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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

• 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.
• 1190 - Crusaders start to massacre the Jews of York; many Jews commit suicide rather than submit to baptism.
• 1249 - The Servite Order is officially approved by Cardinal Raniero Capocci, papal legate in Tuscany.
• 1322 - The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the First War of Scottish Independence.
• 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.
• 1689 - The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.
• 1792 - King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
• 1802 - The United States Military Academy at West Point is established.
• 1812 - Battle of Badajoz (March 16 - April 6) - British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat French garrison during Peninsular War.
• 1815 - Prince Willem of the House of Orange-Nassau proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in The Netherlands.
• 1818 - Battle of Cancha Rayada - Spanish forces defeat Chileans under José de San Martín.
• 1861 - Edward Clark became Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who was evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.
• 1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough begins as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
• 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.
• 1900 - Sir Arthur Evans purchases the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.
• 1912 - Lawrence Oates, ill member of Scott's South Pole expedition leaves the tent saying, "I am just going outside and may be some time."
• 1916 - The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
• 1924 - The free port of Fiume is formally annexed by Mussolini's fascist regime.
• 1926 - History of Rocketry: 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. Conscription was reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
• 1939 - From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
• 1939 - Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
• 1942 - History of Rocketry: The first V-2 rocket test launch (exploded at liftoff).
• 1943 - The Royal Navy Isles Class Trawler HMS Campobello Sinks in the Atlantic.
• 1945 - World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist.
• 1945 - Würzburg, Germany is 90% destroyed, with 5,000 dead, in only 20 minutes by British bombers.
• 1950 - Communist Czechoslovakia's ministry of foreign affairs asked nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.
• 1952 - In Cilaos, Réunion, 1,870mm (73 inches) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record.
• 1958 - The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding.
• 1962 - A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 people missing.
• 1963 - Mount Agung erupts on Bali, as 11,000 die.
• 1966 - Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena Target Vehicle.
• 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, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
• 1971 - Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway.
• 1976 - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.
• 1978 - Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped by left-wing terrorists and is later killed by his captors.
• 1978 - Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history.
• 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 is 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 5000 people and injured about 10000 people.
• 1995 - Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.
• 1997 - Sandline affair: On Bougainville Island, soldiers of commander Jerry Singirok arrest Tim Spicer and his mercenaries of the Sandline International.
• 1998 - Pope John Paul II asks God for forgiveness for the inactivity and silence of some Roman Catholics during the Holocaust.
• 2003 - The largest coordinated worldwide vigil takes place, as part of the global protests against Iraq war.
• 2005 - Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.
• 2006 - The United Nations General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to establish the UN Human Rights Council.

