March 16

Events

• 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.
• 1190 - Crusaders start to massacre the Jews of York; many Jews commit suicide rather than submit to baptism.
• 1249 - The Servite Order is officially approved by Cardinal Raniero Capocci, papal legate in Tuscany.
• 1322 - The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the First War of Scottish Independence.
• 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 at 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 proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in The Netherlands.
• 1818 - Second Battle of Cancha Rayada - Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.
• 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.
• 1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough begins as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
• 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."
• 1916 - The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
• 1924 - The free port of Fiume is formally annexed by Mussolini's fascist regime.
• 1926 - History of Rocketry: 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 proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
• 1939 - Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
• 1942 - History of Rocketry: The first V-2 rocket test launch (exploded at liftoff).
• 1943 - The Royal Navy Isles Class Trawler HMS Campobello Sinks in the Atlantic.
• 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.
• 1950 - Communist Czechoslovakia's ministry of foreign affairs asked nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.
• 1952 - In Cilaos, Réunion, 1,870mm (73 inches) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.
• 1958 - The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding.
• 1962 - A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 people missing.
• 1963 - Mount Agung erupts on Bali, as 11,000 die.
• 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.
• 1968 - General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
• 1971 - Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway.
• 1976 - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.
• 1978 - Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped by left-wing terrorists and is later killed by his captors.
• 1978 - Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history.
• 1979 - Edmer Asama
• 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 is 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 5000 people and injured about 10000 people.
• 1995 - Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.
• 1997 - Sandline affair: On Bougainville Island, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International.
• 1998 - Pope John Paul II asks God for forgiveness for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.
• 2003 - The largest coordinated worldwide vigil takes place, as part of the global protests against Iraq war.
• 2005 - Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.
• 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)
• 1473 - Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
• 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)
• 1687 - Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, queen consort in Prussia (d. 1757)
• 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)
• 1846 - Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (d. 1927)
• 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)
• 1859 - Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (d. 1906)
• 1865 - Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player (d. 1953)
• 1869 - F. A. Forbes, Scottish author (d. 1936)
• 1877 - Reza Shah 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)
• 1883 - Ethel Anderson, Australian poet (d. 1958)
• 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)
• 1906 - Francisco Ayala, Spanish writer
• 1908 - René Daumal, French Surrealist writer (d. 1944)
• 1908 - Robert Rossen, American film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1966)
• 1911 - Dr. Josef Mengele, German, accused 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, Colombian writer (d. 1977)
• 1918 - Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1920 - Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
• 1920 - Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary (d. 2002)
• 1920 - John Addison, British composer (d. 1998)
• 1920 - Dorothea Binz, Nazi war criminal (d. 1947)
• 1920 - Sid Fleischman, American author
• 1922 - Harding Lemay, American television scriptwriter and playwright
• 1925 - Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist, co-inventor of the combined oral contraceptive pill (d. 2004)
• 1926 - Charles Goodell, American politician (d. 1987)
• 1926 - Jerry Lewis, American comedian
• 1927 - Vladimir Komarov, Soviet 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
• 1928 - Karlheinz Böhm, Austrian actor
• 1929 - Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress
• 1930 - Tommy Flanagan, American jazz pianist (d. 2001)
• 1931 - Betty Johnson, American singer
• 1932 - Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
• 1932 - Walter Cunningham, American astronaut
• 1933 - Sandy Weill, American financier and philanthropist
• 1934 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (d. 2002)
• 1935 - Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano
• 1936 - Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1937 - Amos Tversky, Israeli psychologist (d. 1996)
• 1939 - Carlos Bilardo, Argetinian football coach
• 1940 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian film director
• 1940 - Jan Pronk, Dutch politician
• 1940 - Keith Rowe, English guitarist (AMM) and painter
• 1941 - Robert Guéï, 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
• 1942 - Roger Crozier, Canadian ice hockey goaltender (d. 1996)
• 1943 - Ursula Goodenough, Evolutionary Scholar, Cell Biologist
• 1943 - Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (d. 2005)
• 1946 - Michael Basman, English chess master
• 1946 - Hubert Soudant, Dutch conductor
• 1947 - Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist
• 1948 - Michael Bruce, American musician. Guitarist and keyboard player for Alice Cooper
• 1948 - Margaret Weis, American author
• 1948 - Richard Desjardins, Quebec singer, songwriter and film director
• 1949 - Erik Estrada, Puerto Rican actor
• 1949 - Elliott Murphy, American Singer-Songwriter
• 1949 - Victor Garber, Canadian actor
• 1950 - Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
• 1951 - Joe DeLamielleure, American football player
• 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
• 1958 - Kate Worley, American comic book writer (d. 2004)
• 1959 - Flavor Flav, American rapper, and reality tv star
• 1959 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
• 1960 - Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 - Todd McFarlane, Canadian cartoonist, comic book writer, artist, and media entrepreneur
• 1961 - Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1963 - Jimmy Degrasso, American musician, drummer
• 1963 - Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (d. 2002)
• 1964 - Patty Griffin, American singer and songwriter
• 1964 - Gore Verbinski, American movie director
• 1964 - Pascal Richard, Swiss cyclist
• 1965 - Richard Daniel Roman, English songwriter and record producer
• 1965 - Belén Rueda, Spanish actress
• 1967 - Lauren Graham, American actress
• 1968 - Ananya Khare, Indian actress and teacher
• 1970 - Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson), Icelandic pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey
• 1971 - Alan Tudyk, American actor
• 1973 - Brant Bjork, American musician (Kyuss)
• 1974 - Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer
• 1974 - Fotini Vavatsi, Greek archer
• 1975 - Sienna Guillory, English actress
• 1976 - Abraham Núñez, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 - Paul Schneider, American actor
• 1976 - Nick Spano, American actor
• 1977 - Donal Óg Cusack, Irish hurler
• 1978 - Brooke Burns, American actress
• 1979 - Edison Méndez, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1979 - Rashad Moore, National Football League player
• 1979 - Leena Peisa, Finnish musician (Lordi)
• 1980 - Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player
• 1980 - Todd Heap, American football player
• 1981 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
• 1981 - Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
• 1981 - Yoav Ziv, Israeli footballer
• 1983 - Brandon League, American baseball player
• 1984 - Levi Brown, American football player
• 1985 - Nicole Trunfio, Australian supermodel
• 1986 - Ken Doane, American professional wrestler
• 1986 - T. J. Jordan, American basketball player
• 1986 - Joe Denly, English Cricketer
• 1987 - Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
• 1989 - Peaches Geldof, English Dosser
• 1989 - Theo Walcott, English footballer
• 1989 - Blake Griffin, American basketball player
• 1991 - Wolfgang Van Halen, American musician
• 1994 - Sierra McClain, American actress and singer

