11 March

Events

Pre-1600

* 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.
* 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the veneration of icons in the Orthodox churches in the Byzantine Empire.
*1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last Bishop of Prague (3 March 1343 O.S.), and, a year later, the first Archbishop of Prague.
* 1387 – Battle of Castagnaro: Padua, led by John Hawkwood, is victorious over Giovanni Ordelaffi of Verona.

1601–1900

*1641 – Guaraní forces living in the Jesuit reductions defeat bandeirantes loyal to the Portuguese Empire at the Battle of Mbororé in present-day Panambí, Argentina.
*1649 – The Frondeurs and the French government sign the Peace of Rueil.
*1702 – ''The Daily Courant'', England's first national daily newspaper, is published for the first time.
*1708 – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.
*1784 – The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.
*1795 – The Battle of Kharda is fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the Nizam of Hyderabad, resulting in Maratha victory.
*1845 – Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand.
*1848 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.
* 1851 – The first performance of ''Rigoletto'' by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.
*1861 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.
* 1864 – The Great Sheffield Flood kills 238 people in Sheffield, England.
*1872 – Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; it is located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.
* 1879 – Shō Tai formally abdicates his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.
*1888 – The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400 people.

1901–present

*1917 – World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Frederick Stanley Maude.
*1927 – In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.
* 1941 – World War II: United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
*1945 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.
* 1945 – World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived Japanese puppet state, is established.
* 1946 – Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.
*1977 – The 1977 Hanafi Siege: Around 150 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.
* 1978 – Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani.
*1981 – Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.
* 1982 – Fifteen people are killed when Widerøe Flight 933 crashes into the Barents Sea near Gamvik, Norway.
*1983 – Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.
*1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, making Gorbachev the USSR's de facto, and last, head of state.
*1990 – Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union.
* 1990 – Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.
* 2004 – Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid, Spain kill 191 people.
* 2006 – Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as the first female president of Chile.
* 2009 – Winnenden school shooting: Sixteen are killed and 11 are injured before recent graduate Tim Kretschmer shoots and kills himself, leading to tightened weapons restrictions in Germany.
* 2010 – Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile. Aftershocks of the 2010 Pichilemu earthquake hit central Chile during the ceremony.
* 2011 – An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. This event also triggered the second largest nuclear accident in history, and one of only two events to be classified as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
*2012 – A U.S. soldier kills 16 civilians in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan near Kandahar.
*2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 virus epidemic a pandemic.
*2021 – US President Joe Biden signs the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law.

Births

Pre-1600

*1278 – Mary of Woodstock, daughter of Edward I of England (d. c.1332)
* 1544 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and educator (d. 1595)

1601–1900

*1738 – Benjamin Tupper, American general (d. 1792)
*1785 – John McLean, American jurist and politician (d. 1861)
* 1806 – Louis Boulanger, French Romantic painter, lithographer and illustrator (d. 1867)
*1811 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1877)
* 1815 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (d. 1879)
*1818 – Marius Petipa, French-Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1910)
*1819 – Henry Tate, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Tate & Lyle (d. 1899)
*1822 – Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (d. 1900)
*1863 – Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1915)
*1870 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1946)
*1876 – Carl Ruggles, American composer and painter (d. 1971)
*1880 – Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist and sociologist (d. 1943)
*1884 – Lewi Pethrus, Swedish minister and hymn-writer (d. 1974)
* 1885 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1948)
*1887 – Raoul Walsh, American actor and director (d. 1980)
* 1890 – Vannevar Bush, American engineer and academic (d. 1974)
*1893 – Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (d. 1946)
*1897 – Henry Cowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
*1898 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (d. 1968)
*1899 – Frederick IX of Denmark (d. 1972)
* 1899 – James H. Douglas, Jr., American lawyer, and politician, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 1988)

