March 18

March 18 is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 288 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

Pre-1600

• 0037 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (aka Caligula = Little Boots) emperor.
• 1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula leaves 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 final Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
• 1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of the Romans.
• 1571 – Valletta is made the capital city of Malta.

1601–1900

• 1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1644 – The Third Anglo-Powhatan War begins in the Colony of Virginia.
• 1673 – English lord John Berkeley sold his half of New Jersey to the Quakers
• 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 – 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 – The premiere of Fry's Leonora in Philadelphia is the first known performance of an grand opera by an American composer.
• 1848 – March Revolution: In Berlin there is a struggle between citizens and military, costing about 300 lives.
• 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 – The Hawaiian Kingdom signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trade rights.
• 1898 – Phoebe (moon), a satellite of Saturn, becomes first to be discovered with photographs, taken in August 1898, by William Henry Pickering.

1901–present

• 1902 – Macario Sakay issues Presidential Order No. 1 of his Tagalog Republic.
• 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.
• 1921 – The Kronstadt rebellion is suppressed by the Red Army.
• 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.
• 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 – Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, killing 26 people, causing thousands to flee their homes, and destroying dozens of Allied bombers.
• 1948 – Soviet consultants leave Yugoslavia in the first sign of the Tito–Stalin Split.
• 1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 265 people.
• 1959 – The Hawaii Admission Act is signed into law.
• 1962 – The Évian Accords end the Algerian War of Independence, which had begun in 1954.
• 1965 – Cosmonaut Alexei 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.
• 1971 – Peru: A landslide crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200 people at the mining camp of Chungar.
• 1980 – A Vostok-2M rocket at Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 explodes during a fueling operation, killing 48 people.
• 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 $500 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
• 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.
• 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

Pre-1600

• 1075 – Al-Zamakhshari, Persian scholar and theologian (d. 1144)
• 1395 – John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English military commander (d. 1447)
• 1495 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France (d. 1533)
• 1548 – Cornelis Ketel, Dutch painter (d. 1616)
• 1552 – Polykarp Leyser the Elder, German theologian (d. 1610)
• 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)

1601–1900

• 1603 – Simon Bradstreet, English colonial magistrate (d. 1697)
• 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)
• 1789 – Charlotte Elliott, English poet, hymn writer, editor (d. 1871)
• 1798 – Francis Lieber, German-American jurist and philosopher (d. 1872)
• 1800 – Harriet Smithson, Irish actress, the first wife and muse of Hector Berlioz (d. 1854)
• 1813 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German poet and playwright (d. 1864)
• 1814 – Jacob Bunn, American businessman (d. 1897)
• 1819 – James McCulloch, Scottish-Australian politician, 5th Premier of Victoria (d. 1893)
• 1820 – John Plankinton, American businessman, industrialist, and philanthropist (d. 1891)
• 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 and 24th 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)
• 1845 – Kicking Bear, Native American tribal leader (d. 1904)
• 1848 – Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, American architect and engineer (d. 1938)
• 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)
• 1870 – Agnes Sime Baxter, Canadian mathematician (d. 1917)
• 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 – Wilfred Owen, English soldier and poet (d. 1918)

