Events Pre-1600 AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate. 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Didius Julianus.Herodian, Roman History , ii.6–13 364 – Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor. 1065 – The Great German Pilgrimage, which had been under attack by Bedouin bandits for three days, is rescued by the Fatimid governor of Ramla. 1566 – The foundation stone of Valletta, Malta's capital city, is laid by Jean Parisot de Valette, Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
1601–1900 1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: In the Battle of Vilshofen, Austrian forces defeat French forces. 1776 – Juan Bautista de Anza finds the site for the Presidio of San Francisco. 1795 – Partitions of Poland: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a northern fief of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, ceases to exist and becomes part of Imperial Russia. 1801 – Treaty of Florence is signed, ending the war between the French Republic and the Kingdom of Naples. 1802 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2 Pallas, the second asteroid ever to be discovered. 1809 – Peninsular War: France defeats Spain in the Battle of Medellín. 1814 – War of 1812: In the Battle of Valparaíso, two American naval vessels are captured by two Royal Navy vessels. 1842 – First concert of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Otto Nicolai. 1854 – Crimean War: France and Britain declare war on Russia. 1860 – First Taranaki War: The Battle of Waireka begins. 1862 – American Civil War: In the Battle of Glorieta Pass, Union forces stop the Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. The battle began on March 26.
1901–present 1910 – Henri Fabre becomes the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from water runway Étang le Barre, near Marseille. 1918 – General John J. Pershing, during World War I, cancels 42nd 'Rainbow' Division's orders to Rolampont for further training and diverted it to the occupy the Baccarat sector. Rainbow Division becomes "the first American division to take over an entire sector on its own, which it held longer than any other American division-occupied sector alone for a period of three months". 1918 – Finnish Civil War: On the so-called "Bloody Maundy Thursday of Tampere", the Whites force the Reds to attack the city center, where the city's fiercest battles being fought in Kalevankangas with large casualties on both sides. During the same day, an explosion at the Red headquarters of Tampere kills several commanders. 1920 – Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1920 affects the Great Lakes region and Deep South states. 1933 – The Imperial Airways biplane City of Liverpool is believed to be the first airliner lost to sabotage when a passenger sets a fire on board. 1939 – Spanish Civil War: Generalissimo Francisco Franco conquers Madrid after a three-year siege. 1941 – World War II: First day of the Battle of Cape Matapan in Greece between the navies of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the Royal Italian navy. 1942 – World War II: A British combined force permanently disables the Louis Joubert Lock in Saint-Nazaire in order to keep the German battleship Tirpitz away from the mid-ocean convoy lanes. 1946 – Cold War: The United States Department of State releases the Acheson–Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power. 1959 – The State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolves the government of Tibet. 1961 – ČSA Flight 511 crashes in Igensdorf, Germany, killing 52.ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin 18V OK-OAD Nürnberg 1963 – Civil rights movement: Over one hundred high school students conduct a sit-in protest in Rome, Georgia. 1965 – An 7.4 earthquake in Chile sets off a series of tailings dam failures, burying the town of El Cobre and killing at least 500 people. 1968 – Brazilian high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto is killed by military police at a student protest. 1969 – Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece. 1970 – An earthquake strikes western Turkey at about 23:05 local time, killing 1,086 and injuring at least 1,200. 1978 – The US Supreme Court hands down 5–3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity. 1979 – A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island's Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial meltdown. 1979 – The British House of Commons passes a vote of no confidence against James Callaghan's government by one vote, precipitating a general election. 1990 – United States President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal. 1994 – In South Africa, African National Congress security guards kill dozens of Inkatha Freedom Party protesters. 1999 – Kosovo War: Serb paramilitary and military forces kill at least 130 Kosovo Albanians in Izbica. 2001 – Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos begins operation. 2003 – In a friendly fire incident, two American A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft attack British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing one soldier. 2005 – An earthquake shakes northern Sumatra with a magnitude of 8.6 and killing over 1000 people. 2006 – At least one million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law. 2020 – The region of Uusimaa (with the capital city Helsinki) is temporarily isolated from the rest of Finland due to increased COVID-19 infections. 2025 – An earthquake strikes close to Mandalay, Myanmar with a magnitude of 7.7, killing over 5400 people.
