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1829

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

On This Day /
  • 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1027 – Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.
  • 1169 – Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt.
  • 1344 – The Siege of Algeciras, one of the first European military engagements where gunpowder was used, comes to an end.
  • 1351 – Combat of the Thirty: Thirty Breton knights call out and defeat thirty English knights.
  • 1484 – William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop’s Fables.
  • 1552 – Guru Amar Das becomes the Third Sikh guru.
  • 1636 – Utrecht University is founded in the Netherlands.
  • 1697 – Safavid government troops take control of Basra
  • 1812 – An earthquake devastates Caracas, Venezuela.
  • 1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.
  • 1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.
  • 1839 – The first Henley Royal Regatta is held.
  • 1871 – The elections of Commune council of the Paris Commune are held.
  • 1885 – The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada.
  • 1913 – First Balkan War: Bulgarian forces capture Adrianople.
  • 1915 – The Vancouver Millionaires win the 1915 Stanley Cup Finals, the first championship played between the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the National Hockey Association.
  • 1917 – World War I: First Battle of Gaza: British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
  • 1922 – The German Social Democratic Party is founded in Poland.
  • 1931 – Swissair is founded as the national airline of Switzerland.
  • 1931 – Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union is founded in Vietnam.
  • 1934 – The United Kingdom driving test is introduced.
  • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Nationalists begin their final offensive of the war.
  • 1942 – World War II: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American forces.
  • 1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Romeo shot of Operation Castle is detonated at Bikini Atoll. Yield: 11 megatons.
  • 1958 – The United States Army launches Explorer 3.
  • 1958 – The African Regroupment Party is launched at a meeting in Paris.
  • 1967 – Ten thousand people gather for one of many Central Park be-ins in New York City.
  • 1970 – South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu implements a land reform program to solve the problem of land tenancy.
  • 1971 – East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
  • 1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
  • 1979 – Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C.
  • 1981 – Social Democratic Party (UK) is founded as a party.
  • 1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, D.C.
  • 1991 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur, the South Common Market.
  • 1997 – Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven’s Gate mass suicides.
  • 1998 – During the Algerian Civil War, the Oued Bouaicha massacre sees fifty-two people, mostly infants, killed with axes and knives.
  • 2005 – Around 200,000 to 300,000 Taiwanese demonstrate in Taipei in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of China.
  • 2010 – The South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan is torpedoed, killing 46 sailors. After an international investigation, the President of the United Nations Security Council blames North Korea.
  • 2017 – Russia-wide anti-corruption protests in 99 cities. The Levada Center survey showed that 38% of surveyed Russians supported protests and that 67 percent held Putin personally responsible for high-level corruption.

Births on March 26

  • 1031 – Malcolm III, king of Scotland (d. 1093)
  • 1516 – Conrad Gessner, Swiss botanist and zoologist (d. 1565)
  • 1554 – Charles of Lorraine, duke of Mayenne (d. 1611)
  • 1584 – John II, duke of Zweibrücken (d. 1635)
  • 1633 – Mary Beale, British artist (d. 1699)
  • 1634 – Domenico Freschi, Italian priest and composer (d. 1710)
  • 1656 – Nicolaas Hartsoeker, Dutch mathematician and physicist (d. 1725)
  • 1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, queen consort of Prussia (d. 1757)
  • 1698 – Prokop Diviš, Czech priest, scientist and inventor (d. 1765)
  • 1749 – William Blount, American politician (d. 1800)
  • 1753 – Benjamin Thompson, American-French physicist and politician, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1814)
  • 1773 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician and navigator (d. 1838)
  • 1794 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter (d. 1872)
  • 1804 – David Humphreys Storer, American physician and academic (d. 1891)
  • 1824 – Julie-Victoire Daubié, French journalist (d. 1874)
  • 1829 – Théodore Aubanel, French poet (d. 1886)
  • 1842 – Alexandre Saint-Yves d’Alveydre, French occultist (d. 1909)
  • 1850 – Edward Bellamy, American author, socialist, and utopian visionary (d. 1898)
  • 1852 – Élémir Bourges, French author (d. 1925)
  • 1854 – Maurice Lecoq, French target shooter (d. 1925)
  • 1856 – William Massey, Irish-New Zealand farmer and politician, 19th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1925)
  • 1857 – Théodore Tuffier, French surgeon (d. 1929)
  • 1859 – A. E. Housman, English poet and scholar (d. 1936)
  • 1859 – Adolf Hurwitz, Jewish German-Swiss mathematician and academic (d. 1919)
  • 1860 – André Prévost, French tennis player (d. 1919)
  • 1866 – Fred Karno, English producer and manager (d. 1941)
  • 1868 – King Fuad I of Egypt (d. 1936)
  • 1873 – Dorothea Bleek, South African-German anthropologist and philologist (d. 1948)
  • 1874 – Robert Frost, American poet and playwright (d. 1963)
  • 1875 – Max Abraham, Polish-German physicist and academic (d. 1922)
  • 1875 – Syngman Rhee, South Korean journalist and politician, 1st President of South Korea (d. 1965)
  • 1876 – William of Wied, prince of Albania (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – Kate Richards O’Hare, American Socialist Party activist and editor (d. 1948)
  • 1879 – Othmar Ammann, Swiss-American engineer, designed the George Washington Bridge and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (d. 1965)
  • 1879 – Waldemar Tietgens, German rower (d. 1917)
  • 1881 – Guccio Gucci, Italian fashion designer, founded Gucci (d. 1953)
  • 1882 – Hermann Obrecht, Swiss politician (d. 1940)
  • 1884 – Wilhelm Backhaus, German pianist and educator (d. 1969)
  • 1884 – Georges Imbert, French chemical engineer and inventor (d. 1950)
  • 1886 – Hugh Mulzac, Vincentian-American soldier and politician (d. 1971)
  • 1888 – Elsa Brändström, Swedish nurse and philanthropist (d. 1948)
  • 1893 – James Bryant Conant, American chemist, academic, and diplomat, 1st United States Ambassador to West Germany (d. 1978)
  • 1893 – Palmiro Togliatti, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Justice (d. 1964)
  • 1894 – Viorica Ursuleac, Ukrainian-Romanian soprano and actress (d. 1985)
  • 1895 – Vilho Tuulos, Finnish triple jumper (d. 1967)
  • 1898 – Rudolf Dassler, German businessman, founded Puma SE (d. 1974)
  • 1898 – Charles Shadwell, English conductor and bandleader (d. 1979)
  • 1900 – Angela Maria Autsch, German nun, died in Auschwitz helping Jewish prisoners (d. 1941)
  • 1904 – Joseph Campbell, American mythologist and author (d. 1987)
  • 1904 – Emilio Fernández, Mexican actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1904 – Attilio Ferraris, Italian footballer (d. 1947)
  • 1905 – Monty Berman, English cinematographer and producer (d. 2006)
  • 1905 – André Cluytens, Belgian-French conductor and director (d. 1967)
  • 1905 – Viktor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (d. 1997)
  • 1906 – Rafael Méndez, Mexican trumpet player and composer (d. 1981)
  • 1907 – Azellus Denis, Canadian lawyer and politician, Postmaster General of Canada (d. 1991)
  • 1907 – Mahadevi Varma, Indian poet and activist (d. 1987)
  • 1908 – Franz Stangl, Austrian-German SS officer (d. 1971)
  • 1909 – Chips Rafferty, Australian actor (d. 1971)
  • 1910 – K. W. Devanayagam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 10th Sri Lankan Minister of Justice (d. 2002)
  • 1911 – Lennart Atterwall, Swedish javelin thrower (d. 2001)
  • 1911 – J. L. Austin, English philosopher and academic (d. 1960)
  • 1911 – Bernard Katz, German-English biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2003)
  • 1911 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (d. 1983)
  • 1913 – Jacqueline de Romilly, Jewish Franco-Greek philologist, author, and scholar (d. 2010)
  • 1913 – Paul Erdős, Hungarian-Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1914 – Toru Kumon, Japanese mathematician and academic (d. 1995)
  • 1914 – William Westmoreland, American general (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Lennart Strandberg, Swedish sprinter (d. 1989)
  • 1915 – Hwang Sun-won, North Korean author and poet (d. 2000)
  • 1916 – Christian B. Anfinsen, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
  • 1916 – Bill Edrich, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1986)
  • 1916 – Sterling Hayden, American actor and author (d. 1986)
  • 1917 – Rufus Thomas, American R&B singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1919 – Strother Martin, American actor (d. 1980)
  • 1919 – Roger Leger, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1965)
  • 1920 – Sergio Livingstone, Chilean footballer and journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1922 – William Milliken, American politician, 44th Governor of Michigan (d. 2019)
  • 1922 – Oscar Sala, Italian-Brazilian physicist and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Guido Stampacchia, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1978)
  • 1923 – Gert Bastian, German general and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1923 – Bob Elliott, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Maqsood Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (d. 1999)
  • 1925 – Pierre Boulez, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Vesta Roy, American politician, Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2002)
  • 1925 – Edward Graham, Baron Graham of Edmonton, English soldier and politician (d. 2020)
  • 1925 – Ben Mondor, Canadian-American businessman (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – James Moody, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Harold Chapman, English photographer
  • 1929 – Edward Sorel, American illustrator and caricaturist
  • 1929 – Edwin Turney, American businessman, co-founded Advanced Micro Devices (d. 2008)
  • 1930 – Sandra Day O’Connor, American lawyer and jurist
  • 1930 – Gregory Corso, American poet (d. 2001)
  • 1931 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (d. 2015)
  • 1932 – Leroy Griffith, American businessman
  • 1932 – James Andrew Harris, American chemist and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1933 – Tinto Brass, Italian director and screenwriter
  • 1934 – Alan Arkin, American actor
  • 1934 – Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, Brazilian footballer (d. 2002)
  • 1937 – Wayne Embry, American basketball player and manager
  • 1937 – Barbara Jones, American sprinter
  • 1937 – James Lee, Canadian businessman and politician, 26th Premier of Prince Edward Island
  • 1938 – Norman Ackroyd, English painter and illustrator
  • 1938 – Anthony James Leggett, English-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1940 – James Caan, American actor and singer
  • 1940 – Nancy Pelosi, American lawyer and politician, 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
  • 1941 – Richard Dawkins, Kenyan-English ethologist, biologist, and academic
  • 1941 – Lella Lombardi, Italian racing driver (d. 1992)
  • 1942 – Erica Jong, American novelist and poet
  • 1943 – Mustafa Kalemli, Turkish physician and politician, Turkish Minister of the Interior
  • 1943 – Bob Woodward, American journalist and author
  • 1944 – Diana Ross, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1945 – Paul Bérenger, Mauritian politician, Prime Minister of Mauritius
  • 1945 – Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast and coach (d. 2004)
  • 1946 – Johnny Crawford, American actor and singer
  • 1946 – Alain Madelin, French politician, French Minister of Finance
  • 1947 – Subhash Kak, Indian-American professor and author
  • 1947 – John Rowles, New Zealand-Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1948 – Kyung-wha Chung, South Korean violinist and educator
  • 1948 – Richard Tandy, English pianist and keyboard player (Electric Light Orchestra)
  • 1948 – Steven Tyler, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1949 – Jon English, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2016)
  • 1949 – Rudi Koertzen, South African cricketer and umpire
  • 1949 – Vicki Lawrence, American actress, comedian, talk show host, and singer
  • 1949 – Fran Sheehan, American bass player
  • 1949 – Patrick Süskind, German author and screenwriter
  • 1949 – Ernest Lee Thomas, American actor
  • 1950 – Teddy Pendergrass, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
  • 1950 – Graham Barlow, English cricketer
  • 1950 – Martin Short, Canadian-American actor, screenwriter, and producer
  • 1950 – Alan Silvestri, American composer and conductor
  • 1951 – Željko Pavličević, Croatian professional basketball coach and former professional player
  • 1951 – Carl Wieman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1952 – Didier Pironi, French racing driver (d. 1987)
  • 1953 – Lincoln Chafee, American academic and politician, 74th Governor of Rhode Island
  • 1953 – Elaine Chao, Taiwanese-American banker and politician, 24th United States Secretary of Labor
  • 1953 – Tatyana Providokhina, Russian runner
  • 1954 – Clive Palmer, Australian businessman and politician
  • 1954 – Curtis Sliwa, American talk show host and activist, founded Guardian Angels
  • 1954 – Dorothy Porter, Australian poet and playwright (d. 2008)
  • 1956 – Charly McClain, American country singer
  • 1956 – Park Won-soon, South Korean lawyer and politician, 35th Mayor of Seoul
  • 1957 – Fiona Bruce, Scottish lawyer and politician
  • 1957 – Leeza Gibbons, American talk show host and television personality
  • 1957 – Paul Morley, English journalist, producer, and author
  • 1957 – Shirin Neshat, Iranian visual artist
  • 1958 – Elio de Angelis, Italian racing driver (d. 1986)
  • 1960 – Marcus Allen, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1960 – Jennifer Grey, American actress and dancer
  • 1960 – Graeme Rutjes, Australian-Dutch footballer
  • 1961 – William Hague, English historian and politician, First Secretary of State
  • 1962 – Richard Coles, English pianist, saxophonist, and priest
  • 1962 – Kevin Seitzer, American baseball player and coach
  • 1962 – Yuri Gidzenko, Russian pilot and cosmonaut
  • 1962 – John Stockton, American basketball player and coach
  • 1962 – Eric Allan Kramer, American-Canadian actor
  • 1963 – Natsuhiko Kyogoku, Japanese author
  • 1964 – Martin Bella, Australian rugby league player
  • 1964 – Martin Donnelly, Irish racing driver
  • 1964 – Maria Miller, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
  • 1964 – Ulf Samuelsson, Swedish-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1965 – Trey Azagthoth, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1965 – Violeta Szekely, Romanian runner
  • 1966 – Michael Imperioli, American actor and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Jason Chaffetz, American politician
  • 1968 – Laurent Brochard, French cyclist
  • 1968 – Kenny Chesney, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1968 – James Iha, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1969 – Alessandro Moscardi, Italian rugby player
  • 1970 – Paul Bosvelt, Dutch footballer
  • 1970 – Jelle Goes, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1970 – Thomas Kyparissis, Greek footballer
  • 1970 – Martin McDonagh, English-born Irish playwright, screenwriter, and director
  • 1971 – Behzad Ghorbani, Iranian zoologist
  • 1971 – Martyn Day, Scottish politician
  • 1971 – Erick Morillo, Colombian-American DJ and producer
  • 1971 – Rennae Stubbs, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Paul Williams, English footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Leslie Mann, American actress
  • 1972 – Jason Maxwell, American baseball player
  • 1973 – Larry Page, American computer scientist and businessman, co-founder of Google
  • 1973 – T. R. Knight, American actor
  • 1973 – Matt Burke, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Irina Spîrlea, Romanian tennis player
  • 1974 – Vadimas Petrenko, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1974 – Michael Peca, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1976 – Amy Smart, American actress and former model
  • 1976 – Alex Varas, Chilean footballer
  • 1976 – Eirik Verås Larsen, Norwegian sprint kayaker
  • 1977 – Kevin Davies, English footballer
  • 1977 – Bianca Kajlich, American actress
  • 1977 – Sylvain Grenier, Canadian wrestler
  • 1978 – Anastasia Kostaki, Greek basketball player
  • 1979 – Nacho Novo, Spanish footballer
  • 1979 – Ben Blair, New Zealand rugby union footballer
  • 1979 – Hiromi Uehara, Japanese pianist and composer
  • 1979 – Pierre Womé, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1979 – Juliana Paes, Brazilian actress
  • 1980 – Margaret Brennan, American journalist
  • 1980 – Son Ho-young, South Korean singer
  • 1980 – Richie Wellens, English footballer
  • 1981 – Sébastien Centomo, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Baruch Dego, Ethiopian-Israeli footballer
  • 1981 – Massimo Donati, Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Josh Wilson, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Mikel Arteta, Spanish footballer
  • 1982 – Brendan Ryan, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Nate Kaeding, American football player
  • 1983 – Andreas Hinkel, German footballer
  • 1983 – Floriana Lima, American actress
  • 1983 – Roman Bednář, Czech footballer
  • 1983 – Mike Mondo, American wrestler
  • 1984 – Jimmy Howard, American ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Drew Mitchell, Australian rugby player
  • 1984 – Felix Neureuther, German skier
  • 1984 – Marco Stier, German footballer
  • 1984 – Gregory Strydom, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1984 – Sara Jean Underwood, American model, television host, and actress
  • 1985 – Keira Knightley, English actress
  • 1985 – Matt Grevers, American swimmer
  • 1985 – Jonathan Groff, American actor and singer
  • 1985 – Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1986 – Maxime Biset, Belgian footballer
  • 1986 – Rob Kearney, Irish rugby player
  • 1986 – Emma Laine, Finnish tennis player
  • 1987 – Kim Dong-suk, South Korean footballer
  • 1987 – Jermichael Finley, American football player
  • 1987 – Steven Fletcher, Scottish footballer
  • 1989 – Simon Kjær, Danish footballer
  • 1990 – Choi Woo-shik, South Korean actor
  • 1990 – Patrick Ekeng, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2016)
  • 1990 – Yuya Takaki, Japanese idol, singer, dancer, model and actor
  • 1990 – Xiumin, South Korean singer and actor, member of South Korean boy band EXO
  • 1991 – Matt Davidson, American baseball player
  • 1992 – Nina Agdal, Danish model
  • 1992 – Stoffel Vandoorne, Belgian racing driver
  • 1994 – Jed Wallace, English footballer
  • 1996 – Zane Musgrove, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1996 – Kathryn Bernardo, Filipino actress
  • 1998 – Satoko Miyahara, Japanese figure skater
  • 2003 – Bhad Bhabie, American rapper and social media personality

