March 17

March 17 is the 76th day of the year (77th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 289 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
• 180 – Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
• 455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
• 624 – Led by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
• 1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
• 1452 – The Battle of Los Alporchones is fought in the context of the Spanish Reconquista between the Emirate of Granada and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Castile and Murcia resulting in a Christian victory.
• 1560 – Fort Coligny on Villegagnon Island in Rio de Janeiro is attacked and destroyed during the Portuguese campaign against France Antarctique.
• 1677 – The Siege of Valenciennes, during the Franco-Dutch War, ends with France's taking of the city.
• 1776 – American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
• 1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday "as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence".
• 1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
• 1842 – The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is formed;
• 1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand land wars.
• 1861 – The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.
• 1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
• 1921 – The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
• 1939 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins,
• 1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 1942 – Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
• 1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.
• 1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
• 1948 – The Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
• 1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
• 1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
• 1958 – The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
• 1959 – Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
• 1960 – 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.
• 1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.
• 1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
• 1968 – As a result of nerve gas testing in Skull Valley, Utah, US, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.
• 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1970 – My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
• 1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.
• 1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
• 1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree.
• 1988 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
• 1988 – 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.
• 1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Suicide car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
• 1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
• 2000 – 530 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.
• 2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
• 2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. 35 Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Niš are destroyed.
• 2013 – The largest meteorite (since NASA started observing the moon in 2005) hit the moon.

Births

• 1231 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
• 1473 – James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
• 1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
• 1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French harpsichordist and composer (d. 1729)
• 1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish educator (d. 1732)
• 1686 – Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French painter and engraver (d. 1755)
• 1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American colonel and politician (d. 1806)
• 1747 – Johannes Jährig, German linguist (d. 1795)
• 1777 – Patrick Brontë, Irish-English clergyman and author (d. 1861)
• 1777 – Roger B. Taney, American politician and jurist, 5th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1864)
• 1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister, economist, and educator (d. 1847)
• 1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, English poet (d. 1849)
• 1804 – Jim Bridger, American explorer (d. 1881)
• 1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
• 1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and businessman, co-founded Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (d. 1900)
• 1846 – Kate Greenaway, English author and illustrator (d. 1901)
• 1849 – Charles F. Brush, American inventor, co-invented the Arc lamp (d. 1929)
• 1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
• 1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian economist (d. 1930)
• 1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian politician and activist (d. 1930)
• 1866 – Pierce Butler, American jurist (d. 1939)
• 1870 – Horace Donisthorpe, English entomologist (d. 1951)
• 1872 – Konstantinos Skarlatos, Greek general and target shooter (d. 1969)
• 1876 – Frederick Ayres, American composer (d. 1926)
• 1877 – Frank Castleman, American football player and coach (d. 1946)
• 1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian psychoanalyst (d. 1920)
• 1880 – Patrick Hastings, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (d. 1952)
• 1880 – Lawrence Oates, English army officer and explorer (d. 1912)
• 1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
• 1883 – Urmuz, Romanian judge and author (d. 1923)
• 1884 – Alcide Nunez, American clarinet player (d. 1934)
• 1885 – Ralph Rose, American shot putter (d. 1913)
• 1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught (d. 1974)
• 1888 – Paul Ramadier, French politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1961)
• 1892 – Sayed Darwish, Egyptian singer-songwriter (d. 1923)
• 1894 – Paul Green, American playwright (d. 1981)
• 1897 – Jozef Mazur, American painter and sculptor (d. 1970)
• 1901 – Alfred Newman, American composer and conductor (d. 1970)
• 1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
• 1906 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
• 1907 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian politician, 50th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Sonny Werblin, American businessman (d. 1991)
• 1911 – Vello Kaaristo, Estonian skier (d. 1965)
• 1912 – Bayard Rustin, American activist (d. 1987)
• 1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player and coach (d. 2008)
• 1915 – Henry Bumstead, American production designer (d. 2006)
• 1915 – Ray Ellington, English singer, drummer, and bandleader (d. 1985)
• 1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer, pianist, and television host (d. 1965)
• 1920 – John La Montaine, American pianist and composer (d. 2013)
• 1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 1st President of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
• 1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli general and politician (d. 2009)
• 1924 – Stephen Dodgson, English composer (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian actor
• 1926 – Siegfried Lenz, German author
• 1926 – Marjory Shedd, Canadian badminton player (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Rudy Ray Moore, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 2008)
• 1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian politician, 17th Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Paul Horn, American flute player
• 1930 – James Irwin, American pilot and astronaut (d. 1991)
• 1931 – David Peakall, English-American toxicologist (d. 2001)
• 1932 – Donald N. Langenberg, American physicist and educator
• 1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American journalist and activist
• 1933 – Sándor Rácz, Hungarian politician (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Ladislav Kupkovič, Slovakian composer and conductor
• 1936 – Patty Maloney, American actress
• 1936 – Ken Mattingly, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut
• 1937 – Adam Wade, American singer, drummer, and actor
• 1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
• 1938 – Keith O'Brien, Scottish cardinal
• 1938 – Izold Pustõlnik, Estonian astronomer (d. 2008)
• 1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (The Platters) (d. 2007)
• 1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
• 1939 – Bill Graham, Canadian politician
• 1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, English sailor
• 1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian footballer and manager
• 1940 – Mark White, American lawyer and politician, 43rd Governor of Texas
• 1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese politician
• 1941 – Paul Kantner, American guitarist (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and KBC Band)
• 1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
• 1943 – Don Mitchell, American actor (d. 2013)
• 1943 – Jim Weatherly, American singer-songwriter
• 1944 – Pattie Boyd, English model, author, and photographer
• 1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
• 1944 – John Sebastian, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful, Even Dozen Jug Band, and The Mugwumps)
• 1945 – Michael Hayden, American general, 20th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
• 1945 – Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
• 1945 – Dennis Joseph Sullivan, American Bishop
• 1946 – Harold Brown, American drummer (War and Lowrider Band)
• 1947 – Jan Andersson, Swedish politician
• 1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-American songwriter and producer
• 1947 – James Morrow, American author
• 1948 – William Gibson, American-Canadian author
• 1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1949 – Hartmut Briesenick, German shot putter (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor and director
• 1949 – Daniel Lavoie, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1949 – Pat Rice, Irish footballer and coach
• 1949 – Shih Wing-ching, Hong Kong businessman
• 1950 – Patrick Adams, American songwriter and producer
• 1950 – Michael Been, American singer-songwriter (The Call) (d. 2010)
• 1951 – Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
• 1951 – Scott Gorham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Thin Lizzy, 21 Guns, and Black Star Riders)
• 1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor
• 1952 – Susie Allanson, American singer and actress
• 1952 – Barry Horne, English activist (d. 2001)
• 1952 – Nikos Xydakis, Egyptian-Greek singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino activist (d. 2001)
• 1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress and singer
• 1954 – Jüri Pihl, Estonian politician
• 1955 – Mark Boone Junior, American actor
• 1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American educator and politician
• 1955 – Paul Overstreet, American singer-songwriter (S-K-O)
• 1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor, director, and bass player (Lt. Dan Band)
• 1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American author and illustrator
• 1956 – Rory McGrath, English comedian and writer
• 1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 2003)
• 1958 – Pat Bolland, Canadian television host
• 1958 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
• 1958 – Jorge Ramos, Mexican journalist
• 1959 – Danny Ainge, American basketball player and coach
• 1959 – Paul Black, American singer-songwriter and drummer (L.A. Guns)
• 1960 – Rebeca Arthur, American actress
• 1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
• 1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress and singer
• 1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
• 1961 – Andrew Paul, English actor
• 1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2006)
• 1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
• 1961 – Alexander Bard, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer (Army of Lovers, Vacuum, and Bodies Without Organs)
• 1962 – Ank Bijleveld, Dutch politician
• 1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish singer and actress (Altered Images)
• 1962 – Rob Sitch, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Jaggesh, Indian actor
• 1963 – Alex Fong, Chinese actor
• 1963 – Nick Peros, Canadian composer
