)
1683 – Tsangyang Gyatso, sixth Dalai Lama (d. 1706)
1683 – Caroline of Ansbach, British queen and regent (d. 1737)
1732 – William Cushing, American lawyer and judge (d. 1810)
1760 – François Buzot, French lawyer and politician (d. 1794)
1769 – François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (d. 1796)
1807 – Wilford Woodruff, American religious leader, 4th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1898)
1810 – Frédéric Chopin, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1849)
1812 – Augustus Pugin, English architect, co-designed the Palace of Westminster (d. 1852)
1817 – Giovanni Duprè, Italian sculptor and educator (d. 1882)
1821 – Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German bishop and academic (d. 1896)
1835 – Philip Fysh, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1919)
1837 – William Dean Howells, American novelist, playwright, and critic (d. 1920)
1842 – Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek painter and academic (d. 1901)
1848 – Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Irish-American sculptor and academic (d. 1907)
1852 – Théophile Delcassé, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1923)
1863 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter and set designer (d. 1930)
1870 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek-French astronomer and academic (d. 1944)
1876 – Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian businessman (d. 1942)
1880 – Lytton Strachey, British writer and critic (d. 1932)
1886 – Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian-Swiss painter, poet, and playwright (d. 1980)
1888 – Ewart Astill, English cricketer and billiards player (d. 1948)
1888 – Fanny Walden, English cricketer and umpire, international footballer, outside right (d. 1949)
1889 – Tetsuro Watsuji, Japanese historian and philosopher (d. 1960)
1890 – Theresa Bernstein, Polish-American painter and author (d. 2002)
1891 – Ralph Hitz, Austrian-American hotelier (d. 1940)
1892 – Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Japanese author and educator (d. 1927)
1893 – Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1968)
1896 – Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1960)
1896 – Moriz Seeler, German playwright and producer (d. 1942)
1899 – Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, German SS officer (d. 1972)
1904 – Paul Hartman, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1973)
1904 – Glenn Miller, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1944)
1905 – Doris Hare, Welsh-English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2000)
1906 – Phạm Văn Đồng, Vietnamese lieutenant and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Vietnam (d. 2000)
1909 – Eugene Esmonde, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 1942)
1909 – Winston Sharples, American pianist and composer (d. 1978)
1910 – Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2002)
1910 – David Niven, English soldier and actor (d. 1983)
1912 – Gerald Emmett Carter, Canadian cardinal (d. 2003)
1912 – Boris Chertok, Polish-Russian engineer and academic (d. 2011)
1914 – Harry Caray, American sportscaster (d. 1998)
1914 – Ralph Ellison, American novelist and literary critic (d. 1994)
1917 – Robert Lowell, American poet (d. 1977)
1918 – João Goulart, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Brazil (d. 1976)
1918 – Gladys Spellman, American educator and politician (d. 1988)
1920 – Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
1921 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (d. 2008)
1921 – Terence Cooke, American cardinal (d. 1983)
1921 – Richard Wilbur, American poet, translator, and essayist (d. 2017)
1922 – William Gaines, American publisher (d. 1992)
1922 – Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli general and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
1924 – Arnold Drake, American author and screenwriter (d. 2007)
1924 – Deke Slayton, American soldier, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1993)
1926 – Robert Clary, French-American actor and author
1926 – Cesare Danova, Italian-American actor (d. 1992)
1926 – Pete Rozelle, American businessman and commissioner of the National Football League (d. 1996)
1926 – Allan Stanley, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2013)
1927 – George O. Abell, American astronomer, professor at UCLA, science popularizer, and skeptic (d. 1983)
1927 – Harry Belafonte, American singer-songwriter and actor
1927 – Robert Bork, American lawyer and scholar, United States Attorney General (d. 2012)
1928 – Jacques Rivette, French director, screenwriter, and critic (d. 2016)
1929 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian journalist and author (d. 1978)
1930 – Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (d. 1980)
1934 – Jean-Michel Folon, Belgian painter and sculptor (d. 2005)
1934 – Joan Hackett, American actress (d. 1983)
1935 – Robert Conrad, American actor, radio host and stuntman (d. 2020)
