Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/March 17
- 45 BC - Julius Caesar scored his final military victory in the Battle of Munda, defeating the Optimate forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger.
- 1950 - The discovery of californium, a radioactive transuranium element, was announced.
- 1958 - Vanguard 1 (pictured), the first solar-powered satellite, was launched. It is the oldest human-launched object still in Earth orbit today.
- 1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, fled Tibet for India.
- 1969 - Golda Meir of the Labour Party became the fourth Prime Minister of Israel.
Recent days: March 16 – March 15 – March 14
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