Typically the March equinox falls on March 20, marking the vernal point in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal point in the Southern Hemisphere.
March 20 in History
- 235 – Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor.
- 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
- 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599).
- 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
- 1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
- 1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
- 1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his “Hundred Days” rule.
- 1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
- 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.
- 1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
- 1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
- 1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
- 1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
- 1890 – Prime Minister of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
- 1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
- 1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
- 1915 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
- 1921 – The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland.
- 1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
- 1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso’s first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
- 1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
- 1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.
- 1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
- 1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
- 1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan.
- 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
- 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
- 1972 – The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
- 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
- 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
- 1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
- 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
- 1990 – Ferdinand Marcos’s widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
- 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
- 1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people.
- 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
- 2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff’s deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
- 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.
- 2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
- 2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
- 2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
- 2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.
Births on March 20
- 43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
- 1253 – Magadu, renamed Wareru, founder of Ramanya Kingdom, renamed Hanthawady Kingdom of Pegu (b. a commoner; d. on a Saturday in January 1307)
- 1319 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. 1348)
- 1469 – Cecily of York (d. 1507)
- 1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar (d. 1527)
- 1479 – Ippolito d’Este, Italian cardinal (d. 1520)
- 1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
- 1532 – Juan de Ribera, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1611)
- 1612 – Anne Bradstreet, Puritan American poet (d. 1672)
- 1615 – Dara Shikoh, Indian prince (d. 1659)
- 1639 – Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1709)
- 1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1789)
- 1737 – Rama I, Thai king (d. 1809)
- 1771 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (d. 1854)
- 1796 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (d. 1862)
- 1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (d. 1839)
- 1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica (d. 1845)
- 1805 – Thomas Cooper, British poet (d. 1892)
- 1811 – Napoleon II, French emperor (d. 1832)
- 1811 – George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (d. 1879)
- 1821 – Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 1886)
- 1824 – Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (d. 1876)
- 1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director (d. 1906)
- 1831 – Patrick Jennings, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1897)
- 1831 – Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician (d. 1881)
- 1834 – Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic (d. 1926)
- 1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886)
- 1836 – Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator (d. 1919)
- 1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
- 1851 – Ismail Gasprinski, Ukrainian educator, publisher, and politician (d. 1914)
- 1856 – John Lavery, Irish painter (d. 1941)
- 1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer (d. 1915)
- 1870 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
- 1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist (d. 1945)
- 1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1927)
- 1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (d. 1960)
- 1882 – René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France (d. 1962)
- 1882 – Harold Weber, American golfer (d. 1933)
- 1884 – Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher (d. 1966)
- 1884 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (d. 1970)
- 1885 – Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer (d. 1958)
- 1888 – Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator (d. 1971)
- 1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor (d. 1973)
- 1894 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (d. 1974)
- 1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
- 1898 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (d. 1954)
- 1900 – Amelia Chopitea Villa, Bolivia’s first female physician (d. 1942)
- 1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author (d. 1990)
- 1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer (d. 1949)
- 1906 – Abraham Beame, American accountant and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (d. 2001)
- 1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (d. 1975)
- 1907 – Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator (d. 1990)
- 1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor and director (d. 1985)
- 1910 – Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower (d. 1999)
- 1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
- 1912 – Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
- 1913 – Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer (d. 1968)
- 1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor and politician (d. 1968)
- 1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria (d. 2000)
- 1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer (d. 1997)
- 1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1973)
- 1916 – Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
- 1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer, songwriter and actress (d. 2020)
- 1917 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1984)
- 1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (d. 1984)
- 1918 – Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Bernd Alois Zimmermann, German composer (d. 1970)
- 1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace (d. 1983)
- 1920 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
- 1920 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
- 1921 – Usmar Ismail, Indonesian filmmaker (d. 1971)
- 1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher (d. 1977)
