March 20

Events

• 1413 - Henry V becomes King of England.
• 1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.
• 1739 - Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
• 1760 - The "Great Fire" of Boston destroyers 349 buildings.
• 1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000 beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
• 1848 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
• 1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
• 1899 - At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place becomes the first woman executed in an electric chair.
• 1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese nationalist party (KMT), is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days after.
• 1914 - In New Haven, Connecticut the first international figure skating championship takes place.
• 1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
• 1933 - Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed.
• 1952 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
• 1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France.
• 1964 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
• 1966- The World Cup is stolen from Central Hall, London
• 1974- A failed kidnap attempt is made on Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
• 1976 - Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco Bank.
• 1985 - Libby Riddles becomes the first women to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod dog sled race.
• 1986 - Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1987 - The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
• 1990 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
• 1993- An Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Warrington, North West England, killing two children.
• 1995 - Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
• 1996 - In Los Angeles, California, Erik and Lyle Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
• 2000 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.

Births

• 43 BC - Ovid, poet († 17/18)
• 1770 - Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet, novelist, and dramatist († 1843)
• 1811 - Napoleon II of France († 1832)
• 1823 - Ned Buntline, "dime novelist", publisher, writer, publicist († 1886)
• 1828 - Henrik Ibsen, playwright and dramatist († 1906)
• 1856 - Frederick Winslow Taylor, inventor, efficiency expert
• 1874 - Börries von Münchhausen, poet († 1945)
• 1890 - Beniamino Gigli, tenor († 1957)
• 1890 - Lauritz Melchior, opera singer († 1973)
• 1904 - B. F. Skinner, behavioral psychologist († 1990)
• 1906 - Ozzie Nelson, actor, band leader († 1975)
• 1908 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor († 1985)
• 1915 - Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian President († 2000)
• 1917 - Dame Vera Lynn, actress, singer
• 1921 - Rudolf Noelte, film director († 2002)
• 1921 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, singer († 1973)
• 1922 - Carl Reiner, director, producer, actor, comedian
• 1928 - Fred Rogers, children's television host († 2003)
• 1934 - Willie Brown, mayor of San Francisco, California
• 1937 - Jerry Reed, country musician
• 1939 - Brian Mulroney, eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada
• 1948 - Bobby Orr, ice hockey player
• 1950 - William Hurt, actor
• 1958 - Holly Hunter, actress
• 1957 - Spike Lee, film director, actor
• 1964 - Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
• 1964 - Tracy Chapman, musician
• 1974 - Carsten Ramelow, football player, National Team of Germany
• 1974 - Paula Garces, actress
• 1976 - Chester Bennington, musician ("Linkin Park")

Deaths

• 1413 - King Henry IV of England
• 1568 - Albert of Prussia, first duke of Prussia
• 1727 - Sir Isaac Newton, physicist
• 1925 - George Nathaniel Curzon (Lord Curzon), British statesman
• 1926 - Princess Louise of Sweden
• 1974 - Chet Huntley, television journalist
• 1990 - Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper
• 1997 - Tony Zale, Boxer
• 2000 - Gene Eugene, actor, singer

Holidays and observances

• An equinox usually occurs on this day.
• The second day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
• Steak and Blowjob Day.

March 19 - March 21 - February 20 - April 20 -- listing of all days

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Referenced By