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2020

March 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, leaves up to 20,000 dead.
  • 1229 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares himself King of Jerusalem in the Sixth Crusade.
  • 1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city.
  • 1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and final Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
  • 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
  • 1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
  • 1644 – The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins in the Colony of Virginia.
  • 1741 – New York governor George Clarke’s complex at Fort George is burned in an arson attack, starting the New York Conspiracy of 1741.
  • 1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
  • 1793 – The first modern republic in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
  • 1793 – Flanders Campaign of the French Revolution, Battle of Neerwinden.
  • 1834 – Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
  • 1848 – March Revolution: In Berlin there is a struggle between citizens and military, costing about 300 lives.
  • 1850 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States adjourns for the last time.
  • 1871 – Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders the evacuation of Paris.
  • 1874 – Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trade rights.
  • 1892 – Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup as an award for the best hockey team in Canada; it was later named after him as the Stanley Cup.
  • 1900 – AFC Ajax Amsterdam, The Netherlands’s biggest and most successful football club, was founded.
  • 1902 – Macario Sakay issues Presidential Order No. 1 of his Tagalog Republic.
  • 1913 – King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
  • 1915 – World War I: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
  • 1921 – The second Peace of Riga is signed between Poland and the Soviet Union.
  • 1921 – The Kronstadt rebellion is suppressed by the Red Army.
  • 1922 – In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience, of which he serves only two.
  • 1925 – The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
  • 1937 – The New London School explosion in New London, Texas, kills 300 people, mostly children.
  • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
  • 1938 – Mexico creates Pemex by expropriating all foreign-owned oil reserves and facilities.
  • 1940 – World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
  • 1942 – The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.
  • 1944 – Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, killing 26 people, causing thousands to flee their homes, and destroying dozens of Allied bombers.
  • 1948 – Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of the Tito–Stalin Split.
  • 1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 265 people.
  • 1959 – The Hawaii Admission Act is signed into law.
  • 1962 – The Évian Accords end the Algerian War of Independence, which had begun in 1954.
  • 1965 – Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
  • 1967 – The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.
  • 1968 – Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
  • 1969 – The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
  • 1970 – Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
  • 1971 – Peru: a landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.
  • 1980 – A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
  • 1990 – Germans in the German Democratic Republic vote in the first democratic elections in the former communist dictatorship.
  • 1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $500 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
  • 1994 – Bosnia’s Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending war between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • 1996 – A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162 people.
  • 1997 – The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 people on board.
  • 2014 – The parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty.
  • 2015 – The Bardo National Museum in Tunisia is attacked by gunmen. 23 people, almost all tourists, are killed, and at least 50 other people are wounded.

Births on March 18

  • 1075 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian scholar and theologian (d. 1144)
  • 1395 – John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English military commander (d. 1447)
  • 1495 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)
  • 1548 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (d. 1616)
  • 1552 – Polykarp Leyser the Elder, German theologian (d. 1610)
  • 1555 – Francis, Duke of Anjou (d. 1584)
  • 1578 – Adam Elsheimer, German painter (d. 1610)
  • 1590 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (d. 1649)
  • 1597 – Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, French religious leader, founded the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal (d. 1659)
  • 1603 – Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (d. 1697)
  • 1609 – Frederick III of Denmark (d. 1670)
  • 1634 – Madame de La Fayette, French author (d. 1693)
  • 1640 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1719)
  • 1657 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian organist and composer (d. 1743)
  • 1690 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1764)
  • 1701 – Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Swedish East India Company (d. 1776)
  • 1733 – Christoph Friedrich Nicolai, German author and bookseller (d. 1811)
  • 1780 – Miloš Obrenović, Serbian prince (d. 1860)
  • 1782 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
  • 1789 – Charlotte Elliott, English poet, hymn writer, editor (d. 1871)
  • 1798 – Francis Lieber, German-American jurist and philosopher (d. 1872)
  • 1800 – Harriet Smithson, Irish actress, the first wife and muse of Hector Berlioz (d. 1854)
  • 1813 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright (d. 1864)
  • 1814 – Jacob Bunn, American businessman (d. 1897)
  • 1819 – James McCulloch, Scottish-Australian politician, 5th Premier of Victoria (d. 1893)
  • 1820 – John Plankinton, American businessman and industrialist, also noted for philanthropy (d. 1891)
  • 1823 – Antoine Chanzy, French general (d. 1883)
  • 1828 – Randal Cremer, English activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1908)
  • 1837 – Grover Cleveland, American lawyer and politician, 22nd and 24th President of the United States (d. 1908)
  • 1840 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (d. 1901)
  • 1842 – Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet and critic (d. 1898)
  • 1844 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and academic (d. 1908)
  • 1846 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (d. 1904)
  • 1848 – Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, American architect and engineer (d. 1938)
  • 1858 – Rudolf Diesel, German engineer, invented the Diesel engine (d. 1913)
  • 1862 – Eugène Jansson, Swedish painter (d. 1915)
  • 1863 – William Sulzer, American lawyer and politician, 39th Governor of New York (d. 1941)
  • 1869 – Neville Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
  • 1870 – Agnes Sime Baxter, Canadian mathematician (d. 1917)
  • 1874 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian-French philosopher and theologian (d. 1948)
  • 1877 – Edgar Cayce, American mystic and psychic (d. 1945)
  • 1877 – Clem Hill, Australian cricketer and engineer (d. 1945)
  • 1878 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (d. 1956)
  • 1882 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer and educator (d. 1973)
  • 1884 – Bernard Cronin, English-Australian journalist and author (d. 1968)
  • 1886 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1970)
  • 1890 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (d. 1969)
  • 1893 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (d. 1978)
  • 1893 – Wilfred Owen, English soldier and poet (d. 1918)
  • 1901 – Manly Palmer Hall, Canadian mystic, author and philosopher (d. 1990)
  • 1901 – William Johnson, American painter (d. 1970)
  • 1903 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1944)
  • 1903 – E. O. Plauen, German cartoonist (d. 1944)
  • 1904 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet and author (d. 1926)
  • 1904 – Margaret Tucker, Australian author and activist (d. 1996)
  • 1905 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American physicist and engineer (d. 1985)
  • 1905 – Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
  • 1907 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist and neurophysiologist (d. 1997)
  • 1908 – Loulou Gasté, French composer (d. 1995)
  • 1909 – Ernest Gallo, American businessman, co-founded the E & J Gallo Winery (d. 2007)
  • 1909 – C. Walter Hodges, English author and illustrator (d. 2004)
  • 1911 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1967)
  • 1912 – Art Gilmore, American voice actor and announcer (d. 2010)
  • 1913 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – Werner Mölders, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
  • 1915 – Richard Condon, American author and screenwriter (d. 1996)
  • 1922 – Egon Bahr, German journalist and politician, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany (d. 2015)
  • 1922 – Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist and academic (d. 2006)
  • 1922 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American activist, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (d. 2011)
  • 1923 – Andy Granatelli, American race car driver and businessman (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Alessandro Alessandroni, Italian musician (d. 2017)
  • 1925 – James Pickles, English journalist, lawyer, and judge (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Peter Graves, American actor and director (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – John Kander, American pianist and composer
  • 1927 – George Plimpton, American journalist and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Lillian Vernon, German-American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Lillian Vernon Company (d. 2015)
  • 1928 – Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Fidel V. Ramos, Filipino general and politician, 12th President of the Philippines
  • 1929 – Samuel Pisar, Polish-American lawyer and author (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – James J. Andrews, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
  • 1931 – John Fraser, Scottish actor
  • 1932 – John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 2009)
  • 1933 – Unita Blackwell, American civil rights activist and politician (d. 2019)
  • 1934 – Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
  • 1934 – Charley Pride, American country music singer and musician
  • 1935 – Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, Danish mathematician and statistician
  • 1935 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (d. 2016)
  • 1936 – F. W. de Klerk, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd State President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1937 – Rudi Altig, German cyclist and sportscaster (d. 2016)
  • 1937 – Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
  • 1938 – Carl Gottlieb, American actor and screenwriter
  • 1938 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor and producer (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Kenny Lynch, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2019)
  • 1938 – Timo Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver (d. 2017)
  • 1938 – Machiko Soga, Japanese actress (d. 2006)
  • 1939 – Ron Atkinson, English footballer and manager
  • 1939 – Jean-Pierre Wallez, French violinist and conductor
  • 1941 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – Kathleen Collins, African-American filmmaker and playwright (d. 1988)
  • 1943 – Dennis Linde, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1944 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (d. 2012)
  • 1944 – Frank McRae, American football player and actor
  • 1944 – Dick Smith, Australian publisher and businessman, founded Dick Smith Electronics and Australian Geographic
  • 1945 – Hiroh Kikai, Japanese photographer
  • 1945 – Michael Reagan, American journalist and radio host
  • 1945 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (d. 2012)
  • 1945 – Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (d. 2009)
  • 1946 – Michel Leclère, French race car driver
  • 1947 – Patrick Barlow, English actor and playwright
  • 1947 – Patrick Chesnais, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1947 – David Lloyd, English cricketer, journalist, and sportscaster
  • 1947 – B. J. Wilson, English rock drummer (d. 1990)
  • 1948 – Guy Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1948 – Brian Lloyd, Welsh footballer
  • 1948 – Eknath Solkar, Indian cricketer (d. 2005)
  • 1949 – Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician, Norwegian Minister of Culture
  • 1950 – James Conlon, American conductor and educator
  • 1950 – Brad Dourif, American actor
  • 1950 – Linda Partridge, English geneticist and academic
  • 1950 – Larry Perkins, Australian race car driver
  • 1951 – Paul Barber, English actor
  • 1951 – Ben Cohen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben and Jerry’s
  • 1951 – Bill Frisell, American guitarist and composer
  • 1951 – Timothy N. Philpot, American lawyer, author, and judge
  • 1952 – Will Durst, American journalist and actor
  • 1952 – Pat Eddery, Irish jockey and trainer (d. 2015)
  • 1952 – Bernie Tormé, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
  • 1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
  • 1953 – Franz Wright, Austrian-American poet and translator (d. 2015)
  • 1953 – Takashi Yoshimatsu, Japanese composer
  • 1955 – Francis G. Slay, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of St. Louis
  • 1955 – Jeff Stelling, English journalist and game show host
  • 1956 – Rick Martel, Canadian wrestler
  • 1956 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, American madam (d. 2008)
  • 1956 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish skier
  • 1957 – Christer Fuglesang, Swedish physicist and astronaut
  • 1958 – Richard de Zoysa, Sri Lankan journalist and author (d. 1990)
  • 1959 – Luc Besson, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded EuropaCorp
  • 1960 – Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
  • 1960 – Guy Carbonneau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1960 – James Plaskett, Cypriot-English chess player
  • 1961 – Grant Hart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1962 – Michael Andrews, Australian rugby league player
  • 1962 – Irene Cara, American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
  • 1962 – Brian Fisher, American baseball player
  • 1962 – Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor and martial artist
  • 1962 – James McMurtry, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1962 – Etsushi Toyokawa, Japanese actor and director
  • 1962 – Volker Weidler, German race car driver and engineer
  • 1963 – Jeff LaBar, American guitarist
  • 1963 – Vanessa L. Williams, American model, actress, and singer
  • 1964 – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
  • 1964 – Alex Caffi, Italian race car driver
  • 1964 – Jo Churchill, British politician
  • 1964 – Courtney Pine, English saxophonist and clarinet player
  • 1964 – Isabel Noronha, Mozambican film director
  • 1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1966 – Peter Jones, English businessman
  • 1966 – Brian Watts, Canadian golfer
  • 1967 – Miki Berenyi, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1968 – Prince Eudes, Duke of Angoulême
  • 1968 – Miguel Herrera, Mexican footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Temur Ketsbaia, Georgian footballer and manager
  • 1968 – Paul Marsden, English businessman and politician
  • 1969 – Andy Cutting, English accordion player and composer
  • 1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
  • 1969 – Shaun Udal, English cricketer
  • 1970 – Queen Latifah, American rapper, producer, and actress
  • 1971 – Wayne Arthurs, Australian tennis player
  • 1971 – Mike Bell, American wrestler (d. 2008)
  • 1971 – Mariaan de Swardt, South African-American tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1971 – Kitty Ussher, English economist and politician
  • 1972 – Dane Cook, American comedian, actor, director, and producer
  • 1972 – Reince Priebus, American lawyer and politician
  • 1973 – Luci Christian, American voice actress and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Laure Savasta, French basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Stuart Zender, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1975 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1975 – Brian Griese, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Kimmo Timonen, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Tomas Žvirgždauskas, Lithuanian footballer
  • 1976 – Giovanna Antonelli, Brazilian actress and producer
  • 1976 – Tomo Ohka, Japanese baseball player
  • 1976 – Scott Podsednik, American baseball player
  • 1976 – Mike Quackenbush, American wrestler, trainer, and author, founded Chikara wrestling promotion
  • 1977 – Zdeno Chára, Slovak ice hockey player
  • 1977 – Danny Murphy, English international footballer, midfielder and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Fernando Rodney, Dominican-American baseball player
  • 1977 – Willy Sagnol, French footballer and manager
  • 1977 – Terrmel Sledge, American baseball player and coach
  • 1978 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1978 – Brooke Hanson, Australian swimmer
  • 1978 – Brian Scalabrine, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1979 – Adam Levine, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and television personality
  • 1980 – Sébastien Frey, French footballer
  • 1980 – Sophia Myles, English actress
  • 1980 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
  • 1981 – Tora Berger, Norwegian biathlete
  • 1981 – Fabian Cancellara, Swiss cyclist
  • 1981 – Leslie Djhone, French sprinter
  • 1981 – Jang Na-ra, South Korean singer and actress
  • 1981 – Kasib Powell, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Tom Starke, German footballer
  • 1981 – Doug Warren, American soccer player
  • 1981 – Lovro Zovko, Croatian tennis player
  • 1982 – Mantorras, Angolan footballer
  • 1982 – Chad Cordero, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Timo Glock, German race car driver
  • 1982 – Adam Pally, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1983 – Ethan Carter III, American wrestler
  • 1983 – Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, French tennis player
  • 1983 – Andy Sonnanstine, American baseball player
  • 1983 – Tomasz Stolpa, Polish footballer
  • 1984 – Simone Padoin, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Rajeev Ram, American tennis player
  • 1984 – Vonzell Solomon, American singer and actress
  • 1985 – Ana Beatriz, Brazilian race car driver
  • 1985 – Marvin Humes, English singer
  • 1985 – Vince Lia, Australian footballer
  • 1986 – Lykke Li, Swedish singer-songwriter
  • 1986 – Abdennour Chérif El-Ouazzani, Algerian footballer
  • 1987 – Rebecca Soni, American swimmer
  • 1989 – Francesco Checcucci, Italian footballer
  • 1989 – Lily Collins, English-American actress
  • 1989 – Shreevats Goswami, Indian cricketer
  • 1989 – Kana Nishino, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1989 – Paul Marc Rousseau, Canadian guitarist and producer
  • 1989 – Ming Xi, Chinese model
  • 1991 – Dylan Mattingly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1991 – Sam Williams, Australian rugby league player
  • 1992 – Ryan Truex, American race car driver
  • 1992 – Takuya Terada, Japanese singer, actor, and model
  • 1997 – Ciara Bravo, American actress
  • 1997 – Rieko Ioane, New Zealand rugby union player

