From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
March 17
is the 76th day of the year (77th in
leap years
) in the
Gregorian calendar
. There are 289 days remaining until the end of the year.
- 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
-
Marcus Aurelius
dies, leaving
Commodus
as sole Emperor of the
Roman Empire
.
- 624
- Led by the Prophet
Muhammad
, the
Muslims
of
Medina
defeat the Quraysh of
Mecca
in the
Battle of Badr
.
- 1328
-
Isabella of France
, on behalf of her 15-year-old son,
Edward III of England
, recognizes the independence of
Scotland
, ending the first of the
Scottish Wars of Independence
.
- 1337
-
Edward, the Black Prince
becomes
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.
- 1667
-
Siege of Valenciennes
: During the
Franco-Dutch War
, ends with
France
's taking over of the
city
.
- 1776
-
American Revolution
: British forces evacuate
Boston, Massachusetts
, 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
on
St. Patrick's Day
, in solidarity with the Irish people.
- 1800
- British
ship
HMS
Queen Charlotte
sinks after a
fire
on board off
Livorno
,
Tuscany
,
Italy
, killing 673 people.
- 1805
?
Italy
becomes a
Kingdom
for the first time, with
Napoleon Bonaparte
becoming King.
- 1842
- The Relief Society of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
is formed.
- 1860
- The
First Taranaki War
begins in
Taranaki
,
New Zealand
, a major phase in the
New Zealand Land Wars
.
- 1861
? The
Kingdom
of
Italy
is proclaimed, making Italy a united nation. It lasts until
1946
, when a majority of voters supports becoming a
Republic
.
- 1891
? The USS Utopia collides with the HMS Anson in the Bay of
Gibraltar
, and sinks, killing 562 people.
- 1899
-
William Henry Pickering
discovers
Saturn
's
moon
Phoebe
.
- 1921
- The Second
Republic
of
Poland
adopts the March
Constitution
.
- 1939
-
Second Sino-Japanese War
: The
Battle of Nanchang
between the
Republic of China
's
Kuomintang
and
Japan
begins.
- 1941
? In
Washington, DC
, the National Gallery of
Art
is opened.
- 1945
?
World War II
: The Ludendorff Bridge in
Remagen
,
Germany
, collapses, shortly after its capture.
- 1948
- The
Netherlands
,
Belgium
,
Luxembourg
,
France
and the
United Kingdom
sign the
Treaty of Brussels
.
- 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 25 people, including
President
Ramon Magsaysay
.
- 1958
- The
United States
launches the Vanguard 1
satellite
.
- 1959
-
Tenzin Gyatso
, 14th
Dalai Lama
, escapes
Tibet
to
India
.
- 1960
- US 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
? The Gunung Agung
volcano
on
Bali
,
Indonesia
, erupts, killing around 1,300 people.
- 1966
- A missing American
hydrogen
bomb
is found off the
Mediterranean Sea
coast of
Spain
.
- 1968
- As a result of nerve
gas
testing in Skull Valley,
Utah
,
US
, over 6,000
sheep
are found dead.
- 1969
?
Golda Meir
becomes
Prime Minister of Israel
.
- 1988
- Avianca Flight 410, a
Colombian
Boeing 727
jetliner
, crashes into a
mountainside
in Eastern
Colombia
, near the
Venezuelan
border
, killing 143 people.
- 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
.
- 1991
-
Diego Maradona
is found to have taken
cocaine
and is banned from
football
for 15 months.
- 1992
? A referendum in
South Africa
approves the end of
Apartheid
.
- 1992
- A suicide car
bombing
at
Israel
's
Embassy
in
Buenos Aires
,
Argentina
, kills 29 people.
- 1996
-
Legoland Windsor
opens in
Windsor, Berkshire
,
England
- 2000
- More than 800 members of the
Ugandan
cult
Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
die in what is considered to be a mass
murder
and
suicide
, orchestrated by the leaders of the cult.