Deaths on March 26

  • 752 – Pope-elect Stephen
  • 809 – Ludger, Frisian missionary
  • 903 – Sugawara no Michizane, Japanese poet
  • 908 – Ai, emperor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 892)
  • 922 – Mansur Al-Hallaj, Persian mystic and poet (b. 858)
  • 929 – Wang Du, Chinese warlord and governor (jiedushi)
  • 973 – Guntram (“the Rich”), Frankish nobleman
  • 983 – ‘Adud al-Dawla, Iranian ruler (b. 936)
  • 1091 – Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, Andalusian poet
  • 1130 – Sigurd the Crusader, Norwegian king (b. 1090)
  • 1132 – Geoffrey of Vendôme, French cardinal and theologian (b. 1065)
  • 1212 – Sancho I of Portugal (b. 1154)
  • 1242 – William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle
  • 1324 – Marie de Luxembourg, Queen of France (b. 1304)
  • 1326 – Alessandra Giliani, anatomist (b. c. 1307)
  • 1402 – David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland (b. 1378)
  • 1437 – Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, Scottish nobleman and regicide
  • 1517 – Heinrich Isaac, Flemish composer (b. 1450)
  • 1535 – Georg Tannstetter, Austrian mathematician, astronomer, and cartographer (b. 1482)
  • 1546 – Thomas Elyot, English scholar and diplomat (b. 1490)
  • 1566 – Antonio de Cabezón, Spanish organist and composer (b. 1510)
  • 1625 – Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (b. 1569)
  • 1649 – John Winthrop, English lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  • 1679 – Johannes Schefferus, Swedish historian and author (b. 1621)
  • 1697 – Godfrey McCulloch, Scottish politician (b. 1640)
  • 1726 – John Vanbrugh, English playwright and architect, designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard (b. 1664)
  • 1772 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French author and politician (b. 1704)
  • 1776 – Samuel Ward, American jurist and politician, 31st Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island (b. 1725)
  • 1780 – Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (b. 1713)
  • 1793 – John Mudge, English physician and engineer (b. 1721)
  • 1797 – James Hutton, Scottish geologist and physician (b. 1726)
  • 1814 – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, French physician and politician (b. 1738)
  • 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German pianist and composer (b. 1770)
  • 1858 – John Addison Thomas, American lieutenant, engineer, and politician, 3rd United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1811)
  • 1862 – Uriah P. Levy, American commander (b. 1792)
  • 1881 – Roman Sanguszko, Polish general and activist (b. 1800)
  • 1885 – Anson Stager, American general and businessman, co-founded Western Union (b. 1825)
  • 1888 – Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar (b. 1837)
  • 1892 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (b. 1819)
  • 1902 – Cecil Rhodes, English-South African colonialist, businessman and politician, 6th Prime Minister of the Cape Colony (b. 1853)
  • 1905 – Maurice Barrymore, American actor (b. 1849)
  • 1910 – Auguste Charlois, French astronomer (b. 1864)
  • 1920 – William Chester Minor, American surgeon and lexicographer (b. 1834)
  • 1923 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress and screenwriter (b. 1844)
  • 1926 – Constantin Fehrenbach, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1852)
  • 1932 – Henry M. Leland, American machinist, inventor, engineer, automotive entrepreneur and founded of Cadillac and Lincoln (b. 1843)
  • 1934 – John Biller, American jumper and discus thrower (b. 1877)
  • 1940 – Wilhelm Anderson, German-Estonian astrophysicist (b. 1880)
  • 1940 – Spyridon Louis, Greek runner (b. 1873)
  • 1942 – Jimmy Burke, American baseball player and manager (b. 1874)
  • 1942 – Carolyn Wells, American novelist and poet (b. 1862)
  • 1945 – David Lloyd George, English-Welsh lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
  • 1951 – James F. Hinkle, American banker and politician, 6th Governor of New Mexico (b. 1864)
  • 1954 – Charles Perrin, French rower (b. 1875)
  • 1957 – Édouard Herriot, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1872)
  • 1958 – Phil Mead, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1887)
  • 1959 – Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (b. 1888)
  • 1966 – Victor Hochepied, French swimmer (b. 1883)
  • 1969 – John Kennedy Toole, American novelist (b. 1937)
  • 1973 – Noël Coward, English playwright, actor, and composer (b. 1899)
  • 1973 – Johnny Drake, American football player (b. 1916)
  • 1979 – Beauford Delaney, American-French painter (b. 1901)
  • 1979 – Jean Stafford, American author and academic (b. 1915)
  • 1980 – Roland Barthes, French linguist and critic (b. 1915)
  • 1983 – Anthony Blunt, English historian and spy (b. 1907)
  • 1984 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea (b. 1922)
  • 1987 – Eugen Jochum, German conductor (b. 1902)
  • 1987 – Walter Abel, American actor (b. 1898)
  • 1990 – Halston, American fashion designer (b. 1932)
  • 1992 – Barbara Frum, American-Canadian journalist and radio host (b. 1937)
  • 1993 – Louis Falco, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1942)
  • 1995 – Eazy-E, American rapper and producer (b. 1964)
  • 1996 – Edmund Muskie, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 58th United States Secretary of State (b. 1914)
  • 1996 – David Packard, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (b. 1912)
  • 2000 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – Randy Castillo, American drummer and songwriter (b. 1950)
  • 2003 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1927)
  • 2004 – Jan Sterling, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 2005 – James Callaghan, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)
  • 2005 – Frederick Rotimi Williams, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
  • 2006 – Anil Biswas, Indian journalist and politician (b. 1944)
  • 2006 – Paul Dana, American racing driver (b. 1975)
  • 2006 – Nikki Sudden, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1956)
  • 2008 – Robert Fagles, American poet and academic (b. 1933)
  • 2008 – Manuel Marulanda, Colombian rebel leader (b. 1930)
  • 2009 – Shane McConkey, Canadian skier and BASE jumper (b. 1969)
  • 2009 – Arne Bendiksen, Norwegian singer and composer (b. 1926)
  • 2010 – Charles Ryskamp, American art collector and curator (b. 1928)
  • 2011 – Roger Abbott, English-Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1946)
  • 2011 – Geraldine Ferraro, American lawyer and politician (b. 1935)
  • 2011 – Diana Wynne Jones, English author (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Sisto Averno, American football player (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Michael Begley, Irish carpenter and politician (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – Thomas M. Cover, American theorist and academic (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – David Craighead, American organist and educator (b. 1924)
  • 2012 – Manik Godghate, Indian poet and educator (b. 1937)
  • 2012 – Helmer Ringgren, Swedish theologian and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Tom Boerwinkle, American basketball player and sportscaster (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Krzysztof Kozłowski, Polish journalist and politician, Polish Minister of Interior (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Dave Leggett, American baseball player (b. 1933)
  • 2013 – Don Payne, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1964)
  • 2014 – Roger Birkman, American psychologist and author (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Dick Guidry, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Marcus Kimball, Baron Kimball, English politician (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Dinkha IV, Iraqi patriarch (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – Friedrich L. Bauer, German mathematician, computer scientist, and academic (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet, translator, and psychologist Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1931)
  • 2016 – Jim Harrison, American novelist, essayist, and poet (b. 1937)
  • 2018 – Fabrizio Frizzi, Italian television presenter (b. 1958)

Holidays and observances on March 26

  • Christian feast days:
    • Castulus
    • Emmanuel and companions
    • Felicitas
    • Harriet Monsell (Church of England)
    • Larissa
    • Ludger
    • Richard Allen (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • March 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Independence Day and National Day (Bangladesh), celebrates the declaration of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
  • Martyr’s Day or Day of Democracy (Mali)
  • Prince Kūhiō Day (Hawaii, United States)
  • Purple Day (Canada and United States)
  • Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (Eastern Christianity)

March 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

March 24th is the 365th and last day of the year in many European implementations of the Julian calendar.

March 24 in History

  • 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
  • 1387 – English victory over a Franco-Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate off the coast of Margate.
  • 1401 – Turco-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.
  • 1603 – James VI of Scotland is proclaimed King James I of England and Ireland, upon the death of Elizabeth I.
  • 1603 – Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shōgun from Emperor Go-Yōzei, and establishes the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, Japan.
  • 1663 – The Province of Carolina is granted by charter to eight Lords Proprietor in reward for their assistance in restoring Charles II of England to the throne.
  • 1720 – Count Frederick of Hesse-Kassel is elected King of Sweden by the Riksdag of the Estates, after his consort Ulrika Eleonora abdicated the throne on 29 February
  • 1721 – Johann Sebastian Bach dedicated six concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg-Schwedt, now commonly called the Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051.
  • 1731 – Naturalization of Hieronimus de Salis Parliamentary Act is passed.
  • 1765 – Great Britain passes the Quartering Act, which requires the Thirteen Colonies to house British troops.
  • 1794 – In Kraków, Tadeusz Kościuszko announces a general uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia, and assumes the powers of the Commander in Chief of all of the Polish forces.
  • 1829 – The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.
  • 1832 – In Hiram, Ohio, a group of men beat and tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith.
  • 1854 – President José Gregorio Monagas abolishes slavery in Venezuela.
  • 1860 – Sakuradamon Incident: Assassination of Japanese Chief Minister (Tairō) Ii Naosuke.
  • 1869 – The last of Titokowaru’s forces surrendered to the New Zealand government, ending his uprising.
  • 1878 – The British frigate HMS Eurydice sinks, killing more than 300.
  • 1882 – Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.
  • 1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Bang Bo on the Tonkin–Guangxi border.
  • 1900 – Mayor of New York City Robert Anderson Van Wyck breaks ground for a new underground “Rapid Transit Railroad” that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
  • 1907 – The first issue of the Georgian Bolshevik newspaper Dro is published.
  • 1921 – The 1921 Women’s Olympiad begins in Monte Carlo, first international women’s sports event.
  • 1927 – Nanking Incident: Foreign warships bombard Nanjing, China, in defense of the foreign citizens within the city.
  • 1934 – United States Congress passes the Tydings–McDuffie Act, allowing the Philippines to become a self-governing commonwealth.
  • 1944 – Ardeatine massacre: German troops murder 335 Italian civilians in Rome.
  • 1944 – World War II: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III.
  • 1946 – A British Cabinet Mission arrives in India to discuss and plan for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership.
  • 1958 – Rock ‘n’ roll teen idol Elvis Presley is drafted in the U.S. Army.
  • 1961 – Quebec Board of the French Language is established.
  • 1965 – Images from the Ranger 9 lunar probe are broadcast live on network television.
  • 1973 – Kenyan athlete Kip Keino defeats Jim Ryun at the first-ever professional track meet in Los Angeles.
  • 1976 – In Argentina, the armed forces overthrow the constitutional government of President Isabel Perón and start a 7-year dictatorial period self-styled the National Reorganization Process.
  • 1977 – Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister of India, the first Prime Minister not to belong to Indian National Congress.
  • 1980 – El Salvadorian Archbishop Óscar Romero is assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador.
  • 1986 – The Loscoe gas explosion leads to new UK laws on landfill gas migration and gas protection on landfill sites.
  • 1989 – In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.
  • 1993 – Discovery of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9.
  • 1998 – Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden, aged 11 and 13 respectively, fire upon teachers and students at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas; five people are killed and ten are wounded.
  • 1998 – A tornado sweeps through Dantan in India, killing 250 people and injuring 3,000 others.
  • 1998 – First computer-assisted Bone Segment Navigation, performed at the University of Regensburg, Germany
  • 1999 – Kosovo war: NATO began attacks on Yugoslavia without United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approval, marking the first time NATO has attacked a sovereign country.
  • 1999 – A lorry carrying margarine and flour catches fire inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The resulting inferno kills 38 people.
  • 2003 – The Arab League votes 21–1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
  • 2008 – Bhutan officially becomes a democracy, with its first ever general election.
  • 2015 – Germanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps in an apparent pilot mass murder-suicide, killing all 150 people on board.

Births on March 24

  • 1103 – Yue Fei, Chinese military general (d. 1142)
  • 1441 – Ernest, Elector of Saxony, German ruler of Saxony (d. 1486)
  • 1494 – Georgius Agricola, German mineralogist and scholar (d. 1555)
  • 1577 – Francis, Duke of Pomerania-Stettin, Bishop of Cammin (d. 1620)
  • 1607 – Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch admiral (d. 1667)
  • 1628 – Sophie Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1685)
  • 1657 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese academic and politician (d. 1725)
  • 1693 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clock-maker, invented the Marine chronometer (d. 1776)
  • 1725 – Samuel Ashe, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1813)
  • 1725 – Thomas Cushing, American lawyer and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1788)
  • 1755 – Rufus King, American lawyer and politician, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 1827)
  • 1762 – Marcos Portugal, Portuguese organist and composer (d. 1830)
  • 1775 – Muthuswami Dikshitar, Indian poet and composer (d. 1835)
  • 1782 – Orest Kiprensky, Russian-Italian painter (d. 1836)
  • 1796 – Zulma Carraud, French author (d. 1889)
  • 1796 – John Corry Wilson Daly, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1878)
  • 1803 – Egerton Ryerson, Canadian minister, educator, and politician (d. 1882)
  • 1808 – Maria Malibran, Spanish-French soprano (d. 1836)
  • 1809 – Mariano José de Larra, Spanish journalist and author (d. 1837)
  • 1809 – Joseph Liouville, French mathematician and academic (d. 1882)
  • 1816 – Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos, Roman Catholic archbishop and Mexican politician who served as regent during the Second Mexican Empire (1863-1864) (d. 1891)
  • 1820 – Edmond Becquerel, French physicist and academic (d. 1891)
  • 1820 – Fanny Crosby, American poet and composer (d. 1915)
  • 1823 – Thomas Spencer Baynes, English philosopher and critic (d. 1887)
  • 1826 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American activist and author (d. 1898)
  • 1828 – Horace Gray, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1902)
  • 1829 – George Francis Train, American businessman (d. 1904)
  • 1829 – Ignacio Zaragoza, Mexican general (d. 1862)
  • 1830 – Robert Hamerling, Austrian poet and playwright (d. 1889)
  • 1834 – William Morris, English textile designer, poet, and author (d. 1896)
  • 1834 – John Wesley Powell, American soldier, geologist, and explorer (d. 1902)
  • 1835 – Joseph Stefan, Austrian physicist, mathematician, and poet (d. 1893)
  • 1848 – Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, 18th Mayor of Montreal (d. 1906)
  • 1850 – Silas Hocking, English minister and author (d. 1935)
  • 1854 – Henry Lefroy, Australian politician, 11th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1930)
  • 1855 – Andrew W. Mellon, American banker, financier, and diplomat, 49th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1937)
  • 1855 – Olive Schreiner, South African author and activist (d. 1920)
  • 1862 – Frank Weston Benson, American painter and educator (d. 1951)
  • 1869 – Émile Fabre, French author and playwright (d. 1955)
  • 1871 – Alec Hurley, English music hall singer (d. 1913)
  • 1874 – Luigi Einaudi, Italian economist and politician, 2nd President of the Italian Republic (d. 1961)
  • 1874 – Harry Houdini, Hungarian-Jewish American magician and actor (d. 1926)
  • 1875 – William Burns, Canadian lacrosse player (d. 1953)
  • 1879 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher, poet, and composer (d. 1953)
  • 1882 – Marcel Lalu, French gymnast (d. 1951)
  • 1882 – George Monckton-Arundell, 8th Viscount Galway, English politician, 5th Governor-General of New Zealand (d. 1943)
  • 1883 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1945)
  • 1884 – Peter Debye, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
  • 1884 – Chika Kuroda, Japanese chemist (d. 1968)
  • 1884 – Eugène Tisserant, French cardinal (d. 1972)
  • 1885 – Charles Daniels, American swimmer (d. 1973)
  • 1885 – Dimitrie Cuclin, Romanian violinist and composer (d. 1978)
  • 1886 – Edward Weston, American photographer (d. 1958)
  • 1886 – Robert Mallet-Stevens, French architect and designer (d. 1945)
  • 1887 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1933)
  • 1888 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian politician (d. 1922)
  • 1889 – Albert Hill, English-Canadian runner (d. 1969)
  • 1890 – Agnes Macphail, Canadian educator and politician (d. 1954)
  • 1891 – Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1951)
  • 1892 – Marston Morse, American mathematician and academic (d. 1977)
  • 1893 – Walter Baade, German astronomer and author (d. 1960)
  • 1893 – George Sisler, American baseball player and scout (d. 1973)
  • 1897 – Wilhelm Reich, Austrian-American psychotherapist and academic (d. 1957)
  • 1901 – Ub Iwerks, American animator, director, and producer, co-created Mickey Mouse (d. 1971)
  • 1902 – Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of New York (d. 1971)
  • 1903 – Adolf Butenandt, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1995)
  • 1903 – Malcolm Muggeridge, English journalist, author, and scholar (d. 1990)
  • 1905 – Pura Santillan-Castrence, Filipino author and diplomat (d. 2007)
  • 1907 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian lawyer and politician, 17th Premier of Quebec (d. 1960)
  • 1909 – Clyde Barrow, American criminal (d. 1934)
  • 1909 – Richard Wurmbrand, Romanian Pastor and Evangelist (d. 2001)
  • 1910 – Richard Conte, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1975)
  • 1911 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (d. 2006)
  • 1912 – Dorothy Height, African-American educator and activist (d. 2010)
  • 1915 – Eugène Martin, French racing driver (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Donald Hamilton, Swedish-American soldier and author (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Harry B. Whittington, English palaeontologist and academic (d. 2010)
  • 1917 – John Kendrew, English biochemist and crystallographer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1997)
  • 1919 – Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and publisher, co-founded City Lights Bookstore
  • 1919 – Robert Heilbroner, American economist and historian (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Gene Nelson, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1920 – Mary Stolz, American author (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Vasily Smyslov, Russian chess player (d. 2010)
  • 1922 – Onna White, Canadian dancer and choreographer (d. 2005)
  • 1923 – Murray Hamilton, American actor (d. 1986)
  • 1923 – Michael Legat, English author and publisher (d. 2011)
  • 1924 – Norman Fell, American actor (d. 1998)
  • 1925 – Puig Aubert, German-French rugby league player and coach (d. 1994)
  • 1926 – Desmond Connell, Irish cardinal (d. 2017)
  • 1926 – Dario Fo, Italian playwright, actor, director, and composer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – William Porter, American hurdler (d. 2000)
  • 1927 – John Woodland Hastings, American biochemist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Martin Walser, German author and playwright
  • 1928 – Byron Janis, American pianist and composer
  • 1929 – Pat Renella, Italian-American actor (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – David Dacko, Central African politician, 1st President of the Central African Republic (d. 2003)
  • 1930 – Steve McQueen, American actor and producer (d. 1980)
  • 1931 – Hanno Drechsler, German educator and politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 2003)
  • 1933 – Stephen De Staebler, American sculptor and educator (d. 2011)
  • 1933 – Lee Mendelson, American television producer (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Don Covay, American singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1936 – Alex Olmedo, Peruvian-American tennis player
  • 1937 – Billy Stewart, American singer and pianist (d. 1970)
  • 1938 – David Irving, English historian and author
  • 1940 – Bob Mackie, American fashion designer
  • 1941 – Michael Masser, American songwriter, composer and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1944 – R. Lee Ermey, American sergeant and actor (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – Vojislav Koštunica, Serbian academic and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Serbia
  • 1945 – Robert T. Bakker, American paleontologist and academic
  • 1945 – Curtis Hanson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1945 – Patrick Malahide, English actor and screenwriter
  • 1946 – Klaus Dinger, German guitarist and songwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1946 – Kitty O’Neil, American stuntwoman (d. 2018)
  • 1947 – Dennis Erickson, American football player and coach
  • 1947 – Christine Gregoire, American lawyer and politician, 22nd Governor of Washington
  • 1947 – Mick Jones, English footballer and coach
  • 1947 – Alan Sugar, English businessman
  • 1948 – Javier Diez Canseco, Peruvian sociologist and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1948 – Jerzy Kukuczka, Polish mountaineer (d. 1989)
  • 1948 – Lee Oskar, Jewish-Danish musician
  • 1949 – Tabitha King, American author and poet
  • 1949 – Ruud Krol, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1949 – Steve Lang, Canadian bass player (April Wine) (d. 2017)
  • 1949 – Nick Lowe, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
  • 1949 – Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian academic and politician, 36th Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran
  • 1949 – Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
  • 1950 – Gary Wichard, American football player and agent (d. 2011)
  • 1951 – Peter Boyle, Scottish-Australian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1951 – Pat Bradley, American golfer
  • 1951 – Tommy Hilfiger, American fashion designer, founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation
  • 1951 – Dougie Thomson, Scottish bass player
  • 1951 – Anna Włodarczyk, Polish long jumper and coach
  • 1952 – Greg McCrary, American football player (d. 2013)
  • 1953 – Anita L. Allen, African-American lawyer, philosopher, and academic
  • 1953 – Louie Anderson, American actor and comedian
  • 1955 – Doug Jarvis, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1955 – Pat Price, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1956 – Steve Ballmer, American businessman
  • 1956 – Bill Wray, American cartoonist and painter
  • 1957 – Pierre Harvey, Canadian cyclist and skier
  • 1957 – Pat Jarvis, Australian rugby league player
  • 1958 – Mike Woodson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1959 – Emmit King, American sprinter
  • 1959 – Renaldo Nehemiah, American hurdler and football player
  • 1959 – Derek Statham, English footballer
  • 1960 – Jan Berglin, Swedish cartoonist
  • 1960 – Barry Horowitz, American wrestler
  • 1960 – Kelly Le Brock, English-American actress and model
  • 1960 – Nena, German singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1960 – Scott Pruett, American race car driver
  • 1960 – Annabella Sciorra, American actress
  • 1961 – Dean Jones, Australian cricketer and coach
  • 1961 – Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of Finance
  • 1962 – Angèle Dubeau, Canadian violinist
  • 1962 – Star Jones, African-American lawyer, journalist, and talk show host
  • 1962 – Irina Meszynski, German discus thrower
  • 1963 – Raimond van der Gouw, Dutch footballer and coach
  • 1963 – Vadym Tyshchenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1963 – Torsten Voss, German decathlete and bobsledder
  • 1965 – The Undertaker, American wrestler and actor
  • 1966 – Floyd Heard, American sprinter and coach
  • 1967 – Diann Roffe, American skier
  • 1968 – Minarti Timur, Indonesian badminton player
  • 1969 – Stephan Eberharter, Austrian skier
  • 1970 – Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
  • 1970 – Sharon Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and violinist
  • 1970 – Judith Draxler, Austrian swimmer
  • 1970 – Erica Kennedy, African-American journalist and author (d. 2012)
  • 1970 – Mike Vanderjagt, Canadian-American football player
  • 1971 – Tig Notaro, American comedian and actor
  • 1972 – Christophe Dugarry, French footballer
  • 1972 – Steve Karsay, American baseball player and coach
  • 1973 – Jacek Bąk, Polish footballer
  • 1973 – Philippe Boucher, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
  • 1973 – Steve Corica, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1973 – Jure Ivanušič, Slovenian actor, concert pianist and chansonnier
  • 1973 – Mette Jacobsen, Danish swimmer
  • 1973 – Glen Jakovich, Australian footballer
  • 1973 – Jim Parsons, American actor
  • 1974 – Alyson Hannigan, American actress
  • 1974 – Sergey Klyugin, Russian high jumper
  • 1974 – Tado, Filipino comedian and activist (d. 2014)
  • 1975 – Thomas Johansson, Swedish-Monacan tennis player
  • 1976 – Aaron Brooks, American football player
  • 1976 – Aliou Cissé, Senegalese footballer and coach
  • 1976 – Athanasios Kostoulas, Greek footballer
  • 1976 – Peyton Manning, American football player and entrepreneur
  • 1977 – Jessica Chastain, American actress
  • 1977 – Maxim Kuznetsov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1977 – Darren Lockyer, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Michael Braun, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1978 – Tomáš Ujfaluši, Czech footballer and manager
  • 1978 – José Valverde, Dominican baseball player
  • 1979 – Lake Bell, Jewish-American actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1979 – Norris Hopper, American baseball player
  • 1979 – Periklis Iakovakis, Greek hurdler
  • 1979 – Graeme Swann, English cricketer
  • 1980 – Tassos Venetis, Greek footballer
  • 1981 – Mike Adams, American football player
  • 1981 – Ron Hainsey, American ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Dirk Hayhurst, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Mark Looms, Dutch footballer
  • 1981 – Gary Paffett, English racing driver
  • 1982 – Corey Hart, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Jack Swagger, American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler
  • 1982 – Epico Colon, Puerto Rican professional wrestler
  • 1982 – Jimmy Hempte, Belgian footballer
  • 1982 – Dustin McGowan, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Luca Ceccarelli, Italian footballer
  • 1983 – Riccardo Musetti, Italian footballer
  • 1983 – Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – T.J. Ford, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Benoît Assou-Ekotto, French born Cameroonian international footballer, left-back
  • 1984 – Chris Bosh, American basketball player
  • 1984 – Adrian D’Souza, Indian field hockey player
  • 1984 – Lucy Wangui Kabuu, Kenyan runner
  • 1984 – Park Bom, South Korean singer
  • 1984 – Philipp Petzschner, German tennis player
  • 1985 – Lana, American wrestler and manager
  • 1985 – Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and singer
  • 1987 – Ramires, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer
  • 1987 – Billy Jones, English footballer
  • 1987 – Yuma Asami, Japanese actress and singer
  • 1988 – Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete
  • 1988 – Ryan Higgins, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1988 – Matías Martínez, Argentinian footballer
  • 1988 – Kardo Ploomipuu, Estonian swimmer
  • 1988 – Matt Todd, New Zealand rugby union player
  • 1990 – Starlin Castro, American baseball player
  • 1990 – Aljur Abrenica, Filipino actor
  • 1990 – Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-New Zealand actress
  • 1990 – Lacey Evans, American wrestler
  • 1991 – Nick Browne, English cricketer
  • 1991 – Dalila Jakupovic, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1995 – Enzo Fernandez, French-Spanish footballer

