March 15 is the 74th day of the year (75th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 291 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

Pre-1600

• 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years truce.
• 44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place on the Ides of March.
• 493 – Odoacer, the first barbarian King of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is slain by Theoderic the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, while the two kings were feasting together.
• 856 – Michael III, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, overthrows the regency of his mother, empress Theodora (wife of Theophilos) with support of the Byzantine nobility.
• 897 – Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya enters Sa'dah and founds the Zaydi Imamate of Yemen.
• 933 – After a ten-year truce, German King Henry the Fowler defeats a Hungarian army at the Battle of Riade near the Unstrut river.
• 1311 – Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V, Count of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece.
• 1564 – Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes the jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects.

1601–1900

• 1672 – King Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence, granting limited religious freedom to all Christians.
• 1783 – In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful, and the threatened coup d'état never takes place.
• 1820 – Maine is admitted as the twenty-third U.S. state.
• 1823 – Sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reported the existence of the island of New South Greenland near Antarctica.
• 1848 – A revolution breaks out in Hungary, and the Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the reform party.
• 1874 – France and Vietnam sign the Second Treaty of Saigon, further recognizing the full sovereignty of France over Cochinchina.
• 1875 – Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.
• 1877 – First ever official cricket test match is played: Australia vs England at the MCG Stadium, in Melbourne, Australia.
• 1888 – Start of the Anglo-Tibetan War of 1888.

1901–present

• 1907 – The first parliamentary elections of Finland (at the time the Grand Duchy of Finland) are held.
• 1917 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne, ending the 304-year Romanov dynasty.
• 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The battle of Tampere begins.
• 1919 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The Kontrrazvedka is established as the counterintelligence division of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.
• 1919 – The American Legion is founded.
• 1921 – Talaat Pasha, former Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire and chief architect of the Armenian genocide is assassinated in Berlin by a 23-year-old Armenian, Soghomon Tehlirian.
• 1922 – After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.
• 1927 – The first Women's Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on The Isis in Oxford.
• 1939 – Germany occupies Czechoslovakia.
• 1939 – Carpatho-Ukraine declares itself an independent republic, but is annexed by Hungary the next day.
• 1943 – World War II: Third Battle of Kharkiv: The Germans retake the city of Kharkiv from the Soviet armies.
• 1951 – Iranian oil industry is nationalized.
• 1961 – At the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, South Africa announces that it will withdraw from the Commonwealth when the South African Constitution of 1961 comes into effect.
• 1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act.
• 1974 – Fifteen people are killed when Sterling Airways Flight 901, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, catches fire following a landing gear collapse at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran.
• 1978 – Somalia and Ethiopia signed a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.
• 1986 – Collapse of Hotel New World: Thirty-three people die when the Hotel New World in Singapore collapses.
• 1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union.
• 1991 – Cold War: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.
• 2008 – Stockpiles of obsolete ammunition explode at an ex-military ammunition depot in the village of Gërdec, Albania, killing 26 people.
• 2011 – Beginning of the Syrian Civil War.
• 2019 – Fifty-one people are killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings.
• 2019 – Beginning of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
• 2019 – Approximately 1.4 million young people in 123 countries go on strike to protest climate change.
• 2022 – The 2022 Sri Lankan protests begins amidst Sri Lanka's economic collapse.

Births

Pre-1600

• 1493 – Anne de Montmorency, French captain and diplomat (d. 1567)
• 1516 – Alqas Mirza, Safavid prince (d. 1550)
• 1582 – Daniel Featley, English theologian and controversialist (d. 1645)
• 1591 – Alexandre de Rhodes, French missionary (d. 1660)

