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April 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /
  • 1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León first sights land in what is now the United States state of Florida.
  • 1755 – Commodore William James captures the Maratha fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.
  • 1792 – The Coinage Act is passed establishing the United States Mint.
  • 1800 – Ludwig van Beethoven leads the premiere of his First Symphony in Vienna.
  • 1800 – The Treaty of Constantinople establishes the Septinsular Republic, the first autonomous Greek state since the Fall of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: The British capture the Danish fleet.
  • 1851 – Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The largest in a series of Southern bread riots occurs in Richmond, Virginia.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: Defeat at the Third Battle of Petersburg forces the Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate government to abandon Richmond, Virginia.
  • 1885 – Canadian Cree warriors attack the village of Frog Lake, killing nine.
  • 1900 – The United States Congress passes the Foraker Act, giving Puerto Rico limited self-rule.
  • 1902 – Dmitry Sipyagin, Minister of Interior of the Russian Empire, is assassinated in the Marie Palace, Saint Petersburg.
  • 1902 – “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
  • 1911 – The Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts the country’s first national census.
  • 1912 – The ill-fated RMS Titanic begins sea trials.
  • 1917 – World War I: United States President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.
  • 1921 – The Autonomous Government of Khorasan, a military government encompassing the modern state of Iran, is established.
  • 1930 – After the mysterious death of Empress Zewditu, Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.
  • 1956 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format.
  • 1964 – The Soviet Union launches Zond 1.
  • 1972 – Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
  • 1973 – Launch of the LexisNexis computerized legal research service.
  • 1975 – Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
  • 1976 – Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
  • 1979 – A Soviet bio-warfare laboratory at Sverdlovsk accidentally releases airborne anthrax spores, killing 66 plus an unknown amount of livestock.
  • 1980 – United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
  • 1982 – Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
  • 1986 – Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”, announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987.
  • 1989 – Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
  • 1989 – ASUS corporation is founded.
  • 1991 – Rita Johnston becomes the first female Premier of a Canadian province when she succeeds William Vander Zalm (who had resigned) as Premier of British Columbia.
  • 1992 – In New York, Mafia boss John Gotti is convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.
  • 1992 – Forty-two civilians are massacred in the town of Bijeljina in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • 2002 – Israeli forces surround the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into which armed Palestinians had retreated.
  • 2004 – Islamist terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks attempt to bomb the Spanish high-speed train AVE near Madrid; the attack is thwarted.
  • 2006 – Over 60 tornadoes break out in the United States; Tennessee is hardest hit with 29 people killed.
  • 2012 – A mass shooting at Oikos University in California leaves seven people dead and three injured.
  • 2014 – A spree shooting occurs at the Fort Hood army base in Texas, with four dead, including the gunman, and 16 others injured.
  • 2015 – Gunmen attack Garissa University College in Kenya, killing at least 148 people and wounding 79 others.
  • 2015 – Four men steal items worth up to £200 million from an underground safe deposit facility in London’s Hatton Garden area in what has been called the “largest burglary in English legal history.”

