What are the important events that happened on March 17? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
March 17: Facts & Myths About This Day
March 17 is the 76th day of the year 2013 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 289 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is March 4, 2013 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 378,744 hours has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘heptacontahexagon’ day.
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Pisces is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Aquamarine is the modern birthstone for this month. Jade is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 320 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 86 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
Out of the blue someone is thinking of you today. If that special someone wants to buy a gift for you, which one will you choose: mini laptops, boat tours or exercise machines?
March 17 Historical Events
- 45 BC –In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
- 180 –Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
- 1861 –The Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) is proclaimed.
- 1941 –In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1942 –Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
- 1947 –First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
- 1959 –Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
- 1985 –Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree.
- 1992 –A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
- 2000 –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.
Who were born on March 17?
- 1676 –Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
- 1787 –Edmund Kean, English actor (d. 1833)
- 1881 –Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
- 1908 –Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
- 1938 –Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
- 1951 –Kurt Russell, American actor
- 1953 –Chuck Muncie, American football running back
- 1976 –Stephen Gately, Irish singer, musician, and actor (Boyzone) (d. 2009)
- 1982 –Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
- 1987 –Ryan Parent, Canadian hockey player
Who died on March 17?
- 1516 –Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1478)
- 1782 –Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born mathematician (b. 1700)
- 1830 –Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (b. 1764)
- 1917 –Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
- 1946 –Dai Li, Chinese spymaster (b. 1897)
- 1999 –Rod Hull, British comedian (b. 1936)
- 2002 –Pat Weaver, American broadcast executive (b. 1908)
- 2002 –Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (b. 1911)
- 2002 –Van Tien Dung, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1917)
- 2011 –Michael Gough, British actor (b. 1916)
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