March 15 in History

Four members of a Palestinian family are shot dead in Tammun by the Israeli military.

The 2022 Sri Lankan protests begins amidst Sri Lanka's economic collapse.

Fifty-one people are killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings.

Beginning of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.

Approximately 1.4 million young people in 123 countries go on strike to protest climate change.

Beginning of the Syrian revolution.

Stockpiles of obsolete ammunition explode at an ex-military ammunition depot in the village of Gërdec, Albania, killing 26 people.

Cold War: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.

Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first and only President of the Soviet Union.

Collapse of Hotel New World: Thirty-three people die when the Hotel New World in Singapore collapses.

Somalia and Ethiopia sign a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.

Fifteen people are killed when Sterling Airways Flight 901, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, catches fire following a landing gear collapse at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran.

President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells the U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act.

At the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, South Africa announces that it will withdraw from the Commonwealth when the South African Constitution of 1961 comes into effect.

The Iranian oil industry is nationalized.

World War II: Third Battle of Kharkiv: The Germans retake the city of Kharkiv from the Soviet armies.

Germany occupies Czechoslovakia.

Carpatho-Ukraine declares itself an independent republic, but is annexed by Hungary the next day.

The first Women's Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on The Isis in Oxford.

After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.

Talaat Pasha, former Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire and chief architect of the Armenian genocide, is assassinated in Berlin by a 23-year-old Armenian, Soghomon Tehlirian.

Ukrainian War of Independence: The Kontrrazvedka is established as the counterintelligence division of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.

The American Legion is founded.

Finnish Civil War: The battle of Tampere begins.

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne, ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty.

The first parliamentary elections of Finland (at the time the Grand Duchy of Finland) are held.

Madeleine bombing by Désiré Pauwels during the Ère des attentats.

The Lobau bombing is one of the first attacks of the Ère des attentats (1892-1894).

Start of the Anglo-Tibetan War of 1888.

First ever official cricket test match is played: Australia vs England at the MCG Stadium, in Melbourne, Australia.

Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.

France and Vietnam sign the Second Treaty of Saigon, further recognizing the full sovereignty of France over Cochinchina.

A revolution breaks out in Hungary, and the Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the reform party.

Sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reports the existence of the island of New South Greenland near Antarctica.

Maine is admitted as the twenty-third U.S. state.

In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful, and the threatened coup d'état never takes place.

The British under Charles Cornwallis defeat American forces under Nathanael Greene in the battle of Guilford Court House.

King Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence, granting limited religious freedom to all Christians.

A dam failure causes the sudden flooding of the mining city of Potosí in present-day Bolivia leading to the death of thousands and the massive release of toxic mercury into the environment.

Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes the jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects.

Treaty of Lublowa: After the Peace of Thorn, Grand Master Heinrich von Plauen asks Sigismund of Hungary for economic aid. Sigismund agrees to mediate reduction to the third installment, demarcation of the Samogitian border, and other matters with a grand tournament. Hunts and lavish feasts were also organized. Sigismund invited, among others, polish king Wladyslaw Jagiello, Heinrich von Plauen and bosnian king Tvrtko II. There were people from 17 countries and languages - 40.000 nobles and 2000 knights were present from all over Europe, even England.

Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V, Count of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.

Afonso I of Portugal captures in a surprise attack the city of Santarem from the Almoravids.

After a ten-year truce, German King Henry the Fowler defeats a Hungarian army at the Battle of Riade near the Unstrut river.

Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya enters Sa'dah and founds the Zaydi Imamate of Yemen.

Michael III, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, overthrows the regency of his mother, empress Theodora (wife of Theophilos) with support of the Byzantine nobility.

Odoacer, the first barbarian King of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is slain by Theoderic the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, while the two kings were feasting together.

Constantius Gallus is elevated as Caesar and then sent to Antioch to govern the Roman East.

The assassination of Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic, by a group of senators takes place on the Ides of March.

The Roman Republic under its new consuls Publius Sulpicius Galba and Gaius Aurelius Cotta declares war on Philip V of Macedon, starting the Second Macedonian War.

Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce.

