# 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

### Up to 1900

* 597 BC – Babylonians capture Jerusalem and replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as King.
* 455 – Roman Emperor Valentinian III is assassinated by two Hunnic retainers while training with the bow on the Campus Martinus in Rome.
* 1190 – Crusaders start to massacre the Jews of York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars are burned after the fall of Montségur.
* 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
* 1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visits the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."
* 1660 – The Long Parliament disbands.
* 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish troops capture the British island of Roatan.
* 1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
* 1802 – The United States Military Academy West Point is established.
* 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 defeat Chileans under Jose de San Martin.
* 1850 – Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel *The Scarlet Letter* is first published.
* 1861 – Edward Clark becomes Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.
* 1864 – American Civil War: During the Red River Campaign, Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.
* 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Avenasborough begins, with Confederate forces suffering heavy losses.
* 1867 – First publication of an article by Joseph Lister outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery, in *The Lancet*.
* 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.
* 1898 – The Italian Football Federation is founded.
* 1900 – Sir Arthur Evans purchases the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.

### 1901 – 1950

* 1906 – A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits Chiayi, Taiwan, killing around 1,300 people.
* 1912 – Lawrence Oates, a member of Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated South Pole expedition, because of illness leaves the tent to die, a day before his 32nd birthday. His last words were "I am just going outside and may be some time".
* 1916 – The 7th and 10th Cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US–Mexico border in a bid to capture Pancho Villa.
* 1916 – Antonio Jose de Almeida becomes Prime Minister of Portugal.
* 1924 – In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, the Free State of Fiume is annexed as part of Italy.
* 1925 – A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits Yunnan, China, killing around 5,000 people.
* 1926 – Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
* 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
* 1936 – Warmer-than-normal temperatures rapidly melt snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, flooding Pittsburgh.
* 1939 – At Prague Castle, Adolf Hitler declares Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
* 1939 – Marriage of Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt and Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
* 1940 – World War II: A German bombing raid is carried out on Scapa Flow, Orkney.
* 1942 – The first V-2 rocket is test-launched – it explodes after lift-off.
* 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.
* 1945 – World War II: Würzburg, Germany is 90% destroyed, with 5,000 dead, in only 20 minutes by British bombers.

### 1951 – 2000

* 1956 – St. Urho's Day is first celebrated.
* 1958 – The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird.
* 1962 – A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 people missing.
* 1966 – Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight, with Neil Armstrong and David Scott on board.
* 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 produces its 100 millionth automobile, an Oldsmobile Toronado.
* 1969 – A Venezuelan Airlines DC-9 crashes shortly after takeoff in Maracaibo, Venezuela killing 155
* 1972 – The first building of the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex is demolished.
* 1976 – Harold Wilson resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom five days after his 60th birthday, citing personal reasons. James Callaghan replaces him.
* 1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti–government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.
* 1978 – Aldo Moro is kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas in Italy and is later killed by his captors.
* 1978 – The *Amoco Cadiz* oil tanker runs aground off Brittany, leading to an oil spill.
* 1983 – Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last radio tower in Germany built of wood.
* 1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later dies in captivity.
* 1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He would be 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 was attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing thousands of people.
* 1989 – In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found near the Pyramid of Cheops.
* 1993 – A blizzard on the east coast of the United States kills 184 (see Great Blizzard of 1993).
* 1994 – Tonya Harding pleads guilty to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for trying to cover-up an attack on figure skating rival Nancy Kerrigan.
* 1995 – Mississippi formally ratifies the 13th Amendment, becoming the last US State to approve a ban on slavery.
* 1996 – Mike Tyson defeats Frank Bruno in Las Vegas to win the Boxing World Heavyweight title.
* 1997 – Stuart Appleby wins the Honda Golf Classic.

