March 16

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 Montsegur.
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: Wurzburg, 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 - Cesar 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 author (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 Bohm, 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 Guei, 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 - Belen 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-Fanch 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)
Days of the year