March 20

March 20 in recent years

2024 (Wednesday)

2023 (Monday)

2022 (Sunday)

2021 (Saturday)

2020 (Friday)

2019 (Wednesday)

2018 (Tuesday)

2017 (Monday)

2016 (Sunday)

2015 (Friday)

March 20 is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 286 days remain until the end of the year. Typically the March equinox falls on this date, marking the vernal point in the Northern Hemisphere and the autumnal point in the Southern Hemisphere, when both day and night are of equal length.

Events

• 235 – Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor. He is the first foreigner to hold the Roman throne.
• 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka.
• 1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
• 1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden.
• 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
• 1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
• 1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
• 1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
• 1848 – Revolutions of 1848 in the German states: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
• 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
• 1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.
• 1861 – An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
• 1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
• 1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
• 1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
• 1915 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
• 1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
• 1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
• 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara is executed in Florida's electric chair for fatally shooting Anton Cermak in an assassination attempt against President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
• 1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".
• 1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
• 1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
• 1952 – The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
• 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
• 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
• 1972 – The Troubles: The first Provisional IRA car bombing in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
• 1974 – An unsuccessful attempt is made by a lone perpetrator to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
• 1980 – The Radio Caroline ship, Mi Amigo founders in a gale off the English coast.
• 1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
• 1985 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
• 1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
• 1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
• 1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
• 1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
• 1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 12 and wounding over 1,300 people.
• 1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California.
• 2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
• 2003 – Invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries (the UK, Australia and Poland) begin military operations in Iraq.
• 2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
• 2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
• 2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the luxurious Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
• 2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a Supermoon all occur on the same day.

