March 19

March 19 is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 287 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

1279 – A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the rule of the Song Dynasty in China.
1452 – Frederick, Holy Roman Emperor is crowned in Rome.
1563 – The Edict of Amboise is signed, granting some freedoms to Huguenots in France.
1616 – Walter Raleigh is released from the Tower of London after 13 years.
1649 – The English House of Commons passes an act banning the House of Lords.
1808 – Charles IV of Spain abdicates the throne, but soon becomes King again because of the Napoleonic Wars.
1812 – The Cadiz Cortes declare the Spanish Constitution of 1812.
1848 – March Revolution in Berlin.
1853 – The Taiping reform movement occupies and makes Nanjing in China its capital city until 1864.
1861 – The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.
1863 – American Civil War: The Confederate cruiser SS Georgiana is destroyed on its first voyage. It is re–discovered 102 years later.
1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins in North Carolina.
1882 – The first stone of the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona is laid. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi, and is, as of 2014, not finished yet.
1885 – Louis Riel declares a provisional government in Saskatchewan, Canada, starting the Northwest Rebellion.
1895 – The Lumière brothers record their first cinematograph footage.

1901 – 2000

1915 – Pluto is photographed for the first time, but is not considered as a planet.
1918 – US Congress establishes Time Zones and Daylight Saving Time.
1920 – The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for a second time.
1921 – Irish War of Independence: In Crossbarry, County Cork, Ireland, over 100 IRA volunteers escape an attempt by over 1,300 British forces to encircle them.
1931 – Gambling is legalised in Nevada.
1932 – Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.
1941 – World War II: 99th Pursuit Squadron, Tuskegee Airmen, the first black unit of the United States Army Corps, is activated.
1944 – World War II: Nazi forces occupy Hungary.
1945 – World War II: Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 724 crew members.
1946 – French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion becomes overseas Departements of France.
1954 – Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
1954 – Willie Mosconi sets world record by running 526 balls in a row without a miss. during a straight pool competition at the East High Billiard Club in Springfield, Ohio.
1958 – The Monarch Underwear Company fire in Manhattan kills 24 people.
1962 – Algerian War of Independence: A ceasefire enters effect.
1970 – Chancellor of Germany Willy Brandt meets East Germany's Prime Minister Willi Stoph in Erfurt in an attempt at closer relations.
1979 – The United States House of Representatives begins broadcasting its day–to–day business via the cable television network C–SPAN.
1982 – Argentine forces land on the island of South Georgia, two weeks before the invasion of the Falkland Islands.
1988 – The rock band Nirvana holds its first concert.
1996 – Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela divorce.

From 2001

2002 – Zimbabwe is suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations over human rights abuses and electoral fraud.
2003 – George W. Bush orders the Invasion of Iraq.
2004 – President of Taiwan Chen Shui-bian is shot and injured a day before the Presidential election.
2004 – A bus crash kills 21 people near Konginkangas, Finland. It is the deadliest road accident in Finnish history.
2006 – The Winter Paralympics in Turin end.
2006 – In a controversial election, Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko wins 80% of the vote, leading to demonstrations in Minsk.
2008 – GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the eye (without using a telescope) is briefly observed.
2011 – By 3,000 miles, the Moon makes its closest approach to Earth in 18 years.
2011 – 2011 Libyan protests: UN–authorised military intervention begins against Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi in Libya.
2012 – Four people are killed in a shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France. It is believed to be linked with three murders over the previous week. The attacker, Mohammed Merah, is killed after a stand–off with police three days later.
2013 – Over 50 people are killed in bomb attacks in Baghdad, to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
2013 – Inauguration of Pope Francis.
2016 – Flydubai Flight 981 crashes shortly before landing at Rostov on Don, Southern Russia, killing all 62 people on board.

