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Today March 18th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
37 – The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius will and proclaims Caligula emperor.
1229 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declares himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.
1241 – Kraków is ravaged by Mongols.
1314 – Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, is burned at the stake.
1438 – Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Germany.
1608 – Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia.
1673 – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers.
1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which had been very unpopular in the British colonies.
1781 – Charles Messier rediscovers global cluster M92
1793 – The first republican state in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann.
1834 – Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
1850 – American Express is founded by Henry Wells and William Fargo.
1865 – American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.
1871 – Declaration of the Paris Commune; President of the French Republic, Adolphe Thiers, orders evacuation of Paris.
1874 – Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
1893 – Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada; originally presented to amateur champions, the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the top pro team since 1910, and since 1926, only to National Hockey League teams.
1906 – Traian Vuia flies a self-propelled heavier-than-air aircraft.
1913 – King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki.
1915 – World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British and French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
1921 – The second Peace of Riga between Poland and Soviet Union.
1922 – In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.
1922 – The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City.
1925 – The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
1937 – The New London School explosion kills three hundred, mostly children.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces defeat the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
1937 – The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) outside Milan.
1938 – Mexico nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
1940 – World War II: Axis Powers – 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.
1944 – The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes.
1945 – World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
1946 – Diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union are established.
1948 – Soviet consultants have left Yugoslavia in first sign of Tito-Stalin split.
1953 – An earthquake hits western Turkey, killing 250.
1959 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
1962 – The Evian Accords put an end to the Algerian War of Independence, which began in 1954.
1965 – Cosmonaut Aleksei 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.
1970 – Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
1971 – A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200.
1974 – Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
1980 – At Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, 50 people are killed by an explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
1989 – In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.
1990 – In the largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
1996 – A nightclub fire in Quezon City, Philippines kills 162.
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 on board and leading to the grounding of all An-24s.
2003 – FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company s top executives.
2003 – British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language.
2005 – Terri Schiavo s feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband.
Births
1395 – John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, English military leader (d. 1447)
1496 – Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England and queen consort of Louis XII of France (d. 1533)
1555 – François, Duke of Anjou (d. 1584)
1590 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet (d. 1649)
1602 – Jacques de Billy, French mathematician (d. 1679)
1603 – Simon Bradstreet, Massachusetts Bay colonist (d. 1693)
1634 – Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette, French writer (d. 1693)
1640 – Philippe de la Hire, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1719)
1657 – Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni, Italian composer (d. 1743)
1679 – Matthew Decker, English merchant and writer (d. 1759)
1685 – Ralph Ersine, Scottish minister (d. 1752)
1690 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (d. 1764)
1701 – Niclas Sahlgren, Swedish merchant and philanthropist (d. 1776)
1780 – Milos Obrenovic, Leader of The Second Serbian Uprising and Prince of Serbia (d. 1860)
1782 – John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President of the United States (d. 1850)
1813 – Christian Friedrich Hebbel, German writer (d. 1864)
1823 – Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy, French general (d. 1883)
