March 18

March 18 is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 288 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Monday or Tuesday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Thursday or Saturday (56).

Events

• 37 – The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius's will and proclaims Caligula emperor.
• 633 – Ridda wars: The Arabian Peninsula is united under the central authority of Caliph Abu Bakr.
• 1068 – An earthquake affects the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, leaving up to 20,000 dead.
• 1229 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, declares himself King of Jerusalem in the Sixth Crusade.
• 1241 – First Mongol invasion of Poland: Mongols overwhelm Polish armies in Kraków in the Battle of Chmielnik and plunder the city.
• 1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
• 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1644 – The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins in the Colony of Virginia.
• 1741 – New York governor George Clarke's complex at Fort George is burned in an arson attack, starting the New York Conspiracy of 1741.
• 1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.
• 1793 – The first modern republic in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
• 1793 – In the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolution, Battle of Neerwinden
• 1834 – Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
• 1848 – March Revolution: In Berlin there is a struggle between citizens and military, costing about 300 lives.
• 1850 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
• 1865 – American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States adjourns for the last time.
• 1871 – Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders the evacuation of Paris.
• 1874 – Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trade rights.
• 1892 – Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada the Stanley Cup.
• 1906 – Traian Vuia flies a heavier-than-air aircraft for 11 meters at an altitude of one meter.
• 1913 – King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
• 1915 – World War I: During the Battle of Gallipoli, three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
• 1921 – The second Peace of Riga is signed between Poland and the Soviet Union.
• 1922 – In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience, of which he serves only two.
• 1925 – The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
• 1937 – The New London School explosion in New London, Texas, kills 300 people, mostly children.
• 1937 – Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
• 1937 – A human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) outside Milan, Italy.
• 1938 – Mexico creates Pemex by expropriating all foreign-owned oil reserves and facilities.
• 1940 – World War II: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
• 1942 – The War Relocation Authority is established in the United States to take Japanese Americans into custody.
• 1944 – The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 people and causes thousands to flee their homes.
• 1946 – Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union are established.
• 1948 – Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of the Tito–Stalin Split.
• 1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 265 people.
• 1959 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
• 1962 – The Évian Accords end the Algerian War of Independence, which had begun in 1954.
• 1965 – Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
• 1967 – The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.
• 1968 – Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
• 1969 – The United States begins secretly bombing the Sihanouk Trail in Cambodia, used by communist forces to infiltrate South Vietnam.
• 1970 – Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
• 1970 – The U.S. postal strike of 1970 begins, one of the largest wildcat strikes in U.S. history.
• 1971 – In Peru a landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.
• 1974 – Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
• 1980 – At Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, 50 people are killed by an explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
• 1985 – First episode of Neighbours broadcast.
• 1990 – Germans in the German Democratic Republic vote in the first democratic elections in the former communist dictatorship.
• 1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
• 1992 – In a national referendum white South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour of ending apartheid.
• 1994 – Bosnia's Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending war between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 1996 – A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162 people.
• 1997 – The tail of a Russian Antonov An-24 charter plane breaks off while en route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 people on board and leading to the grounding of all An-24s.
• 2012 – Tupou VI becomes King of Tonga.
• 2014 – The parliaments of Russia and Crimea sign an accession treaty.
• 2015 – The Bardo National Museum in Tunisia is attacked by gunmen. 23 people, almost all tourists, are killed, and at least 50 other people are wounded.

