March 16

Events

597 BC – Babylonians capture Jerusalem, and replace Jeconiah with Zedekiah as king.

455 – Emperor Valentinian III is assassinated by two Hunnic retainers while training with the bow on the Campus Martius (Rome).

934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.

1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.

1244 – Over 200 Cathars are burned after the Fall of Montségur.

1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge take place in the Despenser Wars.

1521 – Ferdinand Magellan reaches the island of Homonhon in the Philippines.

1621 – Samoset, a Mohegan, visited the settlers of Plymouth Colony and greets them, "Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset."

1660 – The Long Parliament of England is dissolved so as to prepare for the new Convention Parliament.

1689 – The 23rd Regiment of Foot, or Royal Welch Fusiliers, is founded.

1782 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish troops capture the British-held island of Roatán.

1782 – Anglo-Spanish War (1779): Action of 16 March 1782

1792 – King Gustav III of Sweden is shot; he dies on March 29.

1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: An Austrian column is defeated by the French in the Battle of Valvasone.

1802 – The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point.

1812 – The Siege of Badajoz begins: British and Portuguese forces besiege and defeat the French garrison during the Peninsular War.

1815 – Prince Willem proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands.

1818 – In the Second Battle of Cancha Rayada, Spanish forces defeated Chileans under José de San Martín.

1839 – Founding of Christ Church Cathedral (Houston), the oldest extant congregation in Houston, Texas.

1864 – American Civil War: During the Red River Campaign, Union troops reach Alexandria, Louisiana.

1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Averasborough began as Confederate forces suffer irreplaceable casualties in the final months of the war.

1870 – The first version of the overture fantasy Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky receives its première performance.

1872 – The Wanderers F.C. won the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London.

1894 – Jules Massenet's opera Thaïs is first performed.

1900 – Sir Arthur Evans purchased the land around the ruins of Knossos, the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete.

1916 – The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US–Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa.

1917 – World War I: A German auxiliary cruiser is sunk in the Action of 16 March 1917.

1924 – In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume becomes annexed as part of Italy.

1925 – An earthquake occurs in Yunnan, China.

1926 – History of Rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts.

1935 – Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm herself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht.

1936 – Warmer-than-normal temperatures rapidly melt snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, leading to a major flood in Pittsburgh.

1939 – From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

1940 – First person killed (James Isbister) in a German bombing raid on the UK in World War II during a raid on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ended, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persisted.

1945 – Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in around 5,000 deaths.

1958 – The Ford Motor Company produces its 50 millionth automobile, the Thunderbird, averaging almost a million cars a year since the company's founding.

1962 – A Flying Tiger Line Super Constellation disappears in the western Pacific Ocean, with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead.

1966 – Launch of Gemini 8, the 12th manned American space flight and first space docking with the Agena target vehicle.

1968 – Vietnam War: My Lai Massacre occurs; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers (men, women, and children) are killed by American troops.

1968 – General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.

1969 – A Viasa McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing 155.

1976 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson resigns, citing personal reasons.

1977 – Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War.

1978 – Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped. (He is later murdered by his captors.)

1978 – Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time.

1979 – Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ends the war.

1983 – Demolition of the Ismaning radio transmitter, the last wooden radio tower in Germany.

1984 – William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, Lebanon, is kidnapped by Islamic fundamentalists. (He later dies in captivity.)

1985 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He is released on December 4, 1991.

1988 – Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

1988 – Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.

1988 – The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. A PIRA volunteer and two civilians are killed, and more than 60 others are wounded.

1989 – In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found near the Pyramid of Cheops.

1995 – Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865.

2005 – Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.

2014 – Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia.

2016 – A bomb detonates in a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 15 and injuring at least 54.

2016 – Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 22 and injuring 18.