Births

• 43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
• 1469 – Cecily of York (d. 1507)
• 1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar (d. 1527)
• 1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
• 1639 – Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine (d. 1709)
• 1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (d. 1789)
• 1735 – Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1784)
• 1737 – Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, Thai king (d. 1809)
• 1770 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German lyric poet (d. 1843)
• 1771 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (d. 1854)
• 1796 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (d. 1862)
• 1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (d. 1839)
• 1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica (d. 1845)
• 1811 – Napoleon II, French emperor (d. 1832)
• 1811 – George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (d. 1879)
• 1821 – Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher (d. 1886)
• 1824 – Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (d. 1876)
• 1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director (d. 1906)
• 1831 – Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician (d. 1881)
• 1834 – Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic (d. 1926)
• 1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician (d. 1886)
• 1836 – Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator (d. 1919)
• 1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
• 1851 – Ismail Gasprinski, Ukrainian educator, publisher, and politician (d. 1914)
• 1852 – Frank MacKey, American polo player (d. 1927)
• 1856 – John Lavery, Irish painter (d. 1941)
• 1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer (d. 1915)
• 1865 – Jehanne d'Alcy, French film actress (d. 1956)
• 1870 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
• 1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist (d. 1945)
• 1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1927)
• 1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (d. 1960)
• 1882 – René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France (d. 1962)
• 1882 – Harold Weber, American golfer (d. 1933)
• 1884 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (d. 1970)
• 1885 – Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer (d. 1958)
• 1886 – Grace Brown, American murder victim (d. 1906)
• 1888 – Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator (d. 1971)
• 1890 – Beniamino Gigli, Italian tenor and actor (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor (d. 1973)
• 1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (d. 1981)
• 1898 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (d. 1954)
• 1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor and singer (d. 1979)
• 1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author (d. 1990)
• 1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer (d. 1949)
• 1906 – Abraham Beame, English-American accountant and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (d. 2001)
• 1906 – Pop Chalee, Native American painter (d. 1993)
• 1906 – Nickolaus Hirschl, Austrian wrestler, discus thrower, and shot putter (d. 1991)
• 1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor, singer, and bandleader (d. 1975)
• 1907 – Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator (d. 1990)
• 1907 – Ruby Muhammad, American religious leader (d. 2011)
• 1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor and director (d. 1985)
• 1910 – Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
• 1912 – Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2016)
• 1913 – Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer (d. 1968)
• 1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor and politician (d. 1968)
• 1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria (d. 2000)
• 1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer (d. 1997)
• 1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1973)
• 1916 – Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (d. 1984)
• 1918 – Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace (d. 1983)
• 1920 – Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France (d. 1997)
• 1920 – Vickie Panos, Canadian baseball player
• 1920 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (d. 1988)
• 1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher (d. 1977)
• 1921 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (d. 1970)
• 1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader
• 1922 – Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1990)
• 1922 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1923 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2013)
• 1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Jozef Kroner, Slovak actor (d. 1998)
• 1925 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel (d. 1999)
• 1925 – Eugene Louis Faccuito, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2015)
• 1927 – John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic
• 1928 – Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach (d. 2002)
• 1928 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Fred Rogers, American television host and producer (d. 2003)
• 1929 – William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director (d. 2015)
• 1930 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (d. 1998)
• 1931 – Hal Linden, American actor, singer, and director
• 1931 – Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
• 1933 – Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
• 1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
• 1933 – Alexander Gorodnitsky, Russian geologist and poet
• 1933 – Renato Salvatori, Italian actor (d. 1988)
• 1933 – Ian Walsh, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
• 1934 – David Malouf, Australian author and playwright
• 1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (d. 1996)
• 1936 – Harold Mabern, American pianist and composer
• 1936 – Vaughn Meader, American comedian and actor (d. 2004)
• 1936 – Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jamaican singer and producer
• 1936 – Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
• 1937 – Lois Lowry, American author
• 1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2008)
• 1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic
• 1939 – Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1939 – Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic (d. 2014)
• 1939 – Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician 18th Prime Minister of Canada
• 1940 – Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
• 1940 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist (d. 2015)
• 1940 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company (d. 2012)
• 1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager
• 1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
• 1942 – Robin Luke, American singer and educator
• 1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
• 1943 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (d. 2015)
• 1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer
• 1944 – John Cameron, English composer and conductor
• 1944 – Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
• 1944 – Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
