March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). There are 286 days remaining.
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 destroys 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.
- 1883 Signature of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
- 1899 At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place becomes the first woman executed in an electric chair.
- 1904 Aleister Crowley invokes Horus in Egypt and declares the start of the New Aeon known as the Aeon Of The Crowned And Conquering Child.
- 1913 Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese nationalist party (KMT), is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
- 1914 In New Haven, Connecticut, the first international figure skating championship takes place.
- 1916 Albert Einstein publishes his theory of relativity.
- 1922 The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
- 1933 Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed.
- 1942 General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".
- 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.
- 1965 In Naples, Italy, France Gall wins the tenth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Poupιe de cire, poupιe de son" (Wax doll, talking doll).
- 1966 The World Cup is stolen from Central Hall, London
- 1969 Marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono
- 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 the armed robbery of a San Francisco, California bank.
- 1979 REXX programming language created
- 1985 Libby Riddles becomes the first woman 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 A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Warrington, northwest England, killing two children.
- 1995 Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway killing 12 and wounding 1300 persons.
- 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 once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after a gun battle that leaves a Georgia sheriff's deputy dead.
- 2003 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.
- 2004 Millions worldwide protest the 2003 Iraq War under the slogan, "The World STILL Says No To War!"
Births
- 43 BC Ovid, poet, (d. AD 17/AD 18)
- 1770 Friedrich Hφlderlin, German poet, novelist, and dramatist, (d. 1843)
- 1811 Napoleon II of France, (d. 1832)
- 1823 Ned Buntline, "dime novelist", publisher, writer, publicist, (d. 1886)
- 1828 Henrik Ibsen, playwright and dramatist, (d. 1906)
- 1831 Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman from Illinois (d. 1881)
- 1834 Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University, (d. 1926)
- 1836 Sir Edward Poynter, painter (d. [1919]])
- 1856 Frederick Winslow Taylor, inventor, efficiency expert, (d. 1915)
- 1870 Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
- 1874 Bφrries von Mόnchhausen, poet, (d. 1945)
- 1890 Beniamino Gigli, tenor, (d. 1957)
- 1890 Lauritz Melchior, opera singer, (d. 1973)
- 1895 Fredric Wertham, Psychologist (d. 1981)
- 1897 Mother Ruby Muhammad, matriarch of Black Islam
- 1904 B. F. Skinner, behavioral psychologist, (d. 1990)
- 1906 Ozzie Nelson, actor, band leader, (d. 1975)
- 1908 Sir Michael Redgrave, actor, (d. 1985)
- 1915 Rudolf Kirchschlδger, Austrian President, (d. 2000)
- 1915 Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist (d. 1997)
- 1917 Dame Vera Lynn, actress, singer
- 1921 Rudolf Noelte, film director, (d. 2002)
- 1921 Sister Rosetta Tharpe, singer, (d. 1973)
- 1922 Carl Reiner, director, producer, actor, comedian
- 1928 Fred Rogers, children's television host, (d. 2003)
- 1934 Willie Brown, mayor of San Francisco, California
- 1937 Jerry Reed, country musician
- 1939 Brian Mulroney, eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada
- 1948 John de Lancie, actor
- 1948 Bobby Orr, ice hockey player
- 1950 William Hurt, American actor
- 1957 Spike Lee, American film director, actor
- 1958 Holly Hunter, actress
- 1962 Stephen Sommers, film director
- 1963 Kathy Ireland, supermodel and actress
- 1964 Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
- 1964 Tracy Chapman, musician
- 1972 Alexander Kapranos, singer/guitarist (Franz Ferdinand (band))
- 1974 Paula Garces, actress
- 1974 Andrzej Pilipiuk, Polish writer
- 1976 Chester Bennington, musician (Linkin Park)
- 1984 Winta, Norwegian pop star
Deaths
- 1413 King Henry IV of England, (b. 1367)
- 1568 Albert of Prussia, first duke of Prussia, (b. 1490)
- 1619 Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1727 Sir Isaac Newton, English physicist, (b. 1642)
- 1730 Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
- 1855 Joseph Aspdin, inventor of Portland cement (b. 1788)
- 1925 George Nathaniel Curzon (Lord Curzon), British statesman, (b. 1859)
- 1926 Princess Louise of Sweden, (b. 1929)
- 1934 Queen Regent Emma of the Netherlands, (b. 1858)
- 1974 Chet Huntley, American television journalist
- 1990 Lev Yashin, Soviet football goalkeeper, (b. 1929)
- 1997 Tony Zale, Boxer, (b. 1913)
- 2000 Gene Eugene, actor, singer, (b. 1961)
- 2003 Sailor Art Thomas, professional wrestler
- 2004 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, (b. 1909)
Holidays and observances