Rodri Mendoza, Spanish footballer

Isaiah Bond, American football player

Quinn Ewers, American football player

Ellie Leach, English actress

Kristian Kostov, Russian-Bulgarian singer-songwriter

Maxwell Jacob Friedman, American professional wrestler

Seonaid McIntosh, Scottish sports shooter

Jinjin, South Korean singer and actor

Jabari Parker, American basketball player

Matt Gay, American football player

Scott Seiss, American comedian

Alia Bhatt, British actress

Michael Fulmer, American baseball player

Taylor Heinicke, American football player

Aleksandra Krunić, Serbian tennis player

Paul Pogba, French footballer

Mark Scheifele, Canadian ice hockey player

Devonta Freeman, American football player

Xavier Henry, American basketball player

Trayce Thompson, American baseball player

Nick Ahmed, American baseball player

Tavon Austin, American football player

JD McDonagh, Irish professional wrestler

Sam Baldock, English footballer

Gil Roberts, American sprinter

Sandro, Brazilian footballer

Adrien Silva, Portuguese footballer

Caitlin Wachs, American actress

Lil Dicky, American rapper, comedian, and actor

Éver Guzmán, Mexican footballer

James Reimer, Canadian ice hockey player

Eric Decker, American football player

Jai Courtney, Australian actor

Jannik Hansen, Danish ice hockey player

Eva Amurri, American actress

Jon Jay, American baseball player and coach

Kellan Lutz, American actor and model

Badradine Belloumou, French-Algerian footballer

Olivier Jean, Canadian speed skater

Kostas Vasileiadis, Greek basketball player

Umut Bulut, Turkish footballer

Ben Hilfenhaus, Australian cricketer

Kostas Kaimakoglou, Greek basketball player

Golda Marcus, Salvadoran swimmer

Daryl Murphy, Irish footballer

Yo Yo Honey Singh, Indian rapper, producer, and actor

Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, Kenyan runner

Young Buck, American rapper

Mikael Forssell, German-Finnish footballer

Jens Salumäe, Estonian skier

Freddie Bynum, American baseball player

Kyle Mills, New Zealand cricketer

Kevin Youkilis, American baseball player

Takeru Kobayashi, Japanese competitive eater

Joe Hahn, American musician, DJ, director, and visual artist

Brian Tee, Japanese-American actor

Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Indian military officer (died 2008)

Cara Pifko, Canadian actress

Eva Longoria, American actress

Darcy Tucker, Canadian ice hockey player

will.i.am, American rapper, producer, and actor

Robert Fick, American baseball player

Mark Hoppus, American singer-songwriter and musician

Holger Stromberg, German chef

Mike Tomlin, American football player and coach

Joanne Wise, English long jumper

Derek Parra, American speed skater

Gianluca Festa, Italian footballer

Kim Raver, American actress

Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey

Timo Kotipelto, Finnish musician and lead singer of the power metal band Stratovarius

Kahimi Karie, Japanese singer

Mark McGrath, American singer-songwriter

Sabrina Salerno, Italian singer-songwriter

Naoko Takeuchi, Japanese manga artist and creator of Sailor Moon

Chris Bruno, American actor

Sunetra Gupta, Indian epidemiologist, author, and academic

Rockwell, American singer-songwriter and musician

Marco Van Hees, Belgian politician

Bret Michaels, American singer-songwriter, musician, and television personality

Terence Trent D'Arby, American singer-songwriter

Terry Cummings, American basketball player

Mike Pagliarulo, American baseball player

Harold Baines, American baseball player

Renny Harlin, Finnish director and producer

Fabio Lanzoni, Italian-American model and actor

Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and author

Eliot Teltscher, American tennis player

Joaquim de Almeida, Portuguese-American actor

Park Overall, American actress and activist

Steve Witkoff, American real estate investor, former lawyer, and diplomat

Mickey Hatcher, American baseball player and coach

Mohsin Khan, Pakistani cricketer

Dee Snider, American singer-songwriter

Isobel Buchanan, Scottish soprano and actress

Henry Marsh, American runner and businessman

Craig Wasson, American actor

Frances Conroy, American actress

David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, English politician

Kate Bornstein, American author and activist

Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (died 2003)

Ry Cooder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and coach (died 2003)

John Dempsey, English-Irish footballer and manager (died 2024)

Chi Cheng, Taiwanese runner

Jacques Doillon, French director and screenwriter

Francis Mankiewicz, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993)

David Cronenberg, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter

Lynda La Plante, English actress, screenwriter, and author

Michael Scott-Joynt, English bishop (died 2014)