Births

1399 – The Xuande Emperor, ruler of Ming China (d. 1435)

1445 – Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss priest and theologian (d. 1510)

1465 – Kunigunde of Austria, Archduchess of Austria (d. 1520)

1473 – Henry IV, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)

1581 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian and poet (d. 1647)

1585 – Gerbrand Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright (d. 1618)

1750 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (d. 1848)

1751 – James Madison, American academic and politician, 4th President of the United States (d. 1836)

1771 – Antoine-Jean Gros, French painter (d. 1835)

1773 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentinian general and politician, 6th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (d. 1836)

1774 – Matthew Flinders, English navigator and cartographer (d. 1814)

1789 – Francis Rawdon Chesney, English general and explorer (d. 1872)

1789 – Georg Ohm, German physicist and mathematician (d. 1854)

1794 – Ami Boué, Austrian geologist and ethnographer (d. 1881)

1797 – Alaric Alexander Watts, English poet and journalist (d. 1864)

1799 – Anna Atkins, English botanist and photographer (d. 1871)

1800 – Emperor Ninkō of Japan (d. 1846)

1805 – Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (d. 1861)

1821 – Eduard Heine, German mathematician and academic (d. 1881)

1822 – Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (d. 1899)

1822 – John Pope, American general (d. 1892)

1823 – William Henry Monk, English organist and composer (d. 1889)

1834 – James Hector, Scottish geologist and surgeon (d. 1907)

1836 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, English-American engineer and businessman (d. 1900)

1839 – Sully Prudhomme, French poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)

1839 – John Butler Yeats, Irish painter (d. 1922)

1840 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese businessman (d. 1931)

1845 – Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (d. 1928)

1846 – Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician and academic (d. 1927)

1846 – Rebecca Cole, American physician and social reformer (d. 1922)

1846 – Jurgis Bielinis, Lithuanian book smuggler (d. 1918)

1848 – Axel Heiberg, Norwegian financier and diplomat (d. 1932)

1851 – Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (d. 1931)

1856 – Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France (d. 1879)

1857 – Charles Harding Firth, English historian and academic (d. 1936)

1859 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist and academic (d. 1906)

1865 – Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager (d. 1953)

1869 – Willy Burmester, German violinist (d. 1933)

1871 – Hans Merensky, South African geologist and philanthropist (d. 1951)

1871 – Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (d. 1932)

1877 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (d. 1972)

1878 – Clemens August Graf von Galen, German cardinal (d. 1946)

1881 – Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (d. 1947)

1882 – James Lightbody, American runner (d. 1953)

1883 – Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, author, and painter (d. 1958)

1884 – Eric P. Kelly, American journalist and author (d. 1960)

1885 – Giacomo Benvenuti, Italian composer and musicologist (d. 1943)

1885 – Sydney Chaplin, English actor (d. 1965)

1887 – Emilio Lunghi, Italian runner (d. 1925)

1892 – César Vallejo, Peruvian poet, playwright, and journalist (d. 1938)

1897 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (d. 1970)

1903 – Mike Mansfield, American politician and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to Japan (d. 2001)

1906 – Francisco Ayala, Spanish sociologist, author, and translator (d. 2009)

1906 – Maurice Turnbull, Welsh-English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1944)

1906 – Henny Youngman, English-American violinist and comedian (d. 1998)

1908 – René Daumal, French author and poet (d. 1944)

1908 – Robert Rossen, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1966)

1910 – Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian-English cricketer and politician, 8th Nawab of Pataudi (d. 1952)

1911 – Pierre Harmel, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 2009)

1911 – Josef Mengele, German physician and captain (d. 1979)

1915 – Kunihiko Kodaira, Japanese mathematician and academic (d. 1997)

1916 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (d. 2004)

1916 – Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese engineer and businessman (d. 2010)

1917 – Louis C. Wyman, American lawyer and politician (d. 2002)

1918 – Frederick Reines, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)

1920 – John Addison, English-American soldier and composer (d. 1998)

1920 – Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (d. 2010)

1920 – Leo McKern, Australian-English actor (d. 2002)

1922 – Harding Lemay, American screenwriter and playwright

1925 – Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (d. 2014)

1925 – Mary Hinkson, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2014)

1925 – Ervin Kassai, Hungarian basketball player and referee (d. 2012)

1925 – Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist and engineer (d. 2004)

1926 – Charles Goodell, American lawyer and politician (d. 1987)