• 1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot
• 1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
• 1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
• 1945 – Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
• 1946 – Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Riders in the Sky)
• 1946 – Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
• 1947 – John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic (d. 1994)
• 1948 – John de Lancie, American actor, singer, and producer
• 1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1948 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
• 1949 – Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
• 1950 – William Hurt, American actor
• 1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer and songwriter (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Asia, and Atomic Rooster)
• 1951 – Madan Lal, Indian cricketer and coach
• 1951 – Curt Smith, American author and journalist
• 1951 – Jimmie Vaughan, American guitarist (The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
• 1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
• 1952 – David Greenaway, English economist and academic
• 1953 – Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter (Split Enz, The Swingers, and Schnell Fenster)
• 1954 – Patrick Abada, French pole vaulter
• 1954 – Yamina Bachir, Algerian director and screenwriter
• 1954 – Mike Francesa, American radio host
• 1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
• 1954 – Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
• 1954 – Louis Sachar, American author
• 1955 – Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
• 1955 – Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter (Cold Chisel)
• 1956 – Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
• 1956 – Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
• 1956 – Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
• 1957 – Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
• 1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
• 1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
• 1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
• 1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress and producer
• 1958 – Rickey Jackson, American football player
• 1958 – Joe Reaiche, Australian rugby player
• 1959 – Sting, American wrestler and actor
• 1959 – Nalini Ambady, Indian-American psychologist and academic (d. 2013)
• 1959 – Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
• 1959 – Mary Roach, American author
• 1960 – Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
• 1960 – Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
• 1960 – Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
• 1961 – Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
• 1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
• 1961 – Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
• 1962 – Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
• 1963 – Gregg Binkley, American actor
• 1963 – Maggie Estep, American poet and author (d. 2014)
• 1963 – Anouk Grinberg, French actress
• 1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model, actress, and furniture designer
• 1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (d. 2007)
• 1963 – David Thewlis, English-French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter (Transglobal Underground)
• 1965 – William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
• 1965 – Taeko Kawata, Japanese voice actress
• 1965 – Adrian Oxaal, American-English guitarist (James and Sharkboy)
• 1967 – Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
• 1967 – Illimar Truverk, Estonian architect
• 1968 – Carlos Almeida, Cape Verdean runner
• 1968 – Ultra Naté, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
• 1968 – Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
• 1969 – Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
• 1969 – Mannie Fresh, American rapper and producer (Big Tymers)
• 1969 – Jean Labonté, Canadian sledge hockey player
• 1969 – Tamás Nádas, Hungarian pilot (d. 2014)
• 1970 – Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor and director
• 1971 – Touré, American journalist and author
• 1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
• 1971 – Alexander Chaplin, American actor
• 1971 – Chad Michaels, American drag queen, celebrity impersonator and performer
• 1972 – Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
• 1972 – Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Franz Ferdinand, The Yummy Fur, and The Karelia)
• 1972 – Greg Searle, English rower
• 1972 – Marco Sejna, German footballer
• 1972 – Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
• 1973 – Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
• 1973 – Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
• 1973 – Jane March, English model and actress
• 1973 – Jung Woo-sung, South Korean actor and director
• 1974 – Paula Garcés, American-Colombian actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1974 – Andrzej Pilipiuk, Polish author
• 1974 – Elo Viiding, Estonian poet
• 1975 – Lacena Golding-Clarke, Jamaican jumper and hurdler
• 1976 – Chester Bennington, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
• 1978 – Chris Draper, English sailor
• 1978 – Brent Sherwin, Australian rugby league player
• 1979 – Silvia Abascal, Spanish actress
• 1979 – Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
• 1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress and singer
• 1979 – Molly Jenson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
• 1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
• 1980 – Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
• 1980 – Ock Joo-hyun, South Korean singer and actress (Fin.K.L)
• 1980 – Aliénor Tricerri, Swiss tennis player
• 1981 – BeBe Zahara Benet, Cameroonian-American model, drag queen and performer
• 1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
• 1981 – Carl Webb, Australian rugby league player
• 1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
• 1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
• 1983 – Michael Cassidy, American actor
• 1983 – Selin Demiratar, Turkish actress
• 1984 – Yuka Nomura, Japanese actress
• 1984 – Christy Carlson Romano, American actress and singer
• 1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
• 1985 – Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
• 1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
• 1985 – Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
• 1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
• 1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
• 1987 – Yuya Endo, Japanese actor and singer
• 1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
• 1988 – Jakub Gierszał, Polish actor
• 1988 – Louie Vito, American snowboarder
• 1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
• 1989 – Masahiro Inoue, Japanese actor and martial artist
• 1989 – Catherine McNeil, Australian fashion model
• 1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
• 1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
• 1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
• 1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
• 1991 – Ethan Lowe, Australian rugby league player
• 1993 – Sloane Stephens, American tennis player
• 1995 – Jack Bird, Australian rugby league player

