Almanac - March 16

Georg Simon Ohm 1789-1854

Events

• 597 BC – Babylonians capture Jerusalem, and replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king.
• 37 – Caligula becomes Roman Emperor after the death of his great uncle, Tiberius.
• 455 – Emperor Valentinian III is assassinated by two Hunnic retainers while training with the bow on the Campus Martius (Rome).
• 1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
• 1244 – Over 200 Cathars are burned after the Fall of Montségur.
• 1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge take place in the Despenser Wars.
• 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines.
• 1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."
• 1660 – The Long Parliament of England is dissolved so as to prepare for the new Convention Parliament.
• 1689 – The 23rd Regiment of Foot or Royal Welch Fusiliers is founded.
• 1782 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish troops capture the British-held island of Roatán.
• 1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.
• 1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.
• 1812 – Battle of Badajoz (March 16 – April 6) – British and Portuguese forces besieged and defeated French garrison during Peninsular War.
• 1815 – Prince Willem proclaimes himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.
• 1818 – Second Battle of Cancha Rayada – Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.
• 1861 – Edward Clark became Governor of Texas, replacing Sam Houston, who has been evicted from the office for refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Confederacy.
• 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough began as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.
• 1872 – The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1-0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.
• 1900 – Sir Arthur Evans purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.
• 1912 – Lawrence Oates, an ill member of Robert Falcon Scott's South Pole expedition, left the tent to die, saying: "I am just going outside and may be some time."
• 1916 – The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing crossed the US-Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.
• 1924 – In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume became annexed as part of Italy.
• 1926 – History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.
• 1935 – Adolf Hitler ordered Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.
• 1939 – From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
• 1939 – Marriage of Princess Fawzia of Egypt to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
• 1940 – First person killed in a German bombing raid on the UK in World War II during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, James Isbister.
• 1942 – The first V-2 rocket test launch. It exploded at lift-off.
• 1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.
• 1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers. 5,000 are killed.
• 1950 – Communist Czechoslovakia's ministry of foreign affairs asked nuncios of Vatican to leave the country.
• 1958 – The Ford Motor Company produced its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding.
• 1962 – A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappeared in the western Pacific Ocean, with 107 missing.
• 1966 – Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena Target Vehicle.
• 1968 – Vietnam War: In the My Lai massacre, between 350 and 500 Vietnamese villagers (men, women, and children) are killed by American troops.
• 1968 – General Motors produced its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
• 1976 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigned, citing personal reasons.
• 1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.
• 1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped and is later killed by his captors.
• 1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz split in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the 5th-largest oil spill in history.
• 1983 – Demolition of the radio tower Ismaning, the last wooden radio tower in Germany.
• 1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists and later died in captivity.
• 1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He is released on December 4, 1991.
• 1988 – Iran-Contra Affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
• 1988 – Halabja poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.
• 1995 – Mississippi formally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment is officially ratified in 1865.
• 2005 – Israel officially handed over Jericho to Palestinian control.