1601–1900

• 1638 – Shunzhi Emperor of China (d. 1661)
• 1666 – George Bähr, German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (d. 1738)
• 1754 – Archibald Menzies, Scottish surgeon and botanist (d. 1842)
• 1767 – Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (d. 1845)
• 1779 – William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1848)
• 1790 – Ludwig Immanuel Magnus, German mathematician and academic (d. 1861)
• 1791 – Charles Knight, English author and publisher (d. 1873)
• 1809 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts, American-Liberian historian and politician, 1st President of Liberia (d. 1876)
• 1813 – John Snow, English physician and epidemiologist (d. 1858)
• 1821 – Johann Josef Loschmidt, Austrian physicist and chemist (d. 1895)
• 1821 – William Milligan, Scottish theologian and author (d. 1892)
• 1824 – Jules Chevalier, French priest, founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (d. 1907)
• 1830 – Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1914)
• 1830 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer and anarchist (d. 1905)
• 1831 – Saint Daniele Comboni, Italian missionary and saint (d. 1881)
• 1835 – Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1916)
• 1838 – Karl Davydov, Russian cellist, composer, and conductor (d. 1889)
• 1851 – John Sebastian Little, American lawyer and politician, Governor of Arkansas (d. 1916)
• 1851 – William Mitchell Ramsay, Scottish archaeologist and scholar (d. 1939)
• 1852 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, Anglo-Irish landowner, playwright, and translator (d. 1932)
• 1854 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
• 1857 – Christian Michelsen, Norwegian businessman and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Norway (d. 1925)
• 1858 – Liberty Hyde Bailey, American botanist and academic, co-founded the American Society for Horticultural Science (d. 1954)
• 1866 – Matthew Charlton, Australian miner and politician (d. 1948)
• 1868 – Grace Chisholm Young, English mathematician (d. 1944)
• 1869 – Stanisław Wojciechowski, Polish scholar and politician, President of the Republic of Poland (d. 1953)
• 1874 – Harold L. Ickes, American journalist and politician, United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1952)
• 1878 – Reza Shah, Iranian Shah (d. 1944)
• 1879 – Benjamin R. Jacobs, American biochemist (d. 1963)
• 1886 – Gerda Wegener, Danish artist (d. 1940)
• 1897 – Jackson Scholz, American runner (d. 1986)
• 1900 – Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian and writer (d. 1987)