Deaths

• 687 – Cuthbert, Northumbrian (English) monk, bishop, and saint (b. 634)
• 842 – Alfonso II, king of Asturias (Spain) (b. 759)
• 1181 – Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general (b. 1118)
• 1191 – Pope Clement III (b. 1130)
• 1239 – Hermann von Salza, German knight and diplomat (b. 1179)
• 1390 – Alexios III of Trebizond (b. 1338)
• 1413 – Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
• 1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English general and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1508)
• 1568 – Albert, Duke in Prussia (b. 1490)
• 1619 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1557)
• 1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish monk (b. 1603)
• 1726 – Isaac Newton, English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher (b. 1642)
• 1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
• 1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter and academic (b. 1656)
• 1780 – Benjamin Truman, English brewer and businessman (b. 1699)
• 1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (b. 1705)
• 1809 – Mary Bateman, English criminal (b. 1768)
• 1835 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
• 1849 – James Justinian Morier, Turkish-English author and diplomat (b. 1780)
• 1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English businessman (b. 1788)
• 1865 – Yamanami Keisuke, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
• 1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (b. 1810)
• 1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
• 1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1821)
• 1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and author (b. 1822)
• 1909 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian historian and businessman (b. 1842)
• 1916 – Ota Benga, Congolese Mbuti pygmy featured as an anthropology exhibit (b. 1883)
• 1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American general and lawyer (b. 1828)
• 1924 – Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor and screenwriter (b. 1859)
• 1925 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (b. 1859)
• 1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (b. 1851)
• 1930 – Arthur F. Andrews, American cyclist (b. 1876)
• 1930 – Hoca Ali Rıza, Turkish painter and art teacher (b. 1858)
• 1931 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
• 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak (b. 1900)
• 1934 – Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (b. 1858)
• 1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
• 1946 – Amadeus William Grabau, American-Chinese geologist, paleontologist, and academic (b. 1870)
• 1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and director (b. 1884)
• 1952 – Hjalmar Väre, Finnish cyclist (b. 1892)
• 1958 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian merchant, journalist, and politician (b. 1915)
• 1960 – Léon Sée, French fencer (b. 1877)
• 1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish author and playwright (b. 1923)
• 1965 – Daniel Frank, American long jumper (b. 1882)
• 1966 – Johnny Morrison, American baseball player (b. 1895)
• 1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (b. 1889)
• 1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)
• 1971 – Falih Rıfkı Atay, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1894)
• 1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
• 1974 – Chet Huntley, American journalist and actor (b. 1911)
• 1977 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (b. 1919)
• 1978 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (b. 1895)
• 1981 – Gerry Bertier, American football player (b. 1953)
• 1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1891)
• 1990 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1907)
• 1990 – Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b. 1929)
• 1992 – Georges Delerue, French composer (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 1997 – V. S. Pritchett, English short story writer, essayist, and critic (b. 1900)
• 1997 – Tony Zale, American boxer (b. 1913)
• 1998 – George Howard, American saxophonist (b. 1956)
• 1998 – Catherine Sauvage, French singer and actress (b. 1929)
• 1999 – Patrick Heron, British painter (b. 1920)
• 2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer (Adam Again, The Swirling Eddies, and Lost Dogs) (b. 1961)
• 2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1949)
• 2004 – Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
• 2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel and politician (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 2007 – Raynald Fréchette, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (b. 1933)
• 2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician, Vice President of Iraq (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (b. 1948)
• 2010 – Ai, American poet and academic (b. 1947)
• 2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1920)
• 2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (Sounds Orchestral) (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (b. 1955)
• 2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (b. 1938)
• 2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
• 2013 – Nasser El Sonbaty, German-Egyptian bodybuilder (b. 1965)
• 2013 – James Herbert, English author (b. 1943)
• 2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 15th President of Bangladesh (b. 1929)
• 2013 – Emílio Santiago, Brazilian singer (b. 1946)
• 2013 – Risë Stevens, American soprano and actress (b. 1913)
• 2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Iñaki Azkuna, Spanish academic and politician (b. 1943)
• 2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (b. 1915)
• 2015 – Perro Aguayo Jr., Mexican wrestler and promoter (b. 1979)
• 2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1930)
• 2015 – Gregory Walcott, American actor (b. 1928)
• 2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Alexandra
  • Blessed John of Parma
  • Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (Anglicanism)
  • John of Nepomuk
  • Józef Bilczewski
  • Wulfram
  • March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest day on which Good Friday can fall, while April 23 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before Easter. (Christianity)
• Earliest date for the vernal equinox in the Northern hemisphere:
  • Bahá'í Naw-Rúz(Bahá'í Faith)
  • Chunfen (China)
  • Earth Equinox Day
  • Higan (Japan)
  • International Astrology Day
  • Mabon (Southern Hemisphere) (Neo-paganism)
  • Nowruz (Persian, Gilaki, Kurdish, Zoroastrians, and other Iranian people and countries with an Iranian influence)
  • Ostara (Northern hemisphere) (Neo-paganism)
  • New Year (Thelema)
  • Shunbun no Hi (Japan)
  • Summer Finding (Asatru Free Assembly)
  • Sun-Earth Day (United States)
  • Vernal Equinox Day/Kōreisai (Japan)
  • World Storytelling Day
• Extraterrestrial Abduction Day
• Feast of the Supreme Ritual (Thelema)
• Great American Meatout (United States)
• International Day of Happiness (United Nations)
• Independence Day (Tunisia) celebrates independence from France in 1956.
• International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), and its related observances:
  • UN French Language Day (United Nations)
• Liberation of Kirkuk City (Iraqi Kurdistan)
• National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
• World Sparrow Day

External links

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