1828 – William Randal Cremer, English politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1908)
1837 – Grover Cleveland, 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 (d. 1898)
1844 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (d. 1908)
1848 – Nathanael Herreshoff, American naval architect (d. 1938)
1848 – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria (d. 1939)
1858 – Rudolf Diesel, German inventor (d. 1913)
1869 – Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1940)
1872 – Anna Held, Polish actress and singer (d. 1918)
1874 – Nikolai Berdyaev, Russian philosopher (d. 1948)
1877 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (d. 1945)
1877 – Clem Hill, Australian cricketer (d. 1945)
1882 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer (d. 1973)
1884 – Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (d. 1968)
1886 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor (d. 1970)
1891 – Alice Cullen, Scottish Politician (d. 1969)
1898 – Jake Swirbul, American aircraft manufacturer (d. 1960)
1893 – Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (d. 1978)
1893 – Wilfred Owen, British poet (d. 1918)
1893 – Jean Goldkette, Greek-born jazz musician (d. 1962)
1901 – William H. Johnson, African-American artist of the Harlem Renaissance (d. 1970)
1904 – Srecko Kosovel, Slovenian poet (d. 1926)
1905 – Robert Donat, English actor (d. 1958)
1905 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American scientist (d. 1985)
1907 – John Zachary Young, British biologist (d. 1997)
1909 – Ernest Gallo, American winemaker (d. 2007)
1910 – Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (d. 1988)
1911 – Smiley Burnette, American singer and songwriter (d. 1967)
1913 – René Clément, French film director and screenwriter (d. 1996)
1913 – Werner Mölders, German WWII fighter pilot (d. 1941)
1913 – Reinhard Hardegen, German U-Boat commander
1915 – Richard Condon, American novelist (d. 1996)
1917 – Frederika of Hanover, queen of the Hellenes (d. 1981)
1918 – Al Benton, American baseball player (d. 1968)
1918 – Bob Broeg, American sports writer (d. 2005)
1919 – Christopher Challis, British cinematographer
1920 – Jack Warden, American actor (d. 2006)
1922 – Egon Bahr, German politician
1922 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American civil rights movement leader
1923 – Andy Granatelli, American motorsports entrepreneur
1926 – Peter Graves, American actor
1926 – Dick Littlefield, American baseball player (d. 1997)
1927 – John Kander, American songwriter
1927 – George Plimpton, American writer and actor (d. 2003)
1928 – Julia Mullock, Princess of Korea
1928 – Miguel Poblet, Spanish cyclist
1928 – Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines
1929 – John Macurdy, American bass
1930 – Pat Halcox, British musician
1931 – John Fraser, Scottish-born stage, film and television actor
1931 – John Mollo, British costume designer
1932 – John Updike, American author
1934 – Roy Chapman, English footballer and manager (d. 1983)
1935 – Ole Barndorff-Nielsen, Danish mathematician
1936 – Frederik Willem de Klerk, President of South Africa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
1937 – Mark Donohue, American race car driver (d. 1975)
1937 – Rudi Altig, German cyclist
1938 – Charley Pride, American musician
1938 – Shashi Kapoor, Indian Actor
1938 – Timo Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver
1939 – Ron Atkinson, English former footballer and manager
1939 – Giannis Markopoulos, Greek composer
1939 – Kenny Lynch, British entertainer
1941 – Wilson Pickett, American singer (d. 2006)
1941 – John W. Derr, American politician
1942 – Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (d. 1991)
1943 – Kevin Dobson, American actor
1943 – Toula Grivas, Greek actress
1944 – Dick Smith, Australian Adventurer and Businessman
1944 – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, Israeli military leader and politician
1945 – Joy Fielding, Canadian novelist and actress
1945 – Hiroh Kikai, Japanese photographer
1945 – Michael Reagan, American radio host and adopted son of Ronald Reagan
1946 – Martyn Griffiths, British racing driver
1946 – Michel Leclère, French racing driver
1947 – B.J. Wilson, English drummer (d. 1990)
1947 – Patrick Chesnais, French actor
1947 – Patrick Barlow, English actor, comedian and playwright
1947 – Roger Kenneth Evans, English politician
1947 – Heather Ryan, American model and Playmate of the Month
1948 – Guy Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player
1948 – Lockwood Phillips, American radio host
1948 – Brian Lloyd, Welsh footballer
1949 – Alex Higgins, Northern Irish snooker player
1949 – Åse Kleveland, Norwegian singer and politician
1949 – Hannu Siitonen, Finnish athlete
1950 – Brad Dourif, American actor
1950 – Richard Kretchmer, English artist and historian
1950 – Rodney Milburn, American athlete (d. 1997)
1950 – Eiji Okuda, Japanese actor and film director
1950 – Larry Perkins, Australian racing driver
1950 – John Hartman, American drummer (Doobie Brothers
1951 – Bill Frisell, American jazz musician
1951 – Ben Cohen, American co-founder of Ben & Jerry s ice cream
1952 – Mike Webster, American football player (d. 2002)
1952 – Will Durst, American political satirist
1955 – Francis G. Slay, Mayor of St. Louis, Mo.
