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. [edit] Events - 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 the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
- 624 – Muslim history: Led by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
- 1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy made in England.
- 1756 – Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern).
- 1776 – American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery 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.
- 1845 – The rubber band is patented.
- 1861 – The Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) is proclaimed.
- 1901 – An exhibition of seventy-one Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, creates a sensation.
- 1906 – The Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity is founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
- 1910 – Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte found Camp Fire Girls (now Camp Fire USA) (formally announced in 1912).
- 1917 – Delta Phi Epsilon is founded at New York University Law School.
- 1921 – The Second Republic of Poland 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 Lviv Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp (eastern Poland).
- 1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany collapses, ten days after its capture.
- 1948 – Benelux, France, 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 Vanguard 1 satellite.
- 1959 – Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
- 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.
- 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
- 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
- 1970 – My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
- 1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.
- 1975 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad enters its third and final bankruptcy, and William M. Gibbons is selected as receiver and bankruptcy trustee for the railroad.
- 1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
- 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker," commits his first two murders in Los Angeles, California 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: Suicide car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
- 2000 – More than 800 members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in is considered to be a mass murder and suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult.
- 2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet over his disagreement with government plans for the war with Iraq.
- 2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 killed, 200 wounded, and the destruction of 35 Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Nis.
- 2008 – Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer resigns after a scandal involving a high-end prostitute. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becomes New York State governor.
[edit] Births - 1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
- 1473 – King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
- 1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
- 1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
- 1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born military and political leader (d. 1806)
- 1777 – Roger Brooke Taney, 5th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1864)
- 1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor, social reformer, author, and scientist (d. 1847)
- 1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, British poet (d. 1849)
- 1787 – Edmund Kean, English actor (d. 1833)
- 1804 – Jim Bridger, American trapper and explorer (d. 1881)
- 1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
- 1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
- 1846 – Kate Greenaway, English children's author and illustrator (d. 1901)
- 1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
- 1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian economist (d. 1930)
- 1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian Home Rule Movement founder (d. 1930)
- 1866 – Pierce Butler, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1939)
- 1870 – Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (d. 1951)
- 1880 – Sir Patrick Hastings, British barrister (d. 1952)
- 1880 – Lawrence Oates, English army officer and Antarctic explorer (d. 1912)
- 1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
- 1883 – Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
- 1884 – Alcide Nunez, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1934)
- 1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught, British princess (d. 1974)
- 1888 – Paul Ramadier, French politician (d. 1961)
- 1892 – Benjamin Drake Van Wissen, Australian Engineer (d. 1984)
- 1894 – Paul Green, American writer (d. 1981)
- 1897 – Jozef C. Mazur, American stained glass artist and painter (d. 1970)
- 1901 – Alfred Newman, American film composer (d. 1970)
- 1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
- 1907 – Sonny Werblin, American football franchise owner (d. 1991)
- 1908 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Bayard Rustin, American civil rights activist (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Henry Bumstead, American art director (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Ray Ellington, British singer (d. 1985)
- 1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
- 1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Founding Leader of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
- 1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli politician and general (d. 2009)
- 1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian film and stage actor
- 1926 – Siegfried Lenz, German writer
- 1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
- 1930 – James Irwin, American astronaut (d. 1991)
- 1931 – David Peakall, British scientist (d. 2001)
- 1932 – Donald N. Langenberg, American physicist
- 1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American activist
- 1936 – Ladislav Kupkovic, Slovakian composer
- 1936 – Patty Maloney, American actress
- 1936 – Ken Mattingly, American astronaut
- 1937 – Rudy Ray Moore, American comedian and actor (d. 2008)
- 1937 – Adam Wade, American singer and actor
- 1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
- 1938 – Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, Northern Irish clergyman
- 1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (The Platters) (d. 2007)
- 1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, British Yachtsman
- 1940 – Mark White, American politician
- 1941 – Paul Kantner, American musician (Jefferson Airplane)
- 1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese politician
- 1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- 1942 – Dimitris Poulikakos, Greek composer, singer and actor
- 1944 – Pattie Boyd, British photographer and model
- 1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
- 1944 – John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter
- 1945 – Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
- 1945 – Michael Hayden, American Air Force General, CIA director
- 1945 – Katri Helena, Finnish singer
- 1947 – Jan Andersson, Swedish politician
- 1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-born composer and producer
- 1947 – James Morrow, American author
- 1948 – William Gibson, American writer
- 1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and football manager
- 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor
- 1949 – Daniel Lavoie, French Canadian singer and songwriter
- 1949 – Pat Rice, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
- 1950 – Patrick Adams, American record producer and songwriter
- 1951 – Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
- 1951 – Scott Gorham, American musician (Thin Lizzy)
- 1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor
- 1952 – Nikos Xydakis, Greek musician and composer
- 1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino communist revolutionary (d. 2001)
- 1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football running back
- 1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
- 1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American politician, Presidential candidate
- 1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor
- 1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
- 1957 – Mal Donaghy, Northern Irish footballer
- 1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist (d. 2003)
- 1958 – Pat Bolland, Canadian Broadcaster
- 1959 – Danny Ainge, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Paul Black, American rock singer
- 1959 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
- 1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
- 1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress
- 1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
- 1961 – Andrew Paul, English actor
- 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress and activist (d. 2006)
- 1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
- 1961 – Alexander Bard, Swedish artist, singer (Army Of Lovers), music producer, and philosopher
- 1962 – Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, Dutch politician
- 1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish actress-singer
- 1963 – Alex Fong Chung-Sun, Chinese actor
- 1963 – Nick Peros, Canadian composer
- 1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer
- 1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor
- 1964 – Jacques Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
- 1966 – Jeremy Sheffield, English actor
- 1967 – Billy Corgan, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
- 1967 – Barry Minkow, American religious leader and ex-convict
- 1969 – Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer
- 1969 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
- 1970 – Gene Ween, American musician (Ween)
- 1970 – Yanic Truesdale, Canadian actor
- 1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player
- 1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian musician
- 1972 – Marc Gunn, poet, podcaster, and musician (Brobdingnagian Bards)
- 1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
- 1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer (Rivermaya)
- 1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and musician
- 1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player
- 1973 – Jerome Woods, American football player
- 1974 – Marisa Coughlan, American actress
- 1974 – Mark Dolan, British TV show host
- 1974 – Oliver Palotai, German keyboardplayer (Doro)
- 1975 – Puneet Rajkumar, Indian (Kannada) actor, singer and director
- 1975 – Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
- 1975 – Andrew "Test" Martin, Canadian wrestler (d. 2009)
- 1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
- 1975 – Gina Holden, Canadian actress
- 1976 – Brittany Daniel, American actress
- 1976 – Cynthia Daniel, American actress and photographer
- 1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
- 1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer, musician, and actor (Boyzone) (d. 2009)
- 1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
- 1978 – Adam Jennings, British actor, producer and director
- 1979 – Nicole "Coco" Austin, American glamor model
- 1979 – Stormy Daniels, American pornographic actress
- 1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Samoa Joe, Samoan wrestler
- 1979 – Sharman Joshi, Indian actor
- 1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
- 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, Australian golfer
- 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish football player
- 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
- 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African Footballer
- 1985 – Vassiliki Arvaniti, Greek beach volleyball player
- 1986 – Olesya Rulin, American actress
- 1986 – Miles Kane, British musician
- 1987 – Krisnan Inu, New Zealand rugby player
- 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian hockey player
[edit] Deaths - 45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman leader
- 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
- 659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Belgian abbess (b. 626)
- 1040 – Harold Harefoot, King of England
- 1058 – King Lulach I of Scotland
- 1199 – Jocelin, bishop of Glasgow
- 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. 1478)
- 1565 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (b. 1500)
- 1640 – Philip Massinger, English dramatist (b. 1583)
- 1649 – Gabriel Lallemant, French Jesuit missionary, one of the Canadian Martyrs (b. 1610)
- 1680 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (b. 1613)
- 1704 – Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch military engineer (b. 1641)
- 1713 – Juraj Jánošík, famous Slovak outlaw (b. 1688)
- 1715 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish Bishop of Salisbury (b. 1643)
- 1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (b. 1671)
- 1764 – George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer
- 1782 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born mathematician (b. 1700)
- 1830 – Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (b. 1764)
- 1846 – Friedrich Bessel, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1784)
- 1849 – William II of the Netherlands (b. 1792)
- 1853 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physician and mathematician (b. 1803)
- 1871 – Robert Chambers, Scottish naturalist (b. 1802)
- 1875 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist (b. 1832)
- 1893 – Jules Ferry, French statesman (b. 1832)
- 1912 – Lawrence Oates, English army officer and Antarctic explorer (b. 1880)
- 1917 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
- 1926 – Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general (b. 1853)
- 1937 – Austen Chamberlain, English statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1863)
- 1941 – Marguerite Nichols, American actress (b. 1895)
- 1946 – Dai Li, Chinese spymaster (b. 1897)
- 1949 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (b. 1882)
- 1956 – Fred Allen, American actor and comedian (b. 1894)
- 1956 – Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1897)
- 1957 – Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
- 1961 – Susanna M. Salter, American politician (b. 1860)
- 1962 – Pat Clayton, British surveyor and explorer (b. 1896)
- 1965 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football coach (b. 1862)
- 1974 – Louis Kahn, American architect
- 1976 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director (b. 1906)
- 1981 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
- 1983 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
- 1987 – Santo Trafficante, Jr., American gangster (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Nikolas Asimos, Greek counter-culture composer and singer (b. 1949)
- 1989 – Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
- 1990 – Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
- 1990 – Ric Grech, British bass player (Blind Faith – Traffic) (b. 1946)
- 1992 – Grace Stafford, American actress (b. 1903)
- 1993 – Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1994 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (b. 1925)
- 1995 – Ronnie Kray, British gangster (b. 1933)
- 1995 – Rick Aviles, American actor (b. 1952)
- 1996 – René Clément, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer (b. 1941)
- 1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian composer (b. 1921)
- 1999 – Rod Hull, British comedian (b. 1936)
- 2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (b. 1911)
- 2002 – Pat Weaver, American broadcast executive (b. 1908)
- 2003 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (b. 1902)
- 2004 – J. J. Jackson, American television personality (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Rachel Hudson, British murder victim (b. 1984)
- 2005 – George F. Kennan, American Cold War strategist and historian (b. 1904)
- 2005 – Andre Norton, American writer (b. 1912)
- 2006 – Bob Blue, American singer/songwriter (b. 1948)
- 2006 – Oleg Cassini, American fashion designer (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (b. 1955)
- 2007 – John Backus, American computer scientist (b. 1924)
- 2007 – Roger Bennett, American gospel performer (b. 1959)
- 2007 – Jim Cronin, British animal welfare activist (b. 1951)
- 2008 – Roland Arnall, United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
- 2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian politician and TV host (b. 1937)
[edit] Holidays and observances [edit] External links
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