- 765
?
Harun al-Rashid
,
Abbasid
Caliph
(d.
809
) (N.S
March 27
on
Gregorian calendar
)
- 1231
-
Emperor Shijo
of
Japan
(d.
1242
)
- 1473
? King
James IV of Scotland
(d.
1513
)
- 1537
-
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, Japanese general and politician (d.
1598
)
- 1628
-
Francois Girardon
, French
sculptor
(d.
1715
)
- 1665
-
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
, French
musician
,
harpsichordist
and
composer
(d.
1829
)
- 1676
-
Thomas Boston
, Scottish
church
leader (d.
1732
)
- 1686
-
Jean-Baptiste Oudry
, French painter, engraver and
tapestry
designer
(d.
1755
)
- 1725
-
Lachlan McIntosh
, Scottish-American military and political leader
- 1777
-
Patrick Bronte
, father of the Bronte sisters (d.
1861
)
- 1777
-
Roger Brooke Taney
, 5th Chief Justice of the
United States Supreme Court
(d.
1864
)
- 1780
-
Thomas Chalmers
, Scottish
theologian
, religious reformer and writer (d.
1847
)
- 1794
-
Gabriel Antonio Pereira
,
President
of
Uruguay
(d.
1861
)
- 1804
-
Jim Bridger
, American explorer (d.
1881
)
- 1813
? King
Kamehameha III
of
Hawaii
(d.
1854
) (March 17 was official birthday)
- 1822
?
Sa'id
, Khedive (Viceroy) of
Egypt
(d.
1854
)
- 1832
-
Walter Q. Gresham
,
United States Secretary of State
(d.
1895
)
- 1834
?
Gottlieb Daimler
, German engineer and inventor (d.
1900
)
- 1846
-
Kate Greenaway
, English writer and illustrator (d.
1901
)
- 1849
-
Charles F. Brush
, American inventor and entrepreneur (d.
1929
)
- 1856
-
Mikhail Vrubel
, Russian painter (d.
1910
)
- 1858
-
Policarpo Bonilla
,
President
of
Honduras
(d.
1926
)
- 1862
-
Silvio Gesell
, Belgian merchant and economist (d.
1930
)
- 1865
?
Gabriel Narutowicz
,
President of Poland
(d.
1922
)
- 1868
-
Nathan E. Kendall
, 23rd
Governor
of
Iowa
(d.
1936
)
- 1872
-
Konstantinos Skarlatos
, Greek shooter (d.
1969
)
- 1876
-
Frederick Ayres
, American composer (d.
1926
)
- 1877
-
Otto Gross
, Austrian
psychoanalyst
(d.
1920
)
- 1879
-
Jim Nance McCord
,
Governor
of
Tennessee
(d.
1968
)
- 1880
?
Lawrence Oates
, English Antarctic explorer (d.
1912
)
- 1881
?
Walter Rudolf Hess
, Swiss physiologist (d.
1973
)
- 1883
-
Urmuz
, Romanian writer (d.
1923
)
- 1884
?
Alcide Nunez
, American
jazz
clarinettist (d.
1934
)
- 1885
-
Ralph Rose
, American athlete (d.
1913
)
- 1886
-
Princess Patricia of Connaught
(d.
1974
)
- 1888
-
Paul Ramadier
, French politician (d.
1961
)
- 1889
-
Harry Clarke
, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (d.
1931
)
- 1892
-
Sayed Darwish
, Egyptian singer and composer (d.
1923
)
- 1900
?
Alfred Neumann
, American movie composer (d.
1970
)
- 1902
?
Bobby Jones
, American
golfer
(d.
1971
)
- 1906
-
Brigitte Helm
, German actress (d.
1996
)
- 1907
?
Miki Takeo
,
Prime Minister of Japan
(d.
1988
)
- 1907
-
Jean Van Houtte
,
Prime Minister of Belgium
(d.
