March 19
is the 78th day of the year in the
Gregorian calendar (79th in
leap years). There are 287 days remaining.
*
1279 - A
Mongolian victory in the
Battle of Yamen ends the
Song Dynasty in
China.
*
1687 - Explorer
Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the
Mississippi River, is murdered by his own men.
*
1831 - The
City Bank of New York becomes the site of the first
bank robbery in
United States history ($245,000 taken).
*
1861 - The
First Taranaki War ends in
New Zealand.
*
1865 -
American Civil War: The
Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later the Confederate forces have retreated from
Greenville, North Carolina.
*
1915 -
Pluto is photographed for the first time but was not recognized as a
planet.
*
1916 - Eight American planes take off in pursuit of
Pancho Villa, the first
United States air-combat mission in history.
*
1918 - The
U.S. Congress establishes
time zones and approves
daylight saving time.
*
1920 - The
United States Senate rejects the
Treaty of Versailles for the second time (first time was on
November 19,
1919).
*
1921 -
Italian Fascists shoot from the
Parenzana train to a group of children in
Strunjan (
Slovenia): two children are killed, two mangled, three wounded.
*
1931 -
Gambling is legalized in
Nevada.
* 1931 - The
Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra played its first concert in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
*
1942 - The
Thoroughbred Racing Association is established in
Chicago, Illinois.
*
1944 -
World War II:
Nazi forces occupy
Hungary.
*
1945 - World War II: Off the coast of
Japan, a
dive bomber hits the
aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship.
* 1945 - World War II:
Adolf Hitler issues his "
Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in
Germany be destroyed.
*
1946 -
French Guiana,
Guadeloupe,
Martinique and
Réunion become
overseas départements of
France.
*
1953 -
Academy Awards are first televised.
*
1954 -
Joey Giardello knocks out
Willie Tory in round seven at
Madison Square Garden in the first
televised prize
boxing fight shown in color.
*
1958 - A fire in a loft building in
New York,
New York kills 24 people.
*
1962 -
Algerian War of Independence: A ceasefire takes effect.
* 1962 -
Bob Dylan releases his first, self-titled album.
*
1972 -
India and
Bangladesh sign a friendship
treaty.
*
1978 -
UN Security Council Resolution 425 and
426 were passed, calling upon
Israel immediately to cease its military action and withdraw from all
Lebanese territory (
Operation Litani), and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (
UNIFIL).
*
1979 - The
United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network
C-SPAN.
*
1981 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the
Space Shuttle Columbia.
*
1982 -
Falklands War:
Argentines land on
South Georgia Island, precipitating war.
*
2002 -
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan:
Operation Anaconda ends (started on
March 2) after killing 500
Taliban and
al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities.
*
2004 -
Äänekoski bus disaster - A
semi-trailer truck and a bus crash head-on in
Äänekoski,
Finland. 24 people are killed and 13 injured.
* 2004 - A Swedish
DC-3 shot down by a Russian
Mig-15 in the 1950s is finally recovered after years of work. The remains of the crew are left in place, pending further investigations.
* 2004 -
Taiwanese president
Chen Shui-ban is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20. See
3-19 Shooting Incident.
*
2006 - Second
World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace convened in Seville, Spain
*
1434 -
Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shogun (d.
1443)
*
1488 -
Johannes Magnus, last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden (d.
1544)
*
1534 -
José de Anchieta, Spanish
Jesuit missionary to Brazil (d.
1597)
*
1684 -
Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (d.
1766)
*
1721 -
Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (d.
1771)
*
1734 -
Thomas McKean, American lawyer and signer of the Declaration of Independence (d.
1817)
*
1739 -
Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, Third Consul of France (d.
1824)
*
1778 -
Edward Pakenham, British general (d.
1815)
*
1813 -
David Livingstone, Scottish missionary and explorer (d.
1873)
*
1821 -
Richard Francis Burton, British explorer, diplomat and author (d.
1890)
*
1824 or
1828 -
William Allingham, Irish author (d.