• 1964 – Stefano Borgonovo, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer
• 1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor and producer
• 1964 – Sulev Oll, Estonian journalist and poet
• 1964 – Jacques Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
• 1966 – Jeremy Sheffield, English actor and dancer
• 1967 – Van Conner, American bass player (Screaming Trees)
• 1967 – Billy Corgan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Smashing Pumpkins, Zwan, Spirits in the Sky, and Starchildren)
• 1967 – Barry Minkow, American businessman
• 1967 – Aivar Voitka, Estonian forest brother
• 1968 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
• 1969 – Patricia Ford, American model
• 1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French skier
• 1969 – Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, founded Alexander McQueen (d. 2010)
• 1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1970 – Yanic Truesdale, Canadian actor
• 1970 – Gene Ween, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Ween)
• 1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player and coach
• 1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player (Hole, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Tinker)
• 1972 – Marc Gunn, American autoharp player (Brobdingnagian Bards)
• 1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
• 1972 – Torquil Campbell, English-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor (Stars and Memphis)
• 1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Rivermaya)
• 1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and drummer (The Corrs)
• 1973 – Amelia Heinle, American actress
• 1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player
• 1973 – Jerome Woods, American football player
• 1974 – Marisa Coughlan, American actress
• 1974 – Mark Dolan, English comedian and television host
• 1974 – Tõnis Kasemets, Estonian racing driver
• 1974 – Oliver Palotai, German keyboard player, songwriter, and producer (Kamelot, Circle II Circle, and Sons of Seasons)
• 1975 – Test, Canadian wrestler (d. 2009)
• 1975 – Justin Hawkins, English singer-songwriter (The Darkness, British Whale, and Hot Leg)
• 1975 – Gina Holden, Canadian actress
• 1975 – Puneeth Rajkumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer
• 1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
• 1976 – Brittany Daniel, American actress
• 1976 – Cynthia Daniel, American actress and photographer
• 1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
• 1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (Boyzone) (d. 2009)
• 1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
• 1977 – Tamar Braxton, American singer-songwriter and actress (The Braxtons)
• 1978 – Jason M. Burns, American author and publisher
• 1978 – Saša Stanišić, Bosnian-German author
• 1979 – Coco Austin, American model and actress
• 1979 – Stormy Daniels, American porn actress and director
• 1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, American-American actor
• 1979 – Samoa Joe, American wrestler
• 1979 – Sharman Joshi, Indian actor
• 1979 – Jaime Lynne, American wrestler
• 1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
• 1980 – Katie Morgan, American porn actress and radio host
• 1981 – Aaron Baddeley, American-Australian golfer
• 1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
• 1981 – Eva Fislová, Slovak tennis player
• 1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
• 1981 – Thorsten Stuckmann, German footballer
• 1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
• 1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 – Ryan Rottman, American actor
• 1985 – Vassiliki Arvaniti, Greek volleyball player
• 1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
• 1986 – Miles Kane, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Little Flames, The Rascals, and The Last Shadow Puppets)
• 1986 – Nick Newell, American mixed martial artist
• 1986 – Olesya Rulin, Russian-American actress
• 1987 – Krisnan Inu, New Zealand rugby player
• 1987 – Rob Kardashian, American television personality
• 1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
• 1988 – Claire Boucher, Canadian artist, musician, and music video director. (Grimes)
• 1988 – Fraser Forster, English footballer
• 1988 – Rasmus Elm, Swedish footballer
• 1988 – Ryan White, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1989 – Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer
• 1989 – Mason Musso, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Metro Station)
• 1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
• 1992 – Eliza Bennett, English actress and singer
• 1993 – Matteo Bianchetti, Italian footballer

Deaths

• 45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman lieutenant (b. 100 BC)
• 180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
• 460 – Saint Patrick, Irish missionary and bishop (b. 387)
• 659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Belgian nun (b. 626)
• 1040 – Harold Harefoot, English son of Cnut the Great (b. 1015)
• 1058 – Lulach, Scottish son of Gille Coemgáin of Moray (b. 1030)
• 1199 – Jocelin of Glasgow, Scottish monk and bishop (b. 1130)
• 1272 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (b. 1220)
• 1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (b. 1407)
• 1516 – Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours (b. 1479)
• 1565 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (b. 1500)
• 1620 – John Sarkander, Polish-Moravian priest and saint (b. 1576)
• 1640 – Philip Massinger, English playwright (b. 1583)
• 1649 – Gabriel Lalemant, French missionary and martyr (b. 1610)
• 1680 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French author (b. 1613)
• 1704 – Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch soldier and engineer (b. 1641)
• 1713 – Juraj Jánošík, Slovak outlaw (b. 1688)
• 1715 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish bishop and historian (b. 1643)
• 1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (b. 1671)
• 1764 – George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer (b. 1695)
• 1782 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (b. 1700)