Births

• 1338 - Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (d. 1401)
• 1445 - Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss-born preacher (d. 1510)
• 1473 - Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
• 1581 - Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and writer (d. 1647)
• 1585 - Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer (d. 1618)
• 1631 - René Le Bossu, French critic (d. 1680)
• 1654 - Andreas Acoluthus, German orientalist (d. 1704)
• 1687 - Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, queen consort in Prussia (d. 1757)
• 1750 - Caroline Herschel, German-born English astronomer (d. 1848)
• 1751 - James Madison, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)
• 1773 - Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (d. 1836)
• 1774 - Captain Matthew Flinders, English explorer of the coasts of Australia (d. 1814)
• 1789 - Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist (d. 1854)
• 1794 - Ami Boué, Austrian geologist (d. 1881)
• 1800 - Emperor Ninko of Japan (d. 1846)
• 1805 - Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (d. 1861)
• 1822 - Rosa Bonheur, French realist painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
• 1834 - James Hector, Scottish geologist (d. 1907)
• 1839 - René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
• 1839 - John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (d. 1922)
• 1840 - Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (d. 1931)
• 1846 - Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (d. 1927)
• 1851 - Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
• 1856 - Napoléon Eugène Louis John Joseph, called Napoleon IV, the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1879)
• 1857 - Charles Harding Firth, British historian (d. 1936)
• 1859 - Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (d. 1906)
• 1865 - Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player (d. 1953)
• 1869 - F. A. Forbes, Scottish author (d. 1936)
• 1877 - Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (d. 1941)
• 1878 - Clemens August Graf von Galen, German archbishop and cardinal (d. 1946)
• 1889 - Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
• 1890 - Solomon Mikhoels, Soviet actor and chairman of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (d. 1948)
• 1892 - César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (d. 1938)
• 1892 - James Petrillo, leader of the U.S. musicians union (d. 1984)
• 1897 - Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1883 - Ethel Anderson, Australian poet (d. 1958)
• 1901 - Edward Pawley, American actor (d. 1988)
• 1902 - Leon Roppolo, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1943)
• 1903 - Mike Mansfield, American politician, and diplomat (d. 2001)
• 1905 - Elisabeth Flickenschildt, German actress (d. 1977)
• 1905 - Marlin Perkins, American naturalist (d. 1986)
• 1906 - Henny Youngman, American comedian (d. 1998)
• 1906 - Francisco Ayala, Spanish writer
• 1908 - René Daumal, French Surrealist writer (d. 1944)
• 1908 - Robert Rossen, American film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1966)
• 1911 - Dr. Josef Mengele, German, accused Nazi war criminal (d. 1979)
• 1911 - Pierre Harmel, Belgian politician
• 1912 - Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
• 1916 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1917 - Samael Aun Weor, Colombian writer (d. 1977)
• 1918 - Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1920 - Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
• 1920 - Traudl Junge, Hitler's secretary (d. 2002)
• 1920 - John Addison, British composer (d. 1998)
• 1920 - Dorothea Binz, Nazi war criminal (d. 1947)
• 1922 - Harding Lemay, American television scriptwriter and playwright
• 1925 - Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist, co-inventor of the combined oral contraceptive pill (d. 2004)
• 1926 - Charles Goodell, American politician (d. 1987)
• 1926 - Jerry Lewis, American comedian
• 1927 - Vladimir Komarov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1967)
• 1927 - Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from New York (d. 2003)
• 1927 - Olga San Juan, American comedian
• 1928 - Christa Ludwig, German mezzo-soprano
• 1928 - Karlheinz Böhm, Austrian actor
• 1929 - Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress
• 1930 - Tommy Flanagan, American jazz pianist (d. 2001)
• 1931 - Betty Johnson, American singer
• 1932 - Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
• 1932 - Walter Cunningham, American astronaut
• 1933 - Sandy Weill, American financier and philanthropist
• 1934 - Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (d. 2002)
• 1935 - Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano
• 1936 - Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1937 - Amos Tversky, Israeli psychologist (d. 1996)
• 1939 - Carlos Bilardo, Argetinian football coach
• 1940 - Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian film director
• 1940 - Jan Pronk, Dutch politician
• 1940 - Keith Rowe, English guitarist (AMM) and painter
• 1941 - Robert Guéï, ruler of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 2002)
• 1941 - Chuck Woolery, American game show host
• 1942 - James Soong, Taiwanese politician
• 1942 - Jerry Jeff Walker, American musician
• 1942 - Roger Crozier, Canadian ice hockey goaltender (d. 1996)
• 1943 - Ursula Goodenough, Evolutionary Scholar, Cell Biologist
• 1943 - Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (d. 2005)
• 1946 - Michael Basman, English chess master
• 1946 - Hubert Soudant, Dutch conductor
• 1947 - Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist
• 1948 - Michael Bruce, American musician. Guitarist and keyboard player for Alice Cooper
• 1948 - Margaret Weis, American author
• 1948 - Richard Desjardins, Quebec singer, songwriter and film director
• 1949 - Erik Estrada, Puerto Rican actor
• 1949 - Elliott Murphy, American Singer-Songwriter
• 1949 - Victor Garber, Canadian actor
• 1950 - Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
• 1951 - Joe DeLamielleure, American football player
• 1952 - Philippe Kahn, French-American entrepreneur
• 1953 - Isabelle Huppert, French actress
• 1953 - Richard Stallman, American free software activist
• 1954 - Jimmy Nail, British actor and singer
• 1954 - Nancy Wilson, American guitarist, singer, and actress (Heart)
• 1955 - Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
• 1955 - Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
• 1958 - Jorge Ramos, Mexican TV anchor
• 1959 - Flavor Flav, American rapper
• 1959 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
• 1960 - Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 - Todd McFarlane, Canadian cartoonist, comic book writer, artist, and media entrepreneur
• 1961 - Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1963 - Jimmy Degrasso, American musician, drummer
• 1963 - Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (d. 2002)
• 1964 - Patty Griffin, American singer and songwriter
• 1964 - Gore Verbinski, American movie director
• 1964 - Pascal Richard, Swiss cyclist
• 1965 - Richard Daniel Roman, English songwriter and record producer
• 1965 - Belén Rueda, Spanish actress
• 1967 - Lauren Graham, American actress
• 1968 - Ananya Khare, Indian actress and teacher
• 1970 - Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson), Icelandic pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey
• 1971 - Alan Tudyk, American actor
• 1973 - Brant Bjork, American musician (Kyuss)
• 1974 - Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer
• 1974 - Fotini Vavatsi, Greek archer
• 1975 - Sienna Guillory, English actress
• 1976 - Abraham Núñez, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 - Paul Schneider, American actor
• 1976 - Nick Spano, American actor
• 1977 - Donal Óg Cusack, Irish hurler
• 1979 - Edison Méndez, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1979 - Rashad Moore, National Football League player
• 1979 - Leena Peisa, Finnish musician (Lordi)
• 1980 - Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player
• 1980 - Todd Heap, American football player
• 1981 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
• 1981 - Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
• 1983 - Brandon League, American baseball player
• 1984 - Levi Brown, American football player
• 1985 - Nicole Trunfio, Australian supermodel
• 1986 - Ken Doane, American professional wrestler
• 1986 - T. J. Jordan, American basketball player
• 1987 - Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
• 1989 - Theo Walcott, English footballer
• 1989 - Peaches Geldof, English Dosser
• 1991 - Wolfgang Van Halen, American musician
• 1994 - Sierra McClain, American actress and singer

