March 19

March 19 is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 287 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

• 1279 – A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the rule of the Song Dynasty in China.
• 1452 – Frederick, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned in Rome.
• 1563 – The Edict of Amboise is signed, granting some freedoms to Huguenots in France.
• 1616 – Walter Raleigh is released from the Tower of London after 13 years.
• 1649 – The English House of Commons passes an act banning the House of Lords.
• 1808 – Charles IV of Spain abdicates the throne, but soon becomes King again because of the Napoleonic Wars.
• 1812 – The Cadiz Cortes declare the Spanish Constitution of 1812.
• 1848 – March Revolution in Berlin.
• 1853 – The Taiping reform movement occupies and makes Nanjing in China its capital city until 1864.
• 1861 – The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Confederate cruiser SS Georgiana is destroyed on its first voyage. It is re–discovered 102 years later.
• 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins in North Carolina.
• 1882 – The first stone of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona is laid. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi, and is, as of 2014, not finished yet.
• 1885 – Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, Canada, starting the Northwest Rebellion.
• 1895 – The Lumière brothers record their first cinematograph footage.

1901 – 2000

• 1915 – Pluto is photographed for the first time, but is not considered as a planet.
• 1918 – US Congress establishes Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time.
• 1920 – The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for a second time.
• 1921 – Irish War of Independence: In Crossbarry, County Cork, Ireland, over 100 IRA volunteers escape an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them.
• 1931 – Gambling is legalised in Nevada.
• 1932 – Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.
• 1941 – World War II: 99th Pursuit Squadron, Tuskegee Airmen, the first black unit of the United States Army Corps, is activated.
• 1944 – World War II: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.
• 1945 – World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 724 crew members.
• 1946 – French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion becomes overseas Departements of France.
• 1954 – Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
• 1954 – Willie Mosconi sets world record by running 526 balls in a row without a miss. during a straight pool competition at the East High Billiard Club in Springfield, Ohio.
• 1958 – The Monarch Underwear Company fire in Manhattan kills 24 people.
• 1962 – Algerian War of Independence: A ceasefire enters effect.
• 1970 – Chancellor of Germany Willy Brandt meets East Germany's Prime Minister Willi Stoph in Erfurt in an attempt at closer relations.
• 1979 – The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day–to–day business via the cable television network C–SPAN.
• 1982 – Argentine forces land on the island of South Georgia, two weeks before the invasion of the Falkland Islands.
• 1988 – The rock band Nirvana holds its first concert.
• 1996 – Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela divorce.

From 2001

• 2002 – Zimbabwe is suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations over human rights abuses and electoral fraud.
• 2003 – George W. Bush orders the Invasion of Iraq.
• 2004 – President of Taiwan Chen Shui-bian is shot and injured a day before the Presidential election.
• 2004 – A bus crash kills 21 people near Konginkangas, Finland. It is the deadliest road accident in Finnish history.
• 2006 – The Winter Paralympics in Turin end.
• 2006 – In a controversial election, Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko wins 80% of the vote, leading to demonstrations in Minsk.
• 2008 – GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the eye (without using a telescope) is briefly observed.
• 2011 – By 3,000 miles, the Moon makes its closest approach to Earth in 18 years.
• 2011 – 2011 Libyan protests: UN–authorised military intervention begins against Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi in Libya.
• 2012 – Four people are killed in a shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France. It is believed to be linked with three murders over the previous week. The attacker, Mohammed Merah, is killed after a stand–off with police three days later.
• 2013 – Over 50 people are killed in bomb attacks in Baghdad, to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
• 2013 – Inauguration of Pope Francis.
• 2016 – Flydubai Flight 981 crashes shortly before landing at Rostov on Don, Southern Russia, killing all 62 people on board.

