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1855

March 20- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

Typically the March equinox falls on March 20, marking the vernal point in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal point in the Southern Hemisphere.

  • 235 – Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor.
  • 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
  • 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
  • 1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599).
  • 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
  • 1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
  • 1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
  • 1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.
  • 1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
  • 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.
  • 1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
  • 1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
  • 1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
  • 1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
  • 1890 – Prime Minister of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
  • 1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
  • 1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
  • 1915 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
  • 1921 – The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland.
  • 1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
  • 1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso’s first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
  • 1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
  • 1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.
  • 1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
  • 1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
  • 1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan.
  • 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
  • 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
  • 1972 – The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
  • 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
  • 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
  • 1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
  • 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
  • 1990 – Ferdinand Marcos’s widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
  • 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
  • 1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people.
  • 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
  • 2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff’s deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
  • 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.
  • 2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
  • 2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
  • 2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
  • 2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.

Births on March 20

  • 43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
  • 1253 – Magadu, renamed Wareru, founder of Ramanya Kingdom, renamed Hanthawady Kingdom of Pegu (b. a commoner; d. on a Saturday in January 1307)
  • 1319 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1348)
  • 1469 – Cecily of York (d. 1507)
  • 1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar (d. 1527)
  • 1479 – Ippolito d’Este, Italian cardinal (d. 1520)
  • 1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
  • 1532 – Juan de Ribera, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1611)
  • 1612 – Anne Bradstreet, Puritan American poet (d. 1672)
  • 1615 – Dara Shikoh, Indian prince (d. 1659)
  • 1639 – Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1709)
  • 1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1789)
  • 1737 – Rama I, Thai king (d. 1809)
  • 1771 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (d. 1854)
  • 1796 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (d. 1862)
  • 1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (d. 1839)
  • 1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica (d. 1845)
  • 1805 – Thomas Cooper, British poet (d. 1892)
  • 1811 – Napoleon II, French emperor (d. 1832)
  • 1811 – George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (d. 1879)
  • 1821 – Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 1886)
  • 1824 – Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (d. 1876)
  • 1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director (d. 1906)
  • 1831 – Patrick Jennings, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1897)
  • 1831 – Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician (d. 1881)
  • 1834 – Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic (d. 1926)
  • 1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886)
  • 1836 – Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator (d. 1919)
  • 1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
  • 1851 – Ismail Gasprinski, Ukrainian educator, publisher, and politician (d. 1914)
  • 1856 – John Lavery, Irish painter (d. 1941)
  • 1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer (d. 1915)
  • 1870 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
  • 1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist (d. 1945)
  • 1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1927)
  • 1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (d. 1960)
  • 1882 – René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France (d. 1962)
  • 1882 – Harold Weber, American golfer (d. 1933)
  • 1884 – Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1966)
  • 1884 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (d. 1970)
  • 1885 – Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer (d. 1958)
  • 1888 – Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator (d. 1971)
  • 1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor (d. 1973)
  • 1894 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (d. 1974)
  • 1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
  • 1898 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (d. 1954)
  • 1900 – Amelia Chopitea Villa, Bolivia’s first female physician (d. 1942)
  • 1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
  • 1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author (d. 1990)
  • 1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer (d. 1949)
  • 1906 – Abraham Beame, American accountant and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (d. 2001)
  • 1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (d. 1975)
  • 1907 – Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator (d. 1990)
  • 1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor and director (d. 1985)
  • 1910 – Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower (d. 1999)
  • 1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
  • 1913 – Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer (d. 1968)
  • 1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor and politician (d. 1968)
  • 1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1973)
  • 1916 – Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
  • 1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer, songwriter and actress (d. 2020)
  • 1917 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1984)
  • 1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (d. 1984)
  • 1918 – Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Bernd Alois Zimmermann, German composer (d. 1970)
  • 1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace (d. 1983)
  • 1920 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
  • 1920 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1921 – Usmar Ismail, Indonesian filmmaker (d. 1971)
  • 1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher (d. 1977)
  • 1921 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1970)
  • 1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2017)
  • 1922 – Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1990)
  • 1922 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
  • 1923 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
  • 1925 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel (d. 1999)
  • 1927 – John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1928 – Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach (d. 2002)
  • 1928 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Fred Rogers, American television host and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1929 – William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
  • 1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1931 – Hal Linden, American actor, singer, and director
  • 1931 – Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
  • 1933 – Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
  • 1933 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
  • 1934 – Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
  • 1934 – David Malouf, Australian author and playwright
  • 1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (d. 1996)
  • 1935 – Bettye Washington Greene, American chemist (d. 1995)
  • 1936 – Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jamaican singer, songwriter, music producer, and inventor
  • 1936 – Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
  • 1937 – Lois Lowry, American author
  • 1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
  • 1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic
  • 1939 – Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1939 – Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
  • 1940 – Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1940 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist (d. 2015)
  • 1940 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company (d. 2012)
  • 1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager
  • 1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
  • 1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
  • 1943 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (d. 2015)
  • 1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1944 – John Cameron, English composer and conductor
  • 1944 – Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
  • 1944 – Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
  • 1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot (d. 2015)
  • 1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
  • 1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
  • 1945 – Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
  • 1946 – Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1946 – Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
  • 1947 – John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1948 – John de Lancie, American actor
  • 1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1948 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1949 – Marcia Ball, American blues singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1949 – Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
  • 1950 – William Hurt, American actor
  • 1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer, percussionist, and songwriter
  • 1951 – Jimmie Vaughan, American blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
  • 1952 – David Greenaway, English economist and academic
  • 1953 – Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
  • 1954 – Mike Francesa, American radio talk show host and television commentator
  • 1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
  • 1954 – Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
  • 1955 – Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
  • 1955 – Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter
  • 1955 – Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1956 – Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
  • 1956 – Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
  • 1956 – Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
  • 1957 – Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
  • 1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
  • 1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
  • 1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
  • 1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress and producer
  • 1958 – Rickey Jackson, American football player
  • 1958 – Joe Reaiche, Australian rugby player
  • 1959 – Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
  • 1959 – Mary Roach, American author
  • 1959 – Sting, American wrestler
  • 1959 – Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, British Labour Party politician and peer
  • 1960 – Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
  • 1960 – Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
  • 1960 – Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
  • 1961 – Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
  • 1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
  • 1962 – Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
  • 1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model, actress, and furniture designer
  • 1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (d. 2007)
  • 1963 – David Thewlis, English-French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter
  • 1965 – William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
  • 1967 – Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
  • 1968 – Carlos Almeida, Cape Verdean runner
  • 1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
  • 1968 – Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter
  • 1969 – Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
  • 1969 – Fabien Galthie, French rugby player
  • 1970 – Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Josephine Medina, Filipino Paralympic table tennis player
  • 1970 – sj Miller, American academic, public speaker, and social justice activist
  • 1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor, podcast host, and director
  • 1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
  • 1971 – Touré, American journalist and author
  • 1972 – Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
  • 1972 – Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1972 – Greg Searle, English rower
  • 1972 – Marco Sejna, German footballer
  • 1972 – Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
  • 1973 – Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
  • 1973 – Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
  • 1973 – Talal Khalifa Aljeri, Kuwaiti businessman
  • 1974 – Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
  • 1975 – Ramin Bahrani, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1975 – Isolde Kostner, Italian skier
  • 1976 – Chester Bennington, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2017)
  • 1978 – Kevin Betsy, English born Seychelles international footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1978 – Brent Sherwin, Australian rugby league player
  • 1979 – Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
  • 1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress
  • 1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
  • 1980 – Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
  • 1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
  • 1981 – Carl Webb, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
  • 1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
  • 1983 – Carolina Padrón, Venezuelan journalist
  • 1983 – Jenni Vartiainen, Finnish singer
  • 1984 – Vikram Banerjee, English cricketer
  • 1984 – Christy Carlson Romano, American actress and singer
  • 1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
  • 1985 – Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
  • 1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
  • 1985 – Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
  • 1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
  • 1986 – Ruby Rose, Australian actress and model
  • 1986 – Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
  • 1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
  • 1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
  • 1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi Cricketer
  • 1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
  • 1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
  • 1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
  • 1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
  • 1991 – Ethan Lowe, Australian rugby league player
  • 1993 – Sloane Stephens, American tennis player
  • 1995 – Jack Bird, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on March 20

  • 687 – Cuthbert, Northumbrian (English) monk, bishop, and saint (b. 634)
  • 703 – Wulfram, archbishop of Sens
  • 842 – Alfonso II, king of Asturias (Spain) (b. 759)
  • 851 – Ebbo, archbishop of Reims
  • 1181 – Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general (b. 1118)
  • 1191 – Pope Clement III (b. 1130)
  • 1239 – Hermann von Salza, German knight and diplomat (b. 1179)
  • 1302 – Ralph Walpole, Bishop of Norwich
  • 1336 – Maurice Csák, Hungarian Dominican friar (b. 1270)
  • 1351 – Muhammad bin Tughluq, Sultan of Delhi
  • 1390 – Alexios III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1338)
  • 1413 – Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
  • 1440 – Sigismund I of Lithuania
  • 1475 – Georges Chastellain, Burgundian chronicler and poet
  • 1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English general and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1508)
  • 1568 – Albert, Duke of Prussia (b. 1490)
  • 1619 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1557)
  • 1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish monk (b. 1603)
  • 1688 – Maria of Orange-Nassau, Dutch princess (b. 1642)
  • 1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
  • 1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter and academic (b. 1656)
  • 1780 – Benjamin Truman, English brewer and businessman (b. 1699)
  • 1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1705)
  • 1835 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
  • 1849 – James Justinian Morier, Turkish-English author and diplomat (b. 1780)
  • 1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English businessman (b. 1788)
  • 1865 – Yamanami Keisuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
  • 1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (b. 1810)
  • 1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
  • 1894 – Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian lawyer, journalist and politician (b. 1802)
  • 1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1821)
  • 1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and author (b. 1822)
  • 1909 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian historian and businessman (b. 1842)
  • 1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American general and lawyer (b. 1828)
  • 1925 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (b. 1859)
  • 1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (b. 1851)
  • 1930 – Arthur F. Andrews, American cyclist (b. 1876)
  • 1931 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
  • 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak (b. 1900; executed)
  • 1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
  • 1945 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (b. 1883)
  • 1946 – Amadeus William Grabau, American-Chinese geologist, paleontologist, and academic (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and director (b. 1884)
  • 1952 – Hjalmar Väre, Finnish cyclist (b. 1892)
  • 1958 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian merchant, journalist, and politician (b. 1915)
  • 1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish republican and playwright (b. 1923)
  • 1965 – Daniel Frank, American long jumper (b. 1882)
  • 1966 – Johnny Morrison, American baseball player (b. 1895)
  • 1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (b. 1889)
  • 1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)
  • 1971 – Falih Rıfkı Atay, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1894)
  • 1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 1974 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (b. 1911)
  • 1977 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1909)
  • 1977 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (b. 1919)
  • 1978 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (b. 1895)
  • 1981 – Gerry Bertier, American football player (b. 1953)
  • 1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
  • 1990 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1907)
  • 1990 – Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b. 1929)
  • 1992 – Georges Delerue, French composer (b. 1925)
  • 1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
  • 1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (b. 1946)
  • 1997 – V. S. Pritchett, English short story writer, essayist, and critic (b. 1900)
  • 1999 – Patrick Heron, British painter (b. 1920)
  • 2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
  • 2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (b. 1949)
  • 2004 – Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
  • 2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1917)
  • 2005 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
  • 2007 – Raynald Fréchette, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1933)
  • 2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician, Vice President of Iraq (b. 1938)
  • 2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (b. 1948)
  • 2010 – Ai, American poet and academic (b. 1947)
  • 2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
  • 2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (b. 1955)
  • 2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (b. 1938)
  • 2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (b. 1966)
  • 2013 – James Herbert, English author (b. 1943)
  • 2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (b. 1934)
  • 2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (b. 1915)
  • 2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1922)
  • 2017 – David Rockefeller, American billionaire and philanthropist (b. 1915)
  • 2018 – C. K. Mann, a Ghanaian Highlife musician and producer (b. 1936)
  • 2019 – Mary Warnock, English philosopher & writer (b. 1924)
  • 2020 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances on March 20

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alexandra
    • Blessed John of Parma
    • Clement of Ireland
    • Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
    • Herbert of Derwentwater
    • John of Nepomuk
    • Józef Bilczewski
    • María Josefa Sancho de Guerra
    • Martin of Braga
    • Michele Carcano
    • Wulfram
    • March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest date for the vernal equinox in the Northern hemisphere:
    • Bahá’í Naw-Rúz, started at sunset on March 20. The end of the 19-day sunrise-to-sunset fast. (Bahá’í Faith)
    • Chunfen (China)
    • Earth Equinox Day
    • International Astrology Day
    • New Year (Thelema)
    • Nowruz (Persian, Gilaki, Kurdish, Zoroastrians, and other Iranian people and countries with an Iranian influence)
    • Ostara in the northern hemisphere, Mabon in the southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)
    • Shunbun no Hi (Japan)
    • Sun-Earth Day (United States)
    • Vernal Equinox Day/Kōreisai (Japan)
    • World Storytelling Day
  • Earliest day on which Good Friday can fall, while April 23 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Easter. (Christianity)
  • Great American Meatout (United States)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956.
  • International Day of Happiness (United Nations)
  • International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), and its related observances:
    • UN French Language Day (United Nations)
  • National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
  • World Sparrow Day

March 20- 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 16- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

March 16 in History

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

Births on March 16

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

Deaths on March 16

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

Holidays and observances on March 16

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

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

On This Day

March 13- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years’ War.
  • 1591 – At the Battle of Tondibi in Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi dynasty, led by Judar Pasha, defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.
  • 1639 – Harvard College is named after clergyman John Harvard.
  • 1697 – Nojpetén, capital of the last independent Maya kingdom, fell to Spanish conquistadors, the final step in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
  • 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (part of the War of Jenkins’ Ear) begins..
  • 1809 – Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden is deposed in the Coup of 1809.
  • 1826 – Pope Leo XII publishes the apostolic constitution Quo Graviora in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics joining freemasonry.
  • 1845 – Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto receives its première performance in Leipzig with Ferdinand David as soloist.
  • 1848 – The German revolutions of 1848–1849 begin in Vienna.
  • 1862 – The Act Prohibiting the Return of Slaves was passed by the United States Congress, effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.
  • 1881 – Alexander II of Russia is assassinated.
  • 1884 – The Siege of Khartoum begins. It lasts until January 26, 1885.
  • 1900 – British forces occupy Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, during the Second Boer War.
  • 1920 – The Kapp Putsch briefly ousts the Weimar Republic government from Berlin.
  • 1930 – The news of the discovery of Pluto is announced by Lowell Observatory.
  • 1933 – Banks in the U.S. begin to re-open after the three-day national “bank holiday” mandated by the Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Emergency Banking Act.
  • 1943 – German forces liquidate the Jewish ghetto in Kraków.
  • 1954 – The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ begins with an artillery barrage by Viet Minh forces under Võ Nguyên Giáp; Viet Minh victory lead to the end of the First Indochina War and French withdrawal from Vietnam.
  • 1957 – Cuban student revolutionaries storm the presidential palace in Havana in a failed attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista.
  • 1969 – Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
  • 1979 – The New Jewel Movement, headed by Maurice Bishop, ousts the Prime Minister of Grenada, Eric Gairy, in a coup d’état.
  • 1988 – The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan.
  • 1992 – The Mw  6.6 Erzincan earthquake strikes eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe).
  • 1996 – The Dunblane massacre leads to the death of sixteen primary school children and one teacher in Dunblane, Scotland.
  • 1997 – The Missionaries of Charity choose Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as their leader.
  • 2003 – An article in Nature identifies the Ciampate del Diavolo as 350,000-year-old hominid footprints.
  • 2012 – The Sierre coach crash kills 28 people, including 22 children.
  • 2013 – The 2013 papal conclave elects Pope Francis as the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church.
  • 2016 – The Ankara bombing kills at least 37 people.
  • 2016 – Three gunmen attack two hotels in the Ivory Coast town of Grand-Bassam, killing at least 19 people.