Deaths on March 18

  • 978 – Edward the Martyr, English king (b. 962)
  • 1076 – Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1018)
  • 1086 – Anselm of Lucca, Italian bishop (b. 1036)
  • 1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
  • 1272 – John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel (b. 1246)
  • 1308 – Yuri I of Galicia
  • 1314 – Jacques de Molay, Frankish knight (b. 1244)
  • 1314 – Geoffroy de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar
  • 1321 – Matthew III Csák, Hungarian oligarch (b. c.1260/5)
  • 1582 – Juan Jauregui, attempted assassin of William I of Orange (b. 1562)
  • 1675 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
  • 1689 – John Dixwell, English soldier and politician (b. 1607)
  • 1745 – Robert Walpole, English scholar and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
  • 1768 – Laurence Sterne, Irish novelist and clergyman (b. 1713)
  • 1781 – Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1727)
  • 1823 – Jean-Baptiste Bréval, French cellist and composer (b. 1753)
  • 1835 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (b. 1769)
  • 1845 – Johnny Appleseed, American gardener and missionary (b. 1774)
  • 1871 – Augustus De Morgan, Indian-English mathematician and academic (b. 1806)
  • 1898 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American author and activist (b. 1826)
  • 1900 – Hjalmar Kiærskou, Danish botanist (b. 1835)
  • 1907 – Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1827)
  • 1913 – George I of Greece (b. 1845)
  • 1918 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect, designed the Plaza Hotel (b. 1847)
  • 1930 – Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, American painter (b. 1863)
  • 1936 – Eleftherios Venizelos, Greek journalist, lawyer, and politician, 93rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1864)
  • 1939 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English businessman, founded Lunn Poly (b. 1859)
  • 1941 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (b. 1884)
  • 1947 – William C. Durant, American businessman, co-founded General Motors and Chevrolet (b. 1861)
  • 1954 – Walter Mead, English cricketer (b. 1868)
  • 1956 – Louis Bromfield, American environmentalist and author (b. 1896)
  • 1962 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (b. 1880)
  • 1964 – Sigfrid Edström, Swedish businessman, 4th President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1870)
  • 1965 – Farouk of Egypt (b. 1920)
  • 1973 – Johannes Aavik, Estonian philologist and poet (b. 1880)
  • 1977 – Marien Ngouabi, Congolese politician, President of the Republic of the Congo (b. 1938)
  • 1977 – Carlos Pace, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1944)
  • 1978 – Leigh Brackett, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
  • 1978 – Peggy Wood, American actress (b. 1892)
  • 1980 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
  • 1982 – Patrick Smith, Irish farmer and politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (b. 1901)
  • 1983 – Umberto II of Italy (b. 1904)
  • 1984 – Charley Lau, American baseball player and coach (b. 1933)
  • 1986 – Bernard Malamud, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1914)
  • 1988 – Billy Butterfield, American trumpet player and cornet player (b. 1917)
  • 1990 – Robin Harris, American comedian (b. 1953)
  • 1993 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English-American economist and activist (b. 1910)
  • 1996 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
  • 2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian and academic (b. 1909)
  • 2001 – John Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Mamas & the Papas) (b. 1935)
  • 2002 – R. A. Lafferty, American soldier and author (b. 1914)
  • 2003 – Karl Kling, German race car driver (b. 1910)
  • 2003 – Adam Osborne, Thai-English engineer and businessman, founded the Osborne Computer Corporation (b. 1939)
  • 2004 – Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman, co-founded McCain Foods (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Dan Gibson, Canadian photographer and cinematographer (b. 1922)
  • 2007 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-English cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1948)
  • 2008 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (b. 1954)
  • 2009 – Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian journalist and blogger (b. 1980)
  • 2009 – Natasha Richardson, English-American actress (b. 1963)
  • 2010 – Fess Parker, American actor and businessman (b. 1924)
  • 2011 – Warren Christopher, American lawyer and politician, 63rd United States Secretary of State (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Furman Bisher, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – William R. Charette, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – William G. Moore Jr., American general (b. 1920)
  • 2012 – George Tupou V of Tonga (b. 1948)
  • 2013 – Muhammad Mahmood Alam, Pakistani general and pilot (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Henry Bromell, American novelist, screenwriter, and director (b. 1947)
  • 2013 – Clay Ford, American lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2014 – Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Nigerian author, playwright, and academic (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Kaiser Kalambo, Zambian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1953)
  • 2014 – Lucius Shepard, American author and critic (b. 1943)
  • 2015 – Zhao Dayu, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1961)
  • 2015 – Thomas Hopko, American priest and theologian (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Grace Ogot, Kenyan nurse, journalist, and politician (b. 1930)
  • 2016 – Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (b. 1939)
  • 2016 – Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Tray Walker, American football player (b. 1992)
  • 2016 – Guido Westerwelle, German lawyer and politician, 15th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1961)
  • 2017 – Chuck Berry, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2020 – Alfred Worden, Apollo 15 command module pilot (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances on March 18

  • Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Alexander of Jerusalem
    • Anselm of Lucca
    • Cyril of Jerusalem
    • Edward the Martyr
    • Fridianus
    • Salvator
    • March 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • The earliest date on which Holy Wednesday can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the week before Easter. (Christianity)
  • Flag Day (Aruba)
  • Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
  • Men’s and Soldiers’ Day (Mongolia)
  • Ordnance Factories’ Day (India)
  • Sheelah’s Day (Ireland, Canada, Australia)
  • Teacher’s Day (Syria)

March 18 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

On This Day /

March 16 in History

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

Births on March 16

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

Deaths on March 16

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

Holidays and observances on March 16

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

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

On This Day

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

On This Day /

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

March 15 in History

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

Births on March 15

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

Deaths on March 15

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

Holidays and observances on March 15

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

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

On This Day

March 14- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under Charles, Duke of Mayenne, during the French Wars of Religion.
  • 1647 – Thirty Years’ War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.
  • 1663 – According to his own account, Otto von Guericke completes his book De Vacuo.
  • 1674 – The Third Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of Ronas Voe results in the Dutch East India Company ship Wapen van Rotterdam being captured with a death toll of up to 300 Dutch crew and soldiers.
  • 1757 – Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch for breach of the Articles of War.
  • 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama, the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans.
  • 1794 – Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.
  • 1885 – The Mikado, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in London.
  • 1900 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.
  • 1903 – Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
  • 1920 – In the second of the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, about 80% of the population in Zone II votes to remain part of Weimar Germany.
  • 1926 – The El Virilla train accident, Costa Rica, kills 248 people and wounds another 93 when a train falls off a bridge over the Río Virilla between Heredia and Tibás.
  • 1931 – Alam Ara, India’s first talking film, is released.
  • 1939 – Slovakia declares independence under German pressure.
  • 1942 – Anne Miller becomes the first American patient to be treated with penicillin, under the care of Orvan Hess and John Bumstead.
  • 1943 – The liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto is completed.
  • 1945 – The R.A.F. drop the Grand Slam bomb in action for the first time, on a railway viaduct near Bielefeld, Germany.
  • 1951 – Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul for the second time.
  • 1961 – A USAF B-52 bomber crashes near near Yuba City, California whilst carrying nuclear weapons.
  • 1964 – Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assumed assassin of John F. Kennedy.
  • 1967 – The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.
  • 1978 – The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation Litani, a seven-day campaign to invade and occupy southern Lebanon.
  • 1980 – LOT Flight 7 crashes during final approach near Warsaw, Poland, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.
  • 1982 – The South African government bombs the headquarters of the African National Congress in London.
  • 1988 – In the Johnson South Reef Skirmish Chinese forces defeat Vietnamese forces in an altercation over control of one of the Spratly Islands.
  • 1995 – Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle.
  • 2006 – The 2006 Chadian coup d’état attempt ends in failure.
  • 2007 – The Nandigram violence in Nandigram, West Bengal results in the deaths of at least 14 people.
  • 2008 – A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupt in Lhasa and subsequently spread elsewhere in Tibet.
  • 2019 – Cyclone Idai makes landfall near Beira, Mozambique, causing devastating floods and over 1000 deaths.

