March 17 in History

Rojava conflict: At a conference in Rmelan, the Movement for a Democratic Society declares the establishment of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.

Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed.

Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Five hundred and thirty 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.

Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.

A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.

A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.

Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.

Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.

The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.

Aeroflot Flight 1691 crashes on approach to Vnukovo International Airport, killing 58.

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.

Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.

Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.

Mount Agung erupts on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.

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.

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 crashes in Tobin Township, Perry County, Indiana, killing 63.

The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, which is also the first satellite to achieve a long-term orbit.

A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "californium".

Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.

World War II: The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.

Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.

The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.

SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.

The first railway line of Finland between cities of Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, called Päärata, is officially opened.

The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.

The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars.

The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo is formally organized with Emma Smith as president.

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch.

The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy.

American Revolutionary War: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.

Turko-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus.

Edward the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first duchy in England.

Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire; he forces Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor, Valentinian III, to marry him.

Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius.

In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.

Pietro Pellegri, Italian footballer

Brandon Aiyuk, American football player

Katie Ledecky, American swimmer

Daniel Sprong, Dutch ice hockey player

Claressa Shields, American boxer and mixed martial artist

DeForest Buckner, American football player

Terry Rozier, American basketball player

Ivan Provedel, Italian footballer

Marcel Sabitzer, Austrian footballer

Matteo Bianchetti, Italian footballer

Rhys Hoskins, American baseball player

Yao Yuanjun, Chinese Border police officer (died 2011)

John Boyega, British actor and producer

Patrick Cantlay, American golfer

Yeltsin Tejeda, Costa Rican footballer

Sergey Kalinin, Russian ice hockey player

Cordarrelle Patterson, American football player

Thomas Robinson, American-Lebanese basketball player

Hozier, Irish musician

Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player

Jean Segura, Dominican baseball player

Mikael Backlund, Swedish ice hockey player

Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer

Juan Lagares, Dominican baseball player

Harry Melling, English actor

Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer

Fraser Forster, English footballer

Grimes, Canadian musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and visual artist

Brent Meuleman, Belgian politician

Ryan White, Canadian ice hockey player

Federico Fazio, Argentine footballer

Rob Kardashian, American television personality

Carlos Lampe, Bolivian footballer

Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player

Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player

Emmanuel Sanders, American football player

Chris Davis, American baseball player

Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer

Miles Kane, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Jeremy Pargo, American basketball player

Silke Spiegelburg, German pole vaulter

Tuğba Karademir, Turkish-Canadian figure skater

César Valdez, Dominican baseball player

Chris Copeland, American basketball player and coach

Ryan Rottman, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

James Heath, English golfer

Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer

Attila Vajda, Hungarian sprint canoeist

Steven Pienaar, South African footballer

Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer

Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer

Nicky Jam, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter

Kyle Korver, American basketball player

Danny Califf, American soccer player

Stormy Daniels, American adult film actress

Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player

Stephen Kramer Glickman, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and fashion designer

Mineko Nomachi, Japanese essayist

Samoa Joe, American professional wrestler

Zachery Kouwe, American journalist

Tamar Braxton, American singer and television personality

Scott Downs, American baseball player

Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter and actor (died 2009)

Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer

Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter

Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer (died 2021)

Test, Canadian-American wrestler (died 2009)

Mark Dolan, English comedian and television host

Rico Blanco, Filipino singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor

Vance Wilson, American baseball player and manager

Torquil Campbell, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor

Bill Mueller, American baseball player and coach

Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player

Gene Ween, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Edgar Grospiron, French skier

Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founded eponymous brand (died 2010)

Eri Nitta, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress

Barry Minkow, American pastor and businessman

Andrew Rosindell, English journalist and politician

Andrew Hudson, South African cricketer

Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (died 2013)

Lee Dixon, English footballer and journalist

Rob Lowe, American actor

Jacques Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer and coach

Roger Harper, Guyanese cricketer and coach

Carsten Almqvist, Swedish business executive

Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician

Janet Gardner, American singer and guitarist

Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress

Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, and producer

Sam Bowie, American basketball player

Dana Reeve, American actress, singer, and activist (died 2006)

Danny Ainge, American baseball and basketball player

Paul Black, American singer-songwriter and drummer

Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (died 2003)

Patrick McDonnell, American author and illustrator

Rory McGrath, British comedian, television personality, and writer

Cynthia McKinney, American activist and politician

Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist (died 2001)

Chuck Muncie, American football player (died 2013)

Barry Horne, English activist (died 2001)

Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach

Stuart Rose, English businessman

William Gibson, American-Canadian author and screenwriter

Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and manager

Dennis Bond, English footballer (died 2025)

Yury Chernavsky, Russian-American songwriter and producer (died 2025)

Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Pattie Boyd, English model, author, and photographer

Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager

Jeff Banks, Welsh fashion designer

Andrew Brook, Canadian philosopher, author, and academic

John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer and rapist (died 1994)

Yoko Yamamoto, Japanese actress (died 2024)

Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese soldier and politician

Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2016)

Max Stafford-Clark, English director and academic

Mark White, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Texas (died 2017)

Jim Gary, American sculptor (died 2006)

Bill Graham, Canadian academic and politician, 4th Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 2022)

Robin Knox-Johnston, English sailor and first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe

Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager

Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-French dancer and choreographer (died 1993)

Keith O'Brien, Northern Ireland-born Scottish cleric, theologian, and cardinal (died 2018)

Zola Taylor, American singer (died 2007)

Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina (died 2021)

Ida Kleijnen, Dutch chef (died 2019)

Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovak composer and conductor (died 2016)

Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut (died 2023)

Fred T. Mackenzie, American biologist and academic (died 2024)

Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor (died 2022)

Myrlie Evers-Williams, American journalist and activist

Penelope Lively, English author

Dick Curless, American country music singer (died 1995)

Patricia Breslin, American actress (died 2011)

David Peakall, English-American chemist and toxicologist (died 2001)

Paul Horn, American-Canadian flute player and saxophonist (died 2014)

James Irwin, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut, eighth astronaut to walk on the moon (died 1991)

William John McKeag, Canadian businessman and politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (died 2007)

Betty Allen, American soprano and educator (died 2009)

Siegfried Lenz, Polish-German author and playwright (died 2014)

Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor (died 2015)

Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (died 2013)

Patrick Suppes, American psychologist and philosopher (died 2014)

Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician, 12th Israeli Minister of Communications (died 2009)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (died 1975)

Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (died 1965)

Mad Mike Hoare, British-Irish military officer and mercenary (died 2020)

Hank Sauer, American baseball player (died 2001)

Ray Ellington, English drummer and bandleader (died 1985)

Robert S. Arbib Jr., American ornithologist, writer and conservationist (died 1987)

Bill Roycroft, Australian equestrian rider (died 2011)

Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (died 2008)

Bayard Rustin, American activist (died 1987)

Sonny Werblin, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1991)

Brigitte Helm, German-Swiss actress (died 1996)

Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (died 1988)

Jean Van Houtte, Belgian academic and politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (died 1991)

Lillian Yarbo, American comedienne, dancer, and singer (died 1996)

Chaim Gross, Austrian-American sculptor and educator (died 1991)

Elli Stenberg, Finnish politician (died 1987)

Bobby Jones, American golfer and lawyer (died 1971)

Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (died 1970)

Lloyd Rees, Australian painter (died 1988)

Paul Green, American playwright and academic (died 1981)

Floyd B. Barnum, American college football coach (died 1965)

Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter and producer (died 1923)

Ross McLarty, Australian politician, 17th Premier of Western Australia (died 1962)

Harry Clarke, Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator (died 1931)

Paul Ramadier, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1961)

Princess Patricia of Connaught (died 1974)

Ralph Rose, American track and field athlete (died 1913)

Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player (died 1934)

Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1973)

Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (died 1952)

Lawrence Oates, English lieutenant and explorer (died 1912)

Edith New, English militant suffragette (died 1951)

Otto Gross, Austrian-German psychoanalyst and philosopher (died 1920)

Ville Kiviniemi, Finnish politician (died 1951)

Patrice Contamine de Latour, Spanish poet (died 1926)

Pierce Butler, American lawyer and jurist (died 1939)

Joseph Baptista, Indian engineer, lawyer, and politician (died 1930)

Martha P. Falconer, American social reformer (died 1941)

Silvio Gesell, Belgian merchant and economist (died 1930)

Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (died 1910)

Charles F. Brush, American businessman and philanthropist, co-invented the Arc lamp (died 1929)

Cornelia Clapp, American marine biologist (died 1934)

Ernesta Forti, Italian anarchist and dairy worker

Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator (died 1901)

Rosina Heikel, Finnish physician (died 1929)

Josef Rheinberger, Liechtensteiner-German organist and composer (died 1901)

Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (died 1900)

Jean Ingelow, English poet and author (died 1897)

Norbert Rillieux, African American inventor and chemical engineer (died 1894)

Jim Bridger, American fur trader and explorer (died 1881)

Ebenezer Elliott, English poet and educator (died 1849)

Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator (died 1847)

Patrick Brontë, Irish-English priest and author (died 1861)

Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States (died 1864)

Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (died 1806)

Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver (died 1755)

Thomas Boston, Scottish philosopher and theologian (died 1732)

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichord player and composer (died 1729)

Robert Douglas, Count of Skenninge, Swedish field marshal (died 1662)

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō (died 1598)

Giovanni Francesco Commendone, Catholic cardinal (died 1584)

James IV of Scotland (died 1513)

Emperor Shijō of Japan (died 1242)

Harun al-Rashid, Abbasid caliph (died 809)

John Hemingway, Irish fighter pilot, last surviving Battle of Britain pilot (born 1919)

Lee Shau-kee, Hong Kong real estate billionaire (born 1928)

Lance Reddick, American actor (born 1962)

John Magufuli, the fifth President of Tanzania (born 1959)

