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 the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
432 – St Patrick aged 16 is carried off to Ireland as a slave (traditional date)
461 – St Patrick, patron St of Ireland, dies in Saul (according to legend)
455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
460 – Saint Patrick, Irish missionary and bishop (b. 387) died.
624 – Led by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Belgian abbess, patron saint of travellers, dies at about 32
1672 – England declares war on Netherlands
1753 – 1st official St Patrick’s Day
1755 – Transylvania Land Company buys Kentucky for $50,000 from a Cherokee chief
1756 – St Patrick’s Day 1st celebrated in NYC at Crown & Thistle Tavern
1762 – 1st St Patrick’s Day parade in NYC
1776 – American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, 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 “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.
1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
1836 – Texas abolishes slavery
1842 – The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed;
1861 – The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
1886 – Carrollton Massacre (Mississippi) 20 African Americans killed
1894 – US & China sign treaty preventing Chinese laborers from entering US
1897 – Bob Fitzsimmons KOs James J Corbett in 14 for heavyweight boxing title
1899 – Windsor luxury hotel in NYC catches fire, 92 die
1901 – A showing of seventy-one Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, creates a sensation.
1902 – Bobby Jones Jr, amateur golfer (Grand Slam 1930), born in Atlanta, Georgia
1905 – Franklin D. Roosevelt marries his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt, in New York City. The wedding was attended by President Theodore Roosevelt, FDR’s fifth cousin, who gave his niece away
1917 – Albert Anastasia is convicted of murdering longshoreman George Turino
1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965) was born.
1921 – Lenin proclaims New Economic Politics
1926 – Spain & Brazil prevent Germany joining League of Nations
1927 – US government doesn’t sign league of Nations disarmament treaty
1929 – General Motors acquires German auto manufacturer Adam Opel
1931 – Nevada Senate voted to legalize all forms of gambling in the state providing the impetus for the growth of Las Vegas .
1931 – Stalin throws Krupskaya Lenin out of Central Committee
1932 – German police raid Hitler’s Nazi headquarter
1937 – Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor was born.
1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russia, ballet dancer/choreographer (Kirov) Born
1938 – Nine air raids total took place in Spain. About 300 lives were reported lost as a result of this attack, which took place in the city of Barcelona. One of the bombs was dropped near the U.S. Embassy, which Francisco Franco’s troops were responsible for.
1941 – Paul Kantner, American guitarist (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and KBC Band) was born.
1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994) was birthed.
1942 – Gen Doug MacArthur arrives in Australia to become supreme commander
1944 – John Sebastian, singer (Loving Spoonful, Welcome Back Kotter), born in NYC, New York
1945 – Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency was birthed.
1946 – Harold Ray Brown, American drummer (War and Lowrider Band) was born.
1948 – The Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name “californium”.
1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor was born.
1951 – Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Thin Lizzy, 21 Guns, and Black Star Riders) was born.
1955 – After Maurice Richard is suspended for the remainder of the season, riots break out in Montreal. 37 people are injured and over 100 are arrested. The following morning, Richard goes on the radio to ask citizens to stop vandalizing the city.
1955 – Cynthia McKinney, (Rep-D-Georgia), Activist, 2008 Green party Nominee for President – Born
1955 – Gary Sinise, actor (Apollo 13, Forrest Gump) Born
1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 2003) was born.
1957 – Presidential plane crashes on Mt. Manunggal in Cebu, Philippines killing 25 including Filipino President Ramon Magsaysay
1958 – Navy launches Vanguard 1 into orbit (2nd US), measures Earth shape
1959 – Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
1959 – Danny Ainge, NBA player, coach, GM (Boston CELTICS)
1959 – Terry Hall, English musician and the lead singer of The Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. – Born
1959 – Paul Black, American rock singer (L.A. Guns, Black Cherry) Born
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.
1963 – Bob Cousy plays his last NBA game / Boston CELTICS
1964 – Rob Lowe, Charlottesville Va, actor (St Elmo’s Fire, Hotel NH, Class) Born
1965 – Word was out that the United States had invaded communist regions of Laos. The U.S. had dropped more than 20 tons of bombs in this location.
1966 – A hydrogen bomb that had fallen from a B-52 bomber when it collided with a KC-135 refueling jet over the Mediterranean Sea was located by a U.S. midget submarine off the coast of Spain, it is recovered from the sea floor in April of the same year from a depth of 2,500 feet .
1967 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan, Spirits in the Sky, and Starchildren) was born.
1968 – As a result of nerve gas testing in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
1968 – 10,000 Anti Vietnam war demonstrators rally at Trafalgar square peacefully but when the demonstration moves outside the United States embassy in London, the demonstration turns violent with 130 injured, fifty taken to hospital including up to 25 police officers.
1969 – Golda Meir becomes Israel’s 4th PM
1970 – My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player (Hole, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Tinker) was born.
1972 – Mia Hamm, Selma Alabama, soccer forward (Olympics-96) Born
1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and drummer (The Corrs) was born.
1973 – St Patrick’s Day marchers carry 14 coffins commemorating Bloody Sunday
1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War.
1976 – 4 Catholic civilians (including 2 children) are killed and twelve wounded when the Ulster Volunteer Force explode a car bomb at Hillcrest Bar, Dungannon
1978 – Israel continues it’s attacks on southern Lebanon forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in vans, lorries and old buses to head for the safety of Beirut . The Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon are in retaliation for the bus hijacking in Tel Aviv in which 35 people were killed and 100 others were injured 5 days earlier.
1978 – Amoco Cadiz tanker spills 1.6 mil gallons of oil off French coast
1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree.
1987 – Santo Trafficante, Jr., American gangster (b. 1914) Dies
1988 – Iran says Iraq uses poison gas
1990 – An update was made dated today (March 17, 1990) regarding the 5,000 computer erased by Pointdexter the day before resigning as Reagan’s national security advisor. FBI agent Ellen Glasser had testified to this fact on the previous Thursday. Moreover, Glasser also revealed that Poindexter told the FBI three days after resigning that he (Pointdextor) had no knowledge of early Iran shipments and profits made by Nicaragua Contras.
Further information was printed about Pointdextor, indicating that he assisted a request made by Oliver North to Divert arms profits to the Contras. Pointdextor was also involved in the shipping of missiles to the Contras in 1985.
1990 – Capucine, French actress and fashion model (The Pink Panther), dies of suicide at 62
1990 – Rick Grech, rocker (Blind Faith, Traffic), dies at 44
1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Suicide car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
1992 – 28 killed in truck bombing of Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Arg
1992 – Grace Stafford Lantz, cartoon voice (Woody Woodpecker), dies at 87
1993 – Helen Hayes, actress (Airport), dies of congestive heart failure at 92
1993 – 86 killed by bomb attack in Calcutta
1995 – Sinn-Fein leader Gerry Adams visits White House
1995 – USt approves 1st chicken pox vaccine, Varivax by Merck & Co
1995 – Ronnie Kray, English gangster (The Firm), dies at 61
1995 – Sunnyland Smart, jazz/blues singer/pianist (Delta Blues), dies at 87
2000 – 530 members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead.
2001 – The Eden Project opens , It is the worlds largest greenhouse and is designed to help save the worlds largest number of plant species from around the world, with a number of domes each emulating a natural climate and geographical area of ecologically , the project has over 100,000 plants and is now one of the UK’s most important tourist attractions .
2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of 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.
2010 – Alex Chilton, American musician (b. 1950) Dies