Births on March 14

  • 1638 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (d. 1710)
  • 1790 – Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver (d. 1863)
  • 1800 – James Bogardus, American inventor and architect (d. 1874)
  • 1801 – Kristjan Jaak Peterson, Estonian poet (d. 1822)
  • 1804 – Johann Strauss I, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1849)
  • 1813 – Joseph P. Bradley, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1892)
  • 1820 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (d. 1878)
  • 1822 – Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies (d. 1889)
  • 1823 – Théodore de Banville, French poet and critic (d. 1891)
  • 1833 – Frederic Shields, English painter and illustrator (d. 1911)
  • 1833 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor, American dentist and educator (d. 1910)
  • 1835 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and historian (d. 1910)
  • 1836 – Isabella Beeton, English author of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management (d. 1865)
  • 1837 – Charles Ammi Cutter, American librarian (d. 1903)
  • 1844 – Umberto I of Italy (d. 1900)
  • 1844 – Arthur O’Shaughnessy, English poet and herpetologist (d. 1881)
  • 1847 – Castro Alves, Brazilian poet and playwright (d. 1871)
  • 1853 – Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (d. 1918)
  • 1854 – Paul Ehrlich, German physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1915)
  • 1854 – John Lane, English publisher, co-founded The Bodley Head (d. 1925)
  • 1854 – Alexandru Macedonski, Romanian author and poet (d. 1920)
  • 1854 – Thomas R. Marshall, American lawyer and politician, 28th Vice President of the United States of America (d. 1925)
  • 1862 – Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist and meteorologist (d. 1951)
  • 1863 – Casey Jones, American engineer (d. 1900)
  • 1868 – Emily Murphy, Canadian jurist, author, and activist (d. 1933)
  • 1869 – Algernon Blackwood, English author and playwright (d. 1951)
  • 1874 – Anton Philips, Dutch businessman, co-founded Philips Electronics (d. 1951)
  • 1879 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
  • 1882 – Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician and academic (d. 1969)
  • 1885 – Raoul Lufbery, French-American soldier and pilot (d. 1918)
  • 1886 – Firmin Lambot, Belgian cyclist (d. 1964)
  • 1887 – Sylvia Beach, American-French publisher, founded Shakespeare and Company (d. 1962)
  • 1898 – Reginald Marsh, French-American painter and illustrator (d. 1954)
  • 1899 – K. C. Irving, Canadian businessman, founded Irving Oil (d. 1992)
  • 1901 – Sid Atkinson, South African hurdler and long jumper (d. 1977)
  • 1903 – Adolph Gottlieb, American painter and sculptor (d. 1974)
  • 1904 – Doris Eaton Travis, American actress and dancer (d. 2010)
  • 1905 – Raymond Aron, French journalist, sociologist, and philosopher (d. 1983)
  • 1906 – Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Turkish composer and educator (d. 1972)
  • 1908 – Ed Heinemann, American designer of military aircraft (d. 1991)
  • 1908 – Maurice Merleau-Ponty, French philosopher and academic (d. 1961)
  • 1908 – Philip Conrad Vincent, English engineer and businessman, founded Vincent Motorcycles (d. 1979)
  • 1911 – Akira Yoshizawa, Japanese origamist (d. 2005)
  • 1912 – Cliff Bastin, English footballer (d. 1991)
  • 1912 – Les Brown, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2001)
  • 1912 – W. Graham Claytor, Jr. American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 1994)
  • 1912 – W. Willard Wirtz, American lawyer and politician, 10th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Lee Hays, American singer-songwriter (d. 1981)
  • 1914 – Bill Owen, English actor and songwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1914 – Lee Petty, American race car driver and businessman, founded Petty Enterprises (d. 2000)
  • 1915 – Alexander Brott, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 2005)
  • 1916 – Horton Foote, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1917 – Alan Smith, English lieutenant and pilot (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Zoia Horn, American librarian (d. 2014)
  • 1919 – Max Shulman, American author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1920 – Hank Ketcham, American author and cartoonist, created Dennis the Menace (d. 2001)
  • 1920 – Dorothy Tyler-Odam, English high jumper (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – S. Truett Cathy, American businessman, founded Chick-fil-A (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Ada Louise Huxtable, American author and critic (d. 2013)
  • 1922 – Les Baxter, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1923 – Diane Arbus, American photographer (d. 1971)
  • 1925 – William Clay Ford, Sr., American businessman (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Joseph A. Unanue, American sergeant and businessman (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – François Morel, Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, and educator (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Frank Borman, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1928 – Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, Spanish environmentalist (d. 1980)
  • 1929 – Bob Goalby, American golfer
  • 1932 – Mark Murphy, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2015)
  • 1932 – Naina Yeltsina, Russian wife of Boris Yeltsin, First Lady of Russia
  • 1933 – Michael Caine, English actor and author
  • 1933 – Quincy Jones, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer
  • 1934 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Paul Rader, American 15th General of The Salvation Army
  • 1936 – Bob Charles, New Zealand golfer
  • 1937 – Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer and referee (d. 2013)
  • 1938 – Eleanor Bron, English actress and screenwriter
  • 1938 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – John Gleeson, Australian cricketer (d. 2016)
  • 1939 – Raymond J. Barry, American actor
  • 1939 – Bertrand Blier, French director and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Yves Boisset, French director and screenwriter
  • 1941 – Wolfgang Petersen, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1942 – Rita Tushingham, English actress
  • 1943 – Anita Morris, American actress and singer (d. 1994)
  • 1944 – Boris Brott, Canadian composer and conductor
  • 1944 – Václav Nedomanský, Czech ice hockey player and manager
  • 1944 – Bobby Smith, English footballer and manager
  • 1944 – Tom Stannage, Australian historian and academic (d. 2012)
  • 1945 – Jasper Carrott, English comedian, actor, and game show host
  • 1945 – Michael Martin Murphey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Walter Parazaider, American saxophonist
  • 1946 – William Lerach, American securities and class action attorney
  • 1946 – Wes Unseld, American basketball player, coach, and manager
  • 1947 – Roy Budd, English pianist and composer (d. 1993)
  • 1947 – William J. Jefferson, American lawyer and politician
  • 1947 – Jona Lewie, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
  • 1948 – Tom Coburn, American physician and politician (d. 2020)
  • 1948 – Billy Crystal, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Theo Jansen, Dutch sculptor
  • 1950 – Rick Dees, American actor and radio host
  • 1951 – Jerry Greenfield, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben & Jerry’s
  • 1953 – Nick Keir, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1955 – Jonathan Kaufer, American director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1956 – Alexey Pajitnov, Russian video game designer and computer engineer, creator of Tetris
  • 1956 – Butch Wynegar, American baseball player and coach
  • 1957 – Tad Williams, American author
  • 1958 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco
  • 1959 – Laila Robins, American actress
  • 1959 – Tamara Tunie, American actress
  • 1960 – Heidi Hammel, American astronomer and academic
  • 1961 – Garry Jack, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1961 – Mike Lazaridis, Turkish–Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded BlackBerry Limited
  • 1963 – Bruce Reid, Australian cricketer and coach
  • 1965 – Kevin Brown, American baseball player and coach
  • 1965 – Aamir Khan, Indian film actor, producer, and director
  • 1965 – Billy Sherwood, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1965 – Kevin Williamson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Jonas Elmer, Danish actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Elise Neal, American actress and producer
  • 1968 – Megan Follows, Canadian-American actress
  • 1969 – Larry Johnson, American basketball player and actor
  • 1970 – Kristian Bush, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1972 – Irom Chanu Sharmila, Indian poet and activist
  • 1973 – Rohit Shetty, Indian film director and producer
  • 1974 – Patrick Traverse, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Steve Harper, English footballer and referee
  • 1975 – Dmitri Markov, Belarusian-Australian pole vaulter
  • 1976 – Phil Vickery, English rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Vadims Fjodorovs, Latvian footballer and coach
  • 1977 – Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (d. 2011)
  • 1977 – Jeremy Paul, New Zealand-Australian rugby player
  • 1978 – Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
  • 1979 – Nicolas Anelka, French footballer and manager
  • 1979 – Chris Klein, American actor
  • 1979 – Sead Ramović, German-Bosnian footballer
  • 1980 – Aaron Brown, English footballer and coach
  • 1980 – Ben Herring, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1981 – Bobby Jenks, American baseball player
  • 1981 – George Wilson, American football player
  • 1982 – Carlos Marinelli, Argentinian footballer
  • 1982 – François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (d. 2008)
  • 1983 – Bakhtiyar Artayev, Kazakh boxer
  • 1986 – Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1986 – Jessica Gallagher, Australian skier and cyclist
  • 1986 – Andy Taylor, English footballer
  • 1988 – Stephen Curry, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Rico Freimuth, German decathlete
  • 1989 – Kevin Lacroix, Canadian race car driver
  • 1990 – Joe Allen, Welsh footballer
  • 1990 – Tamás Kádár, Hungarian footballer
  • 1990 – Haru Kuroki, Japanese actress
  • 1990 – Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, Icelandic footballer
  • 1991 – Emir Bekrić, Serbian hurdler
  • 1991 – László Szűcs, Hungarian footballer
  • 1991 – Steven Zellner, German footballer
  • 1993 – Philipp Ziereis, German footballer
  • 1994 – Ansel Elgort, American actor and DJ
  • 1996 – Batuhan Altıntaş, Turkish footballer
  • 1997 – Simone Biles, American gymnast
  • 2008 – Abby Ryder Fortson, American actress

