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1751

April 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day, Uncategorized /
  • 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
  • 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory over Magnus Magnentius.
  • 1192 – Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I), King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title to the throne is confirmed by election. The killing is carried out by Hashshashin.
  • 1253 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for the very first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
  • 1503 – The Battle of Cerignola is fought. It is noted as one of the first European battles in history won by small arms fire using gunpowder.
  • 1611 – Establishment of the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines, the largest Catholic university in the world.
  • 1758 – The Marathas defeat the Afghans in the Battle of Attock and capture the city.
  • 1788 – Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the United States Constitution.
  • 1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island.
  • 1792 – France invades the Austrian Netherlands (present day Belgium and Luxembourg), beginning the French Revolutionary Wars.
  • 1794 – Sardinians, headed by Giovanni Maria Angioy, start a revolution against Savoy domination, expelling Viceroy Balbiano and his officials from Cagliari, the capital and largest city of the island.
  • 1796 – The Armistice of Cherasco is signed by Napoleon Bonaparte and Vittorio Amedeo III, King of Sardinia, expanding French territory along the Mediterranean coast.
  • 1869 – Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the First Transcontinental Railroad lay ten miles of track in one day, a feat which has never been matched.
  • 1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from the Lincoln County jail in Mesilla, New Mexico.
  • 1887 – A week after being arrested by the Prussian Secret Police, French police inspector Guillaume Schnaebelé is released on order of William I, German Emperor, defusing a possible war.
  • 1910 – Frenchman Louis Paulhan wins the 1910 London to Manchester air race, the first long-distance aeroplane race in England.
  • 1920 – Azerbaijan is added to the Soviet Union.
  • 1923 – Wembley Stadium is opened, named initially as the Empire Stadium.
  • 1930 – The Independence Producers hosted the first night game in the history of Organized Baseball in Independence, Kansas.
  • 1941 – The Ustaše massacre nearly 200 Serbs in the village of Gudovac, the first massacre of their genocidal campaign against Serbs of the Independent State of Croatia.
  • 1944 – World War II: Nine German E-boats attacked US and UK units during Exercise Tiger, the rehearsal for the Normandy landings, killing 946.
  • 1945 – Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are shot dead by Walter Audisio, a member of the Italian resistance movement.
  • 1947 – Thor Heyerdahl and five crew mates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki to demonstrate that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia.
  • 1948 – Igor Stravinsky conducted the premiere of his American ballet, Orpheus at the New York City Center.
  • 1949 – The Hukbalahap are accused of assassinating former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, while she is en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and ten others are also killed.
  • 1952 – Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.
  • 1952 – The Treaty of San Francisco comes into effect, restoring Japanese sovereignty and ending its state of war with most of the Allies of World War II.
  • 1952 – The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (Treaty of Taipei) is signed in Taipei, Taiwan between Japan and the Republic of China to officially end the Second Sino-Japanese War.
  • 1965 – United States occupation of the Dominican Republic: American troops land in the Dominican Republic to “forestall establishment of a Communist dictatorship” and to evacuate U.S. Army troops.
  • 1967 – Vietnam War: Boxer Muhammad Ali refuses his induction into the United States Army and is subsequently stripped of his championship and license.
  • 1969 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.
  • 1970 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to take part in the Cambodian campaign.
  • 1973 – The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, recorded in Abbey Road Studios goes to number one on the US Billboard chart, beginning a record-breaking 741-week chart run.
  • 1975 – General Cao Văn Viên, chief of the South Vietnamese military, departs for the US as the North Vietnamese Army closed in on victory.
  • 1977 – The Red Army Faction trial ends, with Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe found guilty of four counts of murder and more than 30 counts of attempted murder.
  • 1978 – President of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, is overthrown and assassinated in a coup led by pro-communist rebels.
  • 1986 – The United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise becomes the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal, navigating from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to relieve the USS Coral Sea.
  • 1986 – High levels of radiation resulting from the Chernobyl disaster are detected at a nuclear power plant in Sweden, leading Soviet authorities to publicly announce the accident.
  • 1988 – Near Maui, Hawaii, flight attendant Clarabelle “C.B.” Lansing is blown out of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and falls to her death when part of the plane’s fuselage rips open in mid-flight.
  • 1993 – A Zambia Air Force DHC-5 Buffalo crashes off the coast of Libreville, Gabon, killing all 30 passengers, which included the entire Zambia national football team.
  • 1994 – Former Central Intelligence Agency counterintelligence officer and analyst Aldrich Ames pleads guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia.
  • 1996 – Whitewater controversy: President Bill Clinton gives a 4½ hour videotaped testimony for the defense.
  • 1996 – Port Arthur massacre, Tasmania: A gunman, Martin Bryant, opens fire at the Broad Arrow Cafe in Port Arthur, Tasmania, killing 35 people and wounding 23 others.
  • 2004 – CBS News released evidence of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. The photographs show rape and abuse from the American troops over Iraqi detainees.

Births on April 28

  • AD 32 – Otho, Roman emperor (d. 69 AD)
  • 1402 – Nezahualcoyotl, Acolhuan philosopher, warrior, poet and ruler (d. 1472)
  • 1442 – Edward IV, king of England (d. 1483)
  • 1545 – Yi Sun-sin, Korean commander (d. 1598)
  • 1573 – Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême, son of Charles IX (d. 1650)
  • 1604 – Joris Jansen Rapelje, Dutch settler in colonial North America (d. 1662)
  • 1623 – Wilhelmus Beekman, Dutch politician (d. 1707)
  • 1630 – Charles Cotton, English poet and author (d. 1687)
  • 1676 – Frederick I, prince consort and king of Sweden (d. 1751)
  • 1715 – Franz Sparry, Austrian composer and educator (d. 1767)
  • 1758 – James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States (d. 1831)
  • 1761 – Marie Harel, French cheesemaker (d. 1844)
  • 1765 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician and academic (d. 1834)
  • 1819 – Ezra Abbot, American scholar and academic (d. 1884)
  • 1827 – William Hall, Canadian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1904)
  • 1838 – Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and scholar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1913)
  • 1848 – Ludvig Schytte, Danish pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1909)
  • 1854 – Hertha Marks Ayrton, Polish-British engineer, mathematician, and physicist. (d. 1923)
  • 1855 – José Malhoa, Portuguese painter (d. 1933)
  • 1863 – Josiah Thomas, English-Australian miner and politician, 7th Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1933)
  • 1863 – Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (d. 1929)
  • 1865 – Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist and academic (d. 1940)
  • 1868 – Lucy Booth, English composer (d. 1953)
  • 1868 – Georgy Voronoy, Ukrainian-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1908)
  • 1874 – Karl Kraus, Austrian journalist and author (d. 1936)
  • 1874 – Sidney Toler, American actor and director (d. 1947)
  • 1876 – Nicola Romeo, Italian engineer and businessman (d. 1938)
  • 1878 – Lionel Barrymore, American actor and director (d. 1954)
  • 1886 – Erich Salomon, German-born news photographer (d. 1944)
  • 1886 – Art Shaw, American hurdler (d. 1955)
  • 1888 – Walter Tull, English footballer and soldier (d. 1918)
  • 1889 – António de Oliveira Salazar, Portuguese economist and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1970)
  • 1896 – Na Hye-sok, South Korean journalist, poet, and painter (d. 1948)
  • 1896 – Tristan Tzara, Romanian-French poet and critic (d. 1963)
  • 1897 – Ye Jianying, Chinese general and politician, Head of State of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Alice Berry, Australian activist (d. 1978)
  • 1900 – Heinrich Müller, German SS officer (d. 1945)
  • 1900 – Jan Oort, Dutch astronomer and academic (d. 1992)
  • 1901 – H. B. Stallard, English runner and surgeon (d. 1973)
  • 1902 – Johan Borgen, Norwegian author and critic (d. 1979)
  • 1906 – Kurt Gödel, Czech-American mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1978)
  • 1906 – Paul Sacher, Swiss conductor and philanthropist (d. 1999)
  • 1908 – Ethel Catherwood, American-Canadian high jumper and javelin thrower (d. 1987)
  • 1908 – Jack Fingleton, Australian cricketer, journalist, and sportscaster (d. 1981)
  • 1908 – Oskar Schindler, Czech-German businessman (d. 1974)
  • 1909 – Arthur Võõbus, Estonian-American theologist and orientalist (d. 1988)
  • 1910 – Sam Merwin, Jr., American author (d. 1996)
  • 1911 – Lee Falk, American director, producer, and playwright (d. 1999)
  • 1912 – Odette Hallowes, French soldier and spy (d. 1995)
  • 1912 – Kaneto Shindō, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
  • 1913 – Rose Murphy, American singer (d. 1989)
  • 1914 – Michel Mohrt, French author, historian (d. 2011)
  • 1916 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, created Lamborghini (d. 1993)
  • 1917 – Robert Cornthwaite, American actor (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Rowland Evans, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 2001)
  • 1921 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian author and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Carolyn Cassady, American author (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – William Guarnere, American sergeant (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Dick Ayers, American author and illustrator (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Blossom Dearie, American singer and pianist (d. 2009)
  • 1924 – Kenneth Kaunda, Zambian educator and politician, 1st President of Zambia
  • 1925 – T. John Lesinski, American judge and politician, 51st Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (d. 1996)
  • 1925 – John Leonard Thorn, English lieutenant, author, and academic
  • 1926 – James Bama, American artist and illustrator
  • 1926 – Bill Blackbeard, American historian and author (d. 2011)
  • 1926 – Harper Lee, American novelist (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Hulusi Sayın, Turkish general (d. 1991)
  • 1928 – Yves Klein, French painter (d. 1962)
  • 1928 – Eugene Merle Shoemaker, American geologist and astronomer (d. 1997)
  • 1930 – James Baker, American lawyer and politician, 61st United States Secretary of State
  • 1930 – Carolyn Jones, American actress (d. 1983)
  • 1933 – Miodrag Radulovacki, Serbian-American neuropharmacologist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Lois Duncan, American journalist and author (d. 2016)
  • 1935 – Pedro Ramos, Cuban baseball player
  • 1935 – Jimmy Wray, Scottish boxer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi journalist and politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Saddam Hussein, Iraqi general and politician, 5th President of Iraq (d. 2006)
  • 1937 – Jean Redpath, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1937 – John White, Scottish international footballer(d. 1964)
  • 1938 – Madge Sinclair, Jamaican-American actress (d. 1995)
  • 1941 – Ann-Margret, Swedish-American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1941 – Lucien Aimar, French cyclist
  • 1941 – John Madejski, English businessman and academic
  • 1941 – Karl Barry Sharpless, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1941 – Iryna Zhylenko, Ukrainian poet and author (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Mike Brearley, English cricketer and psychoanalyst
  • 1943 – Aryeh Bibi, Iraqi-born Israeli politician
  • 1944 – Elizabeth LeCompte, American director and producer
  • 1944 – Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, Belgian politician, 10th Minister-President of the Walloon Region
  • 1944 – Alice Waters, American chef and author
  • 1946 – Nour El-Sherif, Egyptian actor and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1946 – Ginette Reno, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1946 – Larissa Grunig, American theorist and activist
  • 1947 – Christian Jacq, French historian and author
  • 1947 – Nicola LeFanu, English composer and academic
  • 1947 – Steve Khan, American jazz guitarist
  • 1948 – Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1948 – Marcia Strassman, American actress and singer (d. 2014)
  • 1949 – Jeremy Cooke, English lawyer and judge
  • 1949 – Paul Guilfoyle, American actor
  • 1949 – Bruno Kirby, American actor and director (d. 2006)
  • 1950 – Willie Colón, Puerto Rican-American trombonist and producer
  • 1950 – Jay Leno, American comedian, talk show host, and producer
  • 1950 – Steve Rider, English journalist and sportscaster
  • 1951 – Tim Congdon, English economist and politician
  • 1951 – Larry Smith, Canadian football player and politician
  • 1952 – Chuck Leavell, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1952 – Mary McDonnell, American actress
  • 1953 – Roberto Bolaño, Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet, and essayist (d. 2003)
  • 1953 – Kim Gordon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1953 – Brian Greenhoff, English footballer and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1954 – Timothy Curley, American educator
  • 1954 – Michael P. Jackson, American politician, 3rd Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
  • 1954 – Vic Sotto, Filipino actor-producer, singer-songwriter, comedian and television personality
  • 1954 – Ron Zook, American football player and coach
  • 1955 – Eddie Jobson, English keyboard player and violinist
  • 1955 – Dieter Rubach, German bass player
  • 1956 – Jimmy Barnes, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1957 – Wilma Landkroon, Dutch singer
  • 1958 – Hal Sutton, American golfer
  • 1960 – Tom Browning, American baseball player
  • 1960 – Elena Kagan, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • 1960 – Phil King, English bass player
  • 1960 – Ian Rankin, Scottish author
  • 1960 – Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Icelandic strongman and weightlifter (d. 1993)
  • 1960 – Walter Zenga, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Sandrine Dumas, French actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Lloyd Eisler, Canadian figure skater and coach
  • 1963 – Marc Lacroix, Belgian biochemist and academic
  • 1964 – Stephen Ames, Trinidadian golfer
  • 1964 – Noriyuki Iwadare, Japanese composer
  • 1964 – Ajay Kakkar, Baron Kakkar, English surgeon and academic
  • 1964 – Barry Larkin, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1964 – L’Wren Scott, American model and fashion designer (d. 2014)
  • 1965 – Jennifer Rardin, American author (d. 2010)
  • 1966 – John Daly, American golfer
  • 1966 – Too Short, American rapper, producer and actor
  • 1967 – Chris White, English engineer and politician
  • 1968 – Howard Donald, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1968 – Andy Flower, South-African-Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
  • 1969 – LeRon Perry Ellis, American basketball player
  • 1970 – Richard Fromberg, Australian tennis player
  • 1970 – Nicklas Lidström, Swedish ice hockey player and scout
  • 1970 – Diego Simeone, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Brad McEwan, Australian journalist
  • 1972 – Violent J, American rapper
  • 1972 – Helena Tulve, Estonian composer
  • 1972 – Jean-Paul van Gastel, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Jorge Garcia, American actor and producer
  • 1973 – Earl Holmes, American football player and coach
  • 1973 – Andrew Mehrtens, South African-New Zealand rugby player
  • 1974 – Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress and producer
  • 1974 – Margo Dydek, Polish basketball player and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1974 – Richel Hersisia, Dutch boxer
  • 1974 – Vernon Kay, English radio and television host
  • 1974 – Dominic Matteo, Scottish footballer and journalist
  • 1975 – Michael Walchhofer, Austrian skier
  • 1976 – Shane Jurgensen, Australian cricketer
  • 1978 – Lauren Laverne, English singer and television host
  • 1978 – Robert Oliveri, American actor
  • 1978 – Nate Richert, American actor
  • 1979 – Scott Fujita, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1980 – Bradley Wiggins, English cyclist
  • 1981 – Jessica Alba, American model and actress
  • 1981 – Pietro Travagli, Italian rugby player
  • 1982 – Nikki Grahame, English model and journalist
  • 1982 – Chris Kaman, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Josh Brookes, Australian motorcycle racer
  • 1983 – David Freese, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Roger Johnson, English footballer
  • 1983 – Graham Wagg, English cricketer
  • 1983 – Thomas Waldrom, New Zealand-English rugby player
  • 1984 – Dmitri Torbinski, Russian footballer
  • 1985 – Lucas Jakubczyk, German sprinter and long jumper
  • 1985 – Deividas Stagniūnas, Lithuanian ice dancer
  • 1986 – Roman Polák, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Jenna Ushkowitz, Korean-American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1987 – Ryan Conroy, Scottish footballer
  • 1987 – Samantha Akkineni, Indian actress and model
  • 1987 – Bradley Johnson, English footballer
  • 1987 – Zoran Tošić, Serbian footballer
  • 1988 – Jonathan Biabiany, French footballer
  • 1988 – Juan Manuel Mata, Spanish footballer
  • 1988 – Katariina Tuohimaa, Finnish tennis player
  • 1989 – Emil Salomonsson, Swedish footballer
  • 1989 – Kim Sung-kyu, South Korean singer
  • 1990 – Niels-Peter Mørck, Danish footballer
  • 1992 – Blake Bortles, American football player
  • 1992 – DeMarcus Lawrence, American football player
  • 1993 – Craig Garvey, Australian rugby league player
  • 1993 – Eva Samková, Czech snowboarder
  • 1995 – Jonathan Benteke, Belgian footballer
  • 1995 – Melanie Martinez, American singer

Deaths on April 28

  • 224 – Artabanus V of Parthia (b. 191)
  • 948 – Hu Jinsi, Chinese general and prefect
  • 988 – Adaldag, archbishop of Bremen
  • 1109 – Abbot Hugh of Cluny (b. 1024)
  • 1192 – Conrad of Montferrat (b. 1140)
  • 1197 – Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince of Deheubarth (b. 1132)
  • 1257 – Shajar al-Durr, sovereign sultana of Egypt
  • 1260 – Luchesius Modestini, founding member of the Third Order of St. Francis
  • 1400 – Baldus de Ubaldis, Italian jurist (b. 1327)
  • 1489 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1449)
  • 1533 – Nicholas West, English bishop and diplomat (b. 1461)
  • 1643 – Francisco de Lucena, Portuguese politician (b. 1578)
  • 1710 – Thomas Betterton, English actor and manager (b. 1630)
  • 1716 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (b. 1673)
  • 1726 – Thomas Pitt, English merchant and politician (b. 1653)
  • 1741 – Magnus Julius De la Gardie, Swedish general and politician (b. 1668)
  • 1772 – Johann Friedrich Struensee, German physician and politician (b. 1737)
  • 1781 – Cornelius Harnett, American merchant, farmer, and politician (b. 1723)
  • 1813 – Mikhail Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (b. 1745)
  • 1816 – Johann Heinrich Abicht, German philosopher, author, and academic (b. 1762)
  • 1841 – Peter Chanel, French priest, missionary, and martyr (b. 1803)
  • 1853 – Ludwig Tieck, German author and poet (b. 1773)
  • 1858 – Johannes Peter Müller, German physiologist and anatomist (b. 1801)
  • 1865 – Samuel Cunard, Canadian-English businessman, founded Cunard Line (b. 1787)
  • 1881 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (b. 1818)
  • 1883 – John Russell, English hunter and dog breeder (b. 1795)
  • 1902 – Cyprien Tanguay, Canadian priest and historian (b. 1819)
  • 1903 – Josiah Willard Gibbs, American scientist (b. 1839)
  • 1905 – Fitzhugh Lee, American general and politician, 40th Governor of Virginia (b. 1835)
  • 1925 – Richard Butler, English-Australian politician, 23rd Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
  • 1928 – May Jordan McConnel, Australian trade unionist and suffragist (b. 1860)
  • 1929 – Hendrik van Heuckelum, Dutch footballer (b. 1879)
  • 1936 – Fuad I of Egypt (b. 1868)
  • 1944 – Mohammed Alim Khan, Manghud ruler (b. 1880)
  • 1944 – Frank Knox, American journalist and politician, 46th United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1874)
  • 1945 – Roberto Farinacci, Italian soldier and politician (b. 1892)
  • 1945 – Hermann Fegelein, German general (b. 1906)
  • 1945 – Benito Mussolini, Italian journalist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1883)
  • 1946 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and academic (b. 1870)
  • 1954 – Léon Jouhaux, French union leader, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
  • 1956 – Fred Marriott, American race car driver (b. 1872)
  • 1957 – Heinrich Bär, German colonel and pilot (b. 1913)
  • 1962 – Bennie Osler, South African rugby player (b. 1901)
  • 1963 – Wilhelm Weber, German gymnast (b. 1880)
  • 1970 – Ed Begley, American actor (b. 1901)
  • 1973 – Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (b. 1893)
  • 1976 – Richard Hughes, American author and poet (b. 1900)
  • 1977 – Ricardo Cortez, American actor (b. 1900)
  • 1977 – Sepp Herberger, German footballer and coach (b. 1897)
  • 1978 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (b. 1909)
  • 1980 – Tommy Caldwell, American bass player (b. 1949)
  • 1987 – Ben Linder, American engineer and activist (b. 1959)
  • 1991 – Steve Broidy, American film producer (b. 1905)
  • 1992 – Francis Bacon, Irish painter (b. 1909)
  • 1993 – Diva Diniz Corrêa, Brazilian zoologist (b. 1918)
  • 1993 – Jim Valvano, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1946)
  • 1994 – Berton Roueché, American journalist and author (b. 1910)
  • 1996 – Lester Sumrall, American minister, founded LeSEA (b. 1913)
  • 1997 – Ann Petry, American novelist (b. 1908)
  • 1998 – Jerome Bixby, American author and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 1999 – Rory Calhoun, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
  • 1999 – Rolf Landauer, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1927)
  • 1999 – Alf Ramsey, English footballer and manager (b. 1920)
  • 1999 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1921)
  • 2000 – Jerzy Einhorn, Polish-Swedish physician and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2000 – Penelope Fitzgerald, English author and poet (b. 1916)
  • 2002 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general and politician (b. 1950)
  • 2002 – Lou Thesz, American wrestler and trainer (b. 1916)
  • 2005 – Percy Heath, American bassist (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – Chris Candido, American wrestler (b. 1971)
  • 2005 – Taraki Sivaram, Sri Lankan journalist and author (b. 1959)
  • 2006 – Steve Howe, American baseball player (b. 1958)
  • 2007 – Dabbs Greer, American actor (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – René Mailhot, Canadian journalist (b. 1942)
  • 2007 – Tommy Newsom, American saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1929)
  • 2007 – Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, German physicist and philosopher (b. 1912)
  • 2007 – Bertha Wilson, Scottish-Canadian lawyer and jurist (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Ekaterina Maximova, Russian ballerina and actress (b. 1939)
  • 2009 – Richard Pratt, Polish-Australian businessman (b. 1934)
  • 2011 – Erhard Loretan, Swiss mountaineer (b. 1959)
  • 2012 – Fred Allen, New Zealand rugby player and coach (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Matilde Camus, Spanish poet and author (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Al Ecuyer, American football player (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Patricia Medina, English actress (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Milan N. Popović, Serbian psychiatrist and author (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Aberdeen Shikoyi, Kenyan rugby player (b. 1985)
  • 2013 – Brad Lesley, American baseball player (b. 1958)
  • 2013 – Fredrick McKissack, American author (b. 1939)
  • 2013 – John C. Reynolds, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Jack Shea, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
  • 2013 – János Starker, Hungarian-American cellist and educator (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Bernie Wood, New Zealand journalist and author (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Barbara Fiske Calhoun, American cartoonist and painter (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – William Honan, American journalist and author (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (b. 1953)
  • 2014 – Edgar Laprade, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Jack Ramsay, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Idris Sardi, Indonesian violinist and composer (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Frederic Schwartz, American architect, co-designed Empty Sky (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Ryan Tandy, Australian rugby player (b. 1981)
  • 2015 – Antônio Abujamra, Brazilian actor and director (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator (b. 1918)
  • 2015 – Michael J. Ingelido, American general (b. 1916)
  • 2016 – Jenny Diski, English author and screenwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2017 – Mariano Gagnon, American Catholic priest and author (b. 1929)
  • 2018 – James Hylton, American race car driver (b. 1934)
  • 2019 – Richard Lugar, American politician (b.1932)
  • 2019 – John Singleton, American film director (b. 1968)

Holidays and observances on April 28

  • Christian feast day:
    • Aphrodisius and companions
    • Gianna Beretta Molla
    • Kirill of Turov (Orthodox, added to Roman Martyrology in 1969)
    • Louis de Montfort
    • Pamphilus of Sulmona
    • Peter Chanel
    • Vitalis and Valeria of Milan
    • April 28 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Lawyers’ Day (Odisha, India)
  • Mujahideen Victory Day (Afghanistan)
  • National Heroes Day (Barbados)
  • Restoration of Sovereignty Day (Japan)
  • Sardinia Day (Sardinia)
  • Workers’ Memorial Day and World Day for Safety and Health at Work (international)
    • National Day of Mourning (Canada)

April 28 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day, Uncategorized

April 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized.
  • 1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan II.
  • 1362 – Kaunas Castle falls to the Teutonic Order after a month-long siege.
  • 1492 – Spain and Christopher Columbus sign the Capitulations of Santa Fe for his voyage to Asia to acquire spices.
  • 1521 – Trial of Martin Luther over his teachings begins during the assembly of the Diet of Worms. Initially intimidated, he asks for time to reflect before answering and is given a stay of one day.
  • 1524 – Giovanni da Verrazzano reaches New York harbor.
  • 1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in the Americas.
  • 1797 – Citizens of Verona begin an unsuccessful eight-day rebellion against the French occupying forces.
  • 1861 – The state of Virginia’s secession convention votes to secede from the United States, later becoming the eighth state to join the Confederate States of America.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Grierson’s Raid begins: Troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Plymouth begins: Confederate forces attack Plymouth, North Carolina.
  • 1869 – Morelos is admitted as the 27th state of Mexico.
  • 1876 – Catalpa rescue: The rescue of six Fenian prisoners from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia.
  • 1895 – The Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan is signed. This marks the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, and the defeated Qing Empire is forced to renounce its claims on Korea and to concede the southern portion of the Fengtien province, Taiwan and the Pescadores Islands to Japan.
  • 1905 – The Supreme Court of the United States decides Lochner v. New York, which holds that the “right to free contract” is implicit in the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
  • 1907 – The Ellis Island immigration center processes 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
  • 1912 – Russian troops open fire on striking goldfield workers in northeast Siberia, killing at least 150.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Kingdom of Yugoslavia surrenders to Germany.
  • 1942 – French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escapes from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.
  • 1944 – Forces of the Communist-controlled Greek People’s Liberation Army attack the smaller National and Social Liberation resistance group, which surrenders. Its leader Dimitrios Psarros is murdered.
  • 1945 – World War II: Montese, Italy, is liberated from Nazi forces.
  • 1946 – The last French troops are withdrawn from Syria.
  • 1951 – The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
  • 1961 – Bay of Pigs Invasion: A group of Cuban exiles financed and trained by the CIA lands at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
  • 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
  • 1969 – Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.
  • 1970 – Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
  • 1971 – The Provisional Government of Bangladesh is formed.
  • 1975 – The Cambodian Civil War ends. The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.
  • 1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber is assassinated, provoking a communist coup d’état in Afghanistan.
  • 1982 – Constitution Act, 1982 Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.
  • 1992 – The Katina P is deliberately run aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean.
  • 2006 – A Palestinian suicide bomber detonates an explosive device in a Tel Aviv restaurant, killing 11 people and injuring 70.
  • 2013 – An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, kills 15 people and injures 160 others.
  • 2014 – NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star.

Births on April 17

  • 44 – Pope Evaristus (d. 107)
  • 1277 – Michael IX Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1320)
  • 1455 – Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice (d. 1538)
  • 1497 – Pedro de Valdivia, Spanish conquistador, conquered northern Chile (d. 1553)
  • 1573 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (d. 1651)
  • 1586 – John Ford, English poet and playwright (d. 1639)
  • 1598 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (d. 1671)
  • 1620 – Marguerite Bourgeoys, French-Canadian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal (d. 1700)
  • 1635 – Edward Stillingfleet, British theologian and scholar (d. 1699)
  • 1676 – Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
  • 1683 – Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (d. 1729)
  • 1710 – Henry Erskine, 10th Earl of Buchan, Scottish politician (d. 1767)
  • 1734 – Taksin, King of Thailand (d. 1782)
  • 1741 – Samuel Chase, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1811)
  • 1750 – François de Neufchâteau, French academic and politician, French Minister of the Interior (d. 1828)
  • 1756 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian commander (d. 1805)
  • 1766 – Collin McKinney, American surveyor, merchant, and politician (d. 1861)
  • 1794 – Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (d. 1868)
  • 1798 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (d. 1840)
  • 1814 – Josif Pančić, Serbian botanist and academic (d. 1888)
  • 1816 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English architect and philanthropist (d. 1876)
  • 1820 – Alexander Cartwright, American firefighter and inventor of baseball (d. 1892)
  • 1833 – Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1900)
  • 1837 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (d. 1913)
  • 1842 – Maurice Rouvier, French businessman and politician, 53rd Prime Minister of France (d. 1911)
  • 1849 – William R. Day, American jurist and politician, 36th United States Secretary of State (d. 1923)
  • 1852 – Cap Anson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1922)
  • 1863 – Augustus Edward Hough Love, English mathematician and theorist (d. 1940)
  • 1865 – Ursula Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian nun and saint, founded the Congregation of the Ursulines of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (d. 1939)
  • 1866 – Ernest Starling, English physiologist and academic (d. 1927)
  • 1875 – Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (d. 1941)
  • 1877 – Matsudaira Tsuneo, Japanese diplomat (d. 1949)
  • 1878 – Emil Fuchs, German-American lawyer and businessman (d. 1961)
  • 1878 – Demetrios Petrokokkinos, Greek tennis player (d. 1942)
  • 1879 – Henri Tauzin, French hurdler (d. 1918)
  • 1882 – Artur Schnabel, Jewish-Polish pianist and composer (d. 1951)
  • 1888 – Herms Niel, German soldier, trombonist, and composer (d. 1954)
  • 1891 – George Adamski, Polish-American ufologist and author (d. 1965)
  • 1895 – Robert Dean Frisbie, American soldier and author (d. 1948)
  • 1896 – Señor Wences, Spanish-American ventriloquist (d. 1999)
  • 1897 – Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian philosopher and educator (d. 1981)
  • 1897 – Thornton Wilder, American novelist and playwright (d. 1975)
  • 1897 – Edouard Wyss-Dunant, Swiss physician and mountaineer (d. 1983)
  • 1899 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete and coach (d. 1958)
  • 1903 – Nicolas Nabokov, Russian-American composer and educator (d. 1978)
  • 1903 – Gregor Piatigorsky, Ukrainian-American cellist and educator (d. 1976)
  • 1903 – Morgan Taylor, American hurdler and coach (d. 1975)
  • 1905 – Louis Jean Heydt, American journalist and actor (d. 1960)
  • 1905 – Arthur Lake, American actor (d. 1987)
  • 1906 – Sidney Garfield, American physician, co-founded Kaiser Permanente (d. 1984)
  • 1909 – Alain Poher, French politician, President of France (d. 1996)
  • 1910 – Evangelos Averoff, Greek historian and politician, Greek Minister of Defence (d. 1990)
  • 1910 – Ivan Goff, Australian screenwriter and producer (d. 1999)
  • 1910 – Helenio Herrera, French footballer and manager (d. 1997)
  • 1911 – Hervé Bazin, French author and poet (d. 1996)
  • 1911 – Lester Rodney, American soldier and journalist (d. 2009)
  • 1912 – Marta Eggerth, Jewish-Hungarian-American actress and singer (d. 2013)
  • 1914 – George Davis, American art director (d. 1984)
  • 1914 – Mac Raboy, American illustrator (d. 1967)
  • 1915 – Martin Clemens, Scottish soldier (d. 2009)
  • 1915 – Joe Foss, American general and politician, 20th Governor of South Dakota (d. 2003)
  • 1915 – Regina Ghazaryan, Armenian painter (d. 1999)
  • 1916 – Win Maung, 3rd President of Union of Myanmar (d. 1989)
  • 1916 – A. Thiagarajah, Sri Lankan educator and politician (d. 1981)
  • 1916 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, world’s first female prime minister (d. 2000)
  • 1918 – William Holden, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1919 – Gilles Lamontagne, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2016)
  • 1919 – Chavela Vargas, Costa Rican-Mexican singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – Edmonde Charles-Roux, French journalist and author (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Lindsay Anderson, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
  • 1923 – Solly Hemus, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
  • 1923 – Neville McNamara, Australian air marshal (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Gianni Raimondi, Italian lyric tenor (d. 2008)
  • 1923 – Harry Reasoner, American soldier and journalist (d. 1991)
  • 1924 – Kenneth Norman Jones, Australian public servant
  • 1924 – Donald Richie, American-Japanese author and critic (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – René Moawad, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 13th President of Lebanon (d. 1989)
  • 1926 – Joan Lorring, British actress (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Gerry McNeil, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (d. 2004)
  • 1927 – Margot Honecker, East German politician and First Lady (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Victor Lownes, American businessman (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – Cynthia Ozick, American short story writer, novelist, and essayist
  • 1928 – Heinz Putzl, Austrian fencer
  • 1928 – Fabien Roy, Canadian accountant and politician
  • 1929 – James Last, German-American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – Chris Barber, English trombonist and bandleader
  • 1931 – John Barrett, English tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1931 – Malcolm Browne, American journalist and photographer (d. 2012)
  • 1934 – Don Kirshner, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1934 – Peter Morris, Australian-English surgeon and academic
  • 1935 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster, founded Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Ronald Hamowy, Canadian historian and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1937 – Ferdinand Piëch, Austrian-German engineer and businessman (d. 2019)
  • 1938 – Ben Barnes, American businessman and politician, 36th Lieutenant Governor of Texas
  • 1938 – Doug Lewis, Canadian lawyer and politician, 41st Canadian Minister of Justice
  • 1938 – Ronald H. Miller, American theologian, author, and academic (d. 2011)
  • 1938 – Kerry Wendell Thornley, American theorist and author (d. 1988)
  • 1939 – Robert Miller, American art dealer (d. 2011)
  • 1940 – Eric Dancer, English businessman and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Devon
  • 1940 – Billy Fury, English singer-songwriter (d. 1983)
  • 1940 – John McCririck, English journalist (d. 2019)
  • 1940 – Chuck Menville, American animator and screenwriter (d. 1992)
  • 1940 – Anja Silja, German soprano and actress
  • 1940 – Agostino Vallini, Italian cardinal and vicar general of Rome
  • 1941 – Lagle Parek, Estonian architect and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
  • 1942 – Buster Williams, American jazz bassist
  • 1943 – Richard Allen Epstein, American lawyer, author, and academic
  • 1946 – Clare Francis, English sailor and author
  • 1947 – Nigel Emslie, Lord Emslie, Scottish lawyer and judge
  • 1947 – Richard Field, English lawyer and judge
  • 1947 – Sherrie Levine, American photographer
  • 1947 – Tsutomu Wakamatsu, Japanese baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1948 – Jan Hammer, Czech pianist, composer, and producer
  • 1948 – Alice Harden, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1948 – Pekka Vasala, Finnish runner
  • 1951 – Olivia Hussey, Argentinian-English actress
  • 1951 – Börje Salming, Swedish ice hockey player and businessman
  • 1952 – Joe Alaskey, American voice actor (d. 2016)
  • 1952 – Pierre Guité, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1952 – John McColl, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey
  • 1952 – Željko Ražnatović, Serbian commander (d. 2000)
  • 1952 – John Robertson, Scottish businessman and politician
  • 1954 – Riccardo Patrese, Italian race car driver
  • 1954 – Roddy Piper, Canadian professional wrestler and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1954 – Michael Sembello, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1955 – Todd Lickliter, American basketball player and coach
  • 1955 – Pete Shelley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
  • 1955 – Mike Stroud, English physician and explorer
  • 1956 – Colin Tyre, Lord Tyre, Scottish lawyer and judge
  • 1957 – Teri Austin, Canadian actress
  • 1957 – Afrika Bambaataa, American disc jockey
  • 1957 – Nick Hornby, English novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Julia Macur, English lawyer and judge
  • 1957 – Frank McDonough, British historian
  • 1958 – Laslo Babits, Canadian javelin thrower (d. 2013)
  • 1959 – Sean Bean, English actor
  • 1959 – Jimmy Mann, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1959 – Li Meisu, Chinese shot putter
  • 1960 – Vladimir Polyakov, Russian pole vaulter
  • 1961 – Frank J. Christensen, American labor union leader
  • 1961 – Norman Cowans, Jamaican-English cricketer
  • 1961 – Boomer Esiason, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Bella Freud, English fashion designer
  • 1962 – Paul Nicholls, English jockey and trainer
  • 1964 – Ken Daneyko, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1964 – Maynard James Keenan, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1964 – Rachel Notley, Canadian politician
  • 1964 – Lela Rochon, American actress
  • 1966 – Vikram, Indian actor and singer
  • 1967 – Kimberly Elise, American actress
  • 1967 – Marquis Grissom, American baseball player and coach
  • 1967 – Ian Jones, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1967 – Barnaby Joyce, Australian politician, 17th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
  • 1967 – Liz Phair, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1968 – Julie Fagerholt, Danish fashion designer
  • 1968 – Phil Henderson, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1968 – Eric Lamaze, Canadian jockey
  • 1968 – Roger Twose, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1968 – Richie Woodhall, English boxer and trainer
  • 1970 – Redman, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1971 – Claire Sweeney, English actress
  • 1972 – Gary Bennett, American baseball player
  • 1972 – Tony Boselli, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Jennifer Garner, American actress
  • 1972 – Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1972 – Yuichi Nishimura, Japanese footballer and referee
  • 1972 – Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1973 – Katrin Koov, Estonian architect
  • 1973 – Brett Maher, Australian basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Theo Ratliff, American basketball player
  • 1974 – Mikael Åkerfeldt, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1974 – Victoria Beckham, English singer and fashion designer
  • 1975 – Heidi Alexander, English politician
  • 1975 – Travis Roy, American ice hockey player
  • 1976 – Maurice Wignall, Jamaican hurdler and long jumper
  • 1977 – Chad Hedrick, American speed skater
  • 1977 – Frederik Magle, Danish composer, organist, and pianist
  • 1978 – Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, German skier
  • 1978 – Lindsay Hartley, American actress
  • 1978 – Jason White, Scottish rugby player
  • 1979 – Eric Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Marija Šestak, Serbian-Slovenian triple jumper
  • 1980 – Fabián Vargas, Colombian footballer
  • 1980 – Curtis Woodhouse, English footballer, boxer, and manager
  • 1981 – Jenny Meadows, English runner
  • 1981 – Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Ryan Raburn, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Chris Thompson, English runner
  • 1981 – Zhang Yaokun, Chinese footballer
  • 1982 – Brad Boyes, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Chuck Kobasew, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Stanislav Chistov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Roberto Jiménez, Peruvian footballer
  • 1983 – Andrea Marcato, Italian rugby player
  • 1984 – Pablo Sebastián Álvarez, Argentinian footballer
  • 1984 – Jed Lowrie, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Raffaele Palladino, Italian footballer
  • 1985 – Rooney Mara, American actress
  • 1985 – Luke Mitchell, Australian actor and model
  • 1985 – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player
  • 1986 – Romain Grosjean, French race car driver
  • 1988 – Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1989 – Paraskevi Papachristou, Greek triple jumper
  • 1989 – Avi Kaplan, singer and songwriter
  • 1990 – Jonathan Brown, Welsh footballer
  • 1992 – Lachlan Maranta, Australian rugby league footballer
  • 1994 – Alanna Goldie, Canadian fencer
  • 1996 – Lorna Fitzgerald, British actress