Births on April 2

  • 742 – Charlemagne, Frankish king (d. 814)
  • 1473 – John Corvinus, Hungarian noble (d. 1504)
  • 1545 – Elisabeth of Valois (d. 1568)
  • 1565 – Cornelis de Houtman, Dutch explorer (d. 1599)
  • 1586 – Pietro Della Valle, Italian traveler (d. 1652)
  • 1602 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Franciscan abbess (d. 1665)
  • 1618 – Francesco Maria Grimaldi, Italian mathematician and physicist (d. 1663)
  • 1647 – Maria Sibylla Merian, German-Dutch botanist and illustrator (d. 1717)
  • 1653 – Prince George of Denmark (d. 1708)
  • 1696 – Francesca Cuzzoni, Italian operatic soprano (d. 1778)
  • 1719 – Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (d. 1803)
  • 1725 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian explorer and author (d. 1798)
  • 1788 – Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet and author (d. 1862)
  • 1788 – Wilhelmine Reichard, German balloonist (d. 1848)
  • 1789 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (d. 1871)
  • 1792 – Francisco de Paula Santander, Colombian general and politician, 4th President of the Republic of the New Granada (d. 1840)
  • 1798 – August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben, German poet and academic (d. 1874)
  • 1805 – Hans Christian Andersen, Danish novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1875)
  • 1814 – Henry L. Benning, American general and judge (d. 1875)
  • 1814 – Erastus Brigham Bigelow, American inventor (d. 1879)
  • 1827 – William Holman Hunt, English soldier and painter (d. 1910)
  • 1835 – Jacob Nash Victor, American engineer (d. 1907)
  • 1838 – Léon Gambetta, French lawyer and politician, 45th Prime Minister of France (d. 1882)
  • 1840 – Émile Zola, French novelist, playwright, journalist (d. 1902)
  • 1841 – Clément Ader, French engineer, designed the Ader Avion III (d. 1926)
  • 1842 – Dominic Savio, Italian Catholic saint, adolescent student of Saint John Bosco (d. 1857)
  • 1861 – Iván Persa, Slovenian priest and author (d. 1935)
  • 1862 – Nicholas Murray Butler, American philosopher and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
  • 1869 – Hughie Jennings, American baseball player and manager (d. 1928)
  • 1875 – Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (d. 1940)
  • 1875 – William Donne, English cricketer and captain (d. 1942)
  • 1884 – J. C. Squire, English poet, author, and historian (d. 1958)
  • 1891 – Jack Buchanan, Scottish entertainer (d. 1957)
  • 1891 – Max Ernst, German painter, sculptor, and poet (d. 1976)
  • 1891 – Tristão de Bragança Cunha, Indian nationalist and anti-colonial activist from Goa (d. 1958)
  • 1896 – Johnny Golden, American golfer (d. 1936)
  • 1898 – Harindranath Chattopadhyay, Indian poet, actor and politician (d. 1990)
  • 1898 – Chiungtze C. Tsen, Chinese mathematician (d. 1940)
  • 1900 – Roberto Arlt, Argentinian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Anis Fuleihan, Cypriot-American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1970)
  • 1900 – Alfred Strange, English footballer (d. 1978)
  • 1902 – Jan Tschichold, German-Swiss graphic designer and typographer (d. 1974)
  • 1903 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1987)
  • 1906 – Alphonse-Marie Parent, Canadian priest and educator (d. 1970)
  • 1907 – Harald Andersson, American-Swedish discus thrower (d. 1985)
  • 1907 – Luke Appling, American baseball player and manager (d. 1991)
  • 1908 – Buddy Ebsen, American actor and dancer (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Paul Triquet, Canadian general, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1980)
  • 1910 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian spiritual medium (d. 2002)
  • 1914 – Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
  • 1919 – Delfo Cabrera, Argentinian runner and soldier (d. 1981)
  • 1920 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian lieutenant and civil servant (d. 2004)
  • 1920 – Jack Stokes, English animator and director (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Jack Webb, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
  • 1922 – John C. Whitehead, American banker and politician, 9th United States Deputy Secretary of State (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – Gloria Henry, American actress
  • 1923 – Johnny Paton, Scottish footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2015)
  • 1923 – G. Spencer-Brown, English mathematician, psychologist, and author (d. 2016)
  • 1924 – Bobby Ávila, Mexican baseball player (d. 2004)
  • 1925 – George MacDonald Fraser, Scottish author and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1925 – Hans Rosenthal, German radio and television host (d. 1987)
  • 1926 – Jack Brabham, Australian race car driver (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Rudra Rajasingham, Sri Lankan police officer and diplomat (d. 2006)
  • 1927 – Carmen Basilio, American boxer and soldier (d. 2012)
  • 1927 – Howard Callaway, American soldier and politician, 11th United States Secretary of the Army (d. 2014)
  • 1927 – Rita Gam, American actress (d. 2016)
  • 1927 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Kenneth Tynan, English author and critic (d. 1980)
  • 1928 – Joseph Bernardin, American cardinal (d. 1996)
  • 1928 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (d. 1991)
  • 1928 – Roy Masters, English-American radio host
  • 1928 – David Robinson, Northern Irish horticulturist and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1929 – Ed Dorn, American poet and educator (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – Roddy Maude-Roxby, English actor
  • 1931 – Vladimir Kuznetsov, Russian javelin thrower (d. 1986)
  • 1932 – Edward Egan, American cardinal (d. 2015)
  • 1933 – György Konrád, Hungarian sociologist and author
  • 1934 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – Brian Glover, English wrestler and actor (d. 1997)
  • 1934 – Carl Kasell, American journalist and game show host (d. 2018)
  • 1934 – Richard Portman, American sound engineer (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Dovid Shmidel, Austrian-born Israeli rabbi
  • 1936 – Shaul Ladany, Serbian-Israeli race walker and engineer
  • 1937 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – John Larsson, Swedish 17th General of The Salvation Army
  • 1938 – Booker Little, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1961)
  • 1938 – Al Weis, American baseball player
  • 1939 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
  • 1939 – Anthony Lake, American academic and diplomat, 18th United States National Security Advisor
  • 1939 – Lise Thibault, Canadian journalist and politician, 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec
  • 1940 – Donald Jackson, Canadian figure skater and coach
  • 1940 – Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (d. 1981)
  • 1940 – Penelope Keith, English actress
  • 1941 – Dr. Demento, American radio host
