March 17

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March 17 in recent years 2008 (Monday)2007 (Saturday)2006 (Friday)2005 (Thursday)2004 (Wednesday)2003 (Monday)2002 (Sunday)2001 (Saturday)2000 (Friday)

March 17 is the 76th day of the year (77th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 289 days remaining until the end of the year.

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

Events

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. Commodus is now the only emperor of the Roman Empire.
1337 - Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy made in England.
1756 - St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern).
1776 - American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery overlooking the city.
1805 - The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
1845 - The rubber band is patented.
1861 - The Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) is proclaimed.
1901 - A showing of seventy-one Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, creates a sensation.
1906 - The Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity is founded at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
1910 - Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte found Camp Fire Girls (now Camp Fire USA) (formally announced in 1912).
1913 - The Uruguayan Air Force is founded.
1917 - Delta Phi Epsilon is founded at New York University Law School.
1921 - The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese breaks out.
1941 - In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1942 - Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lviv Ghetto (western Ukraine) are gassed at the Belzec death camp (eastern Poland).
1945 - The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany collapses, ten days after its capture.
1948 - Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the NATO Agreement.
1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
1957 - A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
1960 - U.S. 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.
1966 - Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
1969 - Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
1970 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
1973 - The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.
1975 - The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad enter third and final bankruptcy, and William M. Gibbons selected as receiver and trustee for the railroad.
1979 - The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
1985 - Serial killer Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker", commits his first two murders in Los Angeles, California murder spree.
1988 - A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
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 (EPLF) in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
1992 - A suicide car-bomb kills 29 and injures 242 at the Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2000 - The 800+ deaths of members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God is considered to be a mass murder and suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult.
2003 - British Cabinet Minister Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for the war with Iraq.
2004 - Unrest in Kosovo results in more than 22 killed, 200 wounded, and the destruction of 35 Serb Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Nis.
2008 - New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer resigns after a scandal involving a high-end prostitute. David Paterson becomes acting New York State governor.