• 1830 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (b. 1764)
• 1846 – Friedrich Bessel, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1784)
• 1849 – William II of the Netherlands (b. 1792)
• 1853 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1803)
• 1871 – Robert Chambers, Scottish geologist and publisher, co-founded Chambers Harrap (b. 1802)
• 1875 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (b. 1832)
• 1893 – Jules Ferry, French politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (b. 1832)
• 1917 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
• 1926 – Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general (b. 1853)
• 1937 – Austen Chamberlain, English politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1863)
• 1941 – Marguerite Nichols, American actress (b. 1895)
• 1946 – Dai Li, Chinese general (b. 1897)
• 1946 – William Merz, American gymnast (b. 1878)
• 1949 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (b. 1882)
• 1956 – Fred Allen, American actor (b. 1894)
• 1956 – Irène Joliot-Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
• 1957 – Ramon Magsaysay, Filipino politician, 7th President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
• 1958 – John Pius Boland, Irish tennis player and politician (b. 1870)
• 1961 – Susanna M. Salter, American politician (b. 1860)
• 1962 – Pat Clayton, English soldier and surveyor (b. 1896)
• 1965 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football player and coach (b. 1862)
• 1969 – Frederick Garfield Gilmore, American boxer (b. 1887)
• 1974 – Louis Kahn, American architect (b. 1901)
• 1976 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1906)
• 1981 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
• 1983 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
• 1987 – Santo Trafficante, Jr., American mob boss (b. 1914)
• 1988 – Nikolas Asimos, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
• 1989 – Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
• 1990 – Capucine, French model and actress (b. 1931)
• 1990 – Ric Grech, Ukrainian-English bass player (Family, Blind Faith, and Traffic) (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Grace Stafford, American actress (b. 1903)
• 1993 – Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
• 1994 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish-English actress and director (b. 1925)
• 1995 – Rick Aviles, American actor (b. 1952)
• 1995 – Ronald Kray, English gangster (b. 1933)
• 1996 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
• 1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
• 1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer (b. 1957)
• 1998 – Harold Copp, Canadian biochemist (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian composer (b. 1921)
• 1999 – Rod Hull, English comedian and actor (b. 1936)
• 1999 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French activist (b. 1905)
• 2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
• 2002 – Văn Tiến Dũng, Vietnamese general and politician, 6th Minister of Defence for Vietnam (b. 1917)
• 2002 – Sylvester Weaver, American broadcaster, created the Today Show and The Tonight Show (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (b. 1902)
• 2004 – Rachel Hudson, English murder victim (b. 1984)
• 2004 – J.J. Jackson, American radio and television host (b. 1941)
• 2005 – Royce Frith, Canadian politician (b. 1923)
• 2005 – George F. Kennan, American historian and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union (b. 1904)
• 2005 – Andre Norton, American author (b. 1912)
• 2006 – Bob Blue, American songwriter and educator (b. 1948)
• 2006 – Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (b. 1913)
• 2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball player and coach (b. 1913)
• 2006 – Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (b. 1955)
• 2007 – John Backus, American computer scientist, designed Fortran (b. 1924)
• 2007 – Roger Bennett, American singer-songwriter and pianist (Legacy Five and Cathedral Quartet) (b. 1959)
• 2007 – Jim Cronin, English zoo keeper and activist, founded Monkey World (b. 1951)
• 2008 – Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
• 2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (b. 1937)
• 2009 – Fernand Lindsay, Canadian organist and educator (b. 1929)
• 2010 – Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Box Tops and Big Star) (b. 1950)
• 2010 – Sid Fleischman, American author (b. 1920)
• 2010 – Charlie Gillett, English musicologist and radio host (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Michael Gough, English actor (b. 1916)
• 2011 – Ferlin Husky, American singer (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Paul Boyer, American historian and educator (b. 1935)
• 2012 – John Demjanjuk, Ukrainian-American nazi guard (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Rudolf Battěk, Czech sociologist and politician (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Svein Blindheim, Norwegian military officer (b. 1916)
• 2013 – William B. Caldwell, III, American general (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Grady Clay, American journalist (b. 1916)
• 2013 – Steve Davis, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1952)
• 2013 – Rosine Delamare, French costume designer (b. 1911)
• 2013 – André Fontaine, French historian and journalist (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Jan van Houwelingen, Dutch politician (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Olivier Metzner, French lawyer (b. 1949)
• 2013 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Children's Day (Bangladesh)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
  • Gertrude of Nivelles
  • Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
  • Patrick
  • March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
• Liberalia, in honor of Liber Pater. Considered by some to be part of Agonalia. (Ancient Rome)
• National Muay Thai Day
• Saint Patrick's Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated elsewhere in North America and worldwide.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to March 17.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada