History of Today in India – 16 March

Explore the history of today 16 March in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 16 March 2026, 04:22 AM

📜 Important Events on 16 March in World History

16 Mar 2025: A fire breaks out in a nightclub in Kočani, North Macedonia, killing at least 59 people and injuring 155 others. Read more
16 Mar 2022: A 7.4-magnitude earthquake occurs off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, killing 4 people and injuring 225. Read more
16 Mar 2022: Mariupol theatre airstrike during the siege of Mariupol. Read more
16 Mar 2021: Atlanta spa shootings: Eight people are killed and one is injured in a trio of shootings at spas in and near Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. A suspect is arrested the same day. Read more
16 Mar 2020: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93%, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929). This follows the U.S. Federal Reserve announcing that it will cut its target interest rate to 0–0.25%. Read more
16 Mar 2016: A bomb detonates in a bus carrying government employees in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing 15 and injuring at least 30. Read more
16 Mar 2016: Two suicide bombers detonate their explosives at a mosque during morning prayer on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 24 and injuring 18. Read more
16 Mar 2014: Crimea votes in a controversial referendum to secede from Ukraine to join Russia. Read more
16 Mar 2012: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batter in history to score 100 centuries in international cricket. Read more
16 Mar 2010: The Kasubi Tombs, Uganda's only cultural World Heritage Site, are destroyed in a fire. Read more
16 Mar 2005: Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control. Read more
16 Mar 2003: American activist Rachel Corrie is killed in Rafah by being run over by an Israel Defense Forces bulldozer while trying to obstruct the demolition of a home. Read more
16 Mar 2002: Sofia Gubaidulina's Johannes-Ostern is premiered, together with her earlier Johannes-Passion, at Hamburg's Michaeliskirche, performed by soloists, choir and orchestra from the Mariinsky Theatre combined with NDR choir and orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Read more
16 Mar 2001: A series of bomb blasts in the city of Shijiazhuang, China kill 108 people and injure 38 others, the biggest mass murder in China in decades. Read more
16 Mar 1995: Mississippi formally ratifies the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified in 1865. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people. Read more
16 Mar 1988: The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three persons, one of them a member of PIRA, are killed, and more than 60 others are wounded. Read more
16 Mar 1985: Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut; he is not released until December 1991. Read more
16 Mar 1984: William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Lebanon, is kidnapped by Hezbollah; he later dies in captivity. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Sino-Vietnamese War: The People's Liberation Army crosses the border back into China, ending the war. Read more
16 Mar 1978: Former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped; he is later murdered by his captors. Read more
16 Mar 1978: A Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Tupolev Tu-134 crashes near Gabare, Bulgaria, killing 73. Read more
16 Mar 1978: Supertanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two after running aground on the Portsall Rocks, three miles off the coast of Brittany, resulting in the largest oil spill in history at that time. Read more
16 Mar 1977: Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War. Read more
16 Mar 1969: A Viasa McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing 155. Read more
16 Mar 1968: Vietnam War: My Lai massacre occurs; between 347 and 500 Vietnamese villagers are killed by American troops. Read more
16 Mar 1966: Launch of Gemini 8 with astronauts Neil Armstrong and David Scott. It would perform the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit. Read more
16 Mar 1962: Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 disappears in the western Pacific Ocean with all 107 aboard missing and presumed dead. Read more
16 Mar 1945: World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends, but small pockets of Japanese resistance persist. Read more
16 Mar 1945: Ninety percent of Würzburg, Germany is destroyed in only 20 minutes by British bombers, resulting in at least 4,000 deaths. Read more
16 Mar 1941: Operation Appearance takes place to re-establish British Somaliland. Read more
16 Mar 1939: From Prague Castle, Hitler proclaims Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate. Read more
16 Mar 1936: Warmer-than-normal temperatures rapidly melt snow and ice on the upper Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, leading to a major flood in Pittsburgh. Read more
16 Mar 1935: Adolf Hitler orders Germany to rearm itself in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Conscription is reintroduced to form the Wehrmacht. Read more
16 Mar 1926: History of rocketry: Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, at Auburn, Massachusetts. Read more
16 Mar 1925: An earthquake (measuring around 7.0 magnitude) occurs in Dali, China, killing an estimated 5,000 people. Read more
16 Mar 1924: In accordance with the Treaty of Rome, Fiume becomes annexed as part of Italy. Read more
16 Mar 1918: Finnish Civil War: Battle of Länkipohja is infamous for its bloody aftermath as the Whites execute 70–100 capitulated Reds. Read more
16 Mar 1916: The 7th and 10th US cavalry regiments under John J. Pershing cross the US–Mexico border to join the hunt for Pancho Villa. Read more
16 Mar 1898: In Melbourne, the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.[page needed] Read more
16 Mar 1872: The Wanderers F.C. win the first FA Cup, the oldest football competition in the world, beating Royal Engineers A.F.C. 1–0 at The Oval in Kennington, London. Read more
16 Mar 1815: Prince Willem proclaims himself King of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the first constitutional monarch in the Netherlands. Read more
16 Mar 1802: The Army Corps of Engineers is established to found and operate the United States Military Academy at West Point. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 16 March in World History

16 Mar 2001: Kyle Hamilton, American football player Kyle Devin Hamilton is an American professional football safety for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning consensus All-American honors in 2021 before being selected by the Ravens in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft. Read more
16 Mar 2000: Jalen Smith, American basketball player Jalen Rasheed Smith is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Stix", he played college basketball for the Maryland Terrapins. Read more
16 Mar 1999: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Canadian baseball player Vladimir Guerrero Ramos is a Dominican-Canadian professional baseball first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019 and bats and throws right-handed. Guerrero is the son of Baseball Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Sr. Read more
16 Mar 1997: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, English footballer Dominic Nathaniel Calvert-Lewin is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Leeds United. Read more
16 Mar 1997: Florian Neuhaus, German footballer Florian Christian Neuhaus is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach. Read more
16 Mar 1997: Tyrel Jackson Williams, American actor Tyrel Jackson Williams, also known under the stage name theMetroNorth, is an American actor, rapper, singer and record producer. He starred as Leo Dooley in the Disney XD series Lab Rats. Williams also co-starred in the 2014 Disney XD television film Pants on Fire. From 2017 to 2020, he co-starred in the comedy series Brockmire. Read more
16 Mar 1996: Ajiona Alexus, American actress and singer Ajiona Alexus Brown is an American actress and singer. She began her career starring in the TV One sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show (2012–2014), and later played Teenage Cookie Lyon in the Fox musical drama series, Empire (2016–2019). She starred in the Netflix teen drama series, 13 Reasons Why (2017–2018), the Hulu supernatural thriller, Light as a Feather (2018–2019), and the starz crime drama, BMF (2021). Alexus also starred in films Something Like Summer (2017), Acrimony (2018),Breaking In (2018), Mary J. Blige's Real Love and Strength of a Woman (2023) Read more
16 Mar 1996: Ivan Toney, English footballer Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the England national team. Read more
16 Mar 1995: Inga Janulevičiūtė, Lithuanian figure skater Inga Janulevičiūtė is a Lithuanian figure skater. She is the 2014 Lithuanian national champion. Read more
16 Mar 1994: Camilo, Colombian singer Camilo Echeverri Correa, known mononymously as Camilo, is a Colombian singer, musician and songwriter. Born in Medellín, Antioquia, his accolades include six Latin Grammy Awards and three Grammy Award nominations. Read more
16 Mar 1994: Joel Embiid, Cameroonian basketball player Joel Hans Embiid is a Cameroonian and American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks, he was drafted third overall by the 76ers in the 2014 NBA draft. The 7-foot (2.13 m) Embiid is a seven-time NBA All-Star, a five-time member of the All-NBA Team, a three-time member of the All-Defensive Team, and a two-time NBA scoring champion. He was named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2023. Embiid also won a gold medal on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team. Read more
16 Mar 1994: Sierra McClain, American actress Sierra Aylina McClain is an American actress and singer. As an actress, she was first recognized for her role as Sierra in Daddy's Little Girls (2007). She had her breakthrough as Nessa Parker in Empire (2016–2018), and is also best known for starring as Tanya Clifton in the television series Mindhunter (2019), and as Grace Ryder in 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020–2023). Her film roles have included starring as Tosha in the film Honey: Rise Up and Dance (2018), and as Carina in Shrink (2009). Read more
16 Mar 1993: George Ford, English rugby union player George Thomas Ford is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks and the England national team. Read more
16 Mar 1993: Marine Lorphelin, French model and beauty queen, Miss France 2013 Marine Lorphelin is a French model, beauty pageant titleholder and General practitioner who was crowned Miss France 2013 on 8 December 2012, representing the region of Burgundy and then represented France at Miss World 2013 and placed 1st runner up. Read more
16 Mar 1992: Tim Hardaway Jr., American basketball player Timothy Duane Hardaway Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and declared for the NBA draft after his junior season for the national runner-up 2012–13 team. Hardaway was selected as the 24th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He has had two stints with the Knicks and has also played for the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, and Detroit Pistons. He is the son of Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway. He holds several Mavericks three point shooting records as well as the Pistons’ single-playoff game made three point shots record. Read more
16 Mar 1992: Brett Davern, American actor Brett Davern is an American actor known for his role as Jake Rosati on the MTV series Awkward. Read more
16 Mar 1991: Chris Boswell, American football player Christopher Lynn Boswell is an American professional football placekicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Rice Owls and was signed by the Houston Texans in 2014 as an undrafted free agent and has also spent time with the New York Giants. Boswell is currently the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history on field goal attempts of 50 yards or more. Read more
16 Mar 1991: Reggie Bullock, American basketball player Reginald Ryedell Bullock Jr. is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels before being selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft with the 25th overall pick. Bullock has also played for the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks. Read more
16 Mar 1991: Admir Mehmedi, Swiss footballer Admir Mehmedi is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a second striker or centre forward. Born in North Macedonia, Mehmedi represented the Switzerland national team. He was most recently the sporting director of FC Schaffhausen. Read more
16 Mar 1991: Wolfgang Van Halen, American bassist Wolfgang William Van Halen is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. The son of actress Valerie Bertinelli and guitarist Eddie Van Halen, he performed alongside his father and his uncle Alex as the bassist for Van Halen from 2007 to 2020. He also performed with the heavy metal band Tremonti from 2012 to 2016. After his father died in 2020, which led to the disbanding of Van Halen, he began to focus on his solo project Mammoth, in which he performs all instruments and vocals. His debut album Mammoth WVH was released in 2021, and his second album Mammoth II was released in 2023. Read more
16 Mar 1990: Josh Johnson, American comedian and writer Josh Johnson is an American stand-up comedian and writer. He is best known for his work on The Daily Show, having first joined as a staff writer in 2017. Johnson became a correspondent in February 2024, and was later promoted to the weekly rotation of hosts in July 2025. His self-released frequent YouTube sets have been released over the 2020s. He was also previously a writer and performer on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He toured with Trevor Noah on his Loud & Clear tour for several years. In 2018, he was named New York's Funniest Stand Up at the New York Comedy Festival. He has released two hour-long comedy specials, # (Hashtag) (2021) and Up Here Killing Myself (2023). Read more
16 Mar 1990: Andre Young, American basketball player Andre Young is an American former professional basketball player. Standing at 5 ft 9 in, Young played the point guard or shooting guard position. He played four years of collegiate basketball with Clemson followed by three seasons of playing professionally in multiple countries in Europe. Read more
16 Mar 1989: Blake Griffin, American basketball player Blake Austin Griffin is an American former professional basketball player. Griffin primarily played with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners, where he was named the consensus national college player of the year as a sophomore. Griffin was selected first overall by the Clippers in the 2009 NBA draft, and was a six-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection. In January 2018, Griffin was traded to the Detroit Pistons and played for them until 2021. In March 2021, Griffin signed with the Brooklyn Nets. In September 2022, Griffin signed with the Boston Celtics, whom he stayed with until his retirement in 2023. Read more
16 Mar 1989: Jung So-min, South Korean actress Kim Yoon-ji, known professionally as Jung So-min (정소민), is a South Korean actress. Jung made her screen debut in 2010 with a supporting role in the television series Bad Guy. She then got her first leading role that same year in the romantic comedy television series Playful Kiss. She is known for her leading roles in the television series Because This Is My First Life (2017), Alchemy of Souls (2022), Love Next Door (2024), and Would You Marry Me? (2025), as well as the film Love Reset (2023). Read more
16 Mar 1989: Magalie Pottier, French racing cyclist Magalie Pottier is a French racing cyclist who represents France in BMX. She was selected to represent France at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's BMX event and finished in seventh place. Read more
16 Mar 1989: Theo Walcott, English footballer Theo James Walcott is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger and a striker. He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and won 47 caps, scoring eight goals. Walcott currently appears as a club ambassador for Arsenal and as a contributor for Sky Sports. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Jhené Aiko, American singer-songwriter and rapper Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo is an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Aiko embarked on her musical career in 2002, as a backing vocalist and music video performer for the R&B group B2K. She was signed by their record label, The Ultimate Group that same year and was marketed as the "cousin" of B2K member Lil' Fizz to cultivate her own following, although they are not related. Her debut album, slated for a 2003 release through the label with Epic Records, was shelved due to Aiko instead further pursuing her education. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Jessica Gregg, Canadian speed skater Jessica Gregg is a former Canadian short track speed skater. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Patrick Herrmann, German footballer Patrick Herrmann is a German professional former footballer. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Agustín Marchesín, Argentinian footballer Agustín Federico Marchesín is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Jiří Tlustý, Czech ice hockey player Jiří Tlustý is a Czech former professional ice hockey left winger. He was originally a first-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, and split time between the Maple Leafs and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League (AHL) until he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in December 2009. Tlustý was also drafted by Atlant Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on 1 June 2009, 43rd overall. Read more
16 Mar 1987: Fabien Lemoine, French football player Fabien Lemoine is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Across his career, he played for Rennes, Saint-Étienne, Lorient, and Versailles. Read more
16 Mar 1986: Alexandra Daddario, American actress Alexandra Anna Daddario is an American actress. She had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and its sequel (2013). She has since starred in Hall Pass (2011), Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013), San Andreas (2015), Baywatch (2017), and We Summon the Darkness (2019). Read more
16 Mar 1986: Toney Douglas, American basketball player Toney Bernard Douglas is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers, and the Florida State Seminoles. Douglas was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2009 NBA draft with the 29th overall pick, but was immediately traded to the New York Knicks. He played for the Knicks, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors before being traded to the Miami Heat in 2014. After spending the 2014–15 season in China with the Jiangsu Dragons, he returned to the NBA in 2015, joining the New Orleans Pelicans. Read more
16 Mar 1986: Kenny Dykstra, American wrestler Kenneth George Doane is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a producer, and as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. During his past time in WWE, he was known as Kenny Dykstra, and Kenny as a member of The Spirit Squad. Outside of WWE, his most significant appearance in a major promotion was for Major League Wrestling (MLW) in a tag team with Squad member Mike Mondo during 2019. Read more
16 Mar 1986: T. J. Jordan, American basketball player Taurean Yves Jordan is a women's basketball player who played collegiately for Old Dominion University. She holds several ODU scoring records, and was regarded as one of the best players in the Colonial Athletic Association. Read more
16 Mar 1986: Boaz Solossa, Indonesian footballer Boaz Theofilus Erwin Solossa is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga 2 club Persipura Jayapura. He is considered to be one of the greatest Indonesian players of all time. Read more
16 Mar 1986: Daisuke Takahashi, Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi is a Japanese figure skater, ice show producer and actor. As a singles skater, he is the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2010 World champion, the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final champion, a two-time Four Continents champion, and a five-time Japanese national champion. Read more
16 Mar 1985: Teddy Atine-Venel, French athlete Teddy Atine-Venel is a French athlete who specialises in the 400 meters. He represented his country at the 2008 Summer Olympics as well as three outdoor and one indoor World Championships. Read more
16 Mar 1985: Eddy Lover, Panamanian singer-songwriter Eduardo Mosquera, better known by his stage name Eddy Lover, is a Panamanian reggaeton and Spanish reggae singer and songwriter. Lover rose to international fame with his guest appearance on La Factoría's 2006 smash hit "Perdóname". Read more
16 Mar 1985: Aleksei Sokirskiy, Russian hammer thrower Aleksey Nikolaevich Sokirskiy is a Ukrainian and Russian hammer thrower. His personal best is 76.96, achieved 19 June 2011 in Stockholm. He became a Russian citizen in 2015. Read more
16 Mar 1984: Aisling Bea, Irish comedienne and actress Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan, known professionally as Aisling Bea, is an Irish comedian, actress and screenwriter. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series This Way Up on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she won the So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012, being only the second woman to win the award in its then-25-year history. She also appears regularly on light entertainment comedy panel shows such as QI and 8 Out of 10 Cats and was a contestant on comedy game show Taskmaster. Read more
16 Mar 1984: Levi Brown, American football player Levi James Brown III is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals fifth overall in the 2007 NFL draft. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Read more
16 Mar 1984: Sharon Cherop, Kenyan long-distance runner Sharon Jemutai Cherop is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won a bronze medal at the age of sixteen in the 5000 metres at the World Junior Championships. She was the bronze medal winner in the marathon at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and won the Boston Marathon in 2012. Read more
16 Mar 1984: Hosea Gear, New Zealand rugby player Hosea Emiliano Gear is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played as a wing. He has also played 14 international matches for New Zealand. Read more
16 Mar 1984: Brandon Prust, Canadian ice hockey player Brandon Raymond James Prust is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger. He was selected in the third round, 70th overall, by the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 2004 NHL entry draft. Prust also played for the Phoenix Coyotes, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks, most notably in the role as an enforcer. Read more
16 Mar 1983: Stephen Drew, American baseball player Stephen Oris Drew is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Washington Nationals. His two brothers, outfielder J.D. and pitcher Tim, also played in MLB. Read more
16 Mar 1983: Brandon League, American baseball player Brandon Paul League is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, and Los Angeles Dodgers. He is a former closer and one-time All-Star. Read more
16 Mar 1983: Nicolas Rousseau, French road bicycle racer Nicolas Rousseau is a French professional road bicycle racer for St. Michel–Preference Home–Auber93. He won stage 3 of the 2010 La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. Read more
16 Mar 1983: Tramon Williams, American football player Tramon Vernell Williams Sr. is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, and was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Williams spent much of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, playing with them from 2006 to 2014, and again in the 2018, 2019, and 2020 seasons. He was also a member of the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, and Baltimore Ravens. Read more
16 Mar 1982: Julia Letlow, American politician Julia Janelle Letlow is an American politician and academic administrator serving as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 5th congressional district since 2021. Letlow is the first Republican woman to represent Louisiana in the House. Read more
16 Mar 1982: Miguel Comminges, Guadeloupean footballer Miguel Gregory Comminges is a Guadeloupean former professional footballer. Having spent his career in France, England, Wales, and the United States, he played for the Guadeloupe national team. A versatile player, he played on either side of defence, as well as in midfield. Read more
16 Mar 1982: Riley Cote, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Riley D. Cote is a former Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and formerly an assistant coach with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League (AHL). He played four National Hockey League (NHL) seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and was mainly known as an enforcer. He currently co-hosts the Nasty Knuckles podcast. Read more
16 Mar 1982: Jesús Del Nero, Spanish road bicycle racer Jesús del Nero Montes is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for the UCI Professional Continental Team NetApp. Del Nero turned professional with the Basque continental team Orbea in 2005 before moving to new UCI Professional Continental team 3 Molinos Resort in 2006. When 3 Molinos folded at the end of 2006, Del Nero moved to Saunier Duval, which subsequently became Fuji-Servetto. Del Nero's best results to date are third in the 2005 Euskal Bizikleta and eleventh in the 2007 Tour of Flanders. Read more
16 Mar 1982: Brian Wilson, American baseball player Brian Patrick Wilson, nicknamed "the Beard" and "B-Weezy", is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. He stands 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighs 205 pounds (93 kg). Wilson is known for his large black beard, which he began growing during the 2010 pennant race. Wilson's entrance at home games accompanied by the song "Jump Around" was popular with fans. Read more
16 Mar 1981: Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer Andrew Patrick Bree is a breaststroke swimmer from Helen's Bay, County Down, Northern Ireland. He is a two-time Olympian, having swum at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics for Ireland. He also represented Northern Ireland four times at the Commonwealths and placed fifth twice in the 200m breaststroke. Andrew attended the University of Tennessee. Read more
16 Mar 1981: Danny Brown, American rapper Daniel Dewan Sewell, better known by his stage name Danny Brown, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and podcaster. Read more
16 Mar 1981: Curtis Granderson, American baseball player Curtis Granderson Jr., nicknamed "the Grandyman", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, and Miami Marlins. Read more
16 Mar 1981: Julien Mazet, French road bicycle racer Julien Mazet is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Read more
16 Mar 1981: Fabiana Murer, Brazilian pole vaulter Fabiana de Almeida Murer is a retired Brazilian pole vaulter. She holds the South American record in the event with an indoor best of 4.82 m and an outdoor best of 4.87 m, making her the fourth highest vaulter ever at the time, now the eighth. She won gold medals at the 2011 World Championships, 2010 World Indoor Championships, and 2007 Pan American Games. Murer represented Brazil at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. She is a four-time South American Champion with wins in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011. Murer was coached by both the Ukrainian Vitaly Petrov, who managed the world record holders Sergei Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva, and her husband, Élson Miranda de Souza, a former pole vaulter himself. Read more
16 Mar 1980: Todd Heap, American football player Todd Benjamin Heap is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Baltimore Ravens. He was selected to the Pro Bowl twice with the Ravens, earning second-team All-Pro honors in 2003. Read more
16 Mar 1980: Felipe Reyes, Spanish basketball player Felipe Reyes Cabanás is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He represented the senior Spain national team. Standing at a height of 2.06 m, and weighing 120 kg (260 lb), he plays at the power forward and center positions. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Tyler Arnason, American ice hockey player Tyler Lawrence Arnason is an American former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and the Colorado Avalanche. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Hee-seop Choi, South Korean baseball player Hee-seop Choi is a South Korean former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, and Los Angeles Dodgers and in the KBO League for the Kia Tigers. He was the first Korean-born position player to play in the major leagues. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Christina Liebherr, Swiss equestrian Christina Liebherr is a Swiss equestrian who competes in the sport of show jumping. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Rashad Moore, American football player Glenn Rashad Moore is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Sébastien Ostertag, French handball player Sébastien Ostertag is a French team handball player. He played on the France men's national handball team which won gold medals at the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship in Croatia and at the 2010 European Championship in Austria. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Leena Peisa, Finnish keyboard player and songwriter Leena Maria "Awa" Peisa is a Finnish keyboard player. Her former bands include Lordi, Punaiset Messiaat and Dolchamar. Currently, she plays in Lordi's ex-drummer's Kita's band "Sampsa Astala & Qma". Read more
16 Mar 1979: Andrei Stepanov, Estonian footballer Andrei Stepanov is an Estonian former professional footballer. He played the position of defender. Read more
16 Mar 1978: Brooke Burns, American fashion model, television personality, and actress Brooke Elizabeth Burns is an American actress, fashion model, game show host, and television personality. Burns began her television career in 1995, portraying the supporting character Peg in the Spanish-American teen sitcom Out of the Blue (1995–1996), appearing in all episodes. Burns joined the cast of the action drama series Baywatch in 1998 and subsequently starred in Baywatch's second rendition, Baywatch: Hawaii, until she left the show owing to her first pregnancy. She appeared in 33 episodes. Read more
16 Mar 1978: Annett Renneberg, German actress and singer Annett Renneberg (born 16 March 1978 in Rudolstadt) is a German actress and singer. Read more
16 Mar 1977: Mónica Cruz, Spanish actress and dancer Mónica Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress and dancer. She is the younger sister of actress Penélope Cruz. She has appeared in the films The Inquiry (2006), Last Hour (2008), Jerry Cotton (2010) and Iron Cross (2011). Read more
16 Mar 1977: Thomas Rupprath, German swimmer Thomas Rupprath is an Olympic swimmer from Germany, who is nicknamed "The New Albatross". Read more
16 Mar 1976: Blu Cantrell, American singer-songwriter and producer Tiffany Cobb, known professionally as Blu Cantrell, is an American R&B singer. Read more
16 Mar 1976: Zhu Chen, Qatari chess Grandmaster Zhu Chen is a Chinese and Qatari chess grandmaster. In 1999, she became China's second women's world chess champion after Xie Jun, and China's 13th Grandmaster. In 2006, she obtained Qatari citizenship and since then has played for Qatar. Read more