1936 – Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (d. 1997)
1939 – Leo Brouwer, Cuban guitarist, composer, and conductor
1939 – Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Pakistani author
1940 – Robin Gray, Australian politician, 37th Premier of Tasmania
1940 – Robert Grossman, American painter, sculptor, and author (d. 2018)
1941 – Robert Hass, American poet
1942 – Richard Myers, American general
1943 – Gil Amelio, American businessman
1943 – José Ángel Iribar, Spanish footballer and manager
1943 – Rashid Sunyaev, Russian-German astronomer and physicist
1944 – Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Indian politician, 7th Chief Minister of West Bengal
1944 – John Breaux, American lawyer and politician
1944 – Roger Daltrey, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
1944 – Mike d’Abo, English singer
1945 – Dirk Benedict, American actor and director
1946 – Gerry Boulet, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1990)
1946 – Jim Crace, English author and academic
1947 – Alan Thicke, Canadian-American actor and composer (d. 2016)
1951 – Sergei Kourdakov, Russian-American KGB agent (d. 1973)
1952 – Dave Barr, Canadian golfer
1952 – Nevada Barr, American actress and author
1952 – Leigh Matthews, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster
1952 – Jerri Nielsen, American physician and explorer (d. 2009)
1952 – Martin O’Neill, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1953 – Sinan Çetin, Turkish actor, director, and producer
1953 – Carlos Queiroz, Portuguese footballer and manager
1954 – Catherine Bach, American actress
1954 – Ron Howard, American actor, director, and producer
1954 – Rod Reddy, Australian rugby league player and coach
1956 – Tim Daly, American actor, director, and producer
1956 – Dalia Grybauskaitė, Lithuanian politician, 6th President of Lithuania
1958 – Nik Kershaw, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1958 – Wayne B. Phillips, Australian cricketer and coach
1959 – Nick Griffin, English politician
1961 – Mike Rozier, American football player
1962 – Russell Coutts, New Zealand sailor
1962 – Mark Gardner, American baseball player
1962 – Bill Leen, American bass player and producer
1963 – Bryan Batt, American actor and singer
1963 – Maurice Benard, American actor
1963 – Ron Francis, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
1964 – Clinton Gregory, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
1964 – Paul Le Guen, French footballer and manager
1965 – Booker T, American wrestler and sportscaster
1965 – Stewart Elliott, Canadian jockey
1966 – Paul Hollywood, English chef
1966 – Zack Snyder, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1967 – George Eads, American actor
1967 – Aron Winter, Suriname-Dutch footballer and manager
1969 – Javier Bardem, Spanish actor and producer
1970 – Jason V Brock, American author, filmmaker, artist, scholar and musician
1971 – Thomas Adès, English pianist, composer, and conductor
1971 – Ivan Cleary, Australian rugby league player and coach
1973 – Jack Davenport, English actor
1973 – Anton Gunn, American academic and politician
1973 – Chris Webber, American basketball player and sportscaster
1983 – Anthony Tupou, Australian rugby league player
1984 – Naima Mora, American model and actress
1984 – Alexander Steen, Canadian-Swedish ice hockey player
1985 – Andreas Ottl, German footballer
1986 – Big E, American wrestler
1987 – Kesha, American singer-songwriter and actress
1988 – Yang Hyeon-jong, South Korean baseball player
1989 – Tenille Tayla, Australian professional wrestler
1989 – Carlos Vela, Mexican footballer
1992 – Tom Walsh, New Zealand athlete
1993 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Michael Conforto, American baseball player
1993 – Kurt Mann, Australian rugby league player
1993 – Josh McEachran, English footballer
1994 – Justin Bieber, Canadian singer-songwriter
1994 – Tyreek Hill, American football player
1996 – Lizzie Arnot, Scottish footballer
1999 – Brogan Hay, Scottish footballer
Deaths on March 1
492 – Felix III, pope of the Catholic Church
589 – David, Welsh bishop and saint
965 – Leo VIII, pope of the Catholic Church
977 – Rudesind, Galician bishop (b. 907)
991 – En’yū, Japanese emperor (b. 959)
1058 – Ermesinde of Carcassonne, countess and regent of Barcelona (b. 972)
1131 – Stephen II, king of Hungary and Croatia (b. 1101)
1233 – Thomas, count of Savoy (b. 1178)
1244 – Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr, Welsh noble, son of Llywelyn the Great (b. 1200)
1320 – Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Chinese emperor (b. 1286)
1383 – Amadeus VI, count of Savoy (b. 1334)
1510 – Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese soldier and explorer (b. 1450)
1546 – George Wishart, Scottish minister and martyr (b. 1513)
1620 – Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (b. 1567)
1633 – George Herbert, English poet and orator (b. 1593)
1643 – Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1583)
1661 – Richard Zouch, English judge and politician (b. 1590)