Births on March 13

  • 1372 – Louis I, Duke of Orléans (d. 1407)
  • 1479 – Lazarus Spengler, German hymnwriter (d. 1534)
  • 1560 – William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, Dutch count (d. 1620)
  • 1593 – Georges de La Tour, French painter (probable; d. 1652)
  • 1599 – John Berchmans, Belgian Jesuit scholastic and saint (d. 1621)
  • 1615 – Innocent XII, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1700)
  • 1683 – Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, German botanist (d. 1741)
  • 1700 – Michel Blavet, French flute player and composer (d. 1768)
  • 1719 – John Griffin, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Essex (d. 1797)
  • 1720 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss historian and author (d. 1793)
  • 1741 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1790)
  • 1763 – Guillaume Brune, French general and diplomat (d. 1815)
  • 1764 – Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1845)
  • 1770 – Daniel Lambert, English animal breeder (d. 1809)
  • 1781 – Karl Friedrich Schinkel, German painter and architect, designed the Konzerthaus Berlin (d. 1841)
  • 1798 – Abigail Fillmore, American wife of Millard Fillmore, 14th First Lady of the United States (d. 1853)
  • 1800 – Mustafa Reşid Pasha, Ottoman politician, 212th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1858)
  • 1815 – James Curtis Hepburn, American physician, linguist, and missionary (d. 1911)
  • 1825 – Hans Gude, Norwegian-German painter and academic (d. 1903)
  • 1855 – Percival Lowell, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1916)
  • 1857 – B. H. Roberts, English-American historian and politician (d. 1933)
  • 1860 – Hugo Wolf, Slovene-Austrian composer (d. 1903)
  • 1862 – Paul Prosper Henrys, French general (d. 1943)
  • 1864 – Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (d. 1941)
  • 1870 – William Glackens, American painter and illustrator (d. 1938)
  • 1874 – Ellery Harding Clark, American jumper, coach, and lawyer (d. 1949)
  • 1880 – Josef Gočár, Czech architect (d. 1945)
  • 1883 – Enrico Toselli, Italian pianist and composer (d. 1926)
  • 1884 – Hugh Walpole, New Zealand-English author and educator (d. 1941)
  • 1886 – Home Run Baker, American baseball player and manager (d. 1963)
  • 1886 – Albert William Stevens, American captain and photographer (d. 1949)
  • 1888 – Paul Morand, French author and diplomat (d. 1976)
  • 1890 – Fritz Busch, German conductor and director (d. 1951)
  • 1892 – Janet Flanner, American journalist and author (d. 1978)
  • 1897 – Yeghishe Charents, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1937)
  • 1898 – Henry Hathaway, American director and producer (d. 1985)
  • 1899 – John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
  • 1899 – Pancho Vladigerov, Bulgarian pianist and composer (d. 1978)
  • 1900 – Andrée Bosquet, Belgian painter (d. 1980)
  • 1900 – Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
  • 1902 – Hans Bellmer, German-French painter and sculptor (d. 1975)
  • 1904 – Clifford Roach, Trinidadian cricketer and footballer (d. 1988)
  • 1907 – Dorothy Tangney, Australian politician (d. 1985)
  • 1908 – Walter Annenberg, American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (d. 2002)
  • 1908 – Myrtle Bachelder, American chemist and Women’s Army Corps officer (d. 1997)
  • 1910 – Sammy Kaye, American saxophonist, songwriter, and bandleader (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Kemal Tahir, Turkish journalist and author (d. 1973)
  • 1911 – José Ardévol, Cuban composer and conductor (d. 1981)
  • 1913 – William J. Casey, American politician, 13th Director of Central Intelligence (d. 1987)
  • 1913 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Russian author and playwright (d. 2009)
  • 1914 – W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (d. 1998)
  • 1914 – Edward O’Hare, American lieutenant and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1943)
  • 1916 – Lindy Boggs, American educator and politician, 5th United States Ambassador to the Holy See (d. 2013)
  • 1916 – Jacque Fresco, American engineer and academic (d. 2017)
  • 1920 – Ralph J. Roberts, American businessman, co-founded Comcast (d. 2015)
  • 1921 – Al Jaffee, American cartoonist
  • 1923 – Dimitrios Ioannidis, Greek general (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Roy Haynes, American drummer and composer
  • 1926 – Carlos Roberto Reina, Honduran lawyer and politician, President of Honduras (d. 2003)
  • 1929 – Zbigniew Messner, Polish economist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Mahdi Elmandjra, Moroccan economist and sociologist (d. 2014)
  • 1933 – Gero von Wilpert, German author and academic (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – David Nobbs, English author and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1938 – Robert Gammage, American captain and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1939 – Neil Sedaka, American singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1941 – Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (d. 2001)
  • 1942 – Dave Cutler, American computer scientist and engineer
  • 1942 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and author (d. 2008)
  • 1944 – Terence Burns, Baron Burns, English economist and academic
  • 1945 – Anatoly Fomenko, Russian mathematician and academic
  • 1946 – Yonatan Netanyahu, American-Israeli colonel (d. 1976)
  • 1947 – Lesley Collier, English ballerina and educator
  • 1947 – Beat Richner, Swiss pediatrician and cellist (d. 2018)
  • 1947 – Lyn St. James, American race car driver
  • 1949 – Ze’ev Bielski, Israeli politician
  • 1949 – Sian Elias, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 12th Chief Justice of New Zealand
  • 1950 – Bernard Julien, Trinidadian cricketer
  • 1950 – Charles Krauthammer, American physician, journalist, and author (d. 2018)
  • 1950 – William H. Macy, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Charo, Spanish-American singer, guitarist, and actress
  • 1952 – Wolfgang Rihm, German composer and educator
  • 1952 – Tim Sebastian, English journalist and author
  • 1953 – Andy Bean, American golfer
  • 1953 – Michael Curry, 27th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church
  • 1954 – Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, Guyanese-English politician and diplomat
  • 1954 – Robin Duke, Canadian actress and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Bruno Conti, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Glenne Headly, American actress (d. 2017)
  • 1955 – Olga Rukavishnikova, Russian pentathlete
  • 1956 – Dana Delany, American actress and producer
  • 1957 – John Hoeven, American banker and politician, 31st Governor of North Dakota
  • 1957 – Moses Hogan, American composer and conductor (d. 2003)
  • 1958 – Mágico González, Salvadoran footballer
  • 1958 – Rick Lazio, American lawyer and politician
  • 1958 – Caryl Phillips, Caribbean-English author and playwright
  • 1959 – Dirk Wellham, Australian cricketer
  • 1960 – Adam Clayton, English-born Irish musician and songwriter
  • 1960 – Joe Ranft, American animator, screenwriter, and voice actor (d. 2005)
  • 1963 – Vance Johnson, American football player
  • 1964 – Will Clark, American baseball player
  • 1966 – Chico Science, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
  • 1967 – Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (d. 1994)
  • 1967 – Pieter Vink, Dutch footballer and referee
  • 1970 – Tim Story, American director and producer
  • 1971 – Annabeth Gish, American actress
  • 1971 – Allan Nielsen, Danish international footballer, midfielder and manager
  • 1972 – Common, American rapper and actor
  • 1973 – Edgar Davids, Surinamese born Dutch international footballer midfielder and manager
  • 1973 – Bobby Jackson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1974 – Thomas Enqvist, Swedish tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Mark Clattenburg, English football referee
  • 1976 – Troy Hudson, American basketball player and rapper
  • 1976 – Danny Masterson, American actor and producer
  • 1978 – Tom Danielson, American cyclist
  • 1978 – Kenny Watson, American football player
  • 1979 – Johan Santana, Venezuelan-American baseball player
  • 1979 – Cédric Van Branteghem, Belgian sprinter
  • 1980 – Caron Butler, American basketball player
  • 1982 – Nicole Ohlde, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Kaitlin Sandeno, American swimmer
  • 1984 – Geeta Basra, Indian actress
  • 1985 – Alcides Araújo Alves, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Emile Hirsch, American actor
  • 1986 – Neil Wagner, South African-New Zealand cricketer
  • 1987 – Marco Andretti, American race car driver
  • 1987 – Andreas Beck, German footballer
  • 1988 – Furdjel Narsingh, Dutch footballer
  • 1989 – Holger Badstuber, German footballer
  • 1989 – Marko Marin, German footballer
  • 1989 – Robert Wickens, Canadian racing driver
  • 1990 – Anicet Abel, Malagasy footballer
  • 1991 – Daniel Greig, Australian speed skater
  • 1991 – Tristan Thompson, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Gerard Deulofeu, Spanish footballer
  • 1995 – Mikaela Shiffrin, American skier
  • 1998 – Jay-Roy Grot, Dutch footballer

Deaths on March 13

  • 1202 – Mieszko III the Old, king of Poland (b. c. 1121)
  • 1271 – Henry of Almain, English knight (b. 1235)
  • 1415 – Minye Kyawswa, Crown Prince of Ava (b. 1391)
  • 1447 – Shah Rukh, Timurid ruler of Persia and Transoxania (b. 1377)
  • 1573 – Michel de l’Hôpital, French politician (b. 1507)
  • 1601 – Henry Cuffe, Politician (b. 1563)
  • 1619 – Richard Burbage, English actor (b. 1567)
  • 1711 – Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic (b. 1636)
  • 1719 – Johann Friedrich Böttger, German chemist and potter (b. 1682)
  • 1800 – Nana Fadnavis, Indian minister and politician (b. 1742)
  • 1808 – Christian VII of Denmark (b. 1749)
  • 1823 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (b. 1735)
  • 1833 – William Bradley, English lieutenant and cartographer (b. 1757)
  • 1842 – Henry Shrapnel, English general (b. 1761)
  • 1854 – Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, French politician, 6th Prime Minister of France (b. 1773)
  • 1873 – David Swinson Maynard, American physician, lawyer, and businessman (b. 1808)
  • 1879 – Adolf Anderssen, German mathematician and chess player (b. 1818)
  • 1881 – Alexander II of Russia (b. 1818)
  • 1884 – Leland Stanford Jr., American son of Leland Stanford (b. 1868)
  • 1885 – Giorgio Mitrovich, Maltese politician (b. 1795)
  • 1901 – Benjamin Harrison, American general and politician, 23rd President of the United States (b. 1833)
  • 1906 – Susan B. Anthony, American activist (b. 1820)
  • 1912 – Eugène-Étienne Taché, Canadian engineer and architect, designed the Parliament Building (b. 1836)
  • 1921 – Jenny Twitchell Kempton, American opera singer and educator (b. 1835)
  • 1936 – Francis Bell, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1851)
  • 1938 – Clarence Darrow, American lawyer and author (b. 1857)
  • 1943 – Stephen Vincent Benét, American poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1898)
  • 1946 – Werner von Blomberg, German field marshal (b. 1878)
  • 1962 – Anne Acheson, Irish sculptor (d. 1882)
  • 1965 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (b. 1891)
  • 1965 – Fan Noli, Albanian-American bishop and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1882)
  • 1971 – Rockwell Kent, American painter and illustrator (b. 1882)
  • 1972 – Tony Ray-Jones, English photographer (b. 1941)
  • 1975 – Ivo Andrić, Yugoslav novelist, poet, and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
  • 1976 – Ole Haugsrud, American sports executive (b. 1900)
  • 1983 – Paul Citroen, German-Dutch illustrator and educator (b. 1896)
  • 1990 – Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-American psychologist and author (b. 1903)
  • 1995 – Odette Hallowes, French nurse and spy (b. 1912)
  • 1996 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish director and screenwriter (b. 1941)
  • 1998 – Judge Dread, English singer-songwriter (b. 1945)
  • 1998 – Hans von Ohain, German-American physicist and engineer (b. 1911)
  • 1999 – Lee Falk, American cartoonist, director, and producer (b. 1911)
  • 1999 – Garson Kanin, American director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
  • 2001 – John A. Alonzo, American actor and cinematographer (b. 1934)
  • 2001 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (b. 1895)
  • 2002 – Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and scholar (b. 1900)
  • 2004 – Franz König, Austrian cardinal (b. 1905)
  • 2006 – Robert C. Baker, American businessman, invented the chicken nugget (b. 1921)
  • 2006 – Jimmy Johnstone, Scottish footballer (b. 1944)
  • 2006 – Maureen Stapleton, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – Arnold Skaaland, American wrestler and manager (b. 1925)
  • 2009 – Betsy Blair, American actress (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Alan W. Livingston, American businessman (b. 1917)
  • 2010 – Jean Ferrat, French singer-songwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2011 – Rick Martin, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Reubin Askew, American sergeant, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of Florida (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, Irish businessman and politician (b. 1944)
  • 2014 – Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Sierra Leonean economist, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of Sierra Leone (b. 1932)
  • 2014 – Icchokas Meras, Lithuanian-Israeli author and screenwriter (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Al Rosen, American baseball player and manager (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist (b. 1926)
  • 2017 – Amy Krouse Rosenthal, American author (b. 1965)
  • 2018 – Emily Nasrallah, Lebanese writer and women’s rights activist. (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances on March 13

  • Christian feast days:
    • Ansovinus
    • Gerald of Mayo
    • James Theodore Holly (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Nicephorus
    • Roderick
    • March 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Kasuga Matsuri (Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara, Japan)
  • National Elephant Day (Thailand)
  • Africa Scout Day

March 13- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 12- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
  • 1622 – Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier, founders of the Society of Jesus, are canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
  • 1689 – James II of England landed at Kinsale, starting the Williamite War in Ireland.
  • 1811 – Peninsular War: A day after a successful rearguard action, French Marshal Michel Ney once again successfully delays the pursuing Anglo-Portuguese force at the Battle of Redinha.
  • 1912 – The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States.
  • 1913 – The future capital of Australia is officially named Canberra.
  • 1918 – Moscow becomes the capital of Russia again after Saint Petersburg held this status for most of the period since 1713.
  • 1920 – The Kapp Putsch begins when the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt is ordered to march on Berlin.
  • 1928 – In California, the St. Francis Dam fails; the resulting floods kill 431 people.
  • 1930 – Mahatma Gandhi begins the Salt March, a 200-mile march to the sea to protest the British monopoly on salt in India.
  • 1933 – Great Depression: Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his “fireside chats”.
  • 1938 – Anschluss: German troops occupy and absorb Austria.
  • 1940 – Winter War: Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia.
  • 1942 – The Battle of Java ends with the surrender of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command to the Japanese Empire in Bandung, West Java, Dutch East Indies.
  • 1947 – Cold War: The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.
  • 1950 – The Llandow air disaster kills 80 people when the aircraft they are travelling in crashes near Sigingstone, Wales. At the time this was the world’s deadliest air disaster.
  • 1967 – Suharto takes power from Sukarno when the People’s Consultative Assembly inaugurate him as Acting President of Indonesia.
  • 1968 – Mauritius achieves independence from the United Kingdom.
  • 1971 – The 1971 Turkish military memorandum is sent to the Süleyman Demirel government of Turkey and the government resigns.
  • 1989 – Sir Tim Berners-Lee submits his proposal to CERN for an information management system, which subsequently develops into the world wide web.
  • 1992 – Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
  • 1993 – Several bombs explode in Mumbai, India, killing about 300 people and injuring hundreds more.
  • 1993 – North Korea announces that it will withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and refuses to allow inspectors access to its nuclear sites.
  • 1999 – Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
  • 2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.
  • 2003 – The World Health Organization officially release a global warning of outbreaks of Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
  • 2004 – The President of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, is impeached by its National Assembly: the first such impeachment in the nation’s history.
  • 2009 – Financier Bernard Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street’s history.
  • 2011 – A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
  • 2014 – A gas explosion in the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem kills eight and injures 70 others.
  • 2019 – In the House of Commons, the revised EU Withdrawal Bill was rejected by a margin of 149 votes.