### From 2001

* 2002 – Closing ceremonies of the Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
* 2003 – Largest coordinated worldwide vigil, as part of the global protests against Iraq war.
* 2005 – Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.
* 2006 – Release date of the computer role-playing game Final Fantasy XII in Japan.
* 2010 – The Kasubi Tombs in Uganda, which formed a World Heritage Site, are destroyed by fire.
* 2014 – Closing ceremony of the Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Southern Russia.
* 2014 – A referendum held in Crimea results in a majority wanting to join Russia rather than stay part of Ukraine.

## Births

### Up to 1800

* 1399 – Xuande Emperor of China (d. 1435)
* 1465 – Kunigunde of Austria (d. 1520)
* 1473 – Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
* 1581 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch poet, historian and dramatist (d. 1647)
* 1663 – Jean-Baptiste Matho, French composer (d. 1743)
* 1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover (d. 1757)
* 1750 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (d. 1848)
* 1751 – James Madison, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)
* 1771 – Antoine-Jean Gros, French painter (d. 1835)
* 1773 – Juan Ramon Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (d. 1836)
* 1774 – Matthew Flinders, English explorer (d. 1814)
* 1789 – Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist (d. 1854)
* 1789 – Francis Chesney, English general and explorer (d. 1872)
* 1799 – Anna Atkins, British botanist and illustrator (d. 1871)
* 1800 – Emperor Ninko of Japan (d. 1846)

### 1801 – 1900

* 1805 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (d. 1861)
* 1821 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician (d. 1851)
* 1822 – Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
* 1827 – Ferdinand Meldahl, Danish architect (d. 1908)
* 1834 – James Hector, Scottish geologist (d. 1907)
* 1836 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, English-American engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
* 1839 – Sully Prudhomme, French writer (d. 1907)
* 1839 – John Butler Yeats, Irish artist (d. 1922)
* 1840 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (d. 1931)
* 1845 – Umegatani Totaro I, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1928)
* 1846 – Jurgis Bielinis, Lithuanian book smuggler (d. 1918)
* 1846 – Gosta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (d. 1927)
* 1848 – Axel Heiberg, Norwegian diplomat and financier (d. 1932)
* 1851 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
* 1856 – Napoleon Eugene, Prince Imperial, son of Napoleon III of France (d. 1879)
* 1859 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (d. 1907)
* 1865 – Aspazija, Latvian poet and playwright (d. 1943)
* 1871 – Frantz Reichel, French athlete and rugby player (d. 1932)
* 1877 – Leo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian movie pioneer (d. 1972)
* 1877 – Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran (d. 1944)
* 1878 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German bishop and Resistance activist (d. 1946)
* 1883 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet (d. 1958)
* 1884 – Alexander Belyayev, Russian writer (d. 1942)
* 1885 – Giacomo Benvenuti, Italian composer and musicologist (d. 1943)
* 1887 – Emilio Lunghi, Italian middle-distance runner (d. 1925)
* 1889 – Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
* 1890 – Solomon Mikhoels, Soviet actor (d. 1948)
* 1892 – Nikolai Kondratiev, Russian economist (d. 1938)
* 1892 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (d. 1938)
* 1897 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)

### 1901 – 1925

* 1902 – Leon Roppolo, American jazz clarinettist (d. 1943)
* 1905 – Elisabeth Hickenschildt, German actress, producer and writer (d. 1977)
* 1906 – Francisco Ayala, Spanish writer (d. 2009)
* 1908 – Rene Daumal, French writer and poet (d. 1944)
* 1908 – Robert Rossen, American screenwriter, movie director and producer (d. 1966)
* 1911 – Pierre Harmel, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2009)
* 1911 – Josef Mengele, Nazi war criminal (d. 1979)
* 1912 – Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
* 1915 – Haldun Taner, Turkish playwright and short story writer (d. 1986)
* 1915 – Kunihiko Kodaira, Japanese mathematician (d. 1997)
* 1916 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese survivor of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs (d. 2010)
* 1918 – Frederick Reines, American physicist (d. 1998)
* 1918 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
* 1920 – Tonino Guerra, Italian poet, writer and screenwriter (d. 2012)
* 1920 – John Addison, British composer (d. 1998)
* 1920 – Sid Fleischman, American writer (d. 2010)
* 1920 – Traudl Junge, Adolf Hitler's press secretary (d. 2002)
* 1921 – Werner Uebelmann, Swiss entrepreneur (d. 2014)
* 1923 – Sergiu Cunescu, Romanian politician (d. 2005)
* 1925 – Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist (d. 2004)
* 1925 – Cornell Borchers, German actress (d. 2014)