1956 – Ingemar Stenmark, Swedish skier
1956 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey
1957 – György Pazdera, Hungarian bassist (Pokolgép)
1957 – Christer Fuglesang, Swedish ESA astronaut
1959 – Luc Besson, French producer, writer, and director
1959 – Irene Cara, American actress and singer
1960 – Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
1960 – Guy Carbonneau, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
1960 – James MacPherson, Scottish actor
1962 – Thomas Ian Griffith, American actor
1962 – James McMurtry, American folk singer/songwriter
1962 – Mike Rowe, American television personality
1962 – Etsushi Toyokawa, Japanese actor
1962 – Brian Fisher, American baseball player
1963 – Jeff LaBar, American guitarist
1963 – Vanessa L. Williams, American beauty queen, actress, and singer
1963 – Keith Brown, English cricketer
1964 – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater
1964 – Courtney Pine, British jazz saxophonist
1964 – Rozalla, Zambian singer
1964 – Alex Caffi, Italian racecar driver
1964 – Paul Elliott, English footballer
1965 – Yoriko Douguchi, Japanese actress
1965 – Birgit Clarius, German heptathlete
1966 – Jerry Cantrell, American musician
1966 – Daniel S. Nevins, American rabbi
1967 – Miki Berenyi, English singer (Lush)
1967 – Ken Edenfield, American basenall player
1968 – Shinichiro Miki, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
1968 – Eudes, duc d Angoulême, French prince
1968 – Paul Marsden, British politician
1969 – Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukrainian chess player
1969 – Shaun Udal, English cricketer
1969 – Andy Cutting, English folk musician and composer
1970 – Queen Latifah, American singer and actress
1972 – Dane Cook, American comedian and actor
1972 – Anja Möllenbeck, German discus thrower
1972 – Nathan Quarry, American mixed martial arts fighter
1973 – Max Barry, Australian author
1973 – Luci Christian, American voice actress
1974 – Laure Savasta, French basketball player
1975 – Brian Griese, American football player
1975 – Tomas Žvirgždauskas, Lithuanian footballer
1975 – Sutton Foster, American actress, singer, and dancer
1975 – Rodleen Getsic, American musician, civil servant
1976 – Jovan Kirovski, American soccer player
1976 – Tomokazu Ohka, Japanese baseball player
1976 – Scott Podsednik, American baseball player
1976 – Michael Spillane, American wrestler, better known as Mike Quackenbush
1976 – Giovanna Antonelli, Brazilian actress
1977 – Danny Murphy, English footballer
1977 – Zdeno Chára, Slovak ice hockey player
1977 – Devin Lima, American singer
1977 – Willy Sagnol, French footballer
1977 – Terrmel Sledge, American baseball player
1977 – Fernando Rodney, Dominican baseball player
1978 – Khalilah Adams, American actress
1978 – Yoshie Takeshita, Japanese volleyball player
1978 – Jan Bulis, Czech ice hockey player
1978 – Jonas Wallerstedt, Swedish footballer
1979 – Adam Levine, American singer (Maroon 5)
1979 – Brandon Lee, American adult actor
1979 – Danneel Harris, American actress
1979 – Dramane Coulibaly, Malian footballer
1979 – Anthony Maher, American soccer player
1980 – Alexei Yagudin, Russian figure skater
1980 – Sophia Myles, English actress
1980 – Sebastien Frey, French footballer
1981 – Jang Nara, Korean singer and actress
1981 – Tora Berger, Norwegian biathlete
1981 – Kasib Powell, American basketball player
1982 – Chad Cordero, American baseball player
1982 – Timo Glock German Formula 1 driver
1982 – Pedro Mantorras, Angolan footballer
1983 – Setanta, Aussie Rules footballer
1983 – Andy Sonnanstine, American baseball player
1983 – Tomasz Stolpa, Polish footballer
1984 – Vonzell Solomon, American Idol Contestant
1985 – Vince Lia, Australian Footballer
1985 – Gennaro Esposito, Italian footballer
1986 – Bia Figueiredo, Brazilian racing driver
1986 – Abdennour Cherif El Ouazzani, Algerian footballer
1986 – Kaloyan Ivanov, Bulgarian basketball player
1987 – Mauro Zárate, Argentinian Footballer
1987 – Gabriel Mercado, Argentinian Footballer
1987 – Cesare Rickler, Italian footballer
1996 – Madeline Carroll, American actress
Deaths