Births

Up to 1900

968 – Ethelred the Unready, Saxon king of England (d. 1016)
1434 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (d. 1443)
1488 – Johannes Magnus, Swedish bishop (d. 1544)
1534 – Jose de Anchieta, Spanish missionary (d. 1597)
1601 – Alonzo Cano, Spanish painter, sculptor and architect (d. 1667)
1603 – King John IV of Portugal (d. 1656)
1629 – Tsar Alexis of Russia (d. 1676)
1661 – Francesco Gasparini, Italian composer and teacher (d. 1727)
1721 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish poet and writer (d. 1771)
1734 – Thomas McKean, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1817)
1742 – Tupac Amaru II, Inca revolutionary (d. 1781)
1749 – Princess Louisa of Great Britain (d. 1768)
1778 – Edward Pakenham, British general (d. 1815)
1813 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary, doctor and explorer (d. 1873)
1821 – Richard Francis Burton, English explorer, diplomat and writer (d. 1890)
1823 – Princess Adelgunde of Bavaria (d. 1914)
1824 – William Allingham, Irish writer (d. 1889)
1829 – Carl Frederik Tietgen, Danish financier and industrialist (d. 1901)
1844 – Minna Canth, Finnish writer and women's rights activist (d. 1897)
1848 – Wyatt Earp, American Western figure (d. 1929)
1849 – Alfred von Tirpitz, German admiral (d. 1930)
1860 – William Jennings Bryan, United States Secretary of State (d. 1925)
1861 – Lomer Gouin, 13th Premier of Quebec (d. 1929)
1864 – Charles M. Russell, American painter, sculptor, illustrator and writer (d. 1926)
1866 – Emilio De Bono, Italian general and politician (d. 1944)
1871 – Baroness Mary Vetsera, member of the Austrian nobility (d. 1889)
1872 – Anna Held, Polish–born stage performer (d. 1918)
1873 – Mex Reger, German pianist, composer and conductor (d. 1916)
1876 – Felix Jacoby, German classical philologist (d. 1959)
1883 – Walter Haworth, British chemist (d. 1950)
1883 – Joseph Stilwell, American general (d. 1946)
1888 – Josef Albers, German artist (d. 1976)
1889 – King Manuel II of Portugal (d. 1932)
1891 – Earl Warren, American politician and jurist (d. 1974)
1892 – James Van Fleet, American general (d. 1992)
1893 – Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, President of Ecuador (d. 1979)
1894 – Moms Mabley, American comedienne, actress and singer (d. 1975)
1895 – Ion Barbu, Romanian writer and mathematician (d. 1961)
1897 – Betty Compson, American actress (d. 1974)
1898 – Karl Theodor Bleek, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (d. 1969)
1900 – Frédéric Joliot, French physicist (d. 1958)

1901 – 1950

1902 – Louisa Ghijs, Belgian stage actress (d. 1985)
1905 – Albert Speer, Nazi official (d. 1981)
1906 – Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official (d. 1962)
1909 – Attilio Demaria, Argentine footballer (d. 1990)
1909 – Louis Hayward, British actor (d. 1985)
1912 – William Frankland, British immunologist
1912 – Hugh Watt, Interim Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1980)
1913 – Alexander Pokryshkin, Russian pilot (d. 1985)
1914 – Jay Berwanger, American football player (d. 2002)
1915 – Patricia Morison, American soprano and actress
1916 – Eric Christmas, English–Canadian actor (d. 2000)
1916 – Irving Wallace, American writer and screenwriter (d. 1990)
1917 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist and composer (d. 1950)
1917 – Laszlo Szabo, Hungarian chess player (d. 1998)
1919 – Lennie Tristano, American jazz pianist, composer and educator (d. 1978)
1920 – Kjell Aukrust, Norwegian writer (d. 2002)
1921 – Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedy magician (d. 1984)
1921 – Emile Bongiorni, French footballer (d. 1949)
1922 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese soldier (d. 2014)
1922 – Guy Lewis, American basketball player (d. 2015)
1923 – Giuseppe Rotunno, Italian cinematographer
1924 – Joe Gaetjens, Haitian–American soccer player (d. 1964)
1924 – Mary Wimbush, British actress (d. 2005)
1925 – Brent Scowcroft, American general and diplomat
1927 – Allen Newell, American computer scientist (d. 1992)
1928 – Hans Küng, Swiss theologian, priest and writer
1928 – Patrick McGoohan, American actor (d. 2009)
1930 – Giuseppe Rotunno, Italian chef
1932 – Gail Kobe, American actress (d. 2013)
1932 – Peter Hall, English town planner and geographer (d. 2014)
1933 – Philip Roth, American writer
1935 – Nancy Malone, American actress (d. 2014)
1936 – Ursula Andress, Swiss actress
1937 – Egon Krenz, East German political leader
1942 – Richard Dobson, American singer and songwriter
1942 – Heather Robertson, Canadian journalist and writer (d. 2014)
1943 – Mario Monti, Italian economist and former Prime Minister of Italy
1943 – Mario J. Molina, Mexican chemist
1944 – Said Musa, former Prime Minister of Belize
1944 – Tom Constanten, American musician (Grateful Dead)
1944 – Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian–born assassin
1946 – Ruth Pointer, American singer (Pointer Sisters)
1947 – Glenn Close, American actress
1947 – Marinho Peres, Brazilian footballer
1949 – Hirofumi Hirano, Japanese politician
1949 – Valery Leontiev, Russian singer