1901–present

• 1904 – George Brent, Irish-American actor (d. 1979)
• 1904 – J. Pat O'Malley, English-American actor (d. 1985)
• 1905 – Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, German lawyer and judge (d. 1944)
• 1907 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (d. 1981)
• 1912 – Louis Paul Boon, Flemish journalist and author (d. 1979)
• 1912 – Lightnin' Hopkins, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1982)
• 1913 – Macdonald Carey, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1913 – Jack Fairman, English race car driver (d. 2002)
• 1916 – Frank Coghlan, Jr., American actor and pilot (d. 2009)
• 1916 – Fadil Hoxha, Kosovar commander and politician, President of Kosovo (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Harry James, American trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (d. 1983)
• 1918 – Richard Ellmann, American author and critic (d. 1987)
• 1918 – Punch Imlach, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1987)
• 1919 – Lawrence Tierney, American actor (d. 2002)
• 1920 – E. Donnall Thomas, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
• 1921 – Madelyn Pugh, American television writer and producer (d. 2011)
• 1926 – Ben Johnston, American composer and academic (d. 2019)
• 1926 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football player and coach (d. 1983)
• 1927 – Christian Marquand, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
• 1927 – Carl Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2010)
• 1928 – Bob Wilber, American clarinetist and saxophonist (d. 2019)
• 1930 – Zhores Alferov, Belarusian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
• 1932 – Alan Bean, American astronaut and pilot (d. 2018)
• 1932 – Arif Mardin, Turkish-American record producer (d. 2006)
• 1933 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American lawyer and judge (d. 2020)
• 1933 – Philippe de Broca, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Kanshi Ram, Indian politician (d. 2006)
• 1935 – Judd Hirsch, American actor
• 1935 – Jimmy Swaggart, American pastor and television host
• 1936 – Howard Greenfield, American songwriter (d. 1986)
• 1937 – Valentin Rasputin, Russian environmentalist and author (d. 2015)
• 1939 – Ted Kaufman, American politician
• 1939 – Robert Nye, English author, poet, and playwright (d. 2016)
• 1939 – Julie Tullis, English mountaineer (d. 1986)
• 1940 – Frank Dobson, English politician, Secretary of State for Health (d. 2019)
• 1940 – Phil Lesh, American bassist
• 1941 – Mike Love, American singer-songwriter and musician
• 1943 – David Cronenberg, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1943 – Lynda La Plante, English actress, screenwriter, and author
• 1943 – Michael Scott-Joynt, English bishop (d. 2014)
• 1943 – Sly Stone, American musician and record producer
• 1944 – Chi Cheng, Taiwanese runner
• 1944 – Jacques Doillon, French director and screenwriter
• 1944 – Francis Mankiewicz, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1993)
• 1946 – Bobby Bonds, American baseball player and coach (d. 2003)
• 1946 – John Dempsey, English-Irish footballer and manager
• 1947 – Ry Cooder, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1948 – Kate Bornstein, American author and activist
• 1948 – Sérgio Vieira de Mello, Brazilian diplomat (d. 2003)
• 1951 – David Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, English politician
• 1953 – Frances Conroy, American actress
• 1954 – Isobel Buchanan, Scottish soprano and actress
• 1954 – Henry Marsh, American runner and businessman
• 1954 – Craig Wasson, American actor
• 1955 – Mickey Hatcher, American baseball player and coach
• 1955 – Mohsin Khan, Pakistani cricketer
• 1955 – Dee Snider, American singer-songwriter
• 1957 – Joaquim de Almeida, Portuguese-American actor
• 1957 – Park Overall, American actress and activist
• 1959 – Harold Baines, American baseball player
• 1959 – Renny Harlin, Finnish director and producer
• 1959 – Fabio Lanzoni, Italian-American model and actor
• 1959 – Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and author
