March 11 is the 70th day of the year (71st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 295 days remain until the end of the year.

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.^[1]
• 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the veneration of icons in the Orthodox churches in the Byzantine Empire.^[2]
• 1343 – Arnošt of Pardubice becomes the last Bishop of Prague (3 March 1343 O.S.), and, a year later, the first Archbishop of Prague.^[3]
• 1387 – Battle of Castagnaro: Padua, led by John Hawkwood, is victorious over Giovanni Ordelaffi of Verona.^[4]

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.^[5]
• 1649 – The Frondeurs and the French government sign the Peace of Rueil.^[6]
• 1702 – The Daily Courant, England's first national daily newspaper, is published for the first time.^[7]
• 1708 – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.^[8]
• 1784 – The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.^[9]
• 1795 – The Battle of Kharda is fought between the Maratha Confederacy and the Nizam of Hyderabad, resulting in Maratha victory.^[10]
• 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.^[11]
• 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.^[12]
• 1851 – The first performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.^[13]
• 1861 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.^[14]
• 1864 – The Great Sheffield Flood kills 238 people in Sheffield, England.^[15]
• 1872 – Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; it is located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.^[16]
• 1879 – Shō Tai formally abdicates his position of King of Ryūkyū, under orders from Tokyo, ending the Ryukyu Kingdom.^[17]
• 1888 – The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400 people.^[18]

1901–present

• 1917 – World War I: Mesopotamian campaign: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Frederick Stanley Maude.^[19]
• 1927 – In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.^[20]
• 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.^[21]
• 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.^[22]
• 1945 – World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived Japanese puppet state, is established.^[23]
• 1946 – Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.^[24]
• 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.^[25]
• 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.^[26]
• 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.^[27]
• 1982 – Fifteen people are killed when Widerøe Flight 933 crashes into the Barents Sea near Gamvik, Norway.^[28]
• 1983 – Bob Hawke is appointed Prime Minister of Australia.^[29]
• 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.^[30]
• 1990 – Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union.^[31]
• 1990 – Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.^[32]
• 2003 – The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.^[33]
• 2004 – Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid, Spain kill 191 people.^[34]
• 2006 – Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as the first female president of Chile.^[35]
• 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.^[36]
• 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.^[37]
• 2011 – An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) 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.^[38]
• 2012 – A U.S. soldier kills 16 civilians in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan near Kandahar.^[39]
• 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 virus epidemic a pandemic.^[40]
• 2021 – US President Joe Biden signs the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law.^[41]
• 2023 – The Burmese military kills at least 30 villagers, including 3 Buddhist monks, during the Pinlaung massacre in Shan State, Myanmar.^[42]

Births

Pre-1600

• 1278 – Mary of Woodstock, daughter of Edward I of England (d. c.1332)^[43]
• 1544 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet and educator (d. 1595)^[44]

1601–1900

• 1738 – Benjamin Tupper, American general (d. 1792)^[45]
• 1785 – John McLean, American jurist and politician (d. 1861)^[46]
• 1806 – Louis Boulanger, French Romantic painter, lithographer and illustrator (d. 1867)^[47]
• 1811 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1877)^[48]
• 1815 – Anna Bochkoltz, German operatic soprano, voice teacher and composer (d. 1879)^[49]
• 1818 – Marius Petipa, French-Russian dancer and choreographer (d. 1910)^[50]
• 1819 – Henry Tate, English businessman and philanthropist, founded Tate & Lyle (d. 1899)^[51]
• 1822 – Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician, economist, and academic (d. 1900)^[52]
• 1863 – Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer and rugby player (d. 1915)^[53]
• 1870 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1946)^[54]
• 1876 – Carl Ruggles, American composer and painter (d. 1971)^[55]
• 1880 – Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist and sociologist (d. 1943)^[56]
• 1884 – Lewi Pethrus, Swedish minister and hymn-writer (d. 1974)^[57]
• 1885 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1948)^[58]
• 1887 – Raoul Walsh, American actor and director (d. 1980)^[59]
• 1890 – Vannevar Bush, American engineer and academic (d. 1974)^[60]
• 1893 – Wanda Gág, American author and illustrator (d. 1946)^[61]
• 1897 – Henry Cowell, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)^[62]
• 1898 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (d. 1968)^[63]
• 1899 – Frederik IX of Denmark (d. 1972)^[64]
• 1899 – James H. Douglas, Jr., American lawyer, and politician, United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 1988)^[65]