1991
)
- 1907
-
John O. Pastore
,
Governor
of
Rhode Island
(d.
2000
)
- 1911
-
Vello Kaaristo
, Estonian cross-country skier (d.
1965
)
- 1912
-
Bayard Rustin
, American
Civil rights
activist (d.
1987
)
- 1914
-
Juan Ongania
, Argentine military officer and politician (d.
1995
)
- 1915
-
Ray Ellington
, British singer (d.
1985
)
- 1919
?
Nat King Cole
, American singer (d.
1965
)
- 1920
-
Jose Tomas Sanchez
, Filipino
cardinal
(d.
2012
)
- 1921
?
Meir Amit
, Israeli politician and general (d.
2009
)
- 1922
?
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
,
Bengali
founder (d.
1975
)
- 1925
-
Gabriele Ferzetti
, Italian actor (d.
2015
)
- 1926
-
Siegfried Lenz
, German writer (d.
2014
)
- 1927
-
Francisco Gonzalez Ledesma
, Spanish
writer
(d.
2015
)
- 1927
- Patrick Allen, British actor (d.
2006
)
- 1929
-
Peter L. Berger
, Austrian
philosopher
(d.
2017
)
- 1930
?
James Irwin
, American
astronaut
(d.
1991
)
- 1933
?
Penelope Lively
, British writer
- 1933
-
Heather Armitage
, British athlete
- 1935
-
Oscar Panno
, Argentine
chess
player
- 1936
-
Ken Mattingly
, American
admiral
,
pilot
and
astronaut
- 1937
-
Adam Wade
, American
singer
,
drummer
and
actor
- 1937
-
Galina Samsova
, Russian
ballet
dancer
- 1938
?
Rudolf Nureyev
, Russian dancer and choreographer (d.
1993
)
- 1938
?
Keith O'Brien
, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of
St. Andrews
and
Edinburgh
and
cardinal
(d.
2018
)
- 1939
?
Giovanni Trapattoni
, Italian
footballer
and manager
- 1939
-
Robin Knox-Johnston
, British
yachtsman
- 1939
-
Bill Graham
, Canadian politician
- 1940
-
Mark White
, 40th
Governor
of
Texas
(d.
2017
)
- 1940
-
Jim Telfer
, Scottish
rugby
player
- 1941
-
Paul Kantner
, American musician (d.
2016
)
- 1942
?
John Wayne Gacy
, American serial killer (d.
1994
; executed by
lethal injection
)
- 1943
-
Jim Weatherly
, American
singer-songwriter
- 1943
-
Bakili Muluzi
, former
President
of
Malawi
- 1944
-
John Sebastian
, American
singer
,
songwriter
and
guitarist
- 1944
-
Juan Ramon Veron
, Argentine
footballer
and
coach
- 1944
-
Cito Galston
, American
baseball
player
- 1945
?
Michael Hayden
,
General
USAF
, Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency
- 1945
-
Elis Regina
, Brazilian
singer
(d.
1982
)
- 1947
-
Yury Chernavsky
, Russian composer and producer
- 1948
-
William Gibson
, American writer
- 1949
?
Patrick Duffy
, American actor
- 1949
-
Pat Rice
, Irish
footballer
and coach
- 1949
-
Hartmut Briesenick
, East German athlete (d.
2013
)
- 1949
-
Stuart Rose
, English
businessman
- 1951
?
Donald Findlay
, Scottish lawyer
- 1951
-
Sydne Rome
, American actress
- 1951
-
Kurt Russell
, American actor
- 1954
-
Lesley-Anne Down
, English actress and singer
- 1955
?
Cynthia McKinney
, American politician
- 1955
?
Gary Sinise
, American actor
- 1955
-
Mark Boone Junior
, American actor
- 1956
-
Rory McGrath
, English comedian and writer
- 1957
-
Michael Kelly
, American
journalist
(d.