### 1926 – 1950

* 1926 – Jerry Lewis, American comedian (d. 2017)
* 1926 – Charles Goodell, United States Senator for New York (d. 1987)
* 1927 – Vladimir Komarov, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut (d. 1967)
* 1927 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American politician (d. 2003)
* 1927 – Joseph W. Tkach, American pastor (d. 1995)
* 1928 – Christa Ludwig, German mezzo–soprano
* 1928 – Karlheinz Böhm, Austrian actor (d. 2014)
* 1928 – Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2010)
* 1929 – Betty Johnson, American singer
* 1929 – Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist (d. 2015)
* 1929 – Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress
* 1930 – Tommy Flanagan, American jazz pianist (d. 2001)
* 1931 – Augusto Boal, Brazilian theatre director (d. 2009)
* 1931 – Anthony Kenny, English philosopher
* 1932 – Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer
* 1932 – Walter Cunningham, American astronaut
* 1933 – Jos Chabert, Belgian politician (d. 2014)
* 1934 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor General of Canada (d. 2002)
* 1934 – Ray Walker, American singer
* 1935 – Teresa Berganza, Spanish opera singer
* 1936 – Raymond Vahan Damadian, Armenian-American practitioner of MRI
* 1936 – Elisabeth Volkmann, German actress (d. 2006)
* 1937 – Attilio Nicora, Italian cardinal (d. 2017)
* 1939 – Carlos Bilardo, Argentine footballer
* 1940 – Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian movie director (d. 2018)
* 1941 – Robert Guéï, military leader of Ivory Coast (d. 2002)
* 1942 – Roger Crozier, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1996)
* 1944 – John Kipkurgat, Kenyan middle-distance runner
* 1944 – Andrew S. Tanenbaum, American computer scientist
* 1946 – Michael Basman, English chess player
* 1948 – Richard Desjardins, Canadian singer, songwriter and movie director
* 1948 – Margaret Weis, American writer
* 1949 – Erik Estrada, American actor
* 1949 – Victor Garber, Canadian actor
* 1950 – Joe Bugner, Hungarian-born boxer

### 1951 – 1975

* 1952 – Philippe Kahn, French technology innovator and entrepreneur
* 1952 – Irwin Keyes, American actor and comedian (d. 2015)
* 1953 – Richard Stallman, American free software activist
* 1953 – Oscar Ramirez, Peruvian revolutionary leader
* 1954 – Nancy Wilson, American guitarist (Heart)
* 1954 – Jimmy Nail, British actor and singer
* 1955 – Bruno Barreto, Brazilian movie director
* 1955 – Svetlana Alexeeva, Russian ice dancer and coach
* 1956 – Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, Swiss politician
* 1956 – Ozzie Newsome, American football player and coach
* 1956 – Clifton Powell, American actor and comedian
* 1958 – Phillip Wilcher, Australian pianist
* 1959 – Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime Minister of Norway and current Secretary-General of NATO
* 1959 – Flavor Flav, American rapper
* 1960 – Jenny Eclair, British comedienne
* 1960 – Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1960 – John Hemming, British politician
* 1961 – Todd McFarlane, Canadian artist, cartoonist and entrepreneur
* 1961 – Michiru Oshima, Japanese composer
* 1963 – Jimmy DeGrasso, American musician
* 1964 – Patty Griffin, American singer
* 1965 – Mark Carney, Canadian economist, Governor of the Bank of England
* 1965 – Belén Rueda, Spanish actress
* 1967 – Lauren Graham, American actress
* 1967 – John Darnielle, American musician and novelist
* 1969 – Markus Lanz, German-Italian television presenter and entertainer
* 1970 – Joakim Berg, Swedish composer
* 1970 – Pall Oskar, Icelandic singer and musician
* 1975 – Sienna Guillory, English actress

