March 17

Events
Up to 1900
45 BC - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
180 - Marcus Aurelius dies, leaving Commodus as sole Emperor of the Roman Empire.
624 - Led by the Prophet Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
1328 - Isabella of France, on behalf of her 15-year-old son, Edward III of England, recognizes the independence of Scotland, ending the first of the Scottish Wars of Independence.
1337 - Edward, the Black Prince becomes Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
1452 - The Battle of Los Alporchones is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the Emirate of Granada and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile and Murcia, resulting in a Christian victory.
1667 - Siege of Valenciennes: During the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France's taking over of the city.
1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
1780 - American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday on St. Patrick's Day, in solidarity with the Irish people.
1800 - British ship HMS Queen Charlotte sinks after a fire on board off Livorno, Tuscany, Italy, killing 673 people.
1805 - Italy becomes a Kingdom for the first time, with Napoleon Bonaparte becoming King.
1842 - The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed.
1860 - The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase in the New Zealand Land Wars.
1861 - The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed, making Italy a united nation. It lasts until 1946, when a majority of voters supports becoming a Republic.
1891 - The USS Utopia collides with the HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar, and sinks, killing 562 people.
1899 - William Henry Pickering discovers Saturn's moon Phoebe.
1901 2000
1921 - The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
1939 - Second Sino-Japanese War: The Battle of Nanchang between the Republic of China's Kuomintang and Japan begins.
1941 - In Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Art is opened.
1945 - World War II: The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, shortly after its capture.
1948 - The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels.
1950 - Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name Californium.
1957 - A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines, kills 25 people, including President Ramon Magsaysay.
1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, escapes Tibet to India.
1960 - US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs invasion.
1963 - The Gunung Agung volcano on Bali, Indonesia, erupts, killing around 1,300 people.
1966 - A missing American hydrogen bomb is found off the Mediterranean Sea coast of Spain.
1968 - As a result of nerve gas testing in Skull Valley, Utah, US, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
1969 - Golda Meir becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
1988 - Avianca Flight 410, a Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, crashes into a mountainside in Eastern Colombia, near the Venezuelan border, killing 143 people.
1988 - Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
1991 - Diego Maradona is found to have taken cocaine and is banned from football for 15 months.
1992 - A referendum in South Africa approves the end of Apartheid.
1992 - A suicide car bombing at Israel's Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, kills 29 people.
2000 - More than 800 members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in what is considered to be a mass murder and suicide, orchestrated by the leaders of the cult.
From 2001
2003 - Robin Cook resigns from the British cabinet over plans to go to war in Iraq.
2004 - Unrest occurs in Kosovo. 22 people are killed, and 220 injured, as 35 Serbian Orthodox Shrines in Kosovo and 2 mosques in Belgrade and Nis, Serbia, are destroyed.
2008 - New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigns over a prostitution scandal. David Paterson replaces him.
2009 - Marc Ravalomanana resigns as President of Madagascar, as Andry Rajoelina takes over, following weeks of unrest.
2011 - 2011 Libyan civil war: The United Nations Security Council authorizes military intervention to protect civilians in Libya, as well as a no-fly zone over Libya.
2013 - A meteorite hits the Moon.
2018 - Russia expels 23 British diplomats (after the UK did the same with 23 Russian diplomats on March 14) and also decides to close the British Consulate in Saint Petersburg and end the work of the British Council in Russia. This is because of an ongoing diplomatic row between the two countries over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.