Births

• 1338 – Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (d. 1401)
• 1445 – Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss-born preacher (d. 1510)
• 1473 – Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
• 1581 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and writer (d. 1647)
• 1585 – Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch writer (d. 1618)
• 1631 – René Le Bossu, French critic (d. 1680)
• 1654 – Andreas Acoluthus, German orientalist (d. 1704)
• 1663 – Jean-Baptiste Matho, French composer (d. 1743)
• 1687 – Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, Queen consort in Prussia (d. 1757)
• 1750 – Caroline Herschel, German-born astronomer (d. 1848)
• 1751 – James Madison, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)
• 1773 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (d. 1836)
• 1774 – Captain Matthew Flinders, English explorer (d. 1814)
• 1789 – Georg Simon Ohm, German physicist (d. 1854)
• 1794 – Ami Boué, Austrian geologist (d. 1881)
• 1797 – Alaric Alexander Watts, English poet and journalist (d. 1864)
• 1800 – Emperor Ninko of Japan (d. 1846)
• 1805 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (d. 1861)
• 1822 – Rosa Bonheur, French realist painter and sculptor (d. 1899)
• 1834 – James Hector, Scottish geologist (d. 1907)
• 1839 – René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme, French writer and Nobel laureate (d. 1907)
• 1839 – John Butler Yeats, Northern Irish artist (d. 1922)
• 1840 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (d. 1931)
• 1845 – Umegatani Totaro I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (d. 1928)
• 1846 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician (d. 1927)
• 1846 – Jurgis Bielinis, Lithuanian book-smuggler (d. 1918)
• 1851 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)
• 1856 – Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial, only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France (d. 1879)
• 1857 – Charles Harding Firth, British historian (d. 1936)
• 1859 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (d. 1906)
• 1865 – Patsy Donovan, American baseball player (d. 1953)
• 1869 – F. A. Forbes, Scottish author (d. 1936)
• 1871 – Hans Merensky, South African geologist and philanthropist (d. 1951)
• 1877 – Reza Shah Pahlavi, Iranian shah (d. 1944)
• 1878 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German archbishop and cardinal (d. 1946)
• 1883 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet (d. 1958)
• 1889 – Reggie Walker, South African athlete (d. 1951)
• 1890 – Solomon Mikhoels, Soviet actor and chairman of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (d. 1948)
• 1892 – James Petrillo, American president of the musicians union (d. 1984)
• 1892 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (d. 1938)
• 1897 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)
• 1901 – Edward Pawley, American actor (d. 1988)
• 1901 – Potti Sreeramulu, an Indian revolutionary (d. 1952)
• 1902 – Leon Roppolo, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1943)
• 1903 – Mike Mansfield, American politician, and diplomat (d. 2001)
• 1905 – Elisabeth Flickenschildt, German actress (d. 1977)
• 1906 – Francisco Ayala, Spanish writer (d. 2009)
• 1906 – Henny Youngman, American comedian (d. 1998)
• 1908 – René Daumal, French writer (d. 1944)
• 1908 – Robert Rossen, American film director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1966)
• 1911 – Pierre Harmel, Belgian politician (d. 2009)
• 1911 – Dr. Josef Mengele, German physician and SS officer (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Pat Nixon, First Lady of the United States (d. 1993)
• 1916 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese Businessman, and Survivor of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings (d.2010)
• 1917 – Samael Aun Weor, Colombian writer (d. 1977)
• 1917 – Louis C. Wyman, American politician (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Frederick Reines, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
• 1920 – John Addison, British composer (d. 1998)
• 1920 – Dorothea Binz, Nazi war criminal (d. 1947)
• 1920 – Sid Fleischman, American author (d. 2010)
• 1920 – Traudl Junge, German secretary to Adolf Hitler (d. 2002)
• 1920 – Leo McKern, Australian actor (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Harding Lemay, American television scriptwriter and playwright
• 1924 – Beryl Davis, English singer (d. 2011)
• 1925 – Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist (d. 2004)
• 1926 – Charles Goodell, American politician (d. 1987)
• 1926 – Jerry Lewis, American comedian
• 1927 – Vladimir Komarov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1967)
• 1927 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American senator (d. 2003)
• 1927 – Olga San Juan, American comedian (d. 2009)
• 1928 – Karlheinz Böhm, Austrian actor
• 1928 – Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 45th Yokozuna (d. 2010)
• 1928 – Christa Ludwig, German mezzo-soprano
• 1929 – Betty Johnson, American singer
• 1929 – Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress
• 1930 – Tommy Flanagan, American jazz pianist (d. 2001)
• 1931 – Betty Johnson, American singer
• 1931 – John Munro, Canadian politician (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
• 1932 – Walter Cunningham, American astronaut
• 1932 – Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer
• 1932 – Herbert Marx, Canadian politician
• 1932 – Baruch Modan, Israeli scientist (d. 2001)
• 1933 – Sandy Weill, American financier and philanthropist
• 1934 – Jean Cournoyer, Quebec politician and radio host
