11 March

Events

Pre-1600

* 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 Hōne Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororāreka, 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.
*1892 – The Saint-Germain bombing ushers France into the '' Ère des attentats'' (1892-1894).

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.
*2003 – The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
*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: Fifteen are killed and nine 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 earthquakes 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.
*2018 – A Bombardier Challenger 604 crashes into the Zagros Mountains near the Iranian city of Shar-e-kord, killing all 11 people on board.
*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.
*2023 – The Burmese military kills at least 30 villagers, including 3 Buddhist monks, during the Pinlaung massacre in Shan State, Myanmar.

Births

Pre-1600

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

1601–1900

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

1901–present

*1903 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand historian and scholar (died 1989)
* 1903 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (died 1992)
*1907 – Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer, and dancer (died 1981)
*1908 – Matti Sippala, Finnish javelin thrower (died 1997)
*1910 – Robert Havemann, German chemist and academic (died 1982)
*1911 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (died 1996)
*1913 – Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, German colonel and pilot (died 1944)
*1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (died 2004)
* 1915 – J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and psychologist (died 1990)
*1916 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1995)
*1920 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2017)
*1921 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (died 1992)
*1922 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (died 1997)
* 1922 – Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Malaysia (died 1976)
* 1922 – José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor, costume designer, scenic designer and assistant director (died 2009)
*1923 – Louise Brough, American tennis player (died 2014)
*1925 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist and academic (died 1983)
*1926 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (died 1990)
*1927 – Vince Boryla, American basketball player, coach, and executive (died 2016)
* 1927 – Freda Meissner-Blau, Austrian activist and politician (died 2015)
* 1927 – Robert Mosbacher, American businessman, and politician, United States Secretary of Commerce (died 2010)
* 1927 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (died 2014)
*1929 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1994)
* 1929 – Jackie McGlew, South African cricketer (died 1998)
*1930 – David Gentleman, English illustrator and engraver
* 1930 – Claude Jutra, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (died 1986)
*1931 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate
*1932 – Leroy Jenkins, American violinist and composer (died 2007)
* 1932 – Nigel Lawson, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (died 2023)
*1934 – Sam Donaldson, American journalist
*1936 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 2016)
*1940 – Alberto Cortez, Argentinian-Spanish singer-songwriter (died 2019)
*1943 – Arturo Merzario, Italian race car driver
*1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (died 2008)
* 1945 – Harvey Mandel, American guitarist
*1946 – Mark Metcalf, American actor
*1947 – Tristan Murail, French composer and educator
*1948 – Roy Barnes, American politician, 80th Governor of Georgia
* 1948 – Jim McMillian, American basketball player (died 2016)
*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 (died 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 (died 1999)
*1957 – Qasem Soleimani, Former Iranian commander of the Quds Force (died 2020)
*1958 – Anissa Jones, American child actress (died 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, 32nd Governor of Wyoming
* 1962 – Jeffrey Nordling, American actor
*1963 – Gary Barnett, English footballer and manager
* 1963 – Alex Kingston, English actress
* 1963 – David LaChapelle, American photographer and director
*1964 – Peter Berg, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
* 1964 – Raimo Helminen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
* 1964 – Vinnie Paul, American drummer, songwriter and producer (died 2018)
* 1964 – Shane Richie, English actor and singer
*1965 – Nigel Adkins, English footballer and manager
* 1965 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American lawyer and politician
* 1965 – Wallace Langham, American actor
* 1965 – Jenny Packham, English fashion designer
*1966 – John Thompson III, American basketball player and coach
*1967 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor and singer
* 1967 – Sergei Bautin, Belarusian ice hockey player and coach (died 2022)
* 1967 – Brad Carson, American lawyer and politician
*1968 – Lisa Loeb, American singer-songwriter
*1969 – Terrence Howard, American actor and producer
* 1969 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2006)
*1971 – Johnny Knoxville, American actor and entertainer
* 1971 – Martin Ručinský, Czech ice hockey player
* 1971 – Lee Sang-hoon, South Korean baseball player
*1974 – Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player
*1976 – Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer
*1977 – Becky Hammon, American-Russian basketball player and coach
* 1977 – Michal Handzuš, Slovak ice hockey player
*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 – Rich Hill, American baseball player
* 1980 – Mark Rober, American YouTuber and engineer
* 1980 – Dan Uggla, American baseball player
*1981 – David Anders, American actor
* 1981 – Lee Evans, American football player
* 1981 – LeToya Luckett, American singer-songwriter and actress
*1982 – Brian Anderson, American baseball player
* 1982 – Thora Birch, American actress, producer, and director
*1983 – Lukáš Krajíček, Czech ice hockey player
*1984 – Rob Brown, American actor
*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 and commentator
* 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 – Pedro Báez, Dominican baseball player
* 1988 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer
* 1988 – Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (died 2015)
*1989 – Malcolm Delaney, American basketball player
* 1989 – Orlando Johnson, American basketball player
* 1989 – Anton Yelchin, Russian-American actor (died 2016)
*1990 – Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player
*1992 – Austin Swift, American producer and actor
*1993 – Jodie Comer, English actress
* 1993 – Anthony Davis, American basketball player
*1994 – Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer
*1996 – Conor Garland, American ice hockey player
*1997 – Travis Konecny, Canadian ice hockey player
*2003 – Tristan Vukčević, Serbian-Swedish basketball player