Births

• 1075 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian scholar and theologian (d. 1144)
• 1395 – John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English commander (d. 1447)
• 1496 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)
• 1555 – Francis, Duke of Anjou (d. 1584)
• 1578 – Adam Elsheimer, German painter (d. 1610)
• 1590 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (d. 1649)
• 1597 – Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, French religious leader, founded the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal (d. 1659)
• 1609 – Frederick III of Denmark (d. 1670)
• 1634 – Madame de La Fayette, French author (d. 1693)
• 1640 – Philippe de La Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1719)
• 1657 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian organist and composer (d. 1743)
• 1690 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian-German mathematician and academic (d. 1764)
• 1701 – Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish businessman and philanthropist, co-founded the Swedish East India Company (d. 1776)
• 1733 – Christoph Friedrich Nicolai, German author and bookseller (d. 1811)
• 1780 – Miloš Obrenović, Serbian prince (d. 1860)
• 1782 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
• 1798 – Francis Lieber, German-American jurist and philosopher (d. 1872)
• 1800 – Harriet Smithson, Irish-French actress and composer (d. 1854)
• 1813 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright (d. 1864)
• 1814 – Jacob Bunn, American businessman (d. 1897)
• 1823 – Antoine Chanzy, French general (d. 1883)
• 1828 – Randal Cremer, English activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1908)
• 1837 – Grover Cleveland, American lawyer and politician, 22nd President of the United States (d. 1908)
• 1840 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (d. 1901)
• 1842 – Stéphane Mallarmé, French poet and critic (d. 1898)
• 1844 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer and academic (d. 1908)
• 1848 – Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, American architect and engineer (d. 1938)
• 1848 – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (d. 1939)
• 1858 – Rudolf Diesel, German engineer, invented the Diesel engine (d. 1913)
• 1862 – Eugène Jansson, Swedish painter (d. 1915)
• 1863 – William Sulzer, American lawyer and politician, 39th Governor of New York (d. 1941)
• 1869 – Neville Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
• 1874 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian-French philosopher and theologian (d. 1948)
• 1877 – Edgar Cayce, American mystic and psychic (d. 1945)
• 1877 – Clem Hill, Australian cricketer and engineer (d. 1945)
• 1878 – Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry, English businessman (d. 1956)
• 1882 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer and educator (d. 1973)
• 1884 – Bernard Cronin, English-Australian journalist and author (d. 1968)
• 1886 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1970)
• 1890 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (d. 1969)
• 1893 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (d. 1978)
• 1893 – Jean Goldkette, French-American pianist and bandleader (d. 1962)
• 1893 – Wilfred Owen, English soldier and poet (d. 1918)
• 1901 – William Johnson, American painter (d. 1970)
• 1903 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1944)
• 1904 – Srečko Kosovel, Slovenian poet and author (d. 1926)
• 1904 – Margaret Tucker, Australian author and activist (d. 1996)
• 1905 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American physicist and engineer (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
• 1907 – Rosita Moreno, Spanish-American actress (d. 1993)
• 1907 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist and neurophysiologist (d. 1997)
• 1908 – Loulou Gasté, French composer (d. 1995)
• 1909 – Ernest Gallo, American businessman, co-founded the E & J Gallo Winery (d. 2007)
• 1909 – C. Walter Hodges, English author and illustrator (d. 2004)
• 1911 – Smiley Burnette, American singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1967)
• 1912 – Art Gilmore, American voice actor and announcer (d. 2010)
• 1913 – René Clément, French director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
• 1913 – Reinhard Hardegen, German commander
• 1913 – Werner Mölders, German colonel and pilot (d. 1941)
• 1915 – Richard Condon, American author and screenwriter (d. 1996)
• 1922 – Egon Bahr, German journalist and politician, Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany (d. 2015)
• 1922 – Seymour Martin Lipset, American sociologist and academic (d. 2006)
• 1922 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American activist, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (d. 2011)
• 1923 – Andy Granatelli, American businessman (d. 2013)
• 1925 – James Pickles, English journalist, lawyer, and judge (d. 2010)
• 1926 – Peter Graves, American actor and director (d. 2010)
• 1927 – John Kander, American pianist and composer
• 1927 – George Plimpton, American journalist and actor (d. 2003)
• 1927 – Lillian Vernon, German-American businesswoman and philanthropist, founded the Lillian Vernon Company (d. 2015)
• 1928 – Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Fidel V. Ramos, Filipino general and politician, 12th President of the Philippines