• 1959 – Eliot Teltscher, American tennis player
• 1960 – Mike Pagliarulo, American baseball player
• 1961 – Terry Cummings, American basketball player
• 1962 – Terence Trent D'Arby, American singer-songwriter
• 1963 – Bret Michaels, American singer-songwriter, musician, and television personality
• 1964 – Rockwell, American singer-songwriter and musician
• 1965 – Sunetra Gupta, Indian epidemiologist, author, and academic
• 1966 – Chris Bruno, American actor
• 1967 – Naoko Takeuchi, Japanese manga artist and creator of Sailor Moon
• 1968 – Kahimi Karie, Japanese singer
• 1968 – Mark McGrath, American singer-songwriter
• 1968 – Sabrina Salerno, Italian singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Gianluca Festa, Italian footballer
• 1969 – Kim Raver, American actress
• 1969 – Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey
• 1970 – Derek Parra, American speed skater
• 1971 – Joanne Wise, English long jumper
• 1972 – Mark Hoppus, American singer-songwriter and musician
• 1972 – Holger Stromberg, German chef
• 1972 – Mike Tomlin, American football player and coach
• 1974 – Robert Fick, American baseball player
• 1975 – Eva Longoria, American actress
• 1975 – Darcy Tucker, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – will.i.am, American rapper, producer, and actor
• 1976 – Cara Pifko, Canadian actress
• 1977 – Joe Hahn, American musician, DJ, director, and visual artist
• 1977 – Brian Tee, Japanese-American actor
• 1977 – Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Indian military officer (d. 2008)
• 1978 – Takeru Kobayashi, Japanese competitive eater
• 1979 – Kyle Mills, New Zealand cricketer
• 1979 – Kevin Youkilis, American baseball player
• 1980 – Freddie Bynum, American baseball player
• 1981 – Young Buck, American rapper
• 1981 – Mikael Forssell, German-Finnish footballer
• 1981 – Jens Salumäe, Estonian skier
• 1982 – Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich, Kenyan runner
• 1983 – Umut Bulut, Turkish footballer
• 1983 – Ben Hilfenhaus, Australian cricketer
• 1983 – Kostas Kaimakoglou, Greek basketball player
• 1983 – Golda Marcus, Salvadoran swimmer
• 1983 – Daryl Murphy, Irish footballer
• 1983 – Yo Yo Honey Singh, Indian rapper, producer, and actor
• 1984 – Badradine Belloumou, French-Algerian footballer
• 1984 – Olivier Jean, Canadian speed skater
• 1984 – Kostas Vasileiadis, Greek basketball player
• 1985 – Eva Amurri, American actress
• 1985 – Jon Jay, American baseball player and coach
• 1985 – Kellan Lutz, American actor and model
• 1986 – Jai Courtney, Australian actor
• 1986 – Jannik Hansen, Danish ice hockey player
• 1987 – Eric Decker, American football player
• 1988 – Lil Dicky, American rapper, comedian, and actor
• 1988 – Éver Guzmán, Mexican footballer
• 1988 – James Reimer, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1989 – Sam Baldock, English footballer
• 1989 – Gil Roberts, American sprinter
• 1989 – Sandro, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Adrien Silva, Portuguese footballer
• 1989 – Caitlin Wachs, American actress
• 1990 – Nick Ahmed, American baseball player
• 1990 – Tavon Austin, American football player
• 1990 – JD McDonagh, Irish professional wrestler
• 1991 – Xavier Henry, American basketball player
• 1991 – Trayce Thompson, American baseball player
• 1992 – Devonta Freeman, American football player
• 1993 – Alia Bhatt, British actress
• 1993 – Michael Fulmer, American baseball player
• 1993 – Taylor Heinicke, American football player
• 1993 – Aleksandra Krunić, Serbian tennis player
• 1993 – Paul Pogba, French footballer
• 1993 – Mark Scheifele, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1994 – Matt Gay, American football player
• 1995 – Jabari Parker, American basketball player
• 1996 – Maxwell Jacob Friedman, American professional wrestler
• 1996 – Seonaid McIntosh, Scottish sports shooter
• 2000 – Kristian Kostov, Russian-Bulgarian singer-songwriter
• 2001 – Ellie Leach, English actress
• 2003 – Quinn Ewers, American football player
• 2004 – Isaiah Bond, American football player