Deaths

Pre-1600

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

1601–1900

*1602 – Emilio de' Cavalieri, Italian organist and composer (born 1550)
*1607 – Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer and educator (born 1543)
*1665 – Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (born c. 1575)
*1689 – Sambhaji, second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire (born 1657)
*1722 – John Toland, Irish philosopher and theorist (born 1670)
*1759 – John Forbes, Scottish general (born 1707)
*1820 – Benjamin West, American-English painter and academic (born 1738)
*1851 – Marie-Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti (born 1778)
* 1851 – George McDuffie, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of South Carolina (born 1790)
*1863 – Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (born 1803)
*1869 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (born 1803)
*1870 – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho (born 1786)
*1874 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (born 1811)
*1898 – William Rosecrans, American general and politician (born 1819)

1901–present

*1907 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French lawyer and politician, 6th President of France (born 1847)
*1908 – Edmondo De Amicis, Italian journalist and author (born 1846)
* 1908 – Benjamin Waugh, English minister and activist (born 1839)
*1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (born 1826)
*1931 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1888)
*1937 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (born 1860)
*1944 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American journalist and historian (born 1882)
* 1944 – Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (born 1891)
*1949 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (born 1879)
*1952 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (born 1885)
*1955 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1881)
* 1955 – Oscar F. Mayer, German-American businessman, founded Oscar Mayer (born 1859)
*1956 – Aleksanteri Aava, Finnish poet (born 1883)
*1957 – Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (born 1888)
*1959 – Lester Dent, American author (born 1904)
*1960 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American paleontologist and explorer (born 1884)
*1967 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (born 1882)
*1969 – John Wyndham, English author (born 1903)
*1970 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (born 1889)
*1971 – Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (born 1906)
* 1971 – Whitney Young, American activist (born 1921)
*1978 – Claude François, French entertainer (born 1939)
*1982 – Edmund Cooper, English poet and author (born 1926)
* 1982 – Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and academic (born 1898)
*1986 – Sonny Terry, American singer and harmonica player (born 1911)
*1989 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (born 1917)
* 1989 – John J. McCloy, American lawyer and diplomat (born 1895)
*1992 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1912)
*1995 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress and singer (born 1945)
*1996 – Vince Edwards, American actor and director (born 1928)
*1999 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist, and neurologist (born 1906)
* 1999 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (born 1922)
*2002 – James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
*2006 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1931)
* 2006 – Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (born 1941)
*2010 – Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (born 1931)
*2012 – James B. Morehead, American colonel and pilot (born 1916)
*2013 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (born 1930)
* 2013 – Simón Alberto Consalvi, Venezuelan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela (born 1927)
*2014 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (born 1967)
* 2014 – Joel Brinkley, American journalist and academic (born 1952)
*2015 – Walter Burkert, German philologist and scholar (born 1931)
* 2015 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (born 1948)
*2016 – Iolanda Balaș, Romanian high jumper (born 1936)
* 2016 – Doreen Massey, English geographer and political activist (born 1944)
*2018 – Ken Dodd, English comedian and singer (born 1927)
* 2018 – Siegfried Rauch, German actor (born 1932)
* 2018 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal (born 1936)
* 2018 – Mary Rosenblum, American science fiction and mystery author (born 1952)
*2021 – Ray Campi, American singer and musician (born 1934)
* 2021 – Takis Mousafiris, Greek composer and songwriter (born 1936)
*2022 – Rupiah Banda, President of Zambia (born 1937)
* 2024 – Paul Alexander, Polio survivor (born 1946)
* 2025 – Junior Bridgeman, American basketball player and businessman (born 1953)
* 2025 – Clive Revill, New Zealand actor and singer (born 1930)

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)
* Saudi Flag Day

Notes

*

References

External links

BBC: On This Day
*

Historical Events on March 11

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Days of March