Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). There are 289 days remaining. Table of contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances 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. 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. 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 (formally announced in 1912). 1931 - Nevada legalizes gambling. 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 which is a precursor to the NATO Agreement. 1950 - University of California, Berkeley researchers announce the creation of element 98 which they have named "californium". 1958 - The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite. 1959 - The 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 Venezuela border killing 143. 1992 - 29 are killed and 242 injured when a suicide car-bomb goes off in the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. 2003 - British Cabinet Minister, Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for war with Iraq. Births 1473 - King James IV of Scotland (+ 1513) 1777 - Roger Taney, Chief Justice of the United States (+ 1864) 1804 - Jim Bridger, pioneer (+ 1881) 1834 - Gottlieb Daimler, engineer and inventor (+ 1900) 1862 - Silvio Gesell, economist (+ 1930) 1870 - Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe, British entomologist, myrmecologist and coleopterist. (+ 1951) 1888 - Frank Buck, "big game" hunter (+ 1950) 1894 - Paul Green, novelist, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright (+ 1981) 1895 - Shemp Howard, actor ("The Three Stooges") (+ 1955) 1902 - Bobby Jones, golfer (+ 1971) 1908 - Brigitte Helm, actress (+ 1996) 1912 - Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist (+ 1987) 1914 - Sammy Baugh, American football star 1918 - Mercedes McCambridge, actress 1919 - Nat King Cole, singer (+ 1965) 1920 - Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister of Bangladesh (+ 1975) 1926 - Siegfried Lenz, writer 1936 - Ladislav Kupkovic, composer 1938 - Rudolf Nureyev, dancer and choreographer (+ 1993) 1942 - John Wayne Gacy, serial killer (+ 1994) 1944 - John Sebastian, singer-songwriter, also a member of the Lovin' Spoonful 1948 - William Gibson, writer 1949 - Patrick Duffy, actor 1951 - Kurt Russell, actor 1954 - Lesley-Anne Down, actress 1955 - Gary Sinise, actor 1956 - Patrick McDonnell, creator of syndicated cartoon strip "Mutts" 1959 - Danny Ainge, basketball player, coach, baseball player 1964 - Rob Lowe, actor 1972 - Mia Hamm, soccer player Deaths 45 BC - Titus Labienus, Roman statesman, and Gnaeus Pompeius (died in and executed after the battle of Munda) 180 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 461 - Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland died in Saul, County Down 1058 - King Lulach I of Scotland 1917 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist 1956 - Irene Joliot-Curie, scientist 1965 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, baseball, basketball and American football coach and player 1976 - Luchino Visconti, director 1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines 1990 - Capucine, actress 1993 - Helen Hayes, actress 2003 - Klaus Oldendorff, ship owner Holidays and observances Saint Patrick's Day: a public holiday in Ireland and Montserrat Roman Empire - the second day of the Bacchanalia in honor of Bacchus Roman Empire - the Liberia in honor of Liber Ancient Latvia - Kustonu Diena observed Boston, Massachusetts - Evacuation Day See Also: March 16 - March 18 - February 17 - April 17 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.