Births on March 12

  • 1270 – Charles, Count of Valois (d. 1325)
  • 1515 – Caspar Othmayr, German Lutheran pastor and composer (d. 1553)
  • 1607 – Paul Gerhardt, German poet and composer (d. 1676)
  • 1613 – André Le Nôtre, French gardener and architect (d. 1700)
  • 1626 – John Aubrey, English historian and philosopher (d. 1697)
  • 1637 – Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and Albany (d. 1671)
  • 1672 – Richard Steele, Irish-Welsh journalist and politician (d. 1729)
  • 1685 – George Berkeley, Irish bishop and philosopher (d. 1753)
  • 1710 – Thomas Arne, English composer (d. 1778)
  • 1735 – François-Emmanuel Guignard, comte de Saint-Priest, French politician and diplomat (d. 1821)
  • 1753 – Jean Denis, French politician, lawyer, jurist, journalist, and historian (d. 1827)
  • 1766 – Claudius Buchanan, Scottish theologian (d. 1815)
  • 1781 – Frederica of Baden, Queen consort to Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (d. 1826)
  • 1784 – William Buckland, English geologist and paleontologist; Dean of Westminster (d. 1856)
  • 1795 – William Lyon Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian journalist and politician, 1st Mayor of Toronto (d. 1861)
  • 1795 – George Tyler Wood, American military officer and politician (d. 1858)
  • 1806 – Jane Pierce, American wife of Franklin Pierce, 15th First Lady of the United States (d. 1863)
  • 1807 – James Abbott, Indian Army officer (d. 1896)
  • 1815 – Louis-Jules Trochu, French military leader and politician (d. 1896)
  • 1821 – John Abbott, Canadian lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1893)
  • 1821 – Medo Pucić, Croatian writer and politician (d. 1882)
  • 1823 – Katsu Kaishū, Japanese statesman (d. 1899)
  • 1824 – Gustav Kirchhoff, Russian-German physicist and academic (d. 1887)
  • 1832 – Charles Boycott, English farmer and agent (d. 1897)
  • 1834 – Hilary A. Herbert, Secretary of the Navy (d. 1919)
  • 1835 – Simon Newcomb, Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1909)
  • 1837 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist and composer (d. 1911)
  • 1838 – William Henry Perkin, English chemist and academic (d. 1907)
  • 1843 – Gabriel Tarde, French sociologist and criminologist (d. 1904)
  • 1855 – Eduard Birnbaum, Polish-born German cantor (d. 1920)
  • 1857 – William V. Ranous, American actor and director (d. 1915)
  • 1858 – Adolph Ochs, American publisher (d. 1935)
  • 1859 – Ernesto Cesàro, Italian mathematician (d. 1906)
  • 1860 – Eric Stenbock, Estonian poet and author (d. 1895)
  • 1863 – Gabriele D’Annunzio, Italian soldier, journalist, poet, and playwright (d. 1938)
  • 1863 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian and Ukrainian mineralogist and chemist (d. 1945)
  • 1864 – W. H. R. Rivers, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist, and psychiatrist (d. 1922)
  • 1874 – Edmund Eysler, Austrian composer (d. 1949)
  • 1877 – Wilhelm Frick, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 1946)
  • 1878 – Gemma Galgani, Italian mystic and saint (d. 1903)
  • 1880 – Henry Drysdale Dakin, English-American chemist and academic (d. 1952)
  • 1881 – Väinö Tanner, Finnish politician of Social Democratic Party of Finland (d. 1966)
  • 1882 – Carlos Blanco Galindo, Bolivian politician (d. 1943)
  • 1883 – Sándor Jávorka, Hungarian botanist (d. 1961)
  • 1888 – Walter Hermann Bucher, German-American geologist and paleontologist (d. 1965)
  • 1888 – Hans Knappertsbusch, German conductor (d. 1965)
  • 1890 – Evert Taube, Swedish singer-songwriter and lute player (d. 1976)
  • 1896 – Jesse Fuller, American singer-songwriter and musician (d. 1976)
  • 1898 – Tian Han, Chinese playwright (d. 1968)
  • 1898 – Luitpold Steidle, German army officer and politician (d. 1984)
  • 1899 – Ramón Muttis, Argentine footballer (d. 1955)
  • 1900 – Rinus van den Berge, Dutch athlete (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, 19th President of Colombia (d. 1975)
  • 1904 – Lyudmila Keldysh, Russian mathematician (d. 1976)
  • 1905 – Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (d. 1982)
  • 1907 – Dorrit Hoffleit, American astronomer and academic (d. 2007)
  • 1908 – Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970)
  • 1908 – David Marshall, Singaporean lawyer and politician, 1st Chief Minister of Singapore (d. 1995)
  • 1909 – Petras Cvirka, Lithuanian author (d. 1947)
  • 1910 – Masayoshi Ōhira, Japanese politician, 68th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1980)
  • 1910 – László Lékai, Archbishop of Esztergom and Cardinal (d. 1986)
  • 1911 – Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Mexican academic and politician, 49th President of Mexico (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Willie Hall, English international footballer (d. 1967)
  • 1912 – Irving Layton, Romanian-Canadian poet and academic (d. 2006)
  • 1913 – Yashwantrao Chavan, Indian politician, 5th Deputy Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
  • 1913 – Agathe von Trapp, Hungarian-American singer and author (d. 2010)
  • 1915 – Alberto Burri, Italian painter and sculptor (d. 1995)
  • 1915 – Jiří Mucha, Czech journalist (d. 1991)
  • 1917 – Leonard Chess, American record company executive, co-founder of Chess Records (d. 1969)
  • 1917 – Millard Kaufman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1917 – Googie Withers, Indian-Australian actress (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Pádraig Faulkner, Irish Fianna Fáil politician (d. 2012)
  • 1918 – Elaine de Kooning, American painter and academic (d. 1989)
  • 1921 – Gianni Agnelli, Italian businessman (d. 2001)
  • 1921 – Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (d. 1986)
  • 1922 – Jack Kerouac, American author and poet (d. 1969)
  • 1922 – Lane Kirkland, American sailor and union leader (d. 1999)
  • 1923 – Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater and cyclist (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (d. 2005)
  • 1923 – Wally Schirra, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2007)
  • 1923 – Mae Young, American wrestler (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1925 – Harry Harrison, American author and illustrator (d. 2012)
  • 1926 – George Ariyoshi, American lawyer and politician, 3rd Governor of Hawaii
  • 1926 – Arthur A. Hartman, American career diplomat (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – John Clellon Holmes, American author and professor (d. 1988)
  • 1926 – David Nadien, American violinist (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (d. 2009)
  • 1927 – Emmett Leith, professor of electrical engineering and co-inventor of three-dimensional holography (d. 2005)
  • 1927 – Sudharmono, 5th Vice President of Indonesia (d. 2006)
  • 1928 – Edward Albee, American director and playwright (d. 2016)
  • 1929 – Win Tin, Burmese journalist and politician, co-founded the National League for Democracy (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Antony Acland, British former diplomat and Provost of Eton College
  • 1931 – Józef Tischner, Polish priest and philosopher (d. 2000)
  • 1932 – Bob Houbregs, Canadian basketball player (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Andrew Young, American pastor and politician, 14th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
  • 1933 – Myrna Fahey, American actress (d. 1973)
  • 1933 – Barbara Feldon, American actress
  • 1934 – Francisco J. Ayala, Spanish-American evolutionary biologist and philosopher
  • 1936 – Virginia Hamilton, American children’s books author (d. 2002)
  • 1936 – Michał Heller, Polish professor of philosophy
  • 1936 – Eddie Sutton, American basketball player and coach
  • 1937 – Zoltán Horvath, Hungarian sabre fencer
  • 1937 – Zurab Sotkilava, Georgian operatic tenor (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Vladimir Msryan, Armenian actor, (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1938 – Juan Horacio Suárez, Argentine bishop
  • 1940 – Al Jarreau, American singer (d. 2017)
  • 1941 – Josip Skoblar, former Croatian footballer
  • 1942 – Jimmy Wynn, American baseball player (d. 2020)
  • 1943 – Ratko Mladić, Serbian general
  • 1944 – Erwin Mueller, former American basketball player (d. 2018)
  • 1945 – Anne Summers, Australian feminist writer, editor, publisher and public servant
  • 1946 – Dean Cundey, American cinematographer and film director
  • 1946 – Liza Minnelli, American actress, singer and dancer
  • 1946 – Frank Welker, American voice actor and singer
  • 1947 – Peter Harry Carstensen, German educator and politician
  • 1947 – Jan-Erik Enestam, Finland-Swedish politician
  • 1947 – David Rigert, Soviet Olympic weightlifter
  • 1947 – Mitt Romney, American businessman and politician, 70th Governor of Massachusetts
  • 1948 – Virginia Bottomley, Scottish social worker and politician, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
  • 1948 – Kent Conrad, American politician
  • 1948 – James Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1949 – Rob Cohen, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1949 – David Mellor, British politician
  • 1950 – Javier Clemente, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1952 – André Comte-Sponville, French philosopher
  • 1952 – Yasuhiko Okudera, former Japanese footballer
  • 1952 – John Mitchell, English footballer, forward
  • 1953 – Pavel Pinigin, former Soviet wrestler and Olympic champion
  • 1954 – Anish Kapoor, Indian-English sculptor
  • 1956 – Ove Aunli, former Norwegian cross-country skier
  • 1956 – Stanisław Bobak, Polish ski jumper (d. 2010)
  • 1956 – Steve Harris, English bass player and songwriter
  • 1956 – Lesley Manville, English actress
  • 1956 – Dale Murphy, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Pim Verbeek, Dutch football manager (d. 2019)
  • 1957 – Patrick Battiston, French footballer and coach
  • 1957 – Marlon Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1957 – Andrey Lopatov, Soviet basketball player
  • 1958 – Phil Anderson, English-Australian cyclist
  • 1959 – Milorad Dodik, Bosnian Serb politician and president of Republika Srpska
  • 1959 – Luenell, American comedian and actress
  • 1959 – Michael Walter, German luger (d. 2016)
  • 1960 – Jason Beghe, American actor
  • 1960 – Courtney B. Vance, American actor and painter
  • 1961 – Titus Welliver, American actor
  • 1962 – Julia Campbell, American actress
  • 1962 – Andreas Köpke, former German footballer
  • 1962 – Chris Sanders, American illustrator and voice actor
  • 1962 – Darryl Strawberry, American baseball player and minister
  • 1963 – John Andretti, American race car driver (d. 2020)
  • 1963 – Candy Costie, American swimmer
  • 1963 – Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner and coach
  • 1963 – Reiner Gies, German boxer
  • 1963 – Ian Holloway, English footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Paul Way, English golfer
  • 1964 – Dieter Eckstein, retired German footballer
  • 1964 – Umirzak Shukeyev, Kazakh chairman of Samruk-Kazyna
  • 1965 – Steve Finley, American baseball player
  • 1965 – Ivari Padar, former Minister of Finance and Minister of Agriculture of the Estonian Social Democratic Party
  • 1966 – David Daniels, American countertenor
  • 1966 – Grant Long, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1967 – Julio Dely Valdés, Panamanian footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Tammy Duckworth, Thai-American colonel, pilot, and politician
  • 1968 – Aaron Eckhart, American actor and producer
  • 1969 – Graham Coxon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1969 – Jake Tapper, American journalist and author
  • 1970 – Karen Bradley, British politician
  • 1970 – Dave Eggers, American author and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Mathias Grönberg, Swedish golfer
  • 1970 – Rex Walters, American basketball player and coach
  • 1971 – Isaiah Rider, American basketball player and rapper
  • 1971 – Dragutin Topić, Serbian high jumper
  • 1972 – Doron Sheffer, Israeli basketball player
  • 1974 – Charles Akonnor, former Ghanaian footballer
  • 1974 – Walid Badir, former Israeli footballer
  • 1975 – Nicolae Grigore, former Romanian footballer
  • 1975 – Edgaras Jankauskas, former Lithuanian footballer
  • 1975 – Srđan Pecelj, Bosnian footballer
  • 1976 – Deron Quint, American ice hockey defenseman
  • 1976 – Zhao Wei, Chinese actress, film director, producer and pop singer
  • 1977 – Michelle Burgher, track and field athlete
  • 1977 – Ramiro Corrales, American soccer player
  • 1977 – Amdy Faye, former Senegalese footballer
  • 1977 – Brent Johnson, American ice hockey player
  • 1978 – Casey Mears, American race car driver
  • 1978 – Marco Ferreira, Portuguese footballer
  • 1978 – Arina Tanemura, Japanese author and illustrator
  • 1979 – Rhys Coiro, American actor
  • 1979 – Pete Doherty, English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer, and artist
  • 1979 – Jamie Dwyer, Australian field hockey player and coach
  • 1979 – Gerard López, former Spanish footballer
  • 1979 – Ben Sandford, New Zealand skeleton racer
  • 1979 – Tim Wieskötter, German sprint canoer
  • 1979 – Edwin Villafuerte, Ecuadorian goalkeeper
  • 1980 – Césinha, Brazilian footballer
  • 1980 – Becky Holliday, American pole vaulter
  • 1980 – Jens Mouris, Dutch cyclist
  • 1980 – Douglas Murray, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1981 – Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese wrestler and kick-boxer
  • 1981 – Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player
  • 1981 – Holly Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1982 – Lili Bordán, Hungarian-American actress
  • 1982 – Samm Levine, American actor and comedian
  • 1982 – Ilya Nikulin, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Hisato Satō, Japanese footballer
  • 1982 – Yūto Satō, Japanese footballer
  • 1982 – Tobias Schweinsteiger, German footballer
  • 1983 – Atif Aslam, Pakistani singer and actor
  • 1984 – Shreya Ghoshal, Indian singer
  • 1984 – Jaimie Alexander, American actress
  • 1985 – Marco Bonanomi, Italian racing driver
  • 1985 – Aleksandr Bukharov, Russian footballer
  • 1985 – Ed Clancy, English track and road cyclist
  • 1985 – Andriy Tovt, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1986 – Martynas Andriuškevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
  • 1986 – Oleh Dopilka, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1986 – Danny Jones, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1986 – Ben Offereins, Australian runner
  • 1986 – František Rajtoral, Czech footballer (d. 2017)
  • 1987 – Manuele Boaro, Italian cyclist
  • 1987 – Jessica Hardy, American swimmer
  • 1987 – Maxwell Holt, American volleyball player
  • 1987 – Teimour Radjabov, Azerbaijani chess player
  • 1987 – Chris Seitz, American soccer player
  • 1987 – Vadim Shipachyov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Pablo Velázquez, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1988 – Sebastian Brendel, German canoe racer
  • 1988 – Kostas Mitroglou, Greek footballer
  • 1988 – Cristian Chagas Tarouco, Brazilian footballer
  • 1989 – Jordan Adéoti, French footballer
  • 1989 – Vytautas Černiauskas, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1989 – Tyler Clary, former American swimmer
  • 1989 – Richard Eckersley, English footballer
  • 1989 – Chen Jianghua, Chinese basketball player
  • 1989 – Siim Luts, Estonian footballer
  • 1990 – Alexander Kröckel, German skeleton racer
  • 1990 – Irakli Kvekveskiri, Georgian footballer
  • 1990 – Dawid Kubacki, Polish ski jumper
  • 1990 – Matias Myttynen, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Ilija Nestorovski, Macedonian footballer
  • 1990 – Milena Raičević, Montenegrin handballer
  • 1990 – Mikko Sumusalo, Finnish footballer
  • 1991 – Felix Kroos, German footballer
  • 1991 – Niclas Heimann, German footballer
  • 1991 – Leandro Fernandez, Argentine footballer
  • 1992 – Daniele Baselli, Italian footballer
  • 1992 – Jordan Ferri, French footballer
  • 1992 – Ciara Mageean, Irish middle-distance runner
  • 1992 – Jiří Skalák, Czech footballer
  • 1993 – Shehu Abdullahi, Nigerian footballer
  • 1993 – Amjad Attwan, Iraqi footballer
  • 1993 – Anton Shramchenko, Belarusian footballer
  • 1994 – Katie Archibald, Scottish track cyclist
  • 1994 – Jerami Grant, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Christina Grimmie, American singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1996 – Sehrou Guirassy, French footballer
  • 1996 – Karim Hafez, Egyptian footballer
  • 1996 – Robert Murić, Croatian footballer
  • 1997 – Dean Henderson, English footballer
  • 1997 – Allan Saint-Maximin, French footballer
  • 1997 – Felipe Vizeu, Brazilian footballer
  • 1998 – Mecole Hardman, American football player
  • 1998 – Daniel Samohin, Israeli figure skater
  • 1998 – Elizaveta Ukolova, Czech figure skater

Deaths on March 12

  • 417 – Innocent I, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 604 – Gregory I, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 540)
  • 1022 – Symeon the New Theologian (b. 949)
  • 1316 – Stefan Dragutin (b. c. 1244)
  • 1539 – Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English diplomat and politician (b.1477)
  • 1648 – Tirso de Molina, Spanish monk and poet (b. 1571)
  • 1699 – Peder Griffenfeld, Danish politician (b. 1635)
  • 1898 – Zachris Topelius, Finnish-Swedish journalist, historian, and author (b. 1818)
  • 1916 – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian author (b. 1830)
  • 1925 – Sun Yat-sen, Chinese physician and politician, 1st President of the Republic of China (b. 1866)
  • 1929 – Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman and politician, 44th Mayor of Atlanta (b. 1851)
  • 1935 – Mihajlo Pupin, Serbian-American physicist and chemist (b. 1858)
  • 1942 – William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
  • 1943 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
  • 1946 – Ferenc Szálasi, Hungarian soldier and politician, Head of State of Hungary (b. 1897)
  • 1949 – Wilhelm Steinkopf, German chemist (b. 1879)
  • 1954 – Marianne Weber, German sociologist and suffragist (b. 1870)
  • 1955 – Charlie Parker, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1920)
  • 1955 – Theodor Plievier, German author best known for his anti-war novel (b. 1892)
  • 1957 – Josephine Hull, American actress (b. 1877)
  • 1971 – Eugene Lindsay Opie, American physician and pathologist (b. 1873)
  • 1973 – Frankie Frisch, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
  • 1974 – George D. Sax, American banker and businessman (b. 1904)
  • 1985 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American violinist and conductor (b. 1899)
  • 1989 – Maurice Evans, English-American actor (b. 1901)
  • 1991 – Ragnar Granit, Finnish-Swedish neuroscientist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
  • 1991 – William Heinesen, Faroese author, poet, and author (b. 1900)
  • 1992 – Lucy M. Lewis, American potter (b. 1890)
  • 1998 – Beatrice Wood, American painter and potter (b. 1893)
  • 1999 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1916)
  • 1999 – Bidu Sayão, Brazilian-American soprano (b. 1902)
  • 2000 – Aleksandar Nikolić, Yugoslav basketball coach (b. 1924)
  • 2001 – Morton Downey Jr., American singer-songwriter, actor, and talk show host (b. 1933)
  • 2001 – Robert Ludlum, American author (b. 1927)
  • 2001 – Victor Westhoff, Dutch botanist and academic (b. 1916)
  • 2002 – Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Cyprus (b. 1932)
  • 2002 – Jean-Paul Riopelle, Canadian painter and sculptor (b. 1923)
  • 2003 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952)
  • 2003 – Howard Fast, American novelist and screenwriter (b. 1914)
  • 2003 – Lynne Thigpen, American actress and singer (b. 1948)
  • 2004 – Milton Resnick, Russian-American painter (b. 1917)
  • 2006 – Victor Sokolov, Russian-American priest and journalist (b. 1947)
  • 2008 – Jorge Guinzburg, Argentinian journalist and producer (b. 1949)
  • 2008 – Lazare Ponticelli, Italian-French soldier and supercentenarian (b. 1897)
  • 2010 – Miguel Delibes, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Nilla Pizzi, Italian singer (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Dick Harter, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Michael Hossack, American drummer (b. 1946)
  • 2012 – Friedhelm Konietzka, German-Swiss footballer and manager (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Clive Burr, English drummer and songwriter (b. 1957)
  • 2013 – Michael Grigsby, English director and producer (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Ganesh Pyne, Indian painter and illustrator (b. 1937)
  • 2014 – Věra Chytilová, Czech actress, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – José Policarpo, Portuguese cardinal (b. 1936)
  • 2015 – Willie Barrow, American minister and activist (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Michael Graves, American architect and academic, designed the Portland Building and the Humana Building (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Ada Jafri, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Terry Pratchett, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1948)
  • 2016 – Rafiq Azad, Bangladeshi poet and author (b. 1942)
  • 2016 – Felix Ibru, Nigerian architect and politician, Governor of Delta State (b. 1935)
  • 2016 – Lloyd Shapley, American mathematician and economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances on March 12