  • 1941 – Sonny Throckmorton, American country singer-songwriter
  • 1942 – Leon Russell, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2016)
  • 1942 – Roshan Seth, Indian-English actor
  • 1943 – Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce, South African-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
  • 1943 – Caterina Bueno, Italian singer (d. 2007)
  • 1943 – Larry Coryell, American jazz guitarist (d. 2017)
  • 1943 – Antonio Sabàto, Sr., Italian actor
  • 1944 – Bill Malinchak, American football player
  • 1945 – Jürgen Drews, German singer-songwriter
  • 1945 – Guy Fréquelin, French race car driver
  • 1945 – Linda Hunt, American actress
  • 1945 – Reggie Smith, American baseball player and coach
  • 1945 – Don Sutton, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1945 – Anne Waldman, American poet
  • 1946 – Richard Collinge, New Zealand cricketer
  • 1946 – David Heyes, English politician
  • 1946 – Sue Townsend, English author and playwright (d. 2014)
  • 1946 – Kurt Winter, Canadian guitarist and songwriter (d. 1997)
  • 1947 – Paquita la del Barrio, Mexican singer-songwriter
  • 1947 – Tua Forsström, Finnish writer
  • 1947 – Emmylou Harris, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1947 – Camille Paglia, American author and critic
  • 1948 – Roald Als, Danish author and illustrator
  • 1948 – Dimitris Mitropanos, Greek singer (d. 2012)
  • 1948 – Daniel Okrent, American journalist and author
  • 1948 – Joan D. Vinge, American author
  • 1949 – Paul Gambaccini, American-English radio and television host
  • 1949 – Bernd Müller, German footballer
  • 1949 – Pamela Reed, American actress
  • 1949 – David Robinson, American drummer
  • 1950 – Lynn Westmoreland, American politician
  • 1951 – Ayako Okamoto, Japanese golfer
  • 1952 – Lennart Fagerlund, Swedish cyclist
  • 1952 – Will Hoy, English race car driver (d. 2002)
  • 1952 – Leon Wilkeson, American bass player and songwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1953 – Jim Allister, Northern Irish lawyer and politician
  • 1953 – Rosemary Bryant Mariner, 20th and 21st-century U.S. Navy aviator
  • 1953 – Malika Oufkir, Moroccan Berber writer
  • 1953 – Debralee Scott, American actress (d. 2005)
  • 1953 – James Vance, American author and playwright (d. 2017)
  • 1954 – Gregory Abbott, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1954 – Donald Petrie, American actor and director
  • 1955 – Michael Stone, Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary
  • 1957 – Caroline Dean, English biologist and academic
  • 1957 – Hank Steinbrenner, American businessman, co-owner of the New York Yankees
  • 1958 – Stefano Bettarello, Italian rugby player
  • 1958 – Larry Drew, American basketball player and coach
  • 1959 – Gelindo Bordin, Italian runner
  • 1959 – David Frankel, American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1959 – Juha Kankkunen, Finnish race car driver
  • 1959 – Yves Lavandier, French director and producer
  • 1959 – Badou Ezzaki, Moroccan footballer and manager
  • 1960 – Linford Christie, Jamaican-English sprinter
  • 1960 – Brad Jones, Australian race car driver
  • 1960 – Pascale Nadeau, Canadian journalist
  • 1961 – Buddy Jewell, American singer-songwriter
  • 1961 – Christopher Meloni, American actor
  • 1961 – Keren Woodward, English singer-songwriter
  • 1962 – Pierre Carles, French director and producer
  • 1962 – Billy Dean, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Clark Gregg, American actor
  • 1963 – Karl Beattie, English director and producer
  • 1963 – Mike Gascoyne, English engineer
  • 1964 – Pete Incaviglia, American baseball player and coach
  • 1964 – Jonathon Sharkey, American wrestler
  • 1965 – Rodney King, American victim of police brutality (d. 2012)
  • 1966 – Bill Romanowski, American football player and actor
  • 1966 – Teddy Sheringham, English international footballer, striker and coach
  • 1967 – Greg Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1967 – Phil Demmel, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1969 – Ajay Devgan, Indian actor, director, and producer
  • 1971 – Edmundo Alves de Souza Neto, Brazilian footballer
  • 1971 – Jason Lewry, English cricketer
  • 1971 – Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Remo D’Souza, Indian choreographer and dancer
  • 1972 – Calvin Davis, American sprinter and hurdler
  • 1972 – Zane Lamprey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Dmitry Lipartov, Russian footballer
  • 1973 – Roselyn Sánchez, Puerto Rican-American actress
  • 1973 – Aleksejs Semjonovs, Latvian footballer
  • 1974 – Tayfun Korkut, Turkish football manager and former player
  • 1975 – Randy Livingston, American basketball player
  • 1975 – Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski, German rower
  • 1976 – Andreas Anastasopoulos, Greek shot putter
  • 1976 – Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer
  • 1976 – Pattie Mallette, Canadian author and film producer
  • 1977 – Per Elofsson, Swedish skier
  • 1977 – Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer
  • 1977 – Hanno Pevkur, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
  • 1978 – Scott Lynch, American author
  • 1978 – Ethan Smith, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1979 – Jesse Carmichael, American keyboard player
  • 1980 – Avi Benedi, Israeli singer and songwriter
  • 1980 – Adam Fleming, Scottish journalist
  • 1980 – Gavin Heffernan, Canadian director and screenwriter
  • 1980 – Ricky Hendrick, American race car driver (d. 2004)
  • 1980 – Wairangi Koopu, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1980 – Carlos Salcido, Mexican international footballer, defender
  • 1981 – Michael Clarke, Australian cricketer
  • 1981 – Kapil Sharma, Indian stand-up comedian, television presenter and actor
  • 1982 – Marco Amelia, Italian footballer
  • 1982 – Jeremy Bloom, American football player and skier
  • 1982 – Jack Evans, American wrestler
  • 1982 – David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
  • 1983 – Yung Joc, American rapper
  • 1983 – Maksym Mazuryk, Ukrainian pole vaulter
  • 1984 – Engin Atsür, Turkish basketball player
  • 1984 – Nóra Barta, Hungarian diver
  • 1984 – Jérémy Morel, French footballer
  • 1985 – Thom Evans, Zimbabwean-Scottish rugby player
  • 1985 – Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater
  • 1986 – Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer
  • 1986 – Andris Biedriņš, Latvian basketball player
  • 1986 – Lee DeWyze, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1987 – Pablo Aguilar, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1987 – Marc Pugh, English footballer
  • 1988 – Jesse Plemons, American actor
  • 1990 – Yevgeniya Kanayeva, Russian gymnast
  • 1990 – Miralem Pjanić, Bosnian footballer
  • 1991 – Quavo, American rapper
  • 1993 – Keshorn Walcott, Trinidadian javelin thrower
  • 1997 – Dillon Bassett, American race car driver
  • 1997 – Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer

Deaths on April 2

  • 670 – Hasan ibn Ali the second Shia Imam (b. 624)
  • 870 – Æbbe the Younger, Frankish abbess
  • 872 – Muflih al-Turki, Turkish general
  • 968 – Yuan Dezhao, Chinese chancellor (b. 891)
  • 991 – Bardas Skleros, Byzantine general
  • 1118 – Baldwin I, king of Jerusalem
  • 1244 – Henrik Harpestræng, Danish botanical and medical author
  • 1272 – Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, English husband of Sanchia of Provence (b. 1209)
  • 1335 – Henry of Bohemia (b. 1265)
  • 1412 – Ruy González de Clavijo, Spanish explorer and author
  • 1416 – Ferdinand I, king of Aragon (b. 1379)
  • 1502 – Arthur, prince of Wales (b. 1486)
  • 1507 – Francis of Paola, Italian friar and saint, founded the Order of the Minims (b. 1416)
  • 1511 – Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, German nobleman (b. 1428)
  • 1640 – Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish author and poet (b. 1595)
  • 1657 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1608)
  • 1657 – Jean-Jacques Olier, French priest, founded the Society of Saint-Sulpice (b. 1608)
  • 1672 – Pedro Calungsod, Filipino missionary and saint (b. 1654)
  • 1672 – Diego Luis de San Vitores, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1627)
  • 1720 – Joseph Dudley, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1647)
  • 1742 – James Douglas, Scottish physician and anatomist (b. 1675)
  • 1747 – Johann Jacob Dillenius, German-English botanist and mycologist (b. 1684)
  • 1754 – Thomas Carte, English historian and author (b. 1686)
  • 1787 – Thomas Gage, English general and politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (b. 1719)
  • 1791 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (b. 1749)
  • 1801 – Thomas Dadford, Jr., English engineer (b. 1761)
  • 1803 – Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet, Scottish judge and politician (b. 1721)
  • 1817 – Johann Heinrich Jung, German author and academic (b. 1740)
  • 1827 – Ludwig Heinrich Bojanus, German physician and educator (b. 1776)
  • 1845 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1763)
  • 1865 – A. P. Hill, American general (b. 1825)
  • 1872 – Samuel Morse, American painter and academic, invented the Morse code (b. 1791)
  • 1891 – Albert Pike, American lawyer and general (b. 1809)
  • 1891 – Ahmed Vefik Pasha, Greek playwright and politician, 249th Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1823)
  • 1894 – Achille Vianelli, Italian painter and academic (b. 1803)
  • 1896 – Theodore Robinson, American painter and academic (b. 1852)
  • 1914 – Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)
  • 1917 – Bryn Lewis, Welsh international rugby player (b.1891)
  • 1923 – Topal Osman, Turkish colonel (b. 1883)
  • 1928 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
  • 1930 – Zewditu I of Ethiopia (b. 1876)
  • 1933 – Ranjitsinhji, Indian cricketer (b. 1872)
  • 1936 – Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, French general (b. 1860)
  • 1942 – Édouard Estaunié, French novelist (b. 1862)
  • 1948 – Sabahattin Ali, Turkish journalist, author, and poet (b. 1907)
  • 1953 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (b. 1885)
  • 1966 – C. S. Forester, English novelist (b. 1899)
  • 1972 – Franz Halder, German general (b. 1884)
  • 1972 – Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and educator (b. 1887)
  • 1974 – Georges Pompidou, French banker and politician, 19th President of France (b. 1911)
  • 1977 – Walter Wolf, German academic and politician (b. 1907)
  • 1987 – Buddy Rich, American drummer, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1917)
  • 1989 – Manolis Angelopoulos, Greek singer (b. 1939)
  • 1992 – Juanito, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1954)
  • 1992 – Jan van Aartsen, Dutch politician (b. 1909)
  • 1994 – Betty Furness, American actress, consumer advocate, game show panelist, television journalist and television personality (b. 1916)
  • 1994 – Marc Fitch, British historian and philanthropist (b. 1908)
  • 1995 – Hannes Alfvén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
  • 1997 – Tomoyuki Tanaka, Japanese director and producer (b. 1910)
  • 1998 – Rob Pilatus, American-German singer-songwriter (b. 1965)
  • 2001 – Charles Daudelin, Canadian sculptor and painter (b. 1920)
  • 2002 – Levi Celerio, Filipino composer and songwriter (b. 1910)
  • 2002 – John R. Pierce, American engineer and author (b. 1910)
  • 2003 – Edwin Starr, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)
  • 2004 – John Argyris, Greek computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Lillian O’Donnell, American crime novelist (b. 1926)
  • 2005 – Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
  • 2006 – Lloyd Searwar, Guyanese anthologist and diplomat (b. 1925)
  • 2007 – Henry L. Giclas, American astronomer and academic (b. 1910)
  • 2008 – Yakup Satar, Turkish World War I veteran(b. 1898)
  • 2009 – Albert Sanschagrin, Canadian bishop (b. 1911)
  • 2009 – Bud Shank, American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1926)
  • 2010 – Chris Kanyon, American wrestler (b. 1970)
  • 2011 – John C. Haas, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Jesús Aguilarte, Venezuelan captain and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2012 – Elizabeth Catlett, American-Mexican sculptor and illustrator (b. 1915)
  • 2012 – Mauricio Lasansky, American graphic designer and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2013 – Fred, French author and illustrator (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Jesús Franco, Spanish director, screenwriter, producer, and actor (b. 1930)
  • 2013 – Milo O’Shea, Irish-American actor (b. 1926)
  • 2014 – Glyn Jones, South African actor and screenwriter (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Urs Widmer, Swiss author and playwright (b. 1938)
  • 2015 – Manoel de Oliveira, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
  • 2015 – Robert H. Schuller, American pastor and author (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Steve Stevaert, Belgian businessman and politician, Governor of Limburg (b. 1954)
  • 2016 – Gallieno Ferri, Italian comic book artist and illustrator (b. 1929)
  • 2016 – Robert Abajyan, Armenian sergeant (b. 1996)

Holidays and observances on April 2

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abundius of Como
    • Amphianus of Lycia
    • Æbbe the Younger
    • Bronach of Glen-Seichis (Irish martyrology)
    • Francis of Paola
    • Francisco Coll Guitart
    • Henry Budd (Anglican Church of Canada)
    • Nicetius of Lyon
    • Pedro Calungsod
    • Theodosia of Tyre
    • Urban of Langres
    • April 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • International Children’s Book Day (International)
  • Thai Heritage Conservation Day (Thailand)
  • Unity of Peoples of Russia and Belarus Day (Belarus)
  • World Autism Awareness Day (International)

April 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

April 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

On This Day /

It is the first day of the second quarter of the year, and the midway point of the first half of the year.