Deaths on March 24

  • 809 – Harun al-Rashid, Arab caliph (b. 763)
  • 832 – Wulfred, archbishop of Canterbury
  • 1284 – Hugh III of Cyprus (b. 1235)
  • 1296 – Odon de Pins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
  • 1381 – Catherine of Vadstena, Swedish saint (b. 1332)
  • 1394 – Constance of Castile, claimant to the throne of Castile
  • 1396 – Walter Hilton, English mystic and saint (b. 1340)
  • 1399 – Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk (b.c. 1320)
  • 1443 – James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas (b. 1371)
  • 1455 – Pope Nicholas V (b. 1397)
  • 1499 – Edward Stafford, 2nd Earl of Wiltshire, English nobleman (b. 1470)
  • 1563 – Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese daimyō (b. 1514)
  • 1575 – Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, Spanish-Portuguese rabbi and author (b. 1488)
  • 1603 – Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533)
  • 1653 – Samuel Scheidt, German organist and composer (b. 1587)
  • 1684 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (b. 1629)
  • 1684 – Elizabeth Ridgeway, English woman convicted of poisoning her husband
  • 1773 – Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English politician, Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (b. 1694)
  • 1776 – John Harrison, English carpenter and clockmaker, invented the Marine chronometer (b. 1693)
  • 1824 – Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux, French lawyer (b. 1753)
  • 1838 – Abraham Hume, English floriculturist and Tory politician (b. 1748/49)
  • 1869 – Antoine-Henri Jomini, French-Russian general (b. 1779)
  • 1881 – Achille Ernest Oscar Joseph Delesse, French geologist and mineralogist (b. 1817)
  • 1882 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (b. 1807)
  • 1887 – Ivan Kramskoi, Russian painter and critic (b. 1837)
  • 1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
  • 1905 – Jules Verne, French novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1828)
  • 1909 – John Millington Synge, Irish playwright and poet (b. 1871)
  • 1915 – Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Anglo-Irish astronomer (b. 1848)
  • 1915 – Karol Olszewski, Polish chemist, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1846)
  • 1916 – Enrique Granados, Spanish pianist and composer (b. 1867)
  • 1926 – Phan Châu Trinh, Vietnamese activist (b. 1872)
  • 1940 – Édouard Branly, French physicist and academic (b. 1844)
  • 1944 – Orde Wingate, Indian-English general (b. 1903)
  • 1946 – Alexander Alekhine, Russian chess player (b. 1892)
  • 1946 – Carl Schuhmann, German gymnast, shot putter, and jumper (b. 1869)
  • 1948 – Sigrid Hjertén, Swedish painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
  • 1950 – James Rudolph Garfield, American lawyer and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1865)
  • 1951 – Lorna Hodgkinson, Australian educator and educational psychologist (b. 1887)
  • 1953 – Mary of Teck (b. 1867)
  • 1962 – Jean Goldkette, French-American pianist and bandleader (b. 1899)
  • 1962 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (b. 1884)
  • 1968 – Alice Guy-Blaché, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1873)
  • 1971 – Arne Jacobsen, Danish architect, designed the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel and Aarhus City Hall (b. 1902)
  • 1971 – Arthur Metcalfe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
  • 1976 – Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, English field marshal (b. 1887)
  • 1978 – Park Mok-wol, influential Korean poet and academic (b. 1916)
  • 1980 – Óscar Romero, Salvadoran archbishop (b. 1917)
  • 1984 – Sam Jaffe, American actor (b. 1891)
  • 1985 – Raoul Ubac, French painter, sculptor, photographer and engraver (b. 1910)
  • 1988 – Turhan Feyzioğlu, Turkish academic and politician, 27th Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1922)
  • 1990 – Ray Goulding, American comedian and radio host (b. 1922)
  • 1991 – John Kerr, Australian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1914)
  • 1993 – Albert Arlen, Australian pianist, composer, actor, and playwright (b. 1905)
  • 1993 – John Hersey, American journalist and author (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Joseph Needham, English historian and academic (b. 1900)
  • 1999 – Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, German politician (b. 1902)
  • 1999 – Birdie Tebbetts, American baseball player and manager (b. 1912)
  • 2001 – Muriel Young, English television host and producer (b. 1928)
  • 2002 – César Milstein, Argentinian-English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
  • 2002 – Bob Said, American race car driver and bobsledder (b. 1932)
  • 2003 – Hans Hermann Groër, Austrian cardinal (b. 1919)
  • 2006 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (b. 1926)
  • 2007 – Shripad Narayan Pendse, Indian Marathi novelist (b. 1913)
  • 2008 – Chalmers Alford, American guitarist (b. 1955)
  • 2008 – Neil Aspinall, Welsh-English record producer and manager (b. 1941)
  • 2008 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish author and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2008 – Richard Widmark, American actor (b. 1914)
  • 2009 – George Kell, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1922)
  • 2009 – Hans Klenk, German racing driver (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Gábor Ocskay, Hungarian ice hockey player (b. 1975)
  • 2010 – Robert Culp, American actor (b. 1930)
  • 2010 – Jim Marshall, American photographer (b. 1936)
  • 2012 – Paul Callaghan, New Zealand physicist and academic (b. 1947)
  • 2012 – Nick Noble, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Barbara Anderson, New Zealand author (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Inge Lønning, Norwegian theologian, academic, and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Gury Marchuk, Russian physicist, mathematician, and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (b. 1972)
  • 2013 – Mohamed Yousri Salama, Egyptian dentist and politician (b. 1974)
  • 2013 – Francis Hovell-Thurlow-Cumming-Bruce, 8th Baron Thurlow, English diplomat (b. 1912)
  • 2014 – Oleksandr Muzychko, Ukrainian activist (b. 1962)
  • 2014 – John Rowe Townsend, English author and scholar (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – David A. Trampier, American illustrator (b. 1954)
  • 2015 – Yehuda Avner, English-Israeli diplomat (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – notable deaths of the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash:
    • Oleg Bryjak, Kazakhstani-German opera singer (b. 1960)
    • Maria Radner, German opera singer (b. 1981)
  • 2016 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer (b. 1947)
  • 2016 – Garry Shandling, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1949)
  • 2018 – Lys Assia, Swiss singer and First Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (b. 1924)
  • 2019 – Joseph Pilato, American film and voice actor (b.1949)
  • 2020 – Albert Uderzo, French comic book artist (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on March 24

  • Christian feast day:
    • Catherine of Vadstena
    • Hildelith of Barking
    • Mac Cairthinn of Clogher
    • Óscar Romero (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism)
    • Paul Couturier (Church of England)
    • Walter Hilton (Church of England)
    • March 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice (Argentina)
  • National Tree Planting Day (Uganda)
  • Student Day (Scientology)
  • World Tuberculosis Day (International)

March 24 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
  • 238 – Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperors.
  • 871 – Æthelred of Wessex is defeated by a Danish invasion army at the Battle of Marton.
  • 1508 – Ferdinand II of Aragon commissions Amerigo Vespucci chief navigator of the Spanish Empire.
  • 1621 – The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags.
  • 1622 – Jamestown massacre: Algonquians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony’s population, during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War.
  • 1630 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables.
  • 1638 – Anne Hutchinson is expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for religious dissent.
  • 1713 – The Tuscarora War comes to an end with the fall of Fort Neoheroka, effectively opening up the interior of North Carolina to European colonization.
  • 1739 – Nader Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
  • 1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act that introduces a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies.
  • 1784 – The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current location in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand.
  • 1829 – In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.
  • 1849 – The Austrians defeat the Piedmontese at the Battle of Novara.
  • 1871 – In North Carolina, William Woods Holden becomes the first governor of a U.S. state to be removed from office by impeachment.
  • 1872 – Illinois becomes the first state to require gender equality in employment.
  • 1873 – The Spanish National Assembly abolishes slavery in Puerto Rico.
  • 1894 – The first playoff game for the Stanley Cup starts.
  • 1906 – The first England vs France rugby union match is played at Parc des Princes in Paris
  • 1920 – Azeri and Turkish army soldiers with participation of Kurdish gangs attacked the Armenian inhabitants of Shushi (Nagorno Karabakh).
  • 1933 – Cullen–Harrison Act: President Franklin Roosevelt signs an amendment to the Volstead Act, legalizing the manufacture and sale of “3.2 beer” (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines.
  • 1939 – Germany takes Memel from Lithuania.
  • 1942 – World War II: In the Mediterranean Sea, the Royal Navy confronts Italy’s Regia Marina in the Second Battle of Sirte.
  • 1943 – World War II: The entire village of Khatyn (in what is the present-day Republic of Belarus) is burnt alive by Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118.
  • 1945 – World War II: The city of Hildesheim, Germany heavily damaged in a British air raid, though it had little military significance and Germany was on the verge of final defeat.
  • 1945 – The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt.
  • 1960 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
  • 1972 – The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
  • 1972 – In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.
  • 1975 – A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama causes a dangerous reduction in cooling water levels.
  • 1978 – Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope suspended between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  • 1982 – NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia is launched from the Kennedy Space Center on its third mission, STS-3.
  • 1992 – USAir Flight 405 crashes shortly after takeoff from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, leading to a number of studies into the effect that ice has on aircraft.
  • 1992 – Fall of communism in Albania: The Democratic Party of Albania wins a decisive majority in the parliamentary election.
  • 1993 – The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips (80586), featuring a 60 MHz clock speed, 100+ MIPS, and a 64 bit data path.
  • 1995 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returns to earth after setting a record of 438 days in space.
  • 1997 – Tara Lipinski, aged 14 years and nine months, becomes the youngest women’s World Figure Skating Champion.
  • 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force Hellfire missiles.
  • 2006 – Three Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days of captivity and the murder of their colleague from the U.S., Tom Fox.
  • 2013 – At least 37 people are killed and 200 are injured after a fire destroys a camp containing Burmese refugees near Ban Mae, Thailand.
  • 2016 – Three suicide bombers kill 32 people and injure 316 in the 2016 Brussels bombings at the airport and at the Maelbeek/Maalbeek metro station.
  • 2017 – A terrorist attack in London near the Houses of Parliament leaves four people dead and at least 20 injured.
  • 2019 – Robert S. Mueller III delivers his report on the Russian government’s influence on the election of Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election.
  • 2019 – Two buses crashes in Kitampo, a town north of Ghana’s capital Accra, killing at least 50 people.
  • 2020 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces the country’s largest ever self-imposed curfew, in an effort to fight the spread of COVID-19.

Births on March 22

  • 841 – Bernard Plantapilosa, Frankish son of Bernard of Septimania (d. 885)
  • 875 – William I, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 918)
  • 1212 – Emperor Go-Horikawa of Japan (d. 1235)
  • 1367 – Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (probable; d. 1399)
  • 1394 – Ulugh Beg, Persian astronomer and mathematician (d. 1449)
  • 1459 – Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1519)
  • 1499 – Johann Carion, German astrologer and chronicler (d. 1537)
  • 1503 – Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian author and educator (d. 1583)
  • 1517 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer (d. 1590)
  • 1519 – Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman (d. 1580)
  • 1582 – John Williams, Archbishop of York (d. 1650)
  • 1599 – Anthony van Dyck, Flemish-English painter and etcher (d. 1641)
  • 1609 – John II Casimir Vasa, Polish king (d. 1672)
  • 1615 – Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, British scientist (d. 1691)
  • 1663 – August Hermann Francke, German clergyman, philanthropist, and scholar (d. 1727)
  • 1684 – William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, English politician, Secretary at War (d. 1764)
  • 1712 – Edward Moore, English poet and playwright (d. 1757)
  • 1720 – Nicolas-Henri Jardin, French architect, designed the Yellow Palace and Bernstorff Palace (d. 1799)
  • 1723 – Charles Carroll, American lawyer and politician (d. 1783)
  • 1728 – Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter and theorist (d. 1779)
  • 1785 – Adam Sedgwick, English scientist (d. 1873)
  • 1797 – William I, German Emperor (d. 1888)
  • 1808 – Caroline Norton, English feminist, social reformer, and author (d. 1877)
  • 1808 – David Swinson Maynard, American physician and lawyer (d. 1873)
  • 1812 – Stephen Pearl Andrews, American author and activist (d. 1886)
  • 1814 – Thomas Crawford, American sculptor, designed the Statue of Freedom (d. 1857)
  • 1817 – Braxton Bragg, American general (d. 1876)
  • 1818 – John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-Australian explorer, founded Penwortham (d. 1846)
  • 1822 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman sociologist, historian, scholar, statesman and jurist (d. 1895)
  • 1842 – Mykola Lysenko, Ukrainian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1912)
  • 1846 – Randolph Caldecott, English illustrator and painter (d. 1886)
  • 1846 – James Timberlake, American lieutenant, police officer, and farmer (d. 1891)
  • 1852 – Otakar Ševčík, Czech violinist and educator (d. 1934)
  • 1852 – Hector Sévin, French cardinal (d. 1916)
  • 1855 – Dorothy Tennant, British painter (d. 1926)
  • 1857 – Paul Doumer, French mathematician, journalist, and politician, 14th President of France (d. 1932)
  • 1866 – Jack Boyle, American baseball player and umpire (d. 1913)
  • 1868 – Robert Andrews Millikan, American colonel and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1953)
  • 1869 – Tom McInnes, Scottish-English footballer (d. 1939)
  • 1873 – Ernest Lawson, Canadian-American painter (d. 1939)
  • 1880 – Ernest C. Quigley, Canadian-American football player and coach (d. 1960)
  • 1884 – Arthur H. Vandenberg, American journalist and politician (d. 1951)
  • 1884 – Lyda Borelli, Italian actress (d. 1959)
  • 1885 – Aryeh Levin, Polish-Lithuanian rabbi and educator (d. 1969)
  • 1886 – August Rei, Estonian lawyer and politician, Head of State of Estonia (d. 1963)
  • 1887 – Chico Marx, American actor (d. 1961)
  • 1890 – George Clark, American race car driver (d. 1978)
  • 1892 – Charlie Poole, American country banjo player (d. 1931)
  • 1892 – Johannes Semper, Estonian poet and scholar (d. 1970)
  • 1896 – He Long, Chinese general and politician, 1st Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China (d. 1969)
  • 1896 – Joseph Schildkraut, Austrian-American actor (d. 1964)
  • 1899 – Ruth Page, American ballerina and choreographer (d. 1991)
  • 1901 – Greta Kempton, Austrian-American painter (d. 1991)
  • 1902 – Johannes Brinkman, Dutch architect, designed the Van Nelle Factory (d. 1949)
  • 1902 – Madeleine Milhaud, French actress and composer (d. 2008)
  • 1903 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (d. 1987)
  • 1907 – James M. Gavin, American general and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1990)
  • 1908 – Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (d. 1991)
  • 1908 – Louis L’Amour, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1988)
  • 1909 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author and educator (d. 1983)
  • 1910 – Nicholas Monsarrat, English sailor and author (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Wilfrid Brambell, Irish actor and performer (d. 1985)
  • 1912 – Karl Malden, American actor (d. 2009)
  • 1912 – Agnes Martin, Canadian-American painter and educator (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – Leslie Johnson, English race car driver (d. 1959)
  • 1913 – Tom McCall, American journalist and politician, 30th Governor of Oregon (d. 1983)
  • 1913 – Lew Wasserman, American businessman and talent agent (d. 2002)
  • 1913 – James Westerfield, American actor (d. 1971)
  • 1914 – John Stanley, American author and illustrator (d. 1993)
  • 1914 – Donald Stokes, Baron Stokes, English businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1917 – Virginia Grey, American actress (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Irving Kaplansky, Canadian-American mathematician and academic (d. 2006)
  • 1917 – Paul Rogers, English actor (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Cheddi Jagan, Guyanese politician, 4th President of Guyana (d. 1997)
  • 1919 – Bernard Krigstein, American illustrator (d. 1990)
  • 1920 – James Brown, American actor and singer (d. 1992)
  • 1920 – Werner Klemperer, German-American actor (d. 2000)
  • 1920 – Lloyd MacPhail, Canadian businessman and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Fanny Waterman, English pianist and educator, founded the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition
  • 1920 – Katsuko Saruhashi, Japanese geochemist (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Ross Martin, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1921 – Nino Manfredi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1922 – John J. Gilligan, American lieutenant and politician, 62nd Governor of Ohio (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Marcel Marceau, French mime and actor (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Al Neuharth, American journalist and author, founded USA Today (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Yevgeny Ostashev, Russian test pilot, participant in the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite (d. 1960)
  • 1924 – Osman F. Seden, Turkish director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
  • 1924 – Bill Wendell, American television announcer (d. 1999)
  • 1927 – Marty Blake, American basketball player and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Nicolas Tikhomiroff, Russian photographer (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Carrie Donovan, American journalist (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – E. D. Hirsch, American author, critic, and academic
  • 1928 – Ed Macauley, American basketball player, coach, and priest (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist
  • 1929 – P. Ramlee, Malaysian actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer. (d. 1973)
  • 1930 – Derek Bok, American lawyer and academic
  • 1930 – Pat Robertson, American minister and broadcaster, founded the Christian Broadcasting Network
  • 1930 – Stephen Sondheim, American composer and songwriter
  • 1931 – Burton Richter, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – William Shatner, Canadian actor
  • 1931 – Leslie Thomas, Welsh journalist and author (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Els Borst, Dutch physician and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Larry Evans, American chess player and journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – Abolhassan Banisadr, Iranian economist and politician, 1st President of Iran
  • 1934 – May Britt, Swedish actress
  • 1934 – Sheila Cameron, English lawyer and judge
  • 1934 – Orrin Hatch, American lawyer and politician
  • 1935 – Lea Pericoli, Italian tennis player and journalist
  • 1935 – Frank Pulli, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2013)
  • 1935 – M. Emmet Walsh, American actor
  • 1936 – Ron Carey, American trade union leader (d. 2008)
  • 1936 – Roger Whittaker, Kenyan-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1936 – Erol Büyükburç, Turkish singer-songwriter, pop music composer, and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Angelo Badalamenti, American pianist and composer
  • 1937 – Armin Hary, German sprinter
  • 1937 – Jon Hassell, American trumpet player and composer
  • 1938 – Rein Etruk, Estonian chess player (d. 2012)
  • 1940 – Dave Keon, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1940 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (d. 1996)
  • 1940 – George Edward Alcorn, Jr. American physicist and inventor
  • 1941 – Billy Collins, American poet
  • 1941 – Jeremy Clyde, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1941 – Bruno Ganz, Swiss actor (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – Cassam Uteem, Mauritian politician, 2nd President of Mauritius
  • 1942 – Jorge Ben Jor, Brazilian singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Dick Pound, Canadian lawyer and academic
  • 1943 – George Benson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Nazem Ganjapour, Iranian footballer and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1943 – Keith Relf, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1976)
  • 1945 – Eric Roth, American screenwriter and producer
  • 1946 – Don Chaney, American basketball player and coach
  • 1946 – Rivka Golani, Israeli viola player and composer
  • 1946 – Rudy Rucker, American mathematician, computer scientist, and author
  • 1946 – Harry Vanda, Dutch-Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1947 – George Ferguson, English architect and politician, 1st Mayor of Bristol
  • 1947 – James Patterson, American author and producer
  • 1947 – Maarten van Gent, Dutch basketball player and coach
  • 1948 – Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer and director
  • 1949 – Fanny Ardant, French actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1949 – Brian Hanrahan, English journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1952 – Des Browne, Scottish lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Scotland
  • 1953 – Kenneth Rogoff, American economist and chess grandmaster
  • 1955 – Lena Olin, Swedish actress
  • 1955 – Pete Sessions, American politician
  • 1955 – Valdis Zatlers, Latvian physician and politician, 7th President of Latvia
  • 1956 – Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (born María Teresa Mestre y Batista)
  • 1957 – Jürgen Bucher, German footballer
  • 1957 – Stephanie Mills, American actress and singer
  • 1959 – Matthew Modine, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Tarmo Laht, Estonian architect
  • 1960 – Lauri Vahtre, Estonian historian and politician
  • 1961 – Simon Furman, British comic book writer
  • 1963 – Deborah Bull, English ballerina
  • 1963 – Susan Ann Sulley, English pop singer (The Human League)
  • 1963 – Martin Vizcarra, Peruvian engineer and politician, 67th President of Peru
  • 1964 – David Gillespie, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Pia Cayetano, Filipino lawyer and politician
  • 1966 – Todd Ewen, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1966 – Artis Pabriks, Latvian academic and politician, 11th Minister for Defence of Latvia
  • 1966 – António Pinto, Portuguese runner
  • 1966 – Brian Shaw, American basketball player and coach
  • 1967 – Mario Cipollini, Italian cyclist
  • 1967 – Bernie Gallacher, Scottish-English footballer (d. 2011)
  • 1970 – Andreas Johnson, Swedish singer-songwriter
  • 1970 – Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
  • 1970 – Hwang Young-cho, South Korean runner
  • 1971 – Keegan-Michael Key, American actor, comedian, and writer
  • 1972 – Shawn Bradley, German-American basketball player, coach, and actor
  • 1972 – Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d. 2006)
  • 1972 – Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Beverley Knight, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1974 – Marcus Camby, American basketball player
  • 1974 – Philippe Clement, Belgian footballer
  • 1974 – Geo Meneses, Mexican producer and singer
  • 1975 – Cole Hauser, American actor and producer
  • 1975 – Jiří Novák, Czech-Monegasque tennis player
  • 1976 – Teun de Nooijer, Dutch field hockey player
  • 1976 – Kathryn Jean Lopez, American journalist
  • 1976 – Asako Toki, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1976 – Kellie Shanygne Williams, American actress
  • 1976 – Reese Witherspoon, American actress and producer
  • 1977 – Joey Porter, American football player and coach
  • 1977 – Tom Poti, American ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Aaron North, American guitarist
  • 1979 – Juan Uribe, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Arne Gabius, German runner
  • 1982 – Piá, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Enrico Gasparotto, Italian cyclist
  • 1982 – Michael Janyk, Canadian skier
  • 1984 – Piotr Trochowski, German footballer
  • 1985 – Mayola Biboko, Belgian footballer
  • 1985 – Jakob Fuglsang, Danish cyclist
  • 1985 – Mike Jenkins, American football player
  • 1985 – Justin Masterson, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Kelli Waite, Australian swimmer
  • 1986 – David Choi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1986 – Dexter Fowler, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Ike Davis, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (d. 2013)
  • 1987 – Liam Doran, British rally cross driver
  • 1989 – Ruben Popa, Romanian footballer
  • 1989 – J. J. Watt, American football player
  • 1989 – Tyler Oakley, American internet celebrity