- 1921 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1970)
- 1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader (d. 2017)
- 1922 – Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1990)
- 1922 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2020)
- 1923 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
- 1925 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel (d. 1999)
- 1927 – John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach (d. 2002)
- 1928 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Fred Rogers, American television host and producer (d. 2003)
- 1929 – William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director (d. 2015)
- 1930 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (d. 1998)
- 1931 – Hal Linden, American actor, singer, and director
- 1931 – Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
- 1933 – Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
- 1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
- 1933 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
- 1934 – David Malouf, Australian author and playwright
- 1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (d. 1996)
- 1935 – Bettye Washington Greene, American chemist (d. 1995)
- 1936 – Lee “Scratch” Perry, Jamaican singer, songwriter, music producer, and inventor
- 1936 – Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
- 1937 – Lois Lowry, American author
- 1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
- 1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic
- 1939 – Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1939 – Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
- 1940 – Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1940 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company (d. 2012)
- 1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager
- 1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
- 1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
- 1943 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (d. 2015)
- 1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer (d. 2018)
- 1944 – John Cameron, English composer and conductor
- 1944 – Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
- 1944 – Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
- 1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot (d. 2015)
- 1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
- 1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
- 1945 – Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
- 1946 – Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 – Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
- 1947 – John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic (d. 1994)
- 1948 – John de Lancie, American actor
- 1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1948 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
- 1949 – Marcia Ball, American blues singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1949 – Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
- 1950 – William Hurt, American actor
- 1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer, percussionist, and songwriter
- 1951 – Jimmie Vaughan, American blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
- 1952 – David Greenaway, English economist and academic
- 1953 – Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
- 1954 – Mike Francesa, American radio talk show host and television commentator
- 1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
- 1954 – Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
- 1955 – Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
- 1955 – Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter
- 1955 – Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1956 – Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
- 1956 – Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
- 1956 – Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
- 1957 – Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
- 1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
- 1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
- 1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
- 1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress and producer
- 1958 – Rickey Jackson, American football player
- 1958 – Joe Reaiche, Australian rugby player
- 1959 – Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
- 1959 – Mary Roach, American author
- 1959 – Sting, American wrestler
- 1959 – Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, British Labour Party politician and peer
- 1960 – Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
- 1960 – Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
- 1960 – Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
- 1961 – Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
- 1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
- 1961 – Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
- 1962 – Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
- 1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model, actress, and furniture designer
- 1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (d. 2007)
- 1963 – David Thewlis, English-French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter
- 1965 – William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
- 1967 – Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
- 1968 – Carlos Almeida, Cape Verdean runner
- 1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
- 1968 – Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
- 1968 – Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter
- 1969 – Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- 1969 – Fabien Galthie, French rugby player
- 1970 – Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1970 – Josephine Medina, Filipino Paralympic table tennis player
- 1970 – sj Miller, American academic, public speaker, and social justice activist
- 1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor, podcast host, and director
- 1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
- 1971 – Touré, American journalist and author
- 1972 – Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1972 – Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1972 – Greg Searle, English rower
- 1972 – Marco Sejna, German footballer
- 1972 – Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
- 1973 – Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
- 1973 – Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
- 1973 – Talal Khalifa Aljeri, Kuwaiti businessman
- 1974 – Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
- 1975 – Ramin Bahrani, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1975 – Isolde Kostner, Italian skier
- 1976 – Chester Bennington, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2017)
- 1978 – Kevin Betsy, English born Seychelles international footballer, midfielder and manager
- 1978 – Brent Sherwin, Australian rugby league player
- 1979 – Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
- 1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress
- 1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
- 1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
- 1980 – Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
- 1981 – Carl Webb, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
- 1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – Carolina Padrón, Venezuelan journalist
- 1983 – Jenni Vartiainen, Finnish singer
- 1984 – Vikram Banerjee, English cricketer
- 1984 – Christy Carlson Romano, American actress and singer
- 1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
- 1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
- 1985 – Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