  • 33 – According to one historian’s account, Jesus Christ’s Last Supper is held.
  • 286 – Emperor Diocletian elevates his general Maximian to co-emperor with the rank of Augustus and gives him control over the Western regions of the Roman Empire.
  • 325 – Crown Prince Jin Chengdi, age four, succeeds his father Jin Mingdi as emperor of the Eastern Jin dynasty.
  • 457 – Majorian is acclaimed emperor by the Roman army after defeating 900 Alemanni near Lake Maggiore (Italy).
  • 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
  • 528 – The daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei was made the “Emperor” as a male heir of the late emperor by Empress Dowager Hu. Deposed and replaced by Yuan Zhao the next day, she was the first female monarch in the History of China, but is not widely recognised.
  • 988 – Robert II of France is married to Rozala of Italy. The marriage is arranged by his father, King Hugh Capet.
  • 1234 – Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, is defeated by knights loyal to King Henry III of England in the Battle of the Curragh in Ireland.
  • 1293 – Robert Winchelsey leaves England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • 1318 – Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by Scotland from England.
  • 1340 – Niels Ebbesen kills Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg in his bedroom, ending the 1332-1340 interregnum in Denmark.
  • 1545 – Potosí, Bolivia, is founded after the discovery of huge silver deposits in the area.
  • 1572 – In the Eighty Years’ War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Seventeen Provinces, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic.
  • 1625 – A combined Spanish and Portuguese fleet of 52 ships commences the recapture of Bahia from the Dutch during the Dutch–Portuguese War.
  • 1789 – In New York City, the United States House of Representatives achieves its first quorum and elects Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first Speaker.
  • 1826 – Samuel Morey received a patent for a compressionless “Gas or Vapor Engine”.
  • 1833 – The Convention of 1833, a political gathering of settlers in Mexican Texas to help draft a series of petitions to the Mexican government, begins in San Felipe de Austin.
  • 1854 – Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times begins serialisation in his magazine Household Words.
  • 1865 – American Civil War: Union troops led by Philip Sheridan decisively defeat Confederate troops led by George Pickett, cutting the Army of Northern Virginia’s last supply line.
  • 1867 – Singapore becomes a British crown colony.
  • 1871 – The 3rd Duke of Buckingham opened the Brill Tramway, a short railway line to transport goods between his lands and the national rail network.
  • 1873 – The White Star steamer RMS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547 in one of the worst marine disasters of the 19th century.
  • 1889 – The University of Northern Colorado was established, as the Colorado State Normal School.
  • 1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
  • 1893 – The rank of Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy is established.
  • 1908 – The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army.
  • 1918 – The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
  • 1924 – Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years imprisonment for his participation in the “Beer Hall Putsch” but spends only nine months in jail.
  • 1924 – The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.
  • 1933 – The recently elected Nazis under Julius Streicher organize a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in Germany, ushering in a series of anti-Semitic acts.
  • 1933 – English cricketer Wally Hammond set a record for the highest individual Test innings of 336 not out, during a Test match against New Zealand.
  • 1935 – India’s central banking institution, The Reserve Bank of India, is formed.
  • 1937 – Aden becomes a British crown colony.
  • 1937 – The Royal New Zealand Air Force is formed as an independent service.
  • 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Jaén, Spain is bombed by German fascist forces, supporting Francoist Nationalists.
  • 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalísimo Francisco Franco of the Spanish State announces the end of the Spanish Civil War, when the last of the Republican forces surrender.
  • 1941 – Fântâna Albă massacre: Between 200 and 2,000 Romanian civilians are killed by Soviet Border Troops.
  • 1941 – A military coup in Iraq overthrows the regime of ‘Abd al-Ilah and installs Rashid Ali al-Gaylani as Prime Minister.
  • 1944 – Navigation errors lead to an accidental American bombing of the Swiss city of Schaffhausen.
  • 1945 – World War II: The Tenth United States Army attacks the Thirty-Second Japanese Army on Okinawa.
  • 1946 – The 8.6 Mw  Aleutian Islands earthquake shakes the Aleutian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong). A destructive tsunami reaches the Hawaiian Islands resulting in dozens of deaths, mostly in Hilo, Hawaii.
  • 1947 – The only mutiny in the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy begins.
  • 1948 – Cold War: Communist forces respond to the introduction of the Deutsche Mark by attempting to force the western powers to withdraw from Berlin.
  • 1948 – Faroe Islands gain autonomy from Denmark.
  • 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Nationalist Party in Beijing, after three years of fighting.
  • 1949 – The Government of Canada repeals Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years.
  • 1954 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
  • 1955 – The EOKA rebellion against the British Empire begins in Cyprus, with the goal of unifying with Greece.
  • 1960 – The TIROS-1 satellite transmits the first television picture from space.
  • 1969 – The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, enters service with the Royal Air Force.
  • 1970 – President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General’s warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertising on television and radio in the United States, effective 1 January 1971.
  • 1970 – The first of over 670,000 AMC Gremlins are released into North America to compete with foreign imported cars.
  • 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army massacre over 1,000 people in Keraniganj Upazila, Bangladesh.
  • 1973 – Project Tiger, a tiger conservation project, is launched in the Jim Corbett National Park, India.
  • 1974 – The Local Government Act 1972 of England and Wales comes into effect.
  • 1976 – Apple Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in Cupertino, California, USA.
  • 1978 – The Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, becomes the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
  • 1979 – Iran becomes an Islamic republic by a 99% vote, officially overthrowing the Shah.
  • 1979 – Nickelodeon was launched in United States.
  • 1986 – Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) cadres attack a number of police stations in Kathmandu, seeking to incite a popular rebellion.
  • 1989 – Margaret Thatcher’s new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the “poll tax”), is introduced in Scotland.
  • 1993 – Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is founded in Los Angeles, California, USA.
  • 1996 – The government of Nova Scotia amalgamated the City of Halifax and the over 200 communities around the area to create the Halifax Regional Municipality.
  • 1997 – Comet Hale–Bopp is seen passing at perihelion.
  • 1999 – Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories.
  • 2001 – An EP-3E United States Navy surveillance aircraft collides with a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Shenyang J-8 fighter jet. The Navy crew makes an emergency landing in Hainan, China and is detained.
  • 2001 – Former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on war crimes charges.
  • 2001 – Same-sex marriage becomes legal in the Netherlands, the first contemporary country to allow it.
  • 2004 – Google announces Gmail to the public.
  • 2006 – Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of the Government of the United Kingdom is enforced, but later merged into National Crime Agency on 7 October 2013.
  • 2011 – After protests against the burning of the Quran turn violent, a mob attacks a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of thirteen people, including eight foreign workers.
  • 2016 – Nagorno-Karabakh clashes: The Four Day War or April War begins along the Nagorno-Karabakh line of contact on April 1.