1901–present

• 1903 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand historian and scholar (d. 1989)^[66]
• 1903 – Lawrence Welk, American accordion player and bandleader (d. 1992)^[67]
• 1907 – Jessie Matthews, English actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1981)^[68]
• 1908 – Matti Sippala, Finnish javelin thrower (d. 1997)^[69]
• 1910 – Robert Havemann, German chemist and academic (d. 1982)^[70]
• 1911 – Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet, Scottish general and politician (d. 1996)^[71]
• 1913 – Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, German colonel and pilot (d. 1944)^[72]
• 1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (d. 2004)^[73]
• 1915 – J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and psychologist (d. 1990)^[74]
• 1916 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)^[44]
• 1920 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)^[75]
• 1921 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentine tango composer and bandoneon player (d. 1992)^[76]
• 1922 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (d. 1997)^[77]
• 1922 – Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976)^[78]
• 1922 – José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor and director (d. 2009)^[79]
• 1923 – Louise Brough, American tennis player (d. 2014)^[80]
• 1925 – Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, American biochemist and academic (d. 1983)^[81]
• 1926 – Ralph Abernathy, American minister and activist (d. 1990)^[82]
• 1927 – Freda Meissner-Blau, Austrian activist and politician (d. 2015)^[83]
• 1927 – Robert Mosbacher, American businessman, and politician, United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)^[84]
• 1927 – Josep Maria Subirachs, Spanish sculptor and painter (d. 2014)^[85]
• 1929 – Timothy Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1994)^[86]
• 1929 – Jackie McGlew, South African cricketer (d. 1998)^[87]
• 1930 – David Gentleman, English illustrator and engraver^[88]
• 1930 – Claude Jutra, Canadian actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1986)^[89]
• 1931 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-American businessman and media magnate^[44]
• 1932 – Leroy Jenkins, American violinist and composer (d. 2007)^[90]
• 1932 – Nigel Lawson, English journalist and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 2023)^[91]
• 1934 – Sam Donaldson, American journalist^[92]
• 1936 – Antonin Scalia, American lawyer and jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (d. 2016)^[44]
• 1940 – Alberto Cortez, Argentinian-Spanish singer-songwriter (d. 2019)^[93]
• 1943 – Arturo Merzario, Italian race car driver^[94]
• 1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)^[95]
• 1945 – Harvey Mandel, American guitarist^[96]
• 1947 – Tristan Murail, French composer and educator^[97]
• 1948 – Roy Barnes, American politician, 80th Governor of Georgia^[98]
• 1950 – Bobby McFerrin, American singer-songwriter, producer, and conductor^[44]
• 1950 – Jerry Zucker, American director, producer, and screenwriter^[99]
• 1951 – Dominique Sanda, French model and actress^[100]
• 1952 – Douglas Adams, English author and playwright (d. 2001)^[101]
• 1953 – Derek Daly, Irish-American race car driver and sportscaster^[102]
• 1953 – Jimmy Iovine, American record producer and businessman, co-founded Beats Electronics^[103]
• 1953 – Bernie LaBarge, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist^[104]
• 1954 – David Newman, American composer and conductor^[105]
• 1954 – Gale Norton, American politician, 48th United States Secretary of the Interior^[106]
• 1955 – Leslie Cliff, Canadian swimmer^[107]
• 1955 – Nina Hagen, German singer-songwriter^[108]
• 1956 – Willie Banks, American triple jumper^[109]
• 1956 – Helen Rollason, English sports journalist and sportscaster (d. 1999)^[110]
• 1957 – Qasem Soleimani, Former Iranian commander of the Quds Force (d. 2020)^[111]
• 1958 – Anissa Jones, American child actress (d. 1976)^[112]
• 1959 – Nina Hartley, American pornographic actress/director, sex educator, sex-positive feminist, and author^[113]
• 1960 – Warwick Taylor, New Zealand rugby player^[114]
• 1961 – Elias Koteas, Canadian actor^[44]
• 1961 – Bruce Watson, Canadian-Scottish guitarist^[115]
• 1962 – Matt Mead, American politician, Governor of Wyoming^[116]
• 1963 – Gary Barnett, English footballer and manager^[117]
• 1963 – Alex Kingston, English actress^[44]
• 1963 – David LaChapelle, American photographer and director^[118]
• 1964 – Vinnie Paul, American drummer, songwriter and producer (d. 2018)^[119]
• 1964 – Shane Richie, English actor and singer^[120]
• 1965 – Nigel Adkins, English footballer and manager^[121]
• 1965 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American lawyer and politician^[122]
• 1965 – Jenny Packham, English fashion designer^[123]
• 1966 – John Thompson III, American basketball player and coach^[124]
• 1967 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor and singer^[44]
• 1967 – Brad Carson, American lawyer and politician^[125]
• 1968 – Lisa Loeb, American singer-songwriter^[126]
• 1969 – Terrence Howard, American actor and producer^[127]
• 1969 – Soraya, Colombian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2006)^[128]
• 1971 – Johnny Knoxville, American actor and entertainer^[129]
• 1974 – Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player^[130]
• 1976 – Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer^[131]
• 1977 – Becky Hammon, American-Russian basketball player and coach^[132]
• 1978 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer^[44]
• 1978 – Albert Luque, Spanish footballer^[133]
• 1979 – Elton Brand, American basketball player^[134]
• 1979 – Fred Jones, American basketball player^[135]
• 1979 – Benji Madden, American singer-songwriter and guitarist^[136]
• 1979 – Joel Madden, American singer-songwriter and producer^[136]
• 1980 – Dan Uggla, American baseball player^[137]
• 1981 – LeToya Luckett, American singer-songwriter and actress^[138]
• 1982 – Brian Anderson, American baseball player^[139]
• 1985 – Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player^[140]
• 1985 – Daniel Vázquez Evuy, Equatoguinean footballer^[141]
• 1985 – Cassandra Fairbanks, American journalist and activist^[142]
• 1985 – Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer^[143]
• 1985 – Greg Olsen, American football player and commentator^[144]
• 1985 – Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian footballer^[145]
• 1986 – Dario Cologna, Swiss skier^[146]
• 1987 – Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player^[147]
• 1987 – Tanel Kangert, Estonian cyclist^[148]
• 1987 – Ngonidzashe Makusha, Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper^[149]
• 1988 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer^[150]
• 1988 – Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (d. 2015)^[151]
• 1989 – Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (d. 2016)^[152]
• 1990 – Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player^[153]
• 1993 – Jodie Comer, British actress^[44]
• 1993 – Anthony Davis, American basketball player^[154]
• 1994 – Andrew Robertson, Scottish footballer^[155]