Births
Pre-1600 1472 – Fra Bartolomeo, Italian painter (died 1517) 1515 – Teresa of Ávila, Spanish nun and saint (died 1582) 1522 – Albert Alcibiades, German prince (died 1557) 1592 – John Amos Comenius, Czech bishop and educator (died 1670)
1601–1900 1613 – Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang of China (died 1688) 1638 – Frederik Ruysch, Dutch botanist and anatomist (died 1731) 1652 – Samuel Sewall, English judge (died 1730) 1725 – Andrew Kippis, English minister and author (died 1795) 1727 – Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, (died 1777) 1750 – Francisco de Miranda, Venezuelan general and politician (died 1816) 1760 – Thomas Clarkson, English activist (died 1846) 1793 – Henry Schoolcraft, American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist (died 1864) 1795 – Georg Heinrich Pertz, German historian and author (died 1876) 1806 – Thomas Hare, English lawyer and political scientist (died 1891) 1811 – John Neumann, Czech-American bishop and saint (died 1860) 1815 – Arsène Houssaye, French author and poet (died 1896) 1818 – Wade Hampton III, American general and politician, 77th Governor of South Carolina (died 1902) 1819 – Joseph Bazalgette, English architect and engineer (died 1891) 1832 – Henry D. Washburn, American politician and general (died 1871) 1836 – Emmanuel Benner, French artist (died 1896) 1836 – Jean Benner, French artist (died 1906) 1836 – Frederick Pabst, German-American brewer, founded the Pabst Brewing Company (died 1904) 1840 – Emin Pasha, German-Jewish Egyptian physician and politician (died 1892) 1847 – Gyula Farkas, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (died 1930) 1849 – James Darmesteter, French historian and author (died 1894) 1850 – Kyrle Bellew, English theatre actor (died 1911) 1851 – Bernardino Machado, Portuguese academic and politician, 3rd President of Portugal (died 1944) 1862 – Aristide Briand, French politician, Prime Minister of France, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1932) 1868 – Maxim Gorky, Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright (died 1936) 1873 – John Geiger, American rower (died 1956) 1879 – Terence MacSwiney, Irish republican, politician, Lord Mayor of Cork, died on hunger strike (died 1920) 1881 – Martin Sheridan, Irish-American discus thrower and jumper (died 1918) 1884 – Angelos Sikelianos, Greek poet and playwright (died 1951) 1887 – Beulah Dark Cloud, American actress (died 1945) 1890 – Paul Whiteman, American violinist, composer, and bandleader (died 1967) 1892 – Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968) 1892 – Tom Maguire, Irish republican General (died 1993) 1893 – Spyros Skouras, Greek-American businessman (died 1971) 1894 – Ernst Lindemann, German captain (died 1941) 1895 – Christian Herter, American politician, United States Secretary of State (died 1966) 1895 – Donald Grey Barnhouse, American pastor and theologian (died 1960) 1895 – Spencer W. Kimball, American religious leader, 12th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (died 1985) 1897 – Sepp Herberger, German footballer and manager (died 1977) 1899 – Gussie Busch, American businessman (died 1989) 1899 – Buck Shaw, American football player and coach (died 1977) 1900 – Edward Wagenknecht, American critic and educator (died 2004)
1901–present 1902 – Flora Robson, English actress (died 1984) 1903 – Rudolf Serkin, Czech-American pianist and educator (died 1991) 1904 – Margaret Tucker, Australian author and activist (died 1996) 1905 – Pandro S. Berman, American production manager and producer (died 1996) 1905 – Marlin Perkins, American zoologist and television host (died 1986) 1906 – Murray Adaskin, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (died 2002) 1906 – Robert Allen, American actor (died 1998) 1906 – Dorothy Knowles, South African-English author, fencer and academic (died 2010) 1907 – Irving Paul Lazar, American lawyer and talent agent (died 1993) 1909 – Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer (died 1981) 1910 – Jimmie Dodd, American actor and singer-songwriter (died 1964) 1910 – Ingrid of Sweden, Queen of Denmark (died 2000) 1911 – Consalvo Sanesi, Italian race car driver (died 1998) 1912 – A. Bertram Chandler, English-Australian author (died 1984) 1912 – Marina Raskova, Russian pilot and navigator (died 1943) 1913 – Toko Shinoda, Japanese artist (died 2021) 1914 – Edward Anhalt, American screenwriter and producer (died 2000) 1914 – Bohumil Hrabal, Czech author (died 1997) 1914 – Edmund Muskie, American politician, 64th Governor of Maine, 58th United States Secretary of State (died 1996) 1914 – Everett Ruess, American explorer, poet, and painter (died 1934) 1915 – Jay Livingston, American singer-songwriter (died 2001) 1919 – Tom Brooks, Australian cricket umpire (died 2007) 1919 – Eileen Crofton, British physician and author (died 2010) 1919 – Vic Raschi, American baseball player and coach (died 1988) 1921 – Harold Agnew, American physicist and academic (died 2013) 1921 – Dirk Bogarde, English actor and author (died 1999) 1922 – Neville Bonner, Australian politician (died 1999) 1922 – Grace Hartigan, American painter and educator (died 2008) 1922 – Joey Maxim, American boxer and actor (died 2001) 1923 – Paul C. Donnelly, American scientist and engineer (died 2014) 1923 – Thad Jones, American trumpet player and composer (died 1986) 1924 – Freddie Bartholomew, American actor (died 1992) 1925 – Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Russian actor (died 1994) 1925 – Dorothy DeBorba, American child actress (died 2010) 1926 – Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba (died 2014) 1926 – Polly Umrigar, Indian cricketer (died 2006) 1928 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American political activist and analyst; United States National Security Advisor (died 2017) 1928 – Alexander Grothendieck, German-French mathematician and theorist (died 2014) 1930 – Robert Ashley, American composer (died 2014) 1930 – Jerome Isaac Friedman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1933 – Frank Murkowski, American soldier, banker, and politician, 8th Governor of Alaska