Deaths on March 14

  • 840 – Einhard, Frankish scholar
  • 968 – Matilda of Ringelheim, Saxon queen (b. c. 896)
  • 1555 – John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (b. 1485)
  • 1647 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (b. 1584)
  • 1648 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general and politician (b. 1584)
  • 1696 – Jean Domat, French lawyer and jurist (b. 1625)
  • 1748 – George Wade, Irish field marshal and politician (b. 1673)
  • 1757 – John Byng, British admiral and politician, 11th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1704)
  • 1791 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and critic (b. 1725)
  • 1803 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet (b. 1724)
  • 1811 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1735)
  • 1823 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1739)
  • 1860 – Carl Ritter von Ghega, Italian engineer, designed the Semmering railway (b. 1802)
  • 1877 – Juan Manuel de Rosas, Argentinian general and politician, 17th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (b. 1793)
  • 1883 – Karl Marx, German philosopher and theorist (b. 1818)
  • 1884 – Quintino Sella, Italian economist and politician, Italian Minister of Finances (b. 1827)
  • 1932 – George Eastman, American inventor and businessman, founded Eastman Kodak (b. 1854)
  • 1953 – Klement Gottwald, Czechoslovak Communist politician and 14th President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1896)
  • 1957 – Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot activist (b. 1938)
  • 1965 – Marion Jones Farquhar, American tennis player (b. 1879)
  • 1968 – Erwin Panofsky, German historian and academic (b. 1892)
  • 1969 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American painter, illustrator, and educator (b. 1898)
  • 1973 – Howard H. Aiken, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1900)
  • 1973 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (b. 1901)
  • 1975 – Susan Hayward, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 1976 – Busby Berkeley, American director and choreographer (b. 1895)
  • 1977 – Fannie Lou Hamer, American activist and philanthropist (b. 1917)
  • 1980 – Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Indonesia (b. 1902)
  • 1980 – Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, Spanish environmentalist (b. 1928)
  • 1984 – Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet (b. 1915)
  • 1989 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary (b. 1892)
  • 1991 – Howard Ashman, American playwright and composer (b. 1950)
  • 1995 – William Alfred Fowler, American physicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
  • 1997 – Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-American director and producer (b. 1907)
  • 1999 – Kirk Alyn, American actor (b. 1910)
  • 1999 – John Broome, American author (b. 1913)
  • 2003 – Jack Goldstein, Canadian-American painter (b. 1945)
  • 2003 – Jean-Luc Lagardère, French engineer and businessman (b. 1928)
  • 2006 – Lennart Meri, Estonian director and politician, 2nd President of Estonia (b. 1929)
  • 2007 – Lucie Aubrac, French educator and activist (b. 1912)
  • 2008 – Chiara Lubich, Italian activist, co-founded the Focolare Movement (b. 1920)
  • 2010 – Peter Graves, American actor (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Pierre Schoendoerffer, French director and screenwriter (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Ċensu Tabone, Maltese general and politician, 4th President of Malta (b. 1913)
  • 2013 – Jack Greene, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Aramais Sahakyan, Armenian poet and author (b. 1936)
  • 2013 – Ieng Sary, Vietnamese-Cambodian politician, Cambodian Minister for Foreign Affairs (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Tony Benn, English politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Meir Har-Zion, Israeli commander (b. 1934)
  • 2016 – John W. Cahn, German-American metallurgist and academic (b. 1928)
  • 2016 – Peter Maxwell Davies, English composer and conductor (b. 1934)
  • 2016 – Suranimala Rajapaksha, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (b. 1949)
  • 2018 – Jim Bowen, English stand-up comedian and TV personality (b. 1937)
  • 2018 – Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician and human rights activist (b. 1979)
  • 2018 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (b. 1942)
  • 2018 – Liam O’Flynn, Irish uileann piper (b. 1945)
  • 2019 – Jake Phelps, American skateboarder and Thrasher editor-in-chief (b. 1962)

Holidays and observances on March 14

  • Christian feast day:
    • Leobinus
    • March 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Andorra)
  • Heroes’ Day (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
  • Mother Tongue Day (Estonia)
  • Nanakshahi New Year, first day of the month of Chet (Sikhism)
  • Pi Day
  • Summer Day (Albania)
  • White Day on which men give gifts to women; complementary to Valentine’s Day (Japan and other Asian nations)

March 14- 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 11- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 222 – Alexander Severus becomes emperor of Rome, replacing his cousin, 18-year-old Elagabalus. The bodies of the assassinated emperor and his mother, Julia Soaemias, are dragged through the streets of the city and thrown into the Tiber.
  • 1387 – Battle of Castagnaro: English condottiero Sir John Hawkwood leads Padova to victory in a factional clash with Verona.
  • 1641 – Guaraní forces living in the Jesuit reductions defeat bandeirantes loyal to the Portuguese Empire at the Battle of Mbororé in present-day Panambí, Argentina.
  • 1649 – The Frondeurs and the French sign the Peace of Rueil.
  • 1702 – The Daily Courant, England’s first national daily newspaper, is published for the first time.
  • 1708 – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.
  • 1784 – The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.
  • 1811 – During André Masséna’s retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, a division led by French Marshal Michel Ney fights off a combined Anglo-Portuguese force to give Masséna time to escape.
  • 1824 – The United States Department of War creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  • 1845 – Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand.
  • 1848 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.
  • 1851 – The first performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.
  • 1864 – The Great Sheffield Flood kills 238 people in Sheffield, England.
  • 1872 – Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.
  • 1879 – Shō Tai formally abdicated his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.
  • 1888 – The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400.
  • 1917 – World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Stanley Maude.
  • 1927 – In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.
  • 1931 – Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union.
  • 1941 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived Japanese puppet state, is established with Bảo Đại as its ruler.
  • 1946 – Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.
  • 1975 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese and Viet Cong guerrilla forces establish control over Buôn Ma Thuột commune from the South Vietnamese army.
  • 1977 – The 1977 Hanafi Siege: More than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.
  • 1978 – Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel’s Operation Litani.
  • 1981 – Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.
  • 1983 – Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon.
  • 1983 – Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.
  • 1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union making Gorbachev the USSR’s de facto, and last, head of state.
  • 1990 – Lithuania declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.
  • 1990 – Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.
  • 1993 – Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in the next day, becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States.
  • 1999 – Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
  • 2004 – Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush-hour trains in Madrid, Spain, killing 192 people.
  • 2006 – Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile.
  • 2007 – Georgia claims Russian helicopters attacked the Kodori Valley in Abkhazia, an accusation that Russia categorically denies later.
  • 2009 – Winnenden school shooting: Sixteen are killed and 11 are injured before recent-graduate Tim Kretschmer shoots and kills himself, leading to tightened weapons restrictions in Germany.
  • 2010 – Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile, while three earthquakes, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.9 and all centered next to Pichilemu, capital of Cardenal Caro province, hit central Chile during the ceremony.
  • 2011 – An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. This event also triggered the second largest nuclear accident in history, and one of only two events to be classified as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
  • 2012 – A U.S. soldier kills 16 civilians in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan near Kandahar.
  • 2016 – At least 21 people are killed by flooding and mudslides in and around São Paulo, Brazil, following heavy rain.
  • 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares a pandemic due to the COVID-19 virus.

Births on March 11

  • 1279 – Mary of Woodstock, daughter of Edward I of England (d. c.1332)
  • 1503 – George Harper, English politician (d. 1558)
  • 1530 – Johann Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (d. 1573)
  • 1544 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and educator (d. 1595)
  • 1634 – Nicholas Gassaway, English colonial military and political leader (d. 1691)
  • 1738 – Benjamin Tupper, American general (d. 1792)
  • 1745 – Bodawpaya, Burmese king (d. 1819)
  • 1785 – John McLean, American jurist and politician, 6th United States Postmaster General (d. 1861)
  • 1787 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (d. 1852)
  • 1806 – Louis Boulanger, French Romantic painter, lithographer and illustrator (d. 1867)
  • 1811 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1877)
  • 1815 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (d. 1879)
  • 1818 – Marius Petipa, French-Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1910)
  • 1819 – Henry Tate, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Tate & Lyle (d. 1899)
  • 1822 – Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (d. 1900)
  • 1854 – Jane Meade Welch, American journalist and lecturer (d. 1931)
  • 1863 – Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1915)
  • 1870 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1946)
  • 1872 – Kathleen Clarice Groom, Australian-English author and screenwriter (d. 1954)
  • 1873 – David Horsley, English-American film producer, co-founded Universal Studios (d. 1933)
  • 1876 – Carl Ruggles, American pianist and composer (d. 1971)
  • 1878 – Umegatani Tōtarō II, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1927)
  • 1880 – Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist and sociologist (d. 1943)
  • 1884 – Lewi Pethrus, Swedish minister and hymn-writer (d. 1974)
  • 1884 – Ömer Seyfettin, Turkish soldier, author, and educator (d. 1920)
  • 1885 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver and journalist (d. 1948)
  • 1887 – Raoul Walsh, American actor and director (d. 1980)
  • 1887 – Kâzım Orbay, Turkish general and politician (d. 1964)
  • 1890 – Vannevar Bush, American engineer and academic (d. 1974)
  • 1893 – Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (d. 1946)
  • 1895 – Shemp Howard, American actor (d. 1955)
  • 1896 – Olivério Pinto, Brazilian zoologist and physician (d. 1981)
  • 1897 – Henry Cowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
  • 1898 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (d. 1968)
  • 1899 – James H. Douglas, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 1988)
  • 1899 – Frederick IX of Denmark (d. 1972)
  • 1900 – Hanna Bergas, German teacher who contributed to the rescue of Jewish children during WWII (d. 1987)
  • 1903 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand historian and scholar (d. 1989)
  • 1903 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (d. 1992)
  • 1907 – Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
  • 1908 – Matti Sippala, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1997)
  • 1910 – Robert Havemann, German chemist and academic (d. 1982)
  • 1911 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Egyptian-Scottish general and politician (d. 1996)
  • 1913 – Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, German colonel and pilot (d. 1944)
  • 1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (d. 2004)
  • 1915 – J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and psychologist (d. 1990)
  • 1916 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author and illustrator (d. 1983)
  • 1916 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
  • 1921 – Frank Harary, American mathematician and academic (d. 2005)
  • 1921 – Jeff Stollmeyer, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1989)
  • 1921 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (d. 1992)
  • 1922 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (d. 1997)
  • 1922 – José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor and director (d. 2009)
  • 1922 – Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976)
  • 1923 – Louise Brough, American tennis player (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist and academic (d. 1983)
  • 1925 – İlhan Selçuk, Turkish lawyer, journalist, and author (d. 2010)
  • 1926 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (d. 1990)
  • 1927 – Joachim Fuchsberger, German actor and television host (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Col Geelan, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1996)
  • 1927 – Freda Meissner-Blau, Austrian activist and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Robert Mosbacher, American sailor, businessman, and politician, 25th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
  • 1927 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
  • 1928 – Albert Salmi, American actor (d. 1990)
  • 1929 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
  • 1929 – Jackie McGlew, South African cricketer (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – David Gentleman, English illustrator and engraver
  • 1930 – Claude Jutra, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
  • 1931 – Janosch, Polish-German author and illustrator
  • 1931 – Marisa Del Frate, Italian actress and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate
  • 1932 – Leroy Jenkins, American violinist and composer (Revolutionary Ensemble) (d. 2007)
  • 1932 – Nigel Lawson, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • 1934 – Sam Donaldson, American journalist
  • 1936 – Hollis Frampton, American director, screenwriter, and photographer (d. 1984)
  • 1936 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2016)
  • 1938 – Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Lorraine Hunt, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Lieutenant Governor of Nevada
  • 1939 – Orlando Quevedo, Filipino cardinal
  • 1940 – Alberto Cortez, Argentinian-Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
  • 1942 – Marcus Borg, American scholar, theologian and author (d. 2015)
  • 1942 – Joel Steiger, American director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1943 – Arturo Merzario, Italian race car driver
  • 1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
  • 1945 – Harvey Mandel, American guitarist
  • 1946 – Mark Metcalf, American actor and producer
  • 1947 – Geoff Hunt, Australian squash player
  • 1947 – Tristan Murail, French composer and educator
  • 1948 – Roy Barnes, American lawyer and politician, 80th Governor of Georgia
  • 1949 – Griselda Pollock, South African-English historian and academic
  • 1950 – Sam Kekovich, Australian footballer and sportscaster
  • 1950 – Bobby McFerrin, American singer-songwriter, producer, and conductor
  • 1950 – Jerry Zucker, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1951 – Andres Metspalu, Estonian geneticist and academic
  • 1951 – Dominique Sanda, French model and actress
  • 1952 – Douglas Adams, English author and playwright (d. 2001)
  • 1953 – László Bölöni, Romanian-Hungarian footballer and manager
  • 1953 – Derek Daly, Irish-American race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1953 – Jimmy Iovine, American record producer and businessman, co-founded Interscope Records and Beats Electronics
  • 1953 – Bernie LaBarge, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1954 – David Newman, American composer and conductor
  • 1954 – Gale Norton, American lawyer and politician, 48th United States Secretary of the Interior
  • 1955 – Leslie Cliff, Canadian swimmer
  • 1955 – Nina Hagen, German singer and actress
  • 1955 – D. J. MacHale, American author, director, and screenwriter
  • 1956 – Willie Banks, American triple jumper
  • 1956 – Curtis Brown, American colonel, pilot and astronaut
  • 1956 – Helen Rollason, English journalist and sportscaster (d. 1999)
  • 1957 – The Lady Chablis, American drag queen performer (d. 2016)
  • 1958 – Ian Horrocks, English computer scientist and academic
  • 1958 – Tetsurō Oda, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1958 – James Pinkerton, American journalist and author
  • 1958 – Anissa Jones, American child actress (d. 1976)
  • 1958 – Flemming Rose, Danish journalist and author
  • 1959 – Manuel Negrete Arias, Mexican footballer and coach
  • 1959 – Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress/director, sex educator, sex-positive feminist, and author
  • 1959 – Margus Oopkaup, Estonian actor
  • 1959 – Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-American journalist and poet
  • 1960 – Christophe Gans, French director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Junichi Sato, Japanese animator and director
  • 1960 – Warwick Taylor, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1961 – Elias Koteas, Canadian actor
  • 1961 – Bruce Watson, Canadian-Scottish guitarist
  • 1962 – Mary Gauthier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Matt Mead, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of Wyoming
  • 1963 – Gary Barnett, English footballer and manager
  • 1963 – Alex Kingston, English actress
  • 1963 – David LaChapelle, American photographer and director
  • 1964 – Peter Berg, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Vinnie Paul, American drummer, songwriter and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1964 – Shane Richie, English actor and singer
  • 1965 – Nigel Adkins, English footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American lawyer and politician
  • 1965 – Wallace Langham, American actor
  • 1965 – Jenny Packham, English fashion designer
  • 1965 – Allan Vainola, Estonian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1966 – Robbie Brookside, English wrestler and trainer
  • 1966 – John Thompson III, American basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Ilias Zouros, Greek basketball player and coach
  • 1967 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor and singer
  • 1967 – Brad Carson, American lawyer and politician, United States Under Secretary of the Army
  • 1967 – Renzo Gracie, Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and trainer
  • 1967 – Cynthia Klitbo, Mexican actress
  • 1968 – Stéphane Bédard, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1968 – Simone Buchanan, Australian actress
  • 1968 – Lisa Loeb, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress
  • 1969 – Terrence Howard, American actor and producer
  • 1969 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2006)
  • 1970 – Andre Nickatina, American rapper and producer
  • 1971 – Johnny Knoxville, American actor, stuntman, and producer
  • 1971 – Martin Ručinský, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1972 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
  • 1973 – Martin Hiden, Austrian footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player
  • 1975 – João Barbosa, Portuguese racing driver
  • 1975 – Shawn Springs, American football player
  • 1976 – Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer
  • 1976 – Kotomitsuki Keiji, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1977 – Becky Hammon, American-Russian basketball player and coach
  • 1978 – Scott Calderwood, English-Scottish footballer and manager
  • 1978 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
  • 1978 – Albert Luque, Spanish footballer
  • 1979 – Elton Brand, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Fred Jones, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Benji Madden, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Joel Madden, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1979 – Keren Peles, Israeli singer-songwriter and pianist
  • 1979 – Kirk Reynoldson, Australian rugby league player
  • 1980 – Paul Scharner, Austrian footballer
  • 1980 – Dan Uggla, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Heidi Cortez, American businesswoman and author
  • 1981 – Luke Johnson, English drummer and songwriter
  • 1981 – LeToya Luckett, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1982 – Brian Anderson, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Thora Birch, American actress
  • 1982 – Hasan Raza, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1983 – Lucy DeVito, American actress
  • 1985 – Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Daniel Vázquez Evuy, Equatoguinean footballer
  • 1985 – Cassandra Fairbanks, American journalist and activist
  • 1985 – Luis Hernández, Mexican figure skater
  • 1985 – Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer
  • 1985 – Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1985 – Derek Schouman, American football player
  • 1985 – Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian footballer
  • 1985 – Hakuhō Shō, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 69th Yokozuna
  • 1986 – Dario Cologna, Swiss skier
  • 1986 – Mariko Shinoda, Japanese singer and actress
  • 1987 – Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Tanel Kangert, Estonian cyclist
  • 1987 – Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper
  • 1987 – Colin Munro, South African-New Zealand cricketer
  • 1988 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer
  • 1988 – Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (d. 2015)
  • 1988 – Katsuhiko Nakajima, Japanese wrestler
  • 1989 – Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1990 – Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player
  • 1991 – Kamohelo Mokotjo, South African footballer
  • 1992 – Austin Swift, American actor
  • 1992 – KZ Tandingan, Filipina singer and rapper
  • 1993 – Jodie Comer, British actress
  • 1993 – Anthony Davis, American basketball player
  • 1994 – Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer

