March 16

is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). There are 290 days remaining.

Events

597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king
1190 - Crusaders start to massacre the Jews of York.
1521 - Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
1621 - Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."
1660 - The Long Parliament disbands.
1689 - The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.
1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
1802 - The United States Military Academy West Point is established.
1812 - Battle of Badajoz (March 16 - April 6) - British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.
1815 - Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaimed himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.
1818 - Battle of Cancha Rayada - Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.
1850 - Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter is first published.
1855 - Bates College in Lewiston, Maine is founded.
1861 - Edward Clark became Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.
1867 - First publication of an article by Joseph Lister outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery, in The Lancet.
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.
1900 - Sir Arthur Evans purchases the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.
1912 - Lawrence Oates, ill member of Scott's South Pole expedition leaves the tent saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time."
1914 - Henriette Caillaux, wife of French minister Joseph Caillaux shoots Gaston Calmet, the editor of Le Figaro.
1916 - 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the border to join the hunt of Pancho Villa.
1924 - The free port of Fiume formally annexed by Mussolini's fascist regime.
1926 - Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
1935 - Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Conscription was reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
1939 - From Prague Castle Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
1939 - Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran
1942 - First V-2 rocket test launch (exploded at liftoff)
1945 - World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.
1945 - Würzburg, Germany is 90% destroyed, with 5,000 dead, in only 20 minutes by British bombers.
1952 - In Cilaos, Réunion, 73 inches (1,870mm) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.
1956 - St. Urho's Day is first celebrated.
1962 - A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 people missing.
1963 - Mount Agung erupts on Bali - 11,000 dead
1966 - Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena Target Vehicle.
1968 - Vietnam War: In the My Lai massacre, between 350 and 500 Vietnamese villagers -- men, women, and children -- are killed by American troops.
1969 - A Venezuelan Airlines DC-9 crashes shortly after takeoff in Maracaibo, Venezuela killing 155
1970 - Publication of complete New English Bible.
1971 - Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway
1972 - The first building of the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex is demolished.
1976 - UK Prime Minister, Harold Wilson resigns.
1978 - Aldo Moro is kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas in Italy and is later killed by his captors.
1978 - Supertanker the Amoco Cadiz, split in two after running aground on Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history
1983 - Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last radio tower in Germany built of wood.
1984 - William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later dies in captivity.
1985 - Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He would be 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 poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing thousands of people.
1993 - A blizzard on the east coast of the United States kills 184 (see Great Blizzard of 1993).

1994 - Tonya Harding pleads guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for trying to cover-up an attack on figure skating rival Nancy Kerrigan.
1996 - Göran Persson is elected leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party.
1997 - Sandline affair - On Bougainville, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International
1997 - Stuart Appleby wins the Honda Golf Classic.
1998 - Pope John Paul II apologises for inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.
2001 - The only day between 1993 and 2002 when nobody in the United Kingdom killed themselves, according to a health survey.
2002 - Closing ceremonies of the Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
2002 - Brittanie Cecil, age 13, is struck by a hockey puck while watching an NHL game in Columbus, Ohio. She dies from her injuries two days later.
2003 - Largest coordinated worldwide vigil, as part of the global protests against Iraq war.
2005 - Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control
2005 - Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, accused of the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 in 1985, are found not guilty on all counts.
2006 - The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights Council.

