March 17


March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap
years). There are 289 days remaining.

Events

   * 45 BC - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces
     of Titus Labienus and Gnaeus Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
   * 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 places artillery overlooking the
     city
   * 1861 - The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
   * 1886 - Carrollton Massacre: 20 African Americans are killed in
     Mississippi.
   * 1891 - The British steamship SS Utopia sinks off the coast of
     Gibraltar, killing 574.
   * 1901 - A showing of 71 Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years
     after his death, creates a sensation.
   * 1910 - Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte found Camp Fire Girls
     (formally announced in 1912).
   * 1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling
   * 1941 - In Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Art is officially
     opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
   * 1948 - Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of
     Brussels which is a precursor to the NATO Agreement.
   * 1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the
     creation of element 98 which they have named "californium".
   * 1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
   * 1959 - The Dalai Lama flees Tibet and travels to India.
   * 1966 - Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the ALVIN submarine
     finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
   * 1969 - Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, becomes Prime Minister
     of Israel.
   * 1970 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with
     suppressing information related to the incident.
   * 1985 - Serial killer Richard Ramirez, the "Night Stalker", commits his
     first two murders in Los Angeles, California murder spree.
   * 1992 - 29 are killed and 242 injured when a suicide car-bomb goes off
     in the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
   * 2003 - British Cabinet Minister, Robin Cook, resigns over government
     plans for war with Iraq.

Births

   * 1473 - King James IV of Scotland (+ 1513)
   * 1777 - Roger Taney, Chief Justice of the United States (+ 1864)
   * 1804 - Jim Bridger, pioneer (+ 1881)
   * 1834 - Gottlieb Daimler, engineer and inventor (+ 1900)
   * 1862 - Silvio Gesell, economist (+ 1930)
   * 1888 - Frank Buck, "big game" hunter (+ 1950)
   * 1894 - Paul Green, novelist, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright (+ 1981)
   * 1895 - Shemp Howard, actor ("The Three Stooges") (+ 1955)
   * 1902 - Bobby Jones, golfer (+ 1971)
   * 1908 - Brigitte Helm, actress (+ 1996)
   * 1912 - Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist (+ 1987)
   * 1914 - Sammy Baugh, American football star
   * 1918 - Mercedes McCambridge, actress
   * 1919 - Nat King Cole, singer (+ 1965)
   * 1920 - Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (+ 1975)
   * 1926 - Siegfried Lenz, writer
   * 1936 - Ladislav Kupkovic, composer
   * 1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, dancer and choreographer (+ 1993)
   * 1942 - John Wayne Gacy, serial killer (+ 1994)
   * 1944 - John Sebastian, singer-songwriter, also a member of the Lovin'
     Spoonful
   * 1948 - William Gibson, writer
   * 1949 - Patrick Duffy, actor
   * 1951 - Kurt Russell, actor
   * 1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, actress
   * 1955 - Gary Sinise, actor
   * 1956 - Patrick McDonnell, creator of syndicated cartoon strip "Mutts"
   * 1959 - Danny Ainge, basketball player, coach, baseball player
   * 1964 - Rob Lowe, actor
   * 1972 - Mia Hamm, soccer player

Deaths

   * 45 BC - Titus Labienus, Roman statesman (died in battle)
   * 180 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor
   * 461 - Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland died in Saul, County Down
   * 1058 - King Lulach I of Scotland
   * 1956 - Irene Joliot-Curie, scientist
   * 1965 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, baseball, basketball and American football
     coach and player
   * 1976 - Luchino Visconti, director
   * 1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines
   * 1990 - Capucine, actress
   * 1993 - Helen Hayes, actress

Holidays and observances

   * Saint Patrick's Day: a public holiday in Ireland and Montserrat
   * Roman Empire - the second day of the Bacchanalia in honor of Bacchus
   * Roman Empire - the Liberia in honor of Liber
   * Ancient Latvia - Kustonu Diena observed
   * Boston, Massachusetts - Evacuation Day