  • Arbor Day (China)
  • Arbor Day (Taiwan)
  • Aztec New Year
  • Christian feast day:
    • Alphege
    • Bernard of Carinola (or of Capua)
    • Gorgonius, Peter Cubicularius and Dorotheus of Nicomedia
    • Mura (McFeredach)
    • Fina
    • Maximilian of Tebessa
    • Paul Aurelian
    • Pope Gregory I (Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Church, and Anglican Communion)
    • Theophanes the Confessor
    • March 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • National Day (Mauritius)
  • World Day Against Cyber Censorship
  • Youth Day (Zambia)

March 12- 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 4- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title princeps iuventutis (head of the youth).
  • 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
  • 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources.
  • 938 – Translation of the relics of martyr Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, Prince of the Czechs.
  • 1152 – Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany.
  • 1238 – The Battle of the Sit River is fought in the northern part of the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia between the Mongol hordes of Batu Khan and the Russians under Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal during the Mongol invasion of Rus’.
  • 1351 – Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam.
  • 1386 – Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila) is crowned King of Poland.
  • 1461 – Wars of the Roses in England: Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin, who then becomes King Edward IV.
  • 1493 – Explorer Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what are now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean.
  • 1519 – Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and its wealth.
  • 1628 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a Royal charter.
  • 1665 – English King Charles II declares war on the Netherlands marking the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
  • 1675 – John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England.
  • 1681 – Charles II grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania.
  • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army fortifies Dorchester Heights with cannon, leading the British troops to abandon the Siege of Boston.
  • 1789 – In New York City, the first Congress of the United States meets, putting the United States Constitution into effect. The United States Bill of Rights is written and proposed to Congress.
  • 1790 – France is divided into 83 départements, cutting across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on ownership of land by the nobility.
  • 1791 – The Constitutional Act of 1791 is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario).
  • 1791 – Vermont is admitted to the United States as the fourteenth state.
  • 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.
  • 1797 – John Adams is inaugurated as the 2nd President of the United States of America, becoming the first President to begin his presidency on March 4.
  • 1804 – Castle Hill Rebellion: Irish convicts rebel against British colonial authority in the Colony of New South Wales.
  • 1813 – Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
  • 1814 – Americans defeat British forces at the Battle of Longwoods between London, Ontario and Thamesville, near present-day Wardsville, Ontario.
  • 1837 – The city of Chicago is incorporated.
  • 1848 – Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d’Italia.
  • 1849 – President-Elect Zachary Taylor and Vice President-Elect Millard Fillmore did not take their respective oaths of office (they did so the following day), leading to the erroneous theory that outgoing President pro tempore of the United States Senate David Rice Atchison had assumed the role of acting president for one day.
  • 1861 – The first national flag of the Confederate States of America (the “Stars and Bars”) is adopted.
  • 1865 – The third and final national flag of the Confederate States of America is adopted by the Confederate Congress.
  • 1882 – Britain’s first electric trams run in east London.
  • 1890 – The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Bridge in Scotland, measuring 1,710 feet (520 m) long, is opened by the Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VII.
  • 1899 – Cyclone Mahina sweeps in north of Cooktown, Queensland, with a 12 metres (39 ft) wave that reaches up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) inland, killing over 300.
  • 1908 – The Collinwood school fire, Collinwood near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.
  • 1909 – U.S. President William Taft used what became known as a Saxbe fix, a mechanism to avoid the restriction of the U.S. Constitution’s Ineligibility Clause, to appoint Philander C. Knox as U.S. Secretary of State.
  • 1913 – First Balkan War: The Greek army engages the Turks at Bizani, resulting in victory two days later.
  • 1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.
  • 1917 – Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives.
  • 1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the 32nd President of the United States.
  • 1933 – Frances Perkins becomes United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet.
  • 1933 – The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure – Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates an authoritarian rule by decree.
  • 1941 – World War II: The United Kingdom launches Operation Claymore on the Lofoten Islands; the first large scale British Commando raid.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Battle of the Bismarck Sea in the south-west Pacific comes to an end.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Fardykambos, one of the first major battles between the Greek Resistance and the occupying Royal Italian Army, begins. It ends on 6 March with the surrender of an entire Italian battalion and the liberation of the town of Grevena.
  • 1944 – World War II: After the success of Big Week, the USAAF begins a daylight bombing campaign of Berlin.
  • 1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
  • 1960 – The French freighter La Coubre explodes in Havana, Cuba, killing 100.
  • 1962 – A Caledonian Airways Douglas DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Cameroon, killing 111 – the worst crash of a DC-7.
  • 1966 – A Canadian Pacific Air Lines DC-8-43 explodes on landing at Tokyo International Airport, killing 64 people.
  • 1966 – In an interview in the London Evening Standard, The Beatles’ John Lennon declares that the band is “more popular than Jesus now”.
  • 1970 – French submarine Eurydice explodes underwater, resulting in the loss of the entire 57-man crew.
  • 1974 – People magazine is published for the first time in the United States as People Weekly.
  • 1976 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London by the British parliament.
  • 1977 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
  • 1980 – Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister.
  • 1985 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS infection, used since then for screening all blood donations in the United States.
  • 1986 – The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley’s Comet and the first images of its nucleus.
  • 1990 – American basketball player Hank Gathers dies after collapsing during the semifinals of a West Coast Conference Tournament game.
  • 1996 – A derailed train in Weyauwega, Wisconsin (USA) causes the emergency evacuation of 2,300 people for 16 days.
  • 1998 – Gay rights: Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc.: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex.
  • 2001 – BBC bombing: A massive car bomb explodes in front of the BBC Television Centre in London, seriously injuring one person; the attack was attributed to the Real IRA.
  • 2002 – Afghanistan: Seven American Special Operations Forces soldiers and 200 Al-Qaeda Fighters are killed as American forces attempt to infiltrate the Shah-i-Kot Valley on a low-flying helicopter reconnaissance mission.
  • 2009 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.
  • 2012 – A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, killing at least 250 people.
  • 2015 – At least 34 miners die in a suspected gas explosion at the Zasyadko coal mine in the rebel-held Donetsk region of Ukraine.
  • 2018 – Former MI6 spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter are poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England, causing a diplomatic uproar that results in mass-expulsions of diplomats from all countries involved.
  • 2019 – The Indian Attack submarine was spotted by the Pakistan Navy.
  • 2020 – Former Daredevil Nik Wallenda is the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