Births

Up to 1900

• 968 – Ethelred the Unready, Saxon king of England (d. 1016)
• 1434 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (d. 1443)
• 1488 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish bishop (d. 1544)
• 1534 – Jose de Anchieta, Spanish missionary (d. 1597)
• 1601 – Alonzo Cano, Spanish painter, sculptor and architect (d. 1667)
• 1603 – King John IV of Portugal (d. 1656)
• 1629 – Tsar Alexis of Russia (d. 1676)
• 1661 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1727)
• 1721 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish poet and writer (d. 1771)
• 1734 – Thomas McKean, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1817)
• 1742 – Tupac Amaru II, Inca revolutionary (d. 1781)
• 1749 – Princess Louisa of Great Britain (d. 1768)
• 1778 – Edward Pakenham, British general (d. 1815)
• 1813 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary, doctor and explorer (d. 1873)
• 1821 – Richard Francis Burton, English explorer, diplomat and writer (d. 1890)
• 1823 – Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria (d. 1914)
• 1824 – William Allingham, Irish writer (d. 1889)
• 1829 – Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish financier and industrialist (d. 1901)
• 1844 – Minna Canth, Finnish writer and women's rights activist (d. 1897)
• 1848 – Wyatt Earp, American Western figure (d. 1929)
• 1849 – Alfred von Tirpitz, German admiral (d. 1930)
• 1860 – William Jennings Bryan, United States Secretary of State (d. 1925)
• 1861 – Lomer Gouin, 13th Premier of Quebec (d. 1929)
• 1864 – Charles M. Russell, American painter, sculptor, illustrator and writer (d. 1926)
• 1866 – Emilio De Bono, Italian general and politician (d. 1944)
• 1871 – Baroness Mary Vetsera, member of the Austrian nobility (d. 1889)
• 1872 – Anna Held, Polish–born stage performer (d. 1918)
• 1873 – Mex Reger, German pianist, composer and conductor (d. 1916)
• 1876 – Felix Jacoby, German classical philologist (d. 1959)
• 1883 – Walter Haworth, British chemist (d. 1950)
• 1883 – Joseph Stilwell, American general (d. 1946)
• 1888 – Josef Albers, German artist (d. 1976)
• 1889 – King Manuel II of Portugal (d. 1932)
• 1891 – Earl Warren, American politician and jurist (d. 1974)
• 1892 – James Van Fleet, American general (d. 1992)
• 1893 – Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, President of Ecuador (d. 1979)
• 1894 – Moms Mabley, American comedienne, actress and singer (d. 1975)
• 1895 – Ion Barbu, Romanian writer and mathematician (d. 1961)
• 1897 – Betty Compson, American actress (d. 1974)
• 1898 – Karl Theodor Bleek, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 1969)
• 1900 – Frédéric Joliot, French physicist (d. 1958)

1901 – 1950

• 1902 – Louisa Ghijs, Belgian stage actress (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Albert Speer, Nazi official (d. 1981)
• 1906 – Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official (d. 1962)
• 1909 – Attilio Demaria, Argentine footballer (d. 1990)
• 1909 – Louis Hayward, British actor (d. 1985)
• 1912 – William Frankland, British immunologist
• 1912 – Hugh Watt, Interim Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Alexander Pokryshkin, Russian pilot (d. 1985)
• 1914 – Jay Berwanger, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1915 – Patricia Morison, American soprano and actress
• 1916 – Eric Christmas, English–Canadian actor (d. 2000)
• 1916 – Irving Wallace, American writer and screenwriter (d. 1990)
• 1917 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist and composer (d. 1950)
• 1917 – Laszlo Szabo, Hungarian chess player (d. 1998)
• 1919 – Lennie Tristano, American jazz pianist, composer and educator (d. 1978)
• 1920 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian writer (d. 2002)
• 1921 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (d. 1984)
• 1921 – Emile Bongiorni, French footballer (d. 1949)
• 1922 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese soldier (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Guy Lewis, American basketball player (d. 2015)
• 1923 – Giuseppe Rotunno, Italian cinematographer
• 1924 – Joe Gaetjens, Haitian–American soccer player (d. 1964)
• 1924 – Mary Wimbush, British actress (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Brent Scowcroft, American general and diplomat
• 1927 – Allen Newell, American computer scientist (d. 1992)
• 1928 – Hans Küng, Swiss theologian, priest and writer
• 1928 – Patrick McGoohan, American actor (d. 2009)
• 1930 – Giuseppe Rotunno, Italian chef
• 1932 – Gail Kobe, American actress (d. 2013)
• 1932 – Peter Hall, English town planner and geographer (d. 2014)
• 1933 – Philip Roth, American writer
• 1935 – Nancy Malone, American actress (d. 2014)
• 1936 – Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
• 1937 – Egon Krenz, East German political leader
• 1942 – Richard Dobson, American singer and songwriter
• 1942 – Heather Robertson, Canadian journalist and writer (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Mario Monti, Italian economist and former Prime Minister of Italy
• 1943 – Mario J. Molina, Mexican chemist
• 1944 – Said Musa, former Prime Minister of Belize
• 1944 – Tom Constanten, American musician (Grateful Dead)
• 1944 – Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian–born assassin
• 1946 – Ruth Pointer, American singer (Pointer Sisters)
• 1947 – Glenn Close, American actress
• 1947 – Marinho Peres, Brazilian footballer
• 1949 – Hirofumi Hirano, Japanese politician
• 1949 – Valery Leontiev, Russian singer