1951 – 1975

1952 – Harvey Weinstein, American movie producer
1952 – Chris Brubeck, American jazz musician
1953 – Ricky Wilson, American musician
1953 – Ian Blair, English police officer, London Metropolitan Police
1954 – Cho Kwang-Rae, South Korean football manager
1954 – Jill Abramson, American journalist
1954 – Rashid Nugmanov, Kazakhstani director and activist
1955 – Bruce Willis, American actor
1955 – Pino Daniele, Italian musician (d. 2015)
1956 – Yegor Gaidar, Soviet politician (d. 2009)
1958 – Fred Stoller, American comedian, actor and voice artist
1959 – Terry Hall, British singer
1961 – Jos Lansink, Dutch–Belgian equestrian
1961 – Rune Bratseth, Norwegian footballer
1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress (d. 2006)
1966 – Michael Crockart, Scottish politician
1966 – Olaf Marschall, German footballer
1967 – Vladimir Konstantinov, Russian ice hockey player
1967 – Katia Tiutiunnik, Australian violist and composer
1968 – Tyrone Hill, American basketball player
1969 – Gary Jules, American singer
1973 – Ashley Giles, English cricketer
1973 – Sergey Makarov, Russian javelin thrower

From 1976

1976 – Alessandro Nesta, Italian footballer
1976 – Rachel Blanchard, Canadian actress
1977 – Jorma Taccone, American director, actor and screenwriter
1977 – Fayez Banihammad, 9–11 terrorist (d. 2001)
1979 – Franco Brienza, Italian footballer
1979 – Christos Patsatzoglou, Greek footballer
1979 – Hedo Turkoglu, Turkish basketball player
1979 – Ivan Ljubicic, Croatian tennis player
1979 – Abby Brammell, American actress
1981 – Kolo Touré, Ivorian footballer
1982 – Brad Jones, Australian footballer
1982 – Eduardo Saverin, Brazilian entrepreneur
1983 – Evan Bourne, American professional wrestler
1984 – Tanushree Dutta, Indian model and actress
1986 – Tyler Bozak, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – AJ Lee, American professional wrestler
1987 – Milos Teodosic, Serbian basketball player
1988 – Clayton Kershaw, American baseball player
1991 – Aleksandr Kokorin, Russian footballer
1991 – Keacy Carty, West Indian cricketer
1997 – Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuanian swimmer
1999 – Tatum McCann, American actress
2007 – Prince Abdullah bin Ali of Jordan

Deaths

Up to 1900

1238 – Duke Henry I of Poland (b. 1163)
1279 – Emperor Bing of Song of China (b. 1271)
1286 – Alexander III of Scotland (b. 1241)
1330 – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician (b. 1301)
1406 – Ibn Khaldun, Arab historian (b. 1332)
1612 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarussian saint (b. 1585)
1623 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1556)
1637 – Peter Pazmany, Hungarian cardinal and statesman (b. 1570)
1649 – Gerardus Vossius, Dutch classical scholar and theologian (b. 1577)
1687 – Robert Cavalier de La Salle, French explorer (b. 1643)
1721 – Pope Clement XI (b. 1649)
1746 – Grand Duchess Anna Leopolodovna of Russia (b. 1718)
1783 – Charles Cornwallis, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1713)
1806 – James Jackson, English–born American politician, Governor of Georgia (b. 1757)
1816 – Philip Mazzai, Italian physician (b. 1730)
1866 – John Dunn, Australian bushranger hanged in Sydney (b. c. 1840)
1871 – Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger, Austrian mineralogist (b. 1795)
1882 – Karl Robert Jakobson, Estonian politician, journalist and teacher (b. 1841)
1884 – Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and writer (b. 1802)
1900 – John Bingham, American politician and lawyer (b. 1815)

