Events Pre-1600 1205 – Latin forces under Henry of Flanders defeat a Nicaean army under Constantine Laskaris in the Battle of Adramyttion. 1227 – Election of Ugolino di Conti as Pope Gregory IX following the death of Pope Honorius III. 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire. 1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends the Song dynasty in China. 1284 – The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England. 1452 – Frederick III of Habsburg is the last Holy Roman Emperor crowned by medieval tradition in Rome by Pope Nicholas V. 1563 – The Edict of Amboise is signed, ending the first phase of the French Wars of Religion and granting certain freedoms to the Huguenots.
1601–1900 1649 – The House of Commons of England passes an act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it "useless and dangerous to the people of England". 1687 – Explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle, searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River, is murdered by his own men. 1808 – Charles IV, king of Spain, abdicates after riots and a popular revolt at the winter palace Aranjuez. His son, Ferdinand VII, takes the throne.Stanley G. Payne, History of Spain of Portugal, Vol 2, University of Wisconsin Press., 1973, , page 420 1812 – The Cortes of Cádiz promulgates the Spanish Constitution of 1812. 1824 – American explorer Benjamin Morrell departs Antarctica after a voyage later plagued by claims of fraud. 1831 – First documented bank heist in U.S. history, when burglars steal $245,000 (1831 values) from the City Bank (now Citibank) on Wall Street. Most of the money was recovered. 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle two days later, Confederate forces had retreated from Four Oaks, North Carolina. 1885 – Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, beginning the North-West Rebellion.
1901–present 1918 – The US Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time. 1920 – The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (the first time was on November 19, 1919). 1921 – Irish War of Independence: One of the biggest engagements of the war takes place at Crossbarry, County Cork. About 100 Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers escape an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them. 1932 – The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened. 1943 – Frank Nitti, the Chicago Outfit Boss after Al Capone, commits suicide at the Chicago Central Railyard. 1944 – World War II: The German army occupies Hungary. 1945 – World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier , killing 724 of her crew. Badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the US under her own power. 1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities, and communications facilities in Germany to be destroyed. 1946 – French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion become overseas départements of France. 1958 – The Monarch Underwear Company fire leaves 24 dead and 15 injured. 1962 – The Algerian War of Independence ends. 1964 – Over 500,000 Brazilians attend the March of the Family with God for Liberty, in protest against the government of João Goulart and against communism. 1965 – The wreck of the , valued at over $50,000,000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction. 1969 – The TV-mast at Emley Moor transmitting station, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build-up. 1979 – The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day-to-day business via the cable television network C-SPAN. 1982 – Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom. 1989 – The Egyptian flag is raised at Taba, marking the end of Israeli occupation since the Six Days War in 1967 and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979. 1990 – The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș begin four days after the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire. 1998 – An Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Kabul International Airport, killing all 45 on board. 2003 – United States President George W. Bush addresses the nation, announcing the invasion of Iraq. 2004 – Catalina affair: A Swedish DC-3 shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 in 1952 over the Baltic Sea is finally recovered after years of work. 2004 – March 19 Shooting Incident: The Republic of China (Taiwan) president Chen Shui-bian is shot just before the country's presidential election on March 20. 2004 – The Konginkangas bus disaster kills 23 and injures 14 people in Äänekoski, Finland. 2008 – GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed. 2011 – Libyan Civil War: After the failure of Muammar Gaddafi's forces to take Benghazi, the French Air Force launches Opération Harmattan, beginning foreign military intervention in Libya. 2013 – A series of bombings and shootings kills at least 98 people and injures 240 others across Iraq. 2016 – Flydubai Flight 981 crashes while attempting to land at Rostov-on-Don international airport, killing all 62 on board. 2016 – An explosion occurs in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, killing five people and injuring 36. 2019 – The first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, resigns from office after nearly three decades, leaving Senate Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the acting President and successor. 2023 – The Swiss Government brokers a deal for UBS to buy out rival Credit Suisse in an attempt to calm the 2023 banking crisis.
