Today, March 17th. In History.

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 the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
624 – 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 in England.

1776 – American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts, 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.
1842 – The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is formed;
1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand land wars.
1861 – The Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) is proclaimed.

1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.

1921 – The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
1937 – The Pedaliante achieves the first sustained 1 km human-powered flight.
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 – The 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.

1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing 11,000.

1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV 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.
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, 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.
1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.

2000 – More than 800 members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in what 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 in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. 35 Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Niš are destroyed.
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.
2011 – Libyan civil war: The United Nations Security Council adopts United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, authorizing a military intervention by member states to protect civilians in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Births

• 1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
• 1473 – King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
• 1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
• 1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French musician, harpsichordist and composer (d. 1729)
• 1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
• 1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (d. 1806)
• 1747 – Johannes Jährig, German linguist (d. 1795)
• 1777 – Patrick Bronte, Anglo-Irish writer, curate, and father of the Bronte sisters (d. 1861)
• 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 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, American jurist, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1939)
• 1870 – Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (d. 1951)
• 1872 – Konstantinos Skarlatos, Greek Olympic shooter (d. 1969)
• 1876 – Frederick Ayres, American composer (d. 1926)
• 1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian psychoanalyst (d. 1920)
• 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 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian politician (d. 1991)
• 1907 – Sonny Werblin, American football franchise owner (d. 1991)
• 1908 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
• 1911 – Vello Kaaristo, Estonian cross-country skier (d. 1965)
• 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
• 1926 – Marjory Shedd, Canadian badminton player
• 1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Paul Horn, American jazz flutist
• 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 – Bill Graham, Canadian politician
• 1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian football manager
• 1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, British Yachtsman
• 1940 – Mark White, American politician
• 1941 – Paul Kantner, American musician (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and KBC Band)
• 1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese politician
• 1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
• 1944 – Pattie Boyd, British photographer and model
• 1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
• 1944 – John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter
• 1945 – Michael Hayden, American Air Force General, CIA director
• 1945 – Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (The Lovin' Spoonful and The Mugwumps) (d. 1982)
• 1947 – Jan Andersson, Swedish politician
• 1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-born composer and producer
• 1947 – James Morrow, American author
• 1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and football manager
• 1948 – William Gibson, American writer
• 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor
• 1949 – Daniel Lavoie, 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 and 21 Guns)
• 1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor
• 1952 – Nikos Xydakis, Greek musician and composer
• 1952 – Barry Horne, Animal rights activist (d. 2001)
• 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
• 1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor
• 1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
• 1956 – Rory McGrath, English comedian and writer
• 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 (L.A. Guns)
• 1959 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
• 1960 – Rebeca Arthur, American actress
• 1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
• 1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress
• 1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
• 1961 – Marcus Dillistone, British film director.
• 1961 – Andrew Paul, English actor
• 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress and activist (d. 2006)
• 1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
• 1961 – Alexander Bard, Swedish singer and producer (Army Of Lovers, Vacuum, and Bodies Without Organs)
• 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, Zwan, Spirits in the Sky, and Starchildren)
• 1967 – Barry Minkow, American criminal and fraudster
• 1969 – Patricia Ford, American model
• 1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French freestyle skier
• 1969 – Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer (d. 2010)
• 1969 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
• 1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Yanic Truesdale, Canadian actor
• 1970 – Gene Ween, American musician (Ween)
• 1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player
• 1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian musician (Hole)
• 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 (The Corrs)
• 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 keyboard player (Doro, Kamelot, and Sons of Seasons)
• 1975 – Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness, British Whale, and Hot Leg)
• 1975 – Gina Holden, Canadian actress
• 1975 – Mason Jennings, American singer-songwriter
• 1975 – Andrew "Test" Martin, Canadian wrestler (d. 2009)
• 1975 – Puneet Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and director
• 1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
• 1976 – Brittany Daniel, American actress
• 1976 – Cynthia Daniel, American actress and photographer
• 1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
• 1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer and actor (Boyzone) (d. 2009)
• 1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
• 1978 – Adam Jennings, British actor, producer, and director
• 1979 – Nicole "Coco" Austin, American model
• 1979 – Stormy Daniels, American pornographic actress
• 1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Samoa Joe, Samoan wrestler
• 1979 – Sharman Joshi, Indian actor
• 1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, American actor and comedian
• 1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
• 1980 – Katie Morgan, American pornographic actress
• 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, Australian golfer
• 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
• 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
• 1981 – Thorsten Stuckmann, German footballer
• 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
• 1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
• 1985 – Vassiliki Arvaniti, Greek beach volleyball player
• 1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
• 1986 – Miles Kane, British musician (The Little Flames, The Rascals, and The Last Shadow Puppets)
• 1986 – Olesya Rulin, Russian actress
• 1987 – Krisnan Inu, New Zealand rugby league player
• 1987 – Rob Kardashian, American television personality and model
• 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian hockey player
• 1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
• 1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
• 1993 – Julia Winter, British Actress

Deaths

• 45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman leader
• 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
• 460 – Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland (b. 387)
• 659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Belgian abbess (b. 626)
• 1040 – Harold Harefoot, King of England
• 1058 – King Lulach I of Scotland (b. 1030)
• 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 physicist 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)
• 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 (b. 1901)
• 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 composer and singer (b. 1949)
• 1989 – Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
• 1990 – Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
• 1990 – Ric Grech, British bass player (Family, Blind Faith, and 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 – Rick Aviles, American actor (b. 1952)
• 1995 – Ronald "Ronnie" Kray, British gangster (b. 1933)
• 1996 – René Clément, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
• 1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer (b. 1941)
• 1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer (b. 1957)
• 1998 – Harold Copp, Canadian scientist (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian composer (b. 1921)
• 1999 – Rod Hull, British comedian (b. 1936)
• 1999 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French resistant and politician (b. 1905)
• 2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (b. 1911)
• 2002 – Van Tien Dung, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Pat Weaver, American broadcast executive (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (b. 1902)
• 2004 – Rachel Hudson, British murder victim (b. 1984)
• 2004 – J.J. Jackson, American radio and television personality (b. 1941)
• 2005 – Royce Frith, Canadian diplomat, public servant and politician (b. 1923)
• 2005 – George F. Kennan, American Cold War strategist and historian (b. 1904)
• 2005 – Andre Norton, American writer (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Bob Blue, American songwriter and teacher (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 singer and pianist (Legacy Five and The Cathedrals) (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)
• 2009 – Fernand Lindsay, Canadian churchman, educator, organist and musical festival director (b. 1929)
• 2010 – Alex Chilton, American musician (Box Tops and Big Star) (b. 1950)
• 2010 – Charlie Gillett, British musicologist and radio presenter (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Michael Gough, British actor (b. 1916)
• 2011 – Ferlin Husky, American country singer (b. 1925)