• 1934 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Governor-General of Canada (d. 2002)
• 1935 – Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano
• 1936 – Fred Neil, American singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1936 – Raymond Vahan Damadian, Armenian American practitioner of MRI
• 1937 – Amos Tversky, Israeli psychologist (d. 1996)
• 1939 – Carlos Bilardo, Argetinian football coach
• 1940 – Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian film director
• 1940 – Jan Pronk, Dutch politician
• 1940 – Keith Rowe, English painter and guitarist (AMM)
• 1941 – Robert Guéï, ruler of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 2002)
• 1941 – Chuck Woolery, American game show host
• 1942 – Roger Crozier, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1996)
• 1942 – James Soong, Taiwanese politician
• 1942 – Jerry Jeff Walker, American musician
• 1943 – Ursula Goodenough, American biologist, zoologist, professor and author
• 1943 – Kim Mu-saeng, South Korean actor (d. 2005)
• 1944 – Andrew S. Tanenbaum, American Computer Science Professor, Author of MINIX OS
• 1946 – Michael Basman, English chess master
• 1946 – Hubert Soudant, Dutch conductor
• 1947 – Ramzan Paskayev, Chechen accordionist
• 1947 – Baek Yoon-sik, South Korean actor
• 1948 – Michael Bruce, American musician (Alice Cooper)
• 1948 – Richard Desjardins, Canadian singer, songwriter and film director
• 1948 – Margaret Weis, American author
• 1949 – Erik Estrada, American actor
• 1949 – Victor Garber, Canadian actor
• 1949 – Elliott Murphy, American singer-songwriter
• 1949 – Joe Pilato, Italian-American actor
• 1951 – Joe DeLamielleure, American football player
• 1951 – Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress
• 1952 – Graham Cole, British actor
• 1952 – Alice Hoffman, American author
• 1952 – Scott Simon, American journalist and radio personality
• 1953 – Isabelle Huppert, French actress
• 1953 – Óscar Ramírez, Peruvian revolutionary
• 1953 – Richard Stallman, American free software activist
• 1954 – Jimmy Nail, British actor and singer
• 1954 – Nancy Wilson, American guitarist, singer and actress (Heart)
• 1955 – Bruno Barreto, Brazilian film director
• 1955 – Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer
• 1958 – Jorge Ramos, Mexican TV anchor
• 1958 – Kate Worley, American comic book writer (d. 2004)
• 1959 – Sebastian Currier, American composer
• 1959 – Flavor Flav, American rapper, and reality TV star
• 1959 – Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
• 1960 – Jenny Eclair, British comedienne, novelist and actress.
• 1960 – Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1961 – Brett Kenny, Australian rugby league footballer
• 1961 – Todd McFarlane, Canadian comic book artist, writer and media entrepreneur
• 1961 – Michiru Oshima, Japanese composer
• 1962 – Philippe Kahn, French entrepreneur
• 1963 – Jimmy Degrasso, American musician (F5)
• 1963 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor (d. 2002)
• 1964 – Patty Griffin, American singer and songwriter
• 1964 – Pascal Richard, Swiss cyclist
• 1964 – Gore Verbinski, American movie director
• 1965 – Richard Daniel Roman, English songwriter and record producer
• 1965 – Belén Rueda, Spanish actress
• 1966 – Hans Peter Geerdes, German musician (Scooter)
• 1967 – John Darnielle, American Musician
• 1967 – Lauren Graham, American actress
• 1968 – Ananya Khare, Indian actress and teacher
• 1968 – Trevor Wilson, American basketball player
• 1969 – Judah Friedlander, American actor and comedian
• 1969 – Aggelos Koronios, Greek basketball coach and retired player
• 1970 – Joakim Berg, Swedish singer (Kent)
• 1970 – Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson, Icelandic singer, songwriter and disc jockey
• 1970 – Reynolds Wolf, American TV meteorologist and journalist
• 1971 – Alan Tudyk, American actor
• 1972 – Velibor Radovic, Serbian basketball player
• 1973 – Brant Bjork, American musician (Kyuss)
• 1973 – Vonda Ward, American boxer
• 1974 – Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer
• 1974 – Fotini Vavatsi, Greek archer
• 1975 – Sienna Guillory, British actress
• 1976 – Abraham Núñez, Dominican baseball player
• 1976 – Paul Schneider, American actor
• 1976 – Nick Spano, American actor
• 1977 – Donal Óg Cusack, Irish hurler
• 1978 – Brooke Burns, American actress
• 1979 – Édison Méndez, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1979 – Rashad Moore, American football player
• 1979 – Leena Peisa, Finnish musician (Lordi)
• 1980 – Todd Heap, American football player
• 1980 – Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player
• 1981 – Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
• 1981 – Curtis Granderson, American baseball player
• 1981 – Danny Brown (rapper), American rapper
• 1981 – Yoav Ziv, Israeli footballer
• 1982 – Riley Cote, Canadian hockey player
• 1983 – Brandon League, American baseball player
• 1983 – Tramon Williams, American football player
• 1984 – Levi Brown, American football player
• 1984 – Hosea Gear, New Zealand rugby player
• 1985 – Eddy Lover, Panamanian singer
• 1986 – Joe Denly, English cricketer
• 1986 – Ken Doane, American professional wrestler
• 1986 – Toney Douglas, American basketball player
• 1986 – T. J. Jordan, American basketball player
• 1986 – Boaz Solossa, Indonesian footballer
• 1986 – Daisuke Takahashi, Japanese figure skater
• 1986 – Nicole Trunfio, Australian model
• 1987 – Tiiu Kuik, Estonian model
• 1988 – Jessica Gregg, Canadian short track speed skater
• 1988 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer
• 1989 – Blake Griffin, American basketball player
• 1989 – Theo Walcott, English footballer
• 1991 – Wolfgang Van Halen, American musician