2003
)
- 1958
-
Jose-Manuel Abascal
, Spanish middle-distance runner
- 1958
-
Christian Clemenson
, American actor
- 1960
-
Ruth Langsford
, English television presenter
- 1960
-
Michael Whitaker
, English
equestrian
- 1961
-
Sam Bowie
, American
basketball
player
- 1961
-
Casey Siemaszko
, American actor
- 1961
-
Dana Reeve
, American actress and activist (d.
2006
)
- 1962
?
Clare Grogan
, Scottish singer and actress
- 1962
-
Rob Sitch
, Australian
actor
,
director
,
producer
and
screenwriter
- 1962
-
Kalpana Chawla
, Indian
astronaut
(d.
2003
)
- 1964
-
Stefano Borgonovo
, Italian
footballer
(d.
2013
)
- 1964
?
Lee Dixon
, English footballer and pundit
- 1964
?
Rob Lowe
, American actor
- 1964
?
Jacques Songo'o
,
Cameroonian
footballer
- 1966
-
Espen Hammer
, Norwegian
philosopher
- 1966
-
Andrew Rosindell
, English politician
- 1967
-
Billy Corgan
, American musician
- 1969
?
Alexander McQueen
, British fashion designer (d.
2010
)
- 1969
-
Bruce Parry
, British former soldier, traveler and adventurer
- 1969
-
Patricia Ford
, American model
- 1969
-
Edgar Gronspiron
, French skier
- 1972
?
Mia Hamm
, American
soccer
player
- 1972
-
Sean Price
, American rapper an producer
- 1973
?
Caroline Corr
, Irish singer and musician
- 1974
?
Mark Dolan
, British television presenter
- 1975
?
Justin Hawkins
, British singer (
The Darkness
)
- 1975
-
Puneeth Rajkumar
, Indian actor, singer and producer
- 1975
-
Gina Holden
, Canadian actress
- 1975
-
Andrew Martin
, Canadian
professional wrestler
(d.
2009
)
- 1976
?
Stephen Gately
, Irish singer (
Boyzone
) (d.
2009
)
- 1976
-
Alvaro Recoba
,
Uruguayan
footballer
- 1976
-
Brittany Daniel
, American actress
- 1976
-
Cynthia Daniel
, American actress and photographer
- 1978
-
Pilar Rubio
, Spanish actress
- 1978
-
Owen Thompson
, Scottish politician
- 1979
-
Sharman Joshi
, Indian actor
- 1979
-
Stephen Kramer Glickman
, American actor and comedian
- 1979
-
Million Wolde
, Ethiopian runner
- 1979
-
Stormy Daniels
, American pornographic actress
- 1980
-
Katie Morgan
, American pornographic actress
- 1981
-
Nicky Jam
, American singer and songwriter
- 1981
-
Servet Cetin
, Turkish
footballer
- 1982
?
Steven Pienaar
, South African footballer
- 1983
?
Raul Meireles
, Portuguese footballer
- 1983
-
Matteo Paro
, Italian
footballer
- 1984
-
Ryan Rottman
, American actor
- 1986
?
Edin Dzeko
, Bosnian footballer
- 1987
?
Bobby Ryan
, American
ice hockey
player
- 1987
-
Rob Kardashian
, American
television
personality
- 1987
-
Ryan Parent
, Canadian
ice hockey
player
- 1987
-
Federico Fazio
, Argentine
footballer
- 1988
-
Fraser Forster
, English
footballer
- 1988
-
Rasmus Elm
, Swedish
footballer
- 1988
-
Grimes
, Canadian
singer
and
songwriter
- 1988
-
Jack Monroe
, English food writer, journalist and activist
- 1989
?