Deaths on March 22

  • 880 – Carloman of Bavaria, Frankish king
  • 1144 – William of Norwich, child murder victim
  • 1322 – Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, English politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1278)
  • 1418 – Dietrich of Nieheim, German bishop and historian (b. 1345)
  • 1421 – Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, English soldier and politician, Lord High Steward of England (b. 1388)
  • 1454 – John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • 1471 – George of Poděbrady (b. 1420)
  • 1544 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish archbishop and theologian (b. 1488)
  • 1602 – Agostino Carracci, Italian painter and educator (b. 1557)
  • 1685 – Emperor Go-Sai of Japan (b. 1638)
  • 1687 – Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and conductor (b. 1632)
  • 1758 – Jonathan Edwards, English minister, theologian, and philosopher (b. 1703)
  • 1772 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (b. 1718)
  • 1820 – Stephen Decatur, American commander (b. 1779)
  • 1832 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German novelist, poet, playwright, and diplomat (b. 1749)
  • 1840 – Étienne Bobillier, French mathematician and academic (b. 1798)
  • 1864 – Konstanty Kalinowski, writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionary (b. 1838)
  • 1881 – Samuel Courtauld, English businessman (b. 1793)
  • 1896 – Thomas Hughes, English lawyer and politician (b. 1822)
  • 1913 – Song Jiaoren, Chinese educator and politician (b. 1882)
  • 1913 – Ruggero Oddi, Italian physiologist and anatomist (b.1864)
  • 1924 – William Macewen, Scottish surgeon and neuroscientist (b. 1848)
  • 1931 – James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, Irish lawyer and politician (b. 1851)
  • 1942 – Frederick Cuming, English cricketer (b. 1875)
  • 1942 – William Donne, English captain and cricketer (b. 1875)
  • 1945 – John Hessin Clarke, American lawyer and judge (b. 1857)
  • 1952 – D. S. Senanayake, 1st Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (b. 1883)
  • 1955 – Ivan Šubašić, Croatian lawyer and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
  • 1958 – Mike Todd, American film producer (b. 1909)
  • 1960 – José Antonio Aguirre, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st President of the Basque Country (b. 1904)
  • 1966 – John Harlin, American mountaineer and pilot (b. 1935)
  • 1971 – Johannes Villemson, Estonian-American runner (b. 1893)
  • 1971 – Nella Walker, American actress and vaudevillian (b. 1886)
  • 1974 – Peter Revson, American race car driver (b. 1939)
  • 1974 – Orazio Satta Puliga, Italian automobile designer (b. 1910)
  • 1976 – John Dwyer McLaughlin, American painter (b. 1898)
  • 1977 – A. K. Gopalan, Indian educator and politician (b. 1904)
  • 1978 – Karl Wallenda, German-American acrobat and tightrope walker, founded The Flying Wallendas (b. 1905)
  • 1979 – Ben Lyon, American actor and studio executive (b. 1901)
  • 1981 – James Elliott, American runner and coach (b. 1915)
  • 1981 – Gil Puyat, Filipino businessman and politician, 13th President of the Senate of the Philippines (b. 1907)
  • 1986 – Olive Deering, American actress (b. 1918)
  • 1986 – Mark Dinning, American singer (b. 1933)
  • 1987 – Odysseas Angelis, Greek general and politician (b. 1912)
  • 1989 – Peta Taylor, English cricketer (b. 1912)
  • 1990 – Gerald Bull, Canadian engineer and academic (b. 1928)
  • 1991 – Léon Balcer, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Solicitor General of Canada (b. 1917)
  • 1991 – Paul Engle, American novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1908)
  • 1991 – Dave Guard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
  • 1991 – Gloria Holden, English-American actress (b. 1908)
  • 1993 – Steve Olin, American baseball player (b. 1965)
  • 1994 – Dan Hartman, American singer-songwriter, and producer (b. 1950)
  • 1994 – Walter Lantz, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1899)
  • 1996 – Don Murray, American drummer (b. 1945)
  • 1996 – Robert F. Overmyer, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1936)
  • 1996 – Billy Williamson, American guitarist (b. 1925)
  • 1999 – Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, English historian and academic (b. 1913)
  • 1999 – David Strickland, American actor (b. 1969)
  • 2000 – Carlo Parola, Italian footballer and manager (b. 1921)
  • 2001 – Stepas Butautas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
  • 2001 – Sabiha Gökçen, Turkish soldier and pilot (b. 1913)
  • 2001 – William Hanna, American animator, director, producer, and voice actor, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1910)
  • 2001 – Robert Fletcher Shaw, Canadian businessman, academic, and civil servant (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – Rudolf Baumgartner, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Terry Lloyd, English journalist (b. 1952)
  • 2004 – Janet Akyüz Mattei, Turkish-American astronomer and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2004 – Ahmed Yassin, Co-founded Hamas (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – V. M. Tarkunde, Indian lawyer and civil rights activist (b. 1909)
  • 2005 – Rod Price, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2005 – Gemini Ganesan, Indian film actor (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Kenzō Tange, Japanese architect, designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Pierre Clostermann, French soldier, pilot, and politician (b. 1921)
  • 2006 – Pío Leyva, Cuban singer and author (b. 1917)
  • 2006 – Kurt von Trojan, Austrian-Australian journalist and author (b. 1937)
  • 2007 – U. G. Krishnamurti, Indian-Italian philosopher and educator (b. 1918)
  • 2008 – Cachao López, Cuban-American bassist and composer (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – James Black, Scottish biologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1924)
  • 2010 – Özhan Canaydın, Turkish basketball player and businessman (b. 1943)
  • 2011 – Artur Agostinho, Portuguese journalist (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Joe Blanchard, American football player and wrestler (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – John Payton, American lawyer and activist (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, English academic and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Mickey Sullivan, American baseball player and coach (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – David Waltz, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1943)
  • 2012 – Neil L. Whitehead, English anthropologist and author (b. 1956)
  • 2013 – Vladimír Čech, Czech actor and politician (b. 1951)
  • 2013 – James Nabrit, American lawyer and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Bebo Valdés, Cuban-Swedish pianist and composer (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Ray Williams, American basketball player and coach (b. 1954)
  • 2014 – Yashwant Vithoba Chittal, Indian author (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Mickey Duff, Polish-English boxer and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Thor Listau, Norwegian soldier and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Tasos Mitsopoulos, Cypriot politician, Cypriot Minister of Defence (b. 1965)
  • 2015 – Arkady Arkanov, Ukrainian-Russian actor and playwright (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Horst Buhtz, German footballer and manager (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – George Neel, Jr., American businessman (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Norman Scribner, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Phife Dawg, American rapper (b. 1970)
  • 2016 – Rob Ford, Canadian businessman and politician, 64th Mayor of Toronto (b. 1969)
  • 2016 – Rita Gam, American actress (b. 1927)
  • 2018 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient (b. 1911)

Holidays and observances on March 22

  • Bihar Day (Bihar, India)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Basil of Ancyra
    • Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen
    • Darerca of Ireland
    • Epaphroditus
    • Jonathan Edwards (Lutheranism)
    • Lea of Rome
    • Nicholas Owen
    • Paul of Narbonne
    • March 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Easter Sunday can fall (last in 1818, will not happen again until 2285), while April 25 is the latest. (Christianity)
  • Emancipation Day or Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Puerto Rico)
  • World Water Day (International)

March 22 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 19- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends the Song dynasty in China.
  • 1284 – The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England.
  • 1563 – The Edict of Amboise is signed, ending the first phase of the French Wars of Religion and granting certain freedoms to the Huguenots.
  • 1649 – The House of Commons of England passes an act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it “useless and dangerous to the people of England”.
  • 1687 – Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, is murdered by his own men.
  • 1812 – The Cortes of Cádiz promulgates the Spanish Constitution of 1812.
  • 1853 – The Taiping reform movement occupies and makes Nanjing its capital until 1864.
  • 1861 – The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.
  • 1863 – The SS Georgiana, said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is destroyed on her maiden voyage with a cargo of munitions, medicines, and merchandise then valued at over $1,000,000.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later, Confederate forces had retreated from Four Oaks, North Carolina.
  • 1885 – Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, beginning the North-West Rebellion.
  • 1895 – Auguste and Louis Lumière record their first footage using their newly patented cinematograph.
  • 1918 – The US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time.
  • 1920 – The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (the first time was on November 19, 1919).
  • 1921 – Irish War of Independence: One of the biggest engagements of the war takes place at Crossbarry, County Cork. About 100 Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escape an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them.
  • 1931 – Gambling is legalized in Nevada.
  • 1932 – The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.
  • 1943 – Frank Nitti, the Chicago Outfit Boss after Al Capone, commits suicide at the Chicago Central Railyard.
  • 1944 – World War II: The German army occupies Hungary.
  • 1945 – World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 724 of her crew. Badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the US under her own power.
  • 1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his “Nero Decree” ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities, and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed.
  • 1946 – French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion become overseas départements of France.
  • 1954 – Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in colour.
  • 1954 – Willie Mosconi sets a world record by running 526 consecutive balls without a miss during a straight pool exhibition at East High Billiard Club in Springfield, Ohio, setting a record that remains unbroken.
  • 1958 – The Monarch Underwear Company fire leaves 24 dead and 15 injured.
  • 1962 – Highly influential artist Bob Dylan releases his first album, Bob Dylan, for Columbia Records.
  • 1962 – The Algerian War of Independence ends.
  • 1964 – Over 500,000 Brazilians attend the March of the Family with God for Liberty, in protest against the government of João Goulart and against communism.
  • 1965 – The wreck of the SS Georgiana, valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.
  • 1966 – 1965–66 Texas Western Miners men’s basketball team wins the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
  • 1969 – The 385-metre-tall (1,263 ft) TV-mast at Emley Moor transmitting station, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build-up.
  • 1979 – The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN.
  • 1982 – Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom.
  • 1987 – Televangelist Jim Bakker resigns as head of the PTL Club due to a brewing sex scandal; he hands over control to Jerry Falwell.
  • 1989 – The Egyptian flag is raised at Taba, marking the end of Israeli occupation since the Six Days War in 1967 and the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in 1979.
  • 1990 – The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș begin four days after the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire.
  • 1998 – An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Kabul International Airport, killing all 45 on board.
  • 2002 – Zimbabwe is suspended from the Commonwealth on charges of human rights abuses and of electoral fraud, following a turbulent presidential election.
  • 2004 – Catalina affair: A Swedish DC-3 shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 in 1952 over the Baltic Sea is finally recovered after years of work.
  • 2004 – March 19 Shooting Incident: The Republic of China(Taiwan) president Chen Shui-bian was shot just before the country’s presidential election on March 20.
  • 2008 – GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed.
  • 2011 – Libyan Civil War: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi’s forces to take Benghazi, the French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya.
  • 2013 – A series of bombings and shootings kills at least 98 people and injures 240 others across Iraq.
  • 2016 – Flydubai Flight 981 crashes while attempting to land at Rostov-on-Don international airport, killing all 62 on board.
  • 2016 – An explosion occurs in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, killing five people and injuring 36.
  • 2018 – The last male northern white rhinoceros, Sudan, dies, ensuring a chance of extinction for the species.