1889)
*
1829 -
Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish financier and industrialist (d.
1901)
*
1848 -
Wyatt Earp, American policeman and gunfighter (d.
1929)
*
1849 -
Alfred von Tirpitz, German
World War I Admiral (d.
1930)
*
1851 -
William Henry Stark, American business leader (d.
1936)
*
1864 -
Charles Marion Russell, American artist (d.
1926)
*
1865 -
William Morton Wheeler, American entomologist, myrmecologist, pioneer in ethology (d.
1937)
*
1871 -
Schofield Haigh, British cricketer (d.
1921)
*
1872 -
Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet impresario (d.
1929)
*
1873 -
Max Reger, German composer (d.
1916)
*
1883 -
Walter Haworth, British chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (d.
1950)
* 1883 -
Joseph Stilwell, U.S. general (d.
1946)
*
1888 -
Josef Albers, German artist (d.
1976)
* 1888 -
Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (d.
1969)
*
1891 -
Earl Warren, 14th
Chief Justice of the United States (d.
1974)
*
1892 -
James Van Fleet, American general (d.
1992)
*
1894 -
Moms Mabley, American comedian (d.
1975)
* 1894 -
Joe Venuti, American musician (d.
1978)
*
1900 -
Frédéric Joliot, French physicist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d.
1958)
*
1904 -
John Sirica, American judge (d.
1992)
*
1905 -
Albert Speer, Nazi official (d.
1981)
*
1906 -
Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official (d.
1962)
*
1909 -
Louis Hayward, British actor (d.
1985)
* 1909 -
Attilio Demaria, Argentinian footballer
*
1910 -
Joseph F. Carroll,
US Air Force Lt. Gen. and Founding Director, Defense Intelligence Agency (d.
1991)
*
1914 -
Jay Berwanger, American football player (d.
2002)
*
1916 -
Eric Christmas, British actor (d.
2000)
* 1916 -
Irving Wallace, American novelist (d.
1990)
*
1917 -
Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist (d.
1950)
* 1917 -
Laszlo Szabo, Hungarian chess player (d.
1998)
*
1920 -
Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author (d.
2002)
*
1921 -
Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (d.
1984)
*
1923 -
Pamela Britton, American actress (d.
1974)
*
1924 -
Mary Wimbush, British actress (d.
2005)
*
1927 -
Richie Ashburn, American baseball player (d.
1997)
*
1928 -
Hans Küng, Swiss theologian
* 1928 -
Patrick McGoohan, American-born actor
*
1930 -
Ornette Coleman, American musician
*
1933 -
Philip Roth, American author
*
1936 -
Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
* 1936 -
Birthe Wilke, Danish singer
*
1937 -
Clarence "Frogman" Henry, American musician
* 1937 -
Egon Krenz, President of East Germany
*
1939 -
Joe Kapp, American football player
*
1943 -
Mario J. Molina, Mexican chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate
* 1943 -
Mario Monti, Italian politician
*
1944 -
Said Musa,
Prime Minister of Belize* 1944 -
Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian-born assassin
*
1947 -
Glenn Close, American actress
* 1947 -
Marinho Peres, Brazilian football player
*
1953 -
Ricky Wilson, American musician (
The B-52's) (d.
1985)
*
1955 -
Bruce Willis, American actor
*
1962 -
Ivan Calderon, Puerto Rican baseball player (d.
2003)
* 1962 -
Jim Korderas, American professional wrestling referee
*
1964 -
Yoko Kanno, Japanese composer
*
1966 -
James "Big Jim" Wright, American record producer
*
1969 -
Connor Trinneer, American actor
*
1971 -
Nadja Auermann, German supermodel
*
1974 -
Vida Guerra, Cuban-American swimsuit model
*
1975 -
Vivian Hsu, Taiwanese singer, actress and model
* 1975 -
Matthew Richardson, Australian Rules Footballer
*
1979 -
Hee-Seop Choi, Korean
Major League Baseball player
*
1980 -
Mikuni Shimokawa, Japanese singer
*
1981 -
Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
*
Year of birth unknown -
Mana, Japanese guitarist (
Malice Mizer and
Moi dix Mois)
*
1238 - Duke
Henry I of Poland (b.