Deaths on April 17

  • 485 – Proclus, Greek mathematician and philosopher (b. 412)
  • 617 – Donnán of Eigg, Irish priest and saint
  • 648 – Xiao, empress of the Sui Dynasty
  • 744 – Al-Walid II, Umayyad caliph (b. 706)
  • 818 – Bernard of Italy, Frankish king (b. 797)
  • 858 – Benedict III, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 1071 – Manuel Komnenos, Byzantine military commander (b. c. 1045)
  • 1080 – Harald III of Denmark (b. 1041)
  • 1111 – Robert of Molesme, Christian saint and abbot (b. 1027)
  • 1298 – Árni Þorláksson, Icelandic bishop (b. 1237)
  • 1321 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1259)
  • 1331 – Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, English nobleman (b. 1257)
  • 1344 – Constantine II, King of Armenia
  • 1355 – Marin Falier, Doge of Venice (b. 1285)
  • 1427 – John IV, Duke of Brabant (b. 1403)
  • 1539 – George, Duke of Saxony (b. 1471)
  • 1574 – Joachim Camerarius, German scholar and translator (b. 1500)
  • 1669 – Antonio Bertali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1605)
  • 1680 – Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk-born Native American saint (b. 1656)
  • 1695 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1651)
  • 1696 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné, French author (b. 1626)
  • 1711 – Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1678)
  • 1713 – David Hollatz, Polish pastor and theologian (b. 1648)
  • 1764 – Johann Mattheson, German lexicographer and composer (b. 1681)
  • 1790 – Benjamin Franklin, American inventor, publisher, and politician, 6th President of Pennsylvania (b. 1706)
  • 1799 – Richard Jupp, English surveyor and architect (b. 1728)
  • 1840 – Hannah Webster Foster, American journalist and author (b. 1758)
  • 1843 – Samuel Morey, American engineer (b. 1762)
  • 1882 – George Jennings, English engineer and plumber, invented the Flush toilet (b. 1810)
  • 1888 – E. G. Squier, American archaeologist and journalist (b. 1821)
  • 1892 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1822)
  • 1921 – Manwel Dimech, Maltese journalist, author, and philosopher (b. 1860)
  • 1923 – Laurence Ginnell, Irish lawyer and politician (b. 1852)
  • 1930 – Alexander Golovin, Russian painter and stage designer (b. 1863)
  • 1933 – Kote Marjanishvili, Georgian director and playwright (b. 1872)
  • 1936 – Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, Dutch lawyer and politician, 28th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1873)
  • 1942 – Jean Baptiste Perrin, French-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
  • 1944 – J. T. Hearne, English cricketer and coach (b. 1867)
  • 1944 – Dimitrios Psarros, Greek lieutenant, founded the National and Social Liberation (b. 1893)
  • 1946 – Juan Bautista Sacasa, Nicaraguan medical doctor, politician and 20th President of Nicaragua (b. 1874)
  • 1948 – Suzuki Kantarō, Japanese admiral and politician, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1868)
  • 1954 – Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, Romanian lawyer and politician, Romanian Minister of Justice (b. 1900)
  • 1960 – Eddie Cochran, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1938)
  • 1961 – Elda Anderson, American physicist and health researcher (b. 1899)
  • 1967 – Red Allen, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1908)
  • 1975 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of India (b. 1888)
  • 1976 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
  • 1977 – William Conway, Irish cardinal (b. 1913)
  • 1983 – Felix Pappalardi, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (b. 1939)
  • 1984 – Claude Provost, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1933)
  • 1987 – Cecil Harmsworth King, English publisher (b. 1901)
  • 1987 – Dick Shawn, American actor (b. 1923)
  • 1988 – Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-American sculptor and educator (b. 1900)
  • 1990 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (b. 1936)
  • 1993 – Turgut Özal, Turkish engineer and politician, 8th president of Turkey (b. 1927)
  • 1994 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American psychologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
  • 1995 – Frank E. Resnik, American sergeant and businessman (b. 1928)
  • 1996 – Piet Hein, Danish poet and mathematician (b. 1905)
  • 1997 – Chaim Herzog, Israeli general, lawyer, and politician, 6th President of Israel (b. 1918)
  • 1998 – Linda McCartney, American photographer, activist, and musician (b. 1941)
  • 2003 – Robert Atkins, American physician and cardiologist, created the Atkins diet (b. 1930)
  • 2003 – H. B. Bailey, American race car driver (b. 1936)
  • 2003 – John Paul Getty, Jr., American-English philanthropist (b. 1932)
  • 2003 – Earl King, American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter (b. 1934)
  • 2003 – Yiannis Latsis, Greek businessman (b. 1910)
  • 2004 – Edmond Pidoux, Swiss author and poet (b. 1908)
  • 2006 – Jean Bernard, French physician and haematologist (b. 1907)
  • 2006 – Scott Brazil, American director and producer (b. 1955)
  • 2006 – Henderson Forsythe, American actor (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Kitty Carlisle, American actress, singer, socialite and game show panelist (b. 1910)
  • 2008 – Aimé Césaire, Caribbean-French poet and politician (b. 1913)
  • 2008 – Danny Federici, American organist and accordion player (b. 1950)
  • 2011 – Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian pianist and composer (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Michael Sarrazin, Canadian actor (b. 1940)
  • 2011 – Robert Vickrey, American artist and author (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Leila Berg, English journalist and author (b. 1917)
  • 2012 – J. Quinn Brisben, American educator and politician (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (b. 1948)
  • 2012 – Nityananda Mohapatra, Indian journalist, poet, and politician (b. 1912)
  • 2012 – Jonathan V. Plaut, American rabbi and author (b. 1942)
  • 2012 – Stanley Rogers Resor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Secretary of the Army (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Carlos Graça, São Toméan politician, Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Bi Kidude, Tanzanian Taarab singer (b. ≈1910)
  • 2013 – Yngve Moe, Norwegian bass player and songwriter (b. 1957)
  • 2013 – V. S. Ramadevi, Indian politician, 13th Governor of Karnataka (b. 1934)
  • 2014 – Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Bernat Klein, Serbian-Scottish fashion designer and painter (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Wojciech Leśnikowski, Polish–American architect and academic (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Karpal Singh, Malaysian lawyer and politician (b. 1940)
  • 2015 – Robert P. Griffin, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Scotty Probasco, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Jeremiah J. Rodell, American general (b. 1921)
  • 2015 – A. Alfred Taubman, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Chyna, American wrestler (b. 1969)
  • 2016 – Doris Roberts, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2018 – Barbara Bush, former First Lady of the United States (b. 1925)
  • 2018 – Carl Kasell, American radio personality (b. 1934)
  • 2019 – Alan García, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 61st and 64th President of Peru (b. 1949)

Holidays and observances on April 17

  • Christian feast day:
    • Kateri Tekakwitha (Canada)
    • Stephen Harding
    • April 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Store Bededag or General Prayer Day can fall, while May 13 is the latest; observed on the 4th Friday after Easter. (Denmark)
  • Evacuation Day (Syria), celebrates the recognition of the independence of Syria from France in 1946.
  • FAO Day (Iraq)
  • Flag Day (American Samoa)
  • Malbec World Day
  • Women’s Day (Gabon)
  • World Hemophilia Day

April 17 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
  • 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa’im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his army.
  • 1081 – Alexios I Komnenos is crowned Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, bringing the Komnenian dynasty to full power.
  • 1242 – During the Battle on the Ice of Lake Peipus, Russian forces, led by Alexander Nevsky, rebuff an invasion attempt by the Teutonic Knights.
  • 1536 – Royal Entry of Charles V into Rome: The last Roman triumph.
  • 1566 – Two hundred Dutch noblemen, led by Hendrick van Brederode, force themselves into the presence of Margaret of Parma and present the Petition of Compromise, denouncing the Spanish Inquisition in the Seventeen Provinces.
  • 1609 – Daimyō (Lord) Shimazu Tadatsune of the Satsuma Domain in southern Kyūshū, Japan, completes his successful invasion of the Ryūkyū Kingdom in Okinawa.
  • 1614 – In Virginia, Native American Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
  • 1621 – The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to England.
  • 1710 – The Statute of Anne receives the royal assent establishing the Copyright law of the United Kingdom.
  • 1722 – The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovers Easter Island.
  • 1792 – United States President George Washington exercises his authority to veto a bill, the first time this power is used in the United States.
  • 1795 – Peace of Basel between France and Prussia is made.
  • 1818 – In the Battle of Maipú, Chile’s independence movement, led by Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín, win a decisive victory over Spain, leaving 2,000 Spaniards and 1,000 Chilean patriots dead.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Yorktown begins.
  • 1879 – Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
  • 1900 – Archaeologists in Knossos, Crete, discover a large cache of clay tablets with hieroglyphic writing in a script they call Linear B.
  • 1904 – The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh and Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan, England.
  • 1915 – Boxing challenger Jess Willard knocks out Jack Johnson in Havana, Cuba to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
  • 1922 – The American Birth Control League, forerunner of Planned Parenthood, is incorporated.
  • 1932 – Dominion of Newfoundland: Ten thousand rioters seize the Colonial Building leading to the end of self-government.
  • 1933 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs two executive orders: 6101 to establish the Civilian Conservation Corps, and 6102 “forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates” by U.S. citizens.
  • 1936 – Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: An F5 tornado kills 233 in Tupelo, Mississippi.
  • 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launches a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid. Port and civilian facilities are damaged and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire are sunk southwest of the island.
  • 1943 – World War II: American bomber aircraft accidentally cause more than 900 civilian deaths, including 209 children, and 1,300 wounded among the civilian population of the Belgian town of Mortsel. Their target was the Erla factory one kilometer from the residential area hit.
  • 1944 – World War II: Two hundred seventy inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura are executed by the Germans.
  • 1945 – Cold War: Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito signs an agreement with the Soviet Union to allow “temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory”.
  • 1946 – Soviet troops end their year-long occupation of the Danish island of Bornholm.
  • 1946 – A Fleet Air Arm Vickers Wellington crashes into a residential area in Rabat, Malta during a training exercise, killing all 4 crew members and 16 civilians on the ground.
  • 1949 – A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States.
  • 1951 – Cold War: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are sentenced to death for spying for the Soviet Union.
  • 1956 – Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro declares himself at war with Cuban President Fulgencio Batista.
  • 1956 – In Sri Lanka, the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna win the general elections in a landslide and S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Ceylon.
  • 1957 – In India, Communists win the first elections in united Kerala and E. M. S. Namboodiripad is sworn in as the first Chief Minister.
  • 1958 – Ripple Rock, an underwater threat to navigation in the Seymour Narrows in Canada is destroyed in one of the largest non-nuclear controlled explosions of the time.
  • 1969 – Vietnam War: Massive antiwar demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities.
  • 1971 – In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches a revolt against the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
  • 1976 – In China, the April Fifth Movement leads to the Tiananmen Incident.
  • 1977 – The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people’s reservation thereby destroyed the tribe’s jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip.
  • 1986 – Three people are killed in the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin, Germany.
  • 1991 – An ASA EMB 120 crashes in Brunswick, Georgia, killing all 23 aboard including Sen. John Tower and astronaut Sonny Carter.
  • 1992 – Alberto Fujimori, president of Peru, dissolves the Peruvian congress by military force.
  • 1992 – Peace protesters Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić are killed on the Vrbanja Bridge in Sarajevo, becoming the first casualties of the Bosnian War.
  • 1998 – In Japan, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opens to traffic, becoming the longest bridge span in the world.
  • 1999 – Two Libyans suspected of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 are handed over for eventual trial in the Netherlands.
  • 2000 – UEFA Cup semi-final violence: Four Galatasaray fans are arrested for the stabbings to death of two Leeds United fans.
  • 2009 – North Korea launches its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket. The satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of Six-party talks.
  • 2010 – Twenty-nine coal miners are killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia.