Deaths

• 37 - Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, Roman Emperor (b. 46 BC)
• 455 - Valentinian III, Roman Emperor (b. 419)
• 1021 - Heribert of Cologne, Archbishop of Cologne and Chancellor of Emperor Otto III
• 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, queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)
• 1559 - Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1496)
• 1649 - St. Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
• 1620 - St. John Sarkander, Moravian priest, died of injuries caused by torturing
• 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, 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)
• 1892 - Samuel F. Miller, American politician (b. 1827)
• 1898 - Aubrey Beardsley, British artist (b. 1872)
• 1899 - Joseph Medill, mayor of Chicago (b. 1823)
• 1903 - Roy Bean, American jurist
• 1914 - Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
• 1926 - Sergeant Stubby, decorated World War I dog
• 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 (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)
• 1961 - Chen Geng, Chinese military leader (b. 1903)
• 1968 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (b. 1895)
• 1968 - Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and writer (b. 1907)
• 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)
• 1983 - Fred Rose, Canadian politician (b. 1907)
• 1984 - John Hoagland, American photographer (b. 1947)
• 1985 - Eddie Shore, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
• 1992 - Yves Rocard, French physicist (b. 1903)
• 1992 - Roger Lemelin, Quebec novelist and television writer (b. 1919)
• 1993 - Johnny Cymbal, American singer and producer (b. 1945)
• 1996 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (b. 1954)
• 1998 - Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)
• 1999 - Gratien Gélinas, Quebec playwright and director (b. 1909)
• 2000 - Thomas Ferebee, Hiroshima bombardier (b. 1918)
• 2001 - Norma MacMillan, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
• 2001 - Bob Wollek, French race car driver (b. 1943)
• 2003 - Rachel Corrie, American political activist (b. 1979)
• 2003 - 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, American baseball player (b. 1937)
• 2006 - David Feintuch, American sci-fi author (b. 1944)
• 2007 - Manjural Islam, Bangladeshi cricketer (b. 1984)
• 2008 - Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (b. 1912)
• 2008 - Ola Brunkert, Swedish session drummer for ABBA (b. 1946)
• 2008 - Gary Hart, American professional wrestling manager and wrestler (b. 1942)
• 2008 - G. David Low, American astronaut (b. 1956)
• 2008 - John Hewer, Actor famous for portraying Captain Birdseye in British commercials. (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Latvia - The controversial Latvian Legion Day
• The first day of the Bacchanalia in ancient Rome
• Abban of Magheranoidhe
• Abban of New Ross
• Saint Heribert of Cologne (died 1021)
• Saint Agapitus

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada