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 76^th day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 289 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is March 4, 2025 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 483,936 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.

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 337 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 4,469 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

March 17 Historical Events

• 180 –
  Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
• 624 –
  Led by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
• 1939 –
  Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins,
• 1957 –
  A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
• 1969 –
  Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1973 –
  The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.
• 1985 –
  Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the “Night Stalker”, commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree.
• 1988 –
  A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
• 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.
• 2008 –
  Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer resigns after a scandal involving a high-end prostitute. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becomes New York State governor.

Who were born on March 17?

• 1907 –
  Sonny Werblin, American football franchise owner (d. 1991)
• 1930 –
  Paul Horn, American jazz flutist
• 1939 –
  Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
• 1955 –
  Gary Sinise, American actor
• 1961 –
  Marcus Dillistone, Royal premiered and award-winning British film director.
• 1973 –
  Jerome Woods, American football player
• 1976 –
  Scott Downs, American baseball player
• 1979 –
  Sharman Joshi, Indian actor
• 1982 –
  Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
• 1987 –
  Ryan Parent, Canadian hockey player

Who died on March 17?

• 45 BC –
  Titus Labienus, Roman leader
• 1040 –
  Harold Harefoot, King of England
• 1058 –
  King Lulach I of Scotland (b. 1030)
• 1680 –
  François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (b. 1613)
• 1715 –
  Gilbert Burnet, Scottish Bishop of Salisbury (b. 1643)
• 1849 –
  William II of the Netherlands (b. 1792)
• 1949 –
  Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (b. 1882)
• 1981 –
  Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
• 1990 –
  Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
• 2006 –
  Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (b. 1955)