Sly Stone, American musician and record producer (died 2025)

Mike Love, American singer-songwriter and musician

Song Zhenzhong, child internee and revolutionary martyr (died 1949)

Frank Dobson, English politician, Secretary of State for Health (died 2019)

Phil Lesh, American bassist (died 2024)

Ted Kaufman, American politician

Robert Nye, English author, poet, and playwright (died 2016)

Julie Tullis, English mountaineer (died 1986)

Valentin Rasputin, Russian environmentalist and author (died 2015)

Howard Greenfield, American songwriter (died 1986)

Judd Hirsch, American actor

Jimmy Swaggart, American pastor and television host (died 2025)

Kanshi Ram, Indian politician (died 2006)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American lawyer and judge (died 2020)

Philippe de Broca, French actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2004)

Alan Bean, American astronaut and pilot (died 2018)

Arif Mardin, Turkish-American record producer (died 2006)

Zhores Alferov, Belarusian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019)

Bob Wilber, American clarinetist and saxophonist (died 2019)

Christian Marquand, French actor, director, and screenwriter (died 2000)

Carl Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2010)

Ben Johnston, American composer and academic (died 2019)

Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (died 1983)

Khyber Khan, Pakistani pilot and former Deputy Chief of Air Staff of the PAF (died 2007)

Madelyn Pugh, American television writer and producer (died 2011)

E. Donnall Thomas, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012)

Lawrence Tierney, American actor (died 2002)

Richard Ellmann, American author and critic (died 1987)

Punch Imlach, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (died 1987)

Frank Coghlan, Jr., American actor and pilot (died 2009)

Fadil Hoxha, Kosovar commander and politician, President of Kosovo (died 2001)

Harry James, American trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (died 1983)

Macdonald Carey, American actor (died 1994)

Jack Fairman, English race car driver (died 2002)

Louis Paul Boon, Flemish journalist and author (died 1979)

Lightnin' Hopkins, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1982)

Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (died 1981)

Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, German lawyer and judge (died 1944)

George Brent, Irish-American actor (died 1979)

J. Pat O'Malley, English-American actor (died 1985)

Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian and writer (died 1987)

Jackson Scholz, American runner (died 1986)

Gerda Wegener, Danish artist (died 1940)

Benjamin R. Jacobs, American biochemist (died 1963)

Reza Shah, Iranian Shah (died 1944)

Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, United States Secretary of the Interior (died 1952)

Stanisław Wojciechowski, Polish scholar and politician, President of the Republic of Poland (died 1953)

Grace Chisholm Young, English mathematician (died 1944)

Matthew Charlton, Australian miner and politician (died 1948)

Liberty Hyde Bailey, American botanist and academic, co-founded the American Society for Horticultural Science (died 1954)

Berta Bock, Romanian composer (died 1945)

Christian Michelsen, Norwegian businessman and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Norway (died 1925)

Emil von Behring, German physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1917)

Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish landowner, playwright, and translator (died 1932)

John Sebastian Little, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Arkansas (died 1916)

William Mitchell Ramsay, Scottish archaeologist and scholar (died 1939)

Hallie Quinn Brown, African-American educator, writer and activist (died 1949)

Karl Davydov, Russian cellist, composer, and conductor (died 1889)

Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1916)

Saint Daniele Comboni, Italian missionary and saint (died 1881)

Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914)

Élisée Reclus, French geographer and anarchist (died 1905)

Jules Chevalier, French priest, founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (died 1907)

Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian physicist and chemist (died 1895)

William Milligan, Scottish theologian and author (died 1892)

John Snow, English physician and epidemiologist (died 1858)

Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian historian and politician, 1st President of Liberia (died 1876)

Charles Knight, English author and publisher (died 1873)

Ludwig Immanuel Magnus, German mathematician and academic (died 1861)

Adélaïde Ducluzeau, French painter

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1848)

Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (died 1845)

Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (died 1842)

George Bähr, German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (died 1738)

Shunzhi Emperor of China (died 1661)

Alexandre de Rhodes, French missionary (died 1660)

Daniel Featley, English theologian and controversialist (died 1645)

Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (died 1550)

Anne de Montmorency, French captain and diplomat (died 1567)

Wings Hauser, American actor (born 1947)