978 – King Edward the Martyr of England
1227 – Pope Honorius III (b. 1148)
1314 – Jacques DeMolay, Frankish noble, the 23rd Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. 1244)
1583 – King Magnus of Livonia (b. 1540)
1584 – Tsar Ivan IV of Russia (b. 1530)
1675 – Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1606)
1689 – John Dixwell, English judge (b. 1607)
1696 – Robert Charnock, English conspirator
1745 – Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1676)
1746 – Anna Leopoldovna, regent of Russia (b. 1718)
1768 – Laurence Sterne, Irish writer (b. 1713)
1781 – Anne Robert Turgot, French statesman (b. 1727)
1823 – Jean-Baptiste Breval, French composer (b. 1753)
1835 – Christian Gunther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian statesman and diplomat (b. 1769)
1871 – Augustus De Morgan, Indian-born British mathematician and logician (b. 1806)
1898 – Matilda Joslyn Gage, American suffragist (b. 1826)
1907 – Marcellin Berthelot, French chemist and politician (b. 1827)
1913 – King George I of Greece (b. 1845)
1918 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect (b. 1847)
1936 – Eleftherios Venizelos, Former Prime minister of Greece
1939 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English humanitarian and religious leader (b. 1859)
1941 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist (b. 1884)
1945 – William Grover-Williams, British racing driver
1947 – William C. Durant, American automobile pioneer (b. 1861)
1962 – Walter W. Bacon, American politician (b. 1880)
1963 – Wanda Hawley, American actress (b. 1895)
1964 – Sigfrid Edström, Swedish sports official (b. 1870)
1965 – King Farouk I of Egypt (b. 1920)
1965 – Jack Quinlan, American sports broadcaster (b. 1927)
1969 – Barbara Bates, American film actress (b. 1925)
1973 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-born American opera singer (b. 1890)
1975 – Alain Grandbois, Quebec poet (b. 1900)
1976 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Sicilian mafioso (b. 1893)
1977 – Marien Ngouabi, Congolese politician (b. 1938)
1977 – José Carlos Pace, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1944)
1978 – Leigh Brackett, American author (b. 1915)
1978 – Peggy Wood, American actress (b. 1892)
1980 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and philosopher (b. 1900)
1983 – King Umberto II of Italy, (b. 1904)
1983 – Kenneth E. Boulding, English economist (b. 1910)
1984 – Charlie Lau, American baseball player (b. 1933)
1986 – Bernard Malamud, American writer (b. 1914)
1988 – Billy Butterfield, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1917)
1990 – Robin Harris, American actor and comedian (b. 1953)
1993 – Kenneth Boulding, American economist and activist (b. 1910)
1995 – Robin Jacques, British children s book illustrator (b. 1920)
1996 – Odysseas Elytis, Greek poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
1999 – Elizabeth Huckaby, American educator (b. 1905)
2000 – Eberhard Bethge, German theologian (b. 1909)
2001 – John Phillips, American musician (The Mamas and the Papas) (b. 1935)
2002 – R.A. Lafferty, American science fiction writer (b. 1914)
2002 – Gösta Winbergh, Swedish tenor (b. 1943)
2003 – Karl Kling, German race car driver (b. 1910)
2003 – Adam Osborne, British computer pioneer (b. 1939)
2004 – Harrison McCain, Canadian businessman (b. 1927)
2006 – Bill Beutel, American journalist (b. 1930)
2006 – Michael Attwell, British actor (b. 1943)
2006 – Dan Gibson, Canadian photographer (b. 1922)
2007 – Bob Woolmer, South African cricketer (b. 1948)
2008 – Anthony Minghella, British film director (b. 1954)
2008 – Andrew Britton, British-born American novelist (b. 1981)
Holidays and observances
Aruba – Flag Day (1976)
Ancient Latvia – Bindus Diena
Mothers Day (Nigeria)
Mexico – Expropiación Petrolera
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386)
Saint Alexander of Jerusalem
Saint Anselm of Lucca
Saint Edward the Martyr (d. 978)
Saint Fridianus
Saint Narcissus
Saint Salvator
Turkey – Memorial Day for the martyrs of The Battle of Gallipoli
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