Deaths on March 11

  • 222 – Elagabalus, Roman emperor (b. 203)
  • 452 – Tai Wu Di, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 408)
  • 638 – Sophronius of Jerusalem (b. 560)
  • 857 – Eulogius of Córdoba, Spanish martyr and saint (b. 819)
  • 1198 – Marie of France, Countess of Champagne (b. 1145)
  • 1296 – John le Romeyn, Archbishop of York
  • 1353 – Theognostus, metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow
  • 1486 – Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1414)
  • 1514 – Donato Bramante, Italian architect, designed the San Pietro in Montorio (b. 1444)
  • 1575 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (b. 1520)
  • 1602 – Emilio de’ Cavalieri, Italian organist and composer (b. 1550)
  • 1607 – Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer and educator (b. 1543)
  • 1646 – Stanisław Koniecpolski, Polish soldier and statesman (b. c. 1592)
  • 1665 – Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (b. c. 1575)
  • 1722 – John Toland, Irish philosopher and theorist (b. 1670)
  • 1759 – John Forbes, Scottish general (b. 1710)
  • 1820 – Benjamin West, American-English painter and academic (b. 1738)
  • 1851 – Marie Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti (b. 1778)
  • 1851 – George McDuffie, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1790)
  • 1854 – Willard Richards, American journalist and religious leader (b. 1804)
  • 1863 – Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (b. 1803)
  • 1869 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1803)
  • 1870 – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho (b. 1786)
  • 1874 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (b. 1811)
  • 1898 – William Rosecrans, American general and politician (b. 1819)
  • 1898 – Tigran Chukhajian, Armenian composer and conductor (b. 1837)
  • 1907 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French lawyer and politician, 6th President of France (b. 1847)
  • 1908 – Edmondo De Amicis, Italian journalist and author (b. 1846)
  • 1908 – Benjamin Waugh, American minister and activist (b. 1839)
  • 1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (b. 1826)
  • 1920 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1865)
  • 1927 – Xenophon Stratigos, Greek general and politician, Greek Minister of Transport (b. 1869)
  • 1931 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1888)
  • 1937 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (b. 1860)
  • 1944 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American journalist and historian (b. 1882)
  • 1944 – Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (b. 1891)
  • 1949 – Anastasios Charalambis, Greek general and politician, 109th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1862)
  • 1949 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (b. 1879)
  • 1952 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885)
  • 1955 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
  • 1955 – Oscar F. Mayer, German-American businessman, founded Oscar Mayer (b. 1859)
  • 1957 – Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (b. 1888)
  • 1958 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman, founded The Lego Group (b. 1891)
  • 1959 – Lester Dent, American author (b. 1904)
  • 1960 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American paleontologist and explorer (b. 1884)
  • 1965 – Harry Altham, English cricketer, historian and coach (b. 1888)
  • 1967 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (b. 1882)
  • 1968 – Haşim İşcan, Turkish educator and politician, 18th Mayor of İstanbul (b. 1898)
  • 1969 – John Daly, Irish runner (b. 1880)
  • 1969 – John Wyndham, English soldier and author (b. 1903)
  • 1970 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (b. 1889)
  • 1971 – Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (b. 1906)
  • 1971 – Whitney Young, American activist (b. 1921)
  • 1977 – Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1893)
  • 1978 – Claude François, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1939)
  • 1980 – Chandra Bhanu Gupta, Indian politician, 4th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (b. 1902)
  • 1982 – Edmund Cooper, English poet and author (b. 1926)
  • 1982 – Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and academic (b. 1898)
  • 1983 – Will Glickman, American playwright (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Kostas Roukounas, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1903)
  • 1986 – Sonny Terry, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1911)
  • 1989 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1917)
  • 1989 – John J. McCloy, American lawyer and banker (b. 1895)
  • 1992 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress and singer (b. 1945)
  • 1996 – Vince Edwards, American actor and director (b. 1928)
  • 1999 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist, and neurologist (b. 1906)
  • 1999 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (b. 1922)
  • 2002 – James Tobin, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
  • 2006 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2006 – Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1941)
  • 2007 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Nils Taube, Estonian-English businessman (b. 1928)
  • 2009 – Charles Lewis, Jr., American businessman, co-founded Tapout Clothing (b. 1963)
  • 2010 – John Hill, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1941)
  • 2010 – Merlin Olsen, American football player and actor (b. 1940)
  • 2010 – T. Somasekaram, Sri Lankan geographer and politician, 37th Surveyor General of Sri Lanka (b. 1934)
  • 2010 – Hans van Mierlo, Dutch journalist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1931)
  • 2011 – Gary Wichard, American football player and agent (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Henry Adefope, Nigerian physician and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nigeria (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Sid Couchey, American author and illustrator (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – James B. Morehead, American colonel and pilot (b. 1916)
  • 2012 – Gösta Schwarck, German-Danish pianist and composer (b. 1915)
  • 2013 – Erica Andrews, Mexican-American drag queen performer (b. 1969)
  • 2013 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Doug Christie, Canadian lawyer and activist (b. 1946)
  • 2013 – Simón Alberto Consalvi, Venezuelan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Florian Siwicki, Polish general and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1967)
  • 2014 – Joel Brinkley, American journalist and academic (b. 1952)
  • 2015 – Walter Burkert, German philologist and scholar (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (b. 1948)
  • 2015 – Gerald Hurst, American chemist and academic (b. 1937)
  • 2016 – Iolanda Balaș, Romanian high jumper and educator (b. 1936)
  • 2016 – Keith Emerson, English musician and composer. (b. 1944)
  • 2016 – Doreen Massey, English geographer and academic (b. 1944)
  • 2018 – Mary Rosenblum, American science fiction and mystery author (b. 1952)

Holidays and observances on March 11

  • Christian feast day:
    • Alberta of Agen
    • Áurea of San Millán
    • Benedict of Milan
    • Constantine
    • Eulogius of Córdoba
    • Blessed John Righi
    • Óengus of Tallaght
    • Sophronius of Jerusalem
    • Vindicianus
  • Day of Restoration of Independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 (Lithuania)
  • Johnny Appleseed Day (United States)
  • Moshoeshoe Day (Lesotho)

