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 77th day of the year 2024 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, 2024 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,710,633,600 seconds 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 ‘heptacontaheptagon’ 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 318 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 4,104 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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March 17 Historical Events
- 180 –Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
- 1337 –Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
- 1780 –American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence”.
- 1947 –First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
- 1966 –Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the Ship DSV submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
- 1973 –The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.
- 1979 –The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
- 1988 –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.
- 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.
- 2003 –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.
Who were born on March 17?
- 1880 –Lawrence Oates, English army officer and Antarctic explorer (d. 1912)
- 1930 –James Irwin, American astronaut (d. 1991)
- 1939 –Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
- 1945 –Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
- 1949 –Patrick Duffy, American actor
- 1962 –Clare Grogan, Scottish actress-singer
- 1964 –Rob Lowe, American actor
- 1978 –Adam Jennings, British actor, producer and director
- 1983 –Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
- 1985 –Vassiliki Arvaniti, Greek beach volleyball player
Who died on March 17?
- 460 –Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland (b. 387)
- 1516 –Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1478)
- 1875 –Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist (b. 1832)
- 1937 –Austen Chamberlain, English statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1863)
- 1988 –Nikolas Asimos, Greek counter-culture composer and singer (b. 1949)
- 1994 –Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (b. 1925)
- 1995 –Rick Aviles, American actor (b. 1952)
- 1999 –Rod Hull, British comedian (b. 1936)
- 2006 –Bob Blue, American singer/songwriter (b. 1948)
- 2006 –Oleg Cassini, American fashion designer (b. 1913)
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