March 17: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

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 Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
• 1577 - The Cathay Company is formed to send Martin Frobisher back to the New World for more gold.
• 1673 - Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet begin their exploration of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.
• 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.
• 1805 - The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
• 1821 - Mani declared war on the Ottoman Empire starting the Greek War of Independence.
• 1845 - The rubber band is invented
• 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 (now Camp Fire USA) (formally announced in 1912).
• 1921 - The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
• 1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling.
• 1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese break out.
• 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, a precursor to the NATO Agreement.
• 1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
• 1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
• 1959 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th 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.
• 1988 - A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
• 1992 - A suicide car-bomb kills 29 and injures 242 at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 2003 - British Cabinet Minister, Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for war with Iraq.
• 2004 - Massive Unrest in Kosovo. Over 22 killed, 200 wounded, 35 destroyed Serb Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Nis.

• 1231 - Emperor Shijo of Japan (d. 1252)
• 1473 - King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
• 1628 - François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
• 1676 - Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
• 1725 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (d. 1806)
• 1777 - Roger Taney, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1864)
• 1780 - Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor, social reformer, author, and scientist (d. 1847)
• 1804 - Jim Bridger, American trapper and explorer (d. 1881)
• 1820 - Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
• 1834 - Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
• 1846 - Kate Greenaway, English children's author and illustrator (d. 1901)
• 1862 - Silvio Gesell, Belgian economist (d. 1930)
• 1866 - Pierce Butler, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1939)
• 1870 - Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (d. 1951)
• 1880 - Sir Patrick Hastings, British barrister (d. 1952)
• 1881 - Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
• 1883 - Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
• 1884 - Alcide Nunez, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1934)
• 1892 - Benjamin Drake Van Wissen, Australian Engineer.
• 1894 - Paul Green, American writer (d. 1981)
• 1895 - Shemp Howard, actor (d. 1955)
• 1901 - Alfred Newman, American film composer (d. 1970)
• 1902 - Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
• 1908 - Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
• 1912 - Bayard Rustin, American civil rights activist (d. 1987)
• 1914 - Sammy Baugh, American football player
• 1916 - Ray Ellington, British singer (d. 1985)
• 1918 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1919 - Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
• 1920 - Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
• 1926 - Siegfried Lenz, German writer
• 1930 - James Irwin, astronaut (d. 1991)
• 1936 - Ladislav Kupkovic, Slovakian composer
• 1936 - Ken Mattingly, astronaut
• 1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
• 1940 - Mark White, American politician
• 1941 - Paul Kantner, American musician (Jefferson Airplane)
• 1942 - John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
• 1944 - Pattie Boyd, British photographer and model
• 1944 - Cito Gaston, baseball player and coach
• 1944 - John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter
• 1945 - Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
• 1946 - Georges J.F. Kohler, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1995)
• 1947 - James Morrow, author
• 1948 - William Gibson, American-born writer
• 1949 - Patrick Duffy, American actor
• 1950 - Patrick Adams, American record producer and songwriter
• 1951 - Kurt Russell, American actor
• 1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
• 1955 - Gary Sinise, American actor
• 1956 - Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
• 1957 - Michael Kelly, American journalist (d. 2003)
• 1959 - Danny Ainge, American basketball player and coach
• 1961 - Casey Siemaszko, American actor
• 1962 - Clare Grogan, Scottish actress-singer
• 1964 - Rob Lowe, American actor
• 1967 - William Patrick Corgan, Jr., American musician
• 1967 - Barry Minkow, American businessman
• 1969 - Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
• 1972 - Mia Hamm, American soccer player
• 1973 - Caroline Corr, Irish singer and musician
• 1973 - Rico Blanco, Filipino singer (Rivermaya)
• 1975 - Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
• 1976 - Stephen Gately, Irish singer, musician, and actor (Boyzone)
• 1979 - Andrew Ference, Canadian hockey player

• 45 BC - Titus Labienus, Roman leader (in battle)
• 45 BC - Gnaeus Pompeius, the Younger, Roman general (executed)
• 180 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
• 461 - Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland
• 1040 - Harold Harefoot, King of England
• 1058 - King Lulach I of Scotland
• 1272 - Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (b. 1220)
• 1425 - Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (b. 1407)
• 1516 - Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1478)
• 1565 - Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (b. 1500)
• 1640 - Philip Massinger, English dramatist (b. 1583)
• 1680 - François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (b. 1613)
• 1704 - Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch military engineer (b. 1641)
• 1715 - Gilbert Burnet, Scottish Bishop of Salisbury (b. 1643)
• 1741 - Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (b. 1671)
• 1764 - George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer
• 1782 - Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born mathematician (b. 1700)
• 1830 - Laurent, Marquis 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 physician and mathematician (b. 1803)
• 1893 - Jules Ferry, French statesman (b. 1832)
• 1917 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
• 1937 - Austen Chamberlain, English statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1863)
• 1956 - Fred Allen, American actor and comedian (b. 1894)
• 1956 - Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1897)
• 1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
• 1965 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, baseball, basketball, and football coach and player (b. 1862)
• 1976 - Luchino Visconti, Italian director (b. 1906)
• 1983 - Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
• 1987 - Santo Trafficante, Jr., American gangster (b. 1914)
• 1989 - Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
• 1990 - Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
• 1993 - Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
• 1995 - Ronnie Kray, British gangster (b. 1933)
• 1999 - Ernest Gold, Austrian composer (b. 1921)
• 1999 - Rod Hull, British comedian (b. 1936)
• 2002 - Rosetta LeNoire, American actress and producer (b. 1911)
• 2002 - Pat Weaver, American broadcast executive (b. 1908)
• 2004 - J.J. Jackson, American television personality (b. 1941)
• 2005 - George F. Kennan, American Cold War strategist and historian (b. 1904)
• 2005 - Andre Norton, American writer (b. 1912)

• Ancient Latvia - Kustonu Diena observed
• Boston, Massachusetts - Evacuation Day
• Feast day of St Patrick: a public holiday in Ireland and Montserrat, widely celebrated in North America (see St. Patrick's Day)
• ancient Rome - the second day of the Bacchanalia in honor of Bacchus
• ancient Rome - the Liberalia in honor of Liber

March 16 - March 18 - February 17 - April 17 -- listing of all days