Births on March 4

  • 895 – Liu Zhiyuan, founder of the Later Han Dynasty (d. 948)
  • 977 – Al-Musabbihi, Fatimid historian and official (d. 1030)
  • 1188 – Blanche of Castile, French queen consort (d. 1252)
  • 1394 – Henry the Navigator, Portuguese explorer (d. 1460)
  • 1484 – George, margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (d. 1543)
  • 1492 – Francesco de Layolle, Italian organist and composer (d. 1540)
  • 1502 – Elisabeth of Hesse, princess of Saxony (d. 1557)
  • 1519 – Hindal Mirza, Mughal emperor (d. 1551)
  • 1526 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (d. 1596)
  • 1602 – Kanō Tan’yū, Japanese painter (d. 1674)
  • 1634 – Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish philosopher (d. 1689)
  • 1651 – John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, English lawyer, jurist, and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (d. 1716)
  • 1655 – Fra Galgario, Italian painter (d. 1743)
  • 1665 – Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (d. 1694)
  • 1678 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1741)
  • 1702 – Jack Sheppard, English criminal (d. 1724)
  • 1706 – Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect, designed the Hermitage Hunting Lodge and Gammel Holtegård (d. 1759)
  • 1715 – James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, English historian and politician (d. 1763)
  • 1719 – George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, English politician (d. 1777)
  • 1729 – Anne d’Arpajon, French wife of Philippe de Noailles (d. 1794)
  • 1745 – Charles Dibdin, English actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1814)
  • 1745 – Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American general (d. 1779)
  • 1756 – Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter and educator (d. 1823)
  • 1760 – William Payne, English painter (d. 1830)
  • 1760 – Hugh Ronalds, British nurseryman who cultivated and documented 300 varieties of apples (d. 1833)
  • 1769 – Muhammad Ali, Ottoman military leader and pasha (d. 1849)
  • 1770 – Joseph Jacotot, French philosopher and academic (d. 1840)
  • 1778 – Robert Emmet, Irish commander (d. 1803)
  • 1781 – Rebecca Gratz, American educator and philanthropist (d. 1869)
  • 1782 – Johann Rudolf Wyss, Swiss philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1830)
  • 1792 – Isaac Lea, American conchologist, geologist, and publisher (d. 1886)
  • 1793 – Karl Lachmann, German philologist and critic (d. 1851)
  • 1814 – Napoleon Collins, Rear Admiral of the United States Navy during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War (d. 1875)
  • 1817 – Edwards Pierrepont, American lawyer and politician, 34th United States Attorney General (d. 1892)
  • 1820 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian rebel leader (d. 1856)
  • 1822 – Jules Antoine Lissajous, French mathematician and academic (d. 1880)
  • 1823 – George Caron, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1902)
  • 1826 – August Johann Gottfried Bielenstein, German linguist, ethnographer, and theologian (d. 1907)
  • 1826 – John Buford, American general (d. 1863)
  • 1826 – Elme Marie Caro, French philosopher and academic (d. 1887)
  • 1826 – Theodore Judah, American engineer, founded the Central Pacific Railroad (d. 1863)
  • 1828 – Owen Wynne Jones, Welsh clergyman and poet (d. 1870)
  • 1838 – Paul Lacôme, French pianist, cellist, and composer (d. 1920)
  • 1847 – Carl Josef Bayer, Austrian chemist and academic (d. 1904)
  • 1851 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author and poet (d. 1911)
  • 1854 – Napier Shaw, English meteorologist and academic (d. 1945)
  • 1856 – Alfred William Rich, English painter, author, and educator (d. 1921)
  • 1861 – Arthur Cushman McGiffert, American theologian and author (d. 1933)
  • 1862 – Jacob Robert Emden, Swiss astrophysicist and meteorologist (d. 1940)
  • 1863 – R. I. Pocock, English zoologist and archaeologist (d. 1947)
  • 1863 – John Henry Wigmore, American academic and jurist (d. 1943)
  • 1864 – David W. Taylor, American admiral, architect, and engineer (d. 1940)
  • 1866 – Eugène Cosserat, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1931)
  • 1867 – Jacob L. Beilhart, American activist, founded the Spirit Fruit Society (d. 1908)
  • 1867 – Charles Pelot Summerall, senior United States Army officer (d. 1955)
  • 1870 – Thomas Sturge Moore, English author and poet (d. 1944)
  • 1871 – Boris Galerkin, Russian mathematician and engineer (d. 1945)
  • 1873 – Guy Wetmore Carryl, American journalist and poet (d. 1904)
  • 1873 – John H. Trumbull, American colonel and politician, 70th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1961)
  • 1875 – Mihály Károlyi, Hungarian politician, President of the Hungary (d. 1955)
  • 1875 – Enrique Larreta, Argentinian historian and author (d. 1961)
  • 1876 – Léon-Paul Fargue, French poet and author (d. 1947)
  • 1876 – Theodore Hardeen, Hungarian-American magician (d. 1945)
  • 1877 – Alexander Goedicke, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1957)
  • 1877 – Fritz Graebner, German geographer and ethnologist (d. 1934)
  • 1877 – Garrett Morgan, African-American inventor (d. 1963)
  • 1878 – Takeo Arishima, Japanese author and critic (d. 1923)
  • 1878 – Egbert Van Alstyne, American pianist and songwriter (d. 1951)
  • 1879 – Bernhard Kellermann, German author and poet (d. 1951)
  • 1880 – Channing Pollock, American playwright and critic (d. 1946)
  • 1881 – Todor Aleksandrov, Bulgarian educator and activist (d. 1924)
  • 1881 – Thomas Sigismund Stribling, American lawyer and author (d. 1965)
  • 1881 – Richard C. Tolman, American physicist and chemist (d. 1948)
  • 1882 – Nicolae Titulescu, Romanian academic and politician, 61st Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1941)
  • 1883 – Maude Fealy, American actress and screenwriter (d. 1971)
  • 1883 – Robert Emmett Keane, American actor (d. 1981)
  • 1883 – Sam Langford, Canadian-American boxer (d. 1956)
  • 1884 – Red Murray, American baseball player (d. 1958)
  • 1884 – Lee Shumway, American actor (d. 1959)
  • 1886 – Paul Bazelaire, French cellist and composer (d. 1958)
  • 1888 – Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (d. 1942)
  • 1888 – Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball player (d. 1972)
  • 1888 – Emma Richter, German paleontologist (d. 1956)
  • 1888 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (d. 1931)
  • 1889 – Oscar Chisini, Italian mathematician and statistician (d. 1967)
  • 1889 – Oren E. Long, American soldier and politician, 10th Territorial Governor of Hawaii (d. 1965)
  • 1889 – Pearl White, American actress (d. 1938)
  • 1889 – Robert William Wood, English-American painter (d. 1979)
  • 1890 – Norman Bethune, Canadian soldier and physician (d. 1939)
  • 1891 – Dazzy Vance, American baseball player (d. 1961)
  • 1893 – Charles Herbert Colvin, American engineer, co-founded the Pioneer Instrument Company (d. 1985)
  • 1893 – Adolph Lowe, German sociologist and economist (d. 1995)
  • 1894 – Charles Corm, Lebanese businessman and philanthropist (d. 1963)
  • 1895 – Milt Gross, American animator, director, and screenwriter (d. 1953)
  • 1896 – Kai Holm, Danish actor and director (d. 1985)
  • 1897 – Lefty O’Doul, American baseball player and manager (d. 1969)
  • 1898 – Georges Dumézil, French philologist and academic (d. 1986)
  • 1898 – Hans Krebs, German general (d. 1945)
  • 1899 – Peter Illing, Austrian born, British film and television actor (d. 1966)
  • 1899 – Emilio Prados, Spanish poet and author (d. 1962)
  • 1900 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (d. 1971)
  • 1901 – Wilbur R. Franks, Canadian scientist, invented the g-suit (d. 1986)
  • 1901 – Charles Goren, American bridge player and author (d. 1991)
  • 1901 – Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Malagasy-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
  • 1902 – Rachel Messerer, Lithuanian-Russian actress (d. 1993)
  • 1902 – Russell Reeder, American soldier and author (d. 1998)
  • 1903 – William C. Boyd, American immunologist and chemist (d. 1983)
  • 1903 – Malcolm Dole, American chemist and academic (d. 1990)
  • 1903 – Dorothy Mackaill, English-American actress and singer (d. 1990)
  • 1903 – John Scarne, American magician and author (d. 1985)
  • 1904 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (d. 1973)
  • 1904 – George Gamow, Ukrainian-American physicist and cosmologist (d. 1968)
  • 1904 – Joseph Schmidt, Austrian-Hungarian tenor and actor (d. 1942)
  • 1906 – Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (d. 1991)
  • 1906 – Avery Fisher, American violinist and engineer, founded Fisher Electronics (d. 1994)
  • 1906 – Georges Ronsse, Belgian cyclist and manager (d. 1969)
  • 1907 – Edgar Barrier, American actor (d. 1964)
  • 1908 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (d. 1976)
  • 1908 – Thomas Shaw, American singer and guitarist (d. 1977)
  • 1909 – Harry Helmsley, American businessman (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – George Edward Holbrook, American chemist and engineer (d. 1987)
  • 1910 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Brazil (d. 1985)
  • 1911 – Charles Greville, 7th Earl of Warwick, English actor (d. 1984)
  • 1912 – Afro Basaldella, Italian painter and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1912 – Ferdinand Leitner, German conductor and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1912 – Carl Marzani, Italian-American activist and publisher (d. 1994)
  • 1913 – Taos Amrouche, Algerian singer and author (d. 1976)
  • 1913 – John Garfield, American actor and singer (d. 1952)
  • 1914 – Barbara Newhall Follett, American author (d. 1939)
  • 1914 – Ward Kimball, American animator, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
  • 1914 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist, sculptor, and architect (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – László Csatáry, Hungarian art dealer (d. 2013)
  • 1915 – Frank Sleeman, Australian lieutenant and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – Carlos Surinach, Spanish-Catalan composer and conductor (d. 1997)
  • 1916 – William Alland, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1997)
  • 1916 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (d. 2000)
  • 1916 – Hans Eysenck, German-English psychologist and theorist (d. 1997)
  • 1917 – Clyde McCullough, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1982)
  • 1918 – Kurt Dahlmann, German pilot, lawyer, and journalist (d. 2017)
  • 1918 – Margaret Osborne duPont, American tennis player (d. 2012)
  • 1919 – Buck Baker, American race car driver (d. 2002)
  • 1919 – Tan Chee Khoon, Malaysian physician and politician (d. 1996)
  • 1920 – Jean Lecanuet, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1993)
  • 1920 – Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish-English actor (d. 2002)
  • 1921 – Halim El-Dabh, Egyptian-American composer and educator (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (d. 1987)
  • 1921 – Dinny Pails, English-Australian tennis player (d. 1986)
  • 1922 – Richard E. Cunha, American director and cinematographer (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Dina Pathak, Indian actor and director (d. 2002)
  • 1923 – Russell Freeburg, American journalist and author
  • 1923 – Francis King, English author and poet (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Patrick Moore, English astronomer and television host (d. 2012)
  • 1924 – Kenneth O’Donnell, American soldier and politician (d. 1977)
  • 1925 – Alan R. Battersby, English chemist and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Paul Mauriat, French conductor and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Henri de Contenson, French archaeologist and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Prince Michel of Bourbon-Parma, French businessman, soldier and race car driver (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Richard DeVos, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Amway (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Pascual Pérez, Argentinian boxer (d. 1977)
  • 1926 – Don Rendell, English saxophonist and flute player (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Phil Batt, American soldier and politician, 29th Governor of Idaho
  • 1927 – Thayer David, American actor (d. 1978)
  • 1927 – Jacques Dupin, French poet and critic (d. 2012)
  • 1927 – Robert Orben, American magician and author
  • 1927 – Dick Savitt, American tennis player and businessman
  • 1928 – Samuel Adler, German-American composer and conductor
  • 1928 – Alan Sillitoe, English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet (d. 2010)
  • 1929 – Bernard Haitink, Dutch violinist and conductor
  • 1929 – Peter Swerling, American theoretician and engineer (d. 2000)
  • 1931 – Wally Bruner, American journalist and television host (d. 1997)
  • 1931 – Bob Johnson, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
  • 1931 – William Henry Keeler, American cardinal (d. 2017)
  • 1931 – Alice Rivlin, American economist and politician (d. 2019)
  • 1932 – Sigurd Jansen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and conductor
  • 1932 – Ryszard Kapuściński, Polish journalist, photographer, and poet (d. 2007)
  • 1932 – Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2008)
  • 1932 – Ed Roth, American illustrator (d. 2001)
  • 1932 – Frank Wells, American businessman (d. 1994)
  • 1933 – Nino Vaccarella, Italian race car driver
  • 1934 – Mario Davidovsky, Argentinian-American composer and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – John Duffey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1996)
  • 1934 – Anne Haney, American actress (d. 2001)
  • 1934 – Barbara McNair, American singer and actress (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – Sandra Reynolds, South African tennis player
  • 1934 – Janez Strnad, Slovenian physicist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1935 – Edward Dębicki, Ukrainian-Polish poet and composer
  • 1935 – Bent Larsen, Danish chess player and author (d. 2010)
  • 1936 – Eric Allandale, Dominican trombonist and songwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1936 – Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (d. 1968)
  • 1936 – Aribert Reimann, German pianist and composer
  • 1937 – José Araquistáin, Spanish footballer
  • 1937 – William Deverell, Canadian lawyer, author, and activist
  • 1937 – Graham Dowling, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1937 – Leslie H. Gelb, American journalist and author (d. 2019)
  • 1937 – Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and explorer (d. 2003)
  • 1937 – Barney Wilen, French saxophonist and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1937 – Richard B. Wright, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan-English negotiator (d. 2006)
  • 1938 – Alpha Condé, Guinean politician, President of Guinea
  • 1938 – Allan Kornblum, American police officer and judge (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Angus MacLise, American drummer and composer (d. 1979)
  • 1938 – Don Perkins, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1938 – Paula Prentiss, American actress
  • 1938 – Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1939 – Jack Fisher, American baseball player
  • 1939 – Robert Shaye, American film producer
  • 1940 – Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem, German scholar and judge
  • 1940 – David Plante, American novelist
  • 1941 – John Hancock, American film and television actor (d. 1992)
  • 1941 – Adrian Lyne, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1941 – James Zagel, American lawyer and judge
  • 1942 – Gloria Gaither, American singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Charles C. Krulak, American general
  • 1942 – David Matthews, American keyboard player and composer
  • 1942 – Lynn Sherr, American journalist and author
  • 1942 – James Gustave Speth, American lawyer and politician
  • 1942 – Zorán Sztevanovity, Serbian-Hungarian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Lucio Dalla, Italian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2012)
  • 1943 – Aldo Rico, Argentinian commander and politician
  • 1944 – Harvey Postlethwaite, English engineer (d. 1999)
  • 1944 – Anthony Ichiro Sanda, Japanese-American physicist and academic
  • 1944 – Len Walker, English footballer and manager
  • 1944 – Bobby Womack, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1945 – Tommy Svensson, Swedish footballer and manager
  • 1945 – Gary Williams, American basketball player and coach
  • 1946 – Michael Ashcroft, English businessman and politician
  • 1946 – Danny Frisella, American baseball player (d. 1977)
  • 1946 – Haile Gerima, Ethiopian born US filmmaker
  • 1946 – Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, American journalist and author
  • 1947 – David Franzoni, American screenwriter and film producer
  • 1947 – Jan Garbarek, Norwegian saxophonist and composer
  • 1947 – Bob Lewis, American guitarist
  • 1947 – Pēteris Plakidis, Latvian pianist and composer (d. 2017)
  • 1948 – Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, New Zealand-Australian author
  • 1948 – James Ellroy, American writer
  • 1948 – Tom Grieve, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
  • 1948 – Mike Moran, English musician, songwriter and record producer
  • 1948 – Jean O’Leary, American nun and activist (d. 2005)
  • 1948 – Chris Squire, English singer-songwriter and bass guitarist (d. 2015)
  • 1948 – Shakin’ Stevens, British singer-songwriter
  • 1949 – Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhazian politician, 2nd President of Abkhazia (d. 2011)
  • 1949 – Carroll Baker, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1950 – Ofelia Medina, Mexican actress and screenwriter
  • 1950 – Rick Perry, American captain and politician, 47th Governor of Texas
  • 1950 – Safet Plakalo, Bosnian author and playwright (d. 2015)
  • 1951 – Edelgard Bulmahn, German educator and politician, German Federal Minister of Education and Research
  • 1951 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, South Korean-American author, director, and producer (d. 1982)
  • 1951 – Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1951 – Pete Haycock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
  • 1951 – Peter O’Sullivan, Welsh international footballer, winger
  • 1951 – Sam Perlozzo, American baseball player and manager
  • 1951 – Chris Rea, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Glenis Willmott, English scientist and politician
  • 1951 – Zoran Žižić, Montenegrin politician, 4th Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (d. 2013)
  • 1952 – Peter Kuhfeld, English painter
  • 1952 – Ronn Moss, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1952 – Svend Robinson, American-Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1952 – Umberto Tozzi, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1953 – John Edwards, Australian director and producer
  • 1953 – Emilio Estefan, Cuban-American drummer and producer
  • 1953 – Paweł Janas, Polish footballer and manager
  • 1953 – Ray Price, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1953 – Reinhold Roth, German motorcycle racer
  • 1953 – Chris Smith, American lawyer and politician
  • 1953 – Agustí Villaronga, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1953 – Daniel Woodrell, American novelist and short story writer
  • 1954 – Timur Apakidze, Russian general and pilot (d. 2001)
  • 1954 – Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Korean American author (d. 1982)
  • 1954 – François Fillon, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
  • 1954 – Peter Jacobsen, American golfer and sportscaster
  • 1954 – Catherine O’Hara, Canadian-American actress and comedian
  • 1954 – Irina Ratushinskaya, Russian poet and author (d. 2017)
  • 1955 – Tim Costello, Australian minister and politician
  • 1955 – Joey Jones, Welsh footballer and manager
  • 1957 – Nicholas Coleridge, English journalist and businessman
  • 1957 – Ron Fassler, American film and television actor and author
  • 1957 – Mykelti Williamson, American actor and director
  • 1958 – Patricia Heaton, American actress
  • 1958 – Massimo Mascioletti, Italian rugby player and coach
  • 1958 – Tina Smith, American politician, junior senator of Minnesota
  • 1959 – Rick Ardon, Australian journalist
  • 1959 – Plamen Getov, Bulgarian footballer
  • 1960 – Chonda Pierce, American comedian
  • 1961 – Ray Mancini, American boxer
  • 1961 – Steven Weber, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1961 – Roger Wessels, South African golfer and educator
  • 1962 – Simon Bisley, English author and illustrator
  • 1962 – Paul Canoville, English footballer
  • 1962 – Stephan Reimertz, German historian and author
  • 1963 – Jason Newsted, American heavy metal singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1964 – Dave Colclough, Welsh computer programmer and poker player (d. 2016)
  • 1964 – Brian Crowley, Irish lawyer and politician
  • 1964 – Tom Lampkin, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1964 – Paolo Virzì, Italian director and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Greg Alexander, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Paul W. S. Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Andrew Collins, English journalist and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Khaled Hosseini, Afghan-born American novelist
  • 1965 – Yury Lonchakov, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1965 – John Murphy British film composer
  • 1966 – Emese Hunyady, Hungarian speed skater
  • 1966 – Kevin Johnson, American basketball player and politician, 55th Mayor of Sacramento
  • 1966 – Fiona Ma, American accountant and politician
  • 1966 – Helmut Mayer, Austrian skier
  • 1966 – Glen Nissen, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Dav Pilkey, American author and illustrator
  • 1966 – Grand Puba, American rapper
  • 1966 – Mike Small, American golfer and coach
  • 1967 – Daryll Cullinan, South African cricketer and coach
  • 1967 – Evan Dando, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Ivan Lewis, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
  • 1967 – Terry Matterson, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1967 – Dave Rayner, English cyclist (d. 1994)
  • 1967 – Sam Taylor-Johnson, English filmmaker and photographer
  • 1967 – Kubilay Türkyilmaz, Swiss footballer
  • 1967 – Tim Vine, English comedian, actor, and author
  • 1968 – Giovanni Carrara, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1968 – Jorge Celedón, Colombian singer
  • 1968 – Patsy Kensit, English model and actress
  • 1968 – Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greek banker and politician, Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1968 – Graham Westley, English footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Pierluigi Casiraghi, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Wayne Collins, English footballer, midfielder
  • 1969 – Annie Yi, Taiwanese singer, actress, and writer
  • 1970 – Àlex Crivillé, Spanish motorcycle racer
  • 1970 – Will Keen, English actor
  • 1970 – Caroline Vis, Dutch tennis player
  • 1971 – Iain Baird, Canadian soccer player and manager
  • 1971 – Claire Baker, Scottish politician
  • 1971 – Emily Bazelon, American journalist
  • 1971 – Jason Croot, English actor and director
  • 1971 – Anders Kjølholm, Danish bass player
  • 1971 – Satoshi Motoyama, Japanese race car driver
  • 1971 – Geraldine O’Rawe, Northern Irish actress
  • 1972 – Katherine Center, American journalist and author
  • 1972 – Nocturno Culto, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1972 – Robert Smith, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, rapper, actress and record producer
  • 1972 – Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
  • 1972 – Alison Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
  • 1973 – Massimo Brambilla, Italian footballer and coach
  • 1973 – Phillip Daniels, American football player and coach
  • 1973 – Valery Kobelev, Russian ski jumper
  • 1973 – Penny Mordaunt, English lieutenant and politician, Minister of State for the Armed Forces
  • 1973 – Linus of Hollywood, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1973 – Len Wiseman, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Chandra Sekhar Yeleti, Indian director and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Crowbar, American wrestler
  • 1974 – Mladen Krstajić, Serbian footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Karol Kučera, Slovak tennis player
  • 1974 – Ariel Ortega, Argentinian footballer
  • 1974 – Tommy Phelps, South Korean-American baseball player and coach
  • 1974 – ICS Vortex, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1974 – David Wagner, American tennis player and educator
  • 1974 – Bill Young, Australian rugby player
  • 1975 – Mats Eilertsen, Norwegian bassist and composer
  • 1975 – Patrick Femerling, German basketball player
  • 1975 – Antti Aalto, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Kristi Harrower, Australian basketball player
  • 1975 – Hawksley Workman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1976 – Robbie Blake, English footballer
  • 1976 – Tommy Jönsson, Swedish footballer
  • 1977 – Nacho Figueras, Argentinian polo player and model
  • 1977 – Traver Rains, American fashion designer and photographer
  • 1978 – Pierre Dagenais, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1978 – Denis Dallan, Italian rugby player and singer
  • 1978 – Jean-Marc Pelletier, American ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Sarah Stock, Canadian wrestler and trainer
  • 1980 – Rohan Bopanna, Indian tennis player
  • 1980 – Omar Bravo, Mexican footballer
  • 1980 – Suzanna Choffel, American singer-songwriter
  • 1980 – Giedrius Gustas, Lithuanian basketball player
  • 1980 – Scott Hamilton, New Zealand rugby player and coach
  • 1980 – Jack Hannahan, American baseball player
  • 1980 – Michael Henrich, American ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Phil McGuire, Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1980 – Aja Volkman, American singer-songwriter
  • 1981 – Ariza Makukula, Portuguese footballer
  • 1981 – Helen Wyman, English cyclist
  • 1982 – Landon Donovan, American soccer player and coach
  • 1982 – Cate Edwards, American lawyer and author
  • 1982 – Ludmila Ezhova, Russian gymnast
  • 1982 – Yasemin Mori, Turkish singer
  • 1983 – Samuel Contesti, French-Italian figure skater
  • 1983 – Adam Deacon, English film actor, rapper, writer and director
  • 1983 – Jaque Fourie, South African rugby player
  • 1983 – Drew Houston, American billionaire and Internet entrepreneur
  • 1984 – Josh Bowman, English actor
  • 1984 – Tamir Cohen, Israeli footballer
  • 1984 – Anders Grøndal, Norwegian race car driver
  • 1984 – Spencer Larsen, American football player
  • 1984 – Jeremy Loops, South African singer-songwriter and record producer
  • 1984 – Raven Quinn, American singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Zak Whitbread, American-English footballer
  • 1985 – Jake Buxton, English footballer
  • 1985 – Chinedum Ndukwe, American football player
  • 1985 – Whitney Port, American fashion designer and author
  • 1986 – Steven Burke, English road and track cyclist
  • 1986 – Tom De Mul, Belgian footballer
  • 1986 – Mike Krieger, Brazilian-American computer programmer and businessman, co-founded Instagram
  • 1986 – Siim Roops, Estonian footballer
  • 1986 – Bohdan Shust, Ukrainian footballer
  • 1986 – Manu Vatuvei, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1986 – Margo Harshman, American actress
  • 1987 – Ben McKinley, Australian footballer
  • 1987 – Cameron Wood, Australian footballer
  • 1987 – Tamzin Merchant, English actress
  • 1988 – Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player
  • 1988 – Laura Siegemund, German tennis player
  • 1988 – Adam Watts, English footballer
  • 1989 – Benjamin Kiplagat, Ugandan long-distance runner
  • 1990 – Andrea Bowen, American actress
  • 1990 – Draymond Green, American basketball player
  • 1990 – Paddy Madden, Irish footballer
  • 1990 – Fran Mérida, Spanish footballer
  • 1992 – Nick Castellanos, American baseball player
  • 1992 – Erik Lamela, Argentinian international footballer, midfielder
  • 1992 – Bernd Leno, German footballer
  • 1992 – Karl Mööl, Estonian footballer
  • 1993 – Bobbi Kristina Brown, American singer and actress (d. 2015)
  • 1993 – Richard Peniket, English footballer
  • 1994 – Callum Harriott, English footballer
  • 1994 – AJ Tracey, British hip-hop artist and record producer
  • 1995 – Chlöe Howl, British singer-songwriter
  • 1995 – Bill Milner, English actor
  • 1996 – Lukas Webb, Australian rules footballer
  • 2002 – Jacob Hopkins, American actor