16 Mar 1976: Kim Johnsson, Swedish ice hockey player Kim Emil Jörgen Johnsson is a Swedish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks. He played six seasons for the Malmö Redhawks in the Swedish Elitserien prior to his NHL career. Read more
16 Mar 1976: Leila Lejeune, French handballer Leila Lejeune is a French former handballer who played for the French national team. She is a world champion from 2003. She also represented France at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Lejeune scored six goals in the match against Hungary. Read more
16 Mar 1976: Susanne Ljungskog, Swedish cyclist Susanne Ljungskog is a Swedish former cyclist. As a four-time Olympian, she won the world road race championship in 2002 and 2003. The same years, she was UCI points champion. She has also won two World Cup races. Read more
16 Mar 1976: Abraham Núñez, Dominican baseball player Abraham Orlando Núñez Adames [NOO-nyez] is a Dominican former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1997 to 2008 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, and New York Mets. Núñez primarily played third base, but was capable of playing all four infield positions. Read more
16 Mar 1975: Luciano Castro, Argentine actor Luciano Daniel Castro is an Argentine actor. He has worked as the lead actor in several successful telenovelas, such as Valientes, Herederos de una venganza and Sos mi hombre. Read more
16 Mar 1975: Sienna Guillory, English model and actress Sienna Tiggy Guillory is an English actress and former model. She portrayed Jill Valentine in several entries of the Resident Evil action-horror film series. Other prominent roles include elf princess Arya Dröttningu in the fantasy-adventure film Eragon, and the title role in the TV miniseries Helen of Troy. She has appeared in TV shows including Fortitude, Stan Lee's Lucky Man, and Luther. Read more
16 Mar 1975: Lionel Torres, French archer Lionel Torres is a French athlete from Perpignan who competes in recurve archery. He competed at the 2000 Olympic Games, qualifying in 11th place but losing in the first knockout round, and has won two individual medals at the World Archery Championships and was the world number one archer from May 2002 to February 2003. Read more
16 Mar 1974: Georgios Anatolakis, Greek footballer and politician Georgios Anatolakis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is well known in Greece for his strength, passion and persistence. A strong aerial challenger, he also advances on set pieces to find himself scoring on several occasions. He most notably scored the winning goal for Olympiacos' first match in the renovated Georgios Karaiskakis. Read more
16 Mar 1974: Anne Charrier, French actress Anne Charrier is a French actress, who is credited with 7 films and 22 TV productions between 2000 and 2009. Read more
16 Mar 1974: Heath Streak, Zimbabwean cricketer (died 2023) Heath Hilton Streak was a Zimbabwean cricketer and cricket coach who played for and captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was the all time leading wicket taker for Zimbabwe in Test cricket with 216 wickets and in ODI cricket with 239 wickets. Read more
16 Mar 1973: Tim Kang, American actor Yila Timothy Kang is an American actor. He is known for his role as Kimball Cho in the television series The Mentalist and Gordon Katsumoto in the reboot series Magnum P.I. Read more
16 Mar 1973: Andrey Mizurov, Kazakhstani road bicycle racer Andrey Mizurov is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer. Read more
16 Mar 1973: Vonda Ward, American boxer Vonda Ward is an American former professional boxer and NCAA basketball player. As a boxer, she competed from 2000 to 2008 and held multiple heavyweight world championships, including the WBC title in 2007. She also challenged Ann Wolfe for the WIBA and IBA female light heavyweight titles in 2004, in which she suffered her only defeat, losing by knockout in the first round. Read more
16 Mar 1972: Ismaïl Sghyr, French-Moroccan long-distance runner Ismaïl Sghyr is a French-Moroccan long-distance runner. He won a bronze medal at the over 3000 metres at the 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In 5000 metres he finished fourth at the World Championships the same year, as well as winning a bronze medal at the 2002 European Championships. Over 10,000 metres he won at the 1997 Mediterranean Games. Read more
16 Mar 1971: Greg Johnson, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2019) Gregory James Johnson was a Canadian professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Nashville Predators. Read more
16 Mar 1971: Alan Tudyk, American actor Alan Wray Tudyk is an American actor. His film work includes roles in 28 Days (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and Trumbo (2015). He starred in the black comedy horror film Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010). Read more
16 Mar 1970: Joakim Berg, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist Herbert Joakim "Jocke" Berg is a Swedish singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Kent. Read more
16 Mar 1969: Judah Friedlander, American comedian and actor Judah Friedlander is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for playing the role of writer Frank Rossitano on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. Friedlander is also known for his role as Toby Radloff in the film American Splendor, a role that garnered him favorable reviews and a nomination for best supporting actor at the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards. Earlier in his career, he was recognized as "the hug guy" from the music video for the 2001 Dave Matthews Band single "Everyday". Read more
16 Mar 1969: Ottis Gibson, Barbadian cricketer and coach Ottis Delroy Gibson is a cricket coach and former cricketer from Barbados, who played for the West Indies. From 2010 to 2014, Gibson was the head coach for the West Indies, where he led the team to be champions of the 2012 T20 World Cup. He has been appointed as Bangladesh bowling head coach and previously twice worked as bowling coach for England, from 2007 to 2010 and again from 2015 to 2017. Gibson also coached the South African cricket team from 2017 to 2019. He was the pace bowling coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team and Multan Sultans. In January 2022 Gibson was appointed the head coach of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, he is set to join the team after the conclusion of the 2022 Pakistan Super League season. Read more
16 Mar 1969: Alina Ivanova, Russian athlete Alina Petrovna Ivanova is a retired Russian long-distance athlete who had been competing in race walking and road running. She is best known for winning the gold medal in the women's 10 km walk at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She represented the Unified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Read more
16 Mar 1969: Evangelos Koronios, Greek basketball player and coach Evangelos Koronios, most commonly known as Angelos Koronios, is a Greek former professional basketball player and coach. Read more
16 Mar 1967: Tracy Bonham, American singer and violinist Tracy Kristin Bonham is an American alternative rock musician. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, she is a classically trained violinist and pianist, and a self-taught guitarist. Read more
16 Mar 1967: John Darnielle, American musician and novelist John Darnielle is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary, and originally sole, member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He has written three novels: Wolf in White Van (2014), Universal Harvester (2017), and Devil House (2022). Read more
16 Mar 1967: Lauren Graham, American actress and producer Lauren Graham is an American actress and author. She is best known as Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, and Sarah Braverman on Parenthood (2010–15). She also appeared in the films Sweet November (2001), Bad Santa (2003), The Pacifier (2005), Because I Said So (2007), Evan Almighty (2007), and Max (2015). In 2013, Graham published her debut novel with Ballantine Books, Someday, Someday, Maybe. In 2016, Graham reprised her role on a Gilmore Girls Netflix revival miniseries A Year in the Life and published a memoir, Talking as Fast as I Can. Read more
16 Mar 1967: Ronnie McCoury, American bluegrass mandolin player, singer and songwriter Ronald Delano McCoury, known as Ronnie McCoury, is an American mandolin player, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band
and the Travelin' McCourys. Read more
16 Mar 1967: Heidi Zurbriggen, Swiss alpine skier Heidi Andenmatten-Zurbriggen is a Swiss former alpine skier. She is the sister of Pirmin Zurbriggen, an aunt of Elia Zurbriggen and cousin of Silvan Zurbriggen. She won 3 Downhill races on the World Cup tour. She competed at the 1992, 1994 and the 1998 Winter Olympics. Read more
16 Mar 1966: H.P. Baxxter, German musician Hans Peter Geerdes, professionally known by his stage name H. P. Baxxter, and sometimes by his nickname Dave, is a German musician best known as the lead vocalist of the German techno band Scooter. He founded Scooter with his friend Rick J. Jordan in 1993. Read more
16 Mar 1966: Chrissy Redden, Canadian cross-country cyclist Chrissy Redden is a Canadian cross-country cyclist. Read more
16 Mar 1965: Steve Armstrong, American wrestler Steven James, better known by his ring name Steve Armstrong, is an American professional wrestler. He is the son of fellow wrestler "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, and has three brothers who also wrestled: Scott, Brad, and Brian. Read more
16 Mar 1965: Sergei Bazarevich, Russian basketball player and coach Sergei Valerianovich Bazarevich is a Russian basketball coach and former basketball player. At 191 cm and 79 kg (174 lb), he played at the point guard and shooting guard positions. Read more
16 Mar 1965: Cindy Brown, American basketball player Cynthia Louise "Cindy" Brown is an American former women's basketball player, at the college, Olympic and professional levels. Brown was a member of the USA Basketball team which went on to win a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1987, and the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. She was also a member of the gold medal-winning team for the US at the 1985 World University Games, and the 1986 World Championship team. Read more
16 Mar 1965: Mark Carney, Canadian economist and politician, Prime Minister of Canada Mark Joseph Carney is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has also been leader of the Liberal Party and the member of Parliament (MP) for Nepean since 2025. He previously was Governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and Governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. Read more
16 Mar 1965: Cristiana Reali, Italian-Brazilian actress Cristiana Reali is a Brazilian actress. She has appeared in numerous theatre pieces, television series, and films. Read more
16 Mar 1964: Patty Griffin, American singer-songwriter Patricia Jean Griffin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs have been covered by numerous musicians, including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, Kelly Clarkson, Rory Block, Dave Hause, Sugarland, Bette Midler and The Chicks. Read more
16 Mar 1964: Jaclyn Jose, Filipino actress (died 2024) Jaclyn Jose was a Filipino actress. Known for her penetrating eyes and antagonistic roles in film and soap operas, she was a recipient of various accolades, including five Gawad Urians, two Luna Awards, and a FAMAS Award, in addition to an Asian Film Awards nomination. She is the only Filipino to win the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the movie Ma' Rosa (2016). She was also described as the "Queen of Underacting" for her ability to deliver restrained and subtle performances. Read more
16 Mar 1964: Pascal Richard, Swiss racing cyclist Pascal Richard is a Swiss former racing cyclist. He is most notable as a former King of the Mountains winner at the Giro d'Italia and Olympic Games gold medalist. He won the Swiss National Road Race championship in 1989 and 1993. Read more
16 Mar 1964: Gore Verbinski, American director, producer, and screenwriter Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for directing Mouse Hunt (1997), The Ring (2002), the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, and Rango (2011). Read more
16 Mar 1963: Jerome Flynn, English actor and singer Jerome Patrick Flynn is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Bronn in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2011–19). His other roles include Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series Soldier Soldier (1991–95), Bennet Drake in the BBC mystery series Ripper Street (2012–16), Hector in the Black Mirror episode Shut Up and Dance (2016), Banner Creighton in the Paramount+ western series 1923 (2022–25) and Boris Oliver in L2: Empuraan (2025). Read more
16 Mar 1963: Kevin Smith, New Zealand actor and singer (died 2002) Kevin Tod Smith was a New Zealand actor and musician, best known for starring as the Greek God of war, Ares, in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and in its two spin-offs – Xena: Warrior Princess and Young Hercules. Read more
16 Mar 1962: Franck Fréon, French race car driver Franck Fréon is a French race car driver. Read more
16 Mar 1962: Liliane Gaschet, French athlete Liliane Gaschet is a French athlete who specialises in the 100 and 200 meters. Gaschet competed in the women's 100 and 200 meters and also the 4 x 100 meter relay at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Read more
16 Mar 1961: Todd McFarlane, Canadian author, illustrator, and businessman, founded McFarlane Toys Todd McFarlane is a Canadian comic-book creator, best known for his work as an artist on The Amazing Spider-Man and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horror-fantasy series Spawn, as well as being the current President and a co-founder of Image Comics. Read more
16 Mar 1960: Jenny Eclair, English comedian, actress and screenwriter Jenny Eclair is an English comedian, novelist, and actress, best known for her roles in Grumpy Old Women between 2004 and 2007 and in Loose Women in 2011 and 2012. Read more
16 Mar 1960: John Hemming, English businessman and politician John Alexander Melvin Hemming is a British Liberal Democrat politician and businessman who served as the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley from 2005 until 2015. Read more
16 Mar 1960: Duane Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Duane Calvin Sutter is a Canadian former National Hockey League player and head coach. He was a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the New York Islanders. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Michael J. Bloomfield, American astronaut Michael John "Bloomer" Bloomfield is an American former astronaut and a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Sebastian Currier, American composer and educator Sebastian Currier is an American composer of music for chamber groups and orchestras. He was also a professor of music at Columbia University from 1999 to 2007. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Greg Dyer, Australian cricketer Gregory Charles Dyer is a former New South Wales and Australian wicketkeeper. Dyer played in six Tests and 23 ODIs from 1986 to 1988, including playing in the victorious 1987 World Cup Final. He toured India in 1986 as a back-up keeper. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Flavor Flav, American rapper and actor William Jonathan Drayton Jr., known by his stage name Flavor Flav., is an American rapper and television personality. Known for his catchphrase "Yeah, boyeeeeee!" when performing, he is a founding member alongside Chuck D, of Public Enemy, a rap group that has earned six Grammy Award nominations. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Charles Hudson, American baseball player Charles Lynn Hudson is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Detroit Tigers, from 1983 to 1989. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Steve Marker, American musician Steven W. Marker is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the co–founder and guitarist of the alternative rock band Garbage. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian economist and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Norway, 13th Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg is a Norwegian politician who has served as the minister of finance since 2025, a position he previously held from 1996 to 1997. A member of the Labour Party, he also served as the prime minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and 2005 to 2013, and secretary general of NATO from 2014 to 2024. Read more