Births
Up to 1900
765 - Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid Caliph (d. 809) (N.S March 27 on Gregorian calendar)
1231 - Emperor Shijo of Japan (d. 1242)
1473 - King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
1537 - Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese general and politician (d. 1598)
1628 - Francois Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
1665 - Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French musician, harpsichordist and composer (d. 1829)
1676 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
1686 - Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter, engraver and tapestry designer (d. 1755)
1725 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American military and political leader
1777 - Patrick Bronte, father of the Bronte sisters (d. 1861)
1777 - Roger Brooke Taney, 5th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1864)
1780 - Thomas Chalmers, Scottish theologian, religious reformer and writer (d. 1847)
1794 - Gabriel Antonio Pereira, President of Uruguay (d. 1861)
1804 - Jim Bridger, American explorer (d. 1881)
1813 - King Kamehameha III of Hawaii (d. 1854) (March 17 was official birthday)
1822 - Sa'id, Khedive (Viceroy) of Egypt (d. 1854)
1832 - Walter Q. Gresham, United States Secretary of State (d. 1895)
1834 - Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
1846 - Kate Greenaway, English writer and illustrator (d. 1901)
1849 - Charles F. Brush, American inventor and entrepreneur (d. 1929)
1856 - Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
1858 - Policarpo Bonilla, President of Honduras (d. 1926)
1862 - Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist (d. 1930)
1865 - Gabriel Narutowicz, President of Poland (d. 1922)
1868 - Nathan E. Kendall, 23rd Governor of Iowa (d. 1936)
1872 - Konstantinos Skarlatos, Greek shooter (d. 1969)
1876 - Frederick Ayres, American composer (d. 1926)
1877 - Otto Gross, Austrian psychoanalyst (d. 1920)
1879 - Jim Nance McCord, Governor of Tennessee (d. 1968)
1880 - Lawrence Oates, English Antarctic explorer (d. 1912)
1881 - Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist (d. 1973)
1883 - Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
1884 - Alcide Nunez, American jazz clarinettist (d. 1934)
1885 - Ralph Rose, American athlete (d. 1913)
1886 - Princess Patricia of Connaught (d. 1974)
1888 - Paul Ramadier, French politician (d. 1961)
1889 - Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (d. 1931)
1892 - Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer and composer (d. 1923)
1900 - Alfred Neumann, American movie composer (d. 1970)
1901 1950
1902 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
1906 - Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
1907 - Miki Takeo, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1988)
1907 - Jean Van Houtte, Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)
1907 - John O. Pastore, Governor of Rhode Island (d. 2000)
1911 - Vello Kaaristo, Estonian cross-country skier (d. 1965)
1912 - Bayard Rustin, American Civil rights activist (d. 1987)
1914 - Juan Ongania, Argentine military officer and politician (d. 1995)
1915 - Ray Ellington, British singer (d. 1985)
1919 - Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
1920 - Jose Tomas Sanchez, Filipino cardinal (d. 2012)
1921 - Meir Amit, Israeli politician and general (d. 2009)
1922 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bengali founder (d. 1975)
1925 - Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor (d. 2015)
1926 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer (d. 2014)
1927 - Francisco Gonzalez Ledesma, Spanish writer (d. 2015)
1927 - Patrick Allen, British actor (d. 2006)
1929 - Peter L. Berger, Austrian philosopher (d. 2017)
1930 - James Irwin, American astronaut (d. 1991)
1933 - Penelope Lively, British writer
1933 - Heather Armitage, British athlete
1935 - Oscar Panno, Argentine chess player
1936 - Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot and astronaut
1937 - Adam Wade, American singer, drummer and actor
1937 - Galina Samsova, Russian ballet dancer
1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
1938 - Keith O'Brien, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and cardinal (d. 2018)
1939 - Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
1939 - Robin Knox-Johnston, British yachtsman
1939 - Bill Graham, Canadian politician
1940 - Mark White, 40th Governor of Texas (d. 2017)
1940 - Jim Telfer, Scottish rugby player
1941 - Paul Kantner, American musician (d. 2016)
1942 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994; executed by lethal injection)
1943 - Jim Weatherly, American singer-songwriter
1943 - Bakili Muluzi, former President of Malawi
1944 - John Sebastian, American singer, songwriter and guitarist
1944 - Juan Ramon Veron, Argentine footballer and coach