1926 – Jerry Lewis, American actor and comedian

1927 – Vladimir Komarov, Russian pilot, engineer, and astronaut (d. 1967)

1927 – Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (d. 2003)

1927 – Olga San Juan, American actress and dancer (d. 2009)

1928 – Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 45th Yokozuna (d. 2010)

1928 – Christa Ludwig, German soprano and actress

1929 – Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (d. 2015)

1930 – Tommy Flanagan, American pianist and composer (d. 2001)

1931 – Alan Heyman, American-South Korean musicologist and composer (d. 2014)

1931 – Anthony Kenny, English philosopher and academic

1931 – John Munro, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Labour (d. 2003)

1932 – Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)

1932 – Walter Cunningham, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut

1932 – Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer and author

1933 – Keith Critchlow, English architect and academic, co-founded Temenos Academy

1933 – Sanford I. Weill, American banker, financier, and philanthropist

1934 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (d. 2002)

1934 – Roger Norrington, English violinist and conductor

1935 – Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano and actress

1936 – Raymond Vahan Damadian, Armenian-American inventor, invented the MRI

1936 – Fred Neil, American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2001)

1937 – David Frith, English historian, journalist, and author

1937 – Amos Tversky, Israeli-American psychologist and academic (d. 1996)

1939 – Carlos Bilardo, Argentinian footballer and manager

1940 – Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian director and screenwriter

1940 – Vagif Mustafazadeh, Azerbaijani pianist and composer (d. 1979)

1940 – Jan Pronk, Dutch academic and politician, Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment

1940 – Keith Rowe, English guitarist

1941 – Robert Guéï, Ivorian soldier and politician, 3rd President of Côte d'Ivoire (d. 2002)

1941 – Chuck Woolery, American game show host and television personality

1942 – Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1996)

1942 – James Soong, Chinese-Taiwanese politician, Governor of Taiwan Province

1942 – Gijs van Lennep, Dutch race car driver

1942 – Jerry Jeff Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1943 – Ursula Goodenough, American biologist, zoologist, and author

1944 – Andrew S. Tanenbaum, American computer scientist and academic

1946 – Sigmund Groven, Norwegian harmonica player and composer

1946 – Mary Kaldor, English economist and academic

1948 – Michael Owen Bruce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1948 – Richard Desjardins, Canadian singer-songwriter and director

1949 – Erik Estrada, American actor

1949 – Victor Garber, Canadian actor and singer

1949 – Elliott Murphy, American-French singer-songwriter and journalist

1950 – Peter Forster, English bishop

1950 – Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress

1951 – Ray Benson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1951 – Joe DeLamielleure, American football player

1953 – Isabelle Huppert, French actress

1953 – Richard Stallman, American computer scientist and programmer

1954 – David Heath, English politician

1954 – Jimmy Nail, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor

1954 – Tim O'Brien, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1954 – Dav Whatmore, Sri Lankan-Australian cricketer and coach

1954 – Nancy Wilson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress

1955 – Svetlana Alexeeva, Russian ice dancer and coach

1955 – Bruno Barreto, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter

1955 – Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer

1956 – Ozzie Newsome, American football player and manager

1956 – Clifton Powell, American actor, director, and producer

1958 – Phillip Wilcher, Australian pianist and composer

1958 – Kate Worley, American author (d. 2004)

1959 – Sebastian Currier, American composer and educator

1959 – Greg Dyer, Australian cricketer

1959 – Flavor Flav, American rapper and actor

1959 – Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian economist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Norway

1960 – John Hemming, English businessman and politician

1960 – Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1961 – Brett Kenny, Australian rugby player and coach

1961 – Todd McFarlane, Canadian author, illustrator, and businessman, founded McFarlane Toys

1963 – Jerome Flynn, English actor and singer

1963 – Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor and singer (d. 2002)