Births

1338 - Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (d. 1401)
1445 - Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss-born preacher (d. 1510)
1581 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and writer (d. 1647)
1585 - Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer (d. 1618)
1631 - René Le Bossu, French critic (d. 1680)
1654 - Andreas Acoluthus, German orientalist (d. 1704)
1750 - Caroline Herschel, German-born English astronomer (d. 1848)
1751 - James Madison, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)
1773 - Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (d. 1836)
1774 - Captain Matthew Flinders, English explorer of the coasts of Australia (d. 1814)
1789 - Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist (d. 1854)
1794 - Ami Boué, Austrian geologist (d. 1881)
1800 - Emperor Ninko of Japan, (d. 1846)
1805 - Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (d. 1861)
1822 - Rosa Bonheur, French realist painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
1834 - James Hector, Scottish geologist (d. 1907)
1839 - René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
1839 - John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (d. 1922)
1840 - Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (d. 1931)
1851 - Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
1856 - Napoléon Eugène Louis John Joseph, called Napoleon IV, the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1879)
1857 - Charles Harding Firth, British historian (d. 1936)
1877 - Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (d. 1941)
1878 - Clemens August Graf von Galen, German archbishop and cardinal (d. 1946)
1889 - Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
1890 - Solomon Mikhoels, Soviet actor and chairman of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (d. 1948)
1892 - César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (d. 1938)
1892 - James Petrillo, leader of the U.S. musicians union (d. 1984)
1897 - Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)
1901 - Edward Pawley, American actor (d. 1988)
1902 - Leon Roppolo, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1943)
1903 - Mike Mansfield, American politician, and diplomat (d. 2001)
1905 - Elisabeth Flickenschildt, German actress (d. 1977)
1905 - Marlin Perkins, American naturalist (d. 1986)
1906 - Henny Youngman, American comedian (d. 1998)
1908 - René Daumal, French Surrealist writer (d. 1944)
1911 - Josef Mengele, Nazi war criminal (d. 1979)
1911 - Pierre Harmel, Belgian politician
1912 - Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
1916 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
1917 - Samael Aun Weor, Columbian writer (d. 1977)
1918 - Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1920 - Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary (d. 2002)
1920 - Leo McKern, British actor (d. 2002)
1922 - Harding Lemay, television scriptwriter and playwright
1925 - Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist, co-inventor of the contraceptive pill (d. 2004).
1926 - Charles Goodell, American politician, (d. 1987)
1926 - Jerry Lewis, American comedian
1927 - Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut (d. 1967)
1927 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from New York (d. 2003)
1927 - Olga San Juan, American comedian
1928 - Christa Ludwig, German mezzo-soprano
1932 - Don Blasingame, Major League Baseball and Japanese baseball manager (d. 2005)
1932 - Walter Cunningham, astronaut
1933 - Sandy Weill, American financier and philanthropist
1934 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (d. 2002)
1936 - Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
1937 - Amos Tversky, Israeli psychologist (d. 1996)
1939 - Carlos Bilardo, Argetinian football coach and player
1940 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian film director
1941 - Robert Guéï, military ruler of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 2002)
1941 - Chuck Woolery, American game show host
1942 - James Soong, Taiwanese politician
1942 - Jerry Jeff Walker, American musician
1948 - Margaret Weis, American author
1949 - Erik Estrada, Puerto Rican actor
1949 - Victor Garber, Canadian actor
1950 - Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
1952 - Philippe Kahn, French-American entrepreneur
1953 - Isabelle Huppert, French actress
1953 - Richard Stallman, American free software activist
1954 - Jimmy Nail, British actor and singer
1954 - Nancy Wilson, American guitarist, singer, and actress (Heart)
1955 - Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
1955 - Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
1958 - Jorge Ramos, Mexican TV anchor
1959 - Flavor Flav, American rapper
1959 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
1961 - Todd McFarlane, Canadian cartoonist, comic book writer, artist, and media entrepreneur
1961 - Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league player
1963 - Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (d. 2002)
1964 - Patty Griffin, American singer and songwriter
1964 - Gore Verbinski, American movie director
1967 - Lauren Graham, American actress
1971 - Alan Tudyk, American actor
1979 - Edison Méndez, Ecuadorian footballer
1980 - Todd Heap, American football player
1981 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
1985 - Nicole Trunfio, Australian supermodel
1986 - Ken Doane, WWE Wrestler
1987 - Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
1989 - Theo Walcott, English football player

Deaths

37 - Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, Roman Emperor (b. 46 BC)
455 - Valentinian III, Roman Emperor (b. 419)
1037 - Robert I, Archbishop of Rouen
1072 - Adalbert of Hamburg, German archbishop
1322 - Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1276)
1410 - John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (b. 1373)
1457 - László Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and warrior (b. 1433)
1485 - Anne Neville, wife of Richard III of England (b. 1456)
1559 - Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1496)
1649 - Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
1679 - John Leverett, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1616)
1721 - James Craggs the Elder, English politician (b. 1657)
1736 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (b. 1710)
1737 - Benjamin Wadsworth, American President of Harvard University (b. 1670)
1738 - George Bähr, German architect (b. 1666)
1747 - Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia (b. 1690)
1888 - Hippolyte Carnot, French statesman (b. 1801)
1890 - Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (b. 1864)
1898 - Aubrey Beardsley, British artist (b. 1872)
1899 - Joseph Medill business manager and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, mayor of Chicago, Illinois, (b. 1823)
1903 - Judge Roy Bean, American jurist and pioneer
1914 - Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
1926 - Sergeant Stubby, Decorated war dog from World War I
1930 - Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish dictator (b. 1870)
1935 - John James Richard Macleod, Scottish-born physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
1935 - Aron Nimzowitsch, Latvian-born chess player (b. 1886)
1936 - Marguerite Durand, French journalist and feminist leader (b. 1864)
1940 - Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
1945 - Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (b. 1874)
1955 - Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter (b. 1914)
1957 - Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (b. 1876)
1968 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (b. 1895)
1970 - Tammi Terrell, American singer (b. 1946)
1971 - Thomas Dewey, American presidential candidate (b. 1902)
1975 - Richard W. DeKorte, American politician (b. 1936)
1975 - T-Bone Walker, American musician (b. 1910)
1977 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (b. 1917)
1979 - Jean Monnet, French politician (b. 1888)
1980 - Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
1983 - Arthur Godfrey, American actor and television host (b. 1903)
1984 - John Hoagland, American photographer (b. 1947)
1992 - Yves Rocard, French physicist (b. 1903)
1996 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (b. 1954)
1998 - Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
2001 - Norma MacMillan, American voice actress (b. 1921)
2003 - Rachel Corrie, American political activist (b. 1979)
2003 - Major Ronald Ferguson, father of Sarah, Duchess of York, (b. 1931)
2004 - Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (b. 1910)
2005 - Todd Bell, American football player (b. 1958)
2005 - Ralph Erskine, British architect (Byker Wall) (b. 1914)
2005 - Anthony George, American TV actor (b. 1921)
2005 - Allan Hendrickse, South African politician (b. 1927)
2005 - Dick Radatz, baseball player (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

Latvia - The controversial Latvia Legions are celebrated in Latvia, where about 140,000 men joined the Waffen SS National Legions during World War II, trying to defend Latvia. Since February 23, 2000, this day is no longer an official celebration day.
St. Urho's Day - the fictional patron saint of Finnish immigrants to the US, created by Richard Mattson in 1956
The first day of the Bacchanalia in ancient Rome

Liturgical feasts

External links

March 15 - March 17 - February 16 - April 16 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: March 16

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

Liturgical feasts

External links