1944 - Cito Galston, American baseball player
1945 - Michael Hayden, General USAF, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
1945 - Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
1947 - Yury Chernavsky, Russian composer and producer
1948 - William Gibson, American writer
1949 - Patrick Duffy, American actor
1949 - Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach
1949 - Hartmut Briesenick, East German athlete (d. 2013)
1949 - Stuart Rose, English businessman
1951 1975
1951 - Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
1951 - Sydne Rome, American actress
1951 - Kurt Russell, American actor
1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress and singer
1955 - Cynthia McKinney, American politician
1955 - Gary Sinise, American actor
1955 - Mark Boone Junior, American actor
1956 - Rory McGrath, English comedian and writer
1957 - Michael Kelly, American journalist (d. 2003)
1958 - Jose-Manuel Abascal, Spanish middle-distance runner
1958 - Christian Clemenson, American actor
1960 - Ruth Langsford, English television presenter
1960 - Michael Whitaker, English equestrian
1961 - Sam Bowie, American basketball player
1961 - Casey Siemaszko, American actor
1961 - Dana Reeve, American actress and activist (d. 2006)
1962 - Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress
1962 - Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1962 - Kalpana Chawla, Indian astronaut (d. 2003)
1964 - Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
1964 - Lee Dixon, English footballer and pundit
1964 - Rob Lowe, American actor
1964 - Jacques Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
1966 - Espen Hammer, Norwegian philosopher
1966 - Andrew Rosindell, English politician
1967 - Billy Corgan, American musician
1969 - Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer (d. 2010)
1969 - Bruce Parry, British former soldier, traveler and adventurer
1969 - Patricia Ford, American model
1969 - Edgar Gronspiron, French skier
1972 - Mia Hamm, American soccer player
1972 - Sean Price, American rapper an producer
1973 - Caroline Corr, Irish singer and musician
1974 - Mark Dolan, British television presenter
1975 - Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
1975 - Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer and producer
1975 - Gina Holden, Canadian actress
1975 - Andrew Martin, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2009)
From 1976
1976 - Stephen Gately, Irish singer (Boyzone) (d. 2009)
1976 - Alvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
1976 - Brittany Daniel, American actress
1976 - Cynthia Daniel, American actress and photographer
1978 - Pilar Rubio, Spanish actress
1978 - Owen Thompson, Scottish politician
1979 - Sharman Joshi, Indian actor
1979 - Stephen Kramer Glickman, American actor and comedian
1979 - Million Wolde, Ethiopian runner
1979 - Stormy Daniels, American pornographic actress
1980 - Katie Morgan, American pornographic actress
1981 - Nicky Jam, American singer and songwriter
1981 - Servet Cetin, Turkish footballer
1982 - Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
1983 - Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
1983 - Matteo Paro, Italian footballer
1984 - Ryan Rottman, American actor
1986 - Edin Dzeko, Bosnian footballer
1987 - Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
1987 - Rob Kardashian, American television personality
1987 - Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 - Federico Fazio, Argentine footballer
1988 - Fraser Forster, English footballer
1988 - Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer
1988 - Grimes, Canadian singer and songwriter
1988 - Jack Monroe, English food writer, journalist and activist
1989 - Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer
1989 - Mason Musso, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1990 - Hozier, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
1990 - Jean Segura, Dominican baseball player
1991 - Thomas Robinson, American basketball player
1992 - Eliza Bennett, English actress and singer
1992 - John Boyega, English actor
1992 - Yeltsin Tejeda, Costa Rican footballer
1997 - Katie Ledecky, American swimmer
Deaths
Up to 1900
45 BC - Titus Labienus, Roman leader (b. 100 BC)
45 BC - Publius Attius Varus, Roman Governor of Africa
180 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (b. 121)
unknown year (probably 461 or 493) - Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland
659 - Gertrude of Nivelles, Belgian abbess (b. 626)
1040 - Harold Harefoot, King of England
1058 - Lulach, King of the Scots
1199 - Jocelyn of Glasgow, Scottish monk and bishop (b. 1130)
1272 - Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (b. 1220)
1425 - Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (b. 1407)
1516 - Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1479)
1620 - John Sarkander, Polish-Moravian priest and saint (b. 1576)