Births on April 1

  • 1220 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272)
  • 1282 – Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1347)
  • 1328 – Blanche of France, Duchess of Orléans (d. 1382)
  • 1543 – François de Bonne, Duke of Lesdiguières (d. 1626)
  • 1578 – William Harvey, English physician and academic (d. 1657)
  • 1610 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier and critic (d. 1703)
  • 1629 – Jean-Henri d’Anglebert, French organist and composer (d. 1691)
  • 1640 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician and academic (d. 1697)
  • 1647 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet and courtier (d. 1680)
  • 1697 – Antoine François Prévost, French novelist and translator (d. 1763)
  • 1721 – Pieter Hellendaal, Dutch-English organist, violinist, and composer (d. 1799)
  • 1741 – George Dance the Younger, English architect and surveyor (d. 1825)
  • 1753 – Joseph de Maistre, French philosopher, lawyer, and diplomat (d. 1821)
  • 1755 – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer and politician (d. 1826)
  • 1765 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver and etcher (d. 1810)
  • 1776 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher (d. 1831)
  • 1786 – William Mulready, Irish genre painter (d. 1863)
  • 1815 – Otto von Bismarck, German lawyer and politician, 1st Chancellor of the German Empire (d. 1898)
  • 1815 – Edward Clark, American lawyer and politician, 8th Governor of Texas (d. 1880)
  • 1823 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, American general and politician, 30th Governor of Kentucky (d. 1891)
  • 1824 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (d. 1901)
  • 1834 – James Fisk, American businessman (d. 1872)
  • 1852 – Edwin Austin Abbey, American painter and illustrator (d. 1911)
  • 1865 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1929)
  • 1866 – William Blomfield, New Zealand cartoonist and politician (d. 1938)
  • 1866 – Ferruccio Busoni, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1924)
  • 1866 – Ève Lavallière, French actress (d. 1929)
  • 1868 – Edmond Rostand, French poet and playwright (d. 1918)
  • 1868 – Walter Mead, English cricketer (d. 1954)
  • 1871 – F. Melius Christiansen, Norwegian-American violinist and conductor (d. 1955)
  • 1873 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1943)
  • 1874 – Ernest Barnes, English mathematician and theologian (d. 1953)
  • 1874 – Prince Karl of Bavaria (d. 1927)
  • 1875 – Edgar Wallace, English journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1932)
  • 1878 – C. Ganesha Iyer, Ceylon Tamil philologist (d. 1958)
  • 1879 – Stanislaus Zbyszko, Polish wrestler and strongman (d. 1967)
  • 1881 – Octavian Goga, Romanian Prime Minister (d. 1938)
  • 1883 – Lon Chaney, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1930)
  • 1883 – Edvard Drabløs, Norwegian actor and director (d. 1976)
  • 1883 – Laurette Taylor, Irish-American actress (d. 1946)
  • 1885 – Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949)
  • 1885 – Clementine Churchill, English wife of Winston Churchill (d. 1977)
  • 1889 – K. B. Hedgewar, Indian physician and activist (d. 1940)
  • 1893 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-English actress (d. 1980)
  • 1895 – Alberta Hunter, African-American singer-songwriter and nurse (d. 1984)
  • 1898 – William James Sidis, Ukrainian-Russian Jewish American mathematician, anthropologist, and historian (d. 1944)
  • 1899 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian academic and politician (d. 1968)
  • 1900 – Stefanie Clausen, Danish Olympic diver (d. 1981)
  • 1901 – Whittaker Chambers, American journalist and spy (d. 1961)
  • 1905 – Gaston Eyskens, Belgian economist and politician, 47th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1988)
  • 1905 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian, poet, and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (d. 1993)
  • 1906 – Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, Russian engineer, founded the Yakovlev Design Bureau (d. 1989)
  • 1907 – Shivakumara Swami, Indian religious leader and philanthropist (d. 2019)
  • 1908 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1908 – Harlow Rothert, American shot putter, lawyer, and academic (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Abner Biberman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1977)
  • 1909 – Eddy Duchin, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1951)
  • 1910 – Harry Carney, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1974)
  • 1910 – Bob Van Osdel, American high jumper and soldier (d. 1987)
  • 1911 – Augusta Braxton Baker, African American librarian (d. 1998)
  • 1913 – Memos Makris, Greek sculptor (d. 1993)
  • 1915 – O. W. Fischer, Austrian-Swiss actor and director (d. 2004)
  • 1916 – Sheila May Edmonds, British mathematician (d. 2002)
  • 1917 – Sydney Newman, Canadian screenwriter and producer, co-created Doctor Who (d. 1997)
  • 1917 – Melville Shavelson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2007)
  • 1919 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon and soldier, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – Toshiro Mifune, Japanese actor (d. 1997)
  • 1921 – William Bergsma, American composer and educator (d. 1994)
  • 1921 – Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith, American guitarist, fiddler, and composer (d. 2014)
  • 1922 – Duke Jordan, American pianist and composer (d. 2006)
  • 1922 – William Manchester, American historian and author (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – Brendan Byrne, American lieutenant, judge, and politician, 47th Governor of New Jersey (d. 2018)
  • 1926 – Anne McCaffrey, American-Irish author (d. 2011)
  • 1927 – Walter Bahr, American soccer player, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Amos Milburn, American R&B singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1980)
  • 1927 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer and manager (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Jonathan Haze, American actor, producer, screenwriter, and production manager
  • 1929 – Milan Kundera, Czech-born novelist, poet, and playwright
  • 1929 – Payut Ngaokrachang, Thai animator and director (d. 2010)
  • 1929 – Jane Powell, American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1930 – Grace Lee Whitney, American actress and singer (d. 2015)
  • 1931 – George Baker, Bulgarian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 2011)
  • 1931 – Rolf Hochhuth, German author and playwright (d. 2020)
  • 1932 – Debbie Reynolds, Scottish-Irish American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2016)
  • 1933 – Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Algerian-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1933 – Dan Flavin, American sculptor and educator (d. 1996)
  • 1934 – Vladimir Posner, French-American journalist and radio host
  • 1935 – Larry McDonald, American physician and politician (d. 1983)
  • 1936 – Peter Collinson, English-American director and producer (d. 1980)
  • 1936 – Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, Swiss politician, 80th President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1998)