Deaths

Pre-1600

• 222 – Elagabalus, Roman emperor (b. 203)^[1]
• 638 – Sophronius of Jerusalem (b. 560)^[156]
• 1198 – Marie of France, Countess of Champagne (b. 1145)^[157]
• 1486 – Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1414)^[158]
• 1575 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian theologian and reformer (b. 1520)^[159]

1601–1900

• 1602 – Emilio de' Cavalieri, Italian organist and composer (b. 1550)^[160]
• 1607 – Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer and educator (b. 1543)^[161]
• 1665 – Clemente Tabone, Maltese landowner and militia member (b. c. 1575)^[162]
• 1722 – John Toland, Irish philosopher and theorist (b. 1670)^[163]
• 1759 – John Forbes, Scottish general (b. 1707)^[164]
• 1820 – Benjamin West, American-English painter and academic (b. 1738)^[165]
• 1851 – Marie-Louise Coidavid, Queen of Haiti (b. 1778)^[166]
• 1851 – George McDuffie, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of South Carolina (b. 1790)^[167]
• 1863 – Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (b. 1803)^[168]
• 1869 – Vladimir Odoyevsky, Russian philosopher and critic (b. 1803)^[169]
• 1870 – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho (b. 1786)^[170]
• 1874 – Charles Sumner, American lawyer and politician (b. 1811)^[171]
• 1898 – William Rosecrans, American general and politician (b. 1819)^[172]