Births

1231 - Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
1473 - King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
1628 - François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
1676 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
1725 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (d. 1806)
1777 - Roger Brooke Taney, 5th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1864)
1780 - Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor, social reformer, author, and scientist (d. 1847)
1781 - Ebenezer Elliott, British Poet. Know as the "Corn Law Rhymer'" (d. 1849)
1787 - Edmund Kean, English actor (d. 1833)
1804 - Jim Bridger, American trapper and explorer (d. 1881)
1820 - Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
1834 - Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
1846 - Kate Greenaway, English children's author and illustrator (d. 1901)
1856 - Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
1862 - Silvio Gesell, Belgian economist (d. 1930)
1866 - Pierce Butler, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1939)
1870 - Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (d. 1951)
1880 - Sir Patrick Hastings, British barrister (d. 1952)
1880 - Lawrence Oates, English army officer and Antarctic explorer (d. 1912)
1881 - Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
1883 - Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
1884 - Alcide Nunez, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1934)
1886 - Princess Patricia of Connaught, British princess (d. 1974)
1888 - Paul Ramadier, French politician (d. 1961)
1892 - Benjamin Drake Van Wissen, Australian Engineer (d. 1984)
1894 - Paul Green, American writer (d. 1981)
1897 - Jozef C. Mazur, American stained glass artist and painter (d. 1970)
1901 - Alfred Newman, American film composer (d. 1970)
1902 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
1907 - Sonny Werblin, former owner of the New York Jets (d. 1991)
1908 - Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
1912 - Bayard Rustin, American civil rights activist (d. 1987)
1914 - Sammy Baugh, American football player
1915 - Henry Bumstead, American art director (d. 2006)
1916 - Ray Ellington, British singer (d. 1985)
1919 - Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
1922 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Founding Leader of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
1925 - Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian film and stage actor
1926 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer
1928 - William John McKeag, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
1930 - James Irwin, American astronaut (d. 1991)
1931 - David Peakall, British scientist (d. 2001)
1932 - Donald N. Langenberg, American physicist
1936 - Ladislav Kupkovic, Slovakian composer
1936 - Ken Mattingly, American astronaut
1937 - Adam Wade, American singer and actor
1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
1938 - Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, Northern Irish clergyman
1938 - Zola Taylor, American singer (The Platters) (d. 2007)
1939 - Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
1939 - Robin Knox-Johnston, British Yachtsman
1940 - Mark White, American politician
1941 - Paul Kantner, American musician (Jefferson Airplane)
1941 - Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese politician
1942 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
1942 - Dimitris Poulikakos, Greek composer, singer and actor
1944 - Pattie Boyd, British photographer and model
1944 - Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
1944 - John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter
1945 - Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
1945 - Michael Hayden, General USAF, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
1945 - Katri Helena, Finnish singer
1947 - James Morrow, American author
1947 - Jan Andersson, Swedish politician
1947 - Yury Chernavsky, Russian-born Composer and Producer
1948 - William Gibson, American writer
1948 - Alex MacDonald, Scottish Footballer and football manager
1949 - Patrick Duffy, American actor
1949 - Pat Rice, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
1949 - Daniel Lavoie, French Canadian singer and songwriter
1950 - Patrick Adams, American record producer and songwriter
1951 - Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
1951 - Scott Gorham, American musician (Thin Lizzy)
1951 - Kurt Russell, American actor
1951 - Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player
1952 - Nikos Xydakis, Greek musician and composer
1953 - Filemon Lagman, Filipino communist revolutionary (d. 2001)
1953 - Chuck Muncie, American former football running back
1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
1955 - Gary Sinise, American actor
1955 - Cynthia McKinney, American politician
1956 - Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
1957 - Mal Donaghy, Northern Irish footballer
1957 - Michael Kelly, American journalist (d. 2003)
1958 - Pat Bolland, Canadian Broadcaster
1959 - Danny Ainge, American basketball player and coach
1959 - Christian Clemenson, American actor
1960 - Arye Gross, American actor
1961 - Casey Siemaszko, American actor
1961 - Dana Reeve, American actress and activist (d. 2006)
1961 - Andrew Paul, English actor
1962 - Clare Grogan, Scottish actress-singer
1962 - Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, Dutch politician
1963 - Nick Peros, Canadian composer
1963 - Alex Fong Chung-Sun, Chinese actor
1964 - Rob Lowe, American actor
1964 - Lee Dixon, English footballer
1964 - Jacques Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
1966 - Jeremy Sheffield, English actor
1967 - Billy Corgan, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
1967 - Barry Minkow, American religious leader and ex-convict (fraud)
1969 - Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
1969 - Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer
1970 - Gene Ween, American Musician (Ween)
1970 - Yanic Truesdale, Canadian actor
1971 - Bill Mueller, American baseball player
1972 - Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian musician
1972 - Marc Gunn, poet, podcaster, and Celtic musician (Brobdingnagian Bards)
1972 - Mia Hamm, American soccer player
1973 - Rico Blanco, Filipino singer (Rivermaya)
1973 - Caroline Corr, Irish singer and musician
1973 - Vance Wilson, American baseball player
1973 - Jerome Woods, American Football player for the Kansas City Chiefs
1974 - Marisa Coughlan, American actress
1974 - Mark Dolan, TV show host
1975 - Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
1975 - Andrew "Test" Martin, Canadian professional wrestler
1975 - Natalie Zea, American actress
1976 - Stephen Gately, Irish singer, musician, and actor (Boyzone)
1976 - Brittany Daniel, American actress
1976 - Cynthia Daniel, American actress and photographer
1976 - Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
1976 - Scott Downs, American baseball player
1978 - Adam Jennings, British actor, producer and film director
1979 - Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 - Samoa Joe, Samoan professional wrestler
1979 - Stormy Daniels, American pornographic actress
1980 - Danny Califf, American soccer player
1981 - Kyle Korver, American Basketball Player
1982 - Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
1986 - Olesya Rulin, American actress