March 11- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 9- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China.
  • 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
  • 1226 – Khwarazmian sultan Jalal ad-Din conquers the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
  • 1230 – Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II defeats Theodore of Epirus in the Battle of Klokotnitsa.
  • 1500 – The fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral leaves Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet will discover Brazil which lies within boundaries granted to Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
  • 1701 – Safavid troops retreat from Basra, ending a three year occupation.
  • 1765 – After a campaign by the writer Voltaire, judges in Paris posthumously exonerate Jean Calas of murdering his son. Calas had been tortured and executed in 1762 on the charge, though his son may have actually committed suicide.
  • 1776 – The Wealth of Nations by Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith is published.
  • 1796 – Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.
  • 1811 – Paraguayan forces defeat Manuel Belgrano at the Battle of Tacuarí.
  • 1815 – Francis Ronalds describes the first battery-operated clock in the Philosophical Magazine
  • 1841 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the United States v. The Amistad case that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.
  • 1842 – Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco, receives its première performance in Milan; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy’s foremost opera composers.
  • 1842 – The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush.
  • 1847 – Mexican–American War: The first large-scale amphibious assault in U.S. history is launched in the Siege of Veracruz.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.
  • 1908 – Inter Milan was founded on Football Club Internazionale, following a schism from A.C. Milan.
  • 1916 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against the border town of Columbus, New Mexico.
  • 1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to Congress, the first of his New Deal policies
  • 1942 – World War II: Dutch East Indies unconditionally surrendered to the Japanese forces in Kalijati, Subang, West Java, and the Japanese completed their Dutch East Indies campaign
  • 1944 – World War II: Soviet Army planes attack Tallinn, Estonia.
  • 1945 – World War II: A coup d’état by Japanese forces in French Indochina removes the French from power.
  • 1946 – Bolton Wanderers stadium disaster at Burnden Park, Bolton, England, kills 33 and injures hundreds more.
  • 1954 – McCarthyism: CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, “A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy”, produced by Fred Friendly.
  • 1956 – Soviet forces suppress mass demonstrations in the Georgian SSR, reacting to Nikita Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization policy.
  • 1957 – The 8.6 Mw  Andreanof Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands, causing over $5 million in damage from ground movement and a destructive tsunami.
  • 1959 – The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
  • 1960 – Dr. Belding Hibbard Scribner implants for the first time a shunt he invented into a patient, which allows the patient to receive hemodialysis on a regular basis.
  • 1961 – Sputnik 9 successfully launches, carrying a dog and a human dummy, and demonstrating that the Soviet Union was ready to begin human spaceflight.
  • 1967 – Trans World Airlines Flight 553 crashes in a field in Concord Township, Ohio following a mid-air collision with a Beechcraft Baron, killing 26 people.
  • 1974 – The Mars 7 Flyby bus releases the descent module too early, missing Mars.
  • 1976 – Forty-two people die in the Cavalese cable car disaster, the worst cable-car accident to date.
  • 1977 – The Hanafi Siege: In a thirty-nine-hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings.
  • 1978 – President Soeharto inaugurated Jagorawi Toll Road, the first toll highway in Indonesia, connecting Jakarta, Bogor and Ciawi, West Java.
  • 1997 – Comet Hale–Bopp: Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day.2011 – Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights.

Births on March 9

  • 1454 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer (d. 1512)
  • 1564 – David Fabricius, German theologian, cartographer and astronomer (d. 1617)
  • 1568 – Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (d. 1591)
  • 1662 – Franz Anton von Sporck, German noble (d. 1738)
  • 1697 – Friederike Caroline Neuber, German actress (d. 1760)
  • 1737 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1781)
  • 1749 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (d. 1791)
  • 1753 – Jean-Baptiste Kléber, French general (d. 1800)
  • 1758 – Franz Joseph Gall, German neuroanatomist and physiologist (d. 1828)
  • 1763 – William Cobbett, English journalist and author (d. 1835)
  • 1806 – Edwin Forrest, American actor and philanthropist (d. 1872)
  • 1814 – Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet and playwright (d. 1861)
  • 1815 – David Davis, American jurist and politician (d. 1886)
  • 1820 – Samuel Blatchford, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1893)
  • 1824 – Amasa Leland Stanford, American businessman and politician, founded Stanford University (d. 1893)
  • 1847 – Martin Pierre Marsick, Belgian violinist, composer, and educator (d. 1924)
  • 1850 – Hamo Thornycroft, English sculptor and academic (d. 1925)
  • 1856 – Eddie Foy, Sr., American actor and dancer (d. 1928)
  • 1863 – Mary Harris Armor, American suffragist (d. 1950)
  • 1887 – Fritz Lenz, German geneticist and physician (d. 1976)
  • 1890 – Rupert Balfe, Australian footballer and lieutenant (d. 1915)
  • 1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician and diplomat, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1986)
  • 1891 – José P. Laurel, Filipino lawyer, politician and President of the Philippines (d. 1959)
  • 1892 – Mátyás Rákosi, Hungarian politician (d. 1971)
  • 1892 – Vita Sackville-West, English author, poet, and gardener (d. 1962)
  • 1902 – Will Geer, American actor (d. 1978)
  • 1904 – Paul Wilbur Klipsch, American soldier and engineer, founded Klipsch Audio Technologies (d. 2002)
  • 1910 – Samuel Barber, American pianist and composer (d. 1981)
  • 1911 – Clara Rockmore, American classical violin prodigy and theremin player, (d. 1998)
  • 1915 – Johnnie Johnson, English air marshal and pilot (d. 2001)
  • 1918 – George Lincoln Rockwell, American sailor and politician, founded the American Nazi Party (d. 1967)
  • 1918 – Mickey Spillane, American crime novelist (d. 2006)
  • 1920 – Franjo Mihalić, Croatian-Serbian runner and coach (d. 2015)
  • 1921 – Carl Betz, American actor (d. 1978)
  • 1922 – Ian Turbott, New Zealand-Australian former diplomat and university administrator (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – James L. Buckley, American lawyer, judge, and politician
  • 1923 – André Courrèges, French fashion designer (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Walter Kohn, Austrian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2016)
  • 1926 – Joe Franklin, American radio and television host (d. 2015)
  • 1928 – Gerald Bull, Canadian-American engineer and academic (d. 1990)
  • 1928 – Keely Smith, American singer and actress (d. 2017)
  • 1929 – Desmond Hoyte, Guyanese lawyer, politician and President of Guyana (d. 2002)
  • 1929 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (d. 2013)
  • 1930 – Ornette Coleman, American saxophonist, violinist, trumpet player, and composer (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – Jackie Healy-Rae, Irish politician (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Qayyum Chowdhury, Bangladeshi painter and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1932 – Walter Mercado, Puerto Rican-American astrologer and actor (d. 2019)
  • 1933 – Lloyd Price, American R&B singer-songwriter
  • 1933 – David Weatherall, English physician, geneticist, and academic (d. 2018)
  • 1934 – Yuri Gagarin, Russian colonel, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1968)
  • 1934 – Joyce Van Patten, American actress
  • 1935 – Andrew Viterbi, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Qualcomm Inc.
  • 1936 – Mickey Gilley, American singer-songwriter and pianist[
  • 1936 – Marty Ingels, American actor and comedian (d. 2015)
  • 1937 – Bernard Landry, Canadian lawyer, politician and Premier of Quebec (d. 2018)
  • 1937 – Harry Neale, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1937 – Brian Redman, English race car driver
  • 1940 – Raul Julia, Puerto Rican-American actor (d. 1994)
  • 1941 – Jim Colbert, American golfer
  • 1941 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal (d. 1976)
  • 1942 – Ion Caramitru, Romanian actor and artistic director
  • 1942 – Mark Lindsay, American singer-songwriter, saxophonist, and producer
  • 1943 – Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author (d. 2008)
  • 1944 – Lee Irvine, South African cricketer
  • 1945 – Robert Calvert, English singer-songwriter and playwright (d. 1988)
  • 1945 – Robin Trower, English rock guitarist and vocalist
  • 1946 – Alexandra Bastedo, English actress (d. 2014)
  • 1946 – Warren Skaaren, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1990)
  • 1946 – Bernd Hölzenbein, German footballer and scout
  • 1947 – Keri Hulme, New Zealand author and poet
  • 1948 – Emma Bonino, Italian politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1948 – Eric Fischl, American painter and sculptor
  • 1948 – Jeffrey Osborne, American singer and drummer
  • 1949 – Neil Hamilton, Welsh lawyer and politician
  • 1950 – Doug Ault, American baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
  • 1950 – Andy North, American golfer
  • 1950 – Howard Shelley, English pianist and conductor
  • 1951 – Helen Zille, South African journalist, politician and Premier of the Western Cape1952 – Bill Beaumont, English rugby player and manager
  • 1954 – Carlos Ghosn, Brazilian-Lebanese-French business executive
  • 1954 – Bobby Sands, PIRA volunteer; Irish republican politician (d. 1981)
  • 1954 – Jock Taylor, Scottish motorcycle racer (d. 1982)
  • 1955 – Teo Fabi, Italian race car driver
  • 1955 – Józef Pinior, Polish academic and politician
  • 1956 – Mark Dantonio, American football player and coach
  • 1956 – Shashi Tharoor, Indian politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs
  • 1956 – David Willetts, English academic and politician
  • 1958 – Paul MacLean, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1959 – Takaaki Kajita, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1959 – Lonny Price, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Linda Fiorentino, American actress
  • 1961 – Rick Steiner, American wrestler
  • 1961 – Darrell Walker, American basketball player and coach
  • 1963 – Terry Mulholland, American baseball player
  • 1963 – Jean-Marc Vallée, Canadian director and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Juliette Binoche, French actress
  • 1964 – Phil Housley, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1965 – Brian Bosworth, American football player and actor
  • 1965 – Benito Santiago, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
  • 1966 – Brendan Canty, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1966 – Tony Lockett, Australian footballer
  • 1968 – Youri Djorkaeff, French footballer
  • 1969 – Kimberly Guilfoyle, American lawyer and journalist
  • 1970 – Naveen Jindal, Indian businessman and politician
  • 1970 – Martin Johnson, English rugby player and coach
  • 1971 – Emmanuel Lewis, American actor
  • 1972 – Jodey Arrington, United States politician
  • 1973 – Liam Griffin, English race car driver
  • 1975 – Juan Sebastián Verón, Argentinian footballer
  • 1977 – Radek Dvořák, Czech ice hockey player
  • 1979 – Oscar Isaac, Guatemalan-American actor
  • 1981 – Antonio Bryant, American football player
  • 1981 – Clay Rapada, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Ryan Bayley, Australian cyclist
  • 1982 – Matt Bowen, Australian rugby league player
  • 1982 – Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, Croatian tennis player
  • 1983 – Wayne Simien, American basketball player[
  • 1983 – Clint Dempsey, American international soccer player, forward
  • 1984 – Abdoulay Konko, French footballer
  • 1984 – Julia Mancuso, American skier
  • 1985 – Brent Burns, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1985 – Jesse Litsch, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Pastor Maldonado, Venezuelan race car driver
  • 1985 – Parthiv Patel, Indian cricketer
  • 1986 – Colin Greening, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Brittany Snow, American actress and producer
  • 1989 – Taeyeon, South Korean artist, member of Girls’ Generation
  • 1990 – Daley Blind, Dutch footballer
  • 1990 – Matt Robinson, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1990 – YG (rapper), American rapper
  • 1991 – Jooyoung, Korean singer-songwriter
  • 1993 – Suga, South Korean artist (BTS)
  • 1994 – Morgan Rielly, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths on March 9