1901–present

• 1907 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French lawyer and politician, 6th President of France (b. 1847)^[173]
• 1908 – Edmondo De Amicis, Italian journalist and author (b. 1846)^[174]
• 1908 – Benjamin Waugh, English minister and activist (b. 1839)^[175]
• 1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, English-Australian author (b. 1826)^[176]
• 1931 – F. W. Murnau, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1888)^[177]
• 1937 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American businessman, co-founded Texaco (b. 1860)^[178]
• 1944 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-American journalist and historian (b. 1882)^[179]
• 1944 – Edgar Zilsel, Austrian historian and philosopher of science, linked to the Vienna Circle (b. 1891)^[180]
• 1949 – Henri Giraud, French general and politician (b. 1879)^[181]
• 1952 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885)^[182]
• 1955 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish biologist, pharmacologist, and botanist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)^[183]
• 1955 – Oscar F. Mayer, German-American businessman, founded Oscar Mayer (b. 1859)^[184]
• 1956 – Aleksanteri Aava, Finnish poet (b. 1883)^[185]
• 1957 – Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (b. 1888)^[186]
• 1959 – Lester Dent, American author (b. 1904)^[187]
• 1960 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American paleontologist and explorer (b. 1884)^[188]
• 1967 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano and actress (b. 1882)^[189]
• 1969 – John Wyndham, English author (b. 1903)^[190]
• 1970 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American lawyer and author (b. 1889)^[191]
• 1971 – Philo Farnsworth, American inventor (b. 1906)^[192]
• 1971 – Whitney Young, American activist (b. 1921)^[193]
• 1982 – Edmund Cooper, English poet and author (b. 1926)^[194]
• 1982 – Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and academic (b. 1898)^[195]
• 1986 – Sonny Terry, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1911)^[196]
• 1989 – James Kee, American lawyer and politician (b. 1917)^[197]
• 1989 – John J. McCloy, American lawyer and diplomat (b. 1895)^[198]
• 1992 – Richard Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1912)^[199]
• 1995 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress and singer (b. 1945)^[200]
• 1996 – Vince Edwards, American actor and director (b. 1928)^[201]
• 1999 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist, and neurologist (b. 1906)^[202]
• 1999 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (b. 1922)^[203]
• 2002 – James Tobin, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)^[204]
• 2006 – Bernie Geoffrion, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1931)^[205]
• 2006 – Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1941)^[206]
• 2010 – Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1931)^[207]
• 2012 – James B. Morehead, American colonel and pilot (b. 1916)^[208]
• 2013 – Martin Adolf Bormann, German priest and theologian (b. 1930)^[209]
• 2013 – Simón Alberto Consalvi, Venezuelan journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela (b. 1927)^[210]
• 2014 – Dean Bailey, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1967)^[211]
• 2014 – Joel Brinkley, American journalist and academic (b. 1952)^[212]
• 2015 – Walter Burkert, German philologist and scholar (b. 1931)^[213]
• 2015 – Jimmy Greenspoon, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (b. 1948)^[214]
• 2016 – Iolanda Balaș, Romanian high jumper (b. 1936)^[215]
• 2016 – Doreen Massey, English geographer and political activist (b. 1944)^[216]
• 2018 – Ken Dodd, English comedian and singer (b. 1927)^[217]
• 2018 – Siegfried Rauch, German actor (b. 1932)^[218]
• 2018 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal (b. 1936)^[219]
• 2018 – Mary Rosenblum, American science fiction and mystery author (b. 1952)^[220]
• 2021 – Ray Campi, American singer and musician (b. 1934)^[221]
• 2021 – Takis Mousafiris, Greek composer and songwriter (b. 1936)^[222]
• 2022 – Rupiah Banda, President of Zambia (b. 1937)^[223]

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Alberta of Agen^[224]
  • Constantine^[225]
  • Óengus of Tallaght^[226]
  • Sophronius of Jerusalem^[227]
  • Vindicianus^[228]
• Day of Restoration of Independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 (Lithuania)^[229]
• Moshoeshoe Day (Lesotho)^[230]