16 Mar 1959: Scott L. Schwartz, American actor stuntman and wrestler (died 2024) Scott Leslie Schwartz also known as The Ultimate Bad Guy, was an American film and television actor, stuntman and professional wrestler. His size and agility at 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) and 303 pounds (137 kg) had allowed him many roles as a thug or villain for film and television. Read more
16 Mar 1958: Jorge Ramos, Mexican-American journalist and author Jorge Gilberto Ramos Ávalos is a Mexican journalist and author. Read more
16 Mar 1958: Phillip Wilcher, Australian pianist and composer Phillip Leslie Wilcher is an Australian pianist and composer who was a founding member of the children's music group the Wiggles. When Wilcher published his first work, "Daybreak", at the age of 14, he was one of the youngest classical composers in Australia. Read more
16 Mar 1958: Kate Worley, American author (died 2004) Kathleen Louise Worley was an American comic book writer, best known for her work on Omaha the Cat Dancer, a sexually explicit anthropomorphic animal comic book series about a female stripper. Worley was also a musician, and a writer and performer for the science fiction comedy radio program Shockwave Radio Theater. She died of lung cancer. Read more
16 Mar 1956: Ozzie Newsome, American football player and executive Ozzie Newsome Jr. is an American professional football executive and former player who is the executive vice president of player personnel of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Newsome was a tight end for the NFL's Cleveland Browns, and was general manager of the Ravens from 1996 to 2018. Newsome has been inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame (1994) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1999). Read more
16 Mar 1956: Clifton Powell, American actor, director, and producer Clifton Powell is an American actor who primarily plays supporting roles in films, such as in Ray (2004), for which he received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture nomination. He is also known for voicing Big Smoke in the action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). Read more
16 Mar 1956: Yoriko Shono, Japanese writer Yoriko Shono , born 16 March 1956, is a Japanese writer who describes her writing as 'avant-pop'. Read more
16 Mar 1956: Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, Swiss lawyer and politician Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2008 to 2015. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) until 2008, she was then a member of the splinter Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) until 2021, when that party merged into The Centre. Widmer-Schlumpf was the head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police from 2008 to 2010, when she became head of the Federal Department of Finance. She served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2012. Read more
16 Mar 1955: Svetlana Alexeeva, Russian ice dancer and coach Svetlana Lvovna Alekseeva is a Russian figure skating coach and former ice dancer. Read more
16 Mar 1955: Rimantas Astrauskas, Lithuanian physicist Rimantas Astrauskas is a physicist, ecologist, and signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. Read more
16 Mar 1955: Bruno Barreto, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter Bruno Villela Barreto Borges is a Brazilian film director. Read more
16 Mar 1955: Linda Lepomme, Belgian actress and singer Linda Lepomme is a Belgian actress and singer who represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 in which she sang "Laat me nu gaan". She earned seven points finishing in 19th (last) place overall. Read more
16 Mar 1955: Bob Ley, American sports anchor and reporter Robert A. Ley is a retired American sports anchor and reporter, best known for his work at ESPN. A multiple Emmy Award-winner, he was the longest-tenured on-air employee of the network, having joined ESPN just three days after the network's 1979 launch and retiring from the network effective at the end of June 2019. Read more
16 Mar 1955: Andy Scott, Canadian politician (died 2013) Robert Andrew Keith Scott was a Liberal Member of Parliament who represented the electoral district of Fredericton from 1993 to 2008. He was a member the Cabinet of Canada, most recently serving as the eighteenth Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (2004–2006). Read more
16 Mar 1955: Jiro Watanabe, Japanese boxer Jiro Watanabe is a Japanese former boxer. Watanabe, who fought only in Japan and South Korea, was one of the first World super flyweight champions, as the division was relatively new when he was crowned. Read more
16 Mar 1954: David Heath, English politician David William St John Heath is a British optometrist and Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Somerton and Frome from 1997 to 2015. He served as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food from September 2012 to October 2013 in the Cameron–Clegg coalition government. Read more
16 Mar 1954: Colin Ireland, English serial killer (died 2012) Colin Ireland was a British serial killer known as the Gay Slayer, because his victims were gay men. Criminologist David Wilson believes that Ireland was a psychopath. Read more
16 Mar 1954: Jimmy Nail, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor James Michael Aloysius Bradford, known professionally Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–1986), the title role in Spender (1991–1993) and Jed Shepperd in Crocodile Shoes (1994–1996). He also recorded a 1992 number one single, "Ain't No Doubt". His performance as Agustín Magaldi in the 1996 film Evita, gave him international recognition. Read more
16 Mar 1954: Tim O'Brien, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Timothy O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello. He has released more than ten studio albums, in addition to charting a duet with Kathy Mattea entitled "The Battle Hymn of Love", a No. 9 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts in 1990. In November 2013 he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Read more
16 Mar 1954: Dav Whatmore, Sri Lankan-Australian cricketer and coach Davenell Frederick Whatmore is a Sri Lanka born Australian cricket coach and former cricketer. Read more
16 Mar 1954: Nancy Wilson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress Nancy Lamoureux Wilson is an American musician. She rose to fame alongside her older sister Ann Wilson as guitarist and second vocalist in the rock band Heart. Read more
16 Mar 1953: Claus Peter Flor, German conductor Claus Peter Flor is a German conductor. Read more
16 Mar 1953: Isabelle Huppert, French actress Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress. Known for her portrayals of cold, austere women devoid of morality, she is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of her generation and of all time. With 17 nominations and two wins, Huppert is the most nominated actress at the César Awards. She has also received numerous accolades, such as five Lumière Awards, a BAFTA Award, three European Film Awards, two Berlin International Film Festival, three Cannes Film Festival, and Venice Film Festival honors, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award nomination. In 2020, The New York Times named her one the greatest actors of the 21st century. Read more
16 Mar 1953: Rainer Knaak, German chess player Rainer Fritz Albert Knaak is a German chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). Read more
16 Mar 1953: Richard Stallman, American computer scientist and programmer Richard Matthew Stallman, also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to use, study, distribute, and modify that software. Software which ensures these freedoms is termed free software. Stallman launched the GNU Project, founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in October 1985, developed the GNU C Compiler and GNU Emacs, and wrote all versions of the GNU General Public License. Read more
16 Mar 1951: Ray Benson, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Ray Benson Seifert is an American musician, actor, and voice actor who is the frontman of the Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. Read more
16 Mar 1951: Abdelmajid Bourebbou, Algerian footballer Abdelmajid Bourebbou is an Algerian former footballer who played as a forward. He played as a striker for several French clubs as well as the Algeria national football team. He represented Algeria at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Read more
16 Mar 1951: Oddvar Brå, Norwegian skier Oddvar Brå is a Norwegian former cross-country skier. He was among the best skiers in Norway, the three-times winner of the World Cup and the winner of 16 national championships. His success in the major international championships was more modest. Read more
16 Mar 1951: Joe DeLamielleure, American football player Joseph Michael DeLamielleure is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American playing college football for the Michigan State Spartans. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 1973 NFL draft. He won All-Rookie Honors, after finding out a physical condition with his irregular heartbeat was not serious. In 1973 the Buffalo Bills rushing offense led the NFL in yards, yards per carry, as well as rushing touchdowns. He is also one of the first living NFL players to be tested and diagnosed with CTE. Read more
16 Mar 1951: Alexandre Gonzalez, French long-distance runner Alexandre Gonzalez is a French long-distance runner. He competed in the men's marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Read more
16 Mar 1950: Peter Forster, English bishop Peter Robert Forster is a British former Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Chester in the Church of England from 1996 and a Lord Spiritual from 2001 until his retirement in 2019. He was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 2021. Read more
16 Mar 1950: Kate Nelligan, Canadian actress Patricia Colleen Nelligan, known professionally as Kate Nelligan, is a Canadian stage, film and television actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1991 film The Prince of Tides, and the same year won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Frankie and Johnny. She is also a four-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, receiving nominations for Plenty (1983), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1984), Serious Money (1988) and Spoils of War (1989). Read more
16 Mar 1950: Edhem Šljivo, Bosnian footballer Edhem "Etko" Šljivo is a Bosnian former professional footballer. He started his career with FK Sarajevo, going on to become one of the best midfielders of the Yugoslav First League. At international level, he represented the Yugoslavia national team. Read more
16 Mar 1949: Erik Estrada, American actor Henry Enrique Estrada is an American actor. He is widely known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series CHiPs, which aired from 1977 to 1983. He later became known for his work in Spanish telenovelas, his appearances in reality television shows and infomercials, and as a regular voice on the series Sealab 2021, on Adult Swim. Read more
16 Mar 1949: Victor Garber, Canadian actor and singer Victor Garber, is a Canadian stage and film actor, and a singer. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2022 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Read more
16 Mar 1949: Elliott Murphy, American-French singer-songwriter and journalist Elliott James Murphy is an American rock singer-songwriter, novelist, record producer, and journalist. Read more
16 Mar 1948: Michael Owen Bruce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist Michael Owen Bruce is an American rock musician who was a founding member of the original Alice Cooper band. Read more
16 Mar 1948: Richard Desjardins, Canadian singer-songwriter and director Richard Desjardins is a Québécois folk singer and film director. Read more
16 Mar 1948: Catherine Quéré, French politician Catherine Quéré is a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party. Read more
16 Mar 1946: Sigmund Groven, Norwegian harmonica player and composer Sigmund Groven is a Norwegian classical harmonica player, today considered one of the world's leading classical harmonica players. He plays with a large number of the world's leading musicians and orchestras, and he has made 23 recordings yet in his own name. His repertoire ranges from popular and folk music to his own compositions, from Bach to contemporary music. Read more
16 Mar 1946: Mary Kaldor, English economist and academic Mary Henrietta Kaldor is a British academic, currently Professor of Global Governance at the London School of Economics, where she is also the Director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit. She also teaches at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). Kaldor has been a key figure in the development of cosmopolitan democracy. She writes on globalisation, international relations and humanitarian intervention, global civil society and global governance, as well as what she calls New Wars. Read more
16 Mar 1946: J. Z. Knight, American New Age teacher and author Judy "Zebra" Knight is an American spiritual teacher and author known for her purported channelling of a spiritual entity named Ramtha. Critics consider her to be a cult leader. Read more
16 Mar 1946: Guesch Patti, French singer Patricia Porrasse, known professionally as Guesch Patti, is a French singer. Read more
16 Mar 1945: Douglas Ahlstedt, American tenor (died 2023) Douglas Ahlstedt was an American operatic tenor who had an international performance career with major opera houses from the 1970s through the 1990s. He was a member of the Metropolitan Opera and of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, performing leading roles of the lyric tenore repertoire, and also many supporting roles. He was professor of voice at Carnegie Mellon University from 1998 until 2020. Read more
16 Mar 1944: Andrew S. Tanenbaum, American computer scientist and academic Andrew Stuart Tanenbaum, sometimes referred to by the handle AST, is an American-born Dutch computer scientist and retired professor emeritus of computer science at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Read more
16 Mar 1943: Álvaro de Soto, Peruvian diplomat Álvaro de Soto Polar is a Peruvian diplomat. He ended a 25-year career with the United Nations in May 2007. Read more
16 Mar 1943: Ursula Goodenough, American biologist, zoologist, and author Ursula W. Goodenough is a retired Professor of Biology Emerita at Washington University in St. Louis, where she researched on eukaryotic algae. She authored the textbook Genetics and the best-selling book The Sacred Depths of Nature and speaks regularly about religious naturalist orientation and evolution. She contributed to the NPR blog 13.7: Cosmos & Culture from 2009 to 2011. Read more
16 Mar 1943: Hans Heyer, German race car driver Hans Heyer is a German retired racing driver who mainly raced touring cars. He is most commonly known for starting one Formula One World Championship race, the 1977 German Grand Prix, despite failing to qualify. Read more