Deaths

• 37 - Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, Roman Emperor (b. 46 BC)
• 455 - Valentinian III, Roman Emperor (b. 419)
• 1021 - Heribert of Cologne, Archbishop of Cologne and Chancellor of Emperor Otto III
• 1037 - Robert I, Archbishop of Rouen
• 1072 - Adalbert of Hamburg, German archbishop
• 1322 - Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1276)
• 1410 - John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (b. 1373)
• 1457 - László Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and warrior (b. 1433)
• 1485 - Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)
• 1559 - Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1496)
• 1649 - St. Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
• 1620 - St. John Sarkander, Moravian priest, died of injuries caused by torturing
• 1679 - John Leverett, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1616)
• 1721 - James Craggs the Elder, English politician (b. 1657)
• 1736 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (b. 1710)
• 1737 - Benjamin Wadsworth, President of Harvard University (b. 1670)
• 1738 - George Bähr, German architect (b. 1666)
• 1747 - Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia (b. 1690)
• 1888 - Hippolyte Carnot, French statesman (b. 1801)
• 1890 - Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (b. 1864)
• 1892 - Samuel F. Miller, American politician (b. 1827)
• 1898 - Aubrey Beardsley, British artist (b. 1872)
• 1899 - Joseph Medill, mayor of Chicago (b. 1823)
• 1903 - Roy Bean, American jurist
• 1914 - Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
• 1926 - Sergeant Stubby, decorated World War I dog
• 1930 - Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish dictator (b. 1870)
• 1935 - John James Richard Macleod, Scottish-born physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
• 1935 - Aron Nimzowitsch, Latvian-born chess player (b. 1886)
• 1936 - Marguerite Durand, French journalist and feminist (b. 1864)
• 1940 - Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
• 1945 - Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (b. 1874)
• 1955 - Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter (b. 1914)
• 1957 - Constantin Brancusi, Romanian sculptor (b. 1876)
• 1961 - Chen Geng, Chinese military leader (b. 1903)
• 1968 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (b. 1895)
• 1968 - Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and writer (b. 1907)
• 1970 - Tammi Terrell, American singer (b. 1946)
• 1971 - Thomas Dewey, American presidential candidate (b. 1902)
• 1975 - Richard W. DeKorte, American politician (b. 1936)
• 1975 - T-Bone Walker, American musician (b. 1910)
• 1977 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (b. 1917)
• 1979 - Jean Monnet, French politician (b. 1888)
• 1980 - Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
• 1983 - Arthur Godfrey, American actor and television host (b. 1903)
• 1983 - Fred Rose, Canadian politician (b. 1907)
• 1984 - John Hoagland, American photographer (b. 1947)
• 1985 - Eddie Shore, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
• 1992 - Yves Rocard, French physicist (b. 1903)
• 1992 - Roger Lemelin, Quebec novelist and television writer (b. 1919)
• 1993 - Johnny Cymbal, American singer and producer (b. 1945)
• 1996 - Charlie Barnett, American actor (b. 1954)
• 1998 - Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)
• 1999 - Gratien Gélinas, Quebec playwright and director (b. 1909)
• 2000 - Thomas Ferebee, Hiroshima bombardier (b. 1918)
• 2001 - Norma MacMillan, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
• 2001 - Bob Wollek, French race car driver (b. 1943)
• 2003 - Rachel Corrie, American political activist (b. 1979)
• 2003 - Ronald Ferguson, father of Sarah, Duchess of York (b. 1931)
• 2004 - Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (b. 1910)
• 2005 - Todd Bell, American football player (b. 1958)
• 2005 - Ralph Erskine, British architect (Byker Wall) (b. 1914)
• 2005 - Anthony George, American TV actor (b. 1921)
• 2005 - Allan Hendrickse, South African politician (b. 1927)
• 2005 - Dick Radatz, American baseball player (b. 1937)
• 2006 - David Feintuch, American sci-fi author (b. 1944)
• 2007 - Manjural Islam, Bangladeshi cricketer (b. 1984)
• 2008 - Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (b. 1912)
• 2008 - Ola Brunkert, Swedish session drummer for ABBA (b. 1946)
• 2008 - Gary Hart, American professional wrestling manager and wrestler (b. 1942)
• 2008 - G. David Low, American astronaut (b. 1956)
• 2008 - John Hewer, Actor famous for portraying Captain Birdseye in British commercials. (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances

• Latvia - The controversial Latvian Legion Day
• The first day of the Bacchanalia in ancient Rome
• Abban of Magheranoidhe
• Abban of New Ross
• Saint Heribert of Cologne (died 1021)
• Saint Agapitus

External links

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