• 1929 – John Macurdy, American opera singer
• 1929 – Samuel Pisar, Polish-American lawyer and author (d. 2015)
• 1930 – Pat Halcox, English trumpet player (d. 2013)
• 1931 – John Fraser, Scottish actor
• 1931 – John Mollo, English costume designer and author
• 1932 – John Updike, American author, poet, and critic (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Unita Blackwell, American activist and politician
• 1934 – Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
• 1935 – Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, Danish mathematician and statistician
• 1935 – Antonios Naguib, Egyptian patriarch
• 1935 – Frances Cress Welsing, American psychiatrist and author (d. 2016)
• 1936 – F. W. de Klerk, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd State President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1937 – Rudi Altig, German cyclist and sportscaster
• 1937 – Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
• 1938 – Carl Gottlieb, American actor and screenwriter
• 1938 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor and producer
• 1938 – Kenny Lynch, English singer-songwriter and actor
• 1938 – Timo Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver
• 1938 – Charley Pride, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1938 – Machiko Soga, Japanese actress (d. 2006)
• 1939 – Ron Atkinson, English footballer and manager
• 1939 – Yannis Markopoulos, Greek composer
• 1941 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (The Falcons) (d. 2006)
• 1943 – Kevin Dobson, American actor and director
• 1943 – Nobuko Imai, Japanese viola player and educator
• 1943 – Dennis Linde, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1944 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli general and politician, 22nd Transportation Minister of Israel (d. 2012)
• 1944 – Frank McRae, American football player and actor
• 1944 – Dick Smith, Australian publisher and businessman, founded Dick Smith Electronics and Australian Geographic
• 1945 – Hiroh Kikai, Japanese photographer
• 1945 – Michael Reagan, American journalist and radio host
• 1945 – Susan Tyrrell, American actress (d. 2012)
• 1945 – Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (The Alan Parsons Project) (d. 2009)
• 1946 – Michel Leclère, French race car driver
• 1947 – Patrick Barlow, English actor and playwright
• 1947 – Patrick Chesnais, French actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1947 – David Lloyd, English cricketer, journalist, and sportscaster
• 1947 – B. J. Wilson, English drummer (Procol Harum) (d. 1990)
• 1948 – Guy Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1948 – Brian Lloyd, Welsh footballer
• 1949 – Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician, Norwegian Minister of Culture
• 1950 – James Conlon, American conductor and educator
• 1950 – Brad Dourif, American actor
• 1950 – John Hartman, American drummer (The Doobie Brothers)
• 1950 – Linda Partridge, English geneticist and academic
• 1950 – Larry Perkins, Australian race car driver
• 1951 – Paul Barber, English actor
• 1951 – Ben Cohen, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben and Jerry's
• 1951 – Bill Frisell, American guitarist and composer
• 1952 – Will Durst, American journalist and actor
• 1952 – Pat Eddery, Irish jockey and trainer (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Bernie Tormé, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Gillan, Guy McCoy Tormé, and Desperado)
• 1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1953 – Franz Wright, Austrian-American poet and translator (d. 2015)
• 1953 – Takashi Yoshimatsu, Japanese composer
• 1955 – Ana Obregón, Spanish actress and screenwriter
• 1955 – Francis G. Slay, American lawyer and politician, 45th Mayor of St. Louis
• 1955 – Jeff Stelling, English journalist and game show host
• 1956 – Rick Martel, Canadian wrestler
• 1956 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, American madam (d. 2008)
• 1956 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish skier
• 1957 – Christer Fuglesang, Swedish physicist and astronaut
• 1958 – Richard de Zoysa, Sri Lankan journalist and author (d. 1990)
• 1959 – Luc Besson, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded EuropaCorp
• 1959 – Irene Cara, American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
• 1960 – Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1960 – Guy Carbonneau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1960 – James Plaskett, Cypriot-English chess player
• 1961 – Grant Hart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Hüsker Dü)
• 1962 – Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor and martial artist
• 1962 – James McMurtry, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1962 – Mike Rowe, American actor, singer, and television host
• 1962 – Etsushi Toyokawa, Japanese actor and director
• 1962 – Volker Weidler, German race car driver and engineer
• 1963 – Jeff LaBar, American guitarist (Cinderella and Naked Beggars)
• 1963 – Vanessa L. Williams, American model, actress, and singer, Miss America 1984
• 1964 – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
• 1964 – Seymore Butts, American porn actor, director, and producer
• 1964 – Alex Caffi, Italian race car driver