### From 1976

* 1976 – Paul Schneider, American actor and director
* 1977 – Steve Jones, Welsh television presenter
* 1978 – Brooke Burns, American actress and model
* 1979 – Leena Peisa, Finnish musician (Lordi)
* 1979 – Andrei Stepanov, Estonian footballer
* 1979 – Edison Mendez, Ecuadorean footballer
* 1980 – Todd Heap, American football player
* 1980 – Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player
* 1981 – Yoav Ziv, Israeli footballer
* 1984 – Wilfried Sanou, Burkina Faso footballer
* 1984 – Brandon Prust, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1986 – Daisuke Takahashi, Japanese figure skater
* 1986 – Ken Doane, American wrestler
* 1986 – Neil Gray, Scottish politician
* 1986 – Bernard Parker, South African footballer
* 1987 – Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
* 1988 – Jessica Gregg, Canadian short-track speed skater
* 1988 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
* 1989 – Theo Walcott, English footballer
* 1989 – Blake Griffin, American basketball player
* 1990 – James Bulger, English toddler whose killing led to a high-profile murder case (d. 1993)
* 1991 – Wolfgang Van Halen, American musician
* 1992 – Brett Davern, American actor
* 1993 – George Ford, English rugby union player
* 1995 – Shy Carlos, Filipino-Swiss actress and singer
* 1999 – Bailie Key, American gymnast

## Deaths

### Up to 1900

* 37 – Tiberius, Roman Emperor (b. 42 BC)
* 455 – Valentinian III, West Roman Emperor (b. 419)
* 455 – Heraclius, Roman servant
* 1021 – Heribert of Cologne, Archbishop of Cologne and Chancellor of Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
* 1037 – Robert I, Archbishop of Rouen
* 1072 – Adalbert of Hamburg, German archbishop
* 1457 – Laszlo Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and warrior (b. 1433)
* 1485 – Anne Neville, Queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)
* 1679 – John Leverett, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1616)
* 1736 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (b. 1710)
* 1737 – Benjamin Wadsworth, President of Harvard University (b. 1670)
* 1747 – Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia (b. 1690)
* 1861 – Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (b. 1786)
* 1888 – Hippolyte Carnot, French statesman (b. 1801)
* 1890 – Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (b. 1864)
* 1898 – Aubrey Beardsley, British artist (b. 1872)
* 1899 – Joseph Medill, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1823)