  • 886 – Abu Ma’shar al-Balkhi, Muslim scholar and astrologer (b. 787)
  • 1202 – Sverre of Norway
  • 1440 – Frances of Rome, Italian nun and saint (b. 1384)
  • 1444 – Leonardo Bruni, Italian humanist (b. c.1370)
  • 1463 – Catherine of Bologna, Italian nun and saint (d. 1463)
  • 1566 – David Rizzio, Italian-Scottish courtier and politician (b. 1533).
  • 1649 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Scottish soldier and politician, (b. 1606)
  • 1649 – Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland, English soldier and politician (b. 1590)
  • 1661 – Cardinal Mazarin, Italian-French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1602)
  • 1709 – Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, English courtier and politician (b. 1638)
  • 1808 – Joseph Bonomi the Elder, Italian architect (b. 1739)
  • 1810 – Ozias Humphry, English painter and academic (b. 1742)
  • 1825 – Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet, author, and critic (b. 1743)
  • 1847 – Mary Anning, English paleontologist (b. 1799)
  • 1851 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (b. 1777)1888 – William I, German Emperor (b. 1797)
  • 1895 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (b. 1836)
  • 1897 – Sondre Norheim, Norwegian-American skier (b. 1825)
  • 1918 – Frank Wedekind, German author and playwright (b. 1864)
  • 1925 – Willard Metcalf, American painter and academic (b. 1858)
  • 1926 – Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual leader, founded Reiki (b. 1865)
  • 1937 – Paul Elmer More, American journalist and critic (b. 1864)
  • 1943 – Otto Freundlich, German painter and sculptor (b. 1878)
  • 1954 – Vagn Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer and academic (b. 1874)
  • 1955 – Miroslava, Czech-Mexican actress (b. 1925)
  • 1964 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (b. 1870)
  • 1969 – Abdul Munim Riad, Egyptian general (b. 1919)
  • 1971 – Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria (b. 1902)
  • 1974 – Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
  • 1974 – Harry Womack, American singer (b. 1945)
  • 1983 – Faye Emerson, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 1983 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
  • 1988 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German lawyer, politician and Chancellor of Germany (b. 1904)
  • 1989 – Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (b. 1946)
  • 1991 – Jim Hardin, American baseball player (b. 1943)
  • 1992 – Menachem Begin, Belarusian-Israeli soldier, politician and Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
  • 1993 – C. Northcote Parkinson, English historian and author (b. 1909)
  • 1994 – Charles Bukowski, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1920)
  • 1994 – Eddie Creatchman, Canadian wrestler, referee, and manager (b. 1928)
  • 1994 – Fernando Rey, Spanish actor (b. 1917)
  • 1997 – Jean-Dominique Bauby, French journalist and author (b. 1952)
  • 1997 – Terry Nation, Welsh author and screenwriter (b. 1930)
  • 1997 – The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper, songwriter, and actor (b. 1972)
  • 1999 – Harry Somers, Canadian pianist and composer (b. 1925)
  • 2000 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (b. 1908)
  • 2003 – Stan Brakhage, American director and cinematographer (b. 1933)
  • 2003 – Bernard Dowiyogo, Nauruan politician, President of Nauru (b. 1946)
  • 2006 – Tom Fox, American activist (b. 1951)
  • 2006 – John Profumo, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Brad Delp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1951)
  • 2007 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
  • 2010 – Willie Davis, American baseball player and manager (b. 1940)
  • 2010 – Doris Haddock, American activist and politician (b. 1910)
  • 2011 – David S. Broder, American journalist and academic (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Max Jakobson, Finnish journalist and diplomat
  • 2013 – Merton Simpson, American painter and art collector (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, Northern Irish soldier and politician (b. 1920)
  • 2016 – Robert Horton, American actor (b. 1924)
  • 2016 – Clyde Lovellette, American basketball player and coach (b. 1929)
  • 2017 – Howard Hodgkin, British painter (b. 1932)
  • 2018 – Jo Min-ki, Korean actor (b. 1965)
  • 2020 – John Bathersby, Australian Catholic bishop (b. 1936)

Holidays and observances on March 9

  • Christian feast day:
    • Catherine of Bologna
    • Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
    • Frances of Rome
    • Pacian
    • Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria (Coptic Orthodox Church)
    • Gregory of Nyssa (Episcopal Church (United States))
    • March 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Teachers’ Day or Eid Al Moalim (Lebanon)

March 9- History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

March 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.
  • 1126 – Following the death of his mother Urraca, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of Castile and León.
  • 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg.
  • 1576 – Spanish explorer Diego García de Palacio first sights the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Copán.
  • 1618 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
  • 1655 – John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in England’s North American colonies where a crime was not committed.
  • 1658 – Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), Frederick III, the King of Denmark–Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden to save the rest.
  • 1702 – Queen Anne, the younger sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland
  • 1722 – The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at the Battle of Gulnabad, pushing Iran into anarchy.
  • 1736 – Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, is crowned Shah of Iran.
  • 1775 – An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes “African Slavery in America”, the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery.
  • 1777 – Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
  • 1782 – Gnadenhutten massacre: Ninety-six Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity, are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indian tribes.
  • 1801 – War of the Second Coalition: At the Battle of Abukir, a British force under Sir Ralph Abercromby lands in Egypt with the aim of ending the French campaign in Egypt and Syria.
  • 1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
  • 1844 – King Oscar I ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: The Naval Battle of Hampton Roads begins.
  • 1868 – Sakai incident: Japanese samurai kill 11 French sailors in the port of Sakai, Osaka.
  • 1910 – French aviator Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot’s license.
  • 1914 – First flights (for the Royal Thai Air Force) at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok.
  • 1916 – World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempts to relieve the siege of Kut (present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila.
  • 1917 – International Women’s Day protests in St. Petersburg mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23rd in the Julian calendar).
  • 1917 – The United States Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
  • 1920 – The Arab Kingdom of Syria, the first modern Arab state to come into existence, is established.
  • 1921 – Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
  • 1924 – A mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
  • 1936 – Daytona Beach and Road Course holds its first oval stock car race.
  • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.
  • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces gave an ultimatum to Dutch East Indies Governor General Jonkheer Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer and KNIL Commander in Chief Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, to unconditionally surrender.
  • 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces captured Rangoon, Burma from British.
  • 1947 – Thirteen thousand troops of the Republic of China Army arrive in Taiwan after the February 28 Incident and launch crackdowns which kill thousands of people, including many elites. This turns into a major root of the Taiwan independence movement.
  • 1949 – President of France Vincent Auriol and ex-emperor of Annam Bảo Đại sign the Élysée Accords, giving Vietnam greater independence from France and creating the State of Vietnam to oppose Viet Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
  • 1957 – Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.
  • 1957 – The 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress, which petitions the U.S. Congress to declare the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution null and void, is adopted by the U.S. state of Georgia.
  • 1963 – The Ba’ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d’état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
  • 1965 – Thirty-five hundred United States Marines are the first American land combat forces committed during the Vietnam War.
  • 1966 – Nelson’s Pillar in Dublin, Ireland, destroyed by a bomb.
  • 1971 – The Fight of the Century between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali commences. Frazier wins in 15 rounds via unanimous decision.
  • 1974 – Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
  • 1979 – Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
  • 1983 – Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an “evil empire”.
  • 1985 – A supposed failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon kills at least 45 and injures 175 others.
  • 2004 – A new constitution is signed by Iraq’s Governing Council.
  • 2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying a total of 239 people, disappears en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
  • 2017 – The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.