1163)
*
1263 -
Hugh of St Cher, French cardinal
*
1279 -
Emperor Bing of Song China (b.
1271)
*
1286 - King
Alexander III of Scotland (b.
1241)
*
1330 -
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician (executed) (b.
1301)
*
1406 -
Ibn Khaldun, Arab historian (b.
1332)
*
1623 -
Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (b.
1556)
*
1637 -
Péter Pázmány, Hungarian cardinal and statesman (b.
1570)
*
1649 -
Gerhard Johann Vossius, German classical scholar and theologian (b.
1577)
*
1683 -
Thomas Killigrew, English dramatist (b.
1612)
*
1687 -
Robert Cavelier de La Salle, French explorer (b.
1643)
*
1697 -
Nicolaus Bruhns, German organist and composer (b.
1665)
*
1711 -
Thomas Ken, English bishop and hymn-writer (b.
1637)
*
1717 -
John Campbell, 1st Earl of Breadalbane and Holland, Scottish royalist
*
1721 -
Pope Clement XI (b.
1649)
*
1796 -
Hugh Palliser, British naval officer and administrator (b.
1722)
*
1871 -
Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist (b.
1795)
*
1914 -
Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (b.
1850)
*
1916 -
Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (b.
1848)
*
1930 -
Arthur Balfour,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b.
1848)
*
1939 -
Lloyd L. Gaines, American civil rights activist
*
1942 -
Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist (b.
1855)
*
1943 -
Frank Nitti, American gangster (b.
1883)
*
1944 -
William Hale Thompson, American mayor of Chicago (b.
1869)
*
1945 -
Friedrich Fromm, German Nazi official (b.
1888)
*
1950 -
Edgar Rice Burroughs, American author (b.
1875)
*1950 -
Walter Haworth, British chemist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1883)
*
1974 -
Edward Platt, American actor (b.
1916)
*
1976 -
Albert Dieudonné, French actor, screenwriter and novelist (b.
1889)
*1976 -
Paul Kossoff, British guitarist (
Free) (b.
1950)
*
1978 -
Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b.
1893)
*
1979 -
Richard Beckinsale, British actor (b.
1947)
*
1982 -
Randy Rhoads, American guitarist (
Quiet Riot,
Ozzy) (b.
1956)
*
1987 -
Louis, 7th duc de Broglie, French physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1892)
*
1989 -
Alan Civil, English French horn player (b.
1929)
*
1990 -
Andrew Wood, American musician (
Mother Love Bone) (b.
1966)
*
1995 -
Yasuo Yamada, Japanese Voice Actor (b.
1932)
*
1997 -
Willem de Kooning, Dutch artist (b.
1904)
*
1999 -
Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet (b.
1926)
*
2003 -
Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator (b.
1926)
*
2004 -
Mitchell Sharp, Canadian politician (b.
1911)
*
2005 -
John De Lorean, American automobile engineer (b.
1925)
*The first day of
Quinquatria in ancient
Rome, held in honor of
Minerva.
*The
swallows return to Mission
San Juan Capistrano in
California.
*Mojoday in
DiscordianismLiturgical feasts
*
Roman Catholicism and
Church of England -
Saint Joseph's Day for
Saint Joseph of Nazareth, spouse of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, stepfather of Jesus; patron saint of
Belgium, a good death,
carpenters
**hence also (alternative)
Father's Day in
Spain,
Portugal,
Belgium**
Las Fallas in
Valencia, Spain.
*
Saint Landoald*
Saint Adeltrudis (d.670)
*
On this day in Canada*
NY Times: On this day*
BBC: On This Day*
Today in History: March 19March 18 -
March 20 -
February 19 -
April 19 --
listing of all days