• 1964 – Mika Kanai, Japanese voice actress and singer
• 1964 – Courtney Pine, English saxophonist and clarinet player
• 1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Alice in Chains)
• 1966 – Peter Jones, English businessman
• 1967 – Miki Berenyi, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Lush and The Lillies)
• 1968 – Prince Eudes, Duke of Angoulême
• 1968 – Miguel Herrera, Mexican footballer and manager
• 1968 – Paul Marsden, English businessman and politician
• 1969 – Andy Cutting, English accordion player and composer (Blowzabella)
• 1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
• 1969 – J. David Shapiro, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Shaun Udal, English cricketer
• 1970 – Queen Latifah, American rapper, producer, and actress
• 1971 – Wayne Arthurs, Australian tennis player
• 1971 – Mike Bell, American wrestler (d. 2008)
• 1971 – Mariaan de Swardt, South African-American tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1971 – Kitty Ussher, English economist and politician
• 1972 – Dane Cook, American comedian, actor, director, and producer
• 1972 – Reince Priebus, American lawyer and politician
• 1973 – Max Barry, Australian author and blogger
• 1973 – Luci Christian, American voice actress and screenwriter
• 1974 – Evan Lowenstein, American singer-songwriter (Evan and Jaron)
• 1974 – Jaron Lowenstein, American singer-songwriter (Evan and Jaron)
• 1974 – Laure Savasta, French basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1974 – Stuart Zender, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (Jamiroquai)
• 1975 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1975 – Brian Griese, American football player and sportscaster
• 1975 – Kimmo Timonen, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1975 – Tomas Žvirgždauskas, Lithuanian footballer
• 1976 – Giovanna Antonelli, Brazilian actress and producer
• 1976 – Jovan Kirovski, American soccer player and coach
• 1976 – Tomo Ohka, Japanese baseball player
• 1976 – Scott Podsednik, American baseball player
• 1976 – Mike Quackenbush, American wrestler, trainer, and author, founded Chikara wrestling promotion
• 1977 – Zdeno Chára, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1977 – Danny Murphy, English footballer and sportscaster
• 1977 – Fernando Rodney, Dominican-American baseball player
• 1977 – Willy Sagnol, French footballer and manager
• 1977 – Terrmel Sledge, American baseball player and coach
• 1978 – Fernandão, Brazilian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
• 1978 – Jan Bulis, Czech ice hockey player
• 1978 – Juris Fernandez, Filipino singer-songwriter (MYMP)
• 1978 – Brooke Hanson, Australian swimmer
• 1978 – Antonio Margarito, Mexican-American boxer
• 1978 – Brian Scalabrine, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1978 – Yoshie Takeshita, Japanese volleyball player
• 1978 – Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer, coach, and manager
• 1979 – Adam Levine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Maroon 5)
• 1979 – Anthony Maher, American soccer player
• 1980 – Sébastien Frey, French footballer
• 1980 – Sophia Myles, English actress
• 1980 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
• 1980 – Natalia Poklonskaya, Ukrainian-Crimean lawyer and politician
• 1981 – Tora Berger, Norwegian biathlete
• 1981 – Fabian Cancellara, Swiss cyclist
• 1981 – Leslie Djhone, French sprinter
• 1981 – Jang Na-ra, South Korean singer and actress
• 1981 – Kasib Powell, American basketball player
• 1981 – Tom Starke, German footballer
• 1981 – Doug Warren, American soccer player
• 1981 – Lovro Zovko, Croatian tennis player
• 1982 – Mantorras, Angolan footballer
• 1982 – Chad Cordero, American baseball player
• 1982 – Timo Glock, German race car driver
• 1982 – Adam Pally, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1983 – Ethan Carter III, American wrestler
• 1983 – Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, French tennis player
• 1983 – Andy Sonnanstine, American baseball player
• 1983 – Tomasz Stolpa, Polish footballer
• 1984 – Simone Padoin, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Rajeev Ram, American tennis player
• 1984 – Gary Roberts, English footballer
• 1984 – Vonzell Solomon, American singer and actress
• 1985 – Ana Beatriz, Brazilian race car driver
• 1985 – Marvin Humes, English singer and actor (JLS and VS)
• 1985 – Vince Lia, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Abdennour Chérif El-Ouazzani, Algerian footballer
• 1986 – Kaloyan Ivanov, Bulgarian basketball player
• 1986 – Lykke Li, Swedish singer-songwriter
• 1987 – Cesare Rickler, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Rebecca Soni, American swimmer
• 1987 – Mauro Zárate, Argentinian footballer
• 1989 – Francesco Checcucci, Italian footballer
• 1989 – Lily Collins, English-American actress
• 1989 – Shreevats Goswami, Indian cricketer
• 1989 – Kana Nishino, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1989 – Paul Marc Rousseau, Canadian guitarist and producer (Silverstein)
• 1990 – Corey Liuget, American football player
• 1991 – Dylan Mattingly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1991 – Jeric Teng, Filipino basketball player
• 1991 – Sam Williams, Australian rugby player
• 1992 – Ryan Truex, American race car driver
• 1996 – Madeline Carroll, American actress