Births on March 19

  • 1206 – Güyük Khan, Mongol ruler, 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (d. 1248)
  • 1434 – Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shōgun (d. 1443)
  • 1488 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish archbishop and theologian (d. 1544)
  • 1534 – José de Anchieta, Spanish missionary and saint (d. 1597)
  • 1542 – Jan Zamoyski, Polish nobleman (d. 1605)
  • 1601 – Alonzo Cano, Spanish painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1667)
  • 1604 – John IV of Portugal (d. 1656)
  • 1641 – Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, Syrian author and scholar (d. 1731)
  • 1661 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer and educator (d. 1727)
  • 1684 – Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (d. 1766)
  • 1721 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish-Italian poet and author (d. 1771) (baptised on this day)
  • 1734 – Thomas McKean, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of Pennsylvania (d. 1817)
  • 1739 – Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, French lawyer and politician (d. 1824)
  • 1742 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian rebel leader (d. 1781)
  • 1748 – Elias Hicks, American farmer, minister, and theologian (d. 1830)
  • 1778 – Edward Pakenham, Anglo-Irish general and politician (d. 1815)
  • 1809 – Fredrik Pacius, German composer and conductor (d. 1891)
  • 1813 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary and explorer (d. 1873)
  • 1816 – Johannes Verhulst, Dutch composer and conductor (d. 1891)
  • 1821 – Richard Francis Burton, English soldier, geographer, and diplomat (d. 1890)
  • 1823 – Arthur Blyth, English-Australian politician, 9th Premier of South Australia (d. 1891)
  • 1824 – William Allingham, Irish poet, author, and scholar (d. 1889)
  • 1829 – Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish businessman (d. 1901)
  • 1844 – Minna Canth, Finnish journalist, playwright, and activist (d. 1897)
  • 1847 – Albert Pinkham Ryder, American painter (d. 1917)
  • 1848 – Wyatt Earp, American police officer (d. 1929)
  • 1849 – Alfred von Tirpitz, German admiral and politician (d. 1930)
  • 1858 – Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and politician (d. 1927)
  • 1860 – William Jennings Bryan, American lawyer and politician, 41st United States Secretary of State (d. 1925)
  • 1861 – Lomer Gouin, Canadian lawyer and politician, 13th Premier of Quebec (d. 1929)
  • 1864 – Charles Marion Russell, American painter and sculptor (d. 1926)
  • 1865 – William Morton Wheeler, American entomologist, myrmecologist, and academic (d. 1937)
  • 1868 – Senda Berenson Abbott, Lithuanian-American basketball player and educator (d. 1954)
  • 1871 – Schofield Haigh, English cricketer and coach (d. 1921)
  • 1872 – Anna Held, Polish singer (d. 1918)
  • 1873 – Max Reger, German pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1916)
  • 1875 – Zhang Zuolin, Chinese warlord (d. 1928)
  • 1876 – Felix Jacoby, German philologist (d. 1959)
  • 1880 – Ernestine Rose, American librarian and advocate (d. 1961)
  • 1881 – Edith Nourse Rogers, American social worker and politician (d. 1960)
  • 1882 – Gaston Lachaise, French-American sculptor (d. 1935)
  • 1883 – Norman Haworth, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
  • 1883 – Joseph Stilwell, American general (d. 1946)
  • 1885 – Attik, Greek composer (d. 1944)
  • 1888 – Josef Albers, German-American painter and educator (d. 1976)
  • 1888 – Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (d. 1969)
  • 1891 – Earl Warren, American lieutenant, jurist, and politician, 14th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1974)
  • 1892 – Theodore Sizer, American professor of the history of art (d. 1967)
  • 1892 – Ado Vabbe, Estonian painter (d. 1961)
  • 1892 – James Van Fleet, American general and diplomat (d. 1992)
  • 1894 – Moms Mabley, American comedian and singer (d. 1975)
  • 1900 – Carmen Carbonell, Spanish stage and film actress (d. 1988)
  • 1900 – Frédéric Joliot-Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
  • 1901 – Jo Mielziner, French-American set designer (d. 1976)
  • 1904 – John Sirica, American lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
  • 1905 – Joe Rollino, American weightlifter and boxer (d. 2010)
  • 1905 – Albert Speer, German architect and politician (d. 1981)
  • 1906 – Adolf Eichmann, German SS officer (d. 1962)
  • 1906 – Clara Breed, American librarian and activist (d. 1994)
  • 1909 – Louis Hayward, South African-born American actor (d. 1985)
  • 1910 – Joseph Carroll, American general (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Hugh Watt, Australian-New Zealand engineer and politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1980)
  • 1914 – Leonidas Alaoglu, Canadian-American mathematician and theorist (d. 1981)
  • 1914 – Jay Berwanger, American football player and coach (d. 2002)
  • 1915 – Robert G. Cole, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1944)
  • 1915 – Patricia Morison, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1916 – Eric Christmas, English-Canadian actor (d. 2000)
  • 1916 – Irving Wallace, American journalist, author, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1917 – Laszlo Szabo, Hungarian chess player (d. 1998)
  • 1919 – Lennie Tristano, American pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1978)
  • 1920 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author, poet, and painter (d. 2002)
  • 1921 – Tommy Cooper, British magician and prop comedian (d. 1984)
  • 1922 – Guy Lewis, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1922 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Pamela Britton, American actress (d. 1974)
  • 1923 – Benito Jacovitti, Italian illustrator (d. 1997)
  • 1923 – Henry Morgentaler, Polish-Canadian physician and activist (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Joe Gaetjens, Haitian footballer (d. 1964)
  • 1925 – Brent Scowcroft, American general and diplomat, 9th United States National Security Advisor
  • 1927 – Richie Ashburn, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1997)
  • 1928 – Hans Küng, Swiss theologian and author
  • 1928 – Patrick McGoohan, Irish-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1931 – Emma Andijewska, Ukrainian poet, writer and painter
  • 1932 – Gay Brewer, American golfer (d. 2007)
  • 1932 – Peter Hall, English geographer, author, and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Gail Kobe, American actress and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1933 – Phyllis Newman, American actress and singer (d. 2019)
  • 1933 – Philip Roth, American novelist (d. 2018)
  • 1933 – Renée Taylor, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1933 – Richard Williams, Canadian-English animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1935 – Nancy Malone, American actress, director, and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1936 – Ursula Andress, Swiss model and actress
  • 1936 – Ben Lexcen, Australian sailor and architect (d. 1988)
  • 1937 – Clarence “Frogman” Henry, American R&B singer and pianist
  • 1937 – Egon Krenz, German politician
  • 1938 – Joe Kapp, American football player, coach, and actor
  • 1942 – Heather Robertson, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2014)
  • 1943 – Mario J. Molina, Mexican chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1943 – Mario Monti, Italian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Italy
  • 1943 – Vern Schuppan, Australian race car driver
  • 1944 – Said Musa, Belizean lawyer and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Belize
  • 1945 – John Holder, English cricketer and umpire
  • 1945 – Modestas Paulauskas, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
  • 1946 – Ruth Pointer, American musician
  • 1947 – Glenn Close, American actress, singer, and producer
  • 1947 – Marinho Peres, Brazilian footballer and coach
  • 1948 – David Schnitter, American saxophonist and educator
  • 1949 – Blase J. Cupich, American theologian and cardinal
  • 1950 – José S. Palma, Filipino archbishop
  • 1952 – Warren Lees, New Zealand cricketer and coach
  • 1952 – Martin Ravallion, Australian economist and academic
  • 1952 – Harvey Weinstein, American director and producer
  • 1953 – Ian Blair, English police officer
  • 1953 – Peter Hendy, English businessman
  • 1953 – Ricky Wilson, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1985)
  • 1954 – Cho Kwang-rae, South Korean footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1955 – Bruce Willis, German-American actor and producer
  • 1956 – Yegor Gaidar, Russian economist and politician, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (d. 2009)
  • 1958 – Andy Reid, American football player and coach
  • 1960 – Eliane Elias, Brazilian singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1962 – Iván Calderón, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (d. 2003)
  • 1963 – Neil LaBute, American director and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Yoko Kanno, Japanese pianist and composer
  • 1964 – Jake Weber, English actor
  • 1966 – Michael Crockart, Scottish police officer and politician
  • 1966 – Olaf Marschall, German footballer and manager
  • 1966 – Andy Sinton, English international footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1967 – Vladimir Konstantinov, Russian-American ice hockey player
  • 1968 – Tyrone Hill, American basketball player and coach
  • 1970 – Harald Johnsen, Norwegian bassist and composer (d. 2011)
  • 1970 – Michael Krumm, German race car driver
  • 1973 – Ashley Giles, English cricketer and coach
  • 1975 – Antonio Daniels, American basketball player
  • 1975 – Matthew Richardson, Australian footballer and sportscaster
  • 1976 – Andre Miller, American basketball player
  • 1976 – Alessandro Nesta, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Cydonie Mothersille, Jamaican-Caymanian sprinter
  • 1979 – Sheldon Brown, American football player
  • 1979 – Hee-seop Choi, South Korean-American baseball player
  • 1979 – Ivan Ljubičić, Croatian tennis player
  • 1979 – Christos Patsatzoglou, Greek footballer
  • 1979 – Hedo Türkoğlu, Turkish basketball player
  • 1980 – Luca Ferri, Italian footballer
  • 1980 – Taichi Ishikari, Japanese wrestler
  • 1980 – Mikuni Shimokawa, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Steve Cummings, English cyclist
  • 1981 – Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
  • 1982 – Jonathan Fanene, American football player
  • 1982 – Brad Jones, Australian footballer
  • 1982 – Eduardo Saverin, Brazilian-Singaporean businessman
  • 1982 – Yoshikaze Masatsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1985 – Inesa Jurevičiūtė, Lithuanian figure skater
  • 1986 – Tyler Bozak, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Michal Švec, Czech footballer
  • 1987 – Miloš Teodosić, Serbian basketball player
  • 1988 – Clayton Kershaw, American baseball player
  • 1991 – Aleksandr Kokorin, Russian footballer
  • 1993 – Mateusz Szwoch, Polish footballer
  • 1993 – Hakim Ziyech, Moroccan footballer
  • 1995 – Alexei Sintsov, Russian figure skater
  • 1995 – Héctor Bellerín, Spanish footballer
  • 1996 – Barbara Haas, Austrian tennis player

Deaths on March 19

  • 235 – Severus Alexander, Roman emperor (b. 208)
  • 953 – Al-Mansur Billah, caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate (b. 913)
  • 968 – Emma of Paris, duchess of Normandy (b. 943)
  • 1238 – Henry the Bearded, Polish duke and son of Bolesław I the Tall (b. 1163)
  • 1263 – Hugh of Saint-Cher, French cardinal (b. 1200)
  • 1279 – Zhao Bing, Chinese emperor (b. 1271)
  • 1286 – Alexander III, king of Scotland (b. 1241)
  • 1330 – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1301)
  • 1372 – John II, marquess of Montferrat (b. 1321)
  • 1533 – John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, English baron and statesman (b. 1467)
  • 1534 – Michael Weiße, German theologian (b. c. 1488)
  • 1539 – Lord Edmund Howard, English nobleman (b. c. 1478)
  • 1563 – Arthur Brooke, English poet
  • 1568 – Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwell, English noblewoman (b.c. 1518)
  • 1581 – Francis I, duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1510)
  • 1612 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarusian saint (b. 1585)
  • 1637 – Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal (b. 1570)
  • 1649 – Gerhard Johann Vossius, German scholar and theologian (b. 1577)
  • 1683 – Thomas Killigrew, English playwright and manager (b. 1612)
  • 1687 – René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, French-American explorer (b. 1643)
  • 1697 – Nicolaus Bruhns, German organist and composer (b. 1665)
  • 1711 – Thomas Ken, English bishop and hymn-writer (b. 1637)
  • 1717 – John Campbell, 1st Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, Scottish soldier (b. 1636)
  • 1721 – Pope Clement XI (b. 1649)
  • 1783 – Frederick Cornwallis, English archbishop (b. 1713)
  • 1790 – Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha, Ottoman general and politician, 182nd Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1713)
  • 1797 – Philip Hayes, English organist and composer (b. 1738)
  • 1816 – Philip Mazzei, Italian-American physician and philosopher (b. 1730)
  • 1871 – Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist, geologist, and physicist (b. 1795)
  • 1897 – Antoine Thomson d’Abbadie, Irish-French geographer, ethnologist, linguist, and astronomer (b. 1810)
  • 1900 – John Bingham, American lawyer and politician, 7th United States Ambassador to Japan (b. 1815)
  • 1900 – Charles-Louis Hanon, French pianist and composer (b. 1819)
  • 1914 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian priest, geologist, and volcanologist (b. 1850)
  • 1919 – Emma Bell Miles, American writer, poet, and artist of Appalachia (b. 1879)
  • 1930 – Arthur Balfour, Scottish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1848)
  • 1930 – Henry Lefroy, Australian politician, 11th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1854)
  • 1942 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist, and entomologist (b. 1855)
  • 1944 – William Hale Thompson, American rancher and politician, 41st Mayor of Chicago (b. 1869)
  • 1949 – James Somerville, English admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (b. 1882)
  • 1949 – James Newland, Australian soldier and policeman (b. 1881)
  • 1950 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, American soldier and author (b. 1875)
  • 1950 – Norman Haworth, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
  • 1951 – Dmytro Doroshenko, Ukrainian historian and politician, Prime Minister of Ukraine (b. 1882)
  • 1976 – Albert Dieudonné, French actor and author (b. 1889)
  • 1976 – Paul Kossoff, English guitarist and songwriter (b. 1950)
  • 1977 – William L. Laurence, Lithuanian-born American journalist and author (b. 1888)
  • 1978 – M. A. Ayyangar, Indian lawyer and politician, 2nd Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1891)
  • 1982 – J. B. Kripalani, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1888)
  • 1982 – Randy Rhoads, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1956)
  • 1984 – Garry Winogrand, American photographer (b. 1928)
  • 1986 – Sabino Barinaga, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
  • 1987 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
  • 1988 – Bun Cook, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1904)
  • 1990 – Andrew Wood, American singer-songwriter (b. 1966)
  • 1993 – Henrik Sandberg, Danish production manager and producer (b. 1915)
  • 1996 – Lise Østergaard, Danish psychologist and politician (b. 1924)
  • 1996 – Virginia Henderson, American nurse, researcher, theorist and author (b. 1897)
  • 1997 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch-American painter and educator (b. 1904)
  • 1997 – Eugène Guillevic, French poet and author (b. 1907)
  • 1998 – E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Indian theorist and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Kerala (b. 1909)
  • 1999 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Samoan politician, 5th Prime Minister of Samoa (b. 1924)
  • 2000 – Joanne Weaver, American baseball player (b. 1935)
  • 2000 – Shafiq-ur-Rahman, Pakistani physician and author (b. 1920)
  • 2003 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German soldier and illustrator (b. 1926)
  • 2004 – Mitchell Sharp, Canadian economist and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Finance (b. 1911)
  • 2005 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman, founded the DeLorean Motor Company (b. 1925)
  • 2008 – Arthur C. Clarke, British science fiction writer (b. 1917)
  • 2008 – Hugo Claus, Belgian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1929)
  • 2008 – Paul Scofield, English actor (b. 1922)
  • 2009 – Maria Bergson, Austrian-American architect and interior designer (b. 1914)
  • 2011 – Kym Bonython, Australian drummer and radio host (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Jim Case, American director and producer (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Ulu Grosbard, Belgian-American director and producer (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – Hugo Munthe-Kaas, Norwegian intelligence agent (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Patrick Joseph McGovern, American businessman, founded IDG (b. 1937)
  • 2014 – Fred Phelps, American lawyer, pastor, and activist, founded the Westboro Baptist Church (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Heather Robertson, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Robert S. Strauss, American diplomat, United States Ambassador to Russia (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Lawrence Walsh, Canadian-American lawyer, judge, and politician, 4th United States Deputy Attorney General (b. 1912)
  • 2014 – Joseph F. Weis, Jr., American lawyer and judge (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Gus Douglass, American farmer and politician (b. 1927)
  • 2015 – Safet Plakalo, Bosnian author and playwright (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Danny Schechter, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2016 – Roger Agnelli, Brazilian banker and businessman (b. 1959)
  • 2016 – Jack Mansell, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
  • 2019 – William Whitfield, British architect (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances on March 19

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alkmund of Derby
    • Saint Joseph (Western Christianity; if this date falls on Sunday, the feast is moved to Monday March 20)
    • March 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Maundy Thursday can fall, while April 22 is the latest; celebrated on Thursday before Easter (Christianity)
  • Minna Canth’s Birthday (Finland)
  • Kashubian Unity Day (Poland)
  • St Joseph’s Day (Roman Catholicism and Anglican Communion) related observances:
    • Falles, celebrated on the week leading to March 19 (Valencia)
    • Father’s Day (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Honduras, and Bolivia)
    • “Return of the Swallow”, annual observance of the swallows’ return to Mission San Juan Capistrano in California

March 19- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 17- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
  • 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius.
  • 455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire; he forces Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor, Valentinian III, to marry him.
  • 1001 – The Raja of Butuan in what is now the Philippines sends a tributary mission to the Song dynasty.
  • 1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
  • 1452 – The Battle of Los Alporchones is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the Emirate of Granada and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile and Murcia resulting in a Christian victory.
  • 1560 – Fort Coligny on Villegagnon Island in Rio de Janeiro is attacked and destroyed during the Portuguese campaign against France Antarctique.
  • 1677 – The Siege of Valenciennes, during the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France’s taking of the city.
  • 1776 – American Revolution: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
  • 1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.
  • 1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy.
  • 1824 – The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch.
  • 1842 – The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed.
  • 1852 – Annibale De Gasparis discovers in Naples the asteroid Psyche from the north dome of the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte
  • 1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars.
  • 1861 – The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
  • 1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
  • 1921 – The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.
  • 1939 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins.
  • 1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
  • 1942 – Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
  • 1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.
  • 1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
  • 1948 – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
  • 1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name “californium”.
  • 1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
  • 1958 – The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite.
  • 1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
  • 1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.
  • 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
  • 1968 – As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
  • 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
  • 1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
  • 1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
  • 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.
  • 1988 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
  • 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
  • 1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
  • 1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
  • 2000 – Five hundred and thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.
  • 2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
  • 2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed.

Births on March 17

  • 763 – Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph (d. 809)
  • 1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
  • 1473 – James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
  • 1523 – Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Catholic cardinal (d. 1584)
  • 1537 – Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō (d. 1598)
  • 1611 – Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Swedish field marshal (d. 1662)
  • 1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichord player and composer (d. 1729)
  • 1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish philosopher and theologian (d. 1732)
  • 1686 – Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver (d. 1755)
  • 1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (d. 1806)
  • 1777 – Patrick Brontë, Irish-English priest and author (d. 1861)
  • 1777 – Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1864)
  • 1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator (d. 1847)
  • 1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, English poet and educator (d. 1849)
  • 1804 – Jim Bridger, American fur trader and explorer (d. 1881)
  • 1806 – Norbert Rillieux, African American inventor and chemical engineer (d. 1894)
  • 1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and author (d. 1897)
  • 1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (d. 1900)
  • 1839 – Josef Rheinberger, Liechtensteiner-German organist and composer (d. 1901)
  • 1846 – Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator (d. 1901)
  • 1849 – Charles F. Brush, American businessman and philanthropist, co-invented the Arc lamp (d. 1929)
  • 1849 – Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (d. 1934)
  • 1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
  • 1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist (d. 1930)
  • 1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian engineer, lawyer, and politician (d. 1930)
  • 1866 – Pierce Butler, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1939)
  • 1867 – Patrice Contamine de Latour, Spanish poet (d. 1926)
  • 1877 – Edith New, British militant suffragette (d. 1951)
  • 1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian-German psychoanalyst and philosopher (d. 1920)
  • 1880 – Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1952)
  • 1880 – Lawrence Oates, English lieutenant and explorer (d. 1912)
  • 1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
  • 1884 – Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player (d. 1934)
  • 1885 – Ralph Rose, American track and field athlete (d. 1913)
  • 1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (d. 1974)
  • 1888 – Paul Ramadier, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1961)
  • 1889 – Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (d. 1931)
  • 1891 – Ross McLarty, Australian politician, 17th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1962)
  • 1892 – Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1923)
  • 1894 – Paul Green, American playwright and academic (d. 1981)
  • 1895 – Lloyd Rees, Australian painter (d. 1988)
  • 1901 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (d. 1970)
  • 1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (d. 1971)
  • 1904 – Chaim Gross, Austrian-American sculptor and educator (d. 1991)
  • 1906 – Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (d. 1996)
  • 1907 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)
  • 1907 – Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1988)
  • 1910 – Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Bayard Rustin, American activist (d. 1987)
  • 1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (d. 2008)
  • 1915 – Robert S. Arbib Jr., American ornithologist, writer and conservationist (d. 1987)
  • 1915 – Ray Ellington, English drummer and bandleader (d. 1985)
  • 1915 – Bill Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider (d. 2011)
  • 1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965)
  • 1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
  • 1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, 12th Israeli Minister of Communications (d. 2009)
  • 1922 – Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Betty Allen, American soprano and educator (d. 2009)
  • 1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2007)
  • 1930 – Paul Horn, American-Canadian flute player and saxophonist (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1991)
  • 1931 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (d. 2011)
  • 1931 – David Peakall, English-American chemist and toxicologist (d. 2001)
  • 1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American journalist and activist
  • 1933 – Penelope Lively, English author
  • 1935 – Fred T. Mackenzie, American biologist and academic
  • 1935 – Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor
  • 1936 – Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovakian composer and conductor (d. 2016)
  • 1936 – Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1937 – Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina
  • 1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
  • 1938 – Keith O’Brien, Northern Ireland-born Scottish cleric, theologian, and cardinal (d. 2018)
  • 1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (d. 2007)
  • 1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
  • 1939 – Bill Graham, Canadian academic and politician, 4th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, English sailor and first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe
  • 1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1940 – Mark White, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Texas (d. 2017)
  • 1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese soldier and politician
  • 1941 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1941 – Max Stafford-Clark, English director and academic
  • 1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer and rapist (d. 1994)
  • 1943 – Jeff Banks, Welsh fashion designer
  • 1943 – Andrew Brook, Canadian philosopher, author, and academic
  • 1944 – Pattie Boyd, English model, author, and photographer
  • 1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
  • 1944 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
  • 1947 – Dennis Bond, English footballer, midfielder
  • 1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-American songwriter and producer
  • 1948 – William Gibson, American-Canadian author and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1949 – Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach
  • 1949 – Stuart Rose, English businessman
  • 1951 – Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor and producer
  • 1952 – Barry Horne, English activist (d. 2001)
  • 1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist (d. 2001)
  • 1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (d. 2013)
  • 1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
  • 1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American activist and politician
  • 1955 – Paul Overstreet, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor, director, and bass player
  • 1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American author and illustrator
  • 1956 – Rory McGrath, British comedian, television personality, and writer
  • 1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 2003)
  • 1958 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
  • 1959 – Danny Ainge, American baseball and basketball player
  • 1959 – Paul Black, American singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
  • 1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress and singer
  • 1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
  • 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2006)
  • 1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
  • 1962 – Carsten Almqvist, Swedish business executive
  • 1962 – Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician
  • 1962 – Janet Gardner, American singer and guitarist
  • 1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress
  • 1962 – Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, and producer
  • 1963 – Roger Harper, Guyanese cricketer and coach
  • 1964 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer and journalist
  • 1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor and producer
  • 1964 – Jacques Songo’o, Cameroonian footballer and coach
  • 1965 – Andrew Hudson, South African cricketer
  • 1966 – Andrew Rosindell, English journalist and politician
  • 1967 – Jason Alchin, Australian rugby league player
  • 1967 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and producer
  • 1967 – Barry Minkow, American pastor and businessman
  • 1968 – Eri Nitta, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1968 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor and producer
  • 1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French skier
  • 1969 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founded own eponymous brand (d. 2010)
  • 1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1970 – Gene Ween, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player and coach
  • 1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1972 – Torquil Campbell, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
  • 1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
  • 1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and drummer
  • 1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player and manager
  • 1974 – Mark Dolan, English comedian and television host
  • 1975 – Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter
  • 1975 – Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
  • 1975 – Test, Canadian-American wrestler (d. 2009)
  • 1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
  • 1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2009)
  • 1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1977 – Tamar Braxton, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1978 – Zachery Kouwe, American journalist
  • 1979 – Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Gregory, American adult film actress
  • 1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer
  • 1979 – Samoa Joe, American professional wrestler
  • 1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
  • 1980 – Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, Pakistani tennis player
  • 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer
  • 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
  • 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Nicky Jam, American-Puerto-Rican singer and songwriter
  • 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
  • 1983 – James Heath, English golfer
  • 1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
  • 1983 – Attila Vajda, Hungarian sprint canoeist
  • 1984 – Ryan Rottman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1985 – Tuğba Karademir, Turkish-Canadian figure skater
  • 1986 – Chris Davis, American baseball player
  • 1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
  • 1986 – Miles Kane, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1986 – Silke Spiegelburg, German pole vaulter
  • 1987 – Federico Fazio, Argentinian international footballer, centre backland rugby league player
  • 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Emmanuel Sanders, American football player
  • 1988 – Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer
  • 1988 – Fraser Forster, English footballer
  • 1988 – Grimes, Canadian artist, musician and music video director
  • 1988 – Ryan White, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer
  • 1990 – Hozier, Irish singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
  • 1991 – Jack De Belin, Australian rugby league player
  • 1992 – Patrick Cantlay, American golfer
  • 1992 – John Boyega, English actor
  • 1993 – Matteo Bianchetti, Italian footballer
  • 1994 – Dean Britt, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Ashley Taylor, Australian rugby league player
  • 1997 – Katie Ledecky, American swimmer