- 1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
- 1986 – Ruby Rose, Australian actress and model
- 1986 – Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
- 1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
- 1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
- 1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
- 1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi Cricketer
- 1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
- 1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
- 1991 – Ethan Lowe, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – Sloane Stephens, American tennis player
- 1995 – Jack Bird, Australian rugby league player
Deaths on March 20
- 687 – Cuthbert, Northumbrian (English) monk, bishop, and saint (b. 634)
- 703 – Wulfram, archbishop of Sens
- 842 – Alfonso II, king of Asturias (Spain) (b. 759)
- 851 – Ebbo, archbishop of Reims
- 1181 – Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general (b. 1118)
- 1191 – Pope Clement III (b. 1130)
- 1239 – Hermann von Salza, German knight and diplomat (b. 1179)
- 1302 – Ralph Walpole, Bishop of Norwich
- 1336 – Maurice Csák, Hungarian Dominican friar (b. 1270)
- 1351 – Muhammad bin Tughluq, Sultan of Delhi
- 1390 – Alexios III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1338)
- 1413 – Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
- 1440 – Sigismund I of Lithuania
- 1475 – Georges Chastellain, Burgundian chronicler and poet
- 1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English general and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1508)
- 1568 – Albert, Duke of Prussia (b. 1490)
- 1619 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1557)
- 1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish monk (b. 1603)
- 1688 – Maria of Orange-Nassau, Dutch princess (b. 1642)
- 1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
- 1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter and academic (b. 1656)
- 1780 – Benjamin Truman, English brewer and businessman (b. 1699)
- 1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1705)
- 1835 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
- 1849 – James Justinian Morier, Turkish-English author and diplomat (b. 1780)
- 1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English businessman (b. 1788)
- 1865 – Yamanami Keisuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
- 1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (b. 1810)
- 1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
- 1894 – Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian lawyer, journalist and politician (b. 1802)
- 1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1821)
- 1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and author (b. 1822)
- 1909 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian historian and businessman (b. 1842)
- 1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American general and lawyer (b. 1828)
- 1925 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (b. 1859)
- 1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (b. 1851)
- 1930 – Arthur F. Andrews, American cyclist (b. 1876)
- 1931 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
- 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak (b. 1900; executed)
- 1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
- 1945 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (b. 1883)
- 1946 – Amadeus William Grabau, American-Chinese geologist, paleontologist, and academic (b. 1870)
- 1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and director (b. 1884)
- 1952 – Hjalmar Väre, Finnish cyclist (b. 1892)
- 1958 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian merchant, journalist, and politician (b. 1915)
- 1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish republican and playwright (b. 1923)
- 1965 – Daniel Frank, American long jumper (b. 1882)
- 1966 – Johnny Morrison, American baseball player (b. 1895)
- 1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (b. 1889)
- 1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)
- 1971 – Falih Rıfkı Atay, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1894)
- 1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
- 1974 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (b. 1911)
- 1977 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1909)
- 1977 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (b. 1919)
- 1978 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (b. 1895)
- 1981 – Gerry Bertier, American football player (b. 1953)
- 1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
- 1990 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 1990 – Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b. 1929)
- 1992 – Georges Delerue, French composer (b. 1925)
- 1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (b. 1946)
- 1997 – V. S. Pritchett, English short story writer, essayist, and critic (b. 1900)
- 1999 – Patrick Heron, British painter (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1961)
- 2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (b. 1949)
- 2004 – Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
- 2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
- 2007 – Raynald Fréchette, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1933)
- 2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician, Vice President of Iraq (b. 1938)
- 2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (b. 1948)
- 2010 – Ai, American poet and academic (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
- 2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (b. 1955)
- 2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
- 2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (b. 1966)
- 2013 – James Herbert, English author (b. 1943)
- 2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (b. 1915)
- 2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1922)
- 2017 – David Rockefeller, American billionaire and philanthropist (b. 1915)
- 2018 – C. K. Mann, a Ghanaian Highlife musician and producer (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Mary Warnock, English philosopher & writer (b. 1924)
- 2020 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances on March 20
- Christian feast day:
- Alexandra
- Blessed John of Parma
- Clement of Ireland
- Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
- Herbert of Derwentwater
- John of Nepomuk
- Józef Bilczewski
- María Josefa Sancho de Guerra
- Martin of Braga
- Michele Carcano
- Wulfram
- March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest date for the vernal equinox in the Northern hemisphere:
- Bahá’í Naw-Rúz, started at sunset on March 20. The end of the 19-day sunrise-to-sunset fast. (Bahá’í Faith)
- Chunfen (China)
- Earth Equinox Day
- International Astrology Day
- New Year (Thelema)
- Nowruz (Persian, Gilaki, Kurdish, Zoroastrians, and other Iranian people and countries with an Iranian influence)
- Ostara in the northern hemisphere, Mabon in the southern hemisphere. (Neo-Druidic Wheel of the Year)
- Shunbun no Hi (Japan)
- Sun-Earth Day (United States)
- Vernal Equinox Day/Kōreisai (Japan)
- World Storytelling Day
- Earliest day on which Good Friday can fall, while April 23 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Easter. (Christianity)
- Great American Meatout (United States)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956.
- International Day of Happiness (United Nations)
- International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), and its related observances:
- UN French Language Day (United Nations)
- National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
- World Sparrow Day