1901 – 2000

1908 – Eduard Zeller, German theologian and philosopher (b. 1814)
1914 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (b. 1850)
1915 – Antonio Agliardi, Italian cardinal (b. 1832)
1916 – Vasily Surikov, Russian painter (b. 1848)
1930 – Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1848)
1939 – Lloyd L. Gaines, American activist (b. 1911)
1942 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist, ornithologist and entomologist (b. 1855)
1943 – Frank Nitti, Italian–American gangster (b. 1883)
1944 – William Hale Thompson, mayor of Chicago (b. 1869)
1950 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, American writer (b. 1875)
1950 – Walter Haworth, British chemist (b. 1883)
1950 – Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1872)
1974 – Edward Platt, American actor (b. 1916)
1976 – Albert Dieudonné, French actor and novelist (b. 1889)
1978 – Gaston Julia, French mathematician (b. 1893)
1982 – Randy Rhoads, American musician (b. 1956)
1986 – Sabino Barinaga, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
1987 – Louis de Broglie, French physicist (b. 1892)
1988 – Bun Cook, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1904)
1989 – Valérie Quennessen, French actress (b. 1957)
1995 – Yasuo Yamada, Japanese voice actor (b. 1932)
1997 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch artist (b. 1904)
1998 – E. M. S. Namboodiripad, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Kerala (b. 1909)
1999 – Tofilau Eti Alesana, Prime Minister of Samoa (b. 1924)

From 2001

2005 – John DeLorean, American engineer and businessman (b. 1925)
2007 – Luther Ingram, American soul singer and songwriter (b. 1937)
2008 – Arthur C. Clarke, British writer (b. 1917)
2008 – Hugo Claus, Belgian writer (b. 1929)
2008 – Paul Scofield, British actor (b. 1921)
2009 – Paul Angelis, English actor (b. 1943)
2011 – Knut, famous polar bear (b. 2006)
2011 – Gustav Lantschner, Austrian–German skier (b. 1910)
2013 – Holger Juul Hansen, Danish actor (b. 1924)
2013 – Irina Petrescu, Romanian actress (b. 1941)
2014 – Robert Schwarz Strauss, American politician and diplomat (b. 1918)
2014 – Heather Robertson, Canadian journalist and writer (b. 1942)
2014 – Lawrence Walsh, American lawyer and judge (b. 1912)
2014 – Patrick Joseph McGovern, American technology executive (b. 1937)
2014 – Ernest Mühlen, Luxembourg politician (b. 1926)
2014 – Fred Phelps, American pastor (Westboro Baptist Church) (b. 1929)
2015 – Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs, Dutch athlete (b. 1923)
2015 – Gus Douglass, American politician (b. 1927)
2015 – Danny Schechter, American journalist and moviemaker (b. 1942)
2016 – Roger Agnelli, Brazilian businessman (b. 1959)
2016 – José Artetxe, Spanish footballer (b. 1930)
2016 – Jack Mansell, English footballer (b. 1927)
2017 – Jimmy Breslin, American journalist and writer (b. 1928)
2017 – Li Li-Hua, Chinese actress (b. 1924)
2017 – Len Mitzel, Canadian politician (b. 1946)
2017 – Chinu Modi, Indian poet and critic (b. 1939)
2017 – Roger Pingeon, French cyclist (b. 1940)

Observances

Saint Joseph's Day (Roman Catholicism, Church of England) and related observances:
- Las Fallas (Valencia, Spain)
- Father's Day (Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Honduras, Bolivia)
Unity Day (Kashubia, northern Poland)