  • 1936 – Tarun Gogoi, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Assam
  • 1936 – Abdul Qadeer Khan, Indian-Pakistani physicist, chemist, and engineer
  • 1937 – Jordan Charney, American actor
  • 1939 – Ali MacGraw, American model and actress
  • 1939 – Phil Niekro, American baseball player and manager
  • 1940 – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmentalist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011)
  • 1941 – Gideon Gadot, Israeli journalist and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1941 – Ajit Wadekar, Indian cricketer, coach, and manager (d. 2018)
  • 1942 – Samuel R. Delany, American author and critic
  • 1942 – Richard D. Wolff, American economist and academic
  • 1943 – Dafydd Wigley, Welsh academic and politician
  • 1946 – Nikitas Kaklamanis, Greek academic and politician, Greek Minister of Health and Social Security
  • 1946 – Ronnie Lane, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (d. 1997)
  • 1946 – Arrigo Sacchi, Italian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1947 – Alain Connes, French mathematician and academic
  • 1947 – Philippe Kirsch, Canadian lawyer and judge
  • 1947 – Francine Prose, American novelist, short story writer, and critic
  • 1947 – Norm Van Lier, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (d. 2009)
  • 1948 – Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican singer and musician
  • 1948 – Javier Irureta, Spanish footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Peter Law, Welsh politician and independent Member of parliament(d. 2006)
  • 1949 – Gérard Mestrallet, French businessman
  • 1949 – Paul Manafort, American lobbyist, political consultant, and convicted felon
  • 1949 – Sammy Nelson, Northern Irish footballer and coach
  • 1949 – Gil Scott-Heron, American singer-songwriter and author (d. 2011)
  • 1950 – Samuel Alito, American lawyer and jurist
  • 1950 – Loris Kessel, Swiss racing driver (d. 2010)
  • 1950 – Daniel Paillé, Canadian academic and politician
  • 1951 – John Abizaid, American general
  • 1951 – Frederic Schwartz, American architect, co-designed Empty Sky (d. 2014)
  • 1952 – Annette O’Toole, American actress
  • 1952 – Bernard Stiegler, French philosopher and academic
  • 1953 – Barry Sonnenfeld, American cinematographer, director, and producer
  • 1953 – Alberto Zaccheroni, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1954 – Jeff Porcaro, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (d. 1992)
  • 1955 – Don Hasselbeck, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1955 – Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistani politician, 5th Commerce Minister of Pakistan
  • 1955 – Terry Nichols, American criminal
  • 1957 – David Gower, English cricketer and sportscaster
  • 1957 – Denise Nickerson, American actress (d. 2019)
  • 1958 – D. Boon, American singer and musician (d. 1985)
  • 1959 – Helmuth Duckadam, Romanian footballer
  • 1961 – Susan Boyle, Scottish singer
  • 1961 – Sergio Scariolo, Italian professional basketball head coach
  • 1961 – Mark White, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Mark Shulman, American author
  • 1962 – Chris Grayling, English journalist and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
  • 1962 – Samboy Lim, Filipino basketball player and manager
  • 1962 – Phillip Schofield, English television host
  • 1963 – Teodoro de Villa Diaz, Filipino guitarist and songwriter (d. 1988)
  • 1963 – Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, American aerospace engineer
  • 1964 – Erik Breukink, Dutch cyclist and manager
  • 1964 – Kevin Duckworth, American basketball player (d. 2008)
  • 1964 – John Morris, English cricketer
  • 1964 – José Rodrigues dos Santos, Portuguese journalist, author, and educator
  • 1965 – Jane Adams, American film, television, and stage actress
  • 1965 – Mark Jackson, American basketball player and coach
  • 1966 – Chris Evans, English radio and television host
  • 1966 – Mehmet Özdilek, Turkish footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Nicola Roxon, Australian lawyer and politician, 34th Attorney-General for Australia
  • 1968 – Mike Baird, Australian politician, 44th Premier of New South Wales
  • 1968 – Andreas Schnaas, German actor and director
  • 1968 – Alexander Stubb, Finnish academic and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Finland
  • 1969 – Lev Lobodin, Ukrainian-Russian decathlete
  • 1969 – Andrew Vlahov, Australian basketball player
  • 1969 – Dean Windass, English footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Brad Meltzer, American author, screenwriter, and producer
  • 1971 – Sonia Bisset, Cuban javelin thrower
  • 1971 – Shinji Nakano, Japanese racing driver
  • 1972 – Darren McCarty, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1972 – Jesse Tobias, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1973 – Christian Finnegan, American comedian and actor
  • 1973 – Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricketer and coach
  • 1973 – Rachel Maddow, American journalist and author
  • 1974 – Hugo Ibarra, Argentinian footballer and manager
  • 1975 – John Butler, American-Australian singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1975 – Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
  • 1976 – Hazem El Masri, Lebanese-Australian rugby league player and educator
  • 1976 – David Gilliland, American race car driver
  • 1976 – David Oyelowo, English actor
  • 1976 – Clarence Seedorf, Dutch-Brazilian footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Yuka Yoshida, Japanese tennis player
  • 1977 – Vitor Belfort, Brazilian-American boxer and mixed martial artist
  • 1977 – Haimar Zubeldia, Spanish cyclist
  • 1978 – Antonio de Nigris, Mexican footballer (d. 2009)
  • 1978 – Mirka Federer, Slovak-Swiss tennis player
  • 1978 – Anamaria Marinca, Romanian-English actress
  • 1978 – Etan Thomas, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Ruth Beitia, Spanish high jumper
  • 1980 – Dennis Kruppke, German footballer
  • 1980 – Randy Orton, American wrestler
  • 1980 – Bijou Phillips, American actress and model
  • 1981 – Antonis Fotsis, Greek basketball player
  • 1981 – Bjørn Einar Romøren, Norwegian ski jumper
  • 1982 – Taran Killam, American actor, voice artist, comedian, and writer
  • 1982 – Andreas Thorkildsen, Norwegian javelin thrower
  • 1983 – Ólafur Ingi Skúlason, Icelandic footballer
  • 1983 – Sean Taylor, American football player (d. 2007)
  • 1984 – Gilberto Macena, Brazilian footballer
  • 1985 – Daniel Murphy, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Beth Tweddle, English gymnast
  • 1986 – Hillary Scott, American country singer-songwriter
  • 1987 – Ding Junhui, Chinese professional snooker player
  • 1987 – Gianluca Musacci, Italian footballer
  • 1987 – Oliver Turvey, English racing driver
  • 1988 – Brook Lopez, American basketball player
  • 1988 – Robin Lopez, American basketball player
  • 1989 – Jan Blokhuijsen, Dutch speed skater
  • 1989 – David N’Gog, French footballer
  • 1989 – Christian Vietoris, German racing driver
  • 1990 – Julia Fischer, German discus thrower
  • 1992 – Deng Linlin, Chinese gymnast
  • 1995 – Logan Paul, American Youtuber and actor
  • 1997 – Álex Palou, Spanish racing driver