Births on April 5

  • 1170 – Isabella of Hainault (d. 1190)
  • 1219 – Wonjong of Goryeo, 24th ruler of Goryeo (d. 1274)
  • 1279 – Al-Nuwayri, Egyptian Muslim historian (d. 1333)
  • 1288 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (d. 1336)
  • 1315 – James III of Majorca (d. 1349)
  • 1365 – William II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1417)
  • 1472 – Bianca Maria Sforza, Italian wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1510)
  • 1521 – Francesco Laparelli, Italian architect (d. 1570)
  • 1523 – Blaise de Vigenère, French cryptographer and diplomat (d. 1596)
  • 1533 – Giulio della Rovere, Italian Catholic Cardinal (d. 1578)
  • 1539 – George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1603)
  • 1549 – Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, (d. 1597)
  • 1568 – Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644)
  • 1588 – Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher (d. 1679)
  • 1591 – Frederick Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg (d. 1634)
  • 1595 – John Wilson, English composer and educator (d. 1674)
  • 1604 – Charles IV (d. 1675)
  • 1616 – Frederick, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1661)
  • 1622 – Vincenzo Viviani, Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (d. 1703)
  • 1649 – Elihu Yale, American-English merchant and philanthropist (d. 1721)
  • 1656 – Nikita Demidov, Russian industrialist (d. 1725)
  • 1664 – Élisabeth Thérèse de Lorraine, French noblewoman and Princess of Epinoy (d. 1748)
  • 1674 – Margravine Elisabeth Sophie of Brandenburg, (d. 1748)
  • 1691 – Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1768)
  • 1692 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (d. 1730)
  • 1719 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish field marshal and politician, Lord Marshal of Sweden (d. 1794)
  • 1726 – Benjamin Harrison V, American politician, planter and merchant (d. 1791)
  • 1727 – Pasquale Anfossi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1797)
  • 1729 – Frederick Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1809)
  • 1730 – Jean Baptiste Seroux d’Agincourt, French archaeologist and historian (d. 1814)
  • 1732 – Jean-Honoré Fragonard, French painter and etcher (d. 1806)
  • 1735 – Franziskus Herzan von Harras, Czech Roman Catholic cardinal (d. 1804)
  • 1739 – Philemon Dickinson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1809)
  • 1752 – Sébastien Érard, French instrument maker (d. 1831)
  • 1761 – Sybil Ludington, American heroine of the American Revolutionary War (d. 1839)
  • 1769 – Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1839)
  • 1773 – José María Coppinger, governor of Spanish East Florida (d. 1844)
  • 1773 – Duchess Therese of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, (d. 1839)
  • 1777 – Marie Jules César Savigny, French zoologist (d. 1851)
  • 1782 – Wincenty Krasiński, Polish nobleman (d. 1858)
  • 1784 – Louis Spohr, German violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1859)
  • 1788 – Franz Pforr, German painter (d. 1812)
  • 1793 – Casimir Delavigne, French poet and dramatist (d. 1843)
  • 1793 – Felix de Muelenaere, Belgian politician (d. 1862)
  • 1795 – Henry Havelock, British general (d. 1857)
  • 1799 – Jacques Denys Choisy, Swiss clergyman and botanist (d. 1859)
  • 1801 – Félix Dujardin, French biologist (d. 1860)
  • 1801 – Vincenzo Gioberti, Italian philosopher, publicist and politician (d. 1852)
  • 1804 – Matthias Jakob Schleiden, German botanist (d. 1881)
  • 1809 – Karl Felix Halm, German scholar and critic (d. 1882)
  • 1810 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, British East India Company army officer and politician (d. 1895)
  • 1811 – Jules Dupré, French painter (d. 1889)
  • 1814 – Felix Lichnowsky, Czech soldier and politician (d. 1848)
  • 1822 – Émile Louis Victor de Laveleye, Belgian economist (d. 1892)
  • 1827 – Joseph Lister, English surgeon and academic (d. 1912)
  • 1832 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (d. 1893)
  • 1834 – Prentice Mulford, American humorist and author (d. 1891)
  • 1834 – Wilhelm Olbers Focke, German medical doctor and botanist (d. 1922)
  • 1834 – Frank R. Stockton, American writer and humorist (d. 1902)
  • 1835 – Vítězslav Hálek, Czech poet, writer, journalist, dramatist and theatre critic. (d. 1874)
  • 1837 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic (d. 1909)
  • 1839 – Robert Smalls, African-American ship’s pilot, sea captain, and politician (d. 1915)
  • 1840 – Ghazaros Aghayan, Armenian historian and linguist (d. 1911)
  • 1842 – Hans Hildebrand, Swedish archaeologist (d. 1913)
  • 1845 – Friedrich Sigmund Merkel, German anatomist and histopathologist (d. 1919)
  • 1845 – Jules Cambon, French diplomat (d. 1935)
  • 1846 – Sigmund Exner, Austrian physiologist (d. 1926)
  • 1846 – Henry Wellesley, British peer and politician (d. 1900)
  • 1848 – Thure de Thulstrup, American illustrator (d. 1930)
  • 1848 – Ulrich Wille, Swiss army general (d. 1925)
  • 1850 – Enrico Mazzanti, Italian engineer and cartoonist (d. 1910)
  • 1852 – Émile Billard, French sailor (d. 1930)
  • 1852 – Walter W. Winans, American marksman and sculptor (d. 1920)
  • 1852 – Franz Eckert, German composer and musician (d. 1916)
  • 1856 – Booker T. Washington, African-American educator, essayist and historian (d. 1915)
  • 1857 – Alexander of Battenberg (d. 1893)
  • 1858 – Washington Atlee Burpee, Canadian businessman, founded Burpee Seeds (d. 1915)
  • 1859 – Reinhold Seeberg, German theologian (d. 1935)
  • 1860 – Harry S. Barlow, British tennis player (d. 1917)
  • 1862 – Louis Ganne, French conductor (d. 1923)
  • 1862 – Leo Stern, English cellist (d. 1904)
  • 1863 – Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1950)
  • 1867 – Ernest Lewis, British tennis player (d. 1930)
  • 1869 – Sergey Chaplygin, Russian physicist, mathematician, and engineer (d. 1942)
  • 1869 – Albert Roussel, French composer (d. 1937)
  • 1870 – Motobu Chōki, Japanese karateka (d. 1944)
  • 1871 – Stanisław Grabski, Polish economist and politician (d. 1949)
  • 1872 – Samuel Cate Prescott, American microbiologist and chemist (d. 1962)
  • 1873 – Joseph Rheden, Austrian astronomer (d. 1946)
  • 1874 – Emmanuel Célestin Suhard, French Cardinal of the Catholic Church (d. 1949)
  • 1874 – Manuel María Ponce Brousset, President of Peru (d. 1966)
  • 1878 – Albert Champion, French cyclist (d. 1927)
  • 1878 – Georg Misch, German philosopher (d. 1965)
  • 1878 – Paul Weinstein, German high jumper (d. 1964)
  • 1879 – Arthur Berriedale Keith, Scottish lawyer (d. 1944)
  • 1879 – Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien, German naval officer and author (d. 1956)
  • 1880 – Eric Carlberg, Swedish Army officer, diplomat, shooter, fencer and modern pentathlete (d. 1963)
  • 1880 – Vilhelm Carlberg, Swedish Army officer and shooter (d. 1970)
  • 1882 – Song Jiaoren, Chinese revolutionary (d. 1913)
  • 1882 – Natalia Sedova, 2nd wife of Leon Trotsky (d. 1962)
  • 1883 – Walter Huston, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1950)
  • 1884 – Ion Inculeț, Bessarabian academic and politician, President of Moldova (d. 1940)
  • 1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian composer (d. 1978)
  • 1886 – Gotthelf Bergsträsser, German linguist (d. 1933)
  • 1886 – Frederick Lindemann, British physicist (d. 1957)
  • 1886 – Gustavo Jiménez, Peruvian colonel and politician, 73rd President of Peru (d. 1933)
  • 1887 – William Cowhig, British gymnast (d. 1964)
  • 1889 – Vicente Ferreira Pastinha, Brazilian martial artist (d. 1981)
  • 1890 – Karl Kirk, Danish gymnast (d. 1955)
  • 1890 – William Moore, British track and field athlete (d. 1956)
  • 1891 – Arnold Jackson, English runner, soldier, and lawyer (d. 1972)
  • 1891 – Laura Vicuña, Chilean nun (d. 1904)
  • 1892 – Raymond Bonney, American ice hockey player (d. 1964)
  • 1893 – Frithjof Andersen, Norwegian wrestler (d. 1975)
  • 1893 – Clas Thunberg, Finnish speed skater (d. 1973)
  • 1894 – Lawrence Dale Bell, American industrialist and founder of Bell Aircraft Corporation (d. 1956)
  • 1894 – Hans Hüttig, German SS officer (d. 1980)
  • 1894 – Carl Rudolf Florin, Swedish botanist (d. 1965)
  • 1895 – Mike O’Dowd, American boxer (d. 1957)
  • 1896 – Einar Lundborg, Swedish aviator (d. 1931)
  • 1897 – Hans Schuberth, German politician (d. 1976)
  • 1899 – Alfred Blalock, American surgeon and academic (d. 1964)
  • 1900 – Herbert Bayer, Austrian-American graphic designer, painter, and photographer (d. 1985)
  • 1900 – Roman Steinberg, Estonian wrestler (d. 1928)
  • 1900 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (d. 1967)
  • 1901 – Curt Bois, German actor (d. 1991)
  • 1901 – Chester Bowles, American diplomat and ambassador (d. 1986)
  • 1901 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Doggie Julian, American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach (d. 1967)
  • 1902 – Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Russian-American rabbi (d. 1994)
  • 1903 – Marion Aye, American actress (d. 1951)
  • 1904 – Richard Eberhart, American poet and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1906 – Albert Charles Smith, American botanist (d. 1999)
  • 1906 – Fernando Germani, Italian organist (d. 1998)
  • 1906 – Ted Morgan, New Zealand boxer (d. 1952)
  • 1907 – Sanya Dharmasakti, Thai jurist (d. 2002)
  • 1908 – Bette Davis, American actress (d. 1989)
  • 1908 – Kurt Neumann, German director (d. 1958)
  • 1908 – Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician, 4th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1986)
  • 1908 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1989)
  • 1909 – Albert R. Broccoli, American film producer, co-founded Eon Productions (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Giacomo Gentilomo, Italian film director and painter (d. 2001)
  • 1909 – Károly Sós, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 1991)
  • 1909 – Erwin Wegner, German hurdler (d. 1945)
  • 1910 – Sven Andersson, Swedish politician (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Oronzo Pugliese, Italian football manager (d. 1990)
  • 1911 – Hedi Amara Nouira, Tunisian politician (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – Johnny Revolta, American golfer (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Jehan Buhan, French fencer (d. 1999)
  • 1912 – Habib Elghanian, Iranian businessman (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Antonio Ferri, Italian scientist (d. 1975)
  • 1912 – Carlos Guastavino, Argentine composer (d. 2000)
  • 1912 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 1997)
  • 1912 – John Le Mesurier, English actor (d. 1983)
  • 1912 – István Örkény, Hungarian author and playwright (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Bill Roberts, English sprinter and soldier (d. 2001)
  • 1913 – Antoni Clavé, Catalan artist (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Nicolas Grunitzky, 2nd President of Togo (d. 1969)
  • 1913 – Ruth Smith, Faroese artist (d. 1958)
  • 1914 – Felice Borel, Italian footballer (d. 1993)
  • 1916 – Gregory Peck, American actor, political activist, and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1917 – Robert Bloch, American author (d. 1994)
  • 1917 – Frans Gommers, Belgian footballer (d. 1996)
  • 1919 – Lester James Peries, Sri Lankan director, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1920 – Barend Biesheuvel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2001)
  • 1920 – Arthur Hailey, English-Canadian soldier and author (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Alfonso Thiele, Turkish-Italian race car driver (d. 1986)
  • 1920 – John Willem Gran, Swedish bishop (d. 2008)
  • 1921 – Christopher Hewett, English actor and theatre director (d. 2001)
  • 1922 – Tom Finney, English footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Harry Freedman, Polish-Canadian horn player, composer, and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Andy Linden, American race car driver (d. 1987)
  • 1922 – Gale Storm, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
  • 1923 – Ernest Mandel, German-born Belgian Marxist economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – Michael V. Gazzo, American actor (d. 1995)
  • 1923 – Nguyễn Văn Thiệu, Vietnamese general and politician, 5th President of South Vietnam (d. 2001)
  • 1924 – Igor Borisov, Soviet rower (d. before 2005)
  • 1925 – Janet Rowley, American human geneticist (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Pierre Nihant, Belgian cyclist (d. 1993)
  • 1926 – Roger Corman, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1926 – Liang Yusheng, Chinese writer (d. 2009)
  • 1927 – Thanin Kraivichien, Thai lawyer and politician
  • 1927 – Arne Hoel, Norwegian ski jumper (d. 2006)
  • 1928 – Enzo Cannavale, Italian actor (d. 2011)
  • 1928 – Tony Williams, American singer (d. 1992)
  • 1929 – Hugo Claus, Belgian author, poet, and painter (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – Ivar Giaever, Norwegian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1929 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor and producer (d. 2001)
  • 1929 – Joe Meek, English songwriter and producer (d. 1967)
  • 1929 – Mahmoud Mollaghasemi, Iranian wrestler
  • 1930 – Mary Costa, American singer and actress
  • 1930 – Pierre Lhomme, French director of photography (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Jack Clement, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Héctor Olivera, Argentine director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1933 – Feridun Buğeker, Turkish footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1933 – Barbara Holland, American author (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – K. Kailasapathy, Sri Lankan journalist and academic (d. 1982)
  • 1934 – John Carey, English author and critic
  • 1934 – Roman Herzog, German lawyer and politician, 7th President of Germany (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Moise Safra, Brazilian businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Banco Safra (d. 2014)
  • 1934 – Stanley Turrentine, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2000)
  • 1935 – Giovanni Cianfriglia, Italian actor
  • 1935 – Peter Grant, English talent manager (d. 1995)
  • 1935 – Donald Lynden-Bell, English astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Frank Schepke, German rower (d. 2017)
  • 1936 – Ronnie Bucknum, American race car driver (d. 1992)
  • 1936 – Glenn Jordan, American director and producer
  • 1936 – Dragoljub Minić, Yugoslavian chess Grandmaster (d. 2005)
  • 1937 – Joseph Lelyveld, American journalist and author
  • 1937 – Jean-Pierre Petit, French scientist
  • 1937 – Colin Powell, American general and politician, 65th United States Secretary of State
  • 1937 – Andrzej Schinzel, Polish mathematician
  • 1937 – Arie Selinger, Israeli volleyball player and manager
  • 1937 – Juan Vicente Lezcano, Paraguayan footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1938 – Colin Bland, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – Mal Colston, Australian educator and politician (d. 2003)
  • 1938 – Nancy Holt, American sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
  • 1938 – Natalya Kustinskaya, Soviet actress (d. 2012)
  • 1939 – Leka I, Crown Prince of Albania (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Crispian St. Peters, English singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1939 – Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas, Prime Minister of Yemen
  • 1939 – Ronald White, American singer-songwriter (d. 1995)
  • 1939 – David Winters, English-American actor, choreographer and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1940 – Tommy Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1940 – Gilles Proulx, Canadian journalist, historian, and radio host
  • 1941 – Michael Moriarty, American-Canadian actor
  • 1941 – Dave Swarbrick, English singer-songwriter and fiddler (d. 2016)
  • 1942 – Allan Clarke, English singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Pascal Couchepin, Swiss politician
  • 1942 – Juan Gisbert Sr., Spanish tennis player
  • 1942 – Peter Greenaway, Welsh director and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Dean Brown, Australian politician, 41st Premier of South Australia
  • 1943 – Max Gail, American actor and director
  • 1943 – Fighting Harada, Japanese boxer
  • 1943 – Miet Smet, Belgian politician
  • 1943 – Jean-Louis Tauran, French cardinal (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – Willeke van Ammelrooy, Dutch actress and director
  • 1944 – János Martonyi, Hungarian politician
  • 1944 – Evan Parker, British musician
  • 1944 – Douangchay Phichit, Laotian politician (d. 2014)
  • 1944 – Willy Planckaert, Belgian cyclist
  • 1944 – Pedro Rosselló, Puerto Rican physician and politician, 7th Governor of Puerto Rico
  • 1944 – Peter T. King, American soldier, lawyer, and politician
  • 1945 – Ove Bengtson, Swedish tennis player
  • 1945 – Steve Carver, American director and producer
  • 1945 – Cem Karaca, Turkish musician (d. 2004)
  • 1945 – Tommy Smith, English footballer (d. 2019)
  • 1946 – Jane Asher, English actress
  • 1946 – Julio Ángel Fernández, Uruguayan astronomer
  • 1946 – Björn Granath, Swedish actor (d. 2017)
  • 1946 – Georgi Markov, Bulgarian Greco-Roman wrestler
  • 1947 – Đurđica Bjedov, Yugoslav swimmer
  • 1947 – Willy Chirino, Cuban-American musician
  • 1947 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Filipino academic and politician, 14th President of the Philippines
  • 1947 – Ramón Mifflin, Peruvian footballer
  • 1947 – Virendra Sharma, Indian-English lawyer and politician
  • 1948 – Pierre-Albert Chapuisat, Swiss footballer
  • 1948 – Dave Holland, English drummer (d. 2018)
  • 1948 – Roy McFarland, English footballer and manager
  • 1949 – Stanley Dziedzic, American wrestler
  • 1949 – Larry Franco, American film producer
  • 1949 – Judith Resnik, Ukrainian-American engineer and astronaut (d. 1986)
  • 1950 – Ann C. Crispin, American writer (d. 2013)
  • 1950 – Franklin Chang Díaz, Costa Rican-Chinese American astronaut and physicist
  • 1950 – Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1950 – Toshiko Fujita, Japanese actress, singer and narrator (d. 2018)
  • 1950 – Miki Manojlović, Serbian actor
  • 1951 – Les Binks, Irish drummer and songwriter
  • 1951 – Yevgeniy Gavrilenko, Belarusian hurdler
  • 1951 – Nedim Gürsel, Turkish writer
  • 1951 – Dean Kamen, American inventor and businessman, founded Segway Inc.
  • 1951 – Dave McArtney, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • 1951 – Ubol Ratana, Thai Princess
  • 1952 – Alfie Conn, Scottish international footballer, midfielder
  • 1952 – John C. Dvorak, American author and editor
  • 1952 – Sandy Mayer, American tennis player
  • 1952 – Dennis Mortimer, English footballer
  • 1952 – Mitch Pileggi, American actor
  • 1953 – Frank Gaffney, American journalist and radio host
  • 1953 – Keiko Han, Japanese actress
  • 1953 – Tae Jin-ah, South Korean singer
  • 1953 – Raleb Majadele, Israeli politician
  • 1953 – Ian Swales, English accountant and politician
  • 1954 – Guy Bertrand, Canadian linguist and radio host
  • 1954 – Peter Case, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Mohamed Ben Mouza, Tunisian footballer
  • 1954 – Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Yoshiichi Watanabe, Japanese footballer
  • 1955 – Charlotte de Turckheim, French actress, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Ricardo Ferrero, Argentine footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1955 – Christian Gourcuff, French footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Anthony Horowitz, English author and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Bernard Longley, English prelate
  • 1955 – Akira Toriyama, Japanese illustrator
  • 1955 – Takayoshi Yamano, Japanese footballer
  • 1956 – Diamond Dallas Page, American wrestler and actor
  • 1956 – Leonid Fedun, Russian businessman
  • 1956 – Reid Ribble, American politician
  • 1957 – Sebastian Adayanthrath, Indian bishop
  • 1957 – Karin Roßley, German hurdler
  • 1958 – Henrik Dettmann, Finnish basketball coach
  • 1958 – Ryoichi Kawakatsu, Japanese footballer
  • 1958 – Johan Kriek, South African-American tennis player
  • 1958 – Daniel Schneidermann, French journalist
  • 1958 – Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sri Lankan lawyer and journalist (d. 2009)
  • 1959 – Paul Chung, Hong Kong actor and host (d. 1989)
  • 1960 – Asteris Koutoulas, Romanian-German record producer, manager, and author
  • 1960 – Larry McCray, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Ian Redford, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1960 – Hiromi Taniguchi, Japanese long-distance runner
  • 1960 – Adnan Terzić, Bosnian politician
  • 1961 – Andrea Arnold, English filmmaker and actress
  • 1961 – Anna Caterina Antonacci, Italian soprano
  • 1961 – Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, Bahraini-Danish human rights activist
  • 1961 – Lisa Zane, American actress and singer
  • 1962 – Lana Clarkson, American actress and model (d. 2003)
  • 1962 – Sara Danius, Swedish scholar of literature and aesthetics
  • 1962 – Richard Gough, Swedish born Scottish international footballer
  • 1962 – Arild Monsen, Norwegian cross-country skier
  • 1962 – Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Russian businessman and politician, 1st President of Kalmykia
  • 1963 – Arthur Adams, American comic book artist and writer
  • 1964 – Neil Eckersley, British judoka
  • 1964 – Vakhtang Iagorashvili, Soviet modern pentathlete
  • 1964 – Levon Julfalakyan, Soviet Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler
  • 1964 – Marius Lăcătuș, Romanian footballer and coach
  • 1965 – Aykut Kocaman, Turkish footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Lang Tzu-yun, Taiwanese actress
  • 1965 – Elizabeth McIntyre, American freestyle skier
  • 1965 – Svetlana Paramygina, Belarusian biathlete
  • 1966 – Yoon Hyun, South Korean judoka
  • 1966 – Mike McCready, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1967 – Troy Gentry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1967 – Franck Silvestre, French footballer
  • 1967 – Erland Johnsen, Norwegian footballer
  • 1967 – Laima Zilporytė, Soviet cyclist
  • 1968 – Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1969 – Dinos Angelidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1969 – Viatcheslav Djavanian, Russian cyclist
  • 1969 – Pontus Kåmark, Swedish footballer
  • 1969 – Pavlo Khnykin, Ukrainian swimmer
  • 1969 – Tomislav Piplica, Bosnian footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Ravindra Prabhat, Indian writer and journalist
  • 1970 – Soheil Ayari, French race car driver
  • 1970 – Valérie Bonneton, French actress
  • 1970 – Diamond D, American hip hop producer
  • 1970 – Petar Genov, Bulgarian chess grandmaster
  • 1970 – Thea Gill, Canadian actress
  • 1970 – Miho Hatori, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1970 – Irina Timofeyeva, Russian long-distance runner
  • 1971 – Dong Abay, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Austin Berry, Costa Rican footballer
  • 1971 – Simona Cavallari, Italian actress
  • 1971 – Victoria Hamilton, English actress
  • 1971 – Nelson Parraguez, Chilean footballer
  • 1971 – Kim Soo-nyung, South Korean archer
  • 1972 – Krista Allen, American actress
  • 1972 – Nima Arkani-Hamed, American-Canadian theoretical physicist
  • 1972 – Tom Coronel, Dutch race car driver
  • 1972 – Paul Okon, Australian footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Yasuhiro Takemoto, Japanese animator and director (d. 2019)
  • 1972 – Junko Takeuchi, Japanese actress
  • 1973 – Élodie Bouchez, French-American actress
  • 1973 – Lidia Trettel, Italian snowboarder
  • 1973 – Pharrell Williams, American singer, songwriter and rapper
  • 1974 – Sandra Bagarić, Croatian opera singer and actress
  • 1974 – Julien Boutter, French tennis player
  • 1974 – Katja Holanti, Finnish biathlete
  • 1974 – Oleg Khodkov, Russian handball player
  • 1974 – Ariel López, Argentine footballer
  • 1974 – Lukas Ridgeston, Slovak actor and director
  • 1974 – Vyacheslav Voronin, Russian high jumper
  • 1975 – Sarah Baldock, English organist and conductor
  • 1975 – John Hartson, Welsh footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Juicy J, American rapper and producer
  • 1975 – Serhiy Klymentiev, Ukrainian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Caitlin Moran, English journalist, author, and critic
  • 1975 – Marcos Vales, Spanish footballer
  • 1975 – Shammond Williams, American basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Luis de Agustini, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1976 – Péter Biros, Hungarian water polo player
  • 1976 – Sterling K. Brown, American actor
  • 1976 – Aleksei Budõlin, Estonian judoka
  • 1976 – Simone Inzaghi, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Fernando Morientes, Spanish footballer and coach
  • 1976 – Natascha Ragosina, Russian boxer
  • 1976 – Henrik Stenson, Swedish golfer
  • 1976 – Valeria Straneo, Italian long-distance runner
  • 1976 – Indrek Tobreluts, Estonian biathlete
  • 1976 – Anouska van der Zee, Dutch cyclist
  • 1977 – Jonathan Erlich, Israeli tennis player
  • 1977 – Trevor Letowski, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1977 – Daniel Majstorović, Swedish footballer
  • 1978 – Dwain Chambers, British track sprinter
  • 1978 – Marcone Amaral Costa, Qatari footballer
  • 1978 – Tarek El-Said, Egyptian footballer
  • 1978 – Jairo Patiño, Colombian footballer
  • 1978 – Sohyang, South Korean singer
  • 1978 – Stephen Jackson, American basketball player
  • 1978 – Arnaud Tournant, French cyclist
  • 1978 – Franziska van Almsick, German swimmer
  • 1978 – Günther Weidlinger, Austrian long-distance runner
  • 1979 – Vlada Avramov, Serbian footballer
  • 1979 – Josh Boone, American screenwriter and director
  • 1979 – Song Dae-nam, South Korean judoka
  • 1979 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
  • 1979 – Imany, French singer
  • 1979 – Barel Mouko, Congolese footballer
  • 1979 – Cesare Natali, Italian footballer
  • 1979 – Mitsuo Ogasawara, Japanese footballer
  • 1979 – Alexander Resch, German luger
  • 1979 – Andrius Velička, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1979 – Dante Wesley, American football player
  • 1979 – Chen Yanqing, Chinese weightlifter
  • 1980 – Matt Bonner, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Alberta Brianti, Italian tennis player
  • 1980 – Rafael Cavalcante, Brazilian mixed martial artist
  • 1980 – David Chocarro, Argentinian baseball player and actor
  • 1980 – Mike Glumac, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Mario Kasun, Croatian basketball player
  • 1980 – Lee Jae-won, South Korean DJ and singer
  • 1980 – Joris Mathijsen, Dutch footballer
  • 1980 – Rasmus Quist Hansen, Danish rower
  • 1980 – Odlanier Solís, Cuban boxer
  • 1981 – Matthew Emmons, American rifle shooter
  • 1981 – Michael A. Monsoor, American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
  • 1981 – Mariqueen Maandig, Filipino-American musician and singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Daba Modibo Keïta, Malian taekwondo athlete
  • 1981 – Marissa Nadler, American musician
  • 1981 – Tom Riley, English actor and producer
  • 1981 – Mompati Thuma, Botswana footballer
  • 1981 – Pieter Weening, Dutch cyclist
  • 1982 – Hayley Atwell, English-American actress
  • 1982 – Matheus Coradini Vivian, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Thomas Hitzlsperger, German footballer
  • 1982 – Kelly Pavlik, American boxer
  • 1982 – Matt Pickens, American soccer player
  • 1982 – Alexandre Prémat, French race car driver
  • 1982 – Danylo Sapunov, Ukrainian-Kazakhstani triathlete
  • 1982 – Hubert Schwab, Swiss cyclist
  • 1982 – Marcel Seip, Dutch former footballer
  • 1983 – Jaime Castrillón, Colombian footballer
  • 1983 – Jorge Andrés Martínez, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1983 – Brock Radunske, Canadian-South Korean ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Yohann Sangaré, French basketball player
  • 1983 – Cécile Storti, French cross-country skier
  • 1983 – Shikha Uberoi, Indian-American tennis player
  • 1984 – Marshall Allman, American actor
  • 1984 – Aram Mp3, Armenian singer and comedian
  • 1984 – Rune Brattsveen, Norwegian biathlete
  • 1984 – Alexei Glukhov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Maartje Goderie, Dutch field hockey player
  • 1984 – Darija Jurak, Croatian tennis player
  • 1984 – Dejan Kelhar, Slovenian footballer
  • 1984 – Dmitry Kozonchuk, Russian cyclist
  • 1984 – Shin Min-a, South Korean actress
  • 1984 – Jess Sum, Hong Kong actress
  • 1984 – Peter Penz, Austrian luger
  • 1984 – Samuele Preisig, Swiss footballer
  • 1984 – Cristian Săpunaru, Romanian footballer
  • 1984 – Fabio Vitaioli, San Marinese footballer
  • 1984 – Kisho Yano, Japanese footballer
  • 1984 – Saba Qamar, Pakistani actress-model
  • 1985 – Daniel Congré, French footballer
  • 1985 – Erwin l’Ami, Dutch chess player
  • 1985 – Jolanda Keizer, Dutch heptathlete
  • 1985 – Sergey Khachatryan, Armenian violinist
  • 1985 – Linas Pilibaitis, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1985 – Jan Smeets, Dutch chess grandmaster
  • 1985 – Kristof Vandewalle, Belgian cyclist
  • 1986 – Anna Sophia Berglund, American model and actress
  • 1986 – Anzor Boltukayev, Chechen wrestler
  • 1986 – Diego Chará, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Charlotte Flair, American wrestler, author and actress
  • 1986 – Róbert Kasza, Hungarian Modern pentathlete
  • 1986 – Eetu Muinonen, Finnish footballer
  • 1986 – Manuel Ruz, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Albert Selimov, Azerbaijani boxer
  • 1987 – Max Grün, German footballer
  • 1987 – Balázs Hárai, Hungarian water polo player
  • 1987 – Anton Kokorin, Russian sprint athlete
  • 1987 – Fyodor Kudryashov, Russian footballer
  • 1987 – Etiënne Reijnen, Dutch footballer
  • 1988 – Gerson Acevedo, Chilean footballer
  • 1988 – Teresa Almeida, Angolan handball player
  • 1988 – Quade Cooper, New Zealand rugby player and boxer
  • 1988 – Jonathan Davies, Welsh rugby union player
  • 1988 – Gevorg Ghazaryan, Armenian footballer
  • 1988 – Alisha Glass, American ex-indoor volleyball player
  • 1988 – Vurğun Hüseynov, Azerbaijani footballer
  • 1988 – Matthias Jaissle, German footballer and manager
  • 1988 – Jon Kwang-ik, North Korean footballer
  • 1988 – Christopher Papamichalopoulos, Cypriot skier
  • 1988 – Zack Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Pape Sy, French basketball player
  • 1988 – Alexey Volkov, Russian biathlete
  • 1989 – Kader Amadou, Nigerien footballer
  • 1989 – Yémi Apithy, Beninese fencer
  • 1989 – Liemarvin Bonevacia, Dutch sprinter
  • 1989 – Freddie Fox, English actor
  • 1989 – Emre Güral, Turkish footballer
  • 1989 – Justin Holiday, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Rachel Homan, Canadian curler
  • 1989 – Lily James, English actress
  • 1989 – Trevor Marsicano, American speed skater
  • 1989 – Jonathan Rossini, Swiss footballer
  • 1989 – Kiki Sukezane, Japanese actress
  • 1989 – Sosuke Takatani, Japanese wrestler
  • 1990 – Alex Cuthbert, Welsh rugby player
  • 1990 – Amer Said Al-Shatri, Omani footballer
  • 1990 – Fredy Hinestroza, Colombian footballer
  • 1990 – Chen Huijia, Chinese swimmer
  • 1990 – Haruma Miura, Japanese actor and singer
  • 1990 – Ismaeel Mohammad, Qatari footballer
  • 1990 – Iryna Pamialova, Belarusian canoeist
  • 1990 – Jakub Sedláček, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Sercan Yıldırım, Turkish footballer
  • 1990 – Género Zeefuik, Dutch footballer
  • 1991 – Yassine Bounou, Moroccan footballer
  • 1991 – Nathaniel Clyne, English footballer
  • 1991 – Adriano Grimaldi, Italian-German footballer
  • 1991 – Joël Mall, Swiss footballer
  • 1991 – Guilherme dos Santos Torres, Brazilian footballer
  • 1992 – Emmalyn Estrada, Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1992 – Shintaro Kurumaya, Japanese footballer
  • 1992 – Kaveh Rezaei, Iranian footballer
  • 1992 – Dmytro Ryzhuk, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1993 – Andreas Bouchalakis, Greek footballer
  • 1993 – Maya DiRado, American swimmer
  • 1993 – Laura Feiersinger, Austrian footballer
  • 1993 – Scottie Wilbekin, American-born naturalized Turkish basketball player
  • 1994 – Mateusz Bieniek, Polish volleyball player
  • 1994 – Edem Rjaïbi, Tunisian footballer
  • 1994 – Richard Sánchez, Mexican footballer
  • 1995 – Viliame Kikau, Fijian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Sei Muroya, Japanese footballer
  • 1995 – Gleb Rassadkin, Belarusian footballer
  • 1995 – Sebastian Starke Hedlund, Swedish footballer
  • 1996 – Nicolas Beer, Danish race car driver
  • 1996 – Raouf Benguit, Algerian footballer
  • 1997 – Borja Mayoral, Spanish footballer
  • 1998 – Jeremy Olson
  • 1999 – Andrea Buwalda
  • 2000 – Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Indian actor
  • 2001 – Thylane Blondeau, French model and actress

Deaths on April 5

  • 517 – Timothy I, Byzantine patriarch
  • 582 – Eutychius, Byzantine patriarch
  • 584 – Ruadán of Lorrha, Irish abbot
  • 828 – Nikephoros I, Byzantine patriarch
  • 902 – Al-Mu’tadid, Abbasid caliph
  • 1168 – Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1104)
  • 1183 – Ramon Berenguer III, Spanish count of Cerdanya and Provence
  • 1205 – Isabella I of Jerusalem, queen regent of Jerusalem (b. 1172)
  • 1258 – Juliana of Liège, Belgian canoness and saint
  • 1308 – Ivan Kőszegi, Hungarian baron and oligarch
  • 1325 – Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron of Monthermer and Earl of Gloucester (b. c.1270)
  • 1419 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1350)
  • 1431 – Bernard I, margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1364)
  • 1512 – Lazzaro Bastiani, Italian painter (b. 1429)
  • 1534 – Jan Matthys, Dutch anabaptist reformer
  • 1594 – Catherine of Palma, Spanish nun (b. 1533)
  • 1617 – Alonso Lobo, Spanish composer (b. 1555)
  • 1626 – Anna Koltovskaya, Russian tsarina
  • 1673 – François Caron, Belgian-French explorer and politician, 8th Governor of Formosa (b. 1600)
  • 1674 – George Frederick, prince of Nassau-Siegen (b. 1606)
  • 1679 – Anne Geneviève de Bourbon, French princess (b. 1619)
  • 1684 – William Brouncker, English mathematician (b. 1620)
  • 1684 – Karl Eusebius, prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1611)
  • 1693 – Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, French noblewoman (b. 1627)
  • 1693 – Philip William August, German nobleman (b. 1668)
  • 1695 – George Savile, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1633)
  • 1697 – Charles XI, king of Sweden (b. 1655)
  • 1704 – Christian Ulrich I, German nobleman and Duke of Württemberg-Oels (b. 1652)
  • 1708 – Christian Heinrich, German prince and member of the House of Hohenzollern (b. 1661)
  • 1709 – Roger de Piles, French painter, engraver, art critic and diplomat (b. 1635)
  • 1712 – Jan Luyken, Dutch poet, illustrator and engraver (b. 1649)
  • 1717 – Jean Jouvenet, French painter (b. 1647)
  • 1723 – Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect, sculptor and historian (b. 1656)
  • 1735 – William Derham, English minister and philosopher (b. 1657)
  • 1751 – Frederick I, prince consort and king of Sweden (b. 1676)
  • 1765 – Edward Young, English poet and author (b. 1683)
  • 1767 – Princess Charlotte Wilhelmine of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, German princess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1685)
  • 1768 – Egidio Forcellini, Italian philologist (b. 1688)
  • 1769 – Marc-Antoine Laugier, Jesuit priest (b. 1713)
  • 1794 – Georges Danton, French lawyer and politician, French Minister of Justice (b. 1759)
  • 1794 – François Chabot, French politician (b. 1756)
  • 1794 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1760)
  • 1794 – Fabre d’Églantine, French actor, dramatist, poet and politician (b. 1750)
  • 1794 – Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles, French judge and politician (b. 1759)
  • 1794 – Pierre Philippeaux, French lawyer (b. 1754)
  • 1794 – François Joseph Westermann, French general (b. 1751)
  • 1799 – Johann Christoph Gatterer, German historian (b. 1727)
  • 1804 – Jean-Charles Pichegru, French general (b. 1761)
  • 1808 – Johann Georg Wille, German engraver (b. 1715)
  • 1830 – Richard Chenevix, Irish chemist and playwright (b. 1774)
  • 1831 – Pierre Léonard Vander Linden, Belgian entomologist (b. 1797)
  • 1842 – Shah Shujah Durrani, 5th Emir of Afghanistan (b. 1785)
  • 1852 – Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg, (b. 1800)
  • 1861 – Ferdinand Joachimsthal, German mathematician (b. 1818)
  • 1862 – Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Dutch artist (b. 1803)
  • 1865 – Manfredo Fanti, Italian general (b. 1806)
  • 1866 – Thomas Hodgkin, British physician (b. 1798)
  • 1868 – Karel Purkyně, Czech painter (b. 1834)
  • 1871 – Paolo Savi, Italian geologist and ornithologist (b. 1798)
  • 1872 – Paul-Auguste-Ernest Laugier, French astronomer (b. 1812)
  • 1873 – Milivoje Blaznavac, Serbian soldier and politician (b. 1824)
  • 1882 – Pierre Guillaume Frédéric le Play, (b. 1806)
  • 1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
  • 1891 – Johann Hermann Bauer, (b. 1861)
  • 1900 – Joseph Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (b. 1822)
  • 1900 – Osman Nuri Pasha, Ottoman field marshal and the hero of the Siege of Plevna in 1877 (b. 1832)
  • 1901 – Angelo Messedaglia, Italian social scientist and statistician (b. 1820)
  • 1902 – Hans Ernst August Buchner, German bacteriologist (b. 1850)
  • 1904 – Ernst Leopold, 4th Prince of Leiningen (b. 1830)
  • 1904 – Frances Power Cobbe, Irish writer (b. 1822)
  • 1906 – Eastman Johnson, American painter (b. 1824)
  • 1914 – Bernard Borggreve, German forestry scientist (b. 1836)
  • 1916 – Maksim Kovalevsky, Russian sociologist (b. 1851)
  • 1918 – George Tupou II, King of Tonga (b. 1874)
  • 1918 – Paul Vidal de La Blache, French geographer (b. 1845)
  • 1920 – Laurent Marqueste, French sculptor (b. 1848)
  • 1921 – Alphons Diepenbrock, Dutch composer (b. 1862)
  • 1921 – Sophie Elkan, Swedish-Jewish writer and translator (b. 1853)
  • 1923 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English archaeologist and businessman (b. 1866)
  • 1924 – Victor Hensen, German zoologist (b. 1835)
  • 1928 – Roy Kilner, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1890)
  • 1928 – Viktor Oliva, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
  • 1929 – Francis Aidan Gasquet, English Benedictine monk (b. 1846)
  • 1929 – Ludwig von Sybel, German archeologist (b. 1846)
  • 1932 – María Blanchard, Spanish painter (b. 1881)
  • 1933 – Earl Derr Biggers, American novelist and playwright (b. 1884)
  • 1933 – Hjalmar Mellin, Finnish mathematician and functional theorist (b. 1854)
  • 1934 – Salvatore Di Giacomo, Italian poet, playwright, songwriter and fascist intellectual (b. 1860)
  • 1934 – Jiro Sato, Japanese tennis player (b. 1908)
  • 1935 – Achille Locatelli, Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1856)
  • 1935 – Emil Młynarski, Polish conductor, violinist, composer, and pedagogue (b. 1870)
  • 1935 – Franz von Vecsey, Hungarian violinist and composer (b. 1893)
  • 1936 – Chandler Egan, American golfer and architect (b. 1884)
  • 1937 – Gustav Adolf Deissmann, (b. 1866)
  • 1937 – José Benlliure y Gil, Spanish painter (b. 1858)
  • 1938 – Helena Westermarck, Finnish artist and writer (b. 1857)
  • 1938 – Verner Lehtimäki, Finnish revolutionary (b. 1890)
  • 1940 – Charles Freer Andrews, English-Indian priest, missionary, and educator (b. 1871)
  • 1940 – Robert Maillart, Swiss civil engineer (b. 1872)
  • 1940 – Jay O’Brien, American bobsledder (b. 1883)
  • 1940 – Song Zheyuan, Chinese general (b. 1885)
  • 1941 – Parvin E’tesami, Persian poet (b. 1907)
  • 1941 – Nigel Gresley, Scottish-English engineer (b. 1876)
  • 1941 – Franciszek Kleeberg, Polish general (b. 1888)
  • 1945 – Heinrich Borgmann, German officer (b. 1912)
  • 1945 – Karl-Otto Koch, German SS officer (b. 1897)
  • 1946 – Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (b. 1898)
  • 1947 – Bernhard Pankok, German painter, artist and architect (b. 1872)
  • 1947 – Elis Strömgren, Swedish-Danish astronomer (b. 1870)
  • 1948 – Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, American socialite and philanthropist (b. 1874)
  • 1949 – Erich Zeigner, Prime Minister of Saxony (b. 1886)
  • 1950 – Hiroshi Yoshida, Japanese painter (b. 1876)
  • 1952 – Agnes Morton, British tennis player (b.
  • 1954 – Princess Märtha of Sweden, (b. 1901)
  • 1954 – Claude Delvincourt, French pianist and composer (b. 1888)
  • 1956 – William Titt, British gymnast (b. 1881)
  • 1958 – Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, (b. 1884)
  • 1958 – Ásgrímur Jónsson, Icelandic painter (b. 1876)
  • 1958 – Isidora Sekulić, Serbian writer (b. 1877)
  • 1961 – Nikolai Kryukov, Russian composer (b. 1908)
  • 1962 – Boo Kullberg, Swedish gymnast (b. 1889)
  • 1963 – Jacobus Oud, Dutch architect (b. 1890)
  • 1964 – James Chapin, American ornithologist (b. 1889)
  • 1964 – Aloïse Corbaz, Swiss artist (b. 1886)
  • 1964 – Douglas MacArthur, American general (b. 1880)
  • 1965 – Pedro Sernagiotto, Italian-Brazilian footballer (b. 1908)
  • 1965 – Sándor Szalay, Hungarian figure skater (b. 1893)
  • 1967 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (b. 1891)
  • 1967 – Johan Falkberget, Norwegian author (b. 1879)
  • 1967 – Hermann Joseph Muller, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
  • 1967 – Herbert Johnston, British runner (b. 1902)
  • 1968 – Félix Couchoro, Togolese writer (b. 1900)
  • 1968 – Lajos Csordás, Hungarian footballer
  • 1968 – Giuseppe Paris, Italian gymnast (b. 1895)
  • 1969 – Alberto Bonucci, Italian actor and director (b. 1918)
  • 1969 – Rómulo Gallegos, Venezuelan novelist and politician (b. 1917)
  • 1969 – Ain-Ervin Mere, Estonian SS officer (b. 1903)
  • 1970 – Louisa Bolus, South African botanist and taxonomist (b. 1877)
  • 1970 – Alfred Sturtevant, American geneticist and academic (b. 1891)
  • 1970 – Karl von Spreti, German diplomat (b. 1907)
  • 1971 – José Cubiles, Spanish pianist and conductor (b. 1894)
  • 1972 – Brian Donlevy, American actor and producer (b. 1901)
  • 1973 – David Murray, British race car driver (b. 1909)
  • 1973 – Isabel Jewell, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
  • 1973 – Alla Tarasova, Russian ballerina (b. l898)
  • 1974 – Bino Bini, Italian fencer (b. 1900)
  • 1974 – A. Y. Jackson, Canadian painter (b. 1882)
  • 1975 – Tell Berna, American middle and long-distance runner (b. 1891)
  • 1975 – Victor Marijnen, Dutch politician (b. 1917)
  • 1975 – Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese general and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1887)
  • 1975 – Harold Osborn, American track and fielder (b. 1899)
  • 1976 – Howard Hughes, American pilot, engineer, and director (b. 1905)
  • 1976 – Wilder Penfield, American-Canadian surgeon and academic (b. 1891)
  • 1976 – Harry Wyld, British cyclist (b. 1900)
  • 1977 – Carlos Prío Socarrás, President of Cuba, (b. 1903)
  • 1977 – Yuri Zavadsky, Russian actor and director (b. 1894)
  • 1981 – Émile Hanse, Belgian footballer (b. 1892)
  • 1981 – Bob Hite, American singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
  • 1981 – Pinchus Kremegne, French artist (b. 1890)
  • 1982 – Abe Fortas, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Hans Lunding, Danish military officer (b. 1899)
  • 1984 – Giuseppe Tucci, Italian scholar of oriental cultures (b. 1894)
  • 1986 – Manly Wade Wellman, American writer (b. 1903)
  • 1987 – Leabua Jonathan, 2nd Prime Minister of Lesotho (b. 1914)
  • 1988 – Alf Kjellin, Swedish actor and director (b. 1920)
  • 1989 – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (b. 1895)
  • 1989 – Karel Zeman, Czech director, artist, production designer and animator (b. 1910)
  • 1991 – Sonny Carter, American soccer player, physician, and astronaut (b. 1947)
  • 1991 – Jay Miller, American basketball player (b. 1943)
  • 1991 – Jiří Mucha, Czech journalist, writer and screenwriter (b. 1915)
  • 1991 – William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L’Isle (b. 1909)
  • 1991 – John Tower, American soldier, academic, and politician (b. 1925)
  • 1992 – Takeshi Inoue, Japanese footballer (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Molly Picon, American actress (b. 1898)
  • 1992 – Sam Walton, American businessman, founded Walmart and Sam’s Club (b. 1918)
  • 1993 – Divya Bharti, Indian actress (b. 1974)
  • 1994 – Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1967)
  • 1995 – Nicolaas Cortlever, Dutch chess player (b. 1915)
  • 1995 – Emilio Greco, Italian sculptor and engraver (b. 1913)
  • 1995 – Christian Pineau, French Resistance fighter (b. 1904)
  • 1996 – Charlene Holt, American actress (b. 1928)
  • 1997 – Allen Ginsberg, American poet (b. 1926)
  • 1998 – Frederick Charles Frank, British theoretical physicist (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Cozy Powell, English drummer (b. 1947)
  • 1999 – Giulio Einaudi, Italian book publisher (b. 1912)
  • 2000 – Heinrich Müller, Austrian footballer (b. 1909)
  • 2000 – Lee Petty, American race car driver (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Aldo Olivieri, Italian footballer (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Layne Staley, American singer-songwriter (b. 1967)
  • 2002 – Kim Won-gyun, North Korean composer and politician (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Keizo Morishita, Japanese painter (b. 1944)
  • 2004 – Fernand Goyvaerts, Belgian footballer (b. 1938)
  • 2004 – Sławomir Rawicz, Polish lieutenant (b. 1915)
  • 2004 – Heiner Zieschang, German mathematician and academic (b. 1936)
  • 2005 – Saul Bellow, Canadian-American novelist, essayist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Robert Borg, American military officer and equestrian (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Chung Nam-sik, South Korean footballer (b. 1917)
  • 2006 – Allan Kaprow, American painter and educator (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Gene Pitney, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
  • 2006 – Yevgeny Seredin, Russian swimmer (b. 1958)
  • 2006 – Pasquale Macchi, Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Maria Gripe, Swedish journalist and author (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Leela Majumdar, Indian author and academic (b. 1908)
  • 2007 – Werner Maser, German historian and journalist (b. 1922)
  • 2007 – Mark St. John, American guitarist (b. 1956)
  • 2007 – Thomas Stoltz Harvey, American pathologist (b. 1912)
  • 2008 – Charlton Heston, American actor, director, and political activist (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – I. J. Good, British mathematician (b. 1916)
  • 2010 – Vitaly Sevastyanov, Soviet cosmonaut and engineer (b. 1935)
  • 2011 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and geneticist (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African politician (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, German designer (b. 1935)
  • 2012 – Pedro Bartolomé Benoit, Dominican Republican politician military officer
  • 2012 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – Barney McKenna, Irish musician (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawian economist and politician, 3rd President of Malawi (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Regina Bianchi, Italian actress (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Piero de Palma, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Alan Davie, Scottish saxophonist and painter (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Mariano Díaz, Spanish cyclist (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Peter Matthiessen, American novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founded The Paris Review (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – John Pinette, American comedian (b. 1964)
  • 2014 – José Wilker, Brazilian actor, director, and producer (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Fredric Brandt, American dermatologist and author (b. 1949)
  • 2015 – Juan Carlos Cáceres, Argentinian singer and pianist (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Koço Kasapoğlu, Turkish footballer (b. 1936)
  • 2017 – Attilio Benfatto, Italian cyclist (b. 1943)
  • 2017 – Arthur Bisguier, American chess Grandmaster (b. 1929)
  • 2017 – Paul G. Comba, Italian-American computer scientist and astronomer (b. 1926)
  • 2017 – Makoto Ōoka, Japanese poet and literary critic (b. 1931)
  • 2017 – Paul O’Neill, American rock composer and producer (b. 1956)
  • 2017 – Tim Parnell, British race car driver (b. 1932)
  • 2017 – Memè Perlini, Italian actor and director (b. 1947)
  • 2017 – Atanase Sciotnic, Romanian sprint canoeist (b. 1942)
  • 2017 – Ilkka Sinisalo, Finnish ice hockey player (b. 1958)
  • 2018 – Isao Takahata, Japanese director (b. 1935)
  • 2019 – Sydney Brenner, South African biologist (b. 1927)[16]

Holidays and observances on April 5

  • Christian feast day:
    • Albert of Montecorvino
    • Derfel Gadarn
    • Æthelburh of Kent
    • Gerald of Sauve-Majeure
    • Juliana of Liège
    • Maria Crescentia Höss
    • Blessed Mariano de la Mata
    • Pandita Mary Ramabai (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Ruadhán of Lorrha
    • Vincent Ferrer
    • April 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Cold Food Festival, held on April 4 if it is a leap year (China); and its related observances:
  • Earliest day on which Sham el-Nessim can fall, while May 9 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after the Orthodox Easter (Egypt)
  • Children’s Day (Palestinian territories)
  • Sikmogil (South Korea)
  • National Maritime Day is observed in India, in commemoration of the first voyage of SS Loyalty of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd. in 1919.

