From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in leap years). There are 289 days remaining.
[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.
- 624 - A key victory by Muhammad over his Meccan adversaries in the Battle of Badr.
- 1103 - Birth of noted Song Dynasty general Yue Fei.
- 1577 - The Cathay Company is formed to send Martin Frobisher back to the New World for more gold.
- 1673 - Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet begin their exploration of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.
- 1756 - St. 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.
- 1805 - The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
- 1845 - The rubber band is invented
- 1861 - The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
- 1886 - Carrollton Massacre: 20 African Americans are killed in Mississippi.
- 1891 - The British steamship SS Utopia sinks off the coast of Gibraltar, killing 574.
- 1901 - A showing of 71 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 was founded at New York University Law School.
- 1921 - The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
- 1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling.
- 1931 - First St. Patrick's Day parade held in the Irish Free State, reviewed by Desmond Fitzgerald
- 1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese breaks out.
- 1941 - In Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1942 - Holocaust: 1,500 Jews from the Lviv Ghetto (western Ukraine) arrived at Belzec death camp (eastern Poland). Until 30 March 15,000 Jews from Lviv (Ukraine) were deported to face death in Belzec by German Gestapo.
- 1948 - Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the NATO Agreement.
- 1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
- 1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
- 1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet and travels to India.
- 1960 - President Eisenhower signed a National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program which lead to the Bay of Pig invasion
- 1966 - Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
- 1969 - Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
- 1969 - The Longhope lifeboat in Scotland is lost, the entire crew of eight die
- 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, as a former prisoner of war comes home to the United States to reunite with his family.
- 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 the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
- 1988 - The Battle of Afabet began.
- 1992 - A suicide car-bomb kills 29 and injures 242 at the Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 2003 - British Cabinet Minister, Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for war with Iraq.
- 2004 - Massive Unrest in Kosovo. Over 22 killed, 200 wounded, 35 destroyed Serb Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Nis.
[edit] Births
- 1231 - Emperor Shijo 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 American 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 1881 - Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1883 - Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
- 1884 - Alcide Nunez, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1934)
- 1892 - Benjamin Drake Van Wissen, Australian Engineer (d. 1984)
- 1894 - Paul Green, American writer (d. 1981)
- 1901 - Alfred Newman, American film composer (d. 1970)
- 1902 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
- 1907 - Sonny Werblin, former owner of the New York Jets (d. 1991)
- 1908 - Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
- 1912 - Bayard Rustin, American civil rights activist (d. 1987)
- 1914 - Sammy Baugh, American football player
- 1916 - Ray Ellington, British singer (d. 1985)
- 1919 - Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
- 1922 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Founding Leader of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
- 1926 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer
- 1930 - James Irwin, astronaut (d. 1991)
- 1936 - Ladislav Kupkovic, Slovakian composer
- 1936 - Ken Mattingly, astronaut
- 1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
- 1938 - Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, Northern Irish clergyman
- 1939 - Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1940 - Mark White, American politician
- 1941 - Paul Kantner, American musician (Jefferson Airplane)
- 1942 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- 1944 - Pattie Boyd, British photographer and model
- 1944 - Cito Gaston, baseball player and coach
- 1944 - John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter
- 1945 - Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
- 1945 - Michael Hayden, General USAF, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- 1945 - Katri Helena, Finnish singer
- 1947 - James Morrow, author
- 1948 - William Gibson, American writer
- 1949 - Patrick Duffy, American actor
- 1949 - Pat Rice, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
- 1950 - Patrick Adams, American record producer and songwriter
- 1951 - Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
- 1951 - Kurt Russell, American actor
- 1951 - Scott Gorham, American musician (Thin Lizzy)
- 1953 - Filemon Lagman, Filipino communist revolutionary (d. 2001)
- 1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
- 1955 - Cynthia McKinney, American politician
- 1955 - Gary Sinise, American actor
- 1956 - Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
- 1957 - Mal Donaghy, Northern Irish footballer
- 1957 - Michael Kelly, American journalist (d. 2003)
- 1959 - Danny Ainge, American basketball player and coach
- 1961 - Casey Siemaszko, American actor
- 1962 - Clare Grogan, Scottish actress-singer
- 1963 - Nick Peros, Canadian composer
- 1964 - Rob Lowe, American actor
- 1964 - Lee Dixon, English footballer
- 1967 - Billy Corgan, American musician
- 1967 - Barry Minkow, American businessman
- 1969 - Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
- 1970 - Yanic Truesdale, Canadian actor
- 1971 - Bill Mueller, baseball player
- 1972 - Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian rock musician
- 1972 - Marc Gunn, poet, podcaster, and Celtic musician (Brobdingnagian Bards)
- 1972 - Mia Hamm, American soccer player
- 1973 - Rico Blanco, Filipino singer (Rivermaya)
- 1973 - Caroline Corr, Irish singer and musician
- 1975 - Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
- 1975 - Andrew "Test" Martin, Canadian professional wrestler
- 1976 - Stephen Gately, Irish singer, musician, and actor (Boyzone)
- 1979 - Andrew Ference, Canadian hockey player
- 1979 - Samoa Joe, Samoan professional wrestler
[edit] Deaths
- 45 BC - Titus Labienus, Roman leader
- 45 BC - Gnaeus Pompeius, the Younger, Roman general
- 180 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
- 493 - Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland
- 659 - Gertrude of Nivelles, Belgian abbess
- 1040 - Harold Harefoot, King of England
- 1058 - King Lulach I of Scotland
- 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)
- 1620 - St. John Sarkander, Moravian priest, died of injuries caused by torturing
- 1640 - Philip Massinger, English dramatist (b. 1583)
- 1680 - François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (b. 1613)
- 1704 - Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch military engineer (b. 1641)
- 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)
- 1875 - Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist (b. 1832)
- 1893 - Jules Ferry, French statesman (b. 1832)
- 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)
- 1949 - Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (b. 1882)
- 1956 - Fred Allen, American actor and comedian (b. 1894)
- 1956 - Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)
- 1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
- 1965 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, college coach and player (b. 1862)
- 1974 - Louis Kahn, American architect
- 1976 - Luchino Visconti, Italian director (b. 1906)
- 1981 - Paul Dean, baseball player (b. 1913)
- 1983 - Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1987 - Santo Trafficante, Jr., American gangster (b. 1914)
- 1989 - Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
- 1990 - Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
- 1993 - Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1995 - Ronnie Kray, British wanker (b. 1933)
- 1995 - Rick Aviles, American actor (b.1952)
- 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)
- 2004 - J.J. Jackson, American television personality (b. 1941)
- 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
- 2006 - Oleg Cassini, American fashion designer (b. 1913)
- 2006 - Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (b. 1913)
- 2006 - Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (b. 1955)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] Other liturgical feasts
[edit] External links