### 1901 – 2000

* 1903 – Roy Bean, American jurist (b. 1825)
* 1912 – Lawrence Oates, English Antarctic explorer (b. 1880)
* 1914 – Charles Albert Gorbat, Swiss politician (b. 1843)
* 1919 – Yakov Sverdlov, Russian politician (b. 1885)
* 1926 – Sergeant Stubby, American World War I dog (b. 1916 or 1917)
* 1930 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish military leader (b. 1870)
* 1935 – Aron Nimzowitsch, Latvian chess player (b. 1886)
* 1935 – John James Rickard Macleod, Scottish physiologist, won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, (b. 1876)
* 1936 – Marguerite Durand, French journalist and feminist (b. 1864)
* 1940 – Selma Lagerlof, Swedish writer (b. 1858)
* 1945 – Simeon Price, American golfer (b. 1882)
* 1957 – Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (b. 1876)
* 1961 – Chen Geng, Chinese military leader (b. 1903)
* 1963 – William Henry Beveridge, British economist (b. 1879)
* 1968 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (b. 1895)
* 1968 – Gunnar Ekelof, Swedish writer (b. 1858)
* 1970 – Tammi Terrell, American singer (b. 1945)
* 1971 – Thomas E. Dewey, American politician, 1948 Presidential candidate (b. 1902)
* 1975 – T-Bone Walker, American musician (b. 1910)
* 1977 – Kamal Jumblatt, leader of anti-government forces during the Lebanese Civil War (b. 1917)
* 1979 – Jean Monnet, French entrepreneur and politician (b. 1888)
* 1980 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
* 1985 – Eddie Shore, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
* 1985 – Roger Sessions, American composer (b. 1896)
* 1992 – Yves Rocard, French physicist (b. 1903)
* 1995 – Heinrich Sutermeister, Swiss composer (b. 1910)
* 1998 – Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist (b. 1918)
* 2000 – Thomas Ferebee, Hiroshima bomber (b. 1918)

### From 2001

* 2003 – Rachel Corrie, American activist (b. 1979)
* 2005 – Sergiu Cunescu, Romanian politician (b. 1923)
* 2008 – Ola Brunkert, Swedish drummer (b. 1946)
* 2008 – Gary Hart, American professional wrestler and Wrestling manager (b. 1942)
* 2012 – Mervyn Davies, Welsh rugby player (b. 1946)
* 2012 – Estanislao Basora, Spanish footballer (b. 1926)
* 2013 – Booth Gardner, 19th Governor of Washington (b. 1936)
* 2013 – Jose Alfredo Martinez de Hoz, Argentine economist (b. 1925)
* 2013 – Marina Solodkin, Israeli politician (b. 1952)
* 2013 – Frank Thornton, English actor (b. 1921)
* 2014 – Gary Bettenhausen, American racing driver (b. 1941)
* 2014 – Donald Crothers, American academic and educator (b. 1937)
* 2014 – Alexander Pochinok, Russian economist and politician (b. 1958)
* 2015 – Bruce Crump, American musician (b. 1957)
* 2015 – Buddy Elias, Swiss actor (b. 1925)
* 2015 – Andy Fraser, British musician (b. 1962)
* 2015 – Arthur A. Hartman, American diplomat (b. 1926)
* 2015 – Jack Haley, American basketball player (b. 1964)
* 2015 – Miguel Donoso Pareja, Ecuadorean writer (b. 1931)
* 2016 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Soviet-born American poet and mathematician (b. 1924)
* 2016 – Frank Sinatra, Jr., American singer (b. 1944)
* 2016 – Cliff Michelmore, English broadcaster (b. 1919)
* 2017 – James Cotton, American musician (b. 1935)
* 2017 – Torgny Lindgren, Swedish writer (b. 1938)
* 2017 – Hasyim Muzadi, Indonesian Islamic scholar and cleric (b. 1944)
* 2018 – Boyukagha Hajiyev, Azerbaijani footballer (b. 1958)
* 2018 – Arnie Lerma, American writer and Scientology whistleblower (b. 1950)
* 2018 – Louise Slaughter, American politician (b. 1929)
* 2019 – Dick Dale, American guitarist and surf music pioneer (b. 1937)
* 2019 – Richard Erdman, American actor (b. 1925)
* 2019 – Bengt Gustafsson, Swedish military officer (b. 1933)
* 2019 – Barbara Hammer, American film director (b. 1939)
* 2019 – Tom Hatten, American actor and television presenter (b. 1926)
* 2019 – Yann-Fañch Kemener, French singer (b. 1957)
* 2019 – Yulia Nachalova, Russian singer, actress and television presenter (b. 1981)

## Observances

* St. Urho's Day (Finnish Communities in Canada and the US)
* Latvian Legion Day
* Day of the Book Smugglers (Lithuania)