April 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

It is the last day of the first quarter of the year.

March 31 in History

  • 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
  • 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
  • 1492 – Queen Isabella of Castile issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
  • 1561 – The city of San Cristóbal, Táchira is founded.
  • 1717 – A sermon on “The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ” by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, preached in the presence of King George I of Great Britain, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
  • 1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
  • 1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
  • 1885 – The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
  • 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
  • 1899 – Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces.
  • 1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
  • 1909 – Serbia formally withdraws its opposition to Austro-Hungarian actions in the Bosnian Crisis.
  • 1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.
  • 1917 – According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.
  • 1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
  • 1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
  • 1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
  • 1930 – The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.
  • 1931 – An earthquake in Nicaragua destroys Managua; killing 2,000.
  • 1931 – A Transcontinental & Western Air airliner crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne.
  • 1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
  • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
  • 1945 – World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world’s first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
  • 1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
  • 1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
  • 1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
  • 1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
  • 1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
  • 1964 – Brazilian General Olímpio Mourão Filho orders his troops to move towards Rio de Janeiro, beginning the coup d’état.
  • 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
  • 1968 – American President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks to the nation of “Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam” in a television address. At the conclusion of his speech, he announces: “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
  • 1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
  • 1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
  • 1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
  • 1990 – Approximately 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.
  • 1991 – Georgian independence referendum: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country’s independence from the Soviet Union.
  • 1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
  • 1992 – The Treaty of Federation is signed in Moscow.
  • 1995 – TAROM Flight 371, an Airbus A310-300, crashes near Balotesti, Romania, killing all 60 people on board.
  • 1995 – Selena is murdered by her fan club’s president Yolanda Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas after accusations of Saldívar embezzling money from Selena’s fan club.
  • 1998 – Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license.
  • 2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.
  • 2018 – Start of the 2018 Armenian revolution.

Births on March 31

  • 1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415)
  • 1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
  • 1504 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (d. 1552)
  • 1519 – Henry II of France (d. 1559)
  • 1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (d. 1565)
  • 1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1650)
  • 1601 – Jakov Mikalja, Italian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1654)
  • 1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician (d. 1678)
  • 1651 – Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (d. 1685)
  • 1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
  • 1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)
  • 1723 – Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
  • 1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1783)
  • 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1809)
  • 1740 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849)
  • 1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer (d. 1800)
  • 1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (d. 1859)
  • 1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (d. 1858)
  • 1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852)
  • 1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and translator (d. 1883)
  • 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (d. 1852)
  • 1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864)
  • 1813 – Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president (1858 and 1860–1862) (d. 1898)
  • 1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1901)
  • 1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)
  • 1833 – Mary Abigail Dodge, American writer and essayist (d. 1896)
  • 1835 – John La Farge, American artist (d. 1910)
  • 1847 – Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (d. 1904)
  • 1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1878)
  • 1851 – Francis Bell, Jewish New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
  • 1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman (d. 1899)
  • 1859 – Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor and screenwriter (d. 1924)
  • 1865 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician (d. 1887)
  • 1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish journalist and politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann (d. 1922)
  • 1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929)
  • 1874 – Benjamín G. Hill, Mexican revolutionary general, governor of Sonora (d. 1920)
  • 1874 – Henri Marteau, French violinist and composer (d. 1934)
  • 1876 – Borisav Stanković, Serbian author (d. 1927)
  • 1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
  • 1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (d. 1946)
  • 1885 – Pascin, Sephardi Jewish Bulgarian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1930)
  • 1890 – Ben Adams, American jumper (d. 1961)
  • 1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
  • 1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor and director (d. 1976)
  • 1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1954)
  • 1893 – Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German physician and historian (d. 1982)
  • 1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author and academic (d. 1968)
  • 1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)
  • 1905 – Robert Stevenson, English director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1905 – George Treweek, Australian rugby league player (d. 1991)
  • 1906 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
  • 1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999)
  • 1911 – Freddie Green, American guitarist (d. 1987)
  • 1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986)
  • 1912 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (d. 2009)
  • 1913 – Etta Baker, African-American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
  • 1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
  • 1914 – Dagmar Lange, Swedish author (d. 1991)
  • 1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian and author (d. 1993)
  • 1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997)
  • 1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012)
  • 1916 – Tommy Bolt, American golfer (d. 2008)
  • 1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 1979)
  • 1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violinist and educator (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Ted Post, American director (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993)
  • 1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, British aristocrat, socialite and author (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Lowell Fulson, African-American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
  • 1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
  • 1922 – Patrick Magee, Irish actor (d. 1982)
  • 1923 – Don Barksdale, American basketball player (d. 1993)
  • 1923 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002)
  • 1925 – Jean Coutu, Canadian actor and director (d. 1999)
  • 1926 – John Fowles, English novelist (d. 2005)
  • 1926 – Beni Montresor, Italian director, set designer, author, and illustrator (d. 2001)
  • 1926 – Rocco Petrone, American colonel and engineer (d. 2006)
  • 1927 – Cesar Chavez, American labor union leader and activist (d. 1993)
  • 1927 – William Daniels, American actor
  • 1927 – Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Spanish cardinal
  • 1927 – Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Elmer Diedtrich, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
  • 1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
  • 1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
  • 1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne Inc. (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Bert Fields, American lawyer and author
  • 1930 – Yehuda Nir, Polish Jewish-American psychiatrist (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Jim Mutscheller, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Tamara Tyshkevich, Belarusian shot putter (d. 1997)
  • 1932 – John Jakes, American author
  • 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (d. 1999)
  • 1933 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)
  • 1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor
  • 1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer
  • 1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1934 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer
  • 1935 – Judith Rossner, Jewish-American author (d. 2005)
  • 1936 – Marge Piercy, American poet and novelist
  • 1936 – Walter E. Williams, American economist and academic
  • 1938 – Patrick Bateson, English biologist and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 22nd Governor of Kerala (d. 2019)
  • 1938 – Antje Gleichfeld, German runner
  • 1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – David Steel, Scottish academic and politician
  • 1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993)
  • 1939 – Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Walker David Miller, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer
  • 1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
  • 1940 – Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer and art director (d. 2013)
  • 1940 – Barney Frank, American lawyer and politician
  • 1940 – Patrick Leahy, American lawyer and politician
  • 1941 – Franco Bonvicini, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
  • 1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician
  • 1942 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Michael Savage, far-right American radio host and author
  • 1943 – Roy Andersson, Swedish director and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer
  • 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
  • 1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter
  • 1944 – Angus King, American politician
  • 1944 – Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist and engineer
  • 1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
  • 1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
  • 1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984)
  • 1946 – Bob Russell, English politician
  • 1947 – Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-American mathematician and academic
  • 1947 – Wendy Overton, American tennis player
  • 1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer
  • 1947 – Don Foster, English academic and politician
  • 1947 – César Gaviria, Colombian economist and politician, 36th President of Colombia
  • 1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and economist (d. 2011)
  • 1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba
  • 1948 – Al Gore, American soldier and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
  • 1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist
  • 1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author
  • 1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
  • 1950 – Sandra Morgen, American anthropologist and academic (d. 2016)
  • 1953 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (d. 2014)
  • 1955 – Svetozar Marović, President of Serbia and Montenegro
  • 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter
  • 1957 – Alan Duncan, English businessman and politician, former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
  • 1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator
  • 1959 – Anita Dillen, Dutch socialite and member of wealthy Dillen family, niece of Cor Dillen, Coen Dillen
  • 1961 – Ron Brown, American sprinter and football player
  • 1961 – Howard Gordon, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1962 – Olli Rehn, Finnish footballer and politician
  • 1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer
  • 1964 – Mark Hoban, English accountant and politician
  • 1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1965 – Patty Fendick, American tennis player and coach
  • 1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006)
  • 1965 – William McNamara, American actor and producer
  • 1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Roger Black, English runner and journalist
  • 1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver
  • 1968 – César Sampaio, Brazilian footballer
  • 1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician
  • 1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia
  • 1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer
  • 1971 – Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee
  • 1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
  • 1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter
  • 1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs
  • 1973 – Christopher Hampson, English ballet dancer and choreographer
  • 1974 – Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Natali, Russian singer, composer and songwriter
  • 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player
  • 1974 – Jani Sievinen, Finnish swimmer
  • 1975 – Adam Green, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1975 – Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1975 – Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player
  • 1975 – Ryan Rupe, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Howard Frier, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer
  • 1976 – Graeme Smith, Scottish swimmer
  • 1977 – Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1977 – Garth Tander, Australian race car driver
  • 1978 – Michael Clark, Australian cricketer and footballer
  • 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer, midfeider and manager
  • 1978 – Jarrod Cooper, American football player
  • 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
  • 1979 – Omri Afek, Israeli footballer
  • 1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish martial artist and coach
  • 1979 – Alexis Ferrero, Argentinian footballer
  • 1979 – Charlie Manning, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Jonna Mendes, American skier
  • 1979 – Rhys Wesser, Australian rugby league player
  • 1980 – Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer
  • 1980 – Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger
  • 1980 – Matias Concha, Swedish footballer
  • 1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
  • 1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer
  • 1981 – Han Tae-you, South Korean footballer
  • 1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
  • 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
  • 1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
  • 1982 – Bam Childress, American football player
  • 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
  • 1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
  • 1983 – Ashleigh Ball, Canadian voice actress and musician
  • 1983 – Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician
  • 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
  • 1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby league player
  • 1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player
  • 1984 – James Jones, American football player
  • 1984 – Martins Dukurs, Latvian sled racer
  • 1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete
  • 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
  • 1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player
  • 1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player
  • 1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer
  • 1985 – Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian race car driver
  • 1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player
  • 1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler
  • 1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
  • 1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player
  • 1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer
  • 1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
  • 1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer
  • 1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer
  • 1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player
  • 1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater
  • 1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer
  • 1988 – Conrad Sewell, Australian singer and songwriter
  • 1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player
  • 1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
  • 1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer
  • 1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer
  • 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
  • 1990 – George Iloka, American football player
  • 1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player
  • 1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper
  • 1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer
  • 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
  • 1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer
  • 1992 – Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer
  • 1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
  • 1994 – Samira Asghari, Afghan member of the International Olympic Committee
  • 1994 – Tyler Wright, Australian surfer
  • 1994 – Mads Würtz Schmidt, Danish road cyclist
  • 1995 – Fiona Brown, footballer
  • 1998 – Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1999 – Japhet Tanganga, English footballer

Deaths on March 31

  • 32 BC – Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman nobleman of the Equestrian order (b. 109 BC)
  • 528 – Xiaoming, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 510)
  • 963 – Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (b. 906)
  • 1241 – Pousa, voivode of Transylvania
  • 1251 – William of Modena, Italian bishop and diplomat
  • 1340 – Ivan I of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1288)
  • 1342 – Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro, Italian Augustinian monk
  • 1462 – Isidore II of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 1491 – Bonaventura Tornielli, Italian Roman Catholic priest (b. 1411)
  • 1547 – Francis I, French king (b. 1494)
  • 1567 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504)
  • 1621 – Philip III, Spanish king (b. 1578)
  • 1622 – Gonzalo Méndez de Canço, Royal Governor of La Florida (b. 1554)
  • 1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572)
  • 1671 – Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
  • 1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1661)
  • 1741 – Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar and author (b. 1668)
  • 1751 – Frederick, Prince of Wales, Hanoverian-born heir to the British throne (b. 1707)better source needed
  • 1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist (b.1745)
  • 1837 – John Constable, English painter and educator (b. 1776)
  • 1850 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782)
  • 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1816)
  • 1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1801)
  • 1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1835)
  • 1885 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (b. 1819)
  • 1907 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1823)
  • 1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet, essayist and art critic (b. 1856)
  • 1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier (b. 1837)
  • 1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner and captain (b. 1882)
  • 1917 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
  • 1924 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (b. 1855)
  • 1927 – Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and political reformer (b. 1858)
  • 1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1836)
  • 1931 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (b. 1888)
  • 1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume (b. 1885)
  • 1939 – Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general (b. 1887)
  • 1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
  • 1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand banker and politician (b. 1884)
  • 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
  • 1950 – Robert Natus, Estonian architect (b. 1890)
  • 1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver and actor (b. 1884)
  • 1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
  • 1970 – Semyon Timoshenko, Soviet Commander during the Winter War and the Eastern Front of World War II (b. 1894)
  • 1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897)
  • 1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and director (b. 1890)
  • 1978 – Astrid Allwyn, American actress (b. 1905)
  • 1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899)
  • 1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (b. 1905)
  • 1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913)
  • 1981 – Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (b. 1889)
  • 1983 – Christina Stead, Australian author and academic (b. 1902)
  • 1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925)
  • 1988 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
  • 1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1965)
  • 1993 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (b. 1900)
  • 1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (b. 1971)
  • 1996 – Dante Giacosa, Italian automobile designer and engineer (b. 1905)
  • 1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
  • 1998 – Bella Abzug, American lawyer, activist, and politician (b. 1920)
  • 1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924)
  • 1998 – Joel Ryce-Menuhin, American pianist (b. 1933)
  • 1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist and ethnographer (b. 1922)
  • 2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967)
  • 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
  • 2002 – Barry Took, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
  • 2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian activist and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2003 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1907)
  • 2003 – Anne Gwynne, American actress (b. 1918)
  • 2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1949)
  • 2004 – Scott Helvenston, American soldier (b. 1965)
  • 2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist and academic (b. 1951)
  • 2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
  • 2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920)
  • 2006 – Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
  • 2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1911)
  • 2008 – Bill Keightley, American equipment manager (b. 1926)
  • 2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (b. 1927)
  • 2009 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
  • 2011 – Gil Clancy, American boxer and trainer (b. 1922)
  • 2011 – Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author (b. 1935)
  • 2011 – Mary Greyeyes, the first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach (b. 1921)
  • 2011 – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and actress (b. 1941)
  • 2011 – Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist (b. 1914)
  • 2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Alberto Sughi, Italian painter (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Halbert White, American economist and academic (b. 1950)
  • 2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Bob Clarke, American illustrator (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician, Iranian Minister of Interior (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1980)
  • 2014 – Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, historian, and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Roger Somville, Belgian painter (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Cocoa Fujiwara, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1983)
  • 2015 – Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian lawyer and politician (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Dalibor Vesely, Czech-English historian, author, and academic (b. 1934)
  • 2016 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-born English architect and academic, designed the Bridge Pavilion (b. 1950)
  • 2016 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – Denise Robertson, British writer and television broadcaster (b. 1932)
  • 2017 – Gilbert Baker, American artist and LGBT rights activist (b. 1951)
  • 2017 – James Rosenquist, American artist (b. 1933)
  • 2019 – Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (b. 1985)

Holidays and observances on March 31

  • Cesar Chavez Day (United States)
  • Christian feast day
    • Abdas of Susa
    • Acathius of Melitene (Eastern Orthodox Church)
    • Anesius and companions
    • Benjamin
    • Balbina
    • John Donne (Anglican Communion, Lutheran)
    • March 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan)
  • Freedom Day (Malta)
  • International Transgender Day of Visibility
  • King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
  • Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey, United States)
  • Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands)
  • World Backup Day

March 31 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 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 11​1⁄2 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
  • 1939 – Hanumant Singh, Indian cricketer (d. 2006)
  • 1940 – Ray Davis, American bass singer (d. 2005)
  • 1940 – Astrud Gilberto, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1940 – John Suchet, English journalist and game show host
  • 1941 – Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr., American astrophysicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1942 – Bob Lurtsema, American football player
  • 1942 – Scott Wilson, American actor (d. 2018)
  • 1943 – Vangelis, Greek keyboard player and songwriter
  • 1943 – Chad Allan, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Eric Idle, English actor and comedian
  • 1943 – John Major, English banker and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • 1944 – Terry Jacks, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1944 – Denny McLain, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1944 – Lynne Segal, Australian-British feminist academic and activist
  • 1945 – Walt Frazier, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1945 – Speedy Keen, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (d. 2002)
  • 1946 – Billy Thorpe, English-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2007)
  • 1946 – Segun Bucknor, Nigerian musician and journalist (d. 2017)
  • 1947 – Inge Bödding, German sprinter
  • 1947 – Robert Gordon, American singer and actor
  • 1947 – Bobby Kimball, American singer-songwriter
  • 1948 – Bud Cort, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Piet Souer, Dutch record producer, songwriter and arranger
  • 1949 – Michael Brecker, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2007)
  • 1949 – Dave Greenfield, English musician (d. 2020)
  • 1949 – Pauline Marois, Canadian social worker and politician, 30th Premier of Quebec
  • 1949 – Keith Simpson, English historian and politician
  • 1951 – William Clarke, American harmonica player (d. 1996)
  • 1951 – Geoff Howarth, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1951 – Tina Monzon-Palma, Filipino journalist
  • 1952 – Rainer Bonhof, German footballer
  • 1952 – Russell Fairfax, Australian rugby player and coach
  • 1952 – John Hendricks, American businessman, founded Discovery Communications
  • 1952 – Teófilo Stevenson, Cuban boxer and engineer (d. 2012)
  • 1953 – Tõnis Palts, Estonian politician, 39th Mayor of Tallinn
  • 1955 – Earl Campbell, American football player
  • 1955 – Brendan Gleeson, Irish actor
  • 1955 – Marina Sirtis, British-American actress
  • 1956 – Patty Donahue, American singer (d. 1996)
  • 1957 – Elizabeth Hand, American author
  • 1957 – Christopher Lambert, American-born French actor
  • 1958 – Pedro Bial, Brazilian journalist and producer
  • 1958 – Travis Childers, American businessman and politician
  • 1958 – Nouriel Roubini, Turkish-American economist and academic
  • 1958 – Victor Salva, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1958 – Marc Silvestri, American publisher, founded Top Cow Productions
  • 1959 – Barry Blanchard, Canadian mountaineer
  • 1959 – Perry Farrell, American singer-songwriter
  • 1959 – Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1960 – Wayne Pearce, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1961 – Gary Brabham, English-Australian race car driver
  • 1961 – Mike Kingery, American baseball player
  • 1961 – Amy Sedaris, American actress and comedian
  • 1961 – Michael Winterbottom, English director and producer
  • 1962 – Billy Beane, American baseball player and manager
  • 1962 – Ted Failon, Filipino journalist and politician
  • 1962 – Kirk Triplett, American golfer
  • 1964 – Catherine Cortez Masto, American attorney and politician
  • 1964 – Jill Goodacre, American model and actress
  • 1964 – Elle Macpherson, Australian model and actress
  • 1964 – Ming Tsai, American chef and television host
  • 1965 – Emilios T. Harlaftis, Greek astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1965 – William Oefelein, American commander, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1965 – Voula Patoulidou, Greek hurdler, long jumper, and politician
  • 1966 – Krasimir Balakov, Bulgarian footballer and manager
  • 1966 – Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Dutch politician
  • 1966 – Eric Gunderson, American baseball player
  • 1966 – Sigrid Kirchmann, Austrian high jumper
  • 1967 – Ainars Bagatskis, Latvian basketball player and coach
  • 1967 – Michel Hazanavicius, French director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Brian Jordan, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1968 – Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress
  • 1969 – Kim Batten, American hurdler
  • 1969 – Shinichi Mochizuki, Japanese mathematician
  • 1969 – Jimmy Spencer, American football player and coach
  • 1971 – Robert Gibbs, American political adviser, 28th White House Press Secretary
  • 1971 – Lara Logan, South African television and radio journalist and war correspondent
  • 1971 – Hidetoshi Nishijima, Japanese actor
  • 1972 – Rui Costa, Portuguese footballer
  • 1972 – Piet-Hein Geeris, Dutch field hockey player
  • 1972 – Alex Ochoa, Cuban-American baseball player and coach
  • 1972 – Priti Patel, British Indian politician, Secretary of State for the Home Department
  • 1973 – Marc Overmars, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1973 – Sebastiano Siviglia, Italian footballer
  • 1973 – Steve Smith, English high jumper
  • 1974 – Miguel Gómez, Colombian-American photographer and educator
  • 1976 – Igor Astarloa, Spanish cyclist
  • 1976 – Jennifer Capriati, American tennis player
  • 1978 – Aaron Persico, New Zealand-Italian rugby player
  • 1980 – Bill Demong, American skier
  • 1980 – Bruno Silva, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1981 – Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (d. 2018)
  • 1982 – Jēkabs Rēdlihs, Latvian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Darius Draudvila, Lithuanian decathlete
  • 1984 – Juan Mónaco, Argentinian tennis player
  • 1985 – Fernando Amorebieta, Venezuelan international footballer, central defender
  • 1985 – Maxim Lapierre, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Mickey Pimentel, American football player
  • 1986 – Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, English footballer
  • 1986 – Ivan Ukhov, Russian high jumper
  • 1987 – Gianluca Freddi, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Dimitri Payet, French footballer
  • 1987 – Romain Hamouma, French footballer
  • 1988 – Esther Cremer, German runner
  • 1988 – Jesús Molina, Mexican footballer
  • 1988 – Jürgen Zopp, Estonian tennis player
  • 1989 – James Tomkins, English footballer
  • 1990 – Carlos Peña, Mexican footballer
  • 1990 – Teemu Pukki, Finnish footballer
  • 1990 – Lyle Taylor, English footballer
  • 1991 – Irene, South Korean idol, actress and television host
  • 1991 – Fabio Borini, Italian footballer
  • 1991 – N’Golo Kanté, French footballer
  • 1993 – Thorgan Hazard, Belgian footballer

Deaths on March 29

  • 87 BC – Emperor Wu of Han of China (b. 157 BC)
  • AD 57 – Emperor Guangwu of Han (b. 5 BC)
  • 500 – Gwynllyw, Welsh king and religious figure
  • 1058 – Pope Stephen IX (b. 1020)
  • 1075 – Ottokar I of Styria, German noble
  • 1368 – Emperor Go-Murakami of Japan (b. 1328)
  • 1461 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (b. 1421)
  • 1461 – Lionel de Welles, 6th Baron Welles
  • 1467 – Matthew Palaiologos Asen, Byzantine aristocrat and official
  • 1578 – Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (b. 1527)
  • 1578 – Arthur Champernowne, English admiral and politician (b. 1524)
  • 1628 – Tobias Matthew, English archbishop and academic (b. 1546)
  • 1629 – Jacob de Gheyn II, Dutch painter and engraver (b. 1565)
  • 1692 – Nicolaus Bruhns, Danish-German organist, violinist, and composer (b. 1665)
  • 1703 – George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, (b. 1678)
  • 1751 – Thomas Coram, English captain and philanthropist, founded Foundling Hospital (b. 1668)
  • 1772 – Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish astronomer, philosopher, and theologian (b. 1688)
  • 1788 – Charles Wesley, English missionary and poet (b. 1707)
  • 1792 – Gustav III of Sweden (b. 1746)
  • 1800 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French general and engineer (b. 1714)
  • 1803 – Gottfried van Swieten, Dutch-Austrian librarian and diplomat (b. 1733)
  • 1826 – Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator, and academic (b. 1751)
  • 1829 – Cornelio Saavedra, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1759)
  • 1848 – John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman (b. 1763)
  • 1855 – Henri Druey, Swiss politician, 2nd President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1799)
  • 1873 – Francesco Zantedeschi, Italian priest and physicist (b. 1797)
  • 1877 – Inazuma Raigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 7th Yokozuna (b. 1802)
  • 1888 – Charles-Valentin Alkan, French pianist and composer (b. 1813)
  • 1891 – John Plankinton, American businessman and industrialist, also noted for philanthropy (b. 1820)
  • 1891 – Georges Seurat, French painter (b. 1859)
  • 1900 – Cyrus K. Holliday, American businessman (b. 1826)
  • 1905 – William Plankinton, American businessman, industrialist and banker (b. 1843)
  • 1906 – Slava Raškaj, Croatian painter (b. 1878)
  • 1911 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (b. 1837)
  • 1912 – Henry Robertson Bowers, Scottish lieutenant and explorer (b. 1883)
  • 1912 – Robert Falcon Scott, English lieutenant and explorer (b. 1868)
  • 1912 – Edward Adrian Wilson, English physician and explorer (b. 1872)
  • 1924 – Charles Villiers Stanford, Irish composer and conductor (b. 1852)
  • 1934 – Otto Hermann Kahn, German-American banker and philanthropist (b. 1867)
  • 1937 – Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1882)
  • 1940 – Alexander Obolensky, Russian-English rugby player and soldier (b. 1916)
  • 1948 – Harry Price, English parapsychologist and author (b. 1881)
  • 1957 – Joyce Cary, Anglo-Irish novelist (b. 1888)
  • 1959 – Barthélemy Boganda, African priest and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
  • 1963 – Gaspard Fauteux, Canadian dentist and politician, 19th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1898)
  • 1963 – August Rei, Estonian soldier, journalist, and politician, 12th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1886)
  • 1970 – Anna Louise Strong, American journalist and author (b. 1885)
  • 1971 – Dhirendranath Datta, Pakistani lawyer and politician (b. 1886)
  • 1972 – J. Arthur Rank, English businessman, founded Rank Organisation (b. 1888)
  • 1980 – Mantovani, Italian-English conductor and composer (b. 1905)
  • 1981 – Eric Williams, Trinidadian historian and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1911)
  • 1982 – Walter Hallstein, German academic and politician, 1st President of the European Commission (b. 1901)
  • 1982 – Carl Orff, German composer and educator (b. 1895)
  • 1982 – Nathan Farragut Twining, American general (b. 1897)
  • 1985 – Luther Terry, American physician and academic, 9th Surgeon General of the United States (b. 1911)
  • 1988 – Maurice Blackburn, Canadian composer and conductor (b. 1914)
  • 1988 – Ted Kluszewski, American baseball player and coach (b. 1924)
  • 1991 – Guy Bourdin, French photographer (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Paul Henreid, American actor (b. 1908)
  • 1994 – Bill Travers, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
  • 1995 – Mort Meskin, American illustrator (b. 1916)
  • 1995 – Terry Moore, American baseball player and coach (b. 1912)
  • 1996 – Frank Daniel, Czech-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 1996 – Bill Goldsworthy, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1944)
  • 1997 – Hans-Walter Eigenbrodt, German footballer and coach (b. 1935)
  • 1999 – Gyula Zsengellér, Hungarian footballer (b. 1915)
  • 1999 – Joe Williams, American jazz singer (b. 1918)
  • 2001 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian lawyer, academic, and explorer (b. 1899)
  • 2001 – John Lewis, American pianist and composer (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – Carlo Urbani, Italian physician and microbiologist (b. 1956)
  • 2004 – Lise de Baissac, Mauritian-born SOE agent, war hero (b. 1905)
  • 2004 – Joel Feinberg, American philosopher and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2005 – Miltos Sachtouris, Greek poet and author (b. 1919)
  • 2006 – Salvador Elizondo, Mexican author and poet (b. 1932)
  • 2007 – Larry L’Estrange, English rugby player and soldier (b. 1934)
  • 2009 – Vladimir Fedotov, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1943)
  • 2009 – Andy Hallett, American actor and singer (b. 1975)
  • 2011 – Ângelo de Sousa, Portuguese painter and sculptor (b. 1938)
  • 2011 – Iakovos Kambanellis, Greek author, poet, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Pap Cheyassin Secka, Gambian lawyer and politician (b. 1942)
  • 2012 – Bill Jenkins, American race car driver and engineer (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Reginald Gray, Irish-French painter (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Brian Huggins, English-Canadian journalist and actor (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Liu Kang, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1961)
  • 2013 – Ralph Klein, Canadian journalist and politician, 12th Premier of Alberta (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Art Phillips, Canadian businessman and politician, 32nd Mayor of Vancouver (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Marc Platt, American actor and dancer (b. 1913)
  • 2014 – Ruth A. M. Schmidt, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1916)
  • 2015 – William Delafield Cook, Australian-English painter (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Gerry Hardstaff, English cricketer (b. 1940)
  • 2016 – Patty Duke, American actress (b. 1946)
  • 2017 – Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Russian physicist (b. 1928)
  • 2019 – Agnès Varda, French film director (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances on March 29

  • Christian feast day:
    • Berthold
    • Eustace of Luxeuil
    • Gwladys
    • Gwynllyw
    • Hans Nielsen Hauge (Lutheran)
    • John Keble (commemoration, Anglicanism)
    • March 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which the Octave Day of Easter can fall, while May 2 is the latest; observed on the Sunday after Easter. (Christianity)
  • Boganda Day (Central African Republic)
  • Commemoration of the 1947 Rebellion (Madagascar)
  • National Vietnam War Veterans Day (United States of America)
  • Day of the Young Combatant (Chile)
  • Youth Day (Taiwan)

March 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 708 – Pope Constantine succeeds Pope Sisinnius as the 88th pope.
  • 717 – Theodosius III resigns the throne to the Byzantine Empire to enter the clergy.
  • 919 – Romanos Lekapenos seizes the Boukoleon Palace in Constantinople and becomes regent of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII.
  • 1000 – Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah assassinates the eunuch chief minister Barjawan and assumes control of the government.
  • 1306 – Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scots (Scotland).
  • 1409 – The Council of Pisa opens.
  • 1555 – The city of Valencia is founded in present-day Venezuela.
  • 1576 – Jerome Savage takes out a sub-lease to start the Newington Butts Theatre outside London.
  • 1584 – Sir Walter Raleigh is granted a patent to colonize Virginia.
  • 1655 – Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christiaan Huygens.
  • 1802 – The Treaty of Amiens is signed as a “Definitive Treaty of Peace” between France and the United Kingdom.
  • 1807 – The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire.
  • 1807 – The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger-carrying railway in the world.
  • 1811 – Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.
  • 1821 – Traditional date of the start of the Greek War of Independence. The war had actually begun on 23 February 1821 (Julian calendar).
  • 1845 – New Zealand Legislative Council pass the first Militia Act constituting the New Zealand Army.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces temporarily capture Fort Stedman from the Union.
  • 1894 – Coxey’s Army, the first significant American protest march, departs Massillon, Ohio for Washington, D.C.
  • 1911 – In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 garment workers.
  • 1917 – The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.
  • 1918 – The Belarusian People’s Republic is established.
  • 1924 – On the anniversary of Greek Independence, Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the Second Hellenic Republic.
  • 1931 – The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with rape.
  • 1941 – The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers with the signing of the Tripartite Pact.
  • 1947 – An explosion in a coal mine in Centralia, Illinois kills 111.
  • 1948 – The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
  • 1949 – More than 92,000 kulaks are suddenly deported from the Baltic states to Siberia.
  • 1957 – United States Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” on obscenity grounds.
  • 1957 – The European Economic Community is established with West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg as the first members.
  • 1965 – Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.
  • 1969 – During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel (until March 31).
  • 1971 – The Army of the Republic of Vietnam abandon an attempt to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos.
  • 1975 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by a mentally ill nephew.
  • 1979 – The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.
  • 1988 – The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
  • 1995 – WikiWikiWeb, the world’s first wiki, and part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham.
  • 1996 – The European Union’s Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
  • 2006 – Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
  • 2006 – Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged 2006 Belarusian presidential election, clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested.