16 Mar 1943: Harry van Hoof, Dutch conductor, composer, and music arranger (died 2024) Harry van Hoof was a Dutch conductor, composer, and music arranger. Read more
16 Mar 1942: Roger Crozier, Canadian-American ice hockey player (died 1996) Roger Allan Crozier was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He was a goaltender for fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals. During his career, Crozier was named to the NHL First All-Star Team once, was a Calder Memorial Trophy winner, and was the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy while playing for the losing team in the Stanley Cup Finals. He was the last goaltender in the NHL to start all of his team's games in the regular season, in 1964–65. Read more
16 Mar 1942: Jean-Pierre Schosteck, French politician Jean-Pierre Schosteck is a French politician. He is mayor of Châtillon and a member of The Republicans. Read more
16 Mar 1942: James Soong, Chinese-Taiwanese politician, Governor of Taiwan Province Soong Chu-yu, also known by his English name James Soong, is a Taiwanese political scientist and politician who is the founder and chairman of the People First Party. Soong was the first and only elected governor of Taiwan Province from 1994 and 1998, after which he became a perennial candidate in Taiwanese politics. Read more
16 Mar 1942: Gijs van Lennep, Dutch race car driver Gijsbert "Gijs" van Lennep is a Dutch racing driver who competed in eight Formula One races. However, his main achievements were in sports car racing. He is a member of the untitled Dutch nobility. Read more
16 Mar 1942: Jerry Jeff Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2020) Jerry Jeff Walker was an American country and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He is best known for writing the 1968 song "Mr. Bojangles". Read more
16 Mar 1941: Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian director and screenwriter (died 2018) Bernardo Bertolucci was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international acclaim. With The Last Emperor (1987) he became the first Italian filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Director, and he received many other accolades including a BAFTA Award, a César Award, two Golden Globes, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and an Honorary Palme d'Or. Read more
16 Mar 1941: Robert Guéï, Ivorian soldier and politician, 3rd President of Côte d'Ivoire (died 2002) Robert Guéï was an Ivorian politician who served as the third president of the Ivory Coast from 24 December 1999 to 26 October 2000. He succeeded President Henri Konan Bédié after the 1999 Ivorian coup d'état and lost to Laurent Gbagbo in the ensuing 2000 Ivorian presidential election. Guéï, his wife Rose Doudou Guéï, and his children were killed on 19 September 2002 on the first day of the First Ivorian Civil War. Read more
16 Mar 1941: Chuck Woolery, American game show host and television personality (died 2024) Charles Herbert Woolery was an American television host, actor, and musician. He had long-running tenures hosting several game shows. Woolery was the original host of the original daytime Wheel of Fortune from 1975 until 1981, when he was replaced by Pat Sajak. Read more
16 Mar 1940: Vagif Mustafazadeh, Azerbaijani pianist and composer (died 1979) Vagif Mustafazadeh, also known as Vaqif Mustafa-Zadeh, was a Soviet-Azerbaijani jazz pianist and composer, acclaimed for fusing jazz and the traditional Azerbaijani folk music, known as mugham. According to many world famous jazz musicians, Mustafazadeh is one of the pioneers and "the architect of jazz in Azerbaijan". Read more
16 Mar 1940: Jan Pronk, Dutch academic and politician, Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Johannes Pieter "Jan" Pronk Jr. is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) and activist. Read more
16 Mar 1940: Keith Rowe, English guitarist Keith Rowe is an English free improvisation tabletop guitarist and painter. Rowe is a founding member of both AMM in the mid-1960s and M.I.M.E.O. Having trained as a visual artist, his paintings have appeared on most of his albums. He is seen as a godfather of EAI, with many of his recordings having been released by Erstwhile. Read more
16 Mar 1940: Kaak, Indian cartoonist (died 2025) Harish Chandra Shukla, known by his pen name Kaak, was an Indian editorial cartoonist and caricaturist who worked in Hindi-language media. He worked with leading newspapers such as Jansatta, Navbharat Times, Dainik Jagran, Rajasthan Patrika, and a few others, in a career spanning several decades. 'Kaak' means crow in Hindi, which according to a proverb, is the bird that raises its raucous voice when someone tells a lie. Read more
16 Mar 1939: Yvon Côté, Canadian politician and teacher Yvon Côté is a former member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. His career has been in teaching. Read more
16 Mar 1938: Carlos Bilardo, Argentinian footballer and manager Dr. Carlos Salvador Bilardo is an Argentine former physician, football player, and manager. Read more
16 Mar 1937: David Frith, English historian, journalist, and author David Edward John Frith is an English cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly". Read more
16 Mar 1937: Attilio Nicora, Italian cardinal (died 2017) Attilio Nicora was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who held senior positions in the administration of the Roman Curia as president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See from 2002 to 2011 and president of the four-person Executive Board of the Financial Information Authority (FIA) from 2011 to 2014. He was bishop of Verona from 1992 to 1997. He was given the personal title of archbishop in 2002 and was made a cardinal in 2003. Read more
16 Mar 1937: Amos Tversky, Israeli-American psychologist and academic (died 1996) Amos Nathan Tversky was an Israeli cognitive and mathematical psychologist and a key figure in the discovery of systematic human cognitive bias and handling of risk. Read more
16 Mar 1936: Raymond Vahan Damadian, Armenian-American inventor, invented the MRI (died 2022) Raymond Vahan Damadian was an American physician, medical researcher, and inventor of the first nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scanning machine. Read more
16 Mar 1936: Fred Neil, American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2001) Fred Neil was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material, particularly "Everybody's Talkin'", which became a hit for Harry Nilsson after it was used in the film Midnight Cowboy in 1969. Though highly regarded by contemporary folk singers, he was reluctant to tour and spent much of the last 30 years of his life assisting with the preservation of dolphins. Read more
16 Mar 1935: Teresa Berganza, Spanish soprano and actress (died 2022) Teresa Berganza Vargas OAXS was a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with roles such as Rossini's Rosina and La Cenerentola, and later Bizet's Carmen, admired for her technical virtuosity, musical intelligence, and beguiling stage presence. Read more
16 Mar 1935: Pepe Cáceres, Colombian bullfighter (died 1987) José Humberto Eslava "Pepe" Cáceres was a Colombian bullfighter. Read more
16 Mar 1934: Jean Cournoyer, Canadian politician Jean Cournoyer is a retired Quebec politician. He was a Member of the provincial legislature in Quebec. Read more
16 Mar 1934: Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian lawyer and politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (died 2002) Ramon John "Ray" Hnatyshyn was a Canadian lawyer and statesman who served as the 24th governor general of Canada from 1990 to 1995. Read more
16 Mar 1934: Roger Norrington, English violinist and conductor (died 2025) Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington was an English conductor, best known for historically informed performances of baroque, classical, and romantic music, which often entailed minimal use of vibrato and applying historically informed principles to modern orchestras. Read more
16 Mar 1934: Howard Schnellenberger, American football player and coach (died 2021) Howard Leslie Schnellenberger was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League (NFL)'s Baltimore Colts and in college for the University of Miami, University of Louisville, University of Oklahoma and Florida Atlantic University. He won a national championship with Miami in 1983. Read more
16 Mar 1933: Keith Critchlow, English architect and academic, co-founded Temenos Academy (died 2020) Keith Barry Critchlow was a British artist, lecturer, author, sacred geometer, professor of architecture, and a co-founder of the Temenos Academy in the UK. Read more
16 Mar 1933: Sanford I. Weill, American banker, financier, and philanthropist Sanford I. "Sandy" Weill is an American banker, financier, and philanthropist. He is a former chief executive and chairman of Citigroup. He served in those positions from 1998 until October 1, 2003, and April 18, 2006, respectively. Read more
16 Mar 1932: Don Blasingame, American baseball player and manager (died 2005) Donald Lee Blasingame, nicknamed "Blazer", was an American professional baseball player. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1955–1959), San Francisco Giants (1960–1961), Cincinnati Reds (1961–1963), Washington Senators (1963–1966), and Kansas City Athletics (1966). Blasingame threw right-handed, batted left-handed and was listed as 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and 160 pounds (73 kg). Read more
16 Mar 1932: Walter Cunningham, American astronaut (died 2023) Ronnie Walter Cunningham was an American astronaut, fighter pilot, physicist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author of the 1977 book The All-American Boys. NASA's third civilian astronaut, he was a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission in 1968. Read more
16 Mar 1932: Kurt Diemberger, Austrian mountaineer and author Kurt Diemberger is an Austrian mountaineer and author of several books. He is the only living person who has made the first ascents on two mountains over 8,000 metres: of Broad Peak in 1957 and of Dhaulagiri in 1960. In 2013, he won the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award. Read more
16 Mar 1932: Herbert Marx, Canadian politician (died 2020)
Herbert Marx was a Canadian lawyer, university law professor, politician, and judge. He was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1979 to 1989, a cabinet minister, and a Justice of the Quebec Superior Court. Read more
16 Mar 1931: Augusto Boal, Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician (died 2009) Augusto Boal was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed and Forum Theatre, a theatrical form originally used in popular education movements. Boal served one term as a Vereador in Rio de Janeiro from 1993 to 1997, where he developed legislative theatre. Read more
16 Mar 1931: Alan Heyman, American-South Korean musicologist and composer (died 2014) Alan Charles Heyman, Korean name Hae Eui-man (Korean: 해의만), was a South Korean musicologist and composer. Born in the United States, he first came to South Korea in 1953 with the United States Army during the Korean War, and after completing a graduate degree in music education at Columbia University, moved to South Korea permanently in 1960 to devote himself to research and composition. He led traditional Korean music troupes on tours of North America and Europe, and made significant contributions to the preservation of Korean traditional music, for which he was recognised with awards from national and international organisations. He gave up his U.S. citizenship to become a South Korean citizen in 1995, and remained in the country until his death in 2014. Read more
16 Mar 1931: Anthony Kenny, English philosopher and academic Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny is a British philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of Wittgenstein of whose literary estate he is an executor. With Peter Geach, he has made a significant contribution to analytical Thomism, a movement whose aim is to present the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas in the style of analytic philosophy. He is a former president of the British Academy and the Royal Institute of Philosophy. Read more
16 Mar 1931: John Munro, Canadian lawyer and politician, 22nd Canadian Minister of Labour (died 2003) John Carr Munro was a Canadian politician. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1962 election, and served continuously as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hamilton, Ontario in the electoral riding of Hamilton East until his resignation in 1984, following his defeat for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada which was eventually won by John Turner. Read more
16 Mar 1930: Tommy Flanagan, American pianist and composer (died 2001) Thomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. Within months of moving to New York in 1956, Flanagan had recorded with Miles Davis and on Sonny Rollins' album Saxophone Colossus. Recordings under various leaders, including Giant Steps of John Coltrane, continued well into 1962, when Flanagan became the full-time accompanist to Ella Fitzgerald. He worked with Fitzgerald for three years until 1965, and then in 1968 returned to be her pianist and musical director, this time for a decade. Read more
16 Mar 1930: Minoru Miki, Japanese composer (died 2011) Minoru Miki was a Japanese composer and Artistic director. He was known for promoting Japanese, Chinese and Korean traditional instruments as well as some of their performers. Read more
16 Mar 1929: Betty Johnson, American singer (died 2022) Betty Johnson was an American traditional pop and cabaret singer who reached her career peak in the 1950s. Read more
16 Mar 1929: Tihomir Novakov, Serbian-American physicist and academic (died 2015) Tihomir Novakov, also known as Tica Novakov was a Serbian-born American physicist. As a scientist, Novakov is known for his black carbon, air quality, and climate change research. James Hansen dubbed him "the godfather of black carbon". Read more
16 Mar 1929: Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress (died 2023) Nadja Tiller was an Austrian actress in film, television, and on stage. She was one of the most popular German-speaking actresses in the international cinema of the 1950s and 1960s, receiving international recognition when she played the title role in the 1958 film Das Mädchen Rosemarie (Rosemary) in 1958, shown at the Venice Film Festival. It opened the way to international films. She often played alongside her husband, Walter Giller. Read more
16 Mar 1928: Wakanohana Kanji I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 45th Yokozuna (died 2010) Wakanohana Kanji was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 45th yokozuna. He was a popular wrestler and was nicknamed the "Devil of the Dohyō" due to his great fighting spirit and endurance. Read more
16 Mar 1928: Christa Ludwig, German opera singer (died 2021) Christa Ludwig was a German mezzo-soprano and sometime dramatic soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, lieder, oratorio, and other major religious works like masses, passions, and solos in symphonic literature. Her performing career spanned almost half a century, from the late 1940s until the early 1990s. Read more
16 Mar 1927: Vladimir Komarov, Russian pilot, engineer, and cosmonaut (died 1967) Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov was a Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer, and cosmonaut. In October 1964, he commanded Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member. He became the first Soviet cosmonaut to fly in space twice when he was selected as the solo pilot of Soyuz 1, its first crewed test flight. A parachute failure caused his Soyuz capsule to crash into the ground after re-entry on 24 April 1967, making him the first human to die in a space flight. Read more
16 Mar 1927: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, American sociologist and politician, 12th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (died 2003) Daniel Patrick Moynihan was an American politician, diplomat and social scientist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 after serving as an adviser to President Richard Nixon, and as the United States' ambassador to India and to the United Nations. Read more
16 Mar 1927: Olga San Juan, American actress and dancer (died 2009) Olga San Juan was an American actress and comedian. Born in Brooklyn, she began her brief film career with Paramount Pictures after being scouted at Copacabana. She performed in several Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and on Broadway in Paint Your Wagon (1951). Read more
16 Mar 1926: Charles Goodell, American lawyer and politician (died 1987) Charles Ellsworth Goodell Jr. was an American politician who represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1959 to 1968 and the United States Senate from 1968 to 1971. In both cases, he took office following the deaths of his predecessors, first in a special election and second as a temporary appointee succeeding Robert F. Kennedy. Read more
16 Mar 1926: Jerry Lewis, American actor and comedian (died 2017) Jerry Lewis was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. Across his seven-decade career, he is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of the 20th century, by his nickname—the "King of Comedy". Read more
16 Mar 1925: Cornell Borchers, Lithuanian-German actress and singer (died 2014) Cornell Borchers was a Lithuanian-German actress and singer, active in the late 1940s and 1950s. She is best remembered for her roles opposite Montgomery Clift in The Big Lift (1950) and Errol Flynn and Nat King Cole in Istanbul (1957). She was said to resemble Ingrid Bergman in mid-1950s reviews. Read more
16 Mar 1925: Mary Hinkson, American dancer and choreographer (died 2014) Mary De Haven Hinkson was an African American dancer and choreographer known for breaking racial boundaries throughout her dance career in both modern and ballet techniques. She is best known for her work as a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Read more
16 Mar 1925: Ervin Kassai, Hungarian basketball player and referee (died 2012) Ervin Kassai was a Hungarian basketball referee. Read more
16 Mar 1925: Luis E. Miramontes, Mexican chemist and engineer (died 2004) Luis Ernesto Miramontes Cárdenas was a Mexican chemist known as co-inventor and the first to synthesize an oral contraceptive, progestin norethisterone. Read more
16 Mar 1923: Heinz Wallberg, German conductor (died 2004) Heinz Wallberg was a German conductor. Read more
16 Mar 1922: Harding Lemay, American screenwriter and playwright (died 2018) Harding Lemay, also known as Pete Lemay, was an American screenwriter and playwright who was the head writer for the soap opera Another World. Read more
16 Mar 1920: John Addison, English-American soldier and composer (died 1998) John Mervyn Addison was a British composer best known for his film scores. Read more
16 Mar 1920: Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (died 2010) Albert Sidney Fleischman was an American author of children's books, screenplays, novels for adults, and nonfiction books about stage magic. His works for children are known for their humor, imagery, zesty plotting, and exploration of the byways of American history. He won the Newbery Medal in 1987 for The Whipping Boy and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1979 for Humbug Mountain. For his career contribution as a children's writer he was U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1994. In 2003, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators inaugurated the Sid Fleischman Humor Award in his honor, and made him the first recipient. The Award annually recognizes a writer of humorous fiction for children or young adults. He told his own tale in The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life (1996). Read more
16 Mar 1920: Traudl Junge, German secretary (died 2002) Gertraud "Traudl" Junge was a German editor who worked as Adolf Hitler's last private secretary from December 1942 to April 1945. After typing Hitler's will, she remained in the Berlin Führerbunker until his death. Read more
16 Mar 1920: Leo McKern, Australian-English actor (died 2002) Reginald "Leo" McKern was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in Help! (1965), Thomas Cromwell in A Man for All Seasons (1966), Tom Ryan in Ryan's Daughter (1970), Harry Bundage in Candleshoe (1977), Paddy Button in The Blue Lagoon (1980), Dr. Grogan in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Father Imperius in Ladyhawke (1985), and the role that made him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in the British television series Rumpole of the Bailey. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second installments of The Omen series and Number Two in the TV series The Prisoner. Read more
16 Mar 1918: Frederick Reines, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1998) Frederick Reines was an American physicist. He was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics for his co-detection of the neutrino with Clyde Cowan in the neutrino experiment. He may be the only scientist in history "so intimately associated with the discovery of an elementary particle and the subsequent thorough investigation of its fundamental properties." Read more
16 Mar 1918: Aldo van Eyck, Dutch architect (died 1999) Aldo van Eyck was a Dutch architect. He was one of the most influential protagonists of the architectural movement Structuralism. Read more
16 Mar 1917: Mehrdad Pahlbod, Iranian politician (died 2018) Mehrdad Pahlbod, born as Ezatollah Minbashian, was an Iranian politician who served as the first culture minister of Iran from 1964 until 1978. Read more
16 Mar 1917: Laure Pillay, Mauritian lawyer and jurist (died 2017)
Laure Pillay was a Mauritian lawyer and jurist who was the country's first female barrister and first female magistrate. Read more
16 Mar 1917: Louis C. Wyman, American lawyer and politician (died 2002) Louis Crosby Wyman was an American politician and lawyer. He was a United States representative and a U.S. senator from New Hampshire. He was a member of the Republican Party. Read more
16 Mar 1916: Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (died 2004) Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress". She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her screen debut in All the King's Men (1949) and was nominated in the same category for Giant (1956). She voiced the majority of dialogue for demon Pazuzu in The Exorcist (1973). Read more
16 Mar 1916: Tsutomu Yamaguchi, Japanese engineer and businessman (died 2010) Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a Japanese marine engineer who survived and witnessed both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during World War II. Although at least 160 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, he is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan as surviving both explosions. Read more
16 Mar 1915: Kunihiko Kodaira, Japanese mathematician (died 1997) Kunihiko Kodaira was a Japanese mathematician known for distinguished work in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds, and as the founder of the Japanese school of algebraic geometers. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1954, being the first Japanese national to receive this honour. Read more
16 Mar 1913: Rémy Raffalli, French soldier (died 1952) Barthélémy "Rémy" Raffalli was a French Army major who fought in World War II and the First Indochina War. Read more
16 Mar 1912: Pat Nixon, American teacher, First Lady of the United States (died 1993) Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of Richard Nixon, the 37th U.S. president. From 1953 to 1961, she had been the second lady of the United States when her husband was Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice president. Read more
16 Mar 1911: Pierre Harmel, Belgian lawyer and diplomat, Prime Minister of Belgium (died 2009) Pierre Charles José Marie, Count Harmel was a Belgian lawyer, Christian Democratic politician and diplomat. Harmel served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1965 to 1966, leading a centre-left cabinet. Read more
16 Mar 1911: Josef Mengele, German physician, captain and mass-murderer (died 1979) Josef Mengele, often dubbed the "Angel of Death", was a German military officer and physician during World War II at the Soviet front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. He conducted research and experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp, where he was a member of the team of doctors who selected victims to be murdered in the gas chambers. Read more
16 Mar 1911: Philip Pavia, American painter and sculptor (died 2005) Philip Pavia (1911-2005) was a culturally influential American artist of Italian descent, known for his scatter sculpture and figurative abstractions, and the debate he fostered among many of the 20th century's most important art thinkers. A founder of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism, he "did much to shift the epicenter of Modernism from Paris to New York," both as founding organizer of The Club and as founder, editor and publisher of the short-lived but influential art journal It Is: A Magazine for Abstract Art. Reference to the magazine appears in the archives of more than two dozen celebrated art figures, including Picasso, Peggy Guggenheim, and art critic Clement Greenberg. The Club is credited with inspiring art critic Harold Rosenberg’s influential essay “The American Action Painters" and the historic 9th Street Show. Read more
16 Mar 1910: Aladár Gerevich, Hungarian fencer (died 1991) Aladár Gerevich was a Hungarian fencer, regarded as "the greatest Olympic swordsman ever". He won seven gold medals in sabre at six different Olympic Games. Read more
16 Mar 1910: Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Indian-English cricketer and politician, 8th Nawab of Pataudi (died 1952) Nawab Mohammad Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, sometimes I. A. K. Pataudi, was an Indian prince and cricket player. Read more
16 Mar 1909: Don Raye, American songwriter (died 1985) Don Raye was an American songwriter, best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters such as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", "The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thrill" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." The latter was co-written with Hughie Prince. Read more
16 Mar 1908: René Daumal, French author and poet (died 1944) René Daumal was a French spiritual para-surrealist writer, critic and poet, best known for his posthumously published novel Mount Analogue (1952) as well as for being an early, outspoken practitioner of pataphysics. Read more
16 Mar 1908: Ernest Rogez, French water polo player (died 1986) Ernest Rogez was a French water polo player who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. Read more
16 Mar 1908: Robert Rossen, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1966) Robert Rossen was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. Read more
16 Mar 1906: Francisco Ayala, Spanish sociologist, author, and translator (died 2009) Francisco Ayala García-Duarte was a Spanish writer, the last representative of the Generation of '27. Read more
16 Mar 1906: Maurice Turnbull, Welsh-English cricketer and rugby player (died 1944) Maurice Joseph Lawson Turnbull was a Welsh cricketer who played in nine Test matches for the England cricket team between 1930 and 1936. Read more
16 Mar 1906: Lloyd Waner, American baseball player (died 1982) Lloyd James Waner, nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. His small stature at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) and 132 lb (60 kg) made him one of the smallest players of his era. Along with his brother, Paul Waner, he anchored the Pittsburgh Pirates outfield throughout the 1920s and 1930s. After brief stints with four other teams late in his career, Waner retired as a Pirate. Read more
16 Mar 1906: Henny Youngman, English-American violinist and comedian (died 1998) Henry "Henny" Youngman was an American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the "one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife… please". Read more
16 Mar 1904: Buddy Myer, American baseball player (died 1974) Charles Solomon "Buddy" Myer was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman from 1925 through 1941. A two-time All-Star, Myer was notable for being the 1935 American League batting champion and led the American League in stolen bases in 1928. An excellent hitter, he batted .300 or better nine times, and retired with a career average of .303. Myer walked more than twice as many times as he struck out. Apart from a brief period with the Boston Red Sox in 1927–28, he spent his entire career with the Washington Senators. Read more
16 Mar 1903: Mike Mansfield, American politician and diplomat, 22nd United States Ambassador to Japan (died 2001) Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic Party politician and diplomat who represented Montana in the United States House of Representatives from 1943 to 1953 and United States Senate from 1953 to 1977. As the leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus from 1961 to 1977, Mansfield shepherded Great Society programs through the Senate; his tenure of exactly sixteen years was the longest of any party leader in Senate history, until the record was broken by Mitch McConnell in 2023. Read more
16 Mar 1901: Alexis Chantraine, Belgian footballer (died 1987) Joseph Dieudonné Alexis Chantraine was a Belgian footballer. Read more
16 Mar 1900: Cyril Hume, American novelist and screenwriter (died 1966) Cyril Hume was an American novelist and screenwriter. Hume was a graduate of Yale University, where he edited campus humor magazine The Yale Record. He was an editor of the collection The Yale Record Book of Verse: 1872–1922 (1922). Read more
16 Mar 1900: Mencha Karnicheva, Macedonian revolutionary and assassin (died 1964) Melpomena Dimitrova Karnicheva, commonly known as Mencha Karnicheva, was a revolutionary of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). The wife of IMRO leader Ivan Mihaylov, she is known for assassinating IMRO left-wing activist Todor Panitsa. Read more
16 Mar 1897: Antonio Donghi, Italian painter (died 1963) Antonio Donghi was an Italian painter of scenes of popular life, landscapes, and still life. Read more
16 Mar 1897: Conrad Nagel, American actor (died 1970) John Conrad Nagel was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1940, and three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Read more
16 Mar 1895: Ernest Labrousse, French historian (died 1988) Camille-Ernest Labrousse was a French historian specializing in social and economic history who was born in Barbezieux, Charente and died in Paris. Read more
16 Mar 1892: César Vallejo, Peruvian poet (died 1938) César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only two books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators of the 20th century in any language. Thomas Merton called him "the greatest universal poet since Dante". The late British poet, critic and biographer Martin Seymour-Smith, a leading authority on world literature, called Vallejo "the greatest twentieth-century poet in any language." He was a member of the intellectual community called North Group formed in the Peruvian north coastal city of Trujillo. Read more
16 Mar 1889: Reggie Walker, South African athlete (died 1951) Reginald Edgar Walker was a South African athlete and the 1908 Olympic champion in the 100 metres. Read more
16 Mar 1887: Emilio Lunghi, Italian runner (died 1925) Emilio Lunghi was an Italian athlete. He won the silver medal in the men's 800 metres race at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, making him the first Italian to win an Olympic medal. Read more
16 Mar 1887: S. Stillman Berry, American marine zoologist (1984) Samuel Stillman Berry was an American marine zoologist who specialized in cephalopods. Read more
16 Mar 1886: Herbert Lindström, Swedish tug of war player (died 1951) Carl Herbert Lindström was a Swedish fisherman who won a gold medal in the tug of war competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics. Read more
16 Mar 1885: Giacomo Benvenuti, Italian composer and musicologist (died 1943) Giacomo Benvenuti was an Italian composer and musicologist. Read more
16 Mar 1885: Sydney Chaplin, English actor (died 1965) Sydney John Chaplin was an English actor. Chaplin was the elder half-brother of actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and in later life, served as his business manager. Read more
16 Mar 1884: Eric P. Kelly, American journalist and author (died 1960) Eric Philbrook Kelly was an American journalist, academic and author of children's books. He was a professor of English at Dartmouth College and briefly a lecturer at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He won the 1929 Newbery Medal recognizing his first published book, The Trumpeter of Krakow, as the preceding year's most distinguished contribution to American children's literature. Read more
16 Mar 1884: J. Alfred Tanner, Finnish singer and songwriter (died 1927) Johan Alfred Tanner, better known as J. Alfred Tanner, was a Finnish singer and songwriter. He is considered as one of Finland's most important songwriters ever, he wrote the lyrics to over 100 songs and recorded about 70 of them. Read more
16 Mar 1883: Ethel Anderson, Australian poet, author, and painter (died 1958) Ethel Campbell Louise Anderson was an early twentieth century Australian poet, essayist, novelist and painter. She considered herself to be mainly a poet, but is now best appreciated for her witty and ironic stories. Anderson has been described as "a high-profile author, artist, art commentator and emissary for modernism". Read more
16 Mar 1882: James Lightbody, American runner (died 1953) James Davies Lightbody was an American middle distance runner, winner of six Olympic medals in the early 20th century. Read more
16 Mar 1881: Fannie Charles Dillon, American composer (died 1947) Fannie Charles Dillon was an American pianist, music educator and composer. Read more
16 Mar 1878: Clemens August Graf von Galen, German cardinal (died 1946) Clemens Augustinus Emmanuel Joseph Pius Anthonius Hubertus Marie Graf von Galen, better known as Clemens August Graf von Galen, was a German count, Bishop of Münster, and cardinal of the Catholic Church. During World War II, Galen led Catholic protests against Nazi euthanasia and denounced Gestapo lawlessness and the persecution of the Church in Nazi Germany. He was appointed a cardinal by Pope Pius XII in 1946, shortly before his death, and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Read more
16 Mar 1878: Paul Jouve, French painter (died 1973) Pierre-Paul Jouve was a French painter, sculptor and illustrator. He was notable for his paintings and sculptures of Africa's animals. He was first recipient of the Prix Abd-el-Tif in 1907, and later of the Prix d'Indochine in 1921. Read more
16 Mar 1877: Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (died 1972) Léo-Ernest Ouimet was a Canadian film pioneer. He was a theater operator, filmmaker, producer, and distributor. Read more
16 Mar 1874: Frédéric François-Marsal, French prime minister (died 1958) Frédéric François-Marsal was a French politician of the Third Republic, who served briefly as Prime Minister in 1924. Due to his premiership he also served for two days as the Acting President of the French Republic between the resignation of Alexandre Millerand and the election of Gaston Doumergue. Read more
16 Mar 1871: Hans Merensky, South African geologist and philanthropist (died 1951) Hans Merensky was a South African geologist, prospector, scientist, conservationist and philanthropist. Read more
16 Mar 1871: Frantz Reichel, French rugby player and hurdler (died 1932) François Étienne "Frantz" Reichel was a French sports administrator, athlete, cyclist and journalist. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens as a runner and at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris as a rugby union player. He co-founded the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), and served as its first president in 1924–1932. Read more
16 Mar 1869: Willy Burmester, German violinist (died 1933) Carl Adolph Wilhelm “Willy” Burmester was a German violinist. Read more
16 Mar 1865: Patsy Donovan, Irish-American baseball player and manager (died 1953) Patrick Joseph Donovan was an Irish born right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1890 to 1907, most notably the Pittsburgh Pirates. Donovan started his career with Boston in 1890 but shuffled over to Brooklyn before the season ended, which saw him win the National League pennant. He played for Louisville and Washington of the American Association for a season each before he found himself with the Pirates in 1892, where he would play for the next seven years. In his first full season with the team, he had his first .300 season as a National League player, batting .317 with 46 stolen bases and 158 hits in 113 games. He batted .300 in each of the next five seasons with Pittsburgh before his tenure ended in 1899. He joined St. Louis in 1900 and played the next four seasons for the team, which saw him bat .300 three straight times and lead the NL in stolen bases with 45 in 1900. He played a season in Washington before sitting out 1905; he played eight combined games in 1906 and 1907 with Brooklyn to end his career. Read more
16 Mar 1859: Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist and inventor (died 1906) Alexander Stepanovich Popov was a Russian physicist who was one of the first people to invent a radio receiving device. Read more
16 Mar 1857: Charles Harding Firth, English historian (died 1936) Sir Charles Harding Firth was a British historian. He was one of the founders of the Historical Association in 1906. Esmond de Beer wrote that Firth "knew the men and women of the seventeenth century much as a man knows his friends and acquaintances, not only as characters but also in the whole moral and intellectual world in which they lived." Read more
16 Mar 1856: Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France (died 1879) Napoléon, Prince Imperial, also known as Louis-Napoléon, was the only child of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, and Empress Eugénie. After his father was dethroned in 1870, he moved to England with his family. On his father's death in January 1873, he was proclaimed by the Bonapartist faction as Napoléon IV. Read more
16 Mar 1851: Otto Bardenhewer, German theologian (died 1935) Bertram Otto Bardenhewer was a German Catholic patrologist. His Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur is a standard work, re-issued in 2008. For Bardenhewer, a patrologist was not a literary historian of the Church Fathers, but a historian of dogmatic definitions. Read more
16 Mar 1851: Martinus Beijerinck, Dutch microbiologist and botanist (died 1931) Martinus Willem Beijerinck was a Dutch microbiologist and botanist who was one of the founders of virology and environmental microbiology. He is credited with the co-discovery of viruses (1898), which he called "contagium vivum fluidum". Read more
16 Mar 1848: Axel Heiberg, Norwegian financier and diplomat (died 1932) Axel Heiberg was a Norwegian diplomat and financier as well as a patron of the arts and sciences. Read more
16 Mar 1846: Gösta Mittag-Leffler, Swedish mathematician and academic (died 1927) Magnus Gustaf "Gösta" Mittag-Leffler was a Swedish mathematician. His mathematical contributions are connected chiefly with the theory of functions that today is called complex analysis. He founded the prestigious mathematical periodical Acta Mathematica and was its editor for 40 years. Read more
16 Mar 1846: Rebecca Cole, American physician and social reformer (died 1922) Rebecca J. Cole was an American physician, organization founder and social reformer. In 1867, she became the second African-American woman to become a doctor in the United States, after Rebecca Lee Crumpler three years earlier. Throughout her life she faced racial and gender-based barriers to her medical education, training in all-female institutions which were run by the first generation of graduating female physicians. Read more
16 Mar 1846: Jurgis Bielinis, Lithuanian book smuggler (died 1918) Jurgis Bielinis was one of the main organizers of the illegal book-smuggling at the time of the Lithuanian press ban (1864–1904). Bielinis is informally referred to as the King of Book Smugglers. Since 1989, Bielinis's birthday is commemorated as the Day of Book Smugglers. Read more
16 Mar 1845: Umegatani Tōtarō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 15th Yokozuna (died 1928) Umegatani Tōtarō I was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from the town of Haki, Chikuzen Province, now Shiwa, Fukuoka Prefecture. He was the sport's 15th yokozuna. He was generally regarded as the strongest wrestler to emerge since the era of Tanikaze and Raiden. Read more
16 Mar 1840: Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (died 1931) Shibusawa Eiichi, 1st Viscount Shibusawa was a Japanese business magnate widely known today as the "Father of Japanese capitalism", having introduced Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double-entry accounting, joint-stock corporations and modern note-issuing banks. Read more
16 Mar 1840: Georg von der Gabelentz, German linguist and sinologist (died 1893) Georg von der Gabelentz was a German general linguist and sinologist. His Chinesische Grammatik (1881), according to a critic, "remains until today recognized as probably the finest overall grammatical survey of the Classical Chinese language to date." Read more
16 Mar 1839: Sully Prudhomme, French poet and critic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1907) René François Armand "Sully" Prudhomme was a French poet and essayist. He was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901. Read more
16 Mar 1839: John Butler Yeats, Irish painter (died 1922) John Butler Yeats RHA was an Irish artist and the father of W. B. Yeats, Lily Yeats, Elizabeth Corbett "Lollie" Yeats and Jack Butler Yeats. The National Gallery of Ireland holds a number of his portraits in oil and works on paper, including one of his portraits of his son William, painted in 1900. Read more
16 Mar 1836: Andrew Smith Hallidie, English-American engineer and inventor (died 1900) Andrew Smith Hallidie was an American entrepreneur who was the promoter of the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco. This was the world's first practical cable car system, and Hallidie is often therefore regarded as the inventor of the cable car and father of the present day San Francisco cable car system, although both claims are open to dispute. He also introduced the manufacture of wire rope to California, and at an early age was a prolific builder of bridges in the Californian interior. Read more
16 Mar 1834: James Hector, Scottish geologist and surgeon (died 1907) Sir James Hector was a Scottish-New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon who accompanied the Palliser Expedition as a surgeon and geologist. He went on to have a lengthy career as a government employed man of science in New Zealand, and during this period he dominated the colony's scientific institutions in a way that no single person has since. Read more
16 Mar 1828: Émile Deshayes de Marcère, French politician (died 1918) Émile-Louis-Gustave Deshayes de Marcère was a French politician. Read more
16 Mar 1825: Camilo Castelo Branco, Portuguese writer (died 1890) Camilo Castelo Branco, 1st Viscount of Correia Botelho, was a prolific Portuguese writer of the 19th century, having produced over 260 books. His writing is considered original in that it combines the dramatic and sentimental spirit of Romanticism with a highly personal combination of sarcasm, bitterness and dark humour. He is also celebrated for his peculiar wit and anecdotal character, as well as for his turbulent life. Read more
16 Mar 1823: William Henry Monk, English organist and composer (died 1889) William Henry Monk was an English organist, Anglican church musician, and music editor who composed popular hymn tunes, including "Eventide", used for the hymn "Abide with Me", and "All Things Bright and Beautiful". He also wrote music for church services and anthems. Read more
16 Mar 1822: Rosa Bonheur, French painter and sculptor (died 1899) Rosa Bonheur was a French artist known best as a painter of animals (animalière). She also made sculptures in a realist style. Her paintings include Ploughing in the Nivernais, first exhibited at the Salon of 1849, and now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and The Horse Fair, which was exhibited at the Salon of 1853 and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Bonheur was widely considered to be the most famous female painter of the nineteenth century. Read more
16 Mar 1822: John Pope, American general (died 1892) John Pope was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He had a brief successful stint in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the East. Read more
16 Mar 1821: Eduard Heine, German mathematician and academic (died 1881) Heinrich Eduard Heine was a German mathematician. Read more
16 Mar 1820: Enrico Tamberlik, Italian tenor (died 1889) Enrico Tamberlik was an Italian dramatic tenor who sang to great acclaim at Europe and America's leading opera venues. He excelled in the heroic roles of the Italian and French repertories and was renowned for his powerful declamation and clarion high notes. Read more
16 Mar 1819: José Paranhos, Brazilian politician (died 1880) José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco, was a Brazilian politician, monarchist, diplomat, teacher and journalist. Rio Branco was born in Salvador, in what was then the Captaincy of Bahia, to a wealthy family, but most of the fortune was lost after his parents' deaths early in his childhood. In 1871, Rio Branco became the president of the Council of Ministers. He would be the Council's longest-serving president, and his cabinet the second longest, in Brazilian history. His government was marked by economic prosperity and several reforms. The most important of these initiatives was the Law of Free Birth, which granted freeborn status to children born to slave women. Rio Branco led the government that enacted this law, and its passage increased his popularity. His government was plagued by a long crisis with the Catholic Church that resulted from the expulsion of Freemasons from its lay brotherhoods. After more than four years heading the Cabinet, Rio Branco resigned in 1875. Following a long vacation in Europe, his health swiftly declined and he was diagnosed with oral cancer. Rio Branco died in 1880 and was widely mourned throughout the country. He is regarded by most historians as one of Brazil's greatest statesmen. Read more
16 Mar 1813: Gaëtan de Rochebouët, French prime minister (died 1899) Gaëtan de Grimaudet, comte de Rochebouët was a French general who served as Prime Minister for less than a month in late 1877. Read more
16 Mar 1808: Hannah T. King, British-born American writer and pioneer (died 1886) Hannah Dorcas Tapfield King was a 19th-century British-born American writer and pioneer. After converting to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England in 1850, her family emigrated to Utah in 1853 where she became endeared to the people of that state. She was the author of Songs of the Heart, several poems, and writings addressed to young readers. She was the last of 56 women sealed to Brigham Young. Read more