1680 - Francois de Rochefoucauld, French author (b. 1613)
1741 - Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (b. 1674)
1782 - Daniel Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1700)
1830 - Lauren de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French politician (b. 1764)
1846 - Friedrich Bessel, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1764)
1849 - King William II of the Netherlands (b. 1792)
1853 - Christian Doppler, Austrian physician and mathematician (b. 1803)
1871 - Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher (b. 1802)
1875 - Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1832)
1886 - Leopold Zunz, German Jewish scientist (b. 1794)
1893 - Jules Ferry, French statesman (b. 1832)
1901 2000
1917 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher (b. 1838)
1921 - Nikolay Yegorovich Zhukovsky, Russian mathematician and engineer (b. 1847)
1926 - Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general (b. 1853)
1937 - Austen Chamberlain, English statesman (b. 1863)
1941 - Marguerite Nichols, American actress (b. 1895)
1946 - Dai Li, Chinese spymaster (b. 1897)
1956 - Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist (b. 1897)
1956 - Fred Allen, American actor (b. 1894)
1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
1958 - John Pius Boland, Irish politician and tennis player (b. 1870)
1961 - Susanna M. Salter, American politician (b. 1860)
1962 - Pat Clayton, English soldier and surveyor (b. 1896)
1976 - Luchino Visconti, Italian director (b. 1906)
1980 - Boun Oum, Laotian politician (b. 1912)
1983 - Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist (b. 1903)
1986 - Heinz Nixdorf, German computer pioneer and entrepreneur (b. 1925)
1990 - Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
1993 - Charlotte Hughes, British supercentenarian (b. 1877)
1993 - Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
1994 - Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1925)
1995 - Sunnyland Slim, American blues musician (b. 1907)
1995 - Ronnie Kray, British gangster (b. 1933)
1996 - Rene Clement, French movie director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
1996 - Terry Stafford, American singer (b. 1941)
1999 - Jean Pierre-Bloch, French resistance activist and politician (b. 1905)
From 2001
2002 - Van Tien Dung, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1917)
2002 - William Witney, American director (b. 1915)
2003 - Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (b. 1902)
2005 - George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat (b. 1904)
2006 - Oleg Cassini, American fashion designer (b. 1913)
2006 - G. William Miller, American politician (b. 1925)
2007 - John Backus, American computer scientist (b. 1924)
2007 - Ernst Haefliger, Swiss tenor (b. 1919)
2009 - Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian politician and television host (b. 1937)
2010 - Alex Chilton, American musician (b. 1950)
2010 - Sid Fleischman, American writer (b. 1920)
2011 - Michael Gough, British actor (b. 1916)
2012 - John Demjanjuk, Ukrainian convicted Nazi war criminal (b. 1920)
2012 - Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, leader of the Egyptian Coptic Church (b. 1923)
2014 - Mareike Carriere, German actress (b. 1954)
2014 - L'Wren Scott, American fashion designer and model (b. 1964)
2014 - Oswald Morris, British cinematographer (b. 1915)
2014 - Antoni Opolski, Polish physicist (b. 1913)
2014 - Mercy Edirisinghe, Sri Lankan actress and singer (b. 1945)
2015 - Shaw Taylor, English television presenter and actor (b. 1924)
2015 - Ashley Adams, Australian Paralympic shooter (b. 1955)
2016 - Shozo Awazu, Japanese judoka (b. 1923)
2016 - Paul Daniels, English magician (b. 1938)
2016 - Meir Dagan, Israeli military officer and intelligence official (b. 1945)
2016 - Solomon Marcus, Romanian mathematician (b. 1925)
2016 - Larry Drake, American actor (b. 1950)
2016 - Marian Kociniak, Polish actor (b. 1935)
2017 - Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian poet and playwright (b. 1930)
2017 - Hugh Hardy, Spanish-American architect (b. 1932)
2017 - Lawrence Montaigne, American actor (b. 1931)
2017 - Auntie Fee, American YouTube personality (b. 1957)
2017 - Inomjon Usmonxo'jayev, Soviet-Uzbek politician (b. 1930)
2018 - Phan Van Khai, former Prime minister of Vietnam (b. 1933)
2018 - Nicholas Edwards, Baron Crickhowell, Welsh politician (b. 1934)
2018 - Mike MacDonald, Canadian comedian (b. 1955)
2019 - Jorge Insunza Becker, Chilean engineer and politician (b. 1936)
2019 - Bill Burlison, American politician (b. 1931)
2019 - Manohar Parrikar, Indian politician (b. 1955)
2019 - Andre Williams, American R&B musician (b. 1936)
Holidays
St. Patrick's Day - celebrating the patron saint of Ireland, celebrated in Ireland and in Irish communities worldwide
Children's Day (Bangladesh)
Days of the year