Nita Lowey, American politician (born 1937)

Rajnikumar Pandya, Indian writer (born 1938)

Barbara Maier Gustern, American vocal coach and singer (born 1935)

Vittorio Gregotti, Italian architect (born 1927)

Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer (born 1948)

Sylvia Anderson, English voice actress and television and film producer (born 1927)

Asa Briggs, English historian and academic (born 1921)

Seru Rabeni, Fijian rugby player (born 1978)

Collins Chabane, South African politician (born 1960)

Robert Clatworthy, English sculptor and educator (born 1928)

Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (born 1928)

Curtis Gans, American political scientist and author (born 1937)

Mike Porcaro, American bass player (born 1955)

Scott Asheton, American drummer (born 1949)

David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (born 1936)

Bo Callaway, American soldier and politician, United States Secretary of the Army (born 1927)

Clarissa Dickson Wright, English chef, author, and television personality (born 1947)

Booth Gardner, American businessman and politician, Governor of Washington (born 1936)

Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player (born 1935)

Leverne McDonnell, Australian actress (born 1963)

Peter Worsley, English sociologist (born 1924)

Mervyn Davies, Welsh rugby player (born 1946)

Dave Philley, American baseball player and manager (born 1920)

Nate Dogg, American rapper (born 1969)

Smiley Culture, English singer and DJ (born 1963)

Kazim al-Samawi, Iraqi poet (born 1925)

Ron Silver, American actor, director, and producer (born 1946)

Mikey Dread, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (born 1954)

G. David Low, American astronaut and engineer (born 1956)

Sarla Thakral, First Indian woman to earn a pilot's license. (born 1914)

Charles Harrelson, American murderer (born 1938)

Stuart Rosenberg, American director and producer (born 1927)

Georgios Rallis, Greek lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (born 1918)

Red Storey, Canadian football player and referee (born 1918)

Otar Korkia, Georgian basketball player (born 1923)

Philippe Lemaire, French actor (born 1927)

Bill Pickering, New Zealand-American scientist and engineer (born 1910)

John Pople, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1925)

Thora Hird, English actress (born 1911)

Paul Stojanovich, American television producer, created World's Wildest Police Videos (born 1955)

Ann Sothern, American actress and singer (born 1909)

Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (born 1903)

Gail Davis, American actress (born 1925)

Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (born 1906)

Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (born 1906)

Farzad Bazoft, Iranian-English journalist (born 1958)

Tom Harmon, American football player and sportscaster (born 1919)

Dmitri Polyakov, Ukrainian general and spy (born 1921)

Alan A. Freeman, English record producer (born 1920)

Rebecca West, English author and critic (born 1892)

René Clair, French director and screenwriter (born 1898)

Philip Testa, Italian-American mobster (born 1924)

Hubert Aquin, Canadian author and activist (born 1929)

Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler and referee (born 1921)

Aristotle Onassis, Greek-Argentinian businessman (born 1906)

Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian author and poet (born 1897)

Miles Malleson, English actor and screenwriter (born 1888)

Abe Saperstein, American basketball player and coach (born 1902)

Arthur Compton, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892)

Lester Young, American saxophonist and clarinet player (born 1909)

Imanuel Lauster, German engineer (born 1873)

Rachel Field, American author and poet (born 1894)

Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (born 1864)

H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, and novelist (born 1890)

Hector Rason, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Western Australia (born 1858)

Sam Dreben, American soldier and mercenary (born 1878)

Talaat Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1874)

Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (born 1813)

James Joseph Sylvester, English mathematician and academic (born 1814)

Joseph Bazalgette, English engineer and academic (born 1819)

Johan Jakob Nervander, Finnish poet, physicist and meteorologist (born 1805)

Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer and theorist (born 1760)

Clement Mary Hofbauer, Austrian priest and saint (born 1751)

Eusebio Kino, Italian priest and missionary (born 1645)

Salvator Rosa, Italian painter and poet (born 1615)

Annibale Padovano, Italian organist and composer (born 1527)

Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1493)

Walter V, Count of Brienne

Isabella of Hainault, queen of Philip II of France (born 1170)

Ernulf, Bishop of Rochester

Siegfried I (the Older), German nobleman

Romanos II, Byzantine emperor

Odoacer, first king of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (born 433)

Cao Cao, Chinese general, warlord and statesman

Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (born 100 BC)