March 16

March 16 is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 290 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 597 BC – Babylonians capture Jerusalem, and replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.
• 37 – Caligula becomes Roman Emperor after the death of his great uncle, Tiberius.
• 455 – Emperor Valentinian III is assassinated by two Hunnic retainers while training with the bow on the Campus Martius (Rome).
• 1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
• 1244 – Over 200 Cathars are burned after the Fall of Montségur.
• 1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge take place in the Despenser Wars.
• 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
• 1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."
• 1660 – The Long Parliament dissolved.
• 1689 – The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.
• 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish troops capture the British-held island of Roatán.
• 1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
• 1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.
• 1812 – Battle of Badajoz (March 16 – April 6) – British and Portuguese forces besieged and defeated 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 – Second Battle of Cancha Rayada – Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.
• 1861 – Edward Clark became Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who has been evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.
• 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough began as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
• 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 purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.
• 1912 – Lawrence Oates, an ill member of Robert Falcon Scott's South Pole expedition, left the tent to die, saying: "I am just going outside and may be some time."
• 1916 – The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing crossed the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
• 1924 – In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume became annexed as part of Italy.
• 1926 – History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
• 1935 – Adolf Hitler ordered Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Conscription is 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.
• 1940 – First person killed in a German bombing raid on the UK in World War II during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, James Isbister.
• 1942 – The first V-2 rocket test launch. It exploded at lift-off.
• 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.
• 1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers. 5,000 are killed.
• 1950 – Communist Czechoslovakia's ministry of foreign affairs asked nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.
• 1958 – The Ford Motor Company produced 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 disappeared in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 missing.
• 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 produced its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
• 1976 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigned, citing personal reasons.
• 1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.
• 1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped and is later killed by his captors.
• 1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz split 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.
• 1983 – Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last wooden radio tower in Germany.
• 1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later died 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 is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.
• 1995 – Mississippi formally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment is officially ratified in 1865.
• 2005 – Israel officially handed over Jericho to Palestinian control.