Births Pre-1600 1206 – Güyük Khan, Mongol ruler, 3rd Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (died 1248) 1434 – Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shōgun (died 1443) 1488 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish archbishop and theologian (died 1544) 1534 – José de Anchieta, Spanish missionary and saint (died 1597) 1542 – Jan Zamoyski, Polish nobleman (died 1605)
1601–1900 1601 – Alonso Cano, Spanish painter, sculptor, and architect (died 1667) 1604 – John IV of Portugal (died 1656) 1641 – Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, Syrian author and scholar (died 1731) 1661 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer and educator (died 1727) 1684 – Jean Astruc, French physician and scholar (died 1766) 1721 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish-Italian poet and author (died 1771) (baptised on this day) 1734 – Thomas McKean, American lawyer and politician, 2nd Governor of Pennsylvania (died 1817) 1739 – Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance, French lawyer and politician (died 1824) 1742 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian rebel leader (died 1781) 1748 – Elias Hicks, American farmer, minister, and theologian (died 1830) 1778 – Edward Pakenham, Anglo-Irish general and politician (died 1815) 1784 – José Prudencio Padilla López, Colombian naval commander and politician (died 1828)Torres Almeyda, Jesus (1981). El Almirante Jose Padilla (Epopeya y Martirio) [Admiral José Padilla: (Epic and Martyrdom)] (in Spanish) (3rd ed.). Bogotá D.E.: El Tiempo. 1809 – Fredrik Pacius, German composer and conductor (died 1891) 1813 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary and explorer (died 1873) 1816 – Johannes Verhulst, Dutch composer and conductor (died 1891) 1821 – Richard Francis Burton, English soldier, geographer, and diplomat (died 1890) 1823 – Arthur Blyth, English-Australian politician, 9th Premier of South Australia (died 1891) 1824 – William Allingham, Irish poet, author, and scholar (died 1889) 1829 – Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish businessman (died 1901) 1844 – Minna Canth, Finnish journalist, playwright, and activist (died 1897) 1847 – Albert Pinkham Ryder, American painter (died 1917) 1848 – Wyatt Earp, American police officer (died 1929) 1849 – Alfred von Tirpitz, German admiral and politician (died 1930) 1858 – Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and politician (died 1927) 1860 – William Jennings Bryan, American lawyer and politician, 41st United States Secretary of State (died 1925) 1861 – Lomer Gouin, Canadian lawyer and politician, Premier of Quebec (died 1929) 1864 – Charles Marion Russell, American painter and sculptor (died 1926) 1865 – William Morton Wheeler, American entomologist, myrmecologist, and academic (died 1937) 1868 – Senda Berenson Abbott, Lithuanian-American basketball player and educator (died 1954) 1871 – Schofield Haigh, English cricketer and coach (died 1921) 1872 – Anna Held, Polish singer (died 1918) 1873 – Max Reger, German pianist, composer, and conductor (died 1916) 1875 – Zhang Zuolin, Chinese warlord (died 1928) 1876 – Felix Jacoby, German philologist (died 1959) 1880 – Ernestine Rose, American librarian and advocate (died 1961) 1881 – Edith Nourse Rogers, American social worker and politician (died 1960) 1882 – Gaston Lachaise, French-American sculptor (died 1935) 1883 – Norman Haworth, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1950) 1883 – Joseph Stilwell, American general (died 1946) 1885 – Attik, Greek composer (died 1944) 1888 – Josef Albers, German-American painter and educator (died 1976) 1888 – Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (died 1969) 1891 – Earl Warren, American lieutenant, jurist, and politician, 14th Chief Justice of the United States (died 1974) 1892 – Theodore Sizer, American professor of the history of art (died 1967) 1892 – Ado Vabbe, Estonian painter (died 1961) 1892 – James Van Fleet, American general and diplomat (died 1992) 1893 – Gertrud Dorka, German archaeologist, prehistorian and museum director (died 1976) 1894 – Moms Mabley, American comedian and singer (died 1975) 1900 – Carmen Carbonell, Spanish stage and film actress (died 1988) 1900 – Frédéric Joliot-Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1958)
1901–present 1901 – Jo Mielziner, French-American set designer (died 1976) 1905 – Joe Rollino, American weightlifter and boxer (died 2010) 1905 – Albert Speer, German architect and politician, convicted Nuremberg war criminal (died 1981) 1906 – Clara Breed, American librarian and activist (died 1994) 1906 – Adolf Eichmann, German SS officer, one of the main organizers of the Holocaust (died 1962) 1907 – Elizabeth Maconchy, British/Irish composer (died 1994) 1909 – Louis Hayward, South African-American actor (died 1985) 1909 – Marjorie Linklater, Scottish campaigner for the arts and environment of Orkney (died 1997) 1910 – Joseph Carroll, American general (died 1991) 1912 – Hugh Watt, Australian-New Zealand engineer and politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1980) 1914 – Leonidas Alaoglu, Canadian-American mathematician and theorist (died 1981) 1914 – Jay Berwanger, American football player and coach (died 2002) 1915 – Robert G. Cole, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (died 1944) 1915 – Patricia Morison, American actress and singer (died 2018) 1916 – Eric Christmas, English-Canadian actor (died 2000) 1916 – Irving Wallace, American journalist, author, and screenwriter (died 1990) 1917 – Laszlo Szabo, Hungarian chess player (died 1998) 1919 – Lennie Tristano, American pianist, composer, and educator (died 1978) 1920 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian author, poet, and painter (died 2002) 1921 – Tommy Cooper, British magician and prop comedian (died 1984) 1922 – Guy Lewis, American basketball player and coach (died 2015) 1922 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (died 2014) 1923 – Pamela Britton, American actress (died 1974) 1923 – Benito Jacovitti, Italian illustrator (died 1997) 1923 – Henry Morgentaler, Polish-Canadian physician and activist (died 2013) 1924 – Joe Gaetjens, Haitian footballer (died 1964) 1925 – Brent Scowcroft, American general and diplomat, 9th United States National Security Advisor (died 2020) 1927 – Richie Ashburn, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 1997)