Shinji Kagawa
, Japanese footballer
- 1989
-
Mason Musso
, American
singer-songwriter
and
guitarist
- 1990
-
Hozier
, Irish
singer-songwriter
and
guitarist
- 1990
-
Jean Segura
,
Dominican
baseball
player
- 1991
-
Thomas Robinson
, American
basketball
player
- 1992
-
Eliza Bennett
, English actress and singer
- 1992
-
John Boyega
, English actor
- 1992
-
Yeltsin Tejeda
,
Costa Rican
footballer
- 1997
-
Katie Ledecky
, American swimmer
- 45 BC
-
Titus Labienus
, Roman leader (b.
100 BC
)
- 45 BC
-
Publius Attius Varus
, Roman
Governor
of
Africa
- 180
?
Marcus Aurelius
, Roman Emperor (b.
121
)
- unknown year (probably
461
or
493
) ?
Saint Patrick
, patron saint of
Ireland
- 659
-
Gertrude of Nivelles
, Belgian
abbess
(b.
626
)
- 1040
?
Harold Harefoot
,
King of England
- 1058
-
Lulach
, King of the Scots
- 1199
-
Jocelyn of Glasgow
, Scottish monk and bishop (b.
1130
)
- 1272
-
Emperor Go-Saga
of
Japan
(b.
1220
)
- 1425
?
Ashikaga Yoshikazu
, Japanese
shogun
(b.
1407
)
- 1516
-
Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici
, ruler of
Florence
(b.
1479
)
- 1620
-
John Sarkander
, Polish-
Moravian
priest
and
saint
(b.
1576
)
- 1680
-
Francois de Rochefoucauld
, French author (b.
1613
)
- 1741
?
Jean-Baptiste Rousseau
, French
poet
(b.
1674
)
- 1782
?
Daniel Bernoulli
, Swiss
mathematician
(b.
1700
)
- 1830
-
Lauren de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
, French politician (b.
1764
)
- 1846
-
Friedrich Bessel
, German
mathematician
and
astronomer
(b.
1764
)
- 1849
? King
William II of the Netherlands
(b.
1792
)
- 1853
?
Christian Doppler
, Austrian physician and mathematician (b.
1803
)
- 1871
-
Robert Chambers
, Scottish geologist and publisher (b.
1802
)
- 1875
-
Ferdinand Laub
, Czech violinist and composer (b.
1832
)
- 1886
-
Leopold Zunz
, German Jewish scientist (b.
1794
)
- 1893
-
Jules Ferry
, French
statesman
(b.
1832
)
- 1917
?
Franz Brentano
, German
philosopher
(b.
1838
)
- 1921
-
Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky
, Russian
mathematician
and
engineer
(b.
1847
)
- 1926
-
Aleksei Brusilov
, Russian general (b.
1853
)
- 1937
?
Austen Chamberlain
, English statesman (b.
1863
)
- 1941
-
Marguerite Nichols
, American actress (b.
1895
)
- 1946
-
Dai Li
, Chinese spymaster (b.
1897
)
- 1956
?
Irene Joliot-Curie
, French physicist (b.
1897
)
- 1956
-
Fred Allen
, American actor (b.
1894
)
- 1957
?
Ramon Magsaysay
,
President
of the
Philippines
(b.
1907
)
- 1958
-
John Pius Boland
, Irish politician and
tennis
player (b.
1870
)
- 1961
-
Susanna M. Salter
, American politician (b.
1860
)
- 1962
-
Pat Clayton
, English soldier and surveyor (b.
1896
)
- 1976
-
Luchino Visconti
, Italian director (b.
1906
)
- 1980
-
Boun Oum
,
Laotian
politician (b.
1912
)
- 1983
?
Haldan Keffer Hartline
, American physiologist (b.
1903
)
- 1986
-
Heinz Nixdorf
, German computer pioneer and entrepreneur (b.
1925
)
- 1990
-
Capucine
, French actress (b.
1931
)
- 1993
?
Charlotte Hughes
, British
supercentenarian
(b.
1877
)
- 1993
-
Helen Hayes
, American actress (b.
