On This Day in History - March 17 |
| Discover today's historical events and the facts. Listed here the time line of events that happened on this day in history |
| Click on the date from the below calendar to know the historical events happened on that particular day. |
| What Happened On This Day In History - March 17 |
0180 March 17
0180-03-17
Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
0455 March 17
0455-03-17
Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
0624 March 17
0624-03-17
Led by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
1337 March 17
1337-03-17
Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
1776 March 17
1776-03-17
American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
1780 March 17
1780-03-17
American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday "as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence".
1805 March 17
1805-03-17
The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
1842 March 17
1842-03-17
The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is formed;
1860 March 17
1860-03-17
The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand land wars.
1861 March 17
1861-03-17
The Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) is proclaimed.
1891 March 17
1891-03-17
SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
1921 March 17
1921-03-17
The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
1937 March 17
1937-03-17
The Pedaliante achieves the first sustained 1 km human-powered flight.
1939 March 17
1939-03-17
Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins,
1941 March 17
1941-03-17
In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1942 March 17
1942-03-17
Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
1945 March 17
1945-03-17
The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany collapses, ten days after its capture.
1947 March 17
1947-03-17
First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
1948 March 17
1948-03-17
The Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
1950 March 17
1950-03-17
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
1957 March 17
1957-03-17
A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
1958 March 17
1958-03-17
The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
1959 March 17
1959-03-17
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
1960 March 17
1960-03-17
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
1963 March 17
1963-03-17
Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing 11,000.
1966 March 17
1966-03-17
Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
1969 March 17
1969-03-17
Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
1970 March 17
1970-03-17
My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
1973 March 17
1973-03-17
The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.
1979 March 17
1979-03-17
The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
1985 March 17
1985-03-17
Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree.
1988 March 17
1988-03-17
Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
1992 March 17
1992-03-17
A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
2000 March 17
2000-03-17
More than 800 members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in what is considered to be a mass murder and suicide, orchestrated by leaders of the cult.
2003 March 17
2003-03-17
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
2004 March 17
2004-03-17
Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. 35 Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Niš are destroyed.
2008 March 17
2008-03-17
Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer resigns after a scandal involving a high-end prostitute. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becomes New York State governor.
2011 March 17
2011-03-17
Libyan civil war: The United Nations Security Council adopts United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, authorizing a military intervention by member states to protect civilians in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
2045 March 17
2045-03-17
BC In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