Deaths on March 17

  • 45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman general (b. 100 BC)
  • 45 BC – Publius Attius Varus, Roman governor of Africa
  • 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
  • 624 – Amr ibn Hishām, Arab polytheist
  • 659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Frankish abbess
  • 836 – Haito, bishop of Basel
  • 905 – Li Yu, Prince of De, prince and emperor of the Tang Dynasty
  • 1008 – Kazan, emperor of Japan (b. 968)
  • 1040 – Harold Harefoot, king of England
  • 1058 – Lulach, king of Scotland
  • 1199 – Jocelin of Glasgow, Scottish monk and bishop (b. 1130)
  • 1267 – Pierre de Montreuil, French architect
  • 1270 – Philip of Montfort, French knight and nobleman
  • 1272 – Go-Saga, emperor of Japan (b. 1220)
  • 1361 – An-Nasir Hasan, Mamluk sultan of Egypt
  • 1394 – Louis of Enghien, French nobleman
  • 1406 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian sociologist, historian, and scholar (b. 1332)
  • 1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1407)
  • 1516 – Giuliano de’ Medici, Italian nobleman (b. 1479)
  • 1527 – Rana Sanga, Indian ruler (b. 1482)
  • 1565 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (b. 1500)
  • 1611 – Sophia of Sweden, duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1547)
  • 1620 – John Sarkander, Polish-Moravian priest and saint (b. 1576)
  • 1640 – Philip Massinger, English playwright (b. 1583)
  • 1649 – Gabriel Lalemant, French missionary and saint (b. 1610)
  • 1663 – Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland, English diplomat (b. 1605)
  • 1680 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French author (b. 1613)
  • 1704 – Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch soldier and engineer (b. 1641)
  • 1715 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish bishop and historian (b. 1643)
  • 1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (b. 1671)
  • 1764 – George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer and politician (b. 1695)
  • 1782 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (b. 1700)
  • 1828 – James Edward Smith, English botanist and entomologist (b. 1759)
  • 1829 – Sophia Albertina, princess-abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1753)
  • 1830 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician (b. 1764)
  • 1846 – Friedrich Bessel, German astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (b. 1784)
  • 1849 – William II, Dutch sovereign prince and king (b. 1792)
  • 1853 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1803)
  • 1871 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (b. 1802)
  • 1875 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1832)
  • 1893 – Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (b. 1832)
  • 1917 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
  • 1926 – Aleksei Brusilov, Georgian-Russian general (b. 1853)
  • 1937 – Austen Chamberlain, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1863)
  • 1940 – Philomène Belliveau, Canadian artist (b. 1854)
  • 1946 – Dai Li, Chinese general (b. 1897)
  • 1949 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian-French painter and set designer (b. 1882)
  • 1956 – Fred Allen, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and author (b. 1894)
  • 1956 – Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
  • 1957 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
  • 1958 – John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (b. 1870)
  • 1958 – Bertha De Vriese, Belgian physician (b. 1877)
  • 1961 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (b. 1860)
  • 1965 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football player and coach (b. 1862)
  • 1974 – Louis Kahn, American architect and academic, designed Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (b. 1901)
  • 1976 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
  • 1981 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
  • 1983 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1983 – Louisa E. Rhine, American botanist and parapsychologist (b. 1891)
  • 1986 – Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (b.1923)
  • 1990 – Capucine, French model and actress (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Grace Stafford, American actress (b. 1903)
  • 1993 – Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
  • 1994 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish-English actress and director (b. 1925)
  • 1996 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
  • 1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
  • 1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1957)
  • 1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer (b. 1921)
  • 1999 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French activist (b. 1905)
  • 2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
  • 2002 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (b. 1917)
  • 2002 – Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, American television broadcaster and producer (b. 1908)
  • 2005 – Royce Frith, Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
  • 2005 – Andre Norton, American author (b. 1912)
  • 2006 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1913)
  • 2006 – İstemihan Taviloğlu, Turkish composer and educator (b. 1945)
  • 2007 – John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (b. 1924)
  • 2007 – Roger Bennett, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1959)
  • 2008 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
  • 2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (b. 1937)
  • 2010 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1950)
  • 2010 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Michael Gough, English actor (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Ferlin Husky, American country music singer (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (b. 1919)
  • 2013 – William B. Caldwell III, American general (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Lawrence Fuchs, American scholar and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – A.B.C. Whipple, American journalist and historian (b. 1918)
  • 2014 – Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (b. 1974)
  • 2014 – Joseph Kerman, American musicologist and critic (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Rachel Lambert Mellon, American gardener, philanthropist, art collector and political patron (b. 1910)
  • 2015 – Frank Perris, Canadian motorcycle racer (b. 1931)
  • 2016 – Meir Dagan, Israeli general (b. 1945)
  • 2016 – Zoltán Kamondi, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1960)
  • 2018 – Mike MacDonald, Canadian comedian (b. 1954)
  • 2018 – Phan Văn Khải, the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances on March 17

  • Children’s Day (Bangladesh)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
    • Gertrude of Nivelles
    • John Sarkander
    • Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
    • Patrick of Ireland
    • March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
  • Saint Patrick’s Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated in the English-speaking world and to a lesser degree in other parts of the world.

March 17- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 10 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
  • 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a triumphal entry into Carthage.
  • 947 – The Later Han is founded by Liu Zhiyuan. He declares himself emperor.
  • 1607 – Susenyos I defeats the combined armies of Yaqob and Abuna Petros II at the Battle of Gol in Gojjam, making him Emperor of Ethiopia.
  • 1629 – Charles I dissolves the Parliament of England, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.
  • 1735 – An agreement between Nader Shah and Russia is signed near Ganja, Azerbaijan and Russian troops are withdrawn from occupied territories.
  • 1762 – French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.
  • 1814 – Emperor Napoleon I is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
  • 1830 – The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.
  • 1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
  • 1861 – El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Ségou, destroying the Bamana Empire of Mali.
  • 1873 – The first Azerbaijani play “The Adventures of the Vizier of the Khan of Lenkaran” prepared by Akhundov was performed by Hassan-bey Zardabi and dramatist and Najaf-bey Vezirov.
  • 1876 – The first successful test of a telephone is made by Alexander Graham Bell.
  • 1891 – Almon Strowger patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
  • 1906 – The Courrières mine disaster, Europe’s worst ever, kills 1099 miners in northern France.
  • 1909 – By signing the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, Thailand relinquishes its sovereignty over the Malay states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu, which become British protectorates.
  • 1922 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.
  • 1933 – The Long Beach earthquake affects the Greater Los Angeles Area leaving around 108 people dead.
  • 1944 – Greek Civil War: The Political Committee of National Liberation is established in Greece by the National Liberation Front.
  • 1945 – World War II: The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
  • 1949 – Mildred Gillars (“Axis Sally”) is convicted of treason.
  • 1952 – Fulgencio Batista leads a successful coup in Cuba.
  • 1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama’s palace to prevent his removal.
  • 1966 – Military Prime Minister of South Vietnam Nguyễn Cao Kỳ sacked rival General Nguyễn Chánh Thi, precipitating large-scale civil and military dissension in parts of the nation.
  • 1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to recant.
  • 1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. military with My Lai war crimes.
  • 1975 – Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Campaign: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in the South on their way to capturing Saigon in the final push for victory over South Vietnam.
  • 1977 – Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.
  • 1990 – In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.
  • 2006 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
  • 2017 – The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in response to a major political scandal is unanimously upheld by the country’s Constitutional Court, ending her presidency.
  • 2019 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX, crashes, leading to all 737 MAX aircraft being grounded worldwide.

Births on March 10

  • 1452 – Ferdinand II, king of Castile and León (d. 1516)
  • 1503 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1564)
  • 1536 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, English politician, Earl Marshal of the United Kingdom (d. 1572)
  • 1604 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch alchemist and chemist (d. 1670)
  • 1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
  • 1628 – Marcello Malpighi, Italian physician and biologist (d. 1694)
  • 1656 – Giacomo Serpotta, Italian Rococo sculptor (d. 1732)
  • 1653 – John Benbow, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1702)
  • 1709 – Georg Wilhelm Steller, German botanist, zoologist, physician, and explorer (d. 1746)
  • 1749 – Lorenzo Da Ponte, Italian-American priest and poet (d. 1838)
  • 1769 – Joseph Williamson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1840)
  • 1772 – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1829)
  • 1777 – Louis Hersent, French painter (d. 1860)
  • 1787 – Francisco de Paula Martínez de la Rosa y Berdejo, Spanish playwright and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1862)
  • 1787 – William Etty, English painter and academic (d. 1849)
  • 1788 – Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German author, poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1857)
  • 1788 – Edward Hodges Baily, English sculptor (d. 1867)
  • 1789 – Manuel de la Peña y Peña, Mexican lawyer and 20th President (1847) (d. 1850)
  • 1795 – Joseph Légaré, Canadian painter and glazier, artist, seigneur and political figure (d. 1855)
  • 1810 – Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet and lawyer (d. 1886)
  • 1844 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (d. 1908)
  • 1844 – Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, British Pre-Raphaelite painter (d. 1927)
  • 1845 – Alexander III of Russia (d. 1894)
  • 1846 – Edward Baker Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1850)
  • 1849 – Hallie Quinn Brown, African-American educator, writer and activist (d. 1949)
  • 1850 – Spencer Gore, English tennis player and cricketer (d. 1906)
  • 1853 – Thomas Mackenzie, Scottish-New Zealand cartographer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1930)
  • 1867 – Hector Guimard, French-American architect (d. 1942)
  • 1867 – Lillian Wald, American nurse, humanitarian, and author, founded the Henry Street Settlement (d. 1940)
  • 1870 – David Riazanov, Russian theorist and politician (d. 1938)
  • 1873 – Jakob Wassermann, German-Austrian soldier and author (d. 1934)
  • 1876 – Anna Hyatt Huntington, American sculptor (d. 1973)
  • 1877 – Pascual Ortiz Rubio, Mexican diplomat and president (1930-1932) (d. 1963)
  • 1881 – Jessie Boswell, English painter (d. 1956)
  • 1888 – Barry Fitzgerald, Irish actor (d. 1961)
  • 1890 – Albert Ogilvie, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1939)
  • 1892 – Arthur Honegger, French composer and educator (d. 1955)
  • 1892 – Gregory La Cava, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1952)
  • 1896 – Frederick Coulton Waugh, British cartoonist, painter, teacher and author (d. 1973)
  • 1900 – Violet Brown, Jamaican supercentenarian, oldest Jamaican ever (d. 2017)
  • 1900 – Pandelis Pouliopoulos, Greek lawyer and politician (d. 1943)
  • 1901 – Michel Seuphor, Belgian painter (d. 1999)
  • 1903 – Bix Beiderbecke, American cornet player, pianist, and composer (d. 1931)
  • 1903 – Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright, journalist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (d. 1987)
  • 1903 – Edward Bawden, British artist and illustrator (d. 1989)
  • 1914 – Chandler Harper, American golfer (d. 2004)
  • 1914 – K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan academic and politician (d. 2010)
  • 1915 – Harry Bertoia, Italian-American sculptor and furniture designer (d. 1978)
  • 1915 – Joža Horvat, Croatian writer (d. 2012)
  • 1916 – Davie Fulton, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 2000)
  • 1917 – David Hare, American Surrealist artist, sculptor, photographer and painter (d. 1992)
  • 1918 – Günther Rall, German general and pilot (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Marion Hutton, American singer and actress (d. 1987)
  • 1920 – Alfred Peet, Dutch-American businessman, founded Peet’s Coffee & Tea (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Boris Vian, French author and playwright (d. 1959)
  • 1922 – Kiyoshi Yamashita, Japanese painter (d. 1971)
  • 1923 – Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Judith Jones, American literary and cookbook editor (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – Bob Lanier, American lawyer, banker, and politician, 58th Mayor of Houston (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Marques Haynes, American basketball player (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Claude Laydu, Belgian-French actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1927 – Paul Wunderlich, German painter, sculptor and graphic artist (d. 2010)
  • 1928 – Sara Montiel, Spanish actress (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – James Earl Ray, American criminal; assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. (d. 1998)
  • 1929 – Sam Steiger, American journalist and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Sándor Iharos, Hungarian runner (d. 1996)
  • 1931 – Georges Dor, Canadian author, playwright, and composer (d. 2001)
  • 1932 – Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender, English politician (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Udupi Ramachandra Rao, Indian physicist and engineer (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Perunchithiranar, Tamil poet (d. 1995)
  • 1933 – Elizabeth Azcona Cranwell, Argentinian poet and translator (d. 2004)
  • 1934 – Gergely Kulcsár, Hungarian javelin thrower and coach
  • 1935 – Graham Farmer, Australian footballer and coach (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Sepp Blatter, Swiss businessman
  • 1936 – Alfredo Zitarrosa, Uruguayan singer-songwriter and journalist (d. 1989)
  • 1938 – Norman Blake, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1938 – Ieronymos II of Athens, Greek archbishop
  • 1939 – Asghar Ali Engineer, Indian activist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Hugh Johnson, English author and critic
  • 1939 – Irina Press, Ukrainian-Russian hurdler and pentathlete (d. 2004)
  • 1940 – Chuck Norris, American actor, producer, and martial artist
  • 1940 – David Rabe, American playwright and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Peter Berresford Ellis, English historian and author
  • 1944 – Gail North-Saunders, Bahamian historian, archivist, and author who established the Bahamian National Archives
  • 1945 – Katharine Houghton, American actress and playwright
  • 1945 – Madhavrao Scindia, Indian politician, Indian Minister of Railways (d. 2001)
  • 1946 – Gérard Garouste, French contemporary artist
  • 1946 – Mike Hollands, Australian animator and director, founded Act3animation
  • 1946 – Jim Valvano, American basketball player and coach (d. 1993)
  • 1947 – Kim Campbell, Canadian lawyer and politician, 19th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1947 – Tom Scholz, American rock musician (Boston), songwriter, inventor, and engineer
  • 1948 – Austin Carr, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1949 – Bill Buxton, Canadian computer scientist and academic
  • 1949 – Barbara Corcoran, American businesswoman and television personality
  • 1950 – Catherine Pugh, American politician, 50th mayor of Baltimore
  • 1952 – Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (d. 2018)
  • 1953 – Paul Haggis, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1954 – Didier Barbelivien, French singer-songwriter
  • 1955 – Toshio Suzuki, Japanese race car driver
  • 1956 – Robert Llewellyn, English actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Larry Myricks, American long jumper and sprinter
  • 1957 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (d. 2011)
  • 1958 – Garth Crooks, English footballer forward and sportscaster
  • 1958 – Steve Howe, American baseball player (d. 2006)
  • 1958 – Sharon Stone, American actress and producer
  • 1961 – Laurel Clark, American captain, physician, and astronaut (d. 2003)
  • 1961 – Bobby Petrino, American football player and coach
  • 1962 – Jasmine Guy, American actress, singer, and director
  • 1962 – Seiko Matsuda, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1963 – Jeff Ament, American bass player and songwriter
  • 1963 – Felipe Ramos, Mexican footballer and referee
  • 1963 – Rick Rubin, American record producer, founded Def Jam Recordings
  • 1964 – Neneh Cherry, Swedish singer-songwriter
  • 1964 – Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
  • 1964 – Jojo Lastimosa, Filipino basketball player and coach
  • 1964 – Nikola Mladenov, Macedonian journalist (d. 2013)
  • 1964 – Toni Polster, Austrian footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Jillian Richardson, Canadian sprinter
  • 1965 – Rod Woodson, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Edie Brickell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1966 – Mike Timlin, American baseball player
  • 1968 – Thio Li-ann, Singaporean lawyer and academic
  • 1968 – Pavel Srníček, Czech footballer and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1971 – Jon Hamm, American actor and director
  • 1972 – Timbaland, American rapper and producer
  • 1973 – Jason Croker, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1973 – Chris Sutton, English footballer
  • 1973 – Mauricio Taricco, Argentinian footballer, full back and assistant manager
  • 1976 – Barbara Schett, Austrian tennis player
  • 1978 – Camille, French singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1978 – Benjamin Burnley, American musician
  • 1981 – Samuel Eto’o, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1981 – Steven Reid, English-Irish footballer
  • 1982 – Kwame Brown, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Étienne Boulay, Canadian football player
  • 1983 – Rafe Spall, English actor
  • 1983 – Janet Mock, American journalist, author, and activist
  • 1983 – Carrie Underwood, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1984 – Ben May, English footballer
  • 1987 – Martellus Bennett, American football player
  • 1987 – Greg Eastwood, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1987 – Māris Štrombergs, Latvian BMX racer
  • 1988 – Josh Hoffman, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1988 – Ivan Rakitić, Croatian football player
  • 1992 – Neeskens Kebano, French-born Congolese international footballer
  • 1993 – Jack Butland, English footballer
  • 1995 – DaeSean Hamilton, American football player
  • 1995 – Zach LaVine, American basketball player
  • 1995 – Sergey Mozgov, Russian ice dancer
  • 1997 – Belinda Bencic, Swiss tennis player