Deaths on March 4

  • 306 – Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia, Christian martyrs
  • 480 – Landry of Sées, French bishop and saint
  • 561 – Pelagius I, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 934 – Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, Fatimid caliph (b. 873)
  • 1172 – Stephen III, king of Hungary (b. 1147)
  • 1193 – Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid Sultanate (b. 1137)
  • 1238 – Joan of England, queen of Scotland (b. 1210)
  • 1238 – Yuri II, Russian Grand Prince (b. 1189)
  • 1303 – Daniel of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1261)
  • 1314 – Jakub Świnka, Polish priest and archbishop
  • 1371 – Jeanne d’Évreux, queen consort of France (b. 1310)
  • 1388 – Thomas Usk, English author
  • 1484 – Saint Casimir, Polish prince (b. 1458)
  • 1496 – Sigismund, archduke of Austria (b. 1427)
  • 1583 – Bernard Gilpin, English priest and theologian (b. 1517)
  • 1604 – Fausto Sozzini, Italian theologian and educator (b. 1539)
  • 1615 – Hans von Aachen, German painter and educator (b. 1552)
  • 1710 – Louis III, duke of Bourbon (b. 1668)
  • 1733 – Claude de Forbin, French admiral and politician (b. 1656)
  • 1744 – John Anstis, English historian and politician (b. 1669)
  • 1762 – Johannes Zick, German painter (b. 1702)
  • 1793 – Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre (b. 1725)
  • 1795 – John Collins, American politician, 3rd Governor of Rhode Island (b. 1717)
  • 1805 – Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (b. 1725)
  • 1807 – Abraham Baldwin, American minister, lawyer, and politician (b. 1754)
  • 1811 – Mariano Moreno, Argentinian journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1778)
  • 1832 – Jean-François Champollion, French philologist and scholar (b. 1790)
  • 1851 – James Richardson, English explorer (b. 1809)
  • 1852 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (b. 1809)
  • 1853 – Thomas Bladen Capel, English admiral (b. 1776)
  • 1853 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist (b. 1774)
  • 1858 – Matthew C. Perry, American naval commander (b. 1794)
  • 1864 – Thomas Starr King, American minister and politician (b. 1824)
  • 1866 – Alexander Campbell, Irish-American minister and theologian (b. 1788)
  • 1872 – Carsten Hauch, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1790)
  • 1883 – Alexander H. Stephens, American lawyer and politician, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (b. 1812)
  • 1888 – Amos Bronson Alcott, American philosopher and educator (b. 1799)
  • 1903 – Joseph Henry Shorthouse, English author (b. 1834)
  • 1906 – John Schofield, American general and politician, 28th United States Secretary of War (b. 1831)
  • 1915 – William Willett, English inventor, founded British Summer Time (b. 1856)
  • 1916 – Franz Marc, German painter (b. 1880)
  • 1925 – Moritz Moszkowski, Polish-German pianist and composer (b. 1854)
  • 1925 – James Ward, English psychologist and philosopher (b. 1843)
  • 1925 – John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860)
  • 1927 – Ira Remsen, American chemist and academic (b. 1846)
  • 1938 – George Foster Peabody, American banker and philanthropist (b. 1852)
  • 1938 – Jack Taylor, American baseball player (b. 1874)
  • 1940 – Hamlin Garland, American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer (b. 1860)
  • 1941 – Ludwig Quidde, German activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
  • 1944 – Fannie Barrier Williams, American educator and activist (b. 1855)
  • 1944 – Louis Buchalter, American mob boss (b. 1897)
  • 1944 – Louis Capone, Italian-American gangster (b. 1896)
  • 1944 – René Lefebvre, French businessman (b. 1879)
  • 1945 – Lucille La Verne, American actress (b. 1872)
  • 1945 – Mark Sandrich, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
  • 1948 – Antonin Artaud, French actor and director (b. 1896)
  • 1949 – Clarence Kingsbury, English cyclist (b. 1882)
  • 1952 – Charles Scott Sherrington, English neurophysiologist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
  • 1954 – Noel Gay, English composer and songwriter (b. 1898)
  • 1960 – Herbert O’Conor, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 51st Governor of Maryland (b. 1896)
  • 1963 – William Carlos Williams, American poet, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1883)
  • 1969 – Nicholas Schenck, Russian-American businessman (b. 1881)
  • 1972 – Harold Barrowclough, New Zealand general, lawyer, and politician, 8th Chief Justice of New Zealand (b. 1894)
  • 1972 – Charles Biro, American author and illustrator (b. 1911)
  • 1974 – Adolph Gottlieb, American painter and sculptor (b. 1903)
  • 1976 – John Marvin Jones, American judge and politician (b. 1882)
  • 1976 – Walter H. Schottky, Swiss-German physicist and engineer (b. 1886)
  • 1977 – Anatol E. Baconsky, Romanian poet, author, and critic (b. 1925)
  • 1977 – Nancy Tyson Burbidge, Australian botanist and curator (b. 1912)
  • 1977 – Andrés Caicedo, Colombian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1951)
  • 1977 – William Paul, American lawyer and politician (b. 1885)
  • 1977 – Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, German jurist and politician, German Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1887)
  • 1978 – Wesley Bolin, American businessman and politician, 15th Governor of Arizona (b. 1909)
  • 1978 – Joe Marsala, American clarinet player and songwriter (b. 1907)
  • 1979 – Willi Unsoeld, American mountaineer and educator (b. 1926)
  • 1980 – Alan Hardaker, English lieutenant and businessman (b. 1912)
  • 1981 – Torin Thatcher, American actor (b. 1905)
  • 1981 – Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer, German admiral (b. 1900)
  • 1986 – Albert L. Lehninger, American biochemist and academic (b. 1917)
  • 1986 – Richard Manuel, Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1943)
  • 1986 – Elizabeth Smart, Canadian poet and author (b. 1913)
  • 1987 – Seibo Kitamura, Japanese sculptor (b. 1884)
  • 1988 – Beatriz Guido, Argentine author and screenwriter (b. 1924)
  • 1989 – Tiny Grimes, American guitarist (b. 1916)
  • 1990 – Hank Gathers, American basketball player (b. 1967)
  • 1991 – Godfrey Bryan, English cricketer (b. 1902)
  • 1992 – Art Babbitt, American animator and director (b. 1907)
  • 1992 – Pare Lorentz, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1905)
  • 1993 – Art Hodes, Ukrainian-American pianist and composer (b. 1904)
  • 1993 – Tomislav Ivčić, Croatian singer-songwriter and politician (b. 1953)
  • 1993 – Izaak Kolthoff, Dutch chemist and academic (b. 1894)
  • 1993 – Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Environment (b. 1929)
  • 1994 – John Candy, Canadian comedian and actor (b. 1950)
  • 1994 – George Edward Hughes, Irish-Scottish philosopher and author (b. 1918)
  • 1995 – Matt Urban, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
  • 1996 – Minnie Pearl, American entertainer (b. 1912)
  • 1996 – John Sauer, American football player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1925)
  • 1997 – Joe Baker-Cresswell, English captain (b. 1901)
  • 1997 – Robert H. Dicke, American physicist and astronomer (b. 1916)
  • 1998 – Ivan Dougherty, Australian general (b. 1907)
  • 1999 – Harry Blackmun, American lawyer and judge (b. 1908)
  • 1999 – Del Close, American actor and educator (b. 1934)
  • 1999 – Miłosz Magin, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1929)
  • 2000 – Hermann Brück, German-Scottish physicist and astronomer (b. 1905)
  • 2000 – Michael Noonan, New Zealand-Australian author and screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 2000 – Ta-You Wu, Chinese physicist and academic (b. 1907)
  • 2001 – Gerardo Barbero, Argentinian chess player (b. 1961)
  • 2001 – Jean René Bazaine, French painter and author (b. 1904)
  • 2001 – Fred Lasswell, American cartoonist (b. 1916)
  • 2001 – Jim Rhodes, American businessman and politician, 61st Governor of Ohio (b. 1909)
  • 2001 – Harold Stassen, American educator and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1907)
  • 2002 – Ugnė Karvelis, Lithuanian author and translator (b. 1935)
  • 2002 – Elyne Mitchell, Australian skier and author (b. 1913)
  • 2002 – Velibor Vasović, Serbian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
  • 2003 – Jaba Ioseliani, Georgian playwright, academic, and politician (b. 1926)
  • 2003 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, screenwriter, and director (b. 1931)
  • 2004 – Claude Nougaro, French singer-songwriter (b. 1929)
  • 2005 – Nicola Calipari, Italian general (b. 1953)
  • 2005 – Yuriy Kravchenko, Ukrainian police officer and politician (b. 1951)
  • 2005 – Carlos Sherman, Uruguayan-Belarusian author and activist (b. 1934)
  • 2006 – John Reynolds Gardiner, American author and engineer (b. 1944)
  • 2006 – Edgar Valter, Estonian author and illustrator (b. 1929)
  • 2007 – Thomas Eagleton, American lawyer and politician, 38th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri (b. 1929)
  • 2007 – Tadeusz Nalepa, Polish singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1934)
  • 2007 – Ian Wooldridge, English journalist (b. 1932)
  • 2008 – Gary Gygax, American game designer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons (b. 1938)
  • 2008 – Leonard Rosenman, American composer and conductor (b. 1924)
  • 2009 – Yvon Cormier, Canadian wrestler (b. 1938)
  • 2009 – Horton Foote, American playwright and screenwriter (b. 1916)
  • 2009 – George McAfee, American football player (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect and educator, designed the Austrian Cultural Forum New York (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – Johnny Alf, Brazilian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
  • 2010 – Vladislav Ardzinba, Abkhazian historian and politician, 1st President of Abkhazia (b. 1945)
  • 2010 – Fred Wedlock, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
  • 2011 – Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Nepalese journalist and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
  • 2011 – Vivienne Harris, English journalist and publisher, co-founded the Jewish Telegraph (b. 1921)
  • 2011 – Ed Manning, American basketball player and coach (b. 1943)
  • 2011 – Arjun Singh, Indian politician (b. 1930)
  • 2011 – Alenush Terian, Iranian astronomer and physicist (b. 1920)
  • 2011 – Simon van der Meer, Dutch-Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Paul McBride, Scottish lawyer and politician (b. 1965)
  • 2012 – Don Mincher, American baseball player (b. 1938)
  • 2013 – Lillian Cahn, Hungarian-American businesswoman, co-founded Coach, Inc. (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Mickey Moore, Canadian-American actor and director (b. 1914)
  • 2013 – Toren Smith, Canadian businessman, founded Studio Proteus (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Mark Freidkin, Russian author and poet (b. 1953)
  • 2014 – Elaine Kellett-Bowman, English lawyer and politician (b. 1923)
  • 2014 – Jack Kinzler, American engineer (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Wu Tianming, Chinese director and producer (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Dušan Bilandžić, Croatian historian and politician (b. 1924)
  • 2015 – Ray Hatton, English-American runner, author, and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2016 – Bud Collins, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – Pat Conroy, American author (b. 1945)
  • 2016 – P. A. Sangma, Indian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1947)
  • 2016 – Zhou Xiaoyan, Chinese soprano and educator (b. 1917)
  • 2017 – Clayton Yeutter, American politician (b. 1930)
  • 2018 – Davide Astori, Italian soccer player (b. 1987)
  • 2019 – Keith Flint, English singer (The Prodigy) (b. 1969)
  • 2019 – Luke Perry, American actor (b. 1966)
  • 2020 – Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peruvian politician and diplomat

Holidays and observances on March 4

  • Christian feast day:
    • Adrian of Nicomedia
    • Casimir
    • Felix of Rhuys
    • Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)
    • Blessed Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)
    • Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)
    • Peter of Pappacarbone
    • Blessed Zoltán Meszlényi
    • March 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • St Casimir’s Day (Poland and Lithuania)

March 4- 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 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day, Uncategorized /
  • 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
  • 425 – The University of Constantinople is founded by Emperor Theodosius II at the urging of his wife Aelia Eudocia.
  • 907 – Abaoji, a Khitan chieftain, is enthroned as Emperor Taizu, establishing the Liao dynasty in northern China.
  • 1560 – The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Lords of the Congregation of Scotland.
  • 1594 – Henry IV is crowned King of France.
  • 1617 – Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War and shutting Russia out of the Baltic Sea.
  • 1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after leading the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci.
  • 1700 – The island of New Britain is discovered by Europeans.
  • 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia.
  • 1782 – American Revolutionary War: The House of Commons of Great Britain votes against further war in America.
  • 1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress.
  • 1809 – Action of 27 February 1809: Captain Bernard Dubourdieu captures HMS Proserpine.
  • 1812 – Argentine War of Independence: Manuel Belgrano raises the Flag of Argentina in the city of Rosario for the first time.
  • 1812 – Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire.
  • 1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti.
  • 1860 – Abraham Lincoln makes a speech at Cooper Union in the city of New York that is largely responsible for his election to the Presidency.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
  • 1870 – The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships.
  • 1881 – First Boer War: The Battle of Majuba Hill takes place.
  • 1898 – King George I of Greece survives an assassination attempt.
  • 1900 – Second Boer War: In South Africa, British military leaders receive an unconditional notice of surrender from Boer General Piet Cronjé at the Battle of Paardeberg.
  • 1900 – The British Labour Party is founded.
  • 1900 – Fußball-Club Bayern München is founded.
  • 1902 – Second Boer War: Australian soldiers Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria after being convicted of war crimes.
  • 1916 – Ocean liner SS Maloja strikes a mine near Dover and sinks with the loss of 155 lives.
  • 1921 – The International Working Union of Socialist Parties is founded in Vienna.
  • 1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.
  • 1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire; Marinus van der Lubbe, a young Dutch Communist claims responsibility.
  • 1939 – United States labor law: The U.S. Supreme Court rules in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. that the National Labor Relations Board has no authority to force an employer to rehire workers who engage in sit-down strikes.
  • 1940 – Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14.
  • 1942 – World War II: During the Battle of the Java Sea, an Allied strike force is defeated by a Japanese task force in the Java Sea in the Dutch East Indies.
  • 1943 – The Smith Mine #3 in Bearcreek, Montana, explodes, killing 74 men.
  • 1943 – In Berlin, the Gestapo arrest 1,800 Jewish men with German wives, leading to the Rosenstrasse protest.
  • 1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified.
  • 1961 – The first congress of the Spanish Trade Union Organisation is inaugurated.
  • 1962 – Two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots bomb the Independence Palace in Saigon in a failed attempt to assassinate South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm.
  • 1963 – The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.
  • 1964 – The Government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
  • 1971 – Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start performing artificially-induced abortions.
  • 1973 – The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee in protest of the federal government.
  • 1976 – The formerly Spanish territory of Western Sahara, under the auspices of the Polisario Front declares independence as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
  • 1988 – Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom.
  • 1991 – Gulf War: U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that “Kuwait is liberated”.
  • 2002 – Ryanair Flight 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport. Subsequent investigations criticize Ryanair’s handling of the evacuation.
  • 2002 – Godhra train burning: A Muslim mob torches a train returning from Ayodhya, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims.
  • 2004 – A bombing of a Superferry by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines’ worst terrorist attack kills 116.
  • 2004 – Shoko Asahara, the leader of the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo, is sentenced to death for masterminding the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack.
  • 2007 – The Chinese Correction: The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest drop in ten years.
  • 2010 – An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale strikes central parts of Chile leaving over 500 victims, and thousands injured. The quake triggers a tsunami which strikes Hawaii shortly after.
  • 2013 – A shooting takes place at a factory in Menznau, Switzerland, in which five people (including the perpetrator) are killed and five others injured.
  • 2015 – Russian politician Boris Nemtsov is assassinated.