Births on March 8

  • 1286 – John III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1341)
  • 1293 – Beatrice of Castile (d. 1359)
  • 1495 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (d. 1550)
  • 1514 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese daimyō (d. 1562)
  • 1518 – Sidonie of Saxony, Duchess of Brunswick-Calenberg (d. 1575)
  • 1550 – William Drury, English politician (d. 1590)
  • 1658 – Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor, British Baron (d. 1730)
  • 1566 – Carlo Gesualdo, Italian lute player and composer (d. 1613)
  • 1712 – John Fothergill, English physician and botanist (d. 1780)
  • 1714 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German pianist and composer (d. 1788)
  • 1726 – Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, English admiral and politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1799)
  • 1746 – André Michaux, French botanist and explorer (d. 1802)
  • 1748 – William V, Prince of Orange (d. 1806)
  • 1761 – Jan Potocki, Polish ethnologist, historian, linguist, and author (d. 1815)
  • 1799 – Simon Cameron, American journalist and politician, 26th United States Secretary of War (d. 1889)
  • 1804 – Alvan Clark, American astronomer and optician (d. 1887)
  • 1822 – Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Polish inventor and businessman, invented the Kerosene lamp (d. 1882)
  • 1826 – Johann Köler, Estonian painter and academic (d. 1899)
  • 1827 – Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist and anthropologist (d. 1875)
  • 1830 – João de Deus, Portuguese poet and educator (d. 1896)
  • 1839 – Josephine Cochrane, American inventor (d. 1913)
  • 1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American colonel, lawyer, and jurist (d. 1935)
  • 1848 – LaMarcus Adna Thompson, American engineer and businessman, developed the roller coaster (d. 1917)
  • 1856 – Bramwell Booth, English 2nd General of The Salvation Army (d. 1929)
  • 1856 – Colin Campbell Cooper, American painter and academic (d. 1937)
  • 1859 – Kenneth Grahame, Scottish-English banker and author (d. 1932)
  • 1865 – Frederic Goudy, American type designer, created Copperplate Gothic and Goudy Old Style (d. 1947)
  • 1879 – Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
  • 1886 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1972)
  • 1892 – Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet and author (d. 1979)
  • 1896 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian journalist and politician, 46th Mayor of Ottawa (d. 1975)
  • 1899 – Elmer Keith, American gun designer and author (d. 1984)
  • 1900 – Howard H. Aiken, American physicist and computer scientist, created the Harvard Mark I (d. 1973)
  • 1902 – Louise Beavers, American actress and singer (d. 1962)
  • 1902 – Jennings Randolph, American journalist and politician (d. 1998)
  • 1907 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Greece (d. 1998)
  • 1909 – Beatrice Shilling, English motorcycle racer and engineer (d. 1990)
  • 1909 – Paula Strasberg, American actress and acting coach (d. 1966)
  • 1910 – Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
  • 1911 – Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American pianist and composer (d. 2000)
  • 1912 – Preston Smith, American businessman and politician, 40th Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Meldrim Thomson, Jr., American publisher and politician, 73rd Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2001)
  • 1914 – Yakov Borisovich Zel’dovich, Belarusian-Russian physicist and astronomer (d. 1987)
  • 1918 – Eileen Herlie, Scottish-American actress (d. 2008)
  • 1920 – Douglass Wallop, American author and playwright (d. 1985)
  • 1921 – Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
  • 1921 – Sahir Ludhianvi, Indian poet and songwriter (d. 1980)
  • 1922 – Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer, created the Magnavox Odyssey (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
  • 1922 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (d. 1989)
  • 1922 – Yevgeny Matveyev, Russian actor and director (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese author and illustrator (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Anthony Caro, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Georges Charpak, Ukrainian-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
  • 1924 – Sean McClory, Irish-American actor and director (d. 2003)
  • 1925 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1929 – Hebe Camargo, Brazilian actress and singer (d. 2012)
  • 1930 – Bob Grim, American baseball player (d. 1996)
  • 1930 – Douglas Hurd, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • 1931 – Neil Adcock, South African cricketer (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – John McPhee, American author and educator
  • 1931 – Gerald Potterton, English-Canadian animator, director, and producer
  • 1931 – Neil Postman, American author and critic (d. 2003)
  • 1934 – Marv Breeding, American baseball player and scout (d. 2006)
  • 1935 – George Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader
  • 1936 – Sue Ane Langdon, American actress and singer
  • 1936 – Gábor Szabó, Hungarian guitarist and composer (d. 1982)
  • 1937 – Richard Fariña, American singer-songwriter and author (d. 1966)
  • 1937 – Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan politician, 2nd President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
  • 1938 – Pete Dawkins, American football player, colonel, and politician
  • 1939 – Jim Bouton, American baseball player and journalist (d. 2019)
  • 1939 – Lynn Seymour, Canadian ballerina and choreographer
  • 1939 – Lidiya Skoblikova, Russian speed skater and coach
  • 1939 – Robert Tear, Welsh tenor and conductor (d. 2011)
  • 1941 – Norman Stone, Scottish-English historian, author, and academic (d. 2019)
  • 1942 – Dick Allen, American baseball player and tenor
  • 1942 – Ann Packer, English sprinter, hurdler, and long jumper
  • 1943 – Susan Clark, Canadian actress and producer
  • 1943 – Michael Grade, English businessman
  • 1943 – Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (d. 2010)
  • 1943 – Dionysis Simopoulos, Greek physicist and astronomer
  • 1944 – Sergey Nikitin, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1945 – Jim Chapman, American lawyer and politician
  • 1945 – Micky Dolenz, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
  • 1945 – Anselm Kiefer, German painter and sculptor
  • 1945 – Sylvia Wiegand, American mathematician
  • 1946 – Robert Jaworski, Filipino basketball player, coach, and politician
  • 1946 – Randy Meisner, American singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1947 – Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter and painter
  • 1947 – Michael S. Hart, American author, founded Project Gutenberg (d. 2011)
  • 1947 – Vladimír Mišík, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Florentino Pérez, Spanish engineer and businessman
  • 1948 – Robert W. Boyd, American physicist and academic
  • 1948 – Gyles Brandreth, German-English actor, screenwriter, and politician
  • 1948 – Mel Galley, English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2008)
  • 1948 – Sam Lacey, American basketball player (d. 2014)
  • 1948 – Peggy March, American pop singer
  • 1948 – Jonathan Sacks, English rabbi, philosopher, and scholar
  • 1949 – Teofilo Cubillas, Peruvian footballer
  • 1951 – Phil Edmonds, Zambian-English cricketer and businessman
  • 1951 – Dianne Walker, American tap dancer
  • 1952 – George Allen, American lawyer and politician, 67th Governor of Virginia
  • 1953 – Jim Rice, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
  • 1954 – Steve James, American documentary filmmaker
  • 1954 – David Wilkie, Sri Lankan-Scottish swimmer
  • 1956 – Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (d. 1989)
  • 1956 – David Malpass, American economist and government official
  • 1957 – Clive Burr, English rock drummer (d. 2013)
  • 1957 – William Edward Childs, American pianist and composer
  • 1957 – Bob Stoddard, American baseball player
  • 1958 – Andy McDonald, English lawyer and politician
  • 1958 – Gary Numan, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1959 – Aidan Quinn, Irish-American actor
  • 1960 – Jeffrey Eugenides, American author and academic
  • 1960 – Irek Mukhamedov, Russian ballet dancer
  • 1960 – Buck Williams, American basketball player and coach
  • 1961 – Camryn Manheim, American actress
  • 1961 – Larry Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player and journalist
  • 1962 – Leon Robinson, American actor and producer
  • 1964 – Kate Betts, American journalist and author
  • 1965 – Kenny Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Greg Barker, Baron Barker of Battle, English politician
  • 1966 – Jaime Levy, American computer scientist and academic
  • 1967 – Joel Johnston, American baseball player
  • 1968 – Michael Bartels, German race car driver
  • 1968 – Shawn Mullins, American singer-songwriter
  • 1969 – Juan de Dios Ramírez Perales, Mexican footballer
  • 1970 – Jason Elam, American football player
  • 1971 – Kit Symons, English-Welsh footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Georgios Georgiadis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1972 – Matthew Nable, Australian rugby player and actor
  • 1972 – Lena Sundström, Swedish journalist and author
  • 1973 – Boris Kodjoe, Austrian-born American actor and producer
  • 1973 – Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1975 – Mauro Briano, Italian footballer
  • 1976 – Gaz Coombes, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1976 – Juan Encarnación, Dominican baseball player
  • 1976 – Freddie Prinze, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1977 – James Van Der Beek, American actor
  • 1977 – Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
  • 1978 – Nick Zano, American actor and producer
  • 1979 – Apathy, American rapper and producer
  • 1979 – Tom Chaplin, English singer-songwriter
  • 1979 – Andy Ross, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1980 – Stephen Milne, Australian footballer
  • 1981 – Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
  • 1981 – Timothy Jordan II, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1981 – Joost Posthuma, Dutch cyclist
  • 1982 – Nicolas Armindo, French racing driver
  • 1982 – Leonidas Kampantais, Greek footballer
  • 1982 – Isak Strand, Norwegian drummer, composer, and producer
  • 1983 – André Santos, Brazilian footballer
  • 1983 – Mark Worrell, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Rafik Djebbour, Algerian footballer
  • 1984 – Ross Taylor, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1984 – Sasha Vujačić, Slovenian basketball player
  • 1987 – Jonathan Wright, Australian rugby league player
  • 1988 – Benny Blanco, American rapper and producer
  • 1990 – Asier Illarramendi, Spanish footballer
  • 1990 – Petra Kvitová, Czech tennis player
  • 1990 – Nico Salva, Filipino basketball player
  • 1990 – Ben Tozer, English footballer
  • 1991 – Miriam Bryant, Swedish-Finnish singer-songwriter
  • 1991 – Tom English, Australian rugby player
  • 1992 – Uki Satake, Japanese singer, actress, and radio host
  • 1994 – Pablo Dyego, Brazilian footballer
  • 1994 – Claire Emslie, Scottish footballer
  • 1994 – Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (d. 2014)
  • 1996 – Matthew Hammelmann, Australian rules footballer
  • 1998 – Tali Darsigny, Canadian weightlifter

Deaths on March 8

  • 865 – Rudolf of Fulda, German theologian
  • 1126 – Urraca of León and Castile (b. 1079)
  • 1137 – Adela of Normandy, by marriage countess of Blois (b. c. 1067)
  • 1144 – Pope Celestine II
  • 1223 – Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish bishop and historian (b. 1161)
  • 1365 – Queen Noguk of Korea
  • 1403 – Bayezid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1360)
  • 1441 – Margaret of Burgundy, Duchess of Bavaria
  • 1466 – Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan (b. 1401)
  • 1550 – John of God, Portuguese friar and saint (b. 1495)
  • 1619 – Veit Bach, German baker and miller (b. 1550)
  • 1641 – Xu Xiake, Chinese geographer and explorer (b. 1587)
  • 1702 – William III of England (b. 1650)
  • 1717 – Abraham Darby I, English blacksmith (b. 1678)
  • 1723 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St. Paul’s Cathedral (b. 1632)
  • 1731 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
  • 1771 – Louis August le Clerc, French-Danish sculptor and academic (b. 1688)
  • 1819 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1739)
  • 1844 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. 1763)
  • 1869 – Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1803)
  • 1872 – Cornelius Krieghoff, Dutch-Canadian painter (b. 1815)
  • 1874 – Millard Fillmore, American lawyer and politician, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)
  • 1887 – Henry Ward Beecher, American minister and activist (b. 1813)
  • 1887 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer, designed the Eads Bridge (b. 1820)
  • 1889 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, designed the USS Monitor (b. 1803)
  • 1917 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German general and businessman, founded the Zeppelin Company (b. 1838)
  • 1923 – Krišjānis Barons, Latvian linguist and author (b. 1835)
  • 1923 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
  • 1930 – William Howard Taft, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)
  • 1930 – Edward Terry Sanford, American lawyer, jurist, and politician, United States Assistant Attorney General (b. 1865)
  • 1935 – Hachikō, Japanese dog (b. 1923)
  • 1937 – Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1902)
  • 1941 – Sherwood Anderson, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1876)
  • 1942 – José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player and theoretician (b. 1888)
  • 1944 – Fredy Hirsch, German Jewish athlete who helped thousands of Jewish children in the Holocaust (b. 1916)
  • 1945 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English archaeologist and architect (b. 1864)
  • 1948 – Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and scientist (b. 1889)
  • 1957 – Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer and conductor (b. 1886)
  • 1961 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor and composer (b. 1879)
  • 1971 – Harold Lloyd, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
  • 1973 – Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1945)
  • 1975 – George Stevens, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1904)
  • 1976 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian colonel (b. 1908)
  • 1983 – Chabuca Granda, Peruvian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1920)
  • 1983 – Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, English lieutenant and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1904)
  • 1983 – William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
  • 1985 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
  • 1988 – Amar Singh Chamkila, Indian singer-songwriter (b. 1961)
  • 1988 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist and academic (b. 1912)
  • 1991 – John Bellairs, American author and academic (b. 1938)
  • 1993 – Billy Eckstine, American trumpet player (b. 1914)
  • 1996 – Jack Churchill, British colonel (b. 1906)
  • 1997 – Gershon Liebman, French rabbi (b. 1905)
  • 1998 – Ray Nitschke, American football player and actor (b. 1936)
  • 1999 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinian journalist and author (b. 1914)
  • 1999 – Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)
  • 1999 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player and coach (b. 1914)
  • 2001 – Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
  • 2003 – Adam Faith, English singer (b. 1940)
  • 2003 – Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
  • 2004 – Muhammad Zaidan, Syrian terrorist, founded the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
  • 2005 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist and academic (b. 1924)
  • 2005 – Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen commander and politician, 3rd President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (b. 1951)
  • 2007 – John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
  • 2007 – John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach (b. 1947)
  • 2009 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
  • 2009 – Zbigniew Religa, Polish surgeon and politician, Polish Minister of Health (b. 1938)
  • 2011 – Mike Starr, American bass player (b. 1966)
  • 2012 – Simin Daneshvar, Iranian author and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Minoru Mori, Japanese businessman, founded the Mori Art Museum (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Steven Rubenstein, American anthropologist and academic (b. 1962)
  • 2013 – Haseeb Ahsan, Pakistani cricketer and manager (b. 1939)
  • 2013 – John O’Connell, Irish journalist and politician, 17th Irish Minister of Health (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, German soldier and publisher (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American Holocaust survivor and author (b. 1921)
  • 2014 – William Guarnere, American sergeant (b. 1923)
  • 2015 – Tjol Lategan, South African rugby player (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Sam Simon, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1955)
  • 2016 – Aldo Ferrer, Argentinian economist and diplomat (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Ross Hannaford, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1950)
  • 2016 – George Martin, English composer, conductor, and producer (b. 1926)
  • 2018 – Kate Wilhelm, American author (b. 1928)
  • 2019 – Marshall Brodien, American actor (b. 1934)
  • 2019 – Cedrick Hardman, American football player and actor (b. 1948)
  • 2020 – Max von Sydow, Swedish actor (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances on March 8

  • Christian feast day:
    • Edward King (Church of England)
    • Felix of Burgundy
    • Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (the Church of England, The Episcopal Church (USA))
    • John of God
    • Philemon the actor
    • March 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Canberra Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Australian Capital Territory)
  • Earliest day on which Commonwealth Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Monday in March (Commonwealth of Nations)
  • Earliest day on which Decoration Day can fall, while March 14 is the latest; celebrated on the second Wednesday in March (Liberia)
  • Earliest day on which Passion Sunday can fall, while April 17 is the latest; observed on the fifth Sunday of Lent (Christianity)
  • International Women’s Day, and its related observances:
    • International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day

March 8 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on March 5

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

Deaths on March 5

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

Holidays and observances on March 5

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

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

On This Day

March 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)

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On This Day