Deaths on March 10

  • 483 – Pope Simplicius
  • 933 – Li Renfu, Chinese warlord and governor
  • 948 – Liu Zhiyuan, Shatuo founder of the Later Han dynasty (b. 895)
  • 1039 – Eudes, Duke of Gascony
  • 1222 – Johan Sverkersson, king of Sweden since 1216 (b. 1201)
  • 1289 – Maud de Lacy, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester, English noble (b. 1223)
  • 1291 – Arghun, Mongol ruler in Persia
  • 1315 – Agnes Blannbekin, Austrian mystic (b. c.1244)
  • 1391 – Tvrtko I of Bosnia (b. 1338)
  • 1476 – Richard West, 7th Baron De La Warr (b. 1430)
  • 1510 – Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss priest and theologian (b. 1445)
  • 1513 – John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, English commander and politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1443)
  • 1527 – Nam Gon, Korean writer and prime minister (b. 1471)
  • 1528 – Balthasar Hübmaier, influential German/Moravian Anabaptist leader (b. 1480)
  • 1572 – William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester (b. c. 1483)
  • 1585 – Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (b. 1517)
  • 1588 – Theodor Zwinger, Swiss physician and scholar (b. 1533)
  • 1670 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German-Dutch chemist and engineer (b. 1604)
  • 1682 – Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch painter and etcher (b. 1628)
  • 1724 – Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (b. 1641)
  • 1776 – Élie Catherine Fréron, French author and critic (b. 1719)
  • 1792 – John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1713)
  • 1823 – George Elphinstone, 1st Viscount Keith, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1746)
  • 1826 – John Pinkerton, Scottish antiquarian, cartographer, author, numismatist and historian (b. 1758)
  • 1832 – Muzio Clementi, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1752)
  • 1861 – Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet, playwright, and ethnographer (b. 1814)
  • 1872 – Giuseppe Mazzini, Italian journalist and politician (b. 1805)
  • 1898 – Marie-Eugénie de Jésus, French nun and saint, founded the Religious of the Assumption (b. 1817)
  • 1895 – Charles Frederick Worth, English-French fashion designer, founded the House of Worth (b. 1826)
  • 1897 – Savitribai Phule, Indian poet and activist (b. 1831)
  • 1910 – Karl Lueger, Austrian lawyer and politician Mayor of Vienna (b. 1844)
  • 1910 – Carl Reinecke, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1824)
  • 1913 – Harriet Tubman, American nurse and activist (b. c.1820)
  • 1925 – Myer Prinstein, Polish-American jumper and lawyer (b. 1878)
  • 1930 – Misuzu Kaneko, Japanese poet and songwriter (b. 1903)
  • 1937 – Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian journalist and author (b. 1884)
  • 1940 – Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist and playwright (b. 1891)
  • 1942 – Wilbur Scoville, American pharmacist and chemist (b. 1865)
  • 1948 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American author, poet, and dancer (b. 1900)
  • 1948 – Jan Masaryk, Czech soldier and politician (b. 1886)
  • 1951 – Kijūrō Shidehara, Japanese lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1872)
  • 1965 – Archibald Frazer-Nash, English engineer, founded Frazer Nash (b. 1889)
  • 1966 – Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
  • 1966 – Frank O’Connor, Irish short story writer, novelist, and poet (b. 1903)
  • 1977 – E. Power Biggs, English-American organist and composer (b. 1906)
  • 1982 – Minoru Shirota, Japanese physician and microbiologist, invented Yakult (b. 1899)
  • 1985 – Konstantin Chernenko, Russian soldier and politician, 8th Head of State of The Soviet Union (b. 1911)
  • 1985 – Bob Nieman, American baseball player and scout (b. 1927)
  • 1986 – Ray Milland, Welsh-American actor and director (b. 1905)
  • 1988 – Andy Gibb, Manx-Australian singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1958)
  • 1989 – Kermit Beahan, American colonel and pilot (b. 1918)
  • 1990 – Pat McDonald, Australian actress (b. 1921)
  • 1992 – Giorgos Zampetas, Greek bouzouki player and composer (b. 1925)
  • 1995 – Agepê, Brazilian singer/composer (b. 1942)
  • 1996 – Ross Hunter, American film producer (b. 1926)
  • 1997 – LaVern Baker, American singer and actress (b. 1929)
  • 1998 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor and director (b. 1913)
  • 1999 – Oswaldo Guayasamín, Ecuadorian painter and sculptor (b. 1919)
  • 2001 – Massimo Morsello, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1958)
  • 2004 – Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic (b. 1924)
  • 2005 – Dave Allen, Irish-English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
  • 2006 – Anna Moffo, American soprano (b. 1932)
  • 2007 – Ernie Ladd, American football player and wrestler (b. 1938)
  • 2010 – Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, Egyptian scholar and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2010 – Corey Haim, Canadian actor (b. 1971)
  • 2011 – Bill Blackbeard, American author and illustrator (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Bert R. Bulkin, American engineer (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – Jean Giraud, French author and illustrator (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Mykola Plaviuk, Ukrainian politician, President Ukrainian People’s Republic in Exile (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Frank Sherwood Rowland, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Tan Boon Teik, Malaysian-Singaporean lawyer and politician, Attorney-General of Singapore (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1952)
  • 2016 – Ken Adam, German-English production designer and art director (b. 1921)
  • 2016 – Roberto Perfumo, Argentinian footballer and sportscaster (b. 1942)
  • 2016 – Jovito Salonga, Filipino lawyer and politician, 14th President of the Senate of the Philippines (b. 1920)
  • 2016 – Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (b. 1928)

Holidays and observances  on March 10

  • Christian feast day
    • Attala
    • Harriet Tubman (Lutheran)
    • John Ogilvie
    • Macarius of Jerusalem
    • Marie-Eugénie de Jésus
    • Pope Simplicius
    • Sojourner Truth (Lutheran)
    • March 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Harriet Tubman Day (United States of America)
  • Holocaust Remembrance Day (Bulgaria)
  • National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
  • Tibetan Uprising Day (Tibetan independence movement)

March 10 – 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 »

On This Day

March 2- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off.
  • 986 – Louis V becomes King of the Franks.
  • 1444 – Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhë.
  • 1458 – George of Poděbrady is chosen as the king of Bohemia.
  • 1476 – Burgundian Wars: The Old Swiss Confederacy hands Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a major defeat in the Battle of Grandson in Canton of Neuchâtel.
  • 1484 – The College of Arms is formally incorporated by Royal Charter signed by King Richard III of England.
  • 1498 – Vasco da Gama’s fleet visits the Island of Mozambique.
  • 1561 – Mendoza, Argentina, is founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro del Castillo.
  • 1657 – Great Fire of Meireki: A fire in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, caused more than 100,000 deaths; it lasted three days
  • 1717 – The Loves of Mars and Venus is the first ballet performed in England.
  • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia units arrest the Royal Governor of Georgia James Wright and attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in the Battle of the Rice Boats.
  • 1791 – Long-distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris.
  • 1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound banknotes.
  • 1807 – The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.
  • 1808 – The inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
  • 1811 – Argentine War of Independence: A royalist fleet defeats a small flotilla of revolutionary ships in the Battle of San Nicolás on the River Plate.
  • 1815 – Signing of the Kandyan Convention treaty by British invaders and the leaders of the Kingdom of Kandy.
  • 1825 – Roberto Cofresí, one of the last successful Caribbean pirates, is defeated in combat and captured by authorities.
  • 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico is adopted.
  • 1855 – Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.
  • 1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, begins.
  • 1865 – East Cape War: The Völkner Incident in New Zealand.
  • 1867 – The U.S. Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act.
  • 1877 – Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 U.S. presidential election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote.
  • 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick McLean in Windsor.
  • 1896 – The Battle of Adwa: The Italian Army defeated by the Ethiopian Army in Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia.
  • 1901 – United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.
  • 1901 – The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment limiting the autonomy of Cuba, as a condition of the withdrawal of American troops.
  • 1903 – In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
  • 1917 – The enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
  • 1919 – The first Communist International meets in Moscow.
  • 1933 – The film King Kong opens at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
  • 1937 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee signs a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, leading to unionization of the United States steel industry.
  • 1939 – Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII.
  • 1941 – World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joins the Axis Pact.
  • 1943 – World War II: Allied aircraft defeat a Japanese attempt to ship troops to New Guinea.
  • 1946 – Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.
  • 1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.
  • 1955 – Norodom Sihanouk, king of Cambodia, abdicates the throne in favor of his father, Norodom Suramarit.
  • 1961 – John F. Kennedy announces the creation of the Peace Corps in a nationally televised broadcast.
  • 1962 – In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d’état.
  • 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.
  • 1965 – The US and Republic of Vietnam Air Force begin Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
  • 1968 – Baggeridge Colliery closes marking the end of over 300 years of coal mining in the Black Country.
  • 1969 – In Toulouse, France, the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.
  • 1970 – Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.
  • 1972 – The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.
  • 1977 – Libya becomes the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as the General People’s Congress adopted the “Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People”.
  • 1978 – Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
  • 1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.
  • 1989 – Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
  • 1990 – Nelson Mandela is elected deputy President of the African National Congress.
  • 1991 – Battle at Rumaila oil field brings an end to the 1991 Gulf War.
  • 1992 – Start of the war in Transnistria.
  • 1992 – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations.
  • 1995 – Researchers at Fermilab announce the discovery of the top quark.
  • 1995 – Yahoo! is incorporated.
  • 1998 – Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter’s moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.
  • 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
  • 2004 – War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.
  • 2012 – A tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.
  • 2017 – The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson were officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia.

Births on March 2

  • 480 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian Christian saint (d. 543 or 547)
  • 1316 – Robert II of Scotland (d. 1390)
  • 1409 – Jean II, Duke of Alençon (d. 1476)
  • 1432 – Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach, countess consort of Hanau (d. 1457)
  • 1453 – Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (d. 1512)
  • 1459 – Pope Adrian VI (d. 1523)
  • 1481 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (d. 1523)
  • 1545 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (d. 1613)
  • 1577 – George Sandys, English traveller, colonist and poet (d. 1644)
  • 1628 – Cornelis Speelman, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1684)
  • 1651 – Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (d. 1730)
  • 1705 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1793)
  • 1740 – Nicholas Pocock, English naval painter (d.1821)
  • 1760 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician (d. 1794)
  • 1769 – DeWitt Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of New York (d. 1828)
  • 1770 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general (d. 1826)
  • 1779 – Joel Roberts Poinsett, American physician and politician, 15th United States Secretary of War (d. 1851)
  • 1793 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)
  • 1800 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian-Italian poet and philosopher (d. 1844)
  • 1810 – Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903)
  • 1816 – Alexander Bullock, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1882)
  • 1817 – János Arany, Hungarian journalist and poet (d. 1882)
  • 1820 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (d. 1887)
  • 1824 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1884)
  • 1829 – Carl Schurz, German-American general, lawyer, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1906)
  • 1836 – Henry Billings Brown, American lawyer and judge (d. 1913)
  • 1842 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer, art collector, and philanthropist (d. 1914)
  • 1846 – Marie Roze, French soprano (d. 1926)
  • 1849 – Robert Means Thompson, American commander, lawyer, and businessman (d. 1930)
  • 1859 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (d. 1916)
  • 1860 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (d. 1961)
  • 1862 – John Jay Chapman, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1933)
  • 1876 – Pope Pius XII (d. 1958)
  • 1878 – William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American sailor and race car driver (d. 1944)
  • 1886 – Willis H. O’Brien, American animator and director (d. 1962)
  • 1886 – Kurt Grelling, German logician and philosopher (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Kurt Weill, German-American pianist and composer (d. 1950)
  • 1901 – Grete Hermann, German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1984)
  • 1902 – Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy (d. 1972)
  • 1902 – Edward Condon, American physicist and academic (d. 1974)
  • 1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children’s book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Marc Blitzstein, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
  • 1905 – Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (d. 1985)
  • 1908 – Walter Bruch, German engineer (d. 1990)
  • 1909 – Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1958)
  • 1912 – Henry Katzman, American pianist, composer, and painter (d. 2001)
  • 1913 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch television host and author (d. 1971)
  • 1913 – Mort Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1958)
  • 1914 – Martin Ritt, American actor and film director (d. 1990)
  • 1915 – John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon (d. 2010)
  • 1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1986)
  • 1917 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (d. 1967)
  • 1917 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player and coach (d. 1976)
  • 1919 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Eddie Lawrence, American actor, singer, and playwright (d. 2014)
  • 1919 – Tamara Toumanova, Russian-American ballerina and actress (d. 1996)
  • 1921 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Ernst Haas, Austrian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1986)
  • 1922 – Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, American saxophonist (d. 1986)
  • 1922 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1999)
  • 1922 – Frances Spence, American computer programmer (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (d. 1999)
  • 1923 – Robert H. Michel, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
  • 1923 – Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Cal Abrams, American baseball player (d. 1997)
  • 1924 – Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic (d. 2004)
  • 1926 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Murray Rothbard, American economist and historian (d. 1995)
  • 1927 – Roger Walkowiak, French cyclist and economist (d. 2017)
  • 1930 – John Cullum, American actor and singer
  • 1930 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress (d. 2007)
  • 1930 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, President of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1932 – Gun Hägglund, Swedish journalist and translator (d. 2011)
  • 1934 – Dottie Rambo, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1935 – Gene Stallings, American football player and coach
  • 1936 – Haroon Ahmed, Pakistani-English engineer and academic
  • 1936 – John Tusa, Czech-English journalist and academic
  • 1937 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerian soldier and politician, 5th President of Algeria
  • 1938 – Ricardo Lagos, Chilean economist, lawyer, and politician, 33rd President of Chile
  • 1938 – Lawrence Payton, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1997)
  • 1938 – Clark Gesner, American author and composer (d. 2002)
  • 1939 – Jan Howard Finder, American author and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1940 – Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer (d. 2019)
  • 1941 – John Cornell, Australian actor, director, and producer
  • 1941 – David Satcher, American admiral and physician, 16th Surgeon General of the United States
  • 1942 – John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter
  • 1942 – Claude Larose, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1942 – Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iranian architect and politician, 79th Prime Minister of Iran
  • 1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Derek Woodley, English footballer (d. 2002)
  • 1943 – George Layton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Peter Straub, American author and poet
  • 1943 – Robert Williams, American painter and cartoonist
  • 1945 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1947 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1947 – Harry Redknapp, English footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Larry Carlton, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1948 – Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1995)
  • 1948 – Jeff Kennett, Australian journalist and politician, 43rd Premier of Victoria
  • 1948 – Carmen Lawrence, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Western Australia
  • 1950 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (d. 1983)
  • 1952 – Mark Evanier, American author and screenwriter
  • 1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian
  • 1953 – Russ Feingold, American lawyer and politician
  • 1954 – Ed Johnstone, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1955 – Dale Bozzio, American pop-rock singer-songwriter
  • 1955 – Jay Osmond, American singer, drummer, actor, and TV/film producer
  • 1955 – Ken Salazar, American lawyer and politician, 50th United States Secretary of the Interior
  • 1955 – Steve Small, Australian cricketer
  • 1956 – John Cowsill, American musician, songwriter, and producer
  • 1956 – Mark Evans, Australian rock bass player
  • 1957 – Hossein Dehghan, Iranian general and politician, Iranian Minister of Defense
  • 1957 – Dito Tsintsadze, Georgian film director and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Mark Dean, American inventor and computer engineer
  • 1958 – Kevin Curren, South African-American tennis player
  • 1958 – Ian Woosnam, English-Welsh golfer
  • 1959 – Larry Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1961 – Simone Young, Australian conductor, director, and composer
  • 1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
  • 1962 – Paul Farrelly, English journalist and politician
  • 1962 – Tom Nordlie, Norwegian footballer and coach
  • 1962 – Brendan O’Connor, Australian politician, Australian Minister for Employment
  • 1962 – Raimo Summanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
  • 1962 – Gabriele Tarquini, Italian race car driver
  • 1963 – Alvin Youngblood Hart, American singer and guitarist
  • 1963 – Anthony Albanese, Australian politician, 15th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
  • 1963 – Vidyasagar (composer), Indian composer, musician and singer
  • 1964 – Laird Hamilton, American surfer and actor
  • 1964 – Mike Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1987)
  • 1965 – Ron Gant, American baseball player and journalist
  • 1965 – Lembit Öpik, Northern Irish politician
  • 1966 – Ann Leckie, American author
  • 1966 – Simon Reevell, English lawyer and politician
  • 1968 – Daniel Craig, English actor and producer
  • 1970 – James Purnell, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
  • 1970 – Ciriaco Sforza, Swiss footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Wibi Soerjadi, Dutch pianist and composer
  • 1971 – Dave Gorman, English comedian, author and television presenter
  • 1971 – Method Man, American rapper, record producer and actor
  • 1972 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Dejan Bodiroga, Serbian basketball player
  • 1973 – Trevor Sinclair, English footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Hayley Lewis, Australian swimmer and television host
  • 1975 – Daryl Gibson, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1977 – Dominique Canty, American basketball player and coach
  • 1977 – Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1977 – Stephen Parry, English swimmer and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Andrew Strauss, South African-English cricketer
  • 1978 – Gabby Eigenmann, Filipino actor and singer
  • 1978 – Lee Hodges, English footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Tomáš Kaberle, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Damien Duff, Irish international footballer, winger
  • 1979 – Gayatri Asokan, Indian playback singer
  • 1979 – Jim Troughton, English cricketer
  • 1979 – Nicky Weaver, English footballer
  • 1980 – Chris Barker, English footballer and manager (d. 2020)
  • 1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter
  • 1981 – Lance Cade, American wrestler (d. 2010)
  • 1981 – Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress
  • 1982 – Kevin Kurányi, German footballer
  • 1982 – Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Ben Roethlisberger, American football player
  • 1982 – Corey Webster, American football player
  • 1983 – Deuce, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1983 – Lisandro López, Argentinian footballer
  • 1983 – Jay McClement, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Glen Perkins, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Ryan Shannon, American ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Reggie Bush, American football player
  • 1985 – Suso Santana, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Jonathan D’Aversa, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Jonas Jerebko, Swedish basketball player
  • 1988 – Édgar Andrade, Mexican footballer
  • 1988 – James Arthur, English singer-songwriter
  • 1988 – Laura Kaeppeler, Miss America 2012
  • 1988 – Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
  • 1988 – Chris Rainey, American football player
  • 1988 – Geert Arend Roorda, Dutch footballer
  • 1989 – Alemão, Brazilian footballer
  • 1989 – Toby Alderweireld, Belgian international footballer, defender
  • 1989 – André Bernardes Santos, Portuguese footballer
  • 1989 – Marcel Hirscher, Austrian skier
  • 1989 – Shane Vereen, American football player
  • 1989 – Chris Woakes, English cricketer
  • 1990 – Rauno Alliku, Estonian footballer
  • 1990 – Malcolm Butler, American football player
  • 1990 – Josh McGuire, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
  • 1991 – Nick Franklin, American baseball player
  • 1992 – Jack Stockwell, Australian rugby league player
  • 1995 – Ange-Freddy Plumain, French footballer
  • 1997 – Becky G, American singer and actress
  • 2010 – Hailey Dawson, American with a 3D-printed robotic hand
  • 2016 – Prince Oscar, duke of Skåne and prince of Sweden

Deaths on March 2

  • 274 – Mani, Persian prophet and founder of Manichaeism (b. 216)
  • 672 – Chad of Mercia, English bishop and saint (b. 634)
  • 986 – Lothair, king of West Francia (b.941)
  • 968 – William, archbishop of Mainz (b. 929)
  • 1009 – Mokjong, king of Goryeo (b. 980)
  • 1127 – Charles the Good, Count of Flanders (b. 1084)
  • 1316 – Marjorie Bruce, Scottish daughter of Robert the Bruce (b. 1296)
  • 1333 – Wladyslaw I, king of Poland (b. 1261)
  • 1589 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal and diplomat (b. 1520)
  • 1619 – Anne of Denmark, queen of Scotland (b. 1574)
  • 1729 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian astronomer and philosopher (b. 1662)
  • 1755 – Louis de Rouvroy, French duke and diplomat (b. 1675)
  • 1791 – John Wesley, English cleric and theologian (b. 1703)
  • 1793 – Carl Gustaf Pilo, Swedish-Danish painter and academic (b. 1711)
  • 1797 – Horace Walpole, English historian and politician (b. 1717)
  • 1829 – Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Mexican revolutionary (b. ca. 1773)
  • 1830 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician, anatomist, and anthropologist (b. 1755)
  • 1835 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1768)
  • 1840 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (b. 1758)
  • 1855 – Nicholas I, Russian emperor (b. 1796)
  • 1864 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (b. 1842)
  • 1865 – Carl Sylvius Völkner, German-New Zealand priest and missionary (b. 1819)
  • 1880 – John Benjamin Macneill, Irish engineer (b. 1790)
  • 1895 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (b. 1841)
  • 1895 – Isma’il Pasha, Egyptian politician (b. 1830)
  • 1896 – Jubal Early, American general (b. 1816)
  • 1921 – Champ Clark, American lawyer and politician, 41st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1850)
  • 1930 – D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1885)
  • 1938 – Ben Harney, American pianist and composer (b. 1871)
  • 1939 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (b. 1874)
  • 1943 – Gisela Januszewska, Jewish-Austrian physician (b.1867)
  • 1944 – Ida Maclean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (b. 1877)
  • 1945 – Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author (b. 1871)
  • 1946 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1895)
  • 1946 – George E. Stewart, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
  • 1947 – Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels, Dutch architect and urban planner (b. 1882)
  • 1949 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (b. 1879)
  • 1953 – James Lightbody, American runner (b. 1882)
  • 1957 – Selim Sırrı Tarcan, Turkish educator and politician (b. 1874)
  • 1958 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
  • 1962 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (b. 1866)
  • 1967 – José Martínez Ruiz, Spanish author and critic (b. 1873)
  • 1972 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (b. 1877)
  • 1979 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (b. 1920)
  • 1982 – Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (b. 1928)
  • 1987 – Randolph Scott, American actor and director (b. 1898)
  • 1987 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer and academic (b. 1935)
  • 1991 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (b. 1928)
  • 1992 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (b. 1937)
  • 1994 – Anita Morris, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1943)
  • 1999 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (b. 1939)
  • 2000 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (b. 1963)
  • 2003 – Hank Ballard, American singer-songwriter (b. 1927)
  • 2003 – Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer (b. 1931)
  • 2004 – Cormac McAnallen, Irish footballer (b. 1980)
  • 2004 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (b. 1916)
  • 2004 – Marge Schott, American businesswoman (b. 1928)
  • 2005 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
  • 2007 – Thomas S. Kleppe, American soldier and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1919)
  • 2007 – Clem Labine, American baseball player (b. 1926)
  • 2007 – Ivan Safronov, Russian colonel and journalist (b. 1956)
  • 2007 – Henri Troyat, Russian-French historian and author (b. 1911)
  • 2008 – Jeff Healey, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1966)
  • 2009 – João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
  • 2010 – Winston Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1940)
  • 2012 – Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Van T. Barfoot, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Norman St John-Stevas, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1929)
  • 2012 – James Q. Wilson, American political scientist and academic (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Peter Harvey, Australian journalist (b. 1944)
  • 2013 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1942)
  • 2014 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet and translator (b. 1935)
  • 2015 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (b. 1917)
  • 2015 – Dave Mackay, Scottish-English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Mal Peet, English author and illustrator (b. 1947)
  • 2016 – Benoît Lacroix, Canadian priest, historian, and philosopher (b. 1915)
  • 2016 – Aubrey McClendon, American businessman (b. 1959)
  • 2018 – Billy Herrington, American actor (b. 1969)
  • 2018 – Lin Hu, Chinese lieutenant general (b. 1927)
  • 2019 – Mike Oliver, British sociologist, disability rights activist (b. 1945)