Births on February 27

  • 272 – Constantine the Great, Roman emperor (d. 337)
  • 1343 – Alberto d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara (d. 1393)
  • 1427 – Ruprecht, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1480)
  • 1500 – João de Castro, Portuguese nobleman and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India (d. 1548)
  • 1535 – Min Phalaung, Burmese monarch (d. 1593)
  • 1567 – William Alabaster, English poet (d. 1640)
  • 1572 – Francis II, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1632)
  • 1575 – John Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1616)
  • 1622 – Carel Fabritius, Dutch painter (d. 1654)
  • 1630 – Roche Braziliano, Dutch pirate (d. 1671)
  • 1659 – William Sherard, English botanist (d. 1728)
  • 1667 – Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł, Prussian-Lithuanian wife of Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (d. 1695)
  • 1689 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian composer, director, historian, and geographer (d. 1775)
  • 1703 – Lord Sidney Beauclerk, English politician (d. 1744)
  • 1711 – Constantine Mavrocordatos, Ottoman ruler (d. 1769)
  • 1724 – Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken (d. 1767)
  • 1732 – Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin, French cardinal (d. 1804)
  • 1746 – Louis-Jérôme Gohier, French politician, French Minister of Justice (d. 1830)
  • 1748 – Anders Sparrman, Swedish physician and activist (d. 1820)
  • 1767 – Jacques-Charles Dupont de l’Eure, French lawyer and politician, 24th Prime Minister of France (d. 1855)
  • 1779 – Thomas Hazlehurst, English businessman, founded Hazlehurst & Sons (d. 1842)
  • 1789 – Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, Chilean lawyer and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1818)
  • 1795 – José Antonio Navarro, American merchant and politician (d. 1871)
  • 1799 – Edward Belcher, British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer (d. 1877)
  • 1799 – Frederick Catherwood, British artist, architect and explorer (d. 1854)
  • 1807 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator (d. 1882)
  • 1809 – Jean-Charles Cornay, French missionary and saint (d. 1837)
  • 1816 – William Nicholson, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Victoria (d. 1865)
  • 1847 – Ellen Terry, English actress (d. 1928)
  • 1848 – Hubert Parry, English composer and historian (d. 1918)
  • 1859 – Bertha Pappenheim, Austrian-German activist and author (d. 1936)
  • 1863 – Joaquín Sorolla, Spanish painter (d. 1923)
  • 1863 – George Herbert Mead, American sociologist and philosopher (d. 1930)
  • 1864 – Eemil Nestor Setälä, Finnish linguist and politician, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1935)
  • 1867 – Irving Fisher, American economist and statistician (d. 1947)
  • 1867 – Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer and critic (d. 1942)
  • 1869 – Alice Hamilton, American physician and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1872 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Romanian politician, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1950)
  • 1875 – Vladimir Filatov, Russian-Ukrainian ophthalmologist and surgeon (d. 1956)
  • 1877 – Adela Verne, English pianist and composer (d. 1952)
  • 1877 – Joseph Grinnell, American zoologist and biologist (d. 1939)
  • 1878 – Alvan T. Fuller, American businessman and politician, 50th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
  • 1880 – Xenophon Kasdaglis, Greek-Egyptian tennis player (d. 1943)
  • 1881 – Sveinn Björnsson, Danish-Icelandic lawyer and politician, 1st President of Iceland (d. 1952)
  • 1881 – L. E. J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician, philosopher, and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1886 – Hugo Black, American captain, jurist, and politician (d. 1971)
  • 1887 – Pyotr Nesterov, Russian captain, pilot, and engineer (d. 1914)
  • 1888 – Roberto Assagioli, Italian psychiatrist and psychologist (d. 1974)
  • 1888 – Lotte Lehmann, German-American soprano and actress (d. 1976)
  • 1890 – Mabel Keaton Staupers, American nurse and advocate (d. 1989)
  • 1891 – David Sarnoff, American businessman, founded RCA (d. 1971)
  • 1892 – William Demarest, American actor (d. 1983)
  • 1895 – Miyagiyama Fukumatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1943)
  • 1897 – Marian Anderson, American singer (d. 1993)
  • 1899 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (d. 1978)
  • 1901 – Marino Marini, Italian sculptor and academic (d. 1980)
  • 1901 – Kotama Okada, Japanese religious leader (d. 1974)
  • 1902 – Lúcio Costa, French-Brazilian architect and engineer, designed Gustavo Capanema Palace (d. 1998)
  • 1902 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer and sportscaster (d. 1999)
  • 1902 – John Steinbeck, American journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
  • 1903 – Reginald Gardiner, English-American actor and singer (d. 1980)
  • 1903 – Hans Rohrbach, German mathematician (d. 1993)
  • 1903 – Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Belorussian-American rabbi and philosopher (d. 1993)
  • 1904 – James T. Farrell, American author and poet (d. 1979)
  • 1904 – André Leducq, French cyclist (d. 1980)
  • 1904 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1996)
  • 1905 – Franchot Tone, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1968)
  • 1907 – Mildred Bailey, American singer (d. 1951)
  • 1907 – Momčilo Đujić, Serbian-American priest and commander (d. 1999)
  • 1910 – Joan Bennett, American actress (d. 1990)
  • 1910 – Peter De Vries, American journalist and author (d. 1993)
  • 1910 – Genrikh Kasparyan, Armenian chess player and composer (d. 1995)
  • 1910 – Kelly Johnson, American engineer, co-founded Skunk Works (d. 1990)
  • 1911 – Oscar Heidenstam, English bodybuilder (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Kusumagraj, Indian author, poet, and playwright (d. 1999)
  • 1912 – Lawrence Durrell, Indian-French author, poet, and playwright (d. 1990)
  • 1913 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Kazimierz Sabbat, Polish soldier and politician, President of Poland (d. 1989)
  • 1913 – Irwin Shaw, American author and screenwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1915 – Denis Whitaker, Canadian general, football player, and businessman (d. 2001)
  • 1917 – John Connally, American lieutenant and politician, 61st United States Secretary of Treasury (d. 1993)
  • 1920 – Reg Simpson, English cricketer (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Theodore Van Kirk, American soldier, pilot, and navigator (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Hans Rookmaaker, Dutch historian, author, and scholar (d. 1977)
  • 1923 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (d. 1990)
  • 1925 – Pia Sebastiani, Argentine pianist and composer (d. 2015)
  • 1925 – Kenneth Koch, American poet, playwright and professor (d. 2002)
  • 1926 – David H. Hubel, Canadian-American neurophysiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Peter Whittle, English-New Zealand mathematician and theorist
  • 1928 – René Clemencic, Austrian composer, recorder player, harpsichordist, conductor and clavichord player
  • 1929 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1929 – Patricia Ward Hales, British tennis player (d. 1985)
  • 1930 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Peter Stone, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2003)
  • 1930 – Paul von Ragué Schleyer, American chemist and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Joanne Woodward, American actress
  • 1932 – Dame Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress and humanitarian (d. 2011)
  • 1932 – David Young, Baron Young of Graffham, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
  • 1933 – Raymond Berry, American football player and coach
  • 1933 – Malcolm Wallop, American politician (d. 2011)
  • 1934 – Vincent Fourcade, French interior designer (d. 1992)
  • 1934 – Ralph Nader, American lawyer, politician, and activist
  • 1935 – Mirella Freni, Italian soprano and actress (d. 2020)
  • 1935 – Uri Shulevitz, American author and illustrator
  • 1936 – Sonia Johnson, American feminist activist and author
  • 1936 – Ron Barassi, Australian footballer and coach
  • 1936 – Roger Mahony, American cardinal
  • 1937 – Barbara Babcock, American actress
  • 1938 – Jake Thackray, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist (d. 2002)
  • 1939 – Don McKinnon, English-New Zealand farmer and politician, 12th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
  • 1939 – Peter Revson, American race car driver (d. 1974)
  • 1940 – Pierre Duchesne, Canadian lawyer and politician, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
  • 1940 – Howard Hesseman, American actor
  • 1940 – Bill Hunter, Australian actor (d. 2011)
  • 1941 – Paddy Ashdown, British captain and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1942 – Jimmy Burns, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1942 – Robert H. Grubbs, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1942 – Charlayne Hunter-Gault, American journalist
  • 1942 – Klaus-Dieter Sieloff, German footballer (d. 2011)
  • 1943 – Mary Frann, American actress (d. 1998)
  • 1943 – Morten Lauridsen, American composer and conductor
  • 1943 – Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1944 – Ken Grimwood, American author (d. 2003)
  • 1944 – Graeme Pollock, South African cricketer and coach
  • 1944 – Sir Roger Scruton, English philosopher and writer (d. 2020)
  • 1947 – Alan Guth, American physicist and cosmologist
  • 1947 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist and conductor
  • 1950 – Annabel Goldie, Scottish lawyer and politician
  • 1950 – Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger, English rabbi and politician
  • 1951 – Carl A. Anderson, 13th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus
  • 1951 – Lee Atwater, American journalist, activist and political strategist (d. 1991)
  • 1951 – Walter de Silva, Italian car designer
  • 1951 – Steve Harley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Gavin Esler, Scottish journalist and author
  • 1953 – Ian Khama, English-Botswanan lieutenant and politician, 4th President of Botswana
  • 1953 – Stelios Kouloglou, Greek journalist, author, director and politician
  • 1954 – Neal Schon, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter
  • 1956 – Belus Prajoux, Chilean tennis player
  • 1957 – Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Kevin Curran, American screenwriter and television producer (d. 2016)
  • 1957 – Robert de Castella, Australian runner
  • 1957 – Adrian Smith, English guitarist and songwriter
  • 1957 – Timothy Spall, English actor
  • 1958 – Naas Botha, South African rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1958 – Maggie Hassan, American politician, 81st Governor and United States Senator of New Hampshire
  • 1960 – Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
  • 1960 – Johnny Van Zant, American singer-songwriter
  • 1961 – James Worthy, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1962 – Adam Baldwin, American actor
  • 1963 – Nasty Suicide, Finnish musician and pharmacist
  • 1964 – Jeffrey Pasley, American educator and academic
  • 1965 – Noah Emmerich, American actor
  • 1965 – Pedro Chaves, Portuguese race car driver
  • 1966 – Donal Logue, Canadian actor and director
  • 1966 – Oliver Reck, German footballer and manager
  • 1966 – Baltasar Kormákur, Icelandic actor, director, and producer
  • 1967 – Dănuț Lupu, Romanian footballer
  • 1967 – Jony Ive, English industrial designer, former chief design officer (CDO) of Apple
  • 1968 – Matt Stairs, Canadian baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Gareth Llewellyn, Welsh rugby union player
  • 1969 – Juan E. Gilbert, American computer scientist, inventor, and academic
  • 1970 – Kent Desormeaux, American jockey
  • 1970 – Patricia Petibon, French soprano and actress
  • 1971 – Sara Blakely, American businesswoman, founded Spanx
  • 1971 – Derren Brown, English magician and painter
  • 1971 – David Rikl, Czech-English tennis player
  • 1971 – Roman Giertych, Polish lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland
  • 1971 – Rozonda Thomas, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (TLC)
  • 1973 – Peter Andre, English-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1973 – Mark Taylor, Welsh rugby player and manager
  • 1974 – Carte Goodwin, American lawyer and politician
  • 1975 – Aitor González, Spanish racing driver
  • 1975 – Prodromos Korkizoglou, Greek decathlete
  • 1976 – Sergei Semak, Ukrainian-Russian footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Ludovic Capelle, Belgian cyclist
  • 1978 – James Beattie, English footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Kakha Kaladze, Georgian footballer and politician
  • 1978 – Emelie Öhrstig, Swedish skier and cyclist
  • 1978 – Simone Di Pasquale, Italian ballet dancer
  • 1980 – Chelsea Clinton, American journalist and academic
  • 1980 – Scott Prince, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Josh Groban, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1981 – Natalie Grandin, English-South African tennis player
  • 1981 – Élodie Ouédraogo, Belgian sprinter
  • 1982 – Ali Bastian, English actress
  • 1982 – Pat Richards, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – Bruno Soares, Brazilian tennis player
  • 1983 – Devin Harris, American basketball player
  • 1983 – Kate Mara, American actress
  • 1984 – Aníbal Sánchez, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Lotta Schelin, Swedish footballer
  • 1984 – Akseli Kokkonen, Norwegian ski jumper
  • 1985 – Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Russian footballer
  • 1985 – Braydon Coburn, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Vladislav Kulik, Ukrainian-Russian footballer
  • 1985 – Asami Abe, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1985 – Thiago Neves, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Brett Stewart, Australian rugby league player
  • 1986 – Yovani Gallardo, American baseball player
  • 1986 – Jonathan Moreira, Brazilian footballer
  • 1986 – Sandeep Singh, Indian field hockey player
  • 1987 – Scott Davies, English footballer
  • 1987 – Bridie Kean, Australian wheelchair basketball player
  • 1987 – Florence Kiplagat, Kenyan runner
  • 1987 – Sandy Paillot, French footballer
  • 1987 – Valeriy Andriytsev, Ukrainian wrestler
  • 1987 – Maximiliano Moralez, Argentinian footballer
  • 1988 – Iain Ramsay, Australian footballer
  • 1988 – Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1989 – David Button, English footballer, goalkeeper
  • 1989 – Lloyd Rigby, English footballer
  • 1990 – Elijah Taylor, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1991 – Azeem Rafiq, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1992 – Ty Dillon, American race car driver
  • 1992 – Meyers Leonard, American basketball player
  • 1992 – Filip Krajinović, Serbian tennis player
  • 1992 – Ioannis Potouridis, Greek footballer
  • 1992 – Jonjo Shelvey, English footballer
  • 1995 – Laura Gulbe, Latvian tennis player
  • 1998 – Todd Cantwell, English footballer

Deaths on February 27

  • 640 – Pepin of Landen, Frankish lord (b. 580)
  • 906 – Conrad the Elder, Frankish nobleman
  • 956 – Theophylact, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 917)
  • 1167 – Robert of Melun, English theologian and bishop
  • 1416 – Eleanor of Castile, queen consort of Navarre (b. c. 1363)
  • 1425 – Prince Vasily I of Moscow (b. 1371)
  • 1483 – William VIII of Montferrat (b. 1420)
  • 1558 – Johann Faber of Heilbronn, controversial Catholic preacher (b. 1504)
  • 1558 – Kunigunde of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, German Noblewoman (b. 1524)
  • 1659 – Henry Dunster, English-American clergyman and academic (b. 1609)
  • 1699 – Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire (b. 1625)
  • 1706 – John Evelyn, English gardener and author (b. 1620)
  • 1712 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1645)
  • 1720 – Samuel Parris, English-American minister (b. 1653)
  • 1735 – John Arbuthnot, Scottish physician and polymath (b. 1667)
  • 1784 – Count of St. Germain, European adventurer (b. 1710)
  • 1795 – Tanikaze Kajinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1750)
  • 1844 – Nicholas Biddle, American banker and politician (b. 1786)
  • 1887 – Alexander Borodin, Russian composer and chemist (b. 1833)
  • 1892 – Louis Vuitton, French fashion designer and businessman, founded Louis Vuitton (b. 1821)
  • 1902 – Harry “Breaker” Morant, English-Australian lieutenant (b. 1864)
  • 1921 – Schofield Haigh, English cricketer and umpire (b. 1871)
  • 1931 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian revolutionary (b. 1906)
  • 1936 – Joshua W. Alexander, American judge and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of Commerce (b. 1852)
  • 1936 – Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1849)
  • 1937 – Hosteen Klah, Navajo artist, medicine man, and weaver (b. 1867)
  • 1937 – Emily Malbone Morgan, American saint, foundress of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross (b. 1862)
  • 1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1859)
  • 1956 – Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, Indian lawyer and politician, 1st Speaker of the Lok Sabha (b. 1888)
  • 1964 – Orry-Kelly, Australian-American costume designer (b. 1897)
  • 1968 – Frankie Lymon, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
  • 1969 – Marius Barbeau, Canadian ethnographer and academic (b. 1883)
  • 1973 – Bill Everett, American author and illustrator (b. 1917)
  • 1977 – John Dickson Carr, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
  • 1980 – George Tobias, American actor (b. 1901)
  • 1985 – Ray Ellington, English singer and drummer (b. 1916)
  • 1985 – Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician and diplomat, 3rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – J. Pat O’Malley, English-American actor and singer (b. 1904)
  • 1986 – Jacques Plante, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1929)
  • 1987 – Bill Holman, American cartoonist (b. 1903)
  • 1987 – Joan Greenwood, English actress (b. 1921)
  • 1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
  • 1992 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American linguist and politician (b. 1906)
  • 1993 – Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
  • 1998 – George H. Hitchings, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
  • 1998 – J. T. Walsh, American actor (b. 1943)
  • 1999 – Horace Tapscott, American pianist and composer (b. 1934)
  • 2002 – Spike Milligan, Irish soldier, actor, comedian, and author (b. 1918)
  • 2003 – John Lanchbery, English-Australian composer and conductor (b. 1923)
  • 2003 – Fred Rogers, American minister and television host (b. 1928)
  • 2004 – Yoshihiko Amino, Japanese historian and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2004 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and journalist (b. 1910)
  • 2006 – Otis Chandler, American publisher (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Robert Lee Scott, Jr., American general and author (b. 1908)
  • 2006 – Linda Smith, English comedian and author (b. 1958)
  • 2007 – Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, German general (b. 1914)
  • 2008 – William F. Buckley, Jr., American author and journalist, founded the National Review (b. 1925)
  • 2008 – Myron Cope, American journalist and sportscaster (b. 1929)
  • 2008 – Ivan Rebroff, German vocalist of Russian descent with four and a half octave range (b. 1931)
  • 2010 – Nanaji Deshmukh, Indian educator and activist (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Frank Buckles, American soldier (b. 1901)
  • 2011 – Necmettin Erbakan, Turkish engineer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Duke Snider, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Gary Winick, American director and producer (b. 1961)
  • 2012 – Ma Jiyuan, Chinese general (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Tina Strobos, Dutch physician and psychiatrist (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – Helga Vlahović, Croatian journalist and producer (b. 1945)
  • 2013 – Van Cliburn, American pianist (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Ramon Dekkers, Dutch mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (b. 1969)
  • 2013 – Dale Robertson, American actor (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Adolfo Zaldívar, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Aaron Allston, American game designer and author (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Terry Rand, American basketball player (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Boris Nemtsov, Russian academic and politician, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1959)
  • 2015 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Julio César Strassera, Argentinian lawyer and jurist (b. 1933)
  • 2016 – Yi Cheol-seung, South Korean lawyer and politician (b. 1922)
  • 2016 – James Z. Davis, American lawyer and judge (b. 1943)
  • 2018 – Steve Folkes, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1959)
  • 2019 – France-Albert René, Seychellois politician, 2nd President of Seychelles (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances on February 27

  • Christian feast day:
    • Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
    • George Herbert (Anglicanism)
    • Honorina
    • Leander
    • February 27 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • The second day of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá’í Faith) (Note: this observance is only on this date in the Gregorian calendar if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz takes place on March 21, which it does not in all years)
  • Doctors’ Day (Vietnam)
  • Independence Day (Dominican Republic), celebrates the first independence of Dominican Republic from Haiti in 1844.
  • Majuba Day (some Afrikaners in South Africa)
  • Marathi Language Day (Maharashtra, India)
  • World NGO Day
  • International Polar Bear Day