1951 – 1975

• 1952 – Harvey Weinstein, American movie producer
• 1952 – Chris Brubeck, American jazz musician
• 1953 – Ricky Wilson, American musician
• 1953 – Ian Blair, English police officer, London Metropolitan Police
• 1954 – Cho Kwang-Rae, South Korean football manager
• 1954 – Jill Abramson, American journalist
• 1954 – Rashid Nugmanov, Kazakhstani director and activist
• 1955 – Bruce Willis, American actor
• 1955 – Pino Daniele, Italian musician (d. 2015)
• 1956 – Yegor Gaidar, Soviet politician (d. 2009)
• 1958 – Fred Stoller, American comedian, actor and voice artist
• 1959 – Terry Hall, British singer
• 1961 – Jos Lansink, Dutch–Belgian equestrian
• 1961 – Rune Bratseth, Norwegian footballer
• 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress (d. 2006)
• 1966 – Michael Crockart, Scottish politician
• 1966 – Olaf Marschall, German footballer
• 1967 – Vladimir Konstantinov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1967 – Katia Tiutiunnik, Australian violist and composer
• 1968 – Tyrone Hill, American basketball player
• 1969 – Gary Jules, American singer
• 1973 – Ashley Giles, English cricketer
• 1973 – Sergey Makarov, Russian javelin thrower

From 1976

• 1976 – Alessandro Nesta, Italian footballer
• 1976 – Rachel Blanchard, Canadian actress
• 1977 – Jorma Taccone, American director, actor and screenwriter
• 1977 – Fayez Banihammad, 9–11 terrorist (d. 2001)
• 1979 – Franco Brienza, Italian footballer
• 1979 – Christos Patsatzoglou, Greek footballer
• 1979 – Hedo Turkoglu, Turkish basketball player
• 1979 – Ivan Ljubicic, Croatian tennis player
• 1979 – Abby Brammell, American actress
• 1981 – Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
• 1982 – Brad Jones, Australian footballer
• 1982 – Eduardo Saverin, Brazilian entrepreneur
• 1983 – Evan Bourne, American professional wrestler
• 1984 – Tanushree Dutta, Indian model and actress
• 1986 – Tyler Bozak, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1987 – AJ Lee, American professional wrestler
• 1987 – Milos Teodosic, Serbian basketball player
• 1988 – Clayton Kershaw, American baseball player
• 1991 – Aleksandr Kokorin, Russian footballer
• 1991 – Keacy Carty, West Indian cricketer
• 1997 – Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuanian swimmer
• 1999 – Tatum McCann, American actress
• 2007 – Prince Abdullah bin Ali of Jordan