Mike MacDonald, Canadian comedian (born 1954)

Phan Văn Khải, the fifth Prime Minister of Vietnam (born 1933)

Meir Dagan, Israeli general (born 1945)

Zoltán Kamondi, Hungarian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1960)

Frank Perris, Canadian motorcycle racer (born 1931)

Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (born 1974)

Joseph Kerman, American musicologist and critic (born 1924)

Rachel Lambert Mellon, American gardener, philanthropist, art collector and political patron (born 1910)

William B. Caldwell III, American general (born 1925)

Lawrence Fuchs, American scholar and academic (born 1927)

A.B.C. Whipple, American journalist and historian (born 1918)

Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria (born 1923)

Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (born 1919)

Michael Gough, English actor (born 1916)

Ferlin Husky, American country music singer (born 1925)

Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1950)

Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (born 1920)

Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (born 1937)

Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (born 1939)

John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (born 1924)

Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (born 1913)

Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (born 1913)

İstemihan Taviloğlu, Turkish composer and educator (born 1945)

Royce Frith, Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (born 1923)

George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (born 1904)

Andre Norton, American author (born 1912)

Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (born 1911)

Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (born 1917)

Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, American television broadcaster and producer (born 1908)

Anthony Storr, English psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and author (born 1920)

Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer (born 1921)

Jean Pierre-Bloch, French activist (born 1905)

Jermaine Stewart, American singer-songwriter and dancer (born 1957)

René Clément, French director and screenwriter (born 1913)

Terry Stafford, American singer-songwriter (born 1941)

Sunnyland Slim, American blues pianist (born 1906)

Charlotte Auerbach, German-Jewish Scottish folklorist, geneticist, and zoologist (born 1899)

Mai Zetterling, Swedish-English actress and director (born 1925)

Helen Hayes, American actress (born 1900)

Grace Stafford, American actress (born 1903)

Capucine, French model and actress (born 1928)

Dinkar G. Kelkar, Indian art collector (born 1896)

Clarence D. Lester, African-American fighter pilot (born 1923)

Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1903)

Louisa E. Rhine, American botanist and parapsychologist (born 1891)

Paul Dean, American baseball player (born 1913)

Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (born 1906)

Louis Kahn, American architect and academic, designed Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (born 1901)

Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football player and coach (born 1862)

Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (born 1860)

John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (born 1870)

Bertha De Vriese, Belgian physician (born 1877)

Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino captain and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (born 1907)

Fred Allen, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and author (born 1894)

Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897)

Aleksandra Ekster, Russian-French painter and set designer (born 1882)

Mike, American Wyandotte chicken, lived 18 months following decapitation (h. 1945)

Dai Li, Chinese general (born 1897)

Nada Dimić, People's Hero of Yugoslavia, victim of Genocide of Serbs (born 1923)

Philomène Belliveau, Canadian artist (born 1854)

Bede Jarrett, English Dominican priest (born 1881)

Aleksei Brusilov, Georgian-Russian general (born 1853)

Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (born 1838)

John Houlding, English businessman, founded Liverpool Football Club (born 1833)

Jules Ferry, French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (born 1832)

Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (born 1832)

Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (born 1802)

Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and mathematician (born 1803)

William II, Dutch sovereign prince and king (born 1792)

Friedrich Bessel, German astronomer, mathematician, and physicist (born 1784)

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician (born 1764)

Sophia Albertina, princess-abbess of Quedlinburg (born 1753)

James Edward Smith, English botanist and entomologist (born 1759)

Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (born 1700)

George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer and politician (born 1695)

Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet and playwright (born 1671)

Gilbert Burnet, Scottish bishop and historian (born 1643)

Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch soldier and engineer (born 1641)

François de La Rochefoucauld, French author (born 1613)

Jerome Weston, 2nd Earl of Portland, English diplomat (born 1605)

Gabriel Lalemant, French missionary and saint (born 1610)

Philip Massinger, English playwright (born 1583)

John Sarkander, Polish-Moravian priest and saint (born 1576)

Sophia of Sweden, duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg (born 1547)

Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian and academic (born 1500)

Rana Sanga, Indian ruler (born 1482)

Giuliano de' Medici, Italian nobleman (born 1479)

Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shōgun (born 1407)

Ibn Khaldun, Tunisian sociologist, historian, and scholar (born 1332)

Louis of Enghien, French nobleman

An-Nasir Hasan, Mamluk sultan of Egypt

Go-Saga, emperor of Japan (born 1220)

Philip of Montfort, French knight and nobleman

Pierre de Montreuil, French architect

Jocelin of Glasgow, Scottish monk and bishop (born 1130)

Lulach, king of Scotland

Harold Harefoot, king of England

Kazan, emperor of Japan (born 968)

Li Yu, Prince of De, prince and emperor of the Tang Dynasty

Haito, bishop of Basel

Gertrude of Nivelles, Frankish abbess

Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (born 121)

Titus Labienus, Roman general (born 100 BC)

Publius Attius Varus, Roman governor of Africa