1666 – Ecaterina Cercheza, princess consort of Moldavia (b. 1620)
1697 – Francesco Redi, Italian physician and poet (b. 1626)
1734 – Roger North, English lawyer and author (b. 1653)
1768 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and author (b. 1694)
1773 – Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect, designed the Palace of Caserta (b. 1700)
1792 – Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1747)
1792 – Angelo Emo, Venetian admiral and statesman (b. 1731)1841 – Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno, French general and politician, French Minister of Defence (b. 1764)
1862 – Peter Barlow, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1776)
1875 – Tristan Corbière, French poet and educator (b. 1845)
1882 – Theodor Kullak, German pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1818)
1884 – Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician and academic (b. 1820)
1906 – José María de Pereda, Spanish author (b. 1833)
1911 – Jacobus Henricus van ‘t Hoff, Dutch-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
1914 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, English soldier and politician, 8th Governor General of Canada (b. 1845)
1920 – John H. Bankhead, American lawyer and politician (b. 1842)
1922 – Pichichi, Spanish footballer (b. 1892)
1932 – Frank Teschemacher, American Jazz musician (b. 1906)
1936 – Mikhail Kuzmin, Russian author and poet (b. 1871)
1938 – Gabriele D’Annunzio, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1863)
1940 – Anton Hansen Tammsaare, Estonian author (b. 1878)
1942 – George S. Rentz, American commander (b. 1882)
1943 – Alexandre Yersin, Swiss-French physician and bacteriologist (b. 1863)
1952 – Mariano Azuela, Mexican physician and author (b. 1873)
1966 – Fritz Houtermans, Polish-German physicist and academic (b. 1903)
1974 – Bobby Timmons, American pianist and composer (b. 1935)
1976 – Jean Martinon, French conductor and composer (b. 1910)
1978 – Paul Scott, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
1979 – Mustafa Barzani, Iraqi-Kurdistan politician (b. 1903)
1980 – Wilhelmina Cooper, Dutch-American model and businesswoman, founded Wilhelmina Models (b. 1940)
1980 – Dixie Dean, English footballer (b. 1907)
1983 – Arthur Koestler, Hungarian-English journalist and author (b. 1905)
1984 – Jackie Coogan, American actor (b. 1914)
1988 – Joe Besser, American comedian and actor (b. 1907)
1989 – Vasantdada Patil, Indian politician, 5th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1917)
1991 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and businessman, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (b. 1909)
1995 – Georges J. F. Köhler, German biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1946)
1998 – Archie Goodwin, American author and illustrator (b. 1937)
2004 – Mian Ghulam Jilani, Pakistani general (b. 1914)
2006 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (b. 1947)
2006 – Jack Wild, English actor (b.1952)
2010 – Kristian Digby, English television host and director (b. 1977)
2012 – Andrew Breitbart, American journalist and publisher (b. 1969)
2012 – Germano Mosconi, Italian journalist (b. 1932)
2013 – Bonnie Franklin, American actress, dancer, and singer (b. 1944)
2014 – Alain Resnais, French director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
2015 – Minnie Miñoso, Cuban-American baseball player and coach (b. 1922)
2018 – María Rubio, Mexican television, film and stage actress (b. 1934)
2019 – Mike Willesee, Australian journalist and producer (b. 1942)
Holidays and observances on March 1
Beer Day, marked the end of beer prohibition in 1989 (Iceland)
Christian feast day:
Agnes Tsao Kou Ying (one of the Martyr Saints of China)
Albin
David
Eudokia of Heliopolis
Pope Felix III
Leoluca
Luperculus
Monan
Rudesind
Suitbert
March 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Commemoration of Mustafa Barzani’s Death (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Earliest day on which Casimir Pulaski Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in March. (Illinois)
Earliest day on which Children’s Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in March. (New Zealand)
Earliest day on which Grandmother’s Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in March. (France)
Earliest day on which Laetare Sunday can fall, while April 4 is the latest; celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
Carnaval de la Laetare (Stavelot)
Mothering Sunday (United Kingdom)
Heroes’ Day (Paraguay)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.
National “Cursed Soldiers” Remembrance Day (Poland)
National Pig Day (United States)
Remembrance Day (Marshall Islands)
Saint David’s Day or Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant (Wales and Welsh communities)
Samiljeol (South Korea)
Self-injury Awareness Day
Southeastern Europe celebration of the beginning of spring:
Baba Marta Day (Bulgaria)
Mărțișor (Romania and Moldova)
The final day (fourth or fifth) of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith)