1964 – Patty Griffin, American singer-songwriter

1964 – Gore Verbinski, American director, producer, and screenwriter

1965 – Steve Armstrong, American wrestler

1965 – Mark Carney, Canadian-English economist and banker

1967 – Tracy Bonham, American singer and violinist

1967 – Lauren Graham, American actress and producer

1967 – Ronnie McCoury, American bluegrass mandolin player, singer and songwriter

1968 – Trevor Wilson, American basketball player and police officer

1969 – Judah Friedlander, American comedian and actor

1969 – Ottis Gibson, Barbadian cricketer and coach

1969 – Evangelos Koronios, Greek basketball player and coach

1970 – Joakim Berg, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist

1971 – Alan Tudyk, American actor

1973 – Vonda Ward, American boxer

1974 – Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer and politician

1974 – Heath Streak, Zimbabwean cricketer

1975 – Sienna Guillory, English model and actress

1976 – Blu Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and producer

1976 – Abraham Núñez, Dominican baseball player

1979 – Rashad Moore, American football player

1979 – Leena Peisa, Finnish keyboard player and songwriter

1979 – Andrei Stepanov, Estonian footballer

1980 – Todd Heap, American football player

1980 – Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player

1981 – Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer

1981 – Curtis Granderson, American baseball player

1982 – Riley Cote, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1982 – Brian Wilson, American baseball player

1983 – Brandon League, American baseball player

1983 – Stephen Drew, American baseball player

1983 – Tramon Williams, American football player

1984 – Levi Brown, American football player

1984 – Michael Ennis, Australian rugby player

1984 – Hosea Gear, New Zealand rugby player

1984 – Brandon Prust, Canadian ice hockey player

1985 – Eddy Lover, Panamanian singer-songwriter

1986 – Alexandra Daddario, American actress

1986 – Toney Douglas, American basketball player

1986 – Kenny Dykstra, American wrestler

1986 – T. J. Jordan, American basketball player

1986 – Boaz Solossa, Indonesian footballer

1986 – Daisuke Takahashi, Japanese figure skater

1988 – Jessica Gregg, Canadian speed skater

1988 – Patrick Herrmann, German footballer

1989 – Blake Griffin, American basketball player

1989 – Theo Walcott, English footballer

1993 – George Ford, English rugby union player

1995 – Inga Janulevičiūtė, Lithuanian figure skater

Deaths

AD 37 – Tiberius, Roman emperor (b. 42 BC)

455 – Valentinian III, Roman emperor (b. 419)

455 – Heraclius, Roman courtier (primicerius sacri cubiculi )

842 – Xiao Mian, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty

933 – Takin al-Khazari, Egyptian commander and politician, Abbasid Governor of Egypt

1021 – Heribert of Cologne, German archbishop and saint (b. 970)

1072 – Adalbert of Hamburg, German archbishop (b. 1000)

1181 – Henry I, Count of Champagne

1185 – Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (b. 1161)

1279 – Jeanne of Dammartin, Queen consort of Castile and León (b. 1216)

1322 – Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, English general and politician, Lord High Constable of England (b. 1276)

1410 – John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, French-English admiral and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1373)

1457 – Ladislaus Hunyadi, Hungarian politician (b. 1433)

1485 – Anne Neville, queen of Richard III of England (b. 1456)

1559 – Anthony St. Leger, English-Irish politician Lord Deputy of Ireland (b. 1496)

1649 – Jean de Brébeuf, French-Canadian missionary and saint (b. 1593)

1679 – John Leverett, English general and politician, 19th Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1616)

1721 – James Craggs the Elder, English politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (b. 1657)

1736 – Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Italian organist and composer (b. 1710)

1737 – Benjamin Wadsworth, American minister and academic (b. 1670)

1738 – George Bähr, German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (b. 1666)

1747 – Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (b. 1690)

1838 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American captain and mathematician (b. 1773)

1841 – Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist (d. 1791)

1888 – Hippolyte Carnot, French politician (b. 1801)

1892 – Samuel F. Miller, American lawyer and politician (b. 1827)

1898 – Aubrey Beardsley, English author and illustrator (b. 1872)

1899 – Joseph Medill, American journalist and politician, 26th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1823)

1903 – Roy Bean, American lawyer and judge (b. 1825)

1912 – Max Burckhard, Austrian theater director (b. 1854)

1914 – Gaston Calmette, French journalist (b. 1858)