Holidays and observances on March 2

  • Air Force Day (Sri Lanka)
  • Baloch Culture Day (Balochistan)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Agnes of Bohemia
    • Angela of the Cross
    • Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders
    • Chad of Mercia (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church)
    • John Maron
    • March 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Feast of ‘Alá (Loftiness), First day of the 19th month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) and first day of the Baha’i Nineteen Day Fast
  • Jamahiriya Day (Libya)
  • Peasants’ Day (Myanmar)
  • Texas Independence Day
  • Victory at Adwa Day (Ethiopia)

March 2- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

February 26 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 747 BC – Epoch (origin) of Ptolemy’s Nabonassar Era.
  • 364 – Valentinian I is proclaimed Roman emperor
  • 1233 – Mongol–Jin War: The Mongols capture Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, after besieging it for months.
  • 1266 – Battle of Benevento: An army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by Manfred, King of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
  • 1365 – The Ava Kingdom and the royal city of Ava (Inwa) founded by King Thado Minbya
  • 1606 – The Janszoon voyage of 1605–06 becomes the first European expedition to set foot on Australia, although it is mistaken as a part of New Guinea.
  • 1616 – Galileo Galilei is formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
  • 1775 – The British East India Company factory on Balambangan Island is destroyed by Moro pirates
  • 1794 – The first Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen burns down.
  • 1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba.
  • 1876 – Japan and Korea sign a treaty granting Japanese citizens extraterritoriality rights, opening three ports to Japanese trade, and ending Korea’s status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty China.
  • 1909 – Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, is first shown to the general public at the Palace Theatre in London.
  • 1914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
  • 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson signs an act of Congress establishing the Grand Canyon National Park.
  • 1929 – President Calvin Coolidge signs an executive order establishing the 96,000 acre Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
  • 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
  • 1935 – Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of radar in the United Kingdom.
  • 1936 – In the February 26 Incident, young Japanese military officers attempt to stage a coup against the government.
  • 1952 – Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada.
  • 1960 – A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
  • 1966 – Apollo program: Launch of AS-201, the first flight of the Saturn IB rocket
  • 1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
  • 1979 – The Superliner railcar enters revenue service with Amtrak.
  • 1980 – Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations.
  • 1987 – Iran–Contra affair: The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for not controlling his national security staff.
  • 1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Khojaly Massacre: Armenian armed forces open fire on Azeri civilians at a military post outside the town of Khojaly leaving hundreds dead.
  • 1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing six and injuring over a thousand people.
  • 1995 – The UK’s oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses after a rogue securities broker Nick Leeson loses $1.4 billion by speculating on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange using futures contracts.
  • 2008 – The New York Philharmonic performs in Pyongyang, North Korea; this is the first event of its kind to take place in North Korea.
  • 2012 – Trayvon Martin was shot and killed at the age of 17 in Sanford, Florida.
  • 2012 – A train derails in Burlington, Ontario, Canada killing at least three people and injuring 45.
  • 2013 – A hot air balloon crashes near Luxor, Egypt, killing 19 people.

Births on February 26

  • 1361 – Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (d. 1419)
  • 1416 – Christopher of Bavaria (d. 1448)
  • 1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English playwright, poet and translator (d. 1593)
  • 1584 – Albert VI, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1666)
  • 1587 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer and educator (d. 1639)
  • 1629 – Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, Scottish peer (d. 1685)
  • 1651 – Quirinus Kuhlmann, German Baroque poet and mystic (d. 1689)
  • 1671 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English philosopher and politician (d. 1713)
  • 1672 – Antoine Augustin Calmet, French monk and theologian (d. 1757)
  • 1677 – Nicola Fago, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1745)
  • 1718 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop, botanist and zoologist (d. 1773)
  • 1720 – Gian Francesco Albani, Italian cardinal (d. 1803)
  • 1746 – Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma (d. 1806)
  • 1770 – Anton Reicha, Bohemian composer and flautist (d. 1836)
  • 1777 – Matija Nenadović, Serbian priest, historian, and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 1854)
  • 1786 – François Arago, French mathematician and politician, 25th Prime Minister of France (d. 1853)
  • 1799 – Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (d. 1864)
  • 1802 – Victor Hugo, French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1885)
  • 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 1879)
  • 1808 – Nathan Kelley, American architect, designed the Ohio Statehouse (d. 1871)
  • 1829 – Levi Strauss, German-American fashion designer, founded Levi Strauss & Co. (d. 1902)
  • 1842 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer and author (d. 1925)
  • 1846 – Buffalo Bill, American soldier and hunter (d. 1917)
  • 1852 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon, co-created Corn flakes (d. 1943)
  • 1857 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (d. 1926)
  • 1861 – Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (d. 1948)
  • 1861 – Nadezhda Krupskaya, Russian soldier and politician (d. 1939)
  • 1866 – Herbert Henry Dow, Canadian-American businessman, founded the Dow Chemical Company (d. 1930)
  • 1877 – Henry Barwell, Australian politician, 28th Premier of South Australia (d. 1959)
  • 1877 – Rudolph Dirks, German-American illustrator (d. 1968)
  • 1879 – Frank Bridge, English viola player and composer (d. 1941)
  • 1880 – Kenneth Edgeworth, Irish astronomer (d. 1972)
  • 1881 – Janus Djurhuus, Faroese poet (d. 1948)
  • 1882 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (d. 1968)
  • 1885 – Aleksandras Stulginskis, Lithuanian farmer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (d. 1969)
  • 1887 – Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball player and coach (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – William Frawley, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1966)
  • 1887 – Stefan Grabiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1936)
  • 1893 – Wallace Fard Muhammad, American religious leader, founded the Nation of Islam (disappeared 1934)
  • 1893 – Dorothy Whipple, English novelist (d. 1966)
  • 1896 – Andrei Zhdanov, Ukrainian-Russian civil servant and politician (d. 1948)
  • 1899 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss jurist and politician, 54th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1994)
  • 1900 – Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower and poet (d. 1989)
  • 1900 – Fritz Wiessner, German-American mountaineer (d. 1988)
  • 1902 – Jean Bruller, French author and illustrator, co-founded Les Éditions de Minuit (d. 1991)
  • 1903 – Giulio Natta, Italian chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
  • 1903 – Orde Wingate, English general (d. 1944)
  • 1906 – Madeleine Carroll, English actress (d. 1987)
  • 1908 – Tex Avery, American animator, producer, and voice actor (d. 1980)
  • 1908 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (d. 1971)
  • 1908 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
  • 1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
  • 1909 – Talal of Jordan (d. 1972)
  • 1910 – Vic Woodley, English footballer (d. 1978)
  • 1911 – Tarō Okamoto, Japanese painter and sculptor (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Dane Clark, American actor and director (d. 1998)
  • 1913 – George Barker, English author and poet (d. 1991)
  • 1914 – Robert Alda, American actor, singer, and director (d. 1986)
  • 1916 – Jackie Gleason, American actor and singer (d. 1987)
  • 1918 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Pyotr Masherov, Leader of Soviet Belarus (d. 1980)
  • 1918 – Theodore Sturgeon, American author and critic (d. 1985)
  • 1919 – Mason Adams, American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Danny Gardella, American baseball player and trainer (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Tony Randall, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (d. 2006)
  • 1921 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer and businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1922 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (d. 1976)
  • 1924 – Noboru Takeshita, Japanese soldier and politician, 74th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 2000)
  • 1924 – Marc Bucci, American composer, lyricist, and dramatist (d. 2002)
  • 1925 – Everton Weekes, Barbadian cricketer and referee
  • 1926 – Doris Belack, American actress (d. 2011)
  • 1926 – Verne Gagne, American football player, wrestler, and trainer (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Tom Kennedy, American game show host and actor
  • 1928 – Fats Domino, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2017)
  • 1928 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli general and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (d. 2014)
  • 1931 – Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
  • 1931 – Robert Novak, American journalist and author (d. 2009)
  • 1931 – Josephine Tewson, English actress
  • 1932 – Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1933 – James Goldsmith, French-British businessman and politician (d. 1997)
  • 1934 – Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Algerian director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1936 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (d. 2014)
  • 1937 – Paul Dickson, American football player and coach (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Chuck Wepner, American professional boxer
  • 1940 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (d. 2013)
  • 1942 – Jozef Adamec, Slovak footballer and manager (d. 2018)
  • 1943 – Paul Cotton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Bill Duke, American actor and director
  • 1943 – Dante Ferretti, Italian art director and costume designer
  • 1943 – Bob “The Bear” Hite, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1981)
  • 1944 – Christopher Hope, South African author and poet
  • 1944 – Ronald Lauder, American businessman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Austria
  • 1945 – Peter Brock, Australian race car driver (d. 2006)
  • 1945 – Marta Kristen, Norwegian-American actress
  • 1945 – Mitch Ryder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Colin Bell, English footballer
  • 1946 – Ahmed Zewail, Egyptian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
  • 1947 – Sandie Shaw, English singer and psychotherapist
  • 1948 – Sharyn McCrumb, American author
  • 1949 – Simon Crean, Australian trade union leader and politician, 14th Australian Minister for the Arts
  • 1949 – Elizabeth George, American author and educator
  • 1949 – Emma Kirkby, English soprano
  • 1950 – Jonathan Cain, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1950 – Helen Clark, New Zealand academic and politician, 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand
  • 1951 – Steve Bell, English cartoonist
  • 1951 – Wayne Goss, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Premier of Queensland (d. 2014)
  • 1953 – Michael Bolton, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1954 – Prince Ernst August of Hanover
  • 1954 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish politician, 12th President of Turkey
  • 1955 – Andreas Maislinger, Austrian historian and academic, founded the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service
  • 1956 – Michel Houellebecq, French author, poet, screenwriter, and director
  • 1957 – David Beasley, American lawyer and politician, 113th Governor of South Carolina
  • 1957 – Joe Mullen, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1957 – Keena Rothhammer, American swimmer
  • 1958 – Paul Ackford, English rugby player
  • 1958 – Greg Germann, American actor and director
  • 1958 – Susan Helms, American general, engineer, and astronaut
  • 1958 – Tim Kaine, American lawyer and politician, 70th Governor of Virginia
  • 1959 – Rolando Blackman, American basketball player and coach
  • 1959 – Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkish political scientist, academic, and politician, 37th Prime Minister of Turkey
  • 1960 – Jaz Coleman, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1962 – Ahn Cheol-soo, South Korean physician, academic, and politician
  • 1963 – Chase Masterson, American actress, singer, and activist
  • 1965 – James Mitchell, American wrestler and manager
  • 1966 – Garry Conille, Haitian physician and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Haiti
  • 1966 – Marc Fortier, French-Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1966 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
  • 1967 – Mark Carroll, Australian rugby league player
  • 1967 – Kazuyoshi Miura, Japanese footballer
  • 1968 – Tim Commerford, American bass player
  • 1969 – Hitoshi Sakimoto, Japanese composer and producer
  • 1970 – Mark Harper, English accountant and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
  • 1970 – Scott Mahon, Australian rugby league player
  • 1971 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
  • 1971 – Max Martin, Swedish-American record producer and songwriter
  • 1971 – Hélène Segara, French singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1973 – Marshall Faulk, American football player
  • 1973 – Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Jenny Thompson, American swimmer
  • 1974 – Sébastien Loeb, French race car driver
  • 1974 – Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Filipina television actress, host and equestrienne
  • 1976 – Nalini Anantharaman, French mathematician
  • 1976 – Chad Urmston, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1977 – Marty Reasoner, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1977 – Tim Thomas, American basketball player
  • 1977 – Shane Williams, Welsh rugby union player
  • 1978 – Abdoulaye Faye, Senegalese footballer
  • 1979 – Corinne Bailey Rae, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Steve Evans, Welsh footballer
  • 1979 – Pedro Mendes, Portuguese international footballer, midfielder
  • 1980 – Steve Blake, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Kertus Davis, American race car driver
  • 1981 – Oh Seung-bum, South Korean footballer
  • 1982 – Li Na, Chinese tennis player
  • 1982 – Matt Prior, South African-English cricketer
  • 1982 – Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter
  • 1983 – Jerome Harrison, American football player
  • 1983 – Pepe, Brazilian-Portuguese footballer
  • 1984 – Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese international footballer, forward
  • 1984 – Natalia Lafourcade, Mexican singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Beren Saat, Turkish actress
  • 1985 – Fernando Llorente, Spanish international footballer, striker
  • 1986 – Hannah Kearney, American skier
  • 1989 – Gabriel Obertan, French footballer
  • 1990 – Kateřina Cachová, Czech heptathlete
  • 1990 – Takanoiwa Yoshimori, Mongolian sumo wrestler
  • 1991 – Lee Chae-rin, South Korean singer
  • 1992 – Mikael Granlund, Finnish professional hockey player
  • 1992 – Michael Chee Kam, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1997 – Reghan Tumilty, Scottish footballer

Deaths on February 26

  • 420 – Porphyry of Gaza, Greek bishop and saint (b. 347)
  • 943 – Muirchertach mac Néill, king of Ailech (Ireland)
  • 1154 – Roger II of Sicily (b. 1093)
  • 1266 – Manfred, King of Sicily (b. 1232)
  • 1275 – Margaret of England, Queen consort of Scots (b. 1240)
  • 1349 – Fatima bint al-Ahmar, Nasrid princess in the Emirate of Granada (b. c.1260)
  • 1360 – Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, English commander (b. 1328)
  • 1462 – John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, English politician (b. 1408)
  • 1548 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (b. 1514)
  • 1577 – Eric XIV of Sweden (b. 1533)
  • 1603 – Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, spouse of Maximilian II (b. 1528)
  • 1608 – John Still, English bishop (b. 1543)
  • 1611 – Antonio Possevino, Italian priest and diplomat (b. 1533)
  • 1625 – Anna Vasa of Sweden, Polish and Swedish princess (b. 1568)
  • 1630 – William Brade, English violinist and composer (b. 1560)
  • 1638 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician and linguist (b. 1581)
  • 1723 – Thomas d’Urfey, English poet and playwright (b. 1653)
  • 1726 – Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1662)
  • 1770 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1692)
  • 1790 – Joshua Rowley, English admiral (b. 1730)
  • 1802 – Esek Hopkins, American admiral (b. 1718)
  • 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Haitian-French general (b. 1762)
  • 1813 – Robert R. Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs (b. 1746)
  • 1815 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. 1737)
  • 1821 – Joseph de Maistre, French lawyer and diplomat (b. 1753)
  • 1864 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Canadian jurist and politician, 3rd Premier of Canada East (b. 1807)
  • 1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek lawyer and politician, 56th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
  • 1887 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, First Indian women physician (b. 1865)
  • 1889 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist and composer (b. 1838)
  • 1903 – Richard Jordan Gatling, American engineer, invented the Gatling gun (b. 1818)
  • 1906 – Jean Lanfray, Swiss convicted murderer (b. 1874)
  • 1913 – Felix Draeseke, German composer and academic (b. 1835)
  • 1921 – Carl Menger, Polish-Austrian economist and academic (b. 1840)
  • 1930 – Mary Whiton Calkins, American philosopher and psychologist (b. 1863)
  • 1931 – Otto Wallach, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1847)
  • 1936 – February 26 Incident:
    • Takahashi Korekiyo, Japanese accountant and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1854)
    • Saitō Makoto, Japanese admiral and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1858)
    • Jōtarō Watanabe, Japanese general (b. 1874)
  • 1943 – Theodor Eicke, German general (b. 1892)
  • 1945 – Sándor Szurmay, Minister of Defence of the Hungarian portion of Austria-Hungary (b. 1860)
  • 1947 – Heinrich Häberlin, Swiss judge and politician, President of the Swiss National Council (b. 1868)
  • 1950 – Harry Lauder, Scottish comedian and singer (b. 1870)
  • 1951 – Sabiha Kasimati, Albanian ichthyologist (b. 1912) executed with 20 others
  • 1952 – Theodoros Pangalos, Greek general and politician, President of Greece (b. 1878)
  • 1961 – Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer, and educator (b. 1878)
  • 1961 – Mohammed V of Morocco (b. 1909)
  • 1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian poet and politician (b. 1883)
  • 1969 – Levi Eshkol, Israeli soldier and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895)
  • 1969 – Karl Jaspers, German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher (b. 1883)
  • 1981 – Robert Aickman, English author and activist (b. 1914)
  • 1981 – Howard Hanson, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1896)
  • 1985 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
  • 1989 – Roy Eldridge, American trumpet player (b. 1911)
  • 1993 – Constance Ford, American model and actress (b. 1923)
  • 1994 – Bill Hicks, American comedian (b. 1961)
  • 1995 – Jack Clayton, English director and producer (b. 1921)
  • 1997 – David Doyle, American actor (b. 1929)
  • 1998 – Theodore Schultz, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
  • 2000 – George L. Street III, American captain, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1913)
  • 2002 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (b. 1919)
  • 2004 – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Finnish general (b. 1905)
  • 2004 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (b. 1956)
  • 2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist, created Macintosh (b. 1943)
  • 2006 – Georgina Battiscombe, British biographer (b. 1905)
  • 2008 – Bodil Udsen, Danish actress (b. 1925)
  • 2009 – Johnny Kerr, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1932)
  • 2009 – Wendy Richard, English actress (b. 1943)
  • 2009 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1947)
  • 2010 – Jun Seba, also known as “Nujabes”, Japanese record producer, DJ, composer and arranger (b. 1974)
  • 2011 – Arnošt Lustig, Czech author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Richard Carpenter, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Marie-Claire Alain, French organist and educator (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Stéphane Hessel, German-French diplomat and author (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Simon Li, Hong Kong judge and politician (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Sorel Etrog, Romanian-Canadian sculptor, painter, and illustrator (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Phyllis Krasilovsky, American author and academic (b. 1927)
  • 2014 – Paco de Lucía, Spanish guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Sheppard Frere, English historian and archaeologist (b. 1916)
  • 2015 – Theodore Hesburgh, American priest, theologian, educator, and academic (b. 1917)
  • 2015 – Earl Lloyd, American basketball player and coach (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – Tom Schweich, American lawyer and politician, 36th State Auditor of Missouri (b. 1960)
  • 2016 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Don Getty, Canadian football player and politician, 11th Premier of Alberta (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Joseph Wapner, American lieutenant and judge (b. 1919)

Holidays and observances on February 26

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alexander of Alexandria
    • Emily Malbone Morgan (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Isabelle of France
    • Li Tim-Oi (Anglican Church of Canada)
    • Porphyry of Gaza
    • February 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • The first day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Please note that this observance is only locked into this date the Gregorian calendar on this date if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it doesn’t in all years)
  • Day of Remembrance for Victims of Khojaly Massacre (Azerbaijan)
  • Liberation Day (Kuwait)
  • Saviours’ Day (Nation of Islam)

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