Births on March 25

  • 1252 – Conradin, Duke of Swabia (d. 1268)
  • 1259 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1332)
  • 1297 – Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1341)
  • 1297 – Arnošt of Pardubice, Polish archbishop (d. 1364)
  • 1345 – Blanche of Lancaster (d. 1369)
  • 1347 – Catherine of Siena, Italian philosopher, theologian, and saint (d. 1380)
  • 1404 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English military leader (d. 1444)
  • 1414 – Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford, English noble (d. 1455)
  • 1434 – Eustochia Smeralda Calafato, Italian saint (d. 1485)
  • 1453 – Giuliano de’ Medici (d. 1478)
  • 1479 – Vasili III of Russia (d. 1533)
  • 1491 – Marie d’Albret, Countess of Rethel (d. 1549)
  • 1510 – Guillaume Postel, French linguist (d. 1581)
  • 1538 – Christopher Clavius, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1612)
  • 1541 – Francesco I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1587)
  • 1545 – John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (d. 1622)
  • 1546 – Giacomo Castelvetro, Italian writer (d. 1616)
  • 1593 – Jean de Brébeuf, French-Canadian missionary and saint (d. 1649)
  • 1611 – Evliya Çelebi, Ottoman Turk traveller and writer (d. 1682)
  • 1636 – Henric Piccardt, Dutch lawyer (d. 1712)
  • 1643 – Louis Moréri, French priest and scholar (d. 1680)
  • 1661 – Paul de Rapin, French soldier and historian (d. 1725)
  • 1699 – Johann Adolph Hasse, German singer and composer (d. 1783)
  • 1741 – Jean-Antoine Houdon, French sculptor and educator (d. 1828)
  • 1745 – John Barry, American naval officer and father of the American navy (d. 1803)
  • 1767 – Joachim Murat, French general (d. 1815)
  • 1782 – Caroline Bonaparte, French daughter of Carlo Buonaparte (d. 1839)
  • 1800 – Ernst Heinrich Karl von Dechen, German geologist and academic (d. 1889)
  • 1808 – José de Espronceda, Spanish poet and author (d. 1842)
  • 1824 – Clinton L. Merriam, American banker and politician (d. 1900)
  • 1840 – Myles Keogh, Irish-American colonel (d. 1876)
  • 1863 – Simon Flexner, American physician and academic (d. 1946)
  • 1867 – Gutzon Borglum, American sculptor, designed Mount Rushmore (d. 1941)
  • 1867 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian-American cellist and conductor (d. 1957)
  • 1868 – Bill Lockwood, English cricketer (d. 1932)
  • 1871 – Louis Perrée, French fencer (d. 1924)
  • 1872 – Horatio Nelson Jackson, American race car driver and physician (d. 1955)
  • 1873 – Rudolf Rocker, German-American author and activist (d. 1958)
  • 1874 – Selim Sırrı Tarcan, Turkish educator and politician (d. 1957)
  • 1876 – Irving Baxter, American jumper and pole vaulter (d. 1957)
  • 1877 – Walter Little, Canadian politician (d. 1961)
  • 1878 – František Janda-Suk, Czech discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1955)
  • 1879 – Amedee Reyburn, American swimmer and water polo player (d. 1920)
  • 1881 – Béla Bartók, Hungarian pianist and composer (d. 1945)
  • 1881 – Patrick Henry Bruce, American painter and educator (d. 1936)
  • 1881 – Mary Webb, English author and poet (d. 1927)
  • 1893 – Johannes Villemson, Estonian runner (d. 1971)
  • 1895 – Siegfried Handloser, German general and physician (d. 1954)
  • 1885 – Jimmy Seed, English international footballer, inside forward and manager (d. 1966)
  • 1897 – Leslie Averill, New Zealand doctor and soldier (d. 1981)
  • 1899 – François Rozet, French-Canadian actor (d. 1994)
  • 1901 – Ed Begley, American actor (d. 1970)
  • 1903 – Binnie Barnes, English-American actress (d. 1998)
  • 1903 – Frankie Carle, American pianist and bandleader (d. 2001)
  • 1903 – Nahum Norbert Glatzer, Ukrainian-American theologian and scholar (d. 1990)
  • 1904 – Pete Johnson, American boogie-woogie and jazz pianist (d. 1967)
  • 1905 – Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, German colonel (d. 1944)
  • 1906 – Jean Sablon, French singer and actor (d. 1994)
  • 1906 – A. J. P. Taylor, English historian and academic (d. 1990)
  • 1908 – David Lean, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1991)
  • 1910 – Magda Olivero, Italian soprano (d. 2014)
  • 1910 – Benzion Netanyahu, Polish-Israeli historian and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1912 – Melita Norwood, English civil servant and spy (d. 2005)
  • 1912 – Jean Vilar, French actor and director (d. 1971)
  • 1913 – Reo Stakis, Cypriot-Scottish businessman, founded Stakis Hotels (d. 2001)
  • 1914 – Norman Borlaug, American agronomist and humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
  • 1915 – Dorothy Squires, Welsh singer (d. 1998)
  • 1916 – S. M. Pandit, Indian painter and educator (d. 1993)
  • 1918 – Howard Cosell, American soldier, journalist, and author (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Paul Scott, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 1978)
  • 1920 – Patrick Troughton, English actor (d. 1987)
  • 1920 – Usha Mehta, Gandhian and freedom fighter of India (d. 2000)
  • 1921 – Nancy Kelly, American actress (d. 1995)
  • 1921 – Simone Signoret, French actress (d. 1985)
  • 1922 – Eileen Ford, American businesswoman, co-founded Ford Models (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Bonnie Guitar, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Roberts Blossom, American actor (d. 2011)
  • 1924 – Machiko Kyō, Japanese actress (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Flannery O’Connor, American short story writer and novelist (d. 1964)
  • 1925 – Anthony Quinton, Baron Quinton, English physician and philosopher (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Kishori Sinha, Indian politician, social activist and advocate (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Riz Ortolani, Italian composer and conductor (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – László Papp, Hungarian boxer (d. 2003)
  • 1926 – Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet and politician (d. 1999)
  • 1926 – Gene Shalit, American journalist and critic
  • 1927 – P. Shanmugam, Indian politician, 13th Chief Minister of Puducherry (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Jim Lovell, American captain, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1928 – Gunnar Nielsen, Danish runner and typographer (d. 1985)
  • 1928 – Hans Steinbrenner, German sculptor (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – Cecil Taylor, American pianist and composer (d. 2018)
  • 1930 – David Burge, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1982)
  • 1930 – Rudy Minarcin, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Humphrey Burton, English radio and television host
  • 1932 – Penelope Gilliatt, English novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 1993)
  • 1932 – Wes Santee, American runner (d. 2010)
  • 1934 – Johnny Burnette, American singer-songwriter (d. 1964)
  • 1934 – Bernard King, Australian actor and chef (d. 2002)
  • 1934 – Karlheinz Schreiber, German-Canadian businessman
  • 1934 – Gloria Steinem, American feminist activist, co-founded the Women’s Media Center
  • 1935 – Gabriel Elorde, Filipino boxer (d. 1985)
  • 1936 – Carl Kaufmann, American-German sprinter (d. 2008)
  • 1937 – Tom Monaghan, American businessman, founded Domino’s Pizza
  • 1938 – Hoyt Axton, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1999)
  • 1938 – Daniel Buren, French sculptor and painter
  • 1938 – Fritz d’Orey, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1939 – Toni Cade Bambara, American author, academic, and activist (d. 1995)
  • 1939 – D. C. Fontana, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – Gudmund Hernes, Norwegian sociologist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Education and Research
  • 1942 – Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2018)
  • 1942 – Richard O’Brien, English actor and screenwriter
  • 1942 – Kim Woodburn, English television host
  • 1943 – Paul Michael Glaser, American actor and director
  • 1945 – Leila Diniz, Brazilian actress (d. 1972)
  • 1946 – Cliff Balsom, English footballer
  • 1946 – Daniel Bensaïd, French philosopher and author (d. 2010)
  • 1946 – Stephen Hunter, American author and critic
  • 1946 – Maurice Krafft, French volcanologist (d. 1991)
  • 1947 – Richard Cork, English historian and critic
  • 1947 – Elton John, English singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor
  • 1948 – Bonnie Bedelia, American actress
  • 1948 – Michael Stanley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1949 – Ronnie Flanagan, Northern Irish Chief Constable (Royal Irish Constabulary, Police Service of Northern Ireland)
  • 1949 – Sue Klebold, American activist
  • 1950 – Chuck Greenberg, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer (d. 1995)
  • 1950 – Ronnie McDowell, American singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – David Paquette, American-New Zealander pianist
  • 1951 – Jumbo Tsuruta, Japanese wrestler (d. 2000)
  • 1952 – Stephen Dorrell, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for Health
  • 1952 – Antanas Mockus, Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician, Mayor of Bogotá
  • 1953 – Robert Fox, English producer and manager
  • 1953 – Vesna Pusić, Croatian sociologist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia
  • 1953 – Haroon Rasheed, Pakistani cricketer and coach
  • 1954 – Thom Loverro, American journalist and author
  • 1955 – Daniel Boulud, French chef and author
  • 1955 – Lee Mazzilli, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1957 – Christina Boxer, English runner and journalist
  • 1957 – Jonathan Michie, English economist and academic
  • 1957 – Aleksandr Puchkov, Russian hurdler
  • 1957 – Jim Uhls, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1958 – Lorna Brown, Canadian artist, curator, and writer
  • 1958 – Susie Bright, American journalist, author, and critic
  • 1958 – Sisy Chen, Taiwanese journalist and politician
  • 1958 – María Caridad Colón, Cuban javelin thrower and shot putter
  • 1958 – John Ensign, American physician and politician
  • 1958 – Ray Tanner, American baseball player and coach
  • 1958 – Åsa Torstensson, Swedish politician, 3rd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure
  • 1960 – Steve Norman, English saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1960 – Peter O’Brien, Australian actor
  • 1960 – Brenda Strong, American actress
  • 1961 – Mark Brooks, American golfer
  • 1962 – Marcia Cross, American actress
  • 1962 – David Nuttall, English lawyer and politician
  • 1963 – Karen Bruce, English dancer and choreographer
  • 1963 – Velle Kadalipp, Estonian architect
  • 1963 – Andrew O’Connor, British actor, comedian, magician, television presenter and executive producer
  • 1964 – René Meulensteen, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1964 – Ken Wregget, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1964 – Norm Duke, American bowler
  • 1965 – Avery Johnson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Stefka Kostadinova, Bulgarian high jumper
  • 1965 – Sarah Jessica Parker, American actress, producer, and designer
  • 1966 – Tom Glavine, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Humberto Gonzalez, Mexican boxer
  • 1966 – Jeff Healey, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
  • 1966 – Anton Rogan, Northern Irish footballer
  • 1967 – Matthew Barney, American sculptor and photographer
  • 1967 – Doug Stanhope, American comedian and actor
  • 1967 – Debi Thomas, American figure skater and physician
  • 1969 – George Chlitsios, Greek conductor and composer
  • 1969 – Dale Davis, American basketball player
  • 1969 – Cathy Dennis, English singer-songwriter, record producer and actress
  • 1969 – Jeffrey Walker, English singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1970 – Magnus Larsson, Swedish golfer
  • 1971 – Stacy Dragila, American pole vaulter and coach
  • 1971 – Cammi Granato, American ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Sheryl Swoopes, American basketball player and coach
  • 1972 – Giniel de Villiers, South African race car driver
  • 1972 – Phil O’Donnell, Scottish footballer (d. 2007)
  • 1973 – Michaela Dorfmeister, Austrian skier
  • 1973 – Anders Fridén, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1973 – Bob Sura, American basketball player
  • 1974 – Serge Betsen, Cameroonian-French rugby player
  • 1974 – Lark Voorhies, American actress and singer
  • 1975 – Ladislav Benýšek, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Melanie Blatt, English singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1975 – Erika Heynatz, Papua New Guinean-Australian model and actress
  • 1976 – Francie Bellew, Irish footballer
  • 1976 – Lars Figura, German sprinter
  • 1976 – Wladimir Klitschko, Ukrainian boxer
  • 1976 – Rima Wakarua, New Zealand-Italian rugby player
  • 1977 – Natalie Clein, English cellist and educator
  • 1977 – Andrew Lindsay, Scottish rower
  • 1978 – Gennaro Delvecchio, Italian footballer
  • 1979 – Muriel Hurtis-Houairi, French sprinter
  • 1980 – Kathrine Sørland, Norwegian fashion model and television presenter
  • 1982 – Danica Patrick, American race car driver
  • 1982 – Álvaro Saborío, Costa Rican footballer
  • 1982 – Jenny Slate, American comedian, actress and author
  • 1983 – Mickaël Hanany, French high jumper
  • 1984 – Katharine McPhee, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1984 – Liam Messam, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1985 – Carmen Rasmusen, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1985 – Diana Rennik, Estonian figure skater
  • 1986 – Marco Belinelli, Italian basketball player
  • 1986 – Megan Gibson, American softball player
  • 1986 – Kyle Lowry, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Mickey Paea, Australian rugby league player
  • 1987 – Jacob Bagersted, Danish handball player
  • 1987 – Victor Obinna, Nigerian footballer
  • 1987 – Nobunari Oda, Japanese figure skater
  • 1988 – Big Sean, American rapper, singer and songwriter
  • 1988 – Mitchell Watt, Australian long jumper
  • 1988 – Arthur Zeiler, German rugby player
  • 1989 – Aly Michalka, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1989 – Scott Sinclair, English footballer
  • 1990 – Mehmet Ekici, Turkish footballer
  • 1990 – Alexander Esswein, German footballer
  • 1991 – Scott Malone, English footballer, left-back
  • 1993 – Jacob Gagan, Australian rugby league player
  • 1993 – Sam Johnstone, English footballer
  • 1994 – Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian skier

Deaths on March 25

  • 908 – Li Kening, Chinese general
  • 940 – Taira no Masakado, Japanese samurai
  • 990 – Nicodemus of Mammola, Italian monk and saint
  • 1005 – Kenneth III, king of Scotland
  • 1051 – Hugh IV, French nobleman
  • 1189 – Frederick, duke of Bohemia
  • 1223 – Alfonso II, king of Portugal (b. 1185)
  • 1351 – Kō no Moronao, Japanese samurai
  • 1351 – Kō no Moroyasu, Japanese samurai
  • 1392 – Hosokawa Yoriyuki, Japanese samurai
  • 1458 – Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana, Spanish poet and politician (b. 1398)
  • 1558 – Marcos de Niza, French friar and explorer (b. 1495)
  • 1603 – Ikoma Chikamasa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1526)
  • 1609 – Olaus Martini, Swedish archbishop (b. 1557)
  • 1609 – Isabelle de Limeuil, French noble (b. 1535)
  • 1620 – Johannes Nucius, German composer and theorist (b. 1556)
  • 1625 – Giambattista Marino, Italian poet and author (b. 1569)
  • 1658 – Herman IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg, German nobleman (b. 1607)
  • 1677 – Wenceslaus Hollar, Czech-English painter and etcher (b. 1607)
  • 1701 – Jean Regnault de Segrais, French poet and novelist (b. 1624)
  • 1712 – Nehemiah Grew, English anatomist and physiologist (b. 1641)
  • 1732 – Lucy Filippini, Italian teacher and saint (b. 1672)
  • 1736 – Nicholas Hawksmoor, English architect, designed Easton Neston and Christ Church (b. 1661)
  • 1738 – Turlough O’Carolan, Irish harp player and composer (b. 1670)
  • 1801 – Novalis, German poet and author (b. 1772)
  • 1818 – Caspar Wessel, Norwegian-Danish mathematician and cartographer (b. 1745)
  • 1857 – William Colgate, English-American businessman and philanthropist, founded Colgate-Palmolive (b. 1783)
  • 1860 – James Braid, Scottish-English surgeon (b. 1795)
  • 1869 – Edward Bates, American politician and lawyer (b. 1793)
  • 1873 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter and illustrator (b. 1810)
  • 1907 – Ernst von Bergmann, Latvian-German surgeon and academic (b. 1836)
  • 1908 – Durham Stevens, American diplomat (b. 1851)
  • 1914 – Frédéric Mistral, French lexicographer and poet, 1904 Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
  • 1917 – Elizabeth Storrs Mead, American academic (b. 1832)
  • 1918 – Claude Debussy, French composer (b. 1862)
  • 1918 – Peter Martin, Australian footballer and soldier (b. 1875)
  • 1927 – Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, Palestinian Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (b. 1843)
  • 1931 – Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Indian journalist and politician (b. 1890)
  • 1931 – Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist (b. 1862)
  • 1932 – Harriet Backer, Norwegian painter (b.1845)
  • 1942 – William Carr, American rower (b. 1876)
  • 1951 – Eddie Collins, American baseball player and manager (b. 1887)
  • 1956 – Lou Moore, American race car driver (b. 1904)
  • 1956 – Robert Newton, English actor (b. 1905)
  • 1957 – Max Ophüls, German-American director and screenwriter (b. 1902)
  • 1958 – Tom Brown, American trombonist (b. 1888)
  • 1964 – Charles Benjamin Howard, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1885)
  • 1965 – Viola Liuzzo, American civil rights activist (b. 1925)
  • 1969 – Billy Cotton, English singer, drummer, and bandleader (b. 1899)
  • 1969 – Max Eastman, American poet and activist (b. 1883)
  • 1973 – Jakob Sildnik, Estonian photographer and director (b. 1883)
  • 1973 – Edward Steichen, Luxembourgian-American photographer, painter, and curator (b. 1879)
  • 1975 – Juan Gaudino, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1893)
  • 1975 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian king (b. 1906)
  • 1975 – Deiva Zivarattinam, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1894)
  • 1976 – Josef Albers, German-American painter and educator (b. 1888)
  • 1976 – Benjamin Miessner, American radio engineer and inventor (b. 1890)
  • 1979 – Robert Madgwick, Australian colonel and academic (b. 1905)
  • 1979 – Akinoumi Setsuo, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 37th Yokozuna (b. 1914)
  • 1980 – Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist and psychologist (b. 1901)
  • 1980 – Walter Susskind, Czech-English conductor and educator (b. 1913)
  • 1982 – Goodman Ace, American comedian and writer (b. 1899)
  • 1983 – Bob Waterfield, American football player and coach (b. 1920)
  • 1986 – Gloria Blondell, American actress (b. 1910)
  • 1987 – A. W. Mailvaganam, Sri Lankan physicist and academic (b. 1906)
  • 1988 – Robert Joffrey, American dancer, choreographer, and director, co-founded the Joffrey Ballet (b. 1930)
  • 1991 – Marcel Lefebvre, French-Swiss archbishop (b. 1905)
  • 1992 – Nancy Walker, American actress, singer, and director (b. 1922)
  • 1994 – Angelines Fernández, Spanish-Mexican actress (b. 1922)
  • 1994 – Bernard Kangro, Estonian poet and journalist (b. 1910)
  • 1994 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician (b. 1899)
  • 1995 – James Samuel Coleman, American sociologist and academic (b. 1926)
  • 1995 – John Hugenholtz, Dutch engineer (b. 1914)
  • 1996 – John Snagge, English journalist (b. 1904)
  • 1998 – Max Green, Australian lawyer (b. 1952)
  • 1998 – Steven Schiff, American lawyer and politician (b. 1947)
  • 1999 – Cal Ripken, Sr., American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1936)
  • 2000 – Helen Martin, American actress (b. 1909)
  • 2001 – Brian Trubshaw, English cricketer and pilot (b. 1924)
  • 2002 – Kenneth Wolstenholme, English journalist and sportscaster (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Paul Henning, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1911)
  • 2006 – Bob Carlos Clarke, Irish photographer (b. 1950)
  • 2006 – Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
  • 2006 – Richard Fleischer, American film director (b. 1916)
  • 2006 – Buck Owens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1929)
  • 2007 – Andranik Margaryan, Armenian engineer and politician, 10th Prime Minister of Armenia (b. 1951)
  • 2008 – Ben Carnevale, American basketball player and coach (b. 1915)
  • 2008 – Thierry Gilardi, French journalist and sportscaster (b. 1958)
  • 2008 – Abby Mann, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1927)
  • 2008 – Herb Peterson, American businessman, created the McMuffin (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Johnny Blanchard, American baseball player (b. 1933)
  • 2009 – Kosuke Koyama, Japanese-American theologian and academic (b. 1929)
  • 2009 – Dan Seals, American musician (b. 1948)
  • 2009 – Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, Turkish politician and member of the Parliament of Turkey (b. 1954)
  • 2012 – Priscilla Buckley, American journalist and author (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Hal E. Chester, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – John Crosfield, English businessman, founded Crosfield Electronics (b. 1915)
  • 2012 – Edd Gould, English animator and voice actor, founded Eddsworld (b. 1988)
  • 2012 – Antonio Tabucchi, Italian author and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2013 – Léonce Bernard, Canadian politician, 26th Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (b. 1943)
  • 2013 – Ben Goldfaden, American basketball player and educator (b. 1913)
  • 2013 – Anthony Lewis, American journalist and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Jean Pickering, English runner and long jumper (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Jean-Marc Roberts, French author and screenwriter (b. 1954)
  • 2013 – John F. Wiley, American lieutenant, football player, and coach (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Lorna Arnold, English historian and author (b. 1915)
  • 2014 – Hank Lauricella, American football player and politician (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Jon Lord, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1956)
  • 2014 – Sonny Ruberto, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1946)
  • 2014 – Jonathan Schell, American journalist and author (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Ralph Wilson, American businessman, founded the Buffalo Bills (b. 1918)
  • 2015 – George Fischbeck, American journalist and educator (b. 1922)
  • 2016 – Shannon Bolin, American actress and singer (b. 1917)
  • 2017 – Cuthbert Sebastian, St. Kitts and Nevis politician (b. 1921)
  • 2018 – Zell Miller, American author and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2019 – Scott Walker, American-born British singer-songwriter (b. 1943)[9]

Holidays and observances on March 25

  • Anniversary of the Arengo and the Feast of the Militants (San Marino)
  • Christian feast days:
    • Ælfwold II of Sherborne
    • Barontius and Desiderius
    • Blessed Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas
    • Omelyan Kovch (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
    • Dismas, the “Good Thief”
    • Humbert of Maroilles
    • Quirinus of Tegernsee
    • March 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Cultural Workers Day (Russia)
  • Earliest day on which Seward’s Day can fall, while March 31 is the latest; celebrated on the last Monday in March. (Alaska)
  • Empress Menen’s Birthday (Rastafari)
  • EU Talent Day (European Union)
  • Feast of the Annunciation (Christianity), and its related observances (if March 25 falls in Holy Week or Easter Week the feast is moved to the Monday after the 2nd Sunday of Easter):
    • Historic start of the new year (Lady Day) in England, Wales, Ireland, and the future United States until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752. (The year 1751 began on 25 March; the year 1752 began on 1 January.) It is one of the four Quarter days in Ireland and England.
    • International Day of the Unborn Child (international)
    • Mother’s Day (Slovenia)
    • Vårfrudagen or Våffeldagen, “Waffle Day” (Sweden, Norway & Denmark)
  • Freedom Day (Belarus)
  • International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (international)
  • International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members (United Nations General Assembly)
  • Maryland Day (Maryland, United States)
  • Medal of Honor Day (United States)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the start of Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, in 1821. (Greece)
  • NZ Army Day
  • Struggle for Human Rights Day (Slovakia)
  • Tolkien Reading Day

March 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

In astrology, the day of the equinox is the first full day of the sign of Aries. It is also the traditional first day of the astrological year. In the 21st century, the equinox usually occurs on March 19 or 20; it occurred on March 21 only in 2003 and 2007. The next year in which the equinox occurs on March 21 will be 2102.

March 21 in History

  • 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the Vivarium, by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas and Peranius.
  • 630 – Emperor Heraclius returns the True Cross, one of the holiest Christian relics, to Jerusalem.
  • 717 – Battle of Vincy between Charles Martel and Ragenfrid.
  • 1152 – Annulment of the marriage of King Louis VII of France and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
  • 1188 – Emperor Antoku accedes to the throne of Japan.
  • 1556 – On the day of his execution in Oxford, former Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer deviates from the scripted sermon by renouncing the recantations he has made and adds, “And as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy, and Antichrist with all his false doctrine.”
  • 1788 – A fire in New Orleans leaves most of the town in ruins.
  • 1800 – With the church leadership driven out of Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII is crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché.
  • 1801 – The Battle of Alexandria is fought between British and French forces near the ruins of Nicopolis near Alexandria in Egypt.
  • 1804 – Code Napoléon is adopted as French civil law.
  • 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian forces repel French troops in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.
  • 1844 – The Bahá’í calendar begins. This is the first day of the first year of the Bahá’í calendar. It is annually celebrated by members of the Bahá’í Faith as the Bahá’í New Year or Náw-Rúz.
  • 1861 – Alexander Stephens gives the Cornerstone Speech.
  • 1871 – Otto von Bismarck is appointed as the first Chancellor of the German Empire.
  • 1871 – Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.
  • 1913 – Over 360 are killed and 20,000 homes destroyed in the Great Dayton Flood in Dayton, Ohio.
  • 1918 – World War I: The first phase of the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, begins.
  • 1919 – The Hungarian Soviet Republic is established becoming the first Communist government to be formed in Europe after the October Revolution in Russia.
  • 1921 – The New Economic Policy is implemented by the Bolshevik Party in response to the economic failure as a result of war communism.
  • 1925 – The Butler Act prohibits the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee.
  • 1925 – Syngman Rhee is removed from office after being impeached as the President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.
  • 1928 – Charles Lindbergh is presented with the Medal of Honor for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.
  • 1935 – Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asks the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran.
  • 1937 – Ponce massacre: Nineteen people in Ponce, Puerto Rico are gunned down by police acting on orders of the US-appointed Governor, Blanton C. Winship.
  • 1943 – Wehrmacht officer Rudolf von Gersdorff plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler by using a suicide bomb, but the plan falls through; von Gersdorff is able to defuse the bomb in time and avoid suspicion.
  • 1945 – World War II: British troops liberate Mandalay, Burma.
  • 1945 – World War II: Operation Carthage: Royal Air Force planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. They also accidentally hit a school, killing 125 civilians.
  • 1945 – World War II: Bulgaria and the Soviet Union successfully complete their defense of the north bank of the Drava River as the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills concludes.
  • 1946 – The Los Angeles Rams sign Kenny Washington, making him the first African American player in professional American football since 1933.
  • 1952 – Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio.
  • 1960 – Apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.
  • 1963 – Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (in California) closes.
  • 1965 – Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9, the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.
  • 1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
  • 1968 – Battle of Karameh in Jordan between the Israel Defense Forces and the combined forces of the Jordanian Armed Forces and PLO.
  • 1970 – The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco.
  • 1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces a United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet–Afghan War.
  • 1983 – The first cases of the 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic begin; Israelis and Palestinians accuse each other of poison gas, but the cause is later determined mostly to be psychosomatic.
  • 1986 – Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the World Figure Skating Championships
  • 1990 – Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
  • 1994 – The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change enters into force.
  • 1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon.
  • 2000 – Pope John Paul II makes his first ever pontifical visit to Israel.
  • 2006 – The social media site Twitter is founded.
  • 2009 – Four police officers are shot and killed and a fifth is wounded in two shootings at Oakland, California.
  • 2019 – The 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion occurs, killing at least 47 people and injuring 640 others.