Deaths

Up to 1900

• 1238 – Duke Henry I of Poland (b. 1163)
• 1279 – Emperor Bing of Song of China (b. 1271)
• 1286 – Alexander III of Scotland (b. 1241)
• 1330 – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician (b. 1301)
• 1406 – Ibn Khaldun, Arab historian (b. 1332)
• 1612 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarussian saint (b. 1585)
• 1623 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1556)
• 1637 – Peter Pazmany, Hungarian cardinal and statesman (b. 1570)
• 1649 – Gerardus Vossius, Dutch classical scholar and theologian (b. 1577)
• 1687 – Robert Cavalier de La Salle, French explorer (b. 1643)
• 1721 – Pope Clement XI (b. 1649)
• 1746 – Grand Duchess Anna Leopolodovna of Russia (b. 1718)
• 1783 – Charles Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1713)
• 1806 – James Jackson, English–born American politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1757)
• 1816 – Philip Mazzai, Italian physician (b. 1730)
• 1866 – John Dunn, Australian bushranger hanged in Sydney (b. c. 1840)
• 1871 – Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist (b. 1795)
• 1882 – Karl Robert Jakobson, Estonian politician, journalist and teacher (b. 1841)
• 1884 – Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and writer (b. 1802)
• 1900 – John Bingham, American politician and lawyer (b. 1815)

1901 – 2000

• 1908 – Eduard Zeller, German theologian and philosopher (b. 1814)
• 1914 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (b. 1850)
• 1915 – Antonio Agliardi, Italian cardinal (b. 1832)
• 1916 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (b. 1848)
• 1930 – Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1848)
• 1939 – Lloyd L. Gaines, American activist (b. 1911)
• 1942 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist and entomologist (b. 1855)
• 1943 – Frank Nitti, Italian–American gangster (b. 1883)
• 1944 – William Hale Thompson, mayor of Chicago (b. 1869)
• 1950 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, American writer (b. 1875)
• 1950 – Walter Haworth, British chemist (b. 1883)
• 1950 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1872)
• 1974 – Edward Platt, American actor (b. 1916)
• 1976 – Albert Dieudonné, French actor and novelist (b. 1889)
• 1978 – Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893)
• 1982 – Randy Rhoads, American musician (b. 1956)
• 1986 – Sabino Barinaga, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
• 1987 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist (b. 1892)
• 1988 – Bun Cook, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Valérie Quennessen, French actress (b. 1957)
• 1995 – Yasuo Yamada, Japanese voice actor (b. 1932)
• 1997 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch artist (b. 1904)
• 1998 – E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Kerala (b. 1909)
• 1999 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Prime Minister of Samoa (b. 1924)

From 2001

• 2005 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Luther Ingram, American soul singer and songwriter (b. 1937)
• 2008 – Arthur C. Clarke, British writer (b. 1917)
• 2008 – Hugo Claus, Belgian writer (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Paul Scofield, British actor (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Paul Angelis, English actor (b. 1943)
• 2011 – Knut, famous polar bear (b. 2006)
• 2011 – Gustav Lantschner, Austrian–German skier (b. 1910)
• 2013 – Holger Juul Hansen, Danish actor (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Irina Petrescu, Romanian actress (b. 1941)
• 2014 – Robert Schwarz Strauss, American politician and diplomat (b. 1918)
• 2014 – Heather Robertson, Canadian journalist and writer (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Lawrence Walsh, American lawyer and judge (b. 1912)
• 2014 – Patrick Joseph McGovern, American technology executive (b. 1937)
• 2014 – Ernest Mühlen, Luxembourg politician (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Fred Phelps, American pastor (Westboro Baptist Church) (b. 1929)
• 2015 – Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs, Dutch athlete (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Gus Douglass, American politician (b. 1927)
• 2015 – Danny Schechter, American journalist and moviemaker (b. 1942)
• 2016 – Roger Agnelli, Brazilian businessman (b. 1959)
• 2016 – José Artetxe, Spanish footballer (b. 1930)
• 2016 – Jack Mansell, English footballer (b. 1927)
• 2017 – Jimmy Breslin, American journalist and writer (b. 1928)
• 2017 – Li Li-Hua, Chinese actress (b. 1924)
• 2017 – Len Mitzel, Canadian politician (b. 1946)
• 2017 – Chinu Modi, Indian poet and critic (b. 1939)
• 2017 – Roger Pingeon, French cyclist (b. 1940)

Observances

• Saint Joseph's Day (Roman Catholicism, Church of England) and related observances:
  • Las Fallas (Valencia, Spain)
  • Father's Day (Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Honduras, Bolivia)
• Unity Day (Kashubia, northern Poland)