Deaths

• 37 – Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, Roman Emperor (b. 46 BC)
• 455 – Valentinian III, Western Roman Emperor (b. 419)
• 455 – Heraclius, Western Roman courtier
• 1021 – Heribert of Cologne, Archbishop of Cologne and Chancellor of Emperor Otto III
• 1037 – Robert I, Archbishop of Rouen
• 1072 – Adalbert of Hamburg, German archbishop
• 1322 – Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, English soldier (b. 1276)
• 1410 – John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset (b. 1373)
• 1457 – László Hunyadi, Hungarian statesman and warrior (b. 1433)
• 1485 – Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)
• 1559 – Anthony St. Leger, Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1496)
• 1649 – Saint Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1593)
• 1620 – St. John Sarkander, Moravian priest, died of injuries caused by torturing (b. 1576)
• 1679 – John Leverett, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1616)
• 1721 – James Craggs the Elder, English politician (b. 1657)
• 1736 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian composer (b. 1710)
• 1737 – Benjamin Wadsworth, President of Harvard University (b. 1670)
• 1738 – George Bähr, German architect (b. 1666)
• 1747 – Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, father of Catherine II of Russia (b. 1690)
• 1838 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician (b. 1773)
• 1888 – Hippolyte Carnot, French statesman (b. 1801)
• 1890 – Zorka of Montenegro, Princess of Serbia (b. 1864)
• 1892 – Samuel F. Miller, American politician (b. 1827)
• 1898 – Aubrey Beardsley, British artist (b. 1872)
• 1899 – Joseph Medill, mayor of Chicago (b. 1823)
• 1903 – Roy Bean, American jurist
• 1914 – Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1843)
• 1926 – Sergeant Stubby, decorated World War I dog
• 1930 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish dictator (b. 1870)
• 1935 – John James Rickard Macleod, Scottish-born physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
• 1935 – Aron Nimzowitsch, Latvian-born chess player (b. 1886)
• 1936 – Marguerite Durand, French journalist and feminist (b. 1864)
• 1940 – Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)
• 1945 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (b. 1874)
• 1955 – Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter (b. 1914)
• 1957 – Constantin Brâncusi, Romanian sculptor (b. 1876)
• 1961 – Chen Geng, Chinese military leader (b. 1903)
• 1968 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer (b. 1895)
• 1968 – Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and writer (b. 1907)
• 1970 – Tammi Terrell, American singer (b. 1946)
• 1971 – Thomas E. Dewey, American presidential candidate (b. 1902)
• 1975 – Richard W. DeKorte, American politician (b. 1936)
• 1975 – T-Bone Walker, American musician (b. 1910)
• 1977 – Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (b. 1917)
• 1979 – Jean-Guy Cardinal, Canadian politician (b. 1925)
• 1979 – Jean Monnet, French politician (b. 1888)
• 1980 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-born painter (b. 1898)
• 1983 – Arthur Godfrey, American actor and television host (b. 1903)
• 1983 – Fred Rose, Canadian politician (b. 1907)
• 1984 – John Hoagland, American photographer (b. 1947)
• 1985 – Eddie Shore, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
• 1992 – Roger Lemelin, Canadian novelist and television writer (b. 1919)
• 1992 – Yves Rocard, French physicist (b. 1903)
• 1993 – Johnny Cymbal, American singer and producer (b. 1945)
• 1996 – Charlie Barnett, American actor (b. 1954)
• 1998 – Derek Harold Richard Barton, British chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)
• 1999 – Gratien Gélinas, Canadian playwright and director (b. 1909)
• 2000 – Thomas Ferebee, Hiroshima bombardier (b. 1918)
• 2000 – Michael Starr, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
• 2001 – Norma MacMillan, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
• 2001 – Bob Wollek, French race car driver (b. 1943)
• 2003 – Rachel Corrie, American political activist (b. 1979)
• 2003 – Ronald Ferguson, father of Sarah, Duchess of York (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (b. 1910)
• 2005 – Todd Bell, American football player (b. 1958)
• 2005 – Ralph Erskine, British architect (Byker Wall) (b. 1914)
• 2005 – Anthony George, American TV actor (b. 1921)
• 2005 – Allan Hendrickse, South African politician (b. 1927)
• 2005 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (b. 1937)
• 2006 – David Feintuch, American sci-fi author (b. 1944)
• 2006 – Minnie Pwerle, Australian Aboriginal artist
• 2007 – Manjural Islam, Bangladeshi cricketer (b. 1984)
• 2008 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (b. 1912)
• 2008 – Ola Brunkert, Swedish session drummer for ABBA (b. 1946)
• 2008 – Ivan Dixon, American actor and director (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Gary Hart, American professional wrestling manager and wrestler (b. 1942)
• 2008 – G. David Low, American astronaut (b. 1956)
• 2008 – John Hewer, English actor (b. 1922)
• 2008 – Daniel MacMaster, Canadian singer (Bonham). (b. 1968)
• 2011 – Richard Wirthlin, American political strategist for Ronald Reagan. (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abbán
  • Heribert of Cologne
• Latvian Legion Day (Latvia)
• Saint Urho's Day (Finnish community in U.S. and Canada)
• The first day of the Bacchanalia (Roman Empire)
• The day of the Book Smugglers (Lithuania)