Births on March 21

  • 927 – Emperor Taizu of Song (d. 976)
  • 1474 – Angela Merici, Italian educator and saint (d. 1540)
  • 1501 – Anne Brooke, Baroness Cobham, English noble (d. 1558)
  • 1521 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (d. 1553)
  • 1527 – Hermann Finck, German composer and educator (d. 1558)
  • 1555 – John Leveson, English politician (d. 1615)
  • 1557 – Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel, English countess and poet (d. 1630)
  • 1626 – Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur, Spanish saint and missionary (d. 1667)
  • 1672 – Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino, Italian poet and translator (d. 1742)
  • 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German Baroque composer and musician (d. 1750)
  • 1713 – Francis Lewis, Welsh-American merchant and politician (d. 1803)
  • 1716 – Josef Seger, Bohemian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1782)
  • 1752 – Mary Dixon Kies, American inventor (d. 1837)
  • 1763 – Jean Paul, German journalist and author (d. 1825)
  • 1768 – Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (d. 1830)
  • 1806 – Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 25th President of Mexico (d. 1872)
  • 1811 – Nathaniel Woodard, English priest and educator (d. 1891)
  • 1825 – Alexander Mozhaysky, Russian soldier and engineer (d. 1890)
  • 1835 – Thomas Hayward, English cricketer (d. 1876)
  • 1839 – Modest Mussorgsky, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1881)
  • 1854 – Alick Bannerman, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 1924)
  • 1857 – Alice Henry, Australian journalist and activist (d. 1943)
  • 1859 – Daria Pratt, American golfer (d. 1938)
  • 1865 – George Owen Squier, American general (d. 1934)
  • 1866 – Antonia Maury, American astronomer and astrophysicist (d. 1952)
  • 1867 – Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., American director and producer (d. 1932)
  • 1869 – David Robertson, Scottish-English golfer and rugby player (d. 1937)
  • 1874 – Alfred Tysoe, English runner (d. 1901)
  • 1876 – Walter Tewksbury, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
  • 1877 – Maurice Farman, French race car driver and pilot (d. 1964)
  • 1878 – Morris H. Whitehouse, American architect (d. 1944)
  • 1880 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1971)
  • 1880 – Hans Hofmann, German-American painter and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1882 – Aleksander Kesküla, Estonian politician (d. 1963)
  • 1884 – George David Birkhoff, American mathematician (d. 1944)
  • 1885 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (d. 1952)
  • 1886 – Walter Dray, American pole vaulter (d. 1973)
  • 1887 – Clarice Beckett, Australian painter (d. 1935)
  • 1887 – Lajos Kassák, Hungarian poet, novelist and painter (d. 1967)
  • 1887 – M. N. Roy, Indian philosopher and politician (d. 1954)
  • 1889 – Jock Sutherland, American football player and coach (d. 1948)
  • 1896 – Friedrich Waismann, Austrian mathematician, physicist, and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1959)
  • 1897 – Sim Gokkes, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1943)
  • 1897 – Salvador Lutteroth, Mexican wrestling promoter, founded Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (d. 1987)
  • 1899 – Panagiotis Pipinelis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1970)
  • 1901 – Karl Arnold, German businessman and politician, President of the German Bundesrat (d. 1958)
  • 1902 – Son House, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1988)
  • 1904 – Jehane Benoît, Canadian journalist and author (d. 1987)
  • 1904 – Forrest Mars, Sr., American candy maker, created M&M’s and Mars bar (d. 1999)
  • 1904 – Nikos Skalkottas, Greek violinist and composer (d. 1949)
  • 1905 – Phyllis McGinley, American author and poet (d. 1978)
  • 1906 – John D. Rockefeller III, American philanthropist (d. 1978)
  • 1906 – Jim Thompson, American businessman (d. 1967)
  • 1906 – André Filho, Brazilian musician and songwriter (d. 1974)
  • 1907 – Zoltán Kemény, Hungarian sculptor (d. 1965)
  • 1909 – Harry Lane, English footballer (d. 1977)
  • 1910 – Julio Gallo, American businessman, co-founded E & J Gallo Winery (d. 1993)
  • 1910 – Muhammad Siddiq Khan, Bangladeshi librarian and educator (d. 1978)
  • 1911 – Walter Lincoln Hawkins, African-American scientist and inventor (d. 1992)
  • 1912 – André Laurendeau, Canadian journalist, playwright, and politician (d. 1968)
  • 1913 – George Abecassis, English race car driver and pilot (d. 1991)
  • 1913 – Guillermo Haro, Mexican astronomer (d. 1988)
  • 1914 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (d. 1990)
  • 1916 – Bismillah Khan, Indian shehnai player (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Ken Wharton, English race car driver (d. 1957)
  • 1917 – Frank Hardy, Australian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1994)
  • 1918 – Patrick Lucey, American captain and politician, 38th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Charles Thompson, American pianist and composer (d. 2016)
  • 1919 – Douglas Warren, Australian bishop (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (d. 1970)
  • 1920 – Éric Rohmer, French director, film critic, journalist, novelist and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1921 – Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist and pianist (d. 1986)
  • 1921 – Antony Hopkins, English pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Russ Meyer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1923 – Louis-Edmond Hamelin, Canadian geographer, author, and academic (d. 2020)
  • 1923 – Nizar Qabbani, Syrian poet, publisher, and diplomat (d. 1998)
  • 1923 – Nirmala Srivastava, Indian religious leader, founded Sahaja Yoga (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Rezső Nyers, Hungarian politician (d. 2018)
  • 1924 – Philip Abbott, American actor (d. 1998)
  • 1924 – Dov Shilansky, Lithuanian-Israeli lawyer and politician (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Harold Ashby, American saxophonist (d. 2003)
  • 1925 – Peter Brook, English-French director and producer
  • 1925 – Hugo Koblet, Swiss cyclist (d. 1964)
  • 1926 – André Delvaux, Belgian director and screenwriter (d. 2002)
  • 1927 – Halton Arp, American-German astronomer and critic (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German soldier and politician, Vice-Chancellor of Germany (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepalese politician, 24th Prime Minister of Nepal (d. 2015)
  • 1929 – Maurice Catarcio, American wrestler (d. 2005)
  • 1930 – James Coco, American actor (d. 1987)
  • 1930 – Otis Spann, American blues pianist, singer and composer (d. 1970)
  • 1931 – Toyonobori, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1998)
  • 1931 – Clark L. Brundin, American-English engineer and academic
  • 1931 – Catherine Gibson, Scottish swimmer (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Al Williamson, American illustrator (d. 2010)
  • 1932 – Walter Gilbert, American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1932 – Joseph Silverstein, American violinist and conductor (d. 2015)
  • 1933 – John Hall, English businessman
  • 1933 – Michael Heseltine, Welsh businessman and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • 1934 – Al Freeman, Jr., American actor and director (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Brian Clough, English footballer and manager (d. 2004)
  • 1936 – Ed Broadbent, Canadian pilot and politician
  • 1936 – Mike Westbrook, English pianist and composer
  • 1937 – Ann Clwyd, Welsh journalist and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
  • 1937 – Tom Flores, American football player and coach
  • 1937 – Pierre-Jean Rémy, French diplomat and author (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Michael Foreman, English author and illustrator
  • 1938 – Grahame Thomas, Australian cricketer
  • 1939 – Kathleen Widdoes, American actress
  • 1940 – Solomon Burke, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1940 – Andrea Elle, German bicyclist
  • 1942 – Françoise Dorléac, French actress (d. 1967)
  • 1942 – Kostas Politis, Greek basketball player and coach (d. 2018)
  • 1942 – Amina Claudine Myers, African-American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1942 – Patcha Ramachandra Rao, India metallurgist, educator and administrator (d. 2010)
  • 1943 – István Gyulai, Hungarian sprinter and sportscaster (d. 2006)
  • 1943 – Hartmut Haenchen, German conductor
  • 1943 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter (d. 1995)
  • 1944 – Marie-Christine Barrault, French actress
  • 1944 – Janet Daley, American-English journalist and author
  • 1944 – Hideki Ishima, Japanese guitarist
  • 1944 – Mike Jackson, English general
  • 1944 – David Lindley, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1944 – Gaye Adegbalola, African-American singer and guitarist
  • 1945 – Anthony Grabiner, Baron Grabiner, English lawyer
  • 1945 – Charles Greene, American sprinter and coach
  • 1945 – Rose Stone, African-American R&B singer and keyboard player
  • 1946 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh-English actor
  • 1946 – Ray Dorset, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Joseph Mitsuaki Takami, Japanese cardinal
  • 1947 – George Johnston. Scottish footballer, forward
  • 1948 – Scott Fahlman, American computer scientist and academic
  • 1949 – Alvin Kallicharran, Guyanese cricketer and coach
  • 1949 – Andy Love, Scottish-English politician
  • 1949 – Eddie Money, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
  • 1949 – Slavoj Žižek, Slovenian sociologist, philosopher, and academic
  • 1950 – Roger Hodgson, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1950 – Ron Oden, American minister and politician, 19th Mayor of Palm Springs
  • 1950 – Sergey Lavrov, Russian politician and diplomat, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1951 – Conrad Lozano, American bass player
  • 1951 – Russell Thompkins Jr., American soul singer
  • 1953 – Steve Furber, English computer scientist and academic
  • 1953 – Paul Martin Lester, American photographer, author, and educator
  • 1953 – David Wisniewski, English-American author and illustrator (d. 2002)
  • 1955 – Fadi Abboud, Lebanese economist and politician
  • 1955 – Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian politician and retired military officer, 38th President of Brazil
  • 1955 – Bob Bennett, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1955 – Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Greek politician
  • 1955 – Bärbel Wöckel, East German sprinter
  • 1956 – Dick Beardsley, American runner
  • 1956 – Guy Chadwick, German-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1956 – Richard H. Kirk, English guitarist, keyboard player, composer, and producer
  • 1956 – Ingrid Kristiansen, Norwegian runner
  • 1958 – Marlies Göhr, German sprinter
  • 1958 – Brad Hall, American comedian, director, and screenwriter
  • 1958 – Gary Oldman, English actor, filmmaker, musician and author
  • 1959 – Sarah Jane Morris, English singer-songwriter
  • 1959 – Yuval Rotem, Israeli diplomat
  • 1959 – Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese keyboard player and composer
  • 1960 – Marwan Farhat, Syrian actor and voice actor
  • 1960 – Benito T. de Leon, Filipino general
  • 1960 – Raivo Puusepp, Estonian architect
  • 1960 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
  • 1960 – Robert Sweet, American drummer and producer
  • 1961 – Lothar Matthäus, German footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Gary O’Reilly, English footballer, defender
  • 1961 – Kassie DePaiva, American actress
  • 1961 – Slim Jim Phantom, American rock drummer
  • 1961 – Kim Turner, American hurdler
  • 1962 – Matthew Broderick, American actor
  • 1962 – Kathy Greenwood, Canadian actress and screenwriter
  • 1962 – Rosie O’Donnell, American actress, producer, and talk show host
  • 1962 – Mark Waid, American author
  • 1963 – Shawon Dunston, American baseball player
  • 1963 – Ronald Koeman, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Shawn Lane, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1963 – Share Pedersen, American bass player
  • 1964 – Ieuan Evans, Welsh rugby player
  • 1964 – Jesper Skibby, Danish cyclist
  • 1965 – Xavier Bertrand, French businessman and politician, French Minister of Social Affairs
  • 1965 – Thomas Frank, American author, historian and political analyst
  • 1966 – Benito Archundia, Mexican footballer, referee, lawyer, and economist
  • 1966 – Hauke Fuhlbrügge, German runner
  • 1966 – Matthew Maynard, English cricketer and coach
  • 1966 – Moa Matthis, Swedish author
  • 1967 – Carwyn Jones, Welsh lawyer and politician, First Minister of Wales
  • 1967 – Mirela Rupic, American costume and fashion designer
  • 1968 – Cameron Clyne, Australian businessman
  • 1968 – Andrew Copeland, American singer and guitarist
  • 1968 – Gary Walsh, English football coach and former footballer
  • 1968 – Greg Ellis, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1968 – Tolunay Kafkas, Turkish footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Scott Williams, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Jonah Goldberg, American journalist and author
  • 1970 – Shiho Niiyama, Japanese voice actress (d. 2000)
  • 1970 – Cenk Uygur, Turkish-American political activist
  • 1971 – Zsolt Kürtösi, Hungarian decathlete
  • 1972 – Chris Candido, American wrestler (d. 2005)
  • 1972 – Balázs Kiss, Hungarian hammer thrower
  • 1972 – Derartu Tulu, Ethiopian runner
  • 1972 – Graeme Welch, English cricketer
  • 1973 – Ananda Lewis, American television host
  • 1973 – Stuart Nethercott, English footballer, defender and manager
  • 1973 – Large Professor, American rapper and producer
  • 1974 – Rhys Darby, New Zealand comedian and actor
  • 1974 – Dejima Takeharu, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1974 – Edsel Dope, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1974 – Ted Kravitz, British presenter and Formula One pit-lane reporter
  • 1974 – Kevin Leahy, American drummer
  • 1974 – Conor Woodman, Irish journalist and author
  • 1975 – Yacoub Al-Mohana, Kuwaiti director and producer
  • 1975 – Corne Krige, South African rugby player
  • 1975 – Fabricio Oberto, Argentinian-Italian basketball player
  • 1975 – Vitaly Potapenko, Ukrainian basketball player and coach
  • 1975 – Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player
  • 1976 – Rachael MacFarlane, American voice actress and singer
  • 1976 – Bamboo Mañalac, Filipino singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1976 – Tekin Sazlog, German-Turkish footballer
  • 1977 – Bruno Cirillo, Italian footballer
  • 1977 – Jamie Delgado, English tennis player
  • 1978 – Sally Barsosio, Kenyan runner
  • 1978 – Joyce Jimenez, Filipino movie and TV actress
  • 1978 – Charmaine Dragun, Australian journalist (d. 2007)
  • 1978 – Cristian Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
  • 1978 – Mohammad Rezaei, Iranian wrestler
  • 1980 – Ronaldinho, Brazilian footballer
  • 1980 – Marit Bjørgen, Norwegian skier
  • 1980 – Lee Jin, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1980 – Deryck Whibley, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1981 – Germano Borovicz Cardoso Schweger, Brazilian footballer
  • 1981 – Sébastien Chavanel, French cyclist
  • 1981 – Glenn Hall, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Jason King, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Todd Polglase, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – Maria Elena Camerin, Italian tennis player
  • 1982 – Ejegayehu Dibaba, Ethiopian runner
  • 1982 – Aaron Hill, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Colin Turkington, Northern Irish race car driver
  • 1983 – Lucila Pascua, Spanish basketball player
  • 1983 – Jean Ondoa, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1984 – Tiago dos Santos Roberto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1984 – Guillermo Daniel Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1985 – Ryan Callahan, American ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Adrian Peterson, American football player
  • 1986 – Scott Eastwood, American actor
  • 1986 – Michu, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Romanos Alyfantis, Greek swimmer
  • 1986 – Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou, Greek pole vaulter
  • 1987 – Carlos Carrasco, Venezuelan baseball pitcher
  • 1988 – Kateřina Čechová, Czech sprinter
  • 1988 – Erik Johnson, American ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Eric Krüger, German sprinter
  • 1988 – Michael Madl, Austrian footballer, defender
  • 1989 – Jordi Alba, Spanish footballer
  • 1989 – Nicolás Lodeiro, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1990 – Mandy Capristo, German singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1990 – Ryann Krais, American runner and heptathlete
  • 1990 – Alex Nimo, Liberian-American soccer player
  • 1991 – Luke Chapman, English footballer
  • 1991 – Antoine Griezmann, French footballer
  • 1992 – Lehlogonolo Masalesa, South African footballer
  • 1992 – Karolína Plíšková, Czech tennis player
  • 1993 – Jake Bidwell, English footballer
  • 1993 – Jesse Joronen, Finnish footballer
  • 1994 – Margaret Lu, American fencer
  • 1997 – Martina Stoessel, Argentine actress
  • 2000 – Jace Norman, American actor

Deaths on March 21

  • 543 or 547 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian saint (b. 480)
  • 867 – Ælla, king of Northumbria
  • 867 – Osberht, king of Northumbria
  • 1034 – Ezzo, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (b. 955)
  • 1063 – Richeza of Lotharingia (b. 995)
  • 1076 – Robert I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1011)
  • 1201 – Absalon, Danish archbishop (b. c. 1128)
  • 1306 – Robert II, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1248)
  • 1372 – Rudolf VI, Margrave of Baden
  • 1487 – Nicholas of Flüe, Swiss monk and saint (b. 1417)
  • 1540 – John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, English peer and courtier (b. c. 1482)
  • 1556 – Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop (b. 1489)
  • 1571 – Odet de Coligny, French cardinal and Protestant (b. 1517)
  • 1617 – Pocahontas, Algonquian Indigenous princess (b. c. 1595)
  • 1653 – Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha, Albanian politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
  • 1656 – James Ussher, Irish archbishop (b. 1581)
  • 1676 – Henri Sauval, French historian and author (b. 1623)
  • 1729 – John Law, Scottish-French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1671)
  • 1729 – Elżbieta Sieniawska, politically influential Polish magnate (b. 1669)
  • 1734 – Robert Wodrow, Scottish historian and author (b. 1679)
  • 1751 – Johann Heinrich Zedler, German publisher (b. 1706)
  • 1752 – Gio Nicola Buhagiar, Maltese painter (b. 1698)
  • 1762 – Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, French priest, astronomer, and academic (b. 1713)
  • 1772 – Jacques-Nicolas Bellin, French geographer and cartographer (b. 1703)
  • 1795 – Giovanni Arduino, Italian miner and geologist (b. 1714)
  • 1801 – Andrea Luchesi, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
  • 1804 – Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien (b. 1772)
  • 1843 – Robert Southey, English poet, historian, and translator (b. 1774)
  • 1843 – Guadalupe Victoria, Mexican general and politician, 1st President of Mexico (b. 1786)
  • 1854 – Pedro María de Anaya, Mexican soldier. President (1847-1848) (b. 1795)
  • 1863 – Edwin Vose Sumner, American general (b. 1797)
  • 1869 – Juan Almonte, son of José María Morelos, was a Mexican soldier and diplomat who served as a regent in the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (b. 1803)
  • 1884 – Ezra Abbot, American scholar and academic (b. 1819)
  • 1891 – Joseph E. Johnston, American general (b. 1807)
  • 1915 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American golfer, tennis player, and engineer (b. 1856)
  • 1920 – Evelina Haverfield, British suffragette and aid worker (b. 1867)
  • 1932 – Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (b. 1871)
  • 1934 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer and conductor (b. 1878)
  • 1934 – Lilyan Tashman, American actress (b. 1896)
  • 1936 – Alexander Glazunov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1865)
  • 1939 – Evald Aav, Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1900)
  • 1939 – Ali Hikmet Ayerdem, Turkish general and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1943 – Cornelia Fort, American soldier and pilot (b. 1919)
  • 1945 – Arthur Nebe, German SS officer (b. 1894)
  • 1951 – Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor and composer (b. 1871)
  • 1953 – Ed Voss, American basketball player (b. 1922)
  • 1956 – Hatı Çırpan, Turkish politician (b. 1890)
  • 1958 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American soldier and author (b. 1923)
  • 1970 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek singer-songwriter and bouzouki player (b. 1920)
  • 1975 – Joe Medwick, American baseball player and coach (b. 1911)
  • 1978 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, President of Ireland (b. 1911)
  • 1980 – Peter Stoner, American mathematician and astronomer (b. 1888)
  • 1985 – Michael Redgrave, English actor, director, and manager (b. 1908)
  • 1987 – Walter L. Gordon, Canadian accountant, lawyer, and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1906)
  • 1987 – Robert Preston, American captain, actor, and singer (b. 1918)
  • 1991 – Vedat Dalokay, Turkish architect and politician, Mayor of Ankara (b. 1927)
  • 1991 – Leo Fender, American businessman, founded Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (b. 1909)
  • 1992 – John Ireland, Canadian-American actor and director (b. 1914)
  • 1992 – Natalie Sleeth, American pianist and composer (b. 1930)
  • 1994 – Macdonald Carey, American actor (b. 1913)
  • 1994 – Lili Damita, French-American actress and singer (b. 1904)
  • 1994 – Aleksandrs Laime, Latvian-born explorer (b. 1911)
  • 1997 – Wilbert Awdry, English cleric and author, created Thomas the Tank Engine (b. 1911)
  • 1998 – Galina Ulanova, Russian ballerina (b. 1910)
  • 1999 – Jean Guitton, French philosopher and author (b. 1905)
  • 1999 – Ernie Wise, English comedian and actor (b. 1925)
  • 2001 – Chung Ju-yung, South Korean businessman, founded Hyundai (b. 1915)
  • 2001 – Anthony Steel, English actor and singer (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – Herman Talmadge, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 70th Governor of Georgia (b. 1913)
  • 2003 – Shivani, Indian author (b. 1923)
  • 2003 – Umar Wirahadikusumah, Indonesian general and politician, 4th Vice President of Indonesia (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – Ludmilla Tchérina, French actress, dancer, and choreographer (b. 1924)
  • 2005 – Barney Martin, American police officer and actor (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – Bobby Short, American singer and pianist (b. 1924)
  • 2007 – Drew Hayes, American author and illustrator (b. 1969)
  • 2007 – Sven O. Høiby, Norwegian hurdler and journalist (b. 1936)
  • 2008 – Denis Cosgrove, English-American geographer and academic (b. 1948)
  • 2008 – Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente, Chilean architect and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Walt Poddubny, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1960)
  • 2010 – Wolfgang Wagner, German director and manager (b. 1919)
  • 2011 – Loleatta Holloway, American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2011 – Gerd Klier, German footballer (b. 1944)
  • 2011 – Ladislav Novák, Czech footballer and manager (b. 1931)
  • 2011 – Pinetop Perkins, American singer and pianist (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Albrecht Dietz, German economist and businessman (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Ron Erhardt, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – Robert Fuest, English director, screenwriter, and production designer (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Tonino Guerra, Italian poet and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Irving Louis Horowitz, American sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – Yuri Razuvaev, Russian chess player and trainer (b. 1945)
  • 2012 – Marina Salye, Russian geologist and politician (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Rick Hautala, American author and screenwriter (b. 1949)
  • 2013 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter and politician (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Giancarlo Zagni, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Qoriniasi Bale, Fijian lawyer and politician, 25th Attorney-General of Fiji (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Bill Boedeker, American football player and soldier (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Jack Fleck, American golfer (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – Simeon Oduoye, Nigerian police officer and politician (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – James Rebhorn, American actor (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Ishaya Bakut, Nigerian general and politician, Governor of Benue State (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Chuck Bednarik, American lieutenant and football player (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – James C. Binnicker, American sergeant (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter, sculptor, and illustrator (b. 1909)
  • 2015 – Jørgen Ingmann, Danish singer and guitarist (Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann) (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Alberta Watson, Canadian actress (b. 1955)
  • 2017 – Chuck Barris, American game show host and producer (b. 1929)
  • 2017 – Colin Dexter, English author (b. 1930)
  • 2017 – Martin McGuinness, Irish republican and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland (2007–2017) (b. 1950)
  • 2017 – Mike Hall, British cyclist (b. 1981)
  • 2019 – Victor Hochhauser CBE, British music promoter (b. 1923)[21]
  • 2019 – Gonzalo Portocarrero, Peruvian sociologist (b. 1949)

Holidays and observances on March 21

  • Arbor Day (Portugal)
  • Birth of Benito Juárez, a Fiestas Patrias (Mexico)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello
    • Passing of Saint Benedict (Order of Saint Benedict)
    • Birillus
    • Enda of Aran
    • Nicholas of Flüe
    • Serapion of Thmuis
    • Thomas Cranmer (Anglicanism)
    • March 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Holy Saturday can fall, while April 24 is the latest; celebrated on the Saturday before Easter (Christianity)
  • Education Freedom Day
  • Harmony Day (Australia)
  • Human Rights Day (South Africa)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Namibia from South African mandate in 1990
  • International Colour Day (International)
  • International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (International)
  • International Day of Forests (International), by proclamation of the United Nations General Assembly
  • Mother’s Day (most of the Arab world)
  • National Tree Planting Day (Lesotho)
  • Newroz (Iran, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia)
  • Truant’s Day (Poland, Faroe Islands)
  • Vernal equinox related observances (see March 20)
  • World Down Syndrome Day (International)
  • World Poetry Day (International)
  • World Puppetry Day (International)
  • Youth Day (Tunisia)

March 21- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 16- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

March 16 in History

  • 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
  • 1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford’s Tower, York.
  • 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse to recant are burned to death after the Fall of Montségur.
  • 1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the Despenser Wars.
  • 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the island of Homonhon in the Philippines.
  • 1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, “Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset.”
  • 1660 – The Long Parliament of England is dissolved so as to prepare for the new Convention Parliament.
  • 1689 – The 23rd Regiment of Foot, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, is founded.
  • 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish troops capture the British-held island of Roatán.
  • 1782 – Anglo-Spanish War (1779): Action of 16 March 1782.
  • 1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
  • 1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: An Austrian column is defeated by the French in the Battle of Valvasone.
  • 1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.
  • 1812 – The Siege of Badajoz begins: British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat the French garrison during the Peninsular War.
  • 1815 – Prince Willem proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.
  • 1818 – In the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: During the Red River Campaign, Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough began as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
  • 1870 – The first version of the overture fantasy Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky receives its première performance.
  • 1872 – The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
  • 1894 – Jules Massenet’s opera Thaïs is first performed.
  • 1898 – In Melbourne the representatives of five colonies adopted a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.
  • 1900 – Sir Arthur Evans purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.
  • 1916 – The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US–Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
  • 1917 – World War I: A German auxiliary cruiser is sunk in the Action of 16 March 1917.
  • 1918 – Finnish Civil War: Battle of Länkipohja is infamous for its bloody aftermath as the Whites executed 70–100 capitulated Reds.
  • 1924 – In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume becomes annexed as part of Italy.
  • 1925 – An earthquake occurs in Yunnan, China.
  • 1926 – History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
  • 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
  • 1936 – Warmer-than-normal temperatures rapidly melt snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, leading to a major flood in Pittsburgh.
  • 1939 – From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
  • 1940 – First person killed (James Isbister) in a German bombing raid on the UK in World War II during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.
  • 1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in around 5,000 deaths.
  • 1958 – The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company’s founding.
  • 1962 – A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead.
  • 1966 – Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with an Agena Target Vehicle.
  • 1968 – Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre occurs; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers (men, women, and children) are killed by American troops.
  • 1968 – General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
  • 1969 – A Viasa McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing 155.
  • 1976 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.
  • 1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.
  • 1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped. (He is later murdered by his captors.)
  • 1978 – A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashes near Gabare, Bulgaria, killing 73.
  • 1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time.
  • 1979 – Sino-Vietnamese War: The People’s Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ends the war.
  • 1983 – Demolition of the Ismaning radio transmitter, the last wooden radio tower in Germany.
  • 1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Lebanon, is kidnapped by Hezbollah. (He later dies in captivity.)
  • 1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He is released on December 4, 1991.
  • 1988 – Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
  • 1988 – Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.
  • 1988 – The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three persons, one of them a member of PIRA are killed, and more than 60 others are wounded.
  • 1991 – The airplane carrying eight members of Reba McEntire’s touring band crashed on the side of Otay Mountain.
  • 1995 – Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.
  • 2001 – A series of bomb blasts that took place in the city of Shijiazhuang, China killed 108 people and injured 38 others, was the biggest mass murder in China in decades.
  • 2003 – American activist Rachel Corrie is killed in Rafah trying to obstruct the demolition of a home by being run over by a bulldozer.
  • 2005 – Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.
  • 2014 – Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia.
  • 2016 – A bomb detonates in a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 15 and injuring at least 54.
  • 2016 – Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 22 and injuring 18.