February 27 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day, Uncategorized

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

On This Day /
  • 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor
  • 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II
  • 1336 – Four thousand defenders of Pilenai commit mass suicide rather than be taken captive by the Teutonic Knights.
  • 1797 – Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000–1500 soldiers surrender after the Last invasion of Britain.
  • 1831 – Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, part of Polish November Uprising against Russian Empire.
  • 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for the Colt revolver.
  • 1843 – Lord George Paulet occupies the Kingdom of Hawaii in the name of Great Britain in the Paulet Affair (1843).
  • 1848 – Provisional government in revolutionary France, by Louis Blanc’s motion, guarantees workers’ rights.
  • 1856 – A Peace conference opens in Paris after the Crimean War.
  • 1866 – Miners in Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull – human remains that supposedly indicated that man, mastodons, and elephants had co-existed.
  • 1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
  • 1875 – Guangxu Emperor of Qing dynasty China begins his reign, under Empress Dowager Cixi’s regency.
  • 1901 – J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
  • 1912 – Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.
  • 1916 – World War I: The Germans capture Fort Douaumont during the Battle of Verdun.
  • 1918 – German occupation of Estonia during World War I: Pernau, Reval, and Pskov are captured.
  • 1919 – Oregon places a one cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax.
  • 1921 – Tbilisi, capital of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, is occupied by Bolshevist Russia.
  • 1928 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a broadcast license for television from the Federal Radio Commission.
  • 1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident.
  • 1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be designed from the start of construction as an aircraft carrier.
  • 1939 – The first of 2​1⁄2 million Anderson air raid shelters appeared in North London.
  • 1941 – February strike: In the occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis.
  • 1947 – The formal abolition of Prussia is proclaimed by the Allied Control Council. The Prussian government had already been abolished by the Preußenschlag of 1932.
  • 1948 – Cold War: The Communist Party takes control of government in Czechoslovakia and the period of the Third Republic ends.
  • 1951 – The first Pan American Games were officially opened in Buenos Aires, Argentina by President Juan Perón.
  • 1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
  • 1956 – Cold War: In his speech On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.
  • 1964 – North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung calls for the removal of feudalistic land ownership aimed at turning all cooperative farms into state-run ones.
  • 1968 – Vietnam War: One hundred thirty-five unarmed citizens of Hà My village in South Vietnam’s Qu?ng Nam Province are killed and buried en masse by South Korean troops in what would come to be known as the Hà My massacre.
  • 1980 – The government of Suriname is overthrown by a military coup led by Dési Bouterse.
  • 1986 – People Power Revolution: President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the Philippines’ first woman president.
  • 1987 – Southern Methodist University’s football program is the first college football program to be banned from competition by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.
  • 1991 – Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
  • 1991 – Cold War: The Warsaw Pact is abolished.
  • 1992 – Khojaly massacre: About 613 civilians are killed by Armenian armed forces during the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
  • 1994 – Mosque of Abraham massacre: In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshippers and injuring 125 more before being subdued and beaten to death by survivors.
  • 1997 – Yi Han-yong, a North Korean defector, was murdered by unidentified assailants in Bundang, South Korea.
  • 2009 – Soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles mutiny at their headquarters in Pilkhana, Dhaka, Bangladesh, resulting in 74 deaths, including 57 army officials.
  • 2009 – Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crashed during landing at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands, primarily due to a faulty radio altimeter, resulting in the death of nine passengers and crew including all three pilots.
  • 2015 – At least 310 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan.
  • 2016 – Three people are killed and fourteen others injured in a series of shootings in the small Kansas cities of Newton and Hesston.

Births on February 25

  • 1259 – Infanta Branca of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso III of Portugal and Urraca of Castile (d. 1321)
  • 1337 – Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1383)
  • 1475 – Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, last male member of the House of York (d. 1499)
  • 1540 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English aristocrat and courtier (d. 1614)
  • 1543 – Sharaf Khan Bidlisi, Emir of Bitlis (d. 1603)
  • 1591 – Friedrich Spee, German poet and author (d. 1635)
  • 1643 – Ahmed II, Ottoman sultan (d. 1695)
  • 1663 – Peter Anthony Motteux, French-English author, playwright and translator (d. 1718)
  • 1670 – Maria Margarethe Kirch, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1720)
  • 1682 – Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Italian anatomist and pathologist (d. 1771)
  • 1707 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and composer (d. 1793)
  • 1714 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Lord Chancellor of France (d. 1792)
  • 1728 – John Wood, the Younger, English architect, designed the Royal Crescent (d. 1782)
  • 1752 – John Graves Simcoe, English-Canadian general and politician, 1st Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (d. 1806)
  • 1755 – François René Mallarmé, French lawyer and politician (d. 1835)
  • 1778 – José de San Martín, Argentinian general and politician, 1st President of Peru (d. 1850)
  • 1806 – Emma Catherine Embury, American author and poet (d. 1863)
  • 1809 – John Hart, English-Australian politician, 10th Premier of South Australia (d. 1873)
  • 1812 – Carl Christian Hall, Danish lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1888)
  • 1816 – Giovanni Morelli, Italian historian and critic (d. 1891)
  • 1833 – John St. John, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Kansas (d. 1916)
  • 1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter and sculptor (d. 1919)
  • 1842 – Karl May, German author, poet, and playwright (d. 1912)
  • 1845 – George Reid, Scottish-Australian lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1918)
  • 1855 – Cesário Verde, Portuguese poet and author (d. 1886)
  • 1856 – Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian and academic (d. 1915)
  • 1856 – Mathias Zdarsky, Czech-Austrian skier, painter, and sculptor (d. 1940)
  • 1857 – Robert Bond, Canadian politician; first Prime Minister of Newfoundland (d. 1927)
  • 1860 – William Ashley, English historian and academic (d. 1927)
  • 1865 – Andranik, Armenian general (d. 1927)
  • 1866 – Benedetto Croce, Italian philosopher and politician (d. 1952)
  • 1869 – Phoebus Levene, Russian-American biochemist and physician (d. 1940)
  • 1873 – Enrico Caruso, Italian-American tenor; the most popular operatic tenor of the early 20th century and the first great recording star. (d. 1921)
  • 1877 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist and scholar (d. 1935)
  • 1881 – William Z. Foster, American union leader and politician (d. 1961)
  • 1881 – Alexei Rykov, Russian politician, Premier of Russia (d. 1938)
  • 1883 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (d. 1981)
  • 1885 – Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (d. 1969)
  • 1888 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (d. 1959)
  • 1890 – Myra Hess, English pianist and educator (d. 1965)
  • 1894 – Meher Baba, Indian spiritual master (d. 1969)
  • 1898 – William Astbury, physicist and molecular biologist (d. 1961)
  • 1901 – Vince Gair, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Queensland (d. 1980)
  • 1901 – Zeppo Marx, American comedian (the youngest of the Marx Brothers) and theatrical agent (d. 1979)
  • 1903 – King Clancy, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and coach; rated one of the 100 greatest NHL players (d. 1986)
  • 1905 – Perry Miller, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1963)
  • 1906 – Mary Coyle Chase, American journalist and playwright; author of Harvey (d. 1981)
  • 1907 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (d. 1948)
  • 1908 – Mary Locke Petermann, cellular biochemist (d. 1975)
  • 1908 – Frank G. Slaughter, American physician and author (d. 2001)
  • 1910 – Millicent Fenwick, American journalist and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1913 – Jim Backus, American actor and screenwriter; the voice of Mr. Magoo (d. 1989)
  • 1913 – Gert Fröbe, German actor; title role in Goldfinger (d. 1988)
  • 1917 – Anthony Burgess, English author, playwright, and critic (d. 1993)
  • 1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player; winner of three major titles, 1939–1941 (d. 1995)
  • 1919 – Monte Irvin, American baseball player and executive (d. 2016)
  • 1920 – Philip Habib, American academic and diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (d. 1992)
  • 1921 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian journalist, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Premier of Quebec (d. 1970)
  • 1921 – Andy Pafko, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Molly Reilly, Canadian aviator (d. 1980)
  • 1924 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Shehu Shagari, former President of Nigeria (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Lisa Kirk, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
  • 1926 – Masatoshi Gündüz Ikeda, Japanese-Turkish mathematician and academic; noted for contributions to algebraic number theory (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Ralph Stanley, American bluegrass singer and banjo player; member of International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Paul Elvstrøm, Danish yachtsman; winner of four Olympic gold medals, 1948–1960 (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., prominent African-American civil rights advocate, author, and federal court judge (d. 1998)
  • 1928 – Larry Gelbart, American author and screenwriter; creator and producer of M*A*S*H TV series (d. 2009)
  • 1928 – Richard G. Stern, American author and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1932 – Tony Brooks, English racing driver; six Formula One victories, second in 1959 World Championship
  • 1932 – Faron Young, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist; member of Country Music Hall of Fame (d. 1996)
  • 1934 – Tony Lema, American golfer; winner of the 1964 Open Championship (d. 1966)
  • 1935 – Oktay Sinanoglu, Turkish physical chemist and molecular biophysicist; two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Tom Courtenay, award-winning English actor
  • 1937 – Bob Schieffer, American political author, journalist and TV interviewer
  • 1938 – Herb Elliott, Australian 1500 metres runner; 1960 Olympic champion and world record holder
  • 1938 – Farokh Engineer, Indian international cricketer; successful as batsman and wicketkeeper
  • 1940 – Ron Santo, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2010)
  • 1941 – David Puttnam, English film producer and academic
  • 1943 – George Harrison, English singer-songwriter, guitarist and film producer; lead guitarist of The Beatles (d. 2001)
  • 1944 – François Cevert, French racing driver (d. 1973)
  • 1946 – Jean Todt, French racing driver and team manager; FIA President, 2009–2021
  • 1947 – Lee Evans, American sprinter and athletics coach; two gold medals and world 400m record at 1968 Olympics
  • 1949 – Amin Maalouf, Lebanese-French journalist and author
  • 1950 – Francisco Fernández Ochoa, Spanish skier; 1972 Olympic slalom champion (d. 2006)
  • 1950 – Neil Jordan, Irish film director, screenwriter and author
  • 1950 – Néstor Kirchner, Argentinian politician; 51st President of Argentina, 2003–2007 (d. 2010)
  • 1951 – Don Quarrie, Jamaican sprinter and coach; four Olympic medals and two world records
  • 1952 – Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle road racing champion; holds record for most wins (26) at the Isle of Man TT (d. 2000)
  • 1953 – José María Aznar, Spanish politician; Prime Minister of Spain, 1996–2004
  • 1958 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player and coach; four-time NBA Finals champion
  • 1962 – Birgit Fischer, German kayaker; winner of eight Olympic gold medals
  • 1963 – Paul O’Neill, American baseball player and sportscaster; five-time World Series champion
  • 1967 – Ed Balls, British politician; Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • 1968 – Oumou Sangaré, Grammy Award-winning Malian Wassoulou musician
  • 1971 – Sean Astin, American actor, director and producer
  • 1974 – Dominic Raab, British politician; First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • 1981 – Park Ji-sung, South Korean footballer; the most successful Asian player with 19 career trophies
  • 1982 – Flavia Pennetta, Italian tennis player; winner of the 2015 US Open
  • 1988 – Tom Marshall, British photo colouriser and artist
  • 1999 – Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italian international footballer; youngest goalkeeper to play for Italy

Deaths on February 25

  • 806 – Tarasios, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 891 – Fujiwara no Mototsune, Japanese regent (b. 836)
  • 944 – Lin Ding, Chinese official and chancellor
  • 1246 – Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Welsh king (b. 1212)
  • 1321 – Beatrice d’Avesnes, consort of Henry VI, Count of Luxembourg
  • 1495 – Sultan Cem, Ottoman politician (b. 1459)
  • 1522 – William Lily, English scholar and educator (b. 1468)
  • 1536 – Berchtold Haller, German-Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1492)
  • 1536 – Jacob Hutter, founder of the Hutterites
  • 1547 – Vittoria Colonna, marchioness of Pescara (b. 1490)
  • 1558 – Eleanor of Austria (b. 1498)
  • 1600 – Sebastian de Aparicio, Spanish colonial industrialist and saint (b. 1502)
  • 1601 – Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, English general and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1566)
  • 1634 – Albrecht von Wallenstein, Austrian general and politician (b. 1583)
  • 1655 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish poet and scholar (b. 1580)
  • 1682 – Alessandro Stradella, Italian composer (b. 1639)
  • 1710 – Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, French soldier and explorer (b. 1639)
  • 1713 – Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657)
  • 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St Paul’s Cathedral (b. 1632)
  • 1756 – Eliza Haywood, English actress and poet (b. 1693)
  • 1796 – Samuel Seabury, American bishop (b. 1729)
  • 1798 – Louis Jules Mancini Mazarini, French poet and diplomat (b. 1716)
  • 1805 – Thomas Pownall, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1722)
  • 1819 – Francisco Manoel de Nascimento, Portuguese-French poet and educator (b. 1734)
  • 1822 – William Pinkney, American politician and diplomat, 7th United States Attorney General (b. 1764)
  • 1831 – Friedrich Maximilian Klinger, German author and playwright (b. 1752)
  • 1841 – Philip Pendleton Barbour, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1783)
  • 1850 – Daoguang Emperor of China (b. 1782)
  • 1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and lyricist (b. 1779)
  • 1865 – Otto Ludwig, German author, playwright, and critic (b. 1813)
  • 1870 – Henrik Hertz, Danish poet and playwright (b. 1797)
  • 1875 – Thomas Reynolds, English-Australian politician, 5th Premier of South Australia (b. 1818)
  • 1877 – Jung Bahadur Rana, Nepalese ruler (b. 1816)
  • 1878 – Townsend Harris, American merchant, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Japan (b. 1804)
  • 1888 – Josif Pancic, Serbian botanist and academic (b. 1814)
  • 1899 – Paul Reuter, German-English journalist and businessman, founded Reuters (b. 1816)
  • 1906 – Anton Arensky, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1861)
  • 1910 – Worthington Whittredge, American painter and educator (b. 1820)
  • 1911 – Friedrich Spielhagen, German author, theorist, and translator (b. 1829)
  • 1912 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (b. 1852)
  • 1914 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (b. 1820)
  • 1915 – Charles Edwin Bessey, American botanist, author, and academic (b. 1845)
  • 1916 – David Bowman, Australian politician (b. 1860)
  • 1920 – Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy, French archaeologist and engineer (b. 1844)
  • 1922 – Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (b. 1869)
  • 1928 – William O’Brien, Irish journalist and politician (b. 1852)
  • 1934 – Elizabeth Gertrude Britton, American botanist and academic (b. 1857)
  • 1934 – John McGraw, American baseball player and manager (b. 1873)
  • 1945 – Mário de Andrade, Brazilian author, poet, and photographer (b. 1893)
  • 1950 – George Minot, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
  • 1953 – Sergei Winogradsky, Ukrainian-Russian microbiologist and ecologist (b. 1856)
  • 1957 – Mark Aldanov, Russian author and critic (b. 1888)
  • 1957 – Bugs Moran, American mob boss (b. 1893)
  • 1963 – Melville J. Herskovits, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1895)
  • 1964 – Alexander Archipenko, Ukrainian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1887)
  • 1964 – Hinrich Lohse, German politician (b. 1896)
  • 1964 – Grace Metalious, American author (b. 1924)
  • 1970 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-American painter and academic (b. 1903)
  • 1971 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
  • 1972 – Gottfried Fuchs, German-Canadian Olympic soccer player (b. 1889)
  • 1975 – Elijah Muhammad, American religious leader (b. 1897)
  • 1978 – Daniel James, Jr., American general and pilot (b. 1920)
  • 1980 – Robert Hayden, American poet and academic (b. 1913)
  • 1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright, and poet (b. 1911)
  • 1996 – Haing S. Ngor, Cambodian-American physician and author (b. 1940)
  • 1997 – Andrei Sinyavsky, Russian journalist and publisher (b. 1925)
  • 1998 – W. O. Mitchell, Canadian author and playwright (b. 1914)
  • 1999 – Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
  • 2001 – A. R. Ammons, American poet and critic (b. 1926)
  • 2001 – Donald Bradman, Australian international cricketer; holder of world record batting average (b. 1908)
  • 2005 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer, founded Amnesty International (b. 1921)
  • 2010 – Ihsan Dogramaci, Turkish pediatrician and academic (b. 1915)
  • 2012 – Louisiana Red, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Harve Bennett, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Eugenie Clark, American biologist and academic; noted ichthyologist (b. 1922)
  • 2020 – Dmitry Yazov, last Marshal of the Soviet Union (b. 1924)

Holidays and observance on February 25

Christian feast day

Further information: February 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Æthelberht of Kent
  • Blessed Ciriaco María Sancha y Hervás
  • Gerland of Agrigento
  • John Roberts, writer and missionary
  • Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani
  • Saint Walpurga (she was canonised on 1 May and Walpurgis Night is celebrated 30 April)

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

On This Day