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 44 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (b. 100 BC)
• 220 – Cao Cao, Chinese general, warlord and statesman
• 493 – Odoacer, first king of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (b. 433)
• 963 – Romanos II, Byzantine emperor
• 990 – Siegfried I (the Older), German nobleman
• 1124 – Ernulf, Bishop of Rochester
• 1190 – Isabella of Hainault, queen of Philip II of France (b. 1170)
• 1311 – Walter V, Count of Brienne
• 1536 – Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1493)
• 1575 – Annibale Padovano, Italian organist and composer (b. 1527)

1601–1900

• 1673 – Salvator Rosa, Italian painter and poet (b. 1615)
• 1711 – Eusebio Kino, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1645)
• 1820 – Clement Mary Hofbauer, Austrian priest and saint (b. 1751)
• 1842 – Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1760)
• 1848 – Johan Jakob Nervander, Finnish poet, physicist and meteorologist (b. 1805)
• 1891 – Joseph Bazalgette, English engineer and academic (b. 1819)
• 1897 – James Joseph Sylvester, English mathematician and academic (b. 1814)
• 1898 – Henry Bessemer, English engineer and businessman (b. 1813)

1901–present

• 1921 – Talaat Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1874)
• 1927 – Hector Rason, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1858)
• 1937 – H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, and novelist (b. 1890)
• 1941 – Alexej von Jawlensky, Russian-German painter (b. 1864)
• 1942 – Rachel Field, American author and poet (b. 1894)
• 1948 – Imanuel Lauster, German engineer (b. 1873)
• 1959 – Lester Young, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1909)
• 1962 – Arthur Compton, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
• 1966 – Abe Saperstein, American basketball player and coach (b. 1902)
• 1969 – Miles Malleson, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1888)
• 1970 – Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian author and poet (b. 1897)
• 1975 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek-Argentinian businessman (b. 1906)
• 1977 – Hubert Aquin, Canadian author and activist (b. 1929)
• 1977 – Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler and referee (b. 1921)
• 1981 – René Clair, French director and screenwriter (b. 1898)
• 1983 – Rebecca West, English author and critic (b. 1892)
• 1988 – Dmitri Polyakov, Ukrainian general and spy (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Farzad Bazoft, Iranian-English journalist (b. 1958)
• 1990 – Tom Harmon, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1919)
• 1991 – Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1906)
• 1997 – Gail Davis, American actress (b. 1925)
• 1997 – Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (b. 1903)
• 2001 – Ann Sothern, American actress and singer (b. 1909)
• 2003 – Thora Hird, English actress (b. 1911)
• 2003 – Paul Stojanovich, American television producer, created World's Wildest Police Videos (b. 1955)
• 2004 – Philippe Lemaire, French actor (b. 1927)
• 2004 – Bill Pickering, New Zealand-American scientist and engineer (b. 1910)
• 2004 – John Pople, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Otar Korkia, Georgian basketball player (b. 1923)
• 2006 – Georgios Rallis, Greek lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1918)
• 2006 – Red Storey, Canadian football player and referee (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Charles Harrelson, American murderer (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Stuart Rosenberg, American director and producer (b. 1927)
• 2008 – Mikey Dread, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1954)
• 2008 – G. David Low, American astronaut and engineer (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Sarla Thakral, First Indian woman to earn a pilot's license. (b. 1914)
• 2009 – Ron Silver, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1946)
• 2010 – Kazim al-Samawi, Iraqi poet (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Nate Dogg, American rapper (b. 1969)
• 2011 – Smiley Culture, English singer and DJ (b. 1963)
• 2012 – Mervyn Davies, Welsh rugby player (b. 1946)
• 2012 – Dave Philley, American baseball player and manager (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Booth Gardner, American businessman and politician, Governor of Washington (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Terry Lightfoot, English clarinet player (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Leverne McDonnell, Australian actress (b. 1963)
• 2013 – Peter Worsley, English sociologist (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Scott Asheton, American drummer (b. 1949)
• 2014 – David Brenner, American comedian, actor, and author (b. 1936)
• 2014 – Bo Callaway, American soldier and politician, United States Secretary of the Army (b. 1927)
• 2014 – Clarissa Dickson Wright, English chef, author, and television personality (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Collins Chabane, South African politician (b. 1960)
• 2015 – Robert Clatworthy, English sculptor and educator (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Sally Forrest, American actress and dancer (b. 1928)
• 2015 – Curtis Gans, American political scientist and author (b. 1937)
• 2015 – Mike Porcaro, American bass player (b. 1955)
• 2016 – Sylvia Anderson, English voice actress and television and film producer (b. 1927)
• 2016 – Asa Briggs, English historian and academic (b. 1921)
• 2016 – Seru Rabeni, Fijian rugby player (b. 1978)
• 2019 – Larry DiTillio, American film and TV series writer (b. 1948)
• 2020 – Vittorio Gregotti, Italian architect (b. 1927)
• 2022 – Barbara Maier Gustern, American vocal coach and singer (b. 1935)

Holidays and observances

• Ancient Roman religious observance:
  • Ides of March
• Christian feast day:
  • Aristobulus of Britannia (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Clement Mary Hofbauer
  • Leocritia
  • Saint Longinus
  • Louise de Marillac
  • March 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Constitution Day (Belarus)
• International Day To Combat Islamophobia
• Joseph Jenkins Roberts' Birthday (Liberia)
• National Day, celebrating the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (Hungary)
• World Consumer Rights Day (International)
• Youth Day (Palau)