Births on March 16

  • 1399 – The Xuande Emperor, ruler of Ming China (d. 1435)
  • 1445 – Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss priest and theologian (d. 1510)
  • 1465 – Kunigunde of Austria, Archduchess of Austria (d. 1520)
  • 1473 – Henry IV, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
  • 1559 – Amar Singh I, successor of Maharana Pratap of Mewar (d. 1620)
  • 1581 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and poet (d. 1647)
  • 1585 – Gerbrand Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright (d. 1618)
  • 1590 – Ii Naotaka, Japanese daimyō (d. 1659)
  • 1596 – Ebba Brahe, Swedish countess (d. 1674)
  • 1609 – Michael Franck, German baker, teacher, poet, and composer (d. 1667)
  • 1609 – Agostino Mitelli, Italian painter (d. 1660)
  • 1621 – Georg Neumark, German poet and composer (d. 1681)
  • 1631 – René Le Bossu, French critic (d. 1680)
  • 1638 – François Crépieul, Jesuit missionary (d. 1702)
  • 1654 – Andreas Acoluthus, German scholar (d. 1704)
  • 1670 – François de Franquetot de Coigny, French general (d. 1759)
  • 1673 – Jean Bouhier, French jurist and scholar (d. 1746)
  • 1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, queen consort of Frederick William I (d. 1757)
  • 1693 – Malhar Rao Holkar, Indian nobleman (d. 1766)
  • 1701 – Daniel Lorenz Salthenius, Swedish theologian (d. 1750)
  • 1729 – Maria Louise Albertine (d. 1818)
  • 1741 – Carlo Amoretti, Italian scientist (d. 1816)
  • 1744 – Nicolas-Germain Léonard, French poet and novelist (d. 1793)
  • 1750 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (d. 1848)
  • 1751 – James Madison, American academic and politician, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)
  • 1753 – François Amédée Doppet, French general (d. 1799)
  • 1760 – Johann Heinrich Meyer, Swiss painter and writer (d. 1832)
  • 1766 – Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, French antiquarian, cartographer, artist and explorer (d. 1875)
  • 1771 – Antoine-Jean Gros, French painter (d. 1835)
  • 1773 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentinian general and politician, 6th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (d. 1836)
  • 1774 – Matthew Flinders, English navigator and cartographer (d. 1814)
  • 1789 – Francis Rawdon Chesney, English general and explorer (d. 1872)
  • 1789 – Georg Ohm, German physicist and mathematician (d. 1854)
  • 1794 – Ami Boué, Austrian geologist and ethnographer (d. 1881)
  • 1797 – Alaric Alexander Watts, English poet and journalist (d. 1864)
  • 1799 – Anna Atkins, English botanist and photographer (d. 1871)
  • 1800 – Emperor Ninkō of Japan (d. 1846)
  • 1805 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (d. 1861)
  • 1806 – Félix De Vigne, Belgian painter (d. 1862)
  • 1808 – Hannah T. King, British-born American writer and pioneer (d. 1886)
  • 1813 – Gaëtan de Rochebouët, French prime minister (d. 1899)
  • 1819 – José Paranhos, Brazilian politician (d. 1880)
  • 1820 – Enrico Tamberlik, Italian tenor (d. 1889)
  • 1821 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician and academic (d. 1881)
  • 1822 – Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
  • 1822 – John Pope, American general (d. 1892)
  • 1823 – William Henry Monk, English organist and composer (d. 1889)
  • 1825 – Camilo Castelo Branco, Portuguese writer (d. 1890)
  • 1828 – Émile Deshayes de Marcère, French politician (d. 1918)
  • 1834 – James Hector, Scottish geologist and surgeon (d. 1907)
  • 1836 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, English-American engineer and businessman (d. 1900)
  • 1839 – Sully Prudhomme, French poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
  • 1839 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter (d. 1922)
  • 1840 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese businessman (d. 1931)
  • 1840 – Georg von der Gabelentz, German linguist and sinologist (d. 1893)
  • 1845 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (d. 1928)
  • 1846 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician and academic (d. 1927)
  • 1846 – Rebecca Cole, American physician and social reformer (d. 1922)
  • 1846 – Jurgis Bielinis, Lithuanian book smuggler (d. 1918)
  • 1848 – Axel Heiberg, Norwegian financier and diplomat (d. 1932)
  • 1851 – Otto Bardenhewer, German patrologist (d. 1935)
  • 1851 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
  • 1856 – Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France (d. 1879)
  • 1857 – Charles Harding Firth, English historian and academic (d. 1936)
  • 1859 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1906)
  • 1865 – Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager (d. 1953)
  • 1869 – Willy Burmester, German violinist (d. 1933)
  • 1871 – Hans Merensky, South African geologist and philanthropist (d. 1951)
  • 1871 – Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (d. 1932)
  • 1874 – Frédéric François-Marsal, French prime minister (d. 1958)
  • 1877 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (d. 1972)
  • 1878 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German cardinal (d. 1946)
  • 1878 – Paul Jouve, French painter (d. 1973)
  • 1881 – Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (d. 1947)
  • 1882 – James Lightbody, American runner (d. 1953)
  • 1883 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, author, and painter (d. 1958)
  • 1884 – Eric P. Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 1960)
  • 1885 – Giacomo Benvenuti, Italian composer and musicologist (d. 1943)
  • 1885 – Sydney Chaplin, English actor (d. 1965)
  • 1886 – Herbert Lindström, Swedish tug of war player (d. 1951)
  • 1887 – Emilio Lunghi, Italian runner (d. 1925)
  • 1887 – S. Stillman Berry, American marine zoologist (1984)
  • 1889 – Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
  • 1892 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet, playwright, and journalist (d. 1938)
  • 1895 – Ernest Labrousse, French historian (d. 1988)
  • 1897 – Antonio Donghi, Italian painter (d. 1963)
  • 1897 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)
  • 1900 – Cyril Hume, American novelist (d. 1966)
  • 1900 – Mencha Karnicheva, Macedonian revolutionary and assassin (d. 1964)
  • 1901 – Alexis Chantraine, Belgian footballer (d. 1987)
  • 1903 – Mike Mansfield, American politician and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to Japan (d. 2001)
  • 1906 – Francisco Ayala, Spanish sociologist, author, and translator (d. 2009)
  • 1906 – Maurice Turnbull, Welsh-English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1944)
  • 1906 – Henny Youngman, English-American violinist and comedian (d. 1998)
  • 1908 – René Daumal, French author and poet (d. 1944)
  • 1908 – Ernest Rogez, French water polo player (d. 1986)
  • 1908 – Robert Rossen, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1966)
  • 1910 – Aladár Gerevich, Hungarian fencer (d. 1991)
  • 1910 – Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian-English cricketer and politician, 8th Nawab of Pataudi (d. 1952)
  • 1911 – Pierre Harmel, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2009)
  • 1911 – Josef Mengele, German physician and captain (d. 1979)
  • 1911 – Philip Pavia, American painter and sculptor (d.2005)
  • 1912 – Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
  • 1913 – Rémy Raffalli, French soldier (d. 1952)
  • 1915 – Kunihiko Kodaira, Japanese mathematician and academic (d. 1997)
  • 1916 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
  • 1916 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese engineer and businessman (d. 2010)
  • 1917 – Louis C. Wyman, American lawyer and politician (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Laure Pillay, Mauritian lawyer and jurist (d. 2017)
  • 1917 – Mehrdad Pahlbod, Iranian politician (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – Aldo van Eyck, Dutch architect (d. 1999)
  • 1918 – Frederick Reines, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
  • 1920 – John Addison, English-American soldier and composer (d. 1998)
  • 1920 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1920 – Traudl Junge, German secretary (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – Leo McKern, Australian-English actor (d. 2002)
  • 1922 – Harding Lemay, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 2018)
  • 1923 – Heinz Wallberg, German conductor (d. 2004)
  • 1925 – Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Mary Hinkson, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Ervin Kassai, Hungarian basketball player and referee (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist and engineer (d. 2004)
  • 1926 – Charles Goodell, American lawyer and politician (d. 1987)
  • 1926 – Jerry Lewis, American actor and comedian (d. 2017)
  • 1927 – Vladimir Komarov, Russian pilot, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1967)
  • 1927 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Olga San Juan, American actress and dancer (d. 2009)
  • 1928 – Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 45th Yokozuna (d. 2010)
  • 1928 – Christa Ludwig, German soprano and actress
  • 1929 – Betty Johnson, American singer
  • 1929 – Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1929 – Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress
  • 1930 – Tommy Flanagan, American pianist and composer (d. 2001)
  • 1930 – Minoru Miki, Japanese composer (d. 2011)
  • 1931 – Augusto Boal, Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician (d. 2009)
  • 1931 – Alan Heyman, American-South Korean musicologist and composer (d. 2014)
  • 1931 – Anthony Kenny, English philosopher and academic
  • 1931 – John Munro, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2003)
  • 1932 – Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1932 – Walter Cunningham, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1932 – Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer and author
  • 1932 – Herbert Marx, Canadian politician (d. 2020)
  • 1933 – Keith Critchlow, English architect and academic, co-founded Temenos Academy
  • 1933 – Sanford I. Weill, American banker, financier, and philanthropist
  • 1934 – Jean Cournoyer, Canadian politician
  • 1934 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (d. 2002)
  • 1934 – Roger Norrington, English violinist and conductor
  • 1935 – Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano and actress
  • 1935 – Pepe Cáceres, Colombian bullfighter (d. 1987)
  • 1936 – Raymond Vahan Damadian, Armenian-American inventor, invented the MRI
  • 1936 – Fred Neil, American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)
  • 1937 – David Frith, English historian, journalist, and author
  • 1937 – Attilio Nicora, Italian cardinal (d. 2017)
  • 1937 – Amos Tversky, Israeli-American psychologist and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1938 – Carlos Bilardo, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1939 – Yvon Côté, Canadian teacher
  • 1940 – Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1940 – Vagif Mustafazadeh, Azerbaijani pianist and composer (d. 1979)
  • 1940 – Jan Pronk, Dutch academic and politician, Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
  • 1940 – Keith Rowe, English guitarist
  • 1941 – Robert Guéï, Ivorian soldier and politician, 3rd President of Côte d’Ivoire (d. 2002)
  • 1941 – Chuck Woolery, American game show host and television personality
  • 1942 – Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996)
  • 1942 – Gijs van Lennep, Dutch race car driver
  • 1942 – Jean-Pierre Schosteck, French politician
  • 1942 – James Soong, Chinese-Taiwanese politician, Governor of Taiwan Province
  • 1942 – Jerry Jeff Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Ursula Goodenough, American biologist, zoologist, and author
  • 1943 – Hans Heyer, German racing driver
  • 1943 – Álvaro de Soto, Peruvian diplomat
  • 1944 – Andrew S. Tanenbaum, American computer scientist and academic
  • 1946 – Sigmund Groven, Norwegian harmonica player and composer
  • 1946 – Mary Kaldor, English economist and academic
  • 1946 – J. Z. Knight, American New Age teacher and author
  • 1946 – Guesch Patti, French singer
  • 1948 – Michael Owen Bruce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1948 – Richard Desjardins, Canadian singer-songwriter and director
  • 1948 – Catherine Quéré, French politician
  • 1949 – Erik Estrada, American actor
  • 1949 – Victor Garber, Canadian actor and singer
  • 1949 – Elliott Murphy, American-French singer-songwriter and journalist
  • 1950 – Peter Forster, English bishop
  • 1950 – Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
  • 1950 – Edhem Šljivo, Bosnian footballer
  • 1951 – Ray Benson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1951 – Abdelmajid Bourebbou, Algerian footballer
  • 1951 – Oddvar Brå, Norwegian skier
  • 1951 – Joe DeLamielleure, American football player
  • 1951 – Alexandre Gonzalez, French long-distance runner
  • 1953 – Claus Peter Flor, German conductor
  • 1953 – Isabelle Huppert, French actress
  • 1953 – Rainer Knaak, German chess player
  • 1953 – Richard Stallman, American computer scientist and programmer
  • 1954 – David Heath, English politician
  • 1954 – Jimmy Nail, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1954 – Tim O’Brien, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – Dav Whatmore, Sri Lankan-Australian cricketer and coach
  • 1954 – Nancy Wilson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress
  • 1955 – Svetlana Alexeeva, Russian ice dancer and coach
  • 1955 – Rimantas Astrauskas, Lithuanian physicist
  • 1955 – Bruno Barreto, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Linda Lepomme, Belgian actress and singer
  • 1955 – Bob Ley, American sports anchor and reporter
  • 1955 – Andy Scott, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
  • 1955 – Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
  • 1956 – Ozzie Newsome, American football player and manager
  • 1956 – Clifton Powell, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1956 – Yoriko Shono, Japanese writer
  • 1956 – Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, Swiss lawyer and politician
  • 1958 – Phillip Wilcher, Australian pianist and composer
  • 1958 – Kate Worley, American author (d. 2004)
  • 1958 – Jorge Ramos, Mexican-American journalist and author
  • 1959 – Michael J. Bloomfield, American astronaut
  • 1959 – Sebastian Currier, American composer and educator
  • 1959 – Greg Dyer, Australian cricketer
  • 1959 – Flavor Flav, American rapper and actor
  • 1959 – Charles Hudson, American baseball player
  • 1959 – Steve Marker, American musician
  • 1959 – Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian economist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Norway, 13th Secretary General of NATO
  • 1960 – John Hemming, English businessman and politician
  • 1960 – Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1960 – Jenny Eclair, English comedian, actress and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1961 – Todd McFarlane, Canadian author, illustrator, and businessman, founded McFarlane Toys
  • 1962 – Franck Fréon, French race car driver
  • 1962 – Liliane Gaschet, French athlete
  • 1963 – Jerome Flynn, English actor and singer
  • 1963 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor and singer (d. 2002)
  • 1964 – Patty Griffin, American singer-songwriter
  • 1964 – Jaclyn Jose, Filipino actress
  • 1964 – Pascal Richard, Swiss racing cyclist
  • 1964 – Gore Verbinski, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Steve Armstrong, American wrestler
  • 1965 – Cindy Brown, American basketball player
  • 1965 – Mark Carney, Canadian-English economist and banker
  • 1965 – Cristiana Reali, Italian-Brazilian actress
  • 1966 – Chrissy Redden, Canadian cross-country cyclist
  • 1967 – Tracy Bonham, American singer and violinist
  • 1967 – John Darnielle, American musician and novelist
  • 1967 – Lauren Graham, American actress and producer
  • 1967 – Ronnie McCoury, American bluegrass mandolin player, singer and songwriter
  • 1967 – Heidi Zurbriggen, Swiss alpine skier
  • 1968 – Trevor Wilson, American basketball player and police officer
  • 1969 – Judah Friedlander, American comedian and actor
  • 1969 – Ottis Gibson, Barbadian cricketer and coach
  • 1969 – Alina Ivanova, Russian athlete
  • 1969 – Evangelos Koronios, Greek basketball player and coach
  • 1970 – Joakim Berg, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Franck Comba, French rugby player
  • 1971 – Alan Tudyk, American actor
  • 1972 – Ismaïl Sghyr, French-Moroccan long-distance runner
  • 1973 – Andrey Mizurov, Kazakhstani road bicycle racer
  • 1973 – Vonda Ward, American boxer
  • 1974 – Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer and politician
  • 1974 – Anne Charrier, French actress
  • 1974 – Heath Streak, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1975 – Luciano Castro, Argentine actor
  • 1975 – Sienna Guillory, English model and actress
  • 1975 – Lionel Torres, French archer
  • 1976 – Blu Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1976 – Leila Lejeune, French handballer
  • 1976 – Susanne Ljungskog, Swedish cyclist
  • 1976 – Abraham Núñez, Dominican baseball player
  • 1976 – Zhu Chen, Qatari chess Grandmaster
  • 1977 – Mónica Cruz, Spanish actress and dancer
  • 1977 – Thomas Rupprath, German swimmer
  • 1978 – Brooke Burns, American fashion model and actress
  • 1978 – Annett Renneberg, German actress and singer
  • 1979 – Christina Liebherr, Swiss equestrian
  • 1979 – Rashad Moore, American football player
  • 1979 – Sébastien Ostertag, French handball player
  • 1979 – Leena Peisa, Finnish keyboard player and songwriter
  • 1979 – Andrei Stepanov, Estonian footballer
  • 1980 – Todd Heap, American football player
  • 1980 – Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player
  • 1981 – Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
  • 1981 – Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Julien Mazet, French road bicycle racer
  • 1981 – Fabiana Murer, Brazilian pole vaulter
  • 1982 – Miguel Comminges, Guadeloupean footballer
  • 1982 – Riley Cote, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1982 – Tommy Hansen, Czech actor
  • 1982 – Jesús Del Nero, Spanish road bicycle racer
  • 1982 – Brian Wilson, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Stephen Drew, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Brandon League, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Nicolas Rousseau, French road bicycle racer
  • 1983 – Tramon Williams, American football player
  • 1984 – Levi Brown, American football player
  • 1984 – Aisling Bea, Irish comedienne and actress
  • 1984 – Sharon Cherop, Kenyan long-distance runner
  • 1984 – Michael Ennis, Australian rugby player
  • 1984 – Hosea Gear, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1984 – Brandon Prust, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Teddy Atine-Venel, French athlete
  • 1985 – Eddy Lover, Panamanian singer-songwriter
  • 1985 – Aleksei Sokirskiy, Russian hammer thrower
  • 1986 – Alexandra Daddario, American actress
  • 1986 – Toney Douglas, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Kenny Dykstra, American wrestler
  • 1986 – T. J. Jordan, American basketball player
  • 1986 – Boaz Solossa, Indonesian footballer
  • 1986 – Daisuke Takahashi, Japanese figure skater
  • 1987 – Fabien Lemoine, French football player
  • 1988 – Jessica Gregg, Canadian speed skater
  • 1988 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
  • 1989 – Blake Griffin, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Jung So-min, South Korean actress
  • 1989 – Magalie Pottier, French racing cyclist
  • 1989 – Theo Walcott, English footballer
  • 1990 – Andre Young, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Reggie Bullock, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Wolfgang Van Halen, American bassist
  • 1993 – George Ford, English rugby union player
  • 1993 – Marine Lorphelin, Miss France
  • 1994 – Joel Embiid, Cameroonian basketball player
  • 1995 – Inga Janulevičiūtė, Lithuanian figure skater
  • 1997 – Florian Neuhaus, German football player

Deaths on March 16

  • AD 37 – Tiberius, Roman emperor (b. 42 BC)
  • 455 – Valentinian III, Roman emperor (assassinated; b. 419)
  • 455 – Heraclius, Roman courtier (primicerius sacri cubiculi )
  • 842 – Xiao Mian, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
  • 933 – Takin al-Khazari, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt
  • 943 – Pi Guangye, Chinese official and chancellor (b. 877)
  • 1021 – Heribert of Cologne, German archbishop and saint (b. 970)
  • 1072 – Adalbert of Hamburg, German archbishop (b. 1000)
  • 1181 – Henry I, Count of Champagne
  • 1185 – Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (b. 1161)
  • 1279 – Jeanne of Dammartin, Queen consort of Castile and León (b. 1216)
  • 1322 – Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, English general and politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1276)
  • 1405 – Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (b. 1350)
  • 1410 – John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, French-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1373)
  • 1457 – Ladislaus Hunyadi, Hungarian politician (b. 1433)
  • 1485 – Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)
  • 1559 – Anthony St. Leger, English-Irish politician Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1496)
  • 1649 – Jean de Brébeuf, French-Canadian missionary and saint (b. 1593)
  • 1679 – John Leverett, English general and politician, 19th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1616)
  • 1721 – James Craggs the Elder, English politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (b. 1657)
  • 1736 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1710)
  • 1737 – Benjamin Wadsworth, American minister and academic (b. 1670)
  • 1738 – George Bähr, German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (b. 1666)
  • 1747 – Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (b. 1690)
  • 1838 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American captain and mathematician (b. 1773)
  • 1841 – Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist (d. 1791)
  • 1868 – David Wilmot, American politician, sponsor of Wilmot Proviso (b. 1814)
  • 1884 – Art Croft, American baseball player (b. 1855)
  • 1888 – Hippolyte Carnot, French politician (b. 1801)
  • 1892 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (b. 1827)
  • 1898 – Aubrey Beardsley, English author and illustrator (b. 1872)
  • 1899 – Joseph Medill, American journalist and politician, 26th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1823)
  • 1903 – Roy Bean, American lawyer and judge (b. 1825)
  • 1907 – John O’Leary, Irish politician (b. 1830)
  • 1912 – Max Burckhard, Austrian theater director (b. 1854)
  • 1914 – Gaston Calmette, French journalist (b. 1858)
  • 1914 – Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
  • 1914 – John Murray, Scottish oceanographer, biologist, and limnologist (b. 1841)
  • 1925 – August von Wassermann, German bacteriologist and hygienist (b. 1866)
  • 1930 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1870)
  • 1935 – John James Rickard Macleod, Scottish physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
  • 1935 – Aron Nimzowitsch, Latvian-Danish chess player (b. 1886)
  • 1936 – Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (b. 1864)
  • 1937 – Alexander von Staël-Holstein, Estonian orientalist and sinologist (b. 1877)
  • 1940 – Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
  • 1945 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (b. 1874)
  • 1955 – Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1914)
  • 1957 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (b. 1876)
  • 1958 – Leon Cadore, American baseball player (b. 1891)
  • 1961 – Chen Geng, Chinese general and politician (b. 1903)
  • 1961 – Václav Talich, Czech violinist and conductor (b. 1883)
  • 1963 – Laura Adams Armer, American author and photographer (b. 1874)
  • 1965 – Alice Herz, German activist (b. 1882)
  • 1967 – Thomas MacGreevy, Irish poet (b. 1893)
  • 1968 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American pianist and composer (b. 1895)
  • 1968 – Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and translator (b. 1907)
  • 1970 – Tammi Terrell, American singer (b. 1945)
  • 1971 – Bebe Daniels, American actress (b. 1901)
  • 1971 – Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of New York (b. 1902)
  • 1972 – Pie Traynor, American baseball player (b. 1898)
  • 1975 – T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1910)
  • 1977 – Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese lawyer and politician (b. 1917)
  • 1979 – Jean Monnet, French economist and politician (b. 1888)
  • 1980 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-American painter (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Arthur Godfrey, American actor and television host (b. 1903)
  • 1983 – Fred Rose, Polish-Canadian politician (b. 1907)
  • 1985 – Roger Sessions, American composer, critic, and educator (b. 1896)
  • 1985 – Eddie Shore, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1902)
  • 1988 – Jigger Statz, American baseball player (b.1897)
  • 1988 – Mickey Thompson, American race car driver (b. 1928)
  • 1990 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1898)
  • 1991 – Chris Austin, American country singer (b .1964)
  • 1991 – Jean Bellette, Australian artist (b. 1908)
  • 1992 – Yves Rocard, French physicist and engineer (b. 1903)
  • 1994 – Eric Show, American baseball player (b. 1956)
  • 1998 – Derek Barton, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
  • 1998 – Esther Bubley, American photographer (b. 1921)
  • 1999 – Gratien Gélinas, Canadian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1909)
  • 2000 – Thomas Ferebee, American colonel and pilot (b. 1918)
  • 2000 – Pavel Prudnikau, Belarusian poet and author (b. 1911)
  • 2000 – Michael Starr, Canadian judge and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of Labour (b. 1910)
  • 2000 – Carlos Velázquez, Puerto Rican pitcher (b. 1948)
  • 2001 – Bob Wollek, French race car driver (b. 1943)
  • 2003 – Rachel Corrie, American activist (b. 1979)
  • 2003 – Ronald Ferguson, English captain, polo player, and manager (b. 1931)
  • 2004 – Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (b. 1910)
  • 2005 – Todd Bell, American football player (b. 1958)
  • 2005 – Ralph Erskine, English architect, designed The London Ark (b. 1914)
  • 2005 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (b. 1937)
  • 2007 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (b. 1984)
  • 2008 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer and soldier (b. 1912)
  • 2008 – Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1931)
  • 2008 – Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (b. 1942)
  • 2010 – Ksenija Pajčin, Serbian singer, dancer and model (b. 1977)
  • 2011 – Richard Wirthlin, American religious leader (b. 1931)
  • 2012 – Donald E. Hillman, American colonel and pilot (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Takaaki Yoshimoto, Japanese poet, philosopher, and critic (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (b. 1939)
  • 2013 – José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, Argentinian economist and politician, Minister of Economy of Argentina (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Yadier Pedroso, Cuban pitcher (b. 1986)
  • 2013 – Ruchoma Shain, American-born teacher and author (b. 1914)
  • 2013 – Marina Solodkin, Russian-Israeli academic and politician (b. 1952)
  • 2013 – Frank Thornton, English actor (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – Gary Bettenhausen, American race car driver (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Donald Crothers, American chemist and academic (b. 1937)
  • 2014 – Yulisa Pat Amadu Maddy, Sierra Leonean author, poet, and playwright (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Steve Moore, English author and illustrator (b. 1949)
  • 2014 – Alexander Pochinok, Russian economist and politician (b. 1958)
  • 2015 – Jack Haley, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1964)
  • 2015 – Don Robertson, American pianist and composer (b. 1922)
  • 2016 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician and poet (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Frank Sinatra Jr., American singer and actor (b. 1944)
  • 2017 – Lewis Rowland, American neurologist (b. 1925)
  • 2018 – Louise Slaughter, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York (b. 1929)
  • 2019 – Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances on March 16

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abbán
    • Finian Lobhar (Finian the Leper)
    • Heribert of Cologne
    • Hilarius of Aquileia
    • Julian of Antioch
    • March 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of the Book Smugglers (Lithuania)
  • Remembrance day of the Latvian legionnaires (Latvia)
  • Saint Urho’s Day (Finnish Americans and Finnish Canadians)
  • Austin 3:16 Day (Not official, but leisure day)

March 16- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 15- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

In the Roman calendar, March 15 was known as the Ides of March.

March 15 in History

  • 474 BC – Roman consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years’ truce.
  • 44 BC – Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger and his fellow conspirators, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus, and several other Roman senators, march to the Capitol following the assassination of Julius Caesar, but there is no response to their appeals to the population, who have left the streets in fear. Caesar’s body remains in its place
  • 351 – Constantius II elevates his cousin Gallus to Caesar, and puts him in charge of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.
  • 493 – Odoacer, the first barbarian King of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is slain by Theoderic the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, while the two kings were feasting together.
  • 856 – Michael III, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, overthrows the regency of his mother, empress Theodora (wife of Theophilos) with support of the Byzantine nobility.
  • 933 – After a ten-year truce, German King Henry the Fowler defeats a Hungarian army at the Battle of Riade near the Unstrut river.
  • 1147 – Conquest of Santarém: The forces of Afonso I of Portugal capture Santarém.
  • 1311 – Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V, Count of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.
  • 1493 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.
  • 1564 – Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes “jizya” (per capita tax).
  • 1672 – Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.
  • 1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Court House: Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat a mixed American force numbering 4,400 in a Pyrrhic victory.
  • 1783 – In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d’état never takes place.
  • 1819 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel is adjudged the winner of the Grand Prix of the Académie des Sciences for his “Memoir on the Diffraction of Light”, which verifies the Fresnel integrals, accounts for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishes Newton’s initial objection to the wave theory of light.
  • 1820 – Maine becomes the 23rd U.S. state.
  • 1827 – University of Toronto is founded.
  • 1848 – A revolution breaks out in Hungary. The Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign: U.S. Navy fleet arrives at Alexandria, Louisiana.
  • 1874 – France and Vietnam sign the Second Treaty of Saigon, further recognizing the full sovereignty of France over Cochinchina.
  • 1875 – Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.
  • 1877 – First ever official cricket test match is played: Australia vs England at the MCG Stadium, in Melbourne, Australia.
  • 1878 – Restoration of the Scottish Catholic hierarchy, broken off back in 1603.
  • 1888 – Start of the Anglo-Tibetan War of 1888.
  • 1895 – Heian Shrine is founded.
  • 1906 – Rolls-Royce Limited is incorporated.
  • 1916 – United States President Woodrow Wilson sends 4,800 United States troops over the U.S.–Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.
  • 1917 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty.
  • 1921 – Talaat Pasha, former Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire and chief architect of the Armenian Genocide is assassinated in Berlin by a 23-year-old Armenian, Soghomon Tehlirian.
  • 1922 – After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.
  • 1926 – The dictator Theodoros Pangalos is elected President of Greece without opposition.
  • 1927 – The first Women’s Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on The Isis in Oxford.
  • 1931 – SS Viking explodes off Newfoundland, killing 27 of the 147 onboard.
  • 1933 – Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss keeps members of the National Council from convening, starting the Austrofascist dictatorship.
  • 1939 – Germany occupies Czechoslovakia.
  • 1939 – Carpatho-Ukraine declares itself an independent republic, but is annexed by Hungary the next day.
  • 1941 – Philippine Airlines, the flag carrier of the Philippines takes its first flight between Manila (from Nielson Field) to Baguio City with a Beechcraft Model 18 making the airline the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia operating under its original name.
  • 1943 – World War II: Third Battle of Kharkov: The Germans retake the city of Kharkov from the Soviet armies in bitter street fighting.
  • 1945 – World War II: Soviet forces begin an offensive to push Germans from Upper Silesia.
  • 1951 – the Iranian oil industry is nationalized.
  • 1952 – In Cilaos, Réunion, 1870 mm (73 inches) of rain falls in a 24-hour period, setting a new world record (March 15 through March 16).
  • 1961 – At the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference, South Africa announces that it will withdraw from the Commonwealth when the South African Constitution of 1961 comes into effect.
  • 1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress “We shall overcome” while advocating the Voting Rights Act.
  • 1978 – Somalia and Ethiopia signed a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.
  • 1986 – Collapse of Hotel New World: Thirty-three people die when the Hotel New World in Singapore collapses.
  • 1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union.
  • 1991 – Cold War: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.
  • 2008 – Stockpiles of obsolete ammunition explode at an ex-military ammunition depot in the village of Gërdec, Albania, killing 26 people.
  • 2011 – Beginning of the Syrian Civil War.
  • 2019 – Fifty-one people are killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings.
  • 2019 – Beginning of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
  • 2019 – Approximately 1.4 million young people in 123 countries go on strike to protest climate change.

Births on March 15

  • 270 – Saint Nicholas, Greek bishop and saint (d. 343)
  • 1097 – Fujiwara no Tadamichi, Japanese noble (d. 1164)
  • 1275 – Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant (d. 1333)
  • 1407 – Jacob, Margrave of Baden-Baden (d. 1453)
  • 1444 – Francesco Gonzaga, Catholic cardinal (d. 1483)
  • 1493 – Anne de Montmorency, French captain and diplomat (d. 1567)
  • 1513 – Hedwig Jagiellon, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1573)
  • 1516 – Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (d. 1550)
  • 1582 – Daniel Featley, English theologian and controversialist (d. 1645)
  • 1584 – Philip, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (d. 1663)
  • 1591 – Alexandre de Rhodes, French missionary and lexicographer (d. 1660)
  • 1611 – Jan Fyt, Flemish painter (d. 1661)
  • 1638 – Shunzhi Emperor of China (d. 1661)
  • 1666 – George Bähr, German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (d. 1738)
  • 1754 – Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (d. 1842)
  • 1767 – Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (d. 1845)
  • 1779 – William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1848)
  • 1790 – Ludwig Immanuel Magnus, German mathematician and academic (d. 1861)
  • 1791 – Charles Knight, English author and publisher (d. 1873)
  • 1809 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian historian and politician, 1st President of Liberia (d. 1876)
  • 1809 – Karl Josef von Hefele, German bishop and theologian (d. 1893)
  • 1813 – John Snow, English physician and epidemiologist (d. 1858)
  • 1818 – Mariano Álvarez, Filipino general and politician (d. 1924)
  • 1821 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian physicist and chemist (d. 1895)
  • 1821 – William Milligan, Scottish theologian, author, and educator (d. 1892)
  • 1824 – Jules Chevalier, French priest, founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (d. 1907)
  • 1830 – Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
  • 1830 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer and academic (d. 1905)
  • 1831 – Saint Daniele Comboni, Italian missionary and saint (d. 1881)
  • 1835 – John Henry Kagi, American lawyer and activist (d. 1859)
  • 1835 – Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1916)
  • 1838 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1889)
  • 1851 – John Sebastian Little, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Arkansas (d. 1916)
  • 1851 – William Mitchell Ramsay, Scottish archaeologist and scholar (d. 1939)
  • 1852 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish landowner, playwright, and translator (d. 1932)
  • 1854 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
  • 1857 – Christian Michelsen, Norwegian businessman and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Norway (d. 1925)
  • 1858 – Liberty Hyde Bailey, American botanist and academic, co-founded the American Society for Horticultural Science (d. 1954)
  • 1860 – Waldemar Haffkine, Russian-Swiss bacteriologist and microbiologist (d. 1930)
  • 1864 – Johan Halvorsen, Norwegian violinist, composer, and conductor (Oslo Philharmonic) (d. 1935)
  • 1865 – Manuk Abeghian, Armenian author and scholar (d. 1944)
  • 1866 – Matthew Charlton, Australian miner and politician (d. 1948)
  • 1866 – Johan Vaaler, Norwegian inventor, often erroneously identified as the inventor of the Paper clip (d. 1910)
  • 1868 – Grace Chisholm Young, English mathematician (d. 1944)
  • 1869 – Stanisław Wojciechowski, Polish scholar and politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Poland (d. 1953)
  • 1874 – Eugène Fiset, Canadian physician, general, and politician, 18th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 1951)
  • 1874 – Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, 32nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1952)
  • 1878 – Reza Shah, Iranian king (d. 1944)
  • 1886 – Wladimir Burliuk, Ukrainian-Greek painter and illustrator (d. 1917)
  • 1887 – Marjorie Merriweather Post, American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded General Foods (d. 1973)
  • 1887 – Lütfi Kırdar, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of Health (d. 1961)
  • 1879 – Benjamin R. Jacobs, American biochemist (d. 1963)
  • 1890 – Boris Delaunay, Russian mathematician and mountaineer (d. 1980)
  • 1892 – James Basevi Ord, Mexican-American colonel (d. 1938)
  • 1897 – Jackson Scholz, American runner (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian and writer (d. 1987)
  • 1904 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (d. 1979)
  • 1904 – J. Pat O’Malley, English-American actor (d. 1985)
  • 1905 – Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, German lawyer and judge (d. 1944)
  • 1907 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (d. 1981)
  • 1909 – Jaroslava Muchová Syllabová, Czech painter (d. 1986)
  • 1912 – Lightnin’ Hopkins, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982)
  • 1912 – Louis Paul Boon, Flemish journalist and author (d. 1979)
  • 1913 – Macdonald Carey, American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1913 – Jack Fairman, English race car driver (d. 2002)
  • 1916 – Frank Coghlan, Jr., American actor and pilot (d. 2009)
  • 1916 – Fadil Hoxha, Kosovar commander and politician, 2nd President of Kosovo (d. 2001)
  • 1916 – Harry James, American trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (d. 1983)
  • 1918 – Richard Ellmann, American author and critic (d. 1987)
  • 1918 – Punch Imlach, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1987)
  • 1919 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – E. Donnall Thomas, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
  • 1921 – Madelyn Pugh, American television writer and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Eddie Calvert, English trumpeter (d. 1978)
  • 1926 – Ben Johnston, American composer and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
  • 1927 – Christian Marquand, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
  • 1927 – Carl Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
  • 1928 – Bob Wilber, American clarinetist and saxophonist (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Zhores Alferov, Belarusian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Alan Bean, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2018)
  • 1932 – Arif Mardin, Turkish-American record producer (d. 2006)
  • 1933 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American lawyer and judge
  • 1933 – Philippe de Broca, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1934 – Richard Layard, Baron Layard, English economist and academic
  • 1934 – Kanshi Ram, Indian politician (d. 2006)
  • 1935 – David Andrews, Irish politician, 21st Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ireland
  • 1935 – Judd Hirsch, American actor
  • 1935 – Jimmy Swaggart, American pastor and television host
  • 1935 – Leonid Yengibarov, Russian-Armenian clown and boxer (d. 1972)
  • 1936 – Howard Greenfield, American songwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1937 – Marcus Raichle, American neurologist and physiologist
  • 1937 – Valentin Rasputin, Russian environmentalist and author (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Charles Lloyd, American saxophonist and flute player
  • 1939 – Ted Kaufman, American engineer and politician
  • 1939 – Robert Nye, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 2016)
  • 1939 – Julie Tullis, English mountaineer (d. 1986)
  • 1940 – Frank Dobson, English politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 2019)
  • 1940 – Phil Lesh, American bassist
  • 1941 – Mike Love, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1941 – Carolyn Hansson, Canadian materials engineer
  • 1943 – David Cronenberg, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Lynda La Plante, English actress, screenwriter, and author
  • 1943 – Michael Scott-Joynt, English bishop (d. 2014)
  • 1943 – Sly Stone, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
  • 1943 – The Iron Sheik, Iranian-American wrestler and actor
  • 1944 – Chi Cheng, Taiwanese runner and politician
  • 1944 – Jacques Doillon, French director and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Francis Mankiewicz, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
  • 1944 – A. K. Faezul Huq, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1945 – Mark J. Green, American lawyer and politician
  • 1946 – Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003)
  • 1946 – John Dempsey, English born Irish international footballer, centre-back and manager
  • 1947 – Ry Cooder, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1947 – Gino Ferrin, German footballer and manager
  • 1947 – Juraj Kukura, Slovak-German actor
  • 1948 – Kate Bornstein, American author and activist
  • 1948 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
  • 1950 – Jørgen Olsen, Danish singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Kurt Koch, Swiss cardinal
  • 1951 – David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, English educator and politician
  • 1952 – Howard Devoto, English singer-songwriter
  • 1952 – Philip Green, English businessman
  • 1952 – Howard Koh, American physician and politician, 14th United States Assistant Secretary for Health
  • 1953 – Richard Bruton, Irish economist and politician, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
  • 1953 – Heather Graham Pozzessere, American author
  • 1953 – Kumba Ialá, Bissau-Guinean educator and politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (d. 2014)
  • 1954 – Massimo Bubola, Italian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1954 – Isobel Buchanan, Scottish soprano and actress
  • 1954 – Bob Budiansky, American author and illustrator
  • 1954 – Henry Marsh, American runner and businessman, co-founded MonaVie
  • 1954 – Craig Wasson, American actor
  • 1955 – Mohsin Khan, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1955 – Dee Snider, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1956 – Clay Matthews, Jr., American football player and coach
  • 1957 – Joaquim de Almeida, Portuguese-American actor
  • 1957 – Víctor Muñoz, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1957 – David Silverman, American animator, director, and screenwriter
  • 1958 – Anne Davies, English television presenter and newsreader
  • 1959 – Harold Baines, American baseball player and coach
  • 1959 – Renny Harlin, Finnish director and producer
  • 1959 – Lisa Holton, American journalist and author
  • 1959 – Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and author
  • 1960 – Mike Pagliarulo, American baseball player and coach
  • 1960 – Phil Walsh, Australian rules footballer and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1961 – Terry Cummings, American basketball player and singer
  • 1961 – Craig Ludwig, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1962 – Terence Trent D’Arby, American singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Jimmy Baio, American actor
  • 1963 – Bret Michaels, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1964 – Davide Pinato, Italian footballer
  • 1964 – Rockwell, American singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1965 – Sunetra Gupta, Indian epidemiologist, author, and academic
  • 1965 – Robyn Malcolm, New Zealand actress
  • 1967 – Naoko Takeuchi, Japanese manga artist, creator of Sailor Moon
  • 1968 – Kahimi Karie, Japanese singer
  • 1968 – Mark McGrath, American singer-songwriter and television host
  • 1968 – Terje Riis-Johansen, Norwegian politician, Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy
  • 1968 – Sabrina Salerno, Italian singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
  • 1969 – Rona Ambrose, Canadian journalist and politician, former Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
  • 1969 – Gianluca Festa, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1969 – Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey
  • 1970 – Christine Anu, Australian singer
  • 1970 – Naka Drotske, South African rugby player
  • 1970 – Derek Parra, American speed skater and coach
  • 1971 – Penny Lancaster, English model and photographer
  • 1971 – Joanne Wise, English long jumper
  • 1972 – Mark Hoppus, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
  • 1972 – Holger Stromberg, German chef
  • 1972 – Mike Tomlin, American football player and coach
  • 1973 – Robin Hunicke, American video game designer and producer
  • 1973 – Masayuki Naruse, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
  • 1974 – Robert Fick, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Eva Longoria, American actress and producer
  • 1975 – Veselin Topalov, Bulgarian chess player
  • 1975 – Darcy Tucker, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – will.i.am, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1976 – Katherine Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1976 – Abhay Deol, Indian actor
  • 1976 – Cara Pifko, Canadian actress
  • 1977 – Joe Hahn, American DJ, producer, and director
  • 1977 – Brian Tee, Japanese-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1978 – Takeru Kobayashi, Japanese competitive eater
  • 1979 – Kyle Mills, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1979 – Kevin Youkilis, American baseball player and scout
  • 1980 – Freddie Bynum, American baseball player
  • 1980 – Eric Grothe, Jr. Australian rugby league player and guitarist
  • 1980 – Claudiney Ramos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1981 – Young Buck, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1981 – Mikael Forssell, German-Finnish footballer
  • 1981 – Veronica Maggio, Swedish singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Jens Salumäe, Estonian skier
  • 1982 – Tom Budge, Australian actor
  • 1982 – Emily Dunn, American actress and dancer
  • 1982 – Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, Kenyan runner
  • 1983 – Sean Biggerstaff, Scottish actor
  • 1983 – Umut Bulut, Turkish footballer
  • 1983 – Ben Hilfenhaus, Australian cricketer
  • 1983 – Kostas Kaimakoglou, Greek basketball player
  • 1983 – Golda Marcus, Salvadoran swimmer
  • 1983 – Daryl Murphy, Irish footballer
  • 1983 – Heiko Niidas, Estonian basketball player
  • 1983 – Ricky Sekhon, English actor
  • 1983 – Yo Yo Honey Singh, Indian music producer
  • 1984 – Badradine Belloumou, French-Algerian footballer
  • 1984 – Malin Buska, Swedish actress
  • 1984 – Olivier Jean, Canadian speed skater
  • 1984 – Kostas Vasileiadis, Greek basketball player
  • 1984 – Wilson Aparecido Xavier Júnior, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Eric Decker, American football player
  • 1988 – Éver Guzmán, Mexican footballer
  • 1988 – James Reimer, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1988 – Jolo Revilla, Filipino actor and politician
  • 1988 – Alexander Sims, English race car driver
  • 1989 – Sam Baldock, English footballer
  • 1989 – Bryce Gibbs, Australian footballer
  • 1989 – Sandro, Brazilian international footballer, midfielder
  • 1989 – Gil Roberts, American sprinter
  • 1989 – Adrien Silva, Portuguese footballer
  • 1989 – Caitlin Wachs, American actress
  • 1990 – Siobhan Magnus, American singer-songwriter
  • 1991 – Tavon Austin, American footballer
  • 1991 – Kurt Baptiste, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Xavier Henry, American basketball player
  • 1996 – Seonaid McIntosh, Scottish sports shooter
  • 2000 – Kristian Kostov, Russian-Bulgarian singer-songwriter

