March 20


March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap
years). There are 286 days remaining.

Events

   * 1413 - Henry V becomes King of England
   * 1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.
   * 1739 - Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city stealing
     the jewels of the Peacock Thrown.
   * 1760 - The "Great Fire" of Boston destroyers 349 buildings.
   * 1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular
     army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000 beginning his
     "Hundred Days" rule.
   * 1848 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates
   * 1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published
   * 1899 - At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place becomes the first woman
     executed in an electric chair.
   * 1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese nationalist party
     (KMT), is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days after.
   * 1914 - In New Haven, Connecticut the first international figure skating
     championship takes place.
   * 1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy
     aircraft carrier.
   * 1933 - Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed
   * 1952 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
   * 1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France
   * 1964 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space
     Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June
     14, 1962.
   * 1976 - Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco
     Bank.
   * 1985 - Libby Riddles becomes the first women to win the 1,135-mile
     Iditarod dog sled race.
   * 1987 - The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
   * 1990 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for
     bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
   * 1995 - Terrorist incident: Members of the Aum Supreme Truth release
     sarin gas in the Tokyo on five separate subway trains killing 12 and
     injuring around 5,500.
   * 1996 - In Los Angeles, California, Erik and Lyle Menendez are found
     guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
   * 2000 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured
     after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.
   * 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: The United States and three other
     countries invade Iraq.

Births

   * 43 BC - Ovid, poet (+ 17/18)
   * 1770 - Friedrich Hšlderlin, German poet, novelist, and dramatist (+
     1843)
   * 1811 - Napoleon II of France (+ 1832)
   * 1823 - Ned Buntline, "dime novelist", publisher, writer, publicist (+
     1886)
   * 1828 - Henrik Ibsen, playwright and dramatist (+ 1906)
   * 1856 - Frederick W. Taylor, inventor, efficiency expert
   * 1874 - Bšrries von MŸnchhausen, poet (+ 1945)
   * 1890 - Beniamino Gigli, tenor (+ 1957)
   * 1890 - Lauritz Melchior, opera singer (+ 1973)
   * 1904 - B. F. Skinner, behavioral psychologist (+ 1990)
   * 1906 - Ozzie Nelson, actor, band leader (+ 1975)
   * 1908 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor (+ 1985)
   * 1915 - Rudolf KirchschlŠger, Austrian President (+ 2000)
   * 1917 - Dame Vera Lynn, actress, singer
   * 1921 - Rudolf Noelte, film director (+ 2002)
   * 1921 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, singer (+ 1973)
   * 1922 - Carl Reiner, director, producer, actor, comedian
   * 1928 - Fred Rogers, children's television host (+ 2003)
   * 1934 - Willie Brown, mayor of San Francisco, California
   * 1937 - Jerry Reed, country musician
   * 1939 - Brian Mulroney, eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada
   * 1948 - Bobby Orr, ice hockey player
   * 1950 - William Hurt, actor
   * 1958 - Holly Hunter, actress
   * 1957 - Spike Lee, film director, actor
   * 1964 - Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
   * 1964 - Tracy Chapman, musician
   * 1974 - Carsten Ramelow, football player, National Team of Germany
   * 1974 - Paula Garces, actress
   * 1976 - Chester Bennington, musician ("Linkin Park")

Deaths

   * 1413 - King Henry IV of England
   * 1568 - Albert of Prussia, first duke of Prussia
   * 1727 - Sir Isaac Newton, physicist
   * 1925 - George Nathaniel Curzon (Lord Curzon), British statesman
   * 1926 - Princess Louise of Sweden
   * 1974 - Chet Huntley, television journalist
   * 1990 - Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper
   * 1997 - Tony Zale, Boxer
   * 2000 - Gene Eugene, actor, singer

Holidays and observances

   * An equinox usually occurs on this day.
   * The second day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of
     Minerva.
   * International Birthday