Deaths

• 978 – Edward the Martyr, English king (b. 962)
• 1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
• 1314 – Jacques de Molay, Frankish knight (b. 1244)
• 1675 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
• 1689 – John Dixwell, English soldier and politician (b. 1607)
• 1745 – Robert Walpole, English scholar and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
• 1768 – Laurence Sterne, Irish-English clergyman and author (b. 1713)
• 1781 – Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, French economist and politician, Controller-General of Finances (b. 1727)
• 1823 – Jean-Baptiste Bréval, French cellist and composer (b. 1753)
• 1835 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian politician and diplomat (b. 1769)
• 1845 – Johnny Appleseed, American gardener and missionary (b. 1774)
• 1871 – Augustus De Morgan, Indian-English mathematician and academic (b. 1806)
• 1898 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American author and activist (b. 1826)
• 1900 – Hjalmar Kiærskou, Danish botanist (b. 1835)
• 1907 – Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1827)
• 1913 – George I of Greece (b. 1845)
• 1918 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect, designed the Plaza Hotel (b. 1847)
• 1933 – Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi (b. 1873)
• 1936 – Eleftherios Venizelos, Greek journalist, lawyer, and politician, 93rd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1864)
• 1939 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English businessman, founded Lunn Poly (b. 1859)
• 1941 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (b. 1884)
• 1947 – William C. Durant, American businessman, co-founded General Motors and Chevrolet (b. 1861)
• 1954 – Walter Mead, English cricketer (b. 1868)
• 1956 – Louis Bromfield, American environmentalist and author (b. 1896)
• 1962 – Walter W. Bacon, American accountant and politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (b. 1880)
• 1963 – Wanda Hawley, American actress and singer (b. 1895)
• 1964 – Sigfrid Edström, Swedish businessman, 4th President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1870)
• 1965 – Farouk of Egypt (b. 1920)
• 1965 – Jack Quinlan, American sportscaster (b. 1927)
• 1969 – Barbara Bates, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
• 1973 – Johannes Aavik, Estonian philologist and poet (b. 1880)
• 1976 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian mob boss (b. 1893)
• 1977 – Marien Ngouabi, Congolese politician, President of the Republic of the Congo (b. 1938)
• 1977 – Carlos Pace, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1944)
• 1978 – Leigh Brackett, American author and screenwriter (b. 1915)
• 1978 – Peggy Wood, American actress and singer (b. 1892)
• 1980 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
• 1982 – Patrick Smith, Irish farmer and politician, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (b. 1901)
• 1983 – Umberto II of Italy (b. 1904)
• 1984 – Charley Lau, American baseball player and coach (b. 1933)
• 1986 – Bernard Malamud, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1914)
• 1988 – Billy Butterfield, American trumpet player and cornet player (b. 1917)
• 1990 – Robin Harris, American comedian and actor (b. 1953)
• 1993 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English-American economist and activist (b. 1910)
• 1995 – Sadri Alışık, Turkish actor (b. 1925)
• 1996 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian and academic (b. 1909)
• 2001 – John Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Mamas & the Papas) (b. 1935)
• 2002 – R. A. Lafferty, American soldier and author (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Karl Kling, German race car driver (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Adam Osborne, Thai-English engineer and businessman, founded the Osborne Computer Corporation (b. 1939)
• 2004 – Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman, co-founded McCain Foods (b. 1927)
• 2006 – Bill Beutel, American journalist (b. 1930)
• 2006 – Dan Gibson, Canadian photographer and cinematographer (b. 1922)
• 2007 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-English cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1948)
• 2008 – Andrew Britton, English-American author (b. 1981)
• 2008 – Anthony Minghella, English director and screenwriter (b. 1954)
• 2009 – Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian journalist and blogger (b. 1980)
• 2009 – Natasha Richardson, English-American actress (b. 1963)
• 2010 – Fess Parker, American actor, singer, and businessman (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Warren Christopher, American lawyer and politician, 63rd United States Secretary of State (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Imra Agotić, Croatian general (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Furman Bisher, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
• 2012 – William R. Charette, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
• 2012 – William G. Moore Jr., American general (b. 1920)
• 2012 – George Tupou V of Tonga (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Muhammad Mahmood Alam, Pakistani general and pilot (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Henry Bromell, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Clay Ford, American lawyer and politician (b. 1938)
• 2014 – Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Nigerian author, playwright, and academic (b. 1951)
• 2014 – Kaiser Kalambo, Zambian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1953)
• 2014 – Joe Lala, American actor and drummer (Blues Image and Manassas) (b. 1947)
• 2014 – Lucius Shepard, American author and critic (b. 1943)
• 2015 – Zhao Dayu, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1961)
• 2015 – Thomas Hopko, American priest and theologian (b. 1939)
• 2015 – Grace Ogot, Kenyan nurse, journalist, and politician (b. 1930)
• 2016 – Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (b. 1939)
• 2016 – Jan Němec, Czech director and screenwriter (b. 1936)
• 2016 – Tray Walker, American football player (b. 1992)
• 2016 – Guido Westerwelle, German lawyer and politician, 15th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1961)

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Alexander of Jerusalem
  • Cyril of Jerusalem
  • Edward the Martyr
  • Fridianus
  • Salvator
  • March 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest date on which Holy Wednesday can fall, while April 21 is the latest; celebrated on the week before Easter. (Christianity)
• Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
• Flag Day (Aruba)
• Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
• Men's and Soldiers' Day (Mongolia)
• Teacher's Day (Syria)

External links

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