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)
• 1663 – Jean-Baptiste Matho, French composer (d. 1743)
• 1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen consort in Prussia (d. 1757)
• 1750 – Caroline Herschel, German-born 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 (d. 1814)
• 1789 – Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist (d. 1854)
• 1794 – Ami Boué, Austrian geologist (d. 1881)
• 1797 – Alaric Alexander Watts, English poet and journalist (d. 1864)
• 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 and Nobel laureate (d. 1907)
• 1839 – John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (d. 1922)
• 1840 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (d. 1931)
• 1845 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (d. 1928)
• 1846 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (d. 1927)
• 1846 – Jurgis Bielinis, Lithuanian book-smuggler (d. 1918)
• 1851 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
• 1856 – Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial, 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, American baseball player (d. 1953)
• 1869 – F. A. Forbes, Scottish author (d. 1936)
• 1871 – Hans Merensky, South African geologist and philanthropist (d. 1951)
• 1877 – Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iranian shah (d. 1944)
• 1878 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German archbishop and cardinal (d. 1946)
• 1883 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet (d. 1958)
• 1889 – Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
• 1890 – Solomon Mikhoels, Soviet actor and chairman of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (d. 1948)
• 1892 – James Petrillo, American president of the musicians union (d. 1984)
• 1892 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (d. 1938)
• 1897 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1901 – Edward Pawley, American actor (d. 1988)
• 1901 – Potti Sreeramulu, an Indian revolutionary (d. 1952)
• 1902 – Leon Roppolo, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1943)
• 1903 – Mike Mansfield, American politician, and diplomat (d. 2001)
• 1905 – Elisabeth Flickenschildt, German actress (d. 1977)
• 1906 – Francisco Ayala, Spanish writer (d. 2009)
• 1906 – Henny Youngman, American comedian (d. 1998)
• 1908 – René Daumal, French writer (d. 1944)
• 1908 – Robert Rossen, American film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1966)
• 1911 – Pierre Harmel, Belgian politician (d. 2009)
• 1911 – Dr. Josef Mengele, German physician and SS officer (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
• 1916 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese Businessman, and Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings (d.2010)
• 1917 – Samael Aun Weor, Colombian writer (d. 1977)
• 1917 – Louis C. Wyman, American politician (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
• 1920 – John Addison, British composer (d. 1998)
• 1920 – Dorothea Binz, Nazi war criminal (d. 1947)
• 1920 – Sid Fleischman, American author (d. 2010)
• 1920 – Traudl Junge, German secretary to Adolf Hitler (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Harding Lemay, American television scriptwriter and playwright
• 1924 – Beryl Davis, English singer (d. 2011)
• 1925 – Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist (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, American senator (d. 2003)
• 1927 – Olga San Juan, American comedian (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Karlheinz Böhm, Austrian actor
• 1928 – Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 45th Yokozuna (d. 2010)
• 1928 – Christa Ludwig, German mezzo-soprano
• 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
• 1932 – Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer
• 1932 – Baruch Modan, Israeli scientist (d. 2001)
• 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)
• 1936 – Raymond Vahan Damadian, Armenian American practitioner of MRI
• 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 painter and guitarist (AMM)
• 1941 – Robert Guéï, ruler of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 2002)
• 1941 – Chuck Woolery, American game show host
• 1942 – Roger Crozier, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1996)
• 1942 – James Soong, Taiwanese politician
• 1942 – Jerry Jeff Walker, American musician
• 1943 – Ursula Goodenough, American biologist, zoologist, professor and author
• 1943 – Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Andrew S. Tanenbaum, American Computer Science Professor, Author of MINIX OS
• 1946 – Michael Basman, English chess master
• 1946 – Hubert Soudant, Dutch conductor
• 1947 – Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist
• 1947 – Baek Yoon-sik, South Korean actor
• 1948 – Michael Bruce, American musician (Alice Cooper)
• 1948 – Richard Desjardins, Canadian singer, songwriter and film director
• 1948 – Margaret Weis, American author
• 1949 – Erik Estrada, American actor
• 1949 – Victor Garber, Canadian actor
• 1949 – Elliott Murphy, American singer-songwriter
• 1949 – Joe Pilato, Italian-American actor
• 1951 – Joe DeLamielleure, American football player
• 1951 – Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
• 1952 – Graham Cole, British actor
• 1952 – Alice Hoffman, American author
• 1952 – Scott Simon, American journalist and radio personality
• 1953 – Isabelle Huppert, French actress
• 1953 – Óscar Ramírez, Peruvian revolutionary
• 1953 – Richard Stallman, American free software activist
• 1954 – Jimmy Nail, British actor and singer
• 1954 – Nancy Wilson, American guitarist, singer and actress (Heart)
• 1955 – Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
• 1955 – Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
• 1958 – Jorge Ramos, Mexican TV anchor
• 1958 – Kate Worley, American comic book writer (d. 2004)
• 1959 – Sebastian Currier, American composer
• 1959 – Flavor Flav, American rapper, and reality TV star
• 1959 – Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
• 1960 – Jenny Eclair, British comedienne, novelist and actress.
• 1960 – Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1961 – Todd McFarlane, Canadian comic book artist, writer and media entrepreneur
• 1961 – Michiru Oshima, Japanese composer
• 1962 – Philippe Kahn, French entrepreneur
• 1963 – Jimmy Degrasso, American musician (F5)
• 1963 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (d. 2002)
• 1964 – Patty Griffin, American singer and songwriter
• 1964 – Pascal Richard, Swiss cyclist
• 1964 – Gore Verbinski, American movie director
• 1965 – Richard Daniel Roman, English songwriter and record producer
• 1965 – Belén Rueda, Spanish actress
• 1966 – Hans Peter Geerdes, German musician (Scooter)
• 1967 – John Darnielle, American Musician
• 1967 – Lauren Graham, American actress
• 1968 – Ananya Khare, Indian actress and teacher
• 1968 – Trevor Wilson, American basketball player
• 1969 – Judah Friedlander, American actor and comedian
• 1969 – Aggelos Koronios, Greek basketball coach and retired player
• 1970 – Joakim Berg, Swedish singer (Kent)
• 1970 – Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson, Icelandic singer, songwriter and disc jockey
• 1970 – Reynolds Wolf, American TV meteorologist and journalist
• 1971 – Alan Tudyk, American actor
• 1972 – Velibor Radovic, Serbian basketball player
• 1973 – Brant Bjork, American musician (Kyuss)
• 1973 – Vonda Ward, American boxer
• 1974 – Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer
• 1974 – Fotini Vavatsi, Greek archer
• 1975 – Sienna Guillory, British 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, American football player
• 1979 – Leena Peisa, Finnish musician (Lordi)
• 1980 – Todd Heap, American football player
• 1980 – Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player
• 1981 – Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
• 1981 – Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
• 1981 – Danny Brown (rapper), American rapper
• 1981 – Yoav Ziv, Israeli footballer
• 1982 – Riley Cote, Canadian hockey player
• 1983 – Brandon League, American baseball player
• 1983 – Tramon Williams, American football player
• 1984 – Levi Brown, American football player
• 1984 – Hosea Gear, New Zealand rugby player
• 1985 – Eddy Lover, Panamanian singer
• 1986 – Joe Denly, English cricketer
• 1986 – Ken Doane, American professional wrestler
• 1986 – Toney Douglas, American basketball player
• 1986 – T. J. Jordan, American basketball player
• 1986 – Boaz Solossa, Indonesian footballer
• 1986 – Daisuke Takahashi, Japanese figure skater
• 1986 – Nicole Trunfio, Australian model
• 1987 – Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
• 1989 – Blake Griffin, American basketball player
• 1989 – Theo Walcott, English footballer
• 1991 – Wolfgang Van Halen, American musician

Deaths

• 37 – Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, Roman Emperor (b. 46 BC)
• 455 – Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor (b. 419)
• 455 – Heraclius, Western Roman courtier
• 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 – Saint Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
• 1620 – St. John Sarkander, Moravian priest, died of injuries caused by torturing (b. 1576)
• 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)
• 1838 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician (b. 1773)
• 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 Rickard 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 Brâncuşi, 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 E. 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 – Roger Lemelin, Canadian novelist and television writer (b. 1919)
• 1992 – Yves Rocard, French physicist (b. 1903)
• 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, Canadian 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)
• 2006 – Minnie Pwerle, Australian Aboriginal artist
• 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, English actor (b. 1922)
• 2008 – Daniel MacMaster, Canadian singer (Bonham). (b. 1968)
• 2011 – Richard Wirthlin, American political strategist for Ronald Reagan. (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abbán
  • Heribert of Cologne
• Latvian Legion Day (Latvia)
• Saint Urho's Day (Finnish community in U.S. and Canada)
• The first day of the Bacchanalia (Roman Empire)
• The day of the Book Smugglers (Lithuania)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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