Deaths on March 15

  • 44 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (b. 100 BC)
  • 220 – Cao Cao, Chinese general, warlord and statesman (b. 155)
  • 493 – Odoacer, the first king of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (b. 433)
  • 752 – Pope Zachary
  • 963 – Romanos II, Byzantine emperor (b. 938)
  • 990 – Siegfried I (the Older), German nobleman
  • 1086 – Richilde, Countess of Hainaut, Flemish consort and regent (b. c. 1018)
  • 1124 – Ernulf, Bishop of Rochester (b. c. 1040)
  • 1190 – Isabella of Hainault, queen of Philip II of France (b. 1170)
  • 1311 – Walter V, Count of Brienne (b. 1275)
  • 1311 – Thomas III d’Autremencourt, Lord of Salona, Marshal of Achaea
  • 1311 – Albert Pallavicini, Margrave of Bodonitza
  • 1311 – George I Ghisi, Triarch of Euboea, Baron of Chalandritsa, Lord of Tinos, Mykonos, Serifos and Keos
  • 1327 – Albert of Schwarzburg, grand preceptor of the Knights Hospitaller
  • 1346 – Shah Jalal, Sufi saint of Bengal (b. 1271).
  • 1536 – Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, Ottoman politician, 35th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1493)
  • 1575 – Annibale Padovano, Italian organist and composer (b. 1527)
  • 1644 – Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau (b. 1576)
  • 1657 – David Pardo, Dutch rabbi and scholar (b. 1591)
  • 1673 – Salvator Rosa, Italian painter and poet (b. 1615)
  • 1711 – Eusebio Kino, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1645)
  • 1820 – Clement Mary Hofbauer, Austrian priest and saint (b. 1751)
  • 1832 – Otto Wilhelm Masing, Estonian linguist and clergyman (b. 1763)
  • 1842 – Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1760)
  • 1849 – Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, Italian cardinal and linguist (b. 1774)
  • 1891 – Joseph Bazalgette, English engineer and academic (b. 1819)
  • 1897 – James Joseph Sylvester, English mathematician and academic (b. 1814)
  • 1898 – Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (b. 1813)
  • 1921 – Talaat Pasha, Ottoman politician, 281st Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1874)
  • 1927 – Hector Rason, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1858)
  • 1933 – Gustavo Jiménez, Peruvian colonel and politician, 73rd President of Peru (b. 1886)
  • 1937 – H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, and novelist (b. 1890)
  • 1938 – Nikolai Bukharin, Russian journalist, and politician (b. 1888)
  • 1939 – Luis Barceló, Spanish colonel (b. 1896)
  • 1941 – Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (b. 1864)
  • 1944 – Otto von Below, Prussian general (b. 1857)
  • 1951 – John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-South African astronomer and academic (b. 1889)
  • 1957 – Ernst Nobs, Swiss politician (b. 1886)
  • 1959 – Lester Young, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1909)
  • 1962 – Charles Bartliff, American soccer player (b. 1886)
  • 1962 – Arthur Compton, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
  • 1966 – Abe Saperstein, American basketball player and coach (b. 1902)
  • 1969 – Miles Malleson, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1888)
  • 1969 – Musashiyama Takeshi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 33rd Yokozuna (b. 1909)
  • 1970 – Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian author and poet (b. 1897)
  • 1971 – Jean-Pierre Monseré, Belgian cyclist (b. 1948)
  • 1972 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter and educator (b. 1910)
  • 1975 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek-Argentinian businessman (b. 1906)
  • 1977 – Hubert Aquin, Canadian author and activist (b. 1929)
  • 1977 – Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler and referee (b. 1921)
  • 1981 – René Clair, French director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Coloman Braun-Bogdan, Romanian footballer and manager (b. 1905)
  • 1983 – Rebecca West, English author and critic (b. 1892)
  • 1985 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and author (b. 1921)
  • 1986 – Alexandru Giugaru, Romanian actor (b. 1897)
  • 1987 – Douglas Abbott, Canadian lawyer and politician, 10th Canadian Minister of National Defence (b. 1899)
  • 1988 – Dmitri Polyakov, Ukrainian general and spy (b. 1926)
  • 1989 – Muhammad Jameel Didi, Maldivian poet and politician (b. 1915)
  • 1990 – Farzad Bazoft, Iranian-English journalist (b. 1958)
  • 1990 – Tom Harmon, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1919)
  • 1991 – Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1906)
  • 1992 – Rahi Masoom Raza, Indian Urdu poet (b.1927)
  • 1997 – Gail Davis, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 1997 – Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (b. 1906)
  • 1998 – Tim Maia, Brazilian singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
  • 1998 – Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (b. 1903)
  • 1999 – Guy D’Artois, Canadian soldier (b. 1917)
  • 2001 – Gaetano Cozzi, Italian historian and academic (b. 1922)
  • 2001 – Ann Sothern, American actress and singer (b. 1909)
  • 2003 – Thora Hird, English actress (b. 1911)
  • 2003 – Paul Stojanovich, American television producer, created World’s Wildest Police Videos (b. 1956)
  • 2004 – Philippe Lemaire, French actor (b. 1927)
  • 2004 – Bill Pickering, New Zealand-American scientist and engineer (b. 1910)
  • 2004 – John Pople, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
  • 2005 – Bob Bellear, Australian engineer and judge (b. 1944)
  • 2005 – Otar Korkia, Georgian basketball player and coach (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – Shoji Nishio, Japanese martial artist (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Georgios Rallis, Greek lieutenant and politician, 173rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1918)
  • 2006 – Red Storey, Canadian football player and referee (b. 1918)
  • 2007 – Charles Harrelson, American murderer (b. 1938)
  • 2007 – Bowie Kuhn, American lawyer and businessman (b. 1926)
  • 2007 – Stuart Rosenberg, American director and producer (b. 1927)
  • 2008 – Mikey Dread, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1954)
  • 2008 – Vytautas Kernagis, Lithuanian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1951)
  • 2008 – G. David Low, American astronaut and engineer (b. 1956)
  • 2008 – Ken Reardon, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Sarla Thakral, First Indian woman to earn a pilot’s license. (b. 1914)
  • 2009 – Ron Silver, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1946)
  • 2011 – Nate Dogg, American rapper (b. 1969)
  • 2011 – Smiley Culture, English singer and DJ (b. 1963)
  • 2012 – Mervyn Davies, Welsh rugby player (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Eb Gaines, American businessman and diplomat (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Luis Gonzales, Filipino actor (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Bernardino González Ruíz, Panamanian physician and politician, President of Panama (b. 1911)
  • 2012 – Fran Matera, American illustrator (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Dave Philley, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – James Bonk, American chemist and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Booth Gardner, American businessman and politician, 19th Governor of Washington (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Hardrock Gunter, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Shannon Larratt, Canadian publisher, founded BMEzine (b. 1973)
  • 2013 – Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Leverne McDonnell, Australian actress (b. 1963).
  • 2013 – Masamichi Noro, Japanese-French martial artist, founded Kinomichi (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Kallam Anji Reddy, Indian engineer and businessman, founded Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Peter Worsley, English sociologist (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Felipe Zetter, Mexican footballer (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Scott Asheton, American drummer (b. 1949).
  • 2014 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Bo Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Clarissa Dickson Wright, English chef, author, and television personality (b. 1947)
  • 2014 – Everett L. Fullam, American priest and scholar (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Cees Veerman, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1943)
  • 2015 – Collins Chabane, South African politician (b. 1960)
  • 2015 – Robert Clatworthy, English sculptor and educator (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Narayan Desai, Indian author and activist (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Curtis Gans, American political scientist and author (b. 1937)
  • 2015 – Mike Porcaro, American bass player (b. 1955)
  • 2016 – Sylvia Anderson, English voice actress and television and film producer (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Asa Briggs, English historian and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2016 – Daryl Coley, American singer and pastor (b. 1955)
  • 2016 – Seru Rabeni, Fijian rugby player (b. 1978)
  • 2019 – Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer (b. 1948)
  • 2020 – Vittorio Gregotti, Italian architect (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on March 15

  • Christian feast day:
    • Aristobulus of Britannia
    • Clemens Maria Hofbauer
    • Leocritia
    • Longinus
    • Louise de Marillac
    • Raymond of Fitero
    • March 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Belarus)
  • Earliest day on which Birth of Benito Juárez can fall, while March 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday of March. (Mexico)
  • Earliest day on which Palm Sunday can fall, while April 18 is the latest; celebrated on the sixth Sunday of Lent. (Christianity)
  • Hōnen Matsuri (Japan)
  • International Day Against Police Brutality (International)
  • J. J. Roberts’ Birthday (Liberia)
  • National Day, celebrating the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (Hungary)
  • World Consumer Rights Day (International)
  • World Contact Day
  • World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film (International)
  • World Speech Day
  • Youth Day (Palau)

March 15- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
  • 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.
  • 1279 – The Livonian Order is defeated in the Battle of Aizkraukle by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
  • 1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands.
  • 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.
  • 1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
  • 1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are fatally shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later.
  • 1811 – Peninsular War: A French force under the command of Marshal Victor is routed while trying to prevent an Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese army from lifting the Siege of Cádiz in the Battle of Barrosa.
  • 1824 – First Anglo-Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
  • 1836 – Samuel Colt patents the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
  • 1850 – The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
  • 1860 – Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
  • 1868 – Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito, receives its premiere performance at La Scala.
  • 1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
  • 1906 – Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.
  • 1912 – Italo-Turkish War: Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
  • 1931 – The British Raj: Gandhi–Irwin Pact is signed.
  • 1933 – Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, which allows the Nazis to later pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.
  • 1936 – First flight of K5054, the first prototype Supermarine Spitfire advanced monoplane fighter aircraft in the United Kingdom.
  • 1940 – Six high-ranking members of Soviet politburo, including Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, in what will become known as the Katyn massacre.
  • 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces capture Batavia, capital of Dutch East Indies, which is left undefended after the withdrawal of the KNIL garrison and Australian Blackforce battalion to Buitenzorg and Bandung.
  • 1943 – First Flight of the Gloster Meteor, Britain’s first combat jet aircraft.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Red Army begins the Uman–Botoșani Offensive in the western Ukrainian SSR.
  • 1946 – Cold War: Winston Churchill coins the phrase “Iron Curtain” in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
  • 1953 – Joseph Stalin, the longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, dies at his Volynskoe dacha in Moscow after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage four days earlier.
  • 1960 – Indonesian President Sukarno dismissed the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR), 1955 democratically elected parliament, and replaced with DPR-GR, the parliament of his own selected members.
  • 1963 – American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.
  • 1965 – March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
  • 1966 – BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707 aircraft, breaks apart in mid-air due to clear-air turbulence and crashes into Mount Fuji, Japan, killing all 124 people on board.
  • 1970 – The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
  • 1974 – Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
  • 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
  • 1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the German-American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by “off the scale” gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
  • 1981 – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 1​1⁄2 million units around the world.
  • 1982 – Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.
  • 2003 – In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed in the Haifa bus 37 suicide bombing.
  • 2012 – Tropical Storm Irina kills over 75 as it passes through Madagascar.

Births on March 5

  • 1133 – Henry II of England (d. 1189)
  • 1224 – Saint Kinga of Poland (d. 1292)
  • 1324 – David II of Scotland (d. 1371)
  • 1326 – Louis I of Hungary (d. 1382)
  • 1340 – Cansignorio della Scala, Lord of Verona (d. 1375)
  • 1451 – William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, English Earl (d. 1491)
  • 1512 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher (d. 1594)
  • 1523 – Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, Spanish cardinal (d. 1600)
  • 1527 – Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1603)
  • 1539 – Christoph Pezel, German theologian (d. 1604)
  • 1563 – John Coke, English civil servant and politician (d. 1644)
  • 1575 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (d. 1660)
  • 1585 – John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
  • 1585 – Frederick I, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (d. 1638)
  • 1637 – Jan van der Heyden, Dutch painter and engineer (d. 1712)
  • 1658 – Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, French explorer and politician, 3rd Colonial Governor of Louisiana (d. 1730)
  • 1693 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and scholar (d. 1754)
  • 1696 – Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Italian painter (d. 1770)
  • 1703 – Vasily Trediakovsky, Russian poet and playwright (d. 1768)
  • 1713 – Edward Cornwallis, English general and politician, Governor of Gibraltar (d. 1776)
  • 1713 – Frederick Cornwallis, English archbishop (d. 1783)
  • 1723 – Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
  • 1733 – Vincenzo Galeotti, Italian-Danish dancer and choreographer (d. 1816)
  • 1739 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel and physician (d. 1819)
  • 1748 – Jonas Carlsson Dryander, Swedish botanist and biologist (d. 1810)
  • 1748 – William Shield, English violinist and composer (d. 1829)
  • 1750 – Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d’Ansse de Villoison, French scholar and academic (d. 1805)
  • 1751 – Jan Křtitel Kuchař, Czech organist, composer, and educator (d. 1829)
  • 1774 – Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, Danish organist and composer (d. 1842)
  • 1779 – Benjamin Gompertz, English mathematician and statistician (d. 1865)
  • 1785 – Carlo Odescalchi, Italian cardinal (d. 1841)
  • 1794 – Jacques Babinet, French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer (d. 1872)
  • 1794 – Robert Cooper Grier, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1870)
  • 1814 – Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian and academic (d. 1889)
  • 1800 – Georg Friedrich Daumer, German poet and philosopher (d. 1875)
  • 1815 – John Wentworth, American journalist and politician, 19th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1888)
  • 1817 – Austen Henry Layard, English archaeologist, academic, and politician, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (d. 1894)
  • 1830 – Étienne-Jules Marey, French physiologist and chronophotographer (d. 1904)
  • 1830 – Charles Wyville Thomson, Scottish historian and zoologist (d. 1882)
  • 1834 – Félix de Blochausen, Luxembourgian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Luxembourg (d. 1915)
  • 1834 – Marietta Piccolomini, Italian soprano (d. 1899)
  • 1853 – Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (d. 1911)
  • 1862 – Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player and theoretician (d. 1934)
  • 1867 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Canadian lawyer and politician, 14th Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
  • 1869 – Michael von Faulhaber, German cardinal (d. 1952)
  • 1870 – Frank Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1902)
  • 1870 – Evgeny Paton, French-Ukrainian engineer (d. 1953)
  • 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-Russian economist and philosopher (d. 1919)
  • 1871 – Konstantinos Pallis, Greek general and politician, Minister Governor-General of Macedonia (d. 1941)
  • 1873 – Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian skier and explorer (d. 1961)
  • 1874 – Henry Travers, English-American actor (d. 1965)
  • 1875 – Harry Lawson, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Victoria (d. 1952)
  • 1876 – Thomas Inskip, 1st Viscount Caldecote, English lawyer and politician, 8th Lord Chief Justice of England (d. 1947)
  • 1876 – Elisabeth Moore, American tennis player (d. 1959)
  • 1879 – William Beveridge, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic (d. 1963)
  • 1879 – Andres Larka, Estonian general and politician, 1st Estonian Minister of War (d. 1943)
  • 1880 – Sergei Natanovich Bernstein, Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1968)
  • 1882 – Dora Marsden, English author and activist (d. 1960)
  • 1883 – Pauline Sperry, American mathematician (d. 1967)
  • 1885 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (d. 1969)
  • 1886 – Dong Biwu, Chinese judge and politician, Chairman of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1975)
  • 1886 – Freddie Welsh, Welsh boxer (d. 1927)
  • 1887 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian guitarist and composer (d. 1959)
  • 1894 – Henry Daniell, English-American actor (d. 1963)
  • 1898 – Zhou Enlai, Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1976)
  • 1898 – Misao Okawa, Japanese super-centenarian (d. 2015)
  • 1900 – Lilli Jahn, Jewish German doctor (d. 1944)
  • 1900 – Johanna Langefeld, German guard and supervisor of three Nazi concentration camps (d. 1974)
  • 1901 – Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg (d. 1971)
  • 1901 – Julian Przyboś, Polish poet, essayist and translator (d. 1970)
  • 1904 – Karl Rahner, German priest and theologian (d. 1984)
  • 1905 – László Benedek, Hungarian-American director and cinematographer (d. 1992)
  • 1908 – Fritz Fischer, German historian and author (d. 1999)
  • 1908 – Irving Fiske, American author and playwright (d. 1990)
  • 1908 – Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
  • 1910 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese businessman, founded Nissin Foods (d. 2007)
  • 1910 – Ennio Flaiano, Italian author, screenwriter, and critic (d. 1972)
  • 1912 – Jack Marshall, New Zealand colonel, lawyer, and politician, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1988)
  • 1915 – Henry Hicks, Canadian academic and politician, 16th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 1990)
  • 1915 – Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician and academic (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Milt Schmidt, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2017)
  • 1918 – Red Storey, Canadian football player, referee, and sportscaster (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – James Tobin, American economist and academic (d. 2002)
  • 1920 – José Aboulker, Algerian surgeon and activist (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Virginia Christine, American actress (d. 1996)
  • 1920 – Rachel Gurney, English actress (d. 2001)
  • 1920 – Wang Zengqi, Chinese writer (d. 1997)
  • 1921 – Elmer Valo, American baseball player and coach (d. 1998)
  • 1922 – James Noble, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1922 – Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1975)
  • 1923 – Juan A. Rivero, Puerto Rican biologist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Laurence Tisch, American businessman, co-founded the Loews Corporation (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Roger Marche, French footballer (d. 1997)
  • 1927 – Jack Cassidy, American actor and singer (d. 1976)
  • 1927 – Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, Scottish businessman and politician
  • 1928 – J. Hillis Miller, American academic and critic
  • 1929 – Erik Carlsson, Swedish race car driver (d. 2015)
  • 1929 – J. B. Lenoir, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1967)
  • 1930 – John Ashley, Canadian ice hockey player and referee (d. 2008)
  • 1930 – Del Crandall, American baseball player and manager
  • 1931 – Fred, French author and illustrator (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Barry Tuckwell, Australian horn player and educator (d. 2020)
  • 1932 – Paul Sand, American actor
  • 1933 – Walter Kasper, German cardinal and theologian
  • 1934 – Daniel Kahneman, Israeli-American economist and psychologist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1935 – Letizia Battaglia, Italian photographer and journalist
  • 1935 – Philip K. Chapman, Australian-American astronaut and engineer
  • 1936 – Canaan Banana, Zimbabwean minister and politician, 1st President of Zimbabwe (d. 2003)
  • 1936 – Dale Douglass, American golfer
  • 1936 – Dean Stockwell, American actor
  • 1937 – Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian general and politician, 5th President of Nigeria
  • 1938 – Paul Evans, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1938 – Lynn Margulis, American biologist and academic (d. 2011)
  • 1938 – Fred Williamson, American football player, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Samantha Eggar, English actress
  • 1939 – Tony Rundle, Australian politician, 40th Premier of Tasmania
  • 1939 – Benyamin Sueb, Indonesian actor and comedian (d. 1995)
  • 1939 – Peter Woodcock, Canadian serial killer (d. 2010)
  • 1939 – Pierre Wynants, Belgian chef
  • 1940 – Tom Butler, English bishop
  • 1940 – Ken Irvine, Australian rugby league player (d. 1990)
  • 1940 – Graham McRae, New Zealand race car driver
  • 1940 – Sepp Piontek, German footballer and manager
  • 1941 – Des Wilson, New Zealand-English businessman and activist
  • 1942 – Felipe González, Spanish lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Spain
  • 1942 – Mike Resnick, American author and editor (d. 2020)
  • 1942 – David Watkins, Welsh rugby player
  • 1943 – Lucio Battisti, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1998)
  • 1944 – Peter Brandes, Danish painter and sculptor
  • 1944 – Roy Gutman, American journalist and author
  • 1945 – Wilf Tranter, English footballer
  • 1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian pianist (d. 2007)
  • 1946 – Guerrino Boatto, Italian illustrator and painter (d. 2018)
  • 1946 – Graham Hawkins, English footballer and manager (d. 2016)
  • 1946 – Murray Head, English actor and singer
  • 1947 – Clodagh Rodgers, Northern Irish singer and actress
  • 1947 – Kent Tekulve, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1948 – Paquirri, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1984)
  • 1948 – Eddy Grant, Guyanese-British singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1948 – Richard Hickox, English conductor and scholar (d. 2008)
  • 1948 – Elaine Paige, English singer and actress
  • 1948 – Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1949 – Bernard Arnault, French businessman, philanthropist, and art collector
  • 1949 – Franz Josef Jung, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Defence
  • 1949 – Tom Russell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Rodney Hogg, Australian cricketer and coach
  • 1952 – Petar Borota, Serbian footballer and coach (d. 2010)
  • 1952 – Mike Squires, American baseball player and scout
  • 1953 – Katarina Frostenson, Swedish poet and author
  • 1953 – Michael J. Sandel, American philosopher and academic
  • 1953 – Tokyo Sexwale, South African businessman and politician, 1st Premier of Gauteng
  • 1954 – Marsha Warfield, American actress
  • 1954 – João Lourenço, Angolan president
  • 1955 – Penn Jillette, American magician, actor, and author
  • 1956 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1956 – Christopher Snowden, English engineer and academic
  • 1957 – Mark E. Smith, English singer, songwriter and musician (d. 2018)
  • 1957 – Ray Suarez, American journalist and author
  • 1958 – Volodymyr Bezsonov, Ukrainian footballer and manager
  • 1958 – Bob Forward, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1958 – Andy Gibb, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1988)
  • 1959 – Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenian colonel and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Armenia (d. 1999)
  • 1960 – Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, English businessman and politician, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology
  • 1963 – Joel Osteen, American pastor, author, and television host
  • 1964 – Bertrand Cantat, French singer-songwriter
  • 1964 – Gerald Vanenburg, Dutch footballer and manager
  • 1965 – José Semedo, Portuguese footballer and coach
  • 1966 – Oh Eun-sun, South Korean mountaineer
  • 1966 – Bob Halkidis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1966 – Michael Irvin, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
  • 1966 – Aasif Mandvi, Indian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Zachery Stevens, American singer-songwriter
  • 1968 – Gordon Bajnai, Hungarian businessman and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Hungary
  • 1968 – Theresa Villiers, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
  • 1969 – Paul Blackthorne, English actor and producer
  • 1969 – Danny King, English author and playwright
  • 1969 – Moussa Saïb, Algerian footballer and manager
  • 1969 – M.C. Solaar, Afro-French rapper
  • 1970 – Mike Brown, American basketball player and coach
  • 1970 – John Frusciante, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1970 – Yuu Watase, Japanese illustrator
  • 1971 – Greg Berry, English footballer and coach
  • 1971 – Jeffrey Hammonds, American baseball player and scout
  • 1971 – Yuri Lowenthal, American voice actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Filip Meirhaeghe, Belgian cyclist
  • 1971 – Mark Protheroe, Australian rugby league player
  • 1973 – Yannis Anastasiou, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Nelly Arcan, Canadian author (d. 2009)
  • 1973 – Juan Esnáider, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Ryan Franklin, American baseball player
  • 1973 – Nicole Pratt, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Špela Pretnar, Slovenian skier
  • 1974 – Kevin Connolly, American actor and director
  • 1974 – Jens Jeremies, German footballer
  • 1974 – Eva Mendes, American model and actress
  • 1975 – Luciano Burti, Brazilian race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Sasho Petrovski, Australian footballer
  • 1975 – Chris Silverwood, English cricketer and coach
  • 1976 – Neil Jackson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1976 – Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Paul Konerko, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Norm Maxwell, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1977 – Taismary Agüero, Cuban-Italian volleyball player
  • 1978 – Jared Crouch, Australian footballer
  • 1978 – Mike Hessman, American baseball player and coach
  • 1978 – Kimberly McCullough, American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1978 – Carlos Ochoa, Mexican footballer
  • 1979 – Martin Axenrot, Swedish drummer
  • 1979 – Lee Mears, English rugby player
  • 1980 – Shay Carl, American businessman, co-founded Maker Studios
  • 1981 – Barret Jackman, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Paul Martin, American ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Dan Carter, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1982 – Philipp Haastrup, German footballer
  • 1983 – Édgar Dueñas, Mexican footballer
  • 1984 – Branko Cvetković, Serbian basketball player
  • 1984 – Guillaume Hoarau, French footballer
  • 1985 – David Marshall, Scottish footballer
  • 1985 – Brad Mills, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Kenichi Matsuyama, Japanese actor
  • 1986 – Alexandre Barthe, French footballer
  • 1986 – Matty Fryatt, English footballer
  • 1987 – Anna Chakvetadze, Russian tennis player
  • 1987 – Chris Cohen, English footballer
  • 1988 – Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba, Algerian footballer
  • 1990 – Danny Drinkwater, English footballer
  • 1990  – Mason Plumlee, American basketball player
  • 1990 – Alex Smithies, English footballer
  • 1991 – Ramiro Funes Mori, Argentinian footballer
  • 1991 – Daniil Trifonov, Russian pianist and composer
  • 1993 – El Hadji Ba, French footballer
  • 1993 – Joshua Coyne, American violinist and composer
  • 1993 – Harry Maguire, English footballer
  • 1994 – Daria Gavrilova, Russian-Australian tennis player
  • 1994 – Kyle Schwarber, American baseball player
  • 1996 – Taylor Hill, American model
  • 1996 – Emmanuel Mudiay, Congolese basketball player
  • 1997 – Milena Venega, Cuban rower
  • 1998 – Bo Bichette, American baseball player
  • 1999 – Madison Beer, American singer, songwriter and producer.
  • 2007 – Roman Griffin Davis, British actor, second youngest Golden Globe recipient.

Deaths on March 5

  • 254 – Pope Lucius I (b. 200)
  • 824 – Suppo I, Frankish nobleman
  • 1239 – Hermann Balk, German knight
  • 1410 – Matthew of Kraków, Polish reformer (b. 1335)
  • 1417 – Manuel III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1364)
  • 1534 – Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter and educator (b. 1489)
  • 1539 – Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese admiral and politician, Governor of Portuguese India (b. 1487)
  • 1599 – Guido Panciroli, Italian historian and jurist (b. 1523)
  • 1611 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese daimyō (b. 1533)
  • 1622 – Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
  • 1695 – Henry Wharton, English writer and librarian (b. 1664)
  • 1726 – Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician, Lord President of the Council (b. 1655)
  • 1770 – Crispus Attucks, American slave (b. 1723)
  • 1778 – Thomas Arne, English composer and educator (b. 1710)
  • 1815 – Franz Mesmer, German physician and astrologist (b. 1734)
  • 1827 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1749)
  • 1827 – Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist and academic (b. 1745)
  • 1829 – John Adams, English sailor and mutineer (b. 1766)
  • 1849 – David Scott, Scottish historical painter (b. 1806)
  • 1876 – Marie d’Agoult, German-French historian and author (b. 1805)
  • 1893 – Hippolyte Taine, French historian and critic (b. 1828)
  • 1895 – Nikolai Leskov, Russian author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1831)
  • 1895 – Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, English general and scholar (b. 1810)
  • 1907 – Friedrich Blass, German philologist, scholar, and academic (b. 1843)
  • 1925 – Johan Jensen, Danish mathematician and engineer (b. 1859)
  • 1927 – Franz Mertens, Polish-Austrian mathematician and academic (b. 1840)
  • 1929 – David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick (b. 1854)
  • 1934 – Reşit Galip, Turkish academic and politician, 6th Turkish Minister of National Education (b. 1893)
  • 1935 – Roque Ruaño, Spanish priest and engineer (b. 1877)
  • 1940 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese philosopher and academic (b. 1868)
  • 1944 – Max Jacob, French poet and author (b. 1876)
  • 1945 – Lena Baker, African American maid and murderer (b. 1900)
  • 1947 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1883)
  • 1950 – Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, author, and playwright (b. 1868)
  • 1950 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (b. 1907)
  • 1953 – Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1897)
  • 1953 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1891)
  • 1953 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator and politician of Georgian descent, 2nd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878)
  • 1955 – Antanas Merkys, Lithuanian lawyer and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Lithuania (b. 1888)
  • 1963 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
  • 1963 – Cowboy Copas, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1913)
  • 1963 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1921)
  • 1965 – Chen Cheng, Chinese general and politician, 27th Premier of the Republic of China (b. 1897)
  • 1965 – Pepper Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1904)
  • 1966 – Anna Akhmatova, Ukrainian-Russian poet, author, and translator (b. 1889)
  • 1967 – Mischa Auer, Russian-American actor (b. 1905)
  • 1967 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian political scientist and politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1882)
  • 1967 – Georges Vanier, Canadian general and politician, 19th Governor General of Canada (b. 1888)
  • 1971 – Allan Nevins, American journalist and author (b. 1890)
  • 1973 – Robert C. O’Brien, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
  • 1974 – John Samuel Bourque, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1894)
  • 1974 – Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
  • 1974 – Sol Hurok, Ukrainian-American businessman (b. 1888)
  • 1976 – Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1889)
  • 1977 – Tom Pryce, Welsh race car driver (b. 1949)
  • 1980 – Jay Silverheels, Canadian-American actor (b. 1912)
  • 1981 – Yip Harburg, American songwriter and composer (b. 1896)
  • 1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949)
  • 1984 – Pierre Cochereau, French organist and composer (b. 1924)
  • 1984 – Tito Gobbi, Italian operatic baritone (b. 1913)
  • 1984 – William Powell, American actor (b. 1892)
  • 1988 – Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian and actor (b. 1933)
  • 1990 – Gary Merrill, American actor and director (b. 1915)
  • 1995 – Vivian Stanshall, English singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1943)
  • 1996 – Whit Bissell, American character actor (b. 1909)
  • 1997 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American writer (b. 1909)
  • 1997 – Jean Dréville, French director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
  • 1999 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (b. 1922)
  • 2000 – Lolo Ferrari, French dancer, actress and singer (b. 1963)
  • 2005 – David Sheppard, English cricketer and bishop (b. 1929)
  • 2008 – Joseph Weizenbaum, German computer scientist and author (b. 1923)
  • 2010 – Charles B. Pierce, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
  • 2010 – Richard Stapley, British actor and writer (b. 1923)
  • 2011 – Manolis Rasoulis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
  • 2012 – Paul Haines, New Zealand-Australian author (b. 1970)
  • 2012 – Philip Madoc, Welsh-English actor (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – William O. Wooldridge, American sergeant (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (b. 1954)
  • 2013 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1954)
  • 2013 – Duane Gish, American biochemist and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – Geoff Edwards, American actor and game show host (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Ailsa McKay, Scottish economist and academic (b. 1963)
  • 2014 – Leopoldo María Panero, Spanish poet and translator (b. 1948)
  • 2014 – Ola L. Mize, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Vlada Divljan, Serbian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
  • 2015 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Hassan Al-Turabi, Sudanese activist and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Ray Tomlinson, American computer programmer and engineer (b. 1941)
  • 2016 – Al Wistert, American football player and coach (b. 1920)
  • 2017 – Kurt Moll, German opera singer (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances on March 5

  • Christian feast day:
    • Ciarán of Saigir
    • John Joseph of the Cross
    • Piran
    • Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea
    • Thietmar of Minden
    • March 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Custom Chief’s Day (Vanuatu)
  • Day of Physical Culture and Sport (Azerbaijan)
  • Learn from Lei Feng Day (China)
  • St Piran’s Day (Cornwall)

March 5 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

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