1900
)
- 1994
-
Mai Zetterling
, Swedish actress and singer (b.
1925
)
- 1995
-
Sunnyland Slim
, American
blues
musician (b.
1907
)
- 1995
?
Ronnie Kray
, British gangster (b.
1933
)
- 1996
-
Rene Clement
, French
movie director
and
screenwriter
(b.
1913
)
- 1996
-
Terry Stafford
, American singer (b.
1941
)
- 1999
-
Jean Pierre-Bloch
, French resistance activist and politician (b.
1905
)
- 2002
-
Van Tien Dung
, Vietnamese general and politician (b.
1917
)
- 2002
-
William Witney
, American director (b.
1915
)
- 2003
-
Su Buqing
, Chinese
mathematician
and educator (b.
1902
)
- 2005
-
George F. Kennan
, American
historian
and
diplomat
(b.
1904
)
- 2006
-
Oleg Cassini
, American fashion designer (b.
1913
)
- 2006
-
G. William Miller
, American politician (b.
1925
)
- 2007
-
John Backus
, American
computer
scientist
(b.
1924
)
- 2007
-
Ernst Haefliger
, Swiss
tenor
(b.
1919
)
- 2009
?
Clodovil Hernandes
, Brazilian politician and television host (b.
1937
)
- 2010
?
Alex Chilton
, American musician (b.
1950
)
- 2010
-
Sid Fleischman
, American writer (b.
1920
)
- 2011
?
Michael Gough
, British actor (b.
1916
)
- 2012
-
John Demjanjuk
, Ukrainian convicted
Nazi
war criminal
(b.
1920
)
- 2012
-
Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria
, leader of the
Egyptian
Coptic Church (b.
1923
)
- 2014
-
Mareike Carriere
, German actress (b.
1954
)
- 2014
-
L'Wren Scott
, American fashion designer and model (b.
1964
)
- 2014
-
Oswald Morris
, British
cinematographer
(b.
1915
)
- 2014
-
Antoni Opolski
, Polish
physicist
(b.
1913
)
- 2014
-
Mercy Edirisinghe
, Sri Lankan
actress
and
singer
(b.
1945
)
- 2015
-
Shaw Taylor
, English
television
presenter and
actor
(b.
1924
)
- 2015
-
Ashley Adams
, Australian Paralympic shooter (b.
1955
)
- 2016
-
Shozo Awazu
, Japanese
judoka
(b.
1923
)
- 2016
-
Paul Daniels
, English magician (b.
1938
)
- 2016
-
Meir Dagan
, Israeli military officer and intelligence official (b.
1945
)
- 2016
-
Solomon Marcus
, Romanian
mathematician
(b.
1925
)
- 2016
-
Larry Drake
, American actor (b.
1950
)
- 2016
-
Marian Kociniak
, Polish actor (b.
1935
)
- 2017
-
Derek Walcott
, Saint Lucian
poet
and
playwright
(b.
1930
)
- 2017
-
Hugh Hardy
, Spanish-American
architect
(b.
1932
)
- 2017
-
Lawrence Montaigne
, American actor (b.
1931
)
- 2017
-
Auntie Fee
, American
YouTube
personality (b.
1957
)
- 2017
-
Inomjon Usmonxo'jayev
, Soviet-Uzbek politician (b.
1930
)
- 2018
-
Phan Van Khai
, former
Prime minister
of
Vietnam
(b.
1933
)
- 2018
-
Nicholas Edwards, Baron Crickhowell
, Welsh politician (b.
1934
)
- 2018
-
Mike MacDonald
, Canadian comedian (b.
1955
)
- 2019
-
Jorge Insunza Becker
, Chilean engineer and politician (b.
1936
)
- 2019
-
Bill Burlison
, American politician (b.
1931
)
- 2019
-
Manohar Parrikar
, Indian politician (b.
1955
)
- 2019
-
Andre Williams
, American R&B musician (b.
1936
)