Deaths on April 1

  • 996 – John XV, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 1085 – Shen Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 1048)
  • 1132 – Hugh of Châteauneuf, French bishop (b. 1053)
  • 1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of France and England (b. 1122)
  • 1205 – Amalric II, king of Cyprus and Jerusalem
  • 1282 – Abaqa Khan, ruler of the Mongol Ilkhanate (b. 1234)
  • 1431 – Nuno Álvares Pereira, Portuguese general (b. 1360)
  • 1441 – Blanche I, queen of Navarre and Sicily (b. 1387)
  • 1455 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Polish cardinal and statesman (b. 1389)
  • 1528 – Francisco de Peñalosa, Spanish composer (b. 1470)
  • 1548 – Sigismund I, king of Poland (b. 1467)
  • 1580 – Alonso Mudarra, Spanish guitarist and composer (b. 1510)
  • 1601 – Françoise d’Orléans-Longueville, French princess (b. 1549)
  • 1621 – Cristofano Allori, Italian painter and educator (b. 1577)
  • 1682 – Franz Egon of Fürstenberg, Bavarian bishop (b. 1625)
  • 1787 – Floyer Sydenham, English scholar and academic (b. 1710)
  • 1839 – Benjamin Pierce, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1757)
  • 1865 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (b. 1797)
  • 1872 – Frederick Denison Maurice, English theologian and academic (b. 1805)
  • 1878 – John C.W. Daly, English-Canadian soldier and politician (b. 1796)
  • 1890 – David Wilber, American politician (b. 1820)
  • 1890 – Alexander Mozhaysky, Russian soldier, pilot, and engineer (b. 1825)
  • 1914 – Rube Waddell, American baseball player (b. 1876)
  • 1914 – Charles Wells, English founder of Charles Wells Ltd (b. 1842)
  • 1917 – Scott Joplin, American pianist and composer (b. 1868)
  • 1920 – Walter Simon, German banker and philanthropist (b. 1857)
  • 1922 – Charles I, emperor of Austria (b. 1887)
  • 1922 – Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychologist and author (b. 1884)
  • 1924 – Jacob Bolotin, American physician (b. 1888)
  • 1924 – Lloyd Hildebrand, English cyclist (b. 1870)
  • 1924 – Stan Rowley, Australian sprinter (b. 1876)
  • 1946 – Noah Beery, Sr., American actor (b. 1882)
  • 1947 – George II, king of Greece (b. 1890)
  • 1950 – Charles R. Drew, American physician and surgeon (b. 1904)
  • 1950 – Recep Peker, Turkish soldier and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1889)
  • 1962 – Jussi Kekkonen, Finnish captain and businessman (b. 1910)
  • 1965 – Helena Rubinstein, Polish-American businesswoman (b. 1870)
  • 1966 – Brian O’Nolan, Irish author (b. 1911)
  • 1968 – Lev Landau, Azerbaijani-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
  • 1976 – Max Ernst, German painter and sculptor (b. 1891)
  • 1981 – Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai singer-songwriter and bandleader (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (b. 1939)
  • 1984 – Elizabeth Goudge, English author (b. 1900)
  • 1986 – Erik Bruhn, Danish actor, director, and choreographer (b. 1928)
  • 1987 – Henri Cochet, French tennis player (b. 1901)
  • 1991 – Martha Graham, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1894)
  • 1991 – Jaime Guzmán, Chilean lawyer and politician (b. 1946)
  • 1992 – Michael Havers, Baron Havers, English lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1923)
  • 1993 – Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (b. 1954)
  • 1994 – Robert Doisneau, French photographer (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – H. Adams Carter, American mountaineer, journalist, and educator (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Francisco Moncion, Dominican American ballet dancer, choreographer, charter member of the New York City Ballet (b. 1918)
  • 1995 – Lucie Rie, Austrian-English potter (b. 1902)
  • 1997 – Makar Honcharenko, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1912)
  • 1998 – Rozz Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1963)
  • 1999 – Jesse Stone, American pianist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1901)
  • 2001 – Trịnh Công Sơn, Vietnamese guitarist and composer (b. 1939)
  • 2002 – Simo Häyhä, Finnish soldier and sniper (b. 1905)
  • 2003 – Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1956)
  • 2004 – Ioannis Kyrastas, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1952)
  • 2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (b. 1945)
  • 2005 – Paul Bomani, Tanzanian politician and diplomat, 1st Tanzanian Minister of Finance (b 1925)
  • 2005 – Robert Coldwell Wood, American political scientist and academic (b. 1923)
  • 2006 – In Tam, Cambodian general and politician, 26th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1916)
  • 2010 – John Forsythe, American actor (b. 1918)
  • 2010 – Tzannis Tzannetakis, Greek soldier and politician, 175th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Lionel Bowen, Australian soldier, lawyer, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian-American soccer player and radio host (b. 1947)
  • 2012 – Miguel de la Madrid, Mexican banker, academic, and politician, 52nd President of Mexico (b. 1934)
  • 2013 – Moses Blah, Liberian general and politician, 23rd President of Liberia (b. 1947)
  • 2013 – Karen Muir, South African swimmer and physician (b. 1952)
  • 2014 – King Fleming, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Jacques Le Goff, French historian and author (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Rolf Rendtorff, German theologian and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2015 – Nicolae Rainea, Romanian footballer and referee (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Lonnie Brooks, American blues singer and guitarist (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Soviet and Russian poet and writer (b. 1932)
  • 2018 – Steven Bochco, American television writer and producer (b. 1943)
  • 2019 – Vonda N. McIntyre, American science fiction author (b. 1948)

Holidays and observances on April 1

  • Christian feast day:
    • Cellach of Armagh
    • Hugh of Grenoble
    • Frederick Denison Maurice (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Mary of Egypt
    • Melito of Sardis
    • Nuno Álvares Pereira
    • Tewdrig
    • Theodora
    • Walric, abbot of Leuconay
    • April 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Sizdah Be-dar can fall, while April 2 is the latest; celebrated on the 13th day after vernal equinox. (Iran)
  • Iranian Islamic Republic Day (Iran) falls on this day if the Vernal Equinox falls on March 21.
  • Veneralia was held on April 1 during Ancient Rome, however this date does not lock into the modern Gregorian calendar.
  • April Fools’ Day
  • Odisha Day (Odisha, India)
  • Arbor Day (Tanzania)
  • Civil Service Day (Thailand)
  • Cyprus National Day (Cyprus)
  • Edible Book Day
  • Fossil Fools Day
  • Kha b-Nisan, the Assyrian New Year (Assyrian people)
  • National Civil Service Day (Thailand)

April 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

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

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

Births on March 26

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

Deaths on March 26

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

Holidays and observances on March 26

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on March 25

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

Deaths on March 25

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

Holidays and observances on March 25

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on March 22

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

Deaths on March 22

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

Holidays and observances on March 22

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on March 19

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

Deaths on March 19

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

Holidays and observances on March 19

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on March 17

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

Deaths on March 17

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

Holidays and observances on March 17

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

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

On This Day

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

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

Births on March 10

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

Deaths on March 10

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

Holidays and observances  on March 10

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

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