1901–present

*1903 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand historian and scholar (d. 1989)
* 1903 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (d. 1992)
*1907 – Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)
*1908 – Matti Sippala, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1997)
*1910 – Robert Havemann, German chemist and academic (d. 1982)
*1911 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (d. 1996)
*1913 – Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, German colonel and pilot (d. 1944)
*1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (d. 2004)
* 1915 – J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and psychologist (d. 1990)
*1916 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
* 1920 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
* 1921 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (d. 1992)
*1922 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (d. 1997)
* 1922 – Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976)
* 1922 – José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor and director (d. 2009)
*1923 – Louise Brough, American tennis player (d. 2014)
*1925 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist and academic (d. 1983)
*1926 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (d. 1990)
*1927 – Freda Meissner-Blau, Austrian activist and politician (d. 2015)
* 1927 – Robert Mosbacher, American businessman, and politician, United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
* 1927 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 2014)
*1929 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)
* 1929 – Jackie McGlew, South African cricketer (d. 1998)
*1930 – David Gentleman, English illustrator and engraver
* 1930 – Claude Jutra, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
*1931 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate
*1932 – Leroy Jenkins, American violinist and composer (d. 2007)
* 1932 – Nigel Lawson, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
*1934 – Sam Donaldson, American journalist
*1936 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2016)
*1940 – Alberto Cortez, Argentinian-Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2019)
*1943 – Arturo Merzario, Italian race car driver
*1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
* 1945 – Harvey Mandel, American guitarist
* 1947 – Tristan Murail, French composer and educator
*1950 – Bobby McFerrin, American singer-songwriter, producer, and conductor
* 1950 – Jerry Zucker, American director, producer, and screenwriter
*1951 – Dominique Sanda, French model and actress
*1952 – Douglas Adams, English author and playwright (d. 2001)
*1953 – Derek Daly, Irish-American race car driver and sportscaster
* 1953 – Jimmy Iovine, American record producer and businessman, co-founded Beats Electronics
* 1953 – Bernie LaBarge, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1954 – David Newman, American composer and conductor
* 1954 – Gale Norton, American politician, 48th United States Secretary of the Interior
* 1955 – Leslie Cliff, Canadian swimmer
* 1955 – Nina Hagen, German singer-songwriter
*1956 – Willie Banks, American triple jumper
* 1956 – Helen Rollason, English sports journalist and sportscaster (d. 1999)
*1957 – Qasem Soleimani, Former Iranian commander of the Quds Force (d. 2020)
*1958 – Anissa Jones, American child actress (d. 1976)
*1959 – Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress/director, sex educator, sex-positive feminist, and author
*1960 – Warwick Taylor, New Zealand rugby player
*1961 – Elias Koteas, Canadian actor
* 1961 – Bruce Watson, Canadian-Scottish guitarist
*1962 – Matt Mead, American politician, Governor of Wyoming
*1963 – Gary Barnett, English footballer and manager
* 1963 – Alex Kingston, English actress
* 1963 – David LaChapelle, American photographer and director
*1964 – Vinnie Paul, American drummer, songwriter and producer (d. 2018)
* 1964 – Shane Richie, English actor and singer
* 1965 – Nigel Adkins, English footballer and manager
* 1965 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American lawyer and politician
* 1965 – Jenny Packham, English fashion designer
* 1966 – John Thompson III, American basketball player and coach
*1967 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor and singer
* 1967 – Brad Carson, American lawyer and politician
*1969 – Terrence Howard, American actor and producer
* 1969 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2006)
* 1974 – Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player
*1976 – Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer
*1977 – Becky Hammon, American-Russian basketball player and coach
* 1978 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
* 1978 – Albert Luque, Spanish footballer
*1979 – Elton Brand, American basketball player
* 1979 – Fred Jones, American basketball player
* 1979 – Benji Madden, American singer-songwriter and guitaristLarkin 2011, p. 1462
* 1979 – Joel Madden, American singer-songwriter and producer
* 1980 – Dan Uggla, American baseball player
*1981 – LeToya Luckett, American singer-songwriter and actress
* 1982 – Brian Anderson, American baseball player
*1985 – Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1985 – Daniel Vázquez Evuy, Equatoguinean footballer
* 1985 – Cassandra Fairbanks, American journalist and activist
* 1985 – Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer
* 1985 – Greg Olsen, American football player
* 1985 – Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian footballer
*1986 – Dario Cologna, Swiss skier
*1987 – Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1987 – Tanel Kangert, Estonian cyclist
* 1987 – Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper
*1988 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer
* 1988 – Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (d. 2015)
*1989 – Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (d. 2016)
*1990 – Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player
*1993 – Jodie Comer, British actress
* 1993 – Anthony Davis, American basketball player
*1994 – Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer

Deaths

Pre-1600

* 222 – Elagabalus, Roman emperor (b. 203)
* 638 – Sophronius of Jerusalem (b. 560)
* 1198 – Marie of France, Countess of Champagne (b. 1145)
*1486 – Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1414)
* 1575 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (b. 1520)

1601–1900

*1602 – Emilio de' Cavalieri, Italian organist and composer (b. 1550)
*1607 – Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer and educator (b. 1543)
*1665 – Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (b. c. 1575)
*1722 – John Toland, Irish philosopher and theorist (b. 1670)
*1759 – John Forbes, Scottish general (b. 1707)
*1820 – Benjamin West, American-English painter and academic (b. 1738)
* 1851 – Marie-Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti (b. 1778)
* 1851 – George McDuffie, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1790)
*1863 – Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (b. 1803)
*1869 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1803)
*1870 – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho (b. 1786)
* 1874 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (b. 1811)
*1898 – William Rosecrans, American general and politician (b. 1819)

1901–present

*1907 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French lawyer and politician, 6th President of France (b. 1847)
*1908 – Edmondo De Amicis, Italian journalist and author (b. 1846)
* 1908 – Benjamin Waugh, English minister and activist (b. 1839)
*1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (b. 1826)
*1931 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1888)
* 1937 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (b. 1860)
*1944 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American journalist and historian (b. 1882)
* 1944 – Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (b. 1891)
* 1949 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (b. 1879)
*1952 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885)
* 1955 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
* 1955 – Oscar F. Mayer, German-American businessman, founded Oscar Mayer (b. 1859)
*1956 – Aleksanteri Aava, Finnish poet (b. 1883)
*1957 – Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (b. 1888)
*1959 – Lester Dent, American author (b. 1904)
*1960 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American paleontologist and explorer (b. 1884)
*1967 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (b. 1882)
*1969 – John Wyndham, English author (b. 1903)
*1970 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (b. 1889)
* 1971 – Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (b. 1906)
* 1971 – Whitney Young, American activist (b. 1921)
* 1982 – Edmund Cooper, English poet and author (b. 1926)
* 1982 – Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and academic (b. 1898)
*1986 – Sonny Terry, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1911)
*1989 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1917)
* 1989 – John J. McCloy, American lawyer and diplomat (b. 1895)
* 1992 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)
*1995 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress and singer (b. 1945)
* 1996 – Vince Edwards, American actor and director (b. 1928)
*1999 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist, and neurologist (b. 1906)
* 1999 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (b. 1922)
* 2002 – James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
* 2006 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931)
* 2006 – Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1941)
* 2010 – Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1931)
*2012 – James B. Morehead, American colonel and pilot (b. 1916)
*2013 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (b. 1930)
* 2013 – Simón Alberto Consalvi, Venezuelan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela (b. 1927)
*2014 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1967)
* 2014 – Joel Brinkley, American journalist and academic (b. 1952)
* 2015 – Walter Burkert, German philologist and scholar (b. 1931)
* 2015 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (b. 1948)
*2016 – Iolanda Balaș, Romanian high jumper (b. 1936)
* 2016 – Doreen Massey, English geographer and political activist (b. 1944)
*2018 – Ken Dodd, English comedian and singer (b. 1927)
* 2018 – Siegfried Rauch, German actor (b. 1932)
* 2018 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal (b. 1936)
* 2018 – Mary Rosenblum, American science fiction and mystery author (b. 1952)
*2021 – Ray Campi, American singer and musician (b. 1934)
* 2021 – Takis Mousafiris, Greek composer and songwriter (b. 1936)

*2022: Rupiah Banda, 4th President of Zambia (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

*Christian feast day:
** Alberta of Agen
**Constantine
**Óengus of Tallaght
**Sophronius of Jerusalem
** Vindicianus
* Day of Restoration of Independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 ( Lithuania)
* Moshoeshoe Day ( Lesotho)

Notes

*

References

External links

BBC: On This Day
*

Historical Events on March 11

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Days of the year
March