March 17

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 - 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 - collides with 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 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

• 763 - Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph
• 1231 - Emperor Shijō of Japan
• 1473 - James IV of Scotland
• 1523 - Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Catholic cardinal
• 1537 - Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō
• 1611 - Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Swedish field marshal
• 1665 - Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichord player and composer
• 1676 - Thomas Boston, Scottish philosopher and theologian
• 1686 - Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver
• 1725 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician
• 1777 - Patrick Brontë, Irish-English priest and author
• 1777 - Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States
• 1780 - Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator
• 1781 - Ebenezer Elliott, English poet and educator
• 1804 - Jim Bridger, American fur trader and explorer
• 1806 - Norbert Rillieux, African American inventor and chemical engineer
• 1820 - Jean Ingelow, English poet and author
• 1834 - Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft
• 1839 - Josef Rheinberger, Liechtensteiner-German organist and composer
• 1846 - Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator
• 1849 - Charles F. Brush, American businessman and philanthropist, co-invented the Arc lamp
• 1849 - Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist
• 1856 - Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter
• 1862 - Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist
• 1864 - Joseph Baptista, Indian engineer, lawyer, and politician
• 1866 - Pierce Butler, American lawyer and jurist
• 1867 - Patrice Contamine de Latour, Spanish poet
• 1877 - Edith New, British militant suffragette
• 1877 - Otto Gross, Austrian-German psychoanalyst and philosopher
• 1880 - Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
• 1880 - Lawrence Oates, English lieutenant and explorer
• 1881 - Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1884 - Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player
• 1885 - Ralph Rose, American track and field athlete
• 1886 - Princess Patricia of Connaught
• 1888 - Paul Ramadier, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France
• 1889 - Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator
• 1891 - Ross McLarty, Australian politician, 17th Premier of Western Australia
• 1892 - Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1894 - Paul Green, American playwright and academic
• 1895 - Lloyd Rees, Australian painter
• 1901 - Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor
• 1902 - Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer
• 1904 - Chaim Gross, Austrian-American sculptor and educator
• 1906 - Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress
• 1907 - Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium
• 1907 - Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, 41st Prime Minister of Japan
• 1910 - Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist
• 1912 - Bayard Rustin, American activist
• 1914 - Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach
• 1915 - Robert S. Arbib Jr., American ornithologist, writer and conservationist
• 1915 - Ray Ellington, English drummer and bandleader
• 1915 - Bill Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider
• 1919 - Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host
• 1920 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh
• 1921 - Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, 12th Israeli Minister of Communications
• 1922 - Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher
• 1924 - Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator
• 1925 - Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor
• 1926 - Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright
• 1927 - Betty Allen, American soprano and educator
• 1928 - William John McKeag, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
• 1930 - Paul Horn, American-Canadian flute player and saxophonist
• 1930 - James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
• 1931 - Patricia Breslin, American actress
• 1931 - David Peakall, English-American chemist and toxicologist
• 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
• 1936 - Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovakian composer and conductor
• 1936 - Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
• 1937 - Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina
• 1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer
• 1938 - Keith O'Brien, Northern Ireland-born Scottish cleric, theologian, and cardinal
• 1938 - Zola Taylor, American singer
• 1939 - Jim Gary, American sculptor
• 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
• 1941 - Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese soldier and politician
• 1941 - Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1941 - Max Stafford-Clark, English director and academic
• 1942 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer and rapist
• 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
• 1953 - Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist
• 1953 - Chuck Muncie, American football player
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 1975 - Natalie Zea, American actress
• 1976 - Scott Downs, American baseball player
• 1976 - Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter and actor
• 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 back
• 1987 - Krisnan Inu, New Zealand 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

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

  Holidays and observances

• Children's Day
• Christian feast day:
• * Alexius of Rome
• * Gertrude of Nivelles
• * John Sarkander
• * Joseph of Arimathea
• * Patrick of Ireland
• * March 17
• Evacuation Day
• 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.