1901–present

• 1901 – Manly Palmer Hall, Canadian mystic, author and philosopher (d. 1990)
• 1901 – William Johnson, American painter (d. 1970)
• 1903 – Galeazzo Ciano, Italian journalist and politician, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1944)
• 1903 – E. O. Plauen, German cartoonist (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 – 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 – 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 – Suzanne Perlman, Hungarian-Dutch visual artist (d. 2020)
• 1922 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American activist, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (d. 2011)
• 1923 – Andy Granatelli, American race car driver and businessman (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Alessandro Alessandroni, Italian musician (d. 2017)
• 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 – Samuel Pisar, Polish-American lawyer and author (d. 2015)
• 1930 – James J. Andrews, American mathematician and academic (d. 1998)
• 1931 – John Fraser, Scottish actor (d. 2020)
• 1932 – John Updike, American novelist, short story writer, and critic (d. 2009)
• 1933 – Unita Blackwell, American civil rights activist and politician (d. 2019)
• 1934 – Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
• 1934 – Charley Pride, American country music singer and musician (d. 2020)
• 1935 – Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, Danish mathematician and statistician
• 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 (d. 2016)
• 1937 – Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
• 1938 – Carl Gottlieb, American actor and screenwriter
• 1938 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian actor and producer (d. 2017)
• 1938 – Kenny Lynch, English singer-songwriter and actor (d. 2019)
• 1938 – Timo Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver (d. 2017)
• 1938 – Machiko Soga, Japanese actress (d. 2006)
• 1939 – Ron Atkinson, English footballer and manager
• 1939 – Jean-Pierre Wallez, French violinist and conductor
• 1941 – Wilson Pickett, American singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
• 1942 – Kathleen Collins, African-American filmmaker and playwright (d. 1988)
• 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 (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 rock drummer (d. 1990)
• 1948 – Guy Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1948 – Brian Lloyd, Welsh footballer
• 1948 – Eknath Solkar, Indian cricketer (d. 2005)
• 1949 – Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician, Norwegian Minister of Culture
• 1950 – James Conlon, American conductor and educator
• 1950 – Brad Dourif, American actor
• 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
• 1951 – Timothy N. Philpot, American lawyer, author, and judge
• 1952 – Will Durst, American journalist and actor
• 1952 – Pat Eddery, Irish jockey and trainer (d. 2015)
• 1952 – Bernie Tormé, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2019)
• 1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
• 1953 – Franz Wright, Austrian-American poet and translator (d. 2015)
• 1953 – Takashi Yoshimatsu, Japanese composer
• 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
• 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 (d. 2017)
• 1962 – Michael Andrews, Australian rugby league player
• 1962 – Irene Cara, American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer
• 1962 – Brian Fisher, American baseball player
• 1962 – Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor and martial artist
• 1962 – James McMurtry, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
• 1962 – Etsushi Toyokawa, Japanese actor and director
• 1962 – Volker Weidler, German race car driver and engineer
• 1963 – Jeff LaBar, American guitarist (d. 2021)
• 1963 – Vanessa L. Williams, American model, actress, and singer
• 1964 – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
• 1964 – Alex Caffi, Italian race car driver
• 1964 – Jo Churchill, British politician
• 1964 – Courtney Pine, English saxophonist and clarinet player
• 1964 – Isabel Noronha, Mozambican film director
• 1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1966 – Peter Jones, English businessman
• 1966 – Brian Watts, Canadian golfer
• 1967 – Miki Berenyi, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1968 – Miguel Herrera, Mexican footballer and manager
• 1968 – Temur Ketsbaia, Georgian footballer and manager
• 1968 – Paul Marsden, English businessman and politician
• 1969 – Andy Cutting, English accordion player and composer
• 1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
• 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 – Luci Christian, American voice actress and screenwriter
• 1974 – Laure Savasta, French basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1974 – Stuart Zender, English bass player, songwriter, and producer
• 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 – 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 international 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 – Brooke Hanson, Australian swimmer
• 1978 – Brian Scalabrine, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
• 1978 – Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer, coach, and manager
• 1979 – Adam Levine, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and television personality
• 1980 – Sébastien Frey, French footballer
• 1980 – Sophia Myles, English actress
• 1980 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
• 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 – Vonzell Solomon, American singer and actress
• 1985 – Ana Beatriz, Brazilian race car driver
• 1985 – Marvin Humes, English singer
• 1985 – Vince Lia, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Lykke Li, Swedish singer-songwriter
• 1986 – Abdennour Chérif El-Ouazzani, Algerian footballer
• 1987 – Rebecca Soni, American swimmer
• 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
• 1989 – Ming Xi, Chinese model
• 1991 – Dylan Mattingly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1991 – Sam Williams, Australian rugby league player
• 1992 – Ryan Truex, American race car driver
• 1992 – Takuya Terada, Japanese singer, actor, and model
• 1997 – Ciara Bravo, American actress
• 1997 – Rieko Ioane, New Zealand rugby union player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 0978 – Edward the Martyr, English king (b. 962)
• 1076 – Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess of Burgundy (b. 1018)
• 1086 – Anselm of Lucca, Italian bishop (b. 1036)
• 1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
• 1272 – John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel (b. 1246)
• 1308 – Yuri I of Galicia
• 1314 – Jacques de Molay, Frankish knight (b. 1244)
• 1314 – Geoffroy de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy for the Knights Templar
• 1321 – Matthew III Csák, Hungarian oligarch (b. c.1260/5)
• 1582 – Juan Jauregui, attempted assassin of William I of Orange (b. 1562)

1601–1900

• 1675 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
• 1689 – John Dixwell, English soldier and politician (b. 1607)
• 1703 – Maria de Dominici, Maltese sculptor and painter (b. 1645)
• 1745 – Robert Walpole, English scholar and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
• 1768 – Laurence Sterne, Irish novelist and clergyman (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)

1901–2000

• 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)
• 1930 – Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, American painter (b. 1863)
• 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)
• 1964 – Sigfrid Edström, Swedish businessman, 4th President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1870)
• 1965 – Farouk of Egypt (b. 1920)
• 1973 – Johannes Aavik, Estonian philologist and poet (b. 1880)
• 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 (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 (b. 1953)
• 1993 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English-American economist and activist (b. 1910)
• 1996 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• 2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian and academic (b. 1909)

2001–present

• 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 – Dan Gibson, Canadian photographer and cinematographer (b. 1922)
• 2007 – Bob Woolmer, Indian-English cricketer, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1948)
• 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 and businessman (b. 1924)
• 2011 – Warren Christopher, American lawyer and politician, 63rd United States Secretary of State (b. 1925)
• 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 novelist, screenwriter, and director (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 – 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)
• 2017 – Chuck Berry, American guitarist, singer and songwriter (b. 1926)
• 2020 – Alfred Worden, Apollo 15 command module pilot (b. 1932)

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of the Oil Expropriation (Mexico)
• Christian feast day:
  • Alexander of Jerusalem
  • Anselm of Lucca
  • 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)
• Flag Day (Aruba)
• Gallipoli Memorial Day (Turkey)
• Men's and Soldiers' Day (Mongolia)
• Ordnance Factories' Day (India)
• Sheelah's Day (Ireland, Canada, Australia)
• Teacher's Day (Syria)

External links

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

• Historical Events on March 18
• Today in Canadian History