March 17

March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in Leap years). There are 289 days remaining.

Events

45 BCE - In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
1673 - Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet begin their exploration of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river.
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.
1845 - The rubber band is invented
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.
1939 - Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945): The Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and the Japanese break out.
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 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th 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 the Venezuelan 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.
2004 - Massive Unrest in Kosovo. Over 22 killed, 200 wounded, 15 destroyed Serb Orthodox shrines and mosques in Belgrade.

45 BCE - Titus Labienus (b. c. 100 BC), Roman statesman, and Gnaeus Pompeius (died in and executed after the battle of Munda)
180 - Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (b. 121)
461 - Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland died in Saul, County Down (b. c. 373)
1058 - King Lulach I of Scotland (b. c. 1029)
1425 - Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Ashikaga shogun (b. 1407)
1782 - Daniel Bernoulli, mathematician (b. 1700)
1853 - Christian Doppler, Austrian physician and mathematician
1917 - Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
1956 - Irene Joliot-Curie, scientist (b. 1897)
1957 - Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines
1965 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, baseball, basketball and American football coach and player (b. 1862)
1976 - Luchino Visconti, director, (b. 1906)
1990 - Capucine, actress (b. 1931)
1993 - Helen Hayes, actress (b. 1900)
2003 - Klaus Oldendorff, ship owner
2004 - J.J. Jackson, original MTV VJ (b. 1941 or 1942)