1914 – Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)

1914 – John Murray, Scottish oceanographer, biologist, and limnologist (b. 1841)

1925 – August von Wassermann, German bacteriologist and hygienist (b. 1866)

1930 – Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1870)

1935 – John James Rickard Macleod, Scottish physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)

1935 – Aron Nimzowitsch, Latvian-Danish chess player (b. 1886)

1936 – Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (b. 1864)

1937 – Alexander von Staël-Holstein, Estonian orientalist and sinologist (b. 1877)

1940 – Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1858)

1955 – Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter and illustrator (b. 1914)

1957 – Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (b. 1876)

1961 – Chen Geng, Chinese general and politician (b. 1903)

1961 – Václav Talich, Czech violinist and conductor (b. 1883)

1963 – Laura Adams Armer, American author and photographer (b. 1874)

1968 – Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American pianist and composer (b. 1895)

1968 – Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and translator (b. 1907)

1971 – Bebe Daniels, American actress (b. 1901)

1971 – Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of New York (b. 1902)

1975 – T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1910)

1977 – Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese lawyer and politician (b. 1917)

1979 – Jean Monnet, French economist and politician (b. 1888)

1980 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-American painter (b. 1898)

1983 – Arthur Godfrey, American actor and television host (b. 1903)

1983 – Fred Rose, Polish-Canadian politician (b. 1907)

1985 – Roger Sessions, American composer, critic, and educator (b. 1896)

1985 – Eddie Shore, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1902)

1988 – Mickey Thompson, American race car driver (b. 1928)

1990 – Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1898)

1991 - Jean Bellette, Australian artist (b. 1908)

1992 – Yves Rocard, French physicist and engineer (b. 1903)

1998 – Derek Barton, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)

1998 – Esther Bubley, American photographer (b. 1921)

1999 – Gratien Gélinas, Canadian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1909)

2000 – Thomas Ferebee, American colonel and pilot (b. 1918)

2000 – Pavel Prudnikau, Belarusian poet and author (b. 1911)

2000 – Michael Starr, Canadian judge and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of Labour (b. 1910)

2001 – Bob Wollek, French race car driver (b. 1943)

2003 – Rachel Corrie, American activist (b. 1979)

2003 – Ronald Ferguson, English captain, polo player, and manager (b. 1931)

2004 – Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (b. 1910)

2005 – Todd Bell, American football player (b. 1958)

2005 – Ralph Erskine, English architect, designed The London Ark (b. 1914)

2005 – Dick Radatz, American baseball player (b. 1937)

2007 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (b. 1984)

2008 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer and soldier (b. 1912)

2008 – Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1931)

2008 – Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (b. 1942)

2011 – Richard Wirthlin, American religious leader (b. 1931)

2012 – Donald E. Hillman, American colonel and pilot (b. 1918)

2012 – Takaaki Yoshimoto, Japanese poet, philosopher, and critic (b. 1924)

2013 – Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (b. 1939)

2013 – José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, Argentinian economist and politician, Minister of Economy of Argentina (b. 1925)

2013 – Ruchoma Shain, American-born teacher and author (b. 1914)

2013 – Marina Solodkin, Russian-Israeli academic and politician (b. 1952)

2013 – Frank Thornton, English actor (b. 1921)

2014 – Gary Bettenhausen, American race car driver (b. 1941)

2014 – Donald Crothers, American chemist and academic (b. 1937)

2014 – Yulisa Pat Amadu Maddy, Sierra Leonean author, poet, and playwright (b. 1936)

2014 – Steve Moore, English author and illustrator (b. 1949)

2014 – Alexander Pochinok, Russian economist and politician (b. 1958)

2015 – Jack Haley, American basketball player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1964)

2015 – Don Robertson, American pianist and composer (b. 1922)

2016 – Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician and poet (b. 1924)

2016 – Frank Sinatra, Jr., American singer and actor (b. 1944)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Abbán

Heribert of Cologne

March 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Day of the Book Smugglers (Lithuania)

Latvian Legion Day (Latvia)

Saint Urho's Day (Finnish Americans and Finnish Canadians)