16 Mar 1806: Félix De Vigne, Belgian painter (died 1862) Félix De Vigne was a Belgian painter.
He was a history painter, engraver, art historian, and instructor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, the city of his birth. In 1847, he published Recherches historiques sur les costumes civils et militaires, an illustrated compendium of the flags, shields and costumes of medieval guilds and military groups. Read more
16 Mar 1805: Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (died 1861) Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, known as Ernst von Lasaulx was a German philologist and politician. Read more
16 Mar 1800: Emperor Ninkō of Japan (died 1846) Emperor Ninkō was the 120th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Ninkō's reign spanned the years from 1817 until his death in 1846, and saw further deterioration of the power of the ruling shōgun. Disasters, which included famine, combined with corruption and increasing Western interference, helped to erode public trust in the bakufu government. Emperor Ninkō revived certain court rituals and practices upon the wishes of his father. However, it is unknown what role, if any, the Emperor had in the turmoil which occurred during his reign. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 16 March in World History

16 Mar 2025: Émilie Dequenne, Belgian actress (born 1981) Émilie Dequenne was a Belgian actress. She first gained recognition for her role in the Dardenne brothers' film Rosetta (1999), which earned her the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress. The film also won the Palme d'Or at the festival. Read more
16 Mar 2025: Jesse Colin Young, American singer and songwriter (born 1941) Perry Miller, known professionally as Jesse Colin Young, was an American singer and songwriter. He was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s group the Youngbloods. After their dissolution in 1972, Young embarked on a solo career, releasing a series of albums through Warner Bros. Records, including Song for Juli (1973), Light Shine (1974), Songbird (1975), and the live album On the Road (1976). Young continued to release music in the 1980s with Elektra Records and Cypress Records, before deciding to release music through his personal label, Ridgetop Music, in 1993. After the Mount Vision Fire in 1995, Young relocated with his family to a coffee plantation in Hawaii, periodically releasing music. Young was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease in 2012, and decided to retire from music. He began performing again in 2016 with his son Tristan, releasing a new album Dreamers in 2019 through BMG. Read more
16 Mar 2019: Dick Dale, American surf-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter (born 1937) Richard Anthony Monsour, known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known as "The King of the Surf Guitar," which was also the title of his second studio album. Read more
16 Mar 2018: Louise Slaughter, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York (born 1929) Dorothy Louise Slaughter was an American politician elected to 16 terms as a United States representative from New York, serving from 1987 until her death in 2018. Read more
16 Mar 2017: Lewis Rowland, American neurologist (born 1925) Lewis Phillip "Bud" Rowland was an American neurologist. He served as president of the American Neurological Association (1980–81) and the American Academy of Neurology (1989–91). He was editor of the journal Neurology from 1977 to 1987 and of the newspaper Neurology Today from 2000 to 2009. He authored over 500 scientific articles, with a research emphasis on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy. He was chair of the neurology department at Columbia University for 25 years, where he established the H. Houston Merritt Clinical Research Center for Muscular Dystrophy and Related Diseases as well as the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center. Read more
16 Mar 2016: Alexander Esenin-Volpin, Russian-American mathematician and poet (born 1924) Alexander Sergeyevich Esenin-Volpin was a Russian-American poet and mathematician known for his foundational role in ultrafinitism. Esenin-Volpin was a prominent Soviet dissident and a leader of the Soviet human rights movement during the 1960s. Read more
16 Mar 2016: Frank Sinatra Jr., American singer and actor (born 1944) Francis Wayne Sinatra, known professionally as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American jazz and big band singer, songwriter, and conductor. He was the second child and only son of singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy Barbato Sinatra, the younger brother of singer and actress Nancy Sinatra, and the older brother of television producer Tina Sinatra. Read more
16 Mar 2015: Jack Haley, American basketball player and sportscaster (born 1964) Jack Kevin Haley was an American professional basketball player. Read more
16 Mar 2015: Don Robertson, American pianist and composer (born 1922) Donald Irwin Robertson was an American songwriter and pianist, in country and popular music genres. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. As a performer, he hit the US Top 10 with "The Happy Whistler" in 1956. The track reached No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart the same year. It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Read more
16 Mar 2014: Gary Bettenhausen, American race car driver (born 1941) Gary Bettenhausen was an American racing car driver. He was the winner the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred. Read more
16 Mar 2014: Donald Crothers, American chemist and academic (born 1937) Donald Crothers was a professor of chemistry at Yale University in the United States. He was best known for his
work on nucleic acid structure and function. Read more
16 Mar 2014: Yulisa Pat Amadu Maddy, Sierra Leonean author, poet, and playwright (born 1936) Yulisa Amadu Pat Maddy was a Sierra Leonean writer, poet, actor, dancer, director and playwright. Known by his friends and colleagues as Pat Maddy or simply Prof, he had an "immense impact" on theatre in Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Zambia. Read more
16 Mar 2014: Steve Moore, English author and illustrator (born 1949) Steve Moore was a British comics writer. Read more
16 Mar 2014: Alexander Pochinok, Russian economist and politician (born 1958) Alexander Petrovich Pochinok was a Russian economist and politician. He was the minister of taxes and levies from 1999 to 2000 and minister of labor and social development from 2000 to 2004. Read more
16 Mar 2013: Jamal Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi physicist and cosmologist (born 1939) Jamal Nazrul Islam FRAS was a Bangladeshi mathematical physicist and cosmologist. He was a professor at University of Chittagong, served as a member of the advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and member of the syndicate at Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology until his death. He also served as the director of the Research Center for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (RCMPS) at the University of Chittagong. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2000 by the Government of Bangladesh. Read more
16 Mar 2013: José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz, Argentinian economist and politician, Minister of Economy of Argentina (born 1925) José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was an Argentine lawyer, businessman, and economist. He was the Minister of Economy of Argentina during the country's last military dictatorship (1976—1983), and shaped the economic policy of the dictatorship until its end. Read more
16 Mar 2013: Yadier Pedroso, Cuban pitcher (born 1986) Yadier Pedroso González, was a right-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Cuban national baseball team and La Habana of the Cuban National Series. Pedroso was part of the Cuban team at the 2006 and 2013 World Baseball Classics. Read more
16 Mar 2013: Ruchoma Shain, American-born teacher and author (born 1914) Ruchoma Shain (Hebrew: רוחומה שיין; 6 December 1914 – 16 March 2013) was an American-born rebbetzin, English teacher, and author. She is best known for her first book, All for the Boss (1984), a biography of her father, Yaakov Yosef Herman, which she wrote in her late sixties. In detailing her father's life, she also describes Orthodox Jewish life in America in the early 1900s. All for the Boss became one of the all-time best-sellers for Feldheim Publishers, and Shain's stories and observations are quoted by numerous authors. Read more
16 Mar 2013: Marina Solodkin, Russian-Israeli academic and politician (born 1952) Marina Solodkin was an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset for Yisrael BaAliyah, Likud and Kadima. Read more
16 Mar 2013: Frank Thornton, English actor (born 1921) Frank Thornton Ball, professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was best known for playing Captain Peacock in the television sitcom Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Herbert "Truly" Truelove in television sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. Read more
16 Mar 2012: Donald E. Hillman, American colonel and pilot (born 1918) Donald Edison Hillman was an American World War II flying ace and prisoner of war credited with five enemy aircraft destroyed. He was also the first American pilot, in 1952, to make a deep-penetration overflight of Soviet territory for the purpose of aerial reconnaissance. Read more
16 Mar 2012: Takaaki Yoshimoto, Japanese poet, philosopher, and critic (born 1924) Takaaki Yoshimoto , also known as Ryūmei Yoshimoto, was a Japanese poet, philosopher, and literary critic. As a philosopher, he is remembered as a founding figure in the emergence of the New Left in Japan, and as a critic, he was at the forefront of a movement to force writers to confront their responsibility as wartime collaborators. Read more
16 Mar 2011: Richard Wirthlin, American religious leader (born 1931) Richard Bitner Wirthlin was a prominent American pollster, who is best known as Ronald Reagan's chief strategist, serving as his political consultant and pollster for twenty years, from 1968 through the end of his presidency. He became a senior adviser and member of Reagan's inner circle and is known to have helped him shape his political message and strategies, both in presidential campaigns and in the White House. Wirthlin also was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a member of its Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1996 to 2001. Read more
16 Mar 2010: Ksenija Pajčin, Serbian singer, dancer and model (born 1977) Ksenija Pajčin was a Serbian singer, dancer and model popular in Serbia and the other former Yugoslav republics. Sometimes referred to as Xenia or Ksenia. Read more
16 Mar 2008: Bill Brown, Australian cricketer and soldier (born 1912) William Alfred Brown, was an Australian cricketer who played 22 Test matches between 1934 and 1948, captaining his country in one Test. A right-handed opening batsman, his partnership with Jack Fingleton in the 1930s is regarded as one of the finest in Australian Test history. After the interruption of World War II, Brown was a member of the team dubbed "The Invincibles", who toured England in 1948 without defeat under the leadership of Don Bradman. In a match in November 1947, Brown was the unwitting victim of the first instance of "Mankading". Read more
16 Mar 2008: Ivan Dixon, American actor, director, and producer (born 1931) Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes, and for his starring roles in the 1964 independent drama Nothing But a Man and the 1967 television film The Final War of Olly Winter. In addition, he directed many episodes of television series. Read more
16 Mar 2008: Gary Hart, American wrestler and manager (born 1942) Gary Richard Williams was an American professional wrestling manager, as well as a professional wrestler in his early career, best known by his ring name Gary Hart. Hart was one of the pivotal driving forces behind what is considered to be World Class Championship Wrestling's "golden years" in the early 1980s. Read more
16 Mar 2007: Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (born 1984) Manjural Islam Rana, also known as Qazi Manjural Islam, was a Bangladeshi cricketer who played six Tests and 25 One Day Internationals for Bangladesh. Born in Khulna, he was a slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler. He played for Khulna Division at domestic level and made his One Day International (ODI) debut in November 2003 against England. Three months later, Rana played his first Test against Zimbabwe. On 16 March 2007, he died of severe head injuries sustained in a road accident in Khulna at the age of 22. Read more
16 Mar 2005: Todd Bell, American football player (born 1958) Todd Anthony Bell was an American professional football player who was a safety for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) during the early 1980s. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Read more
16 Mar 2005: Ralph Erskine, English architect, designed The London Ark (born 1914) Ralph Erskine ARIBA was a British architect and planner who lived and worked in Sweden for most of his life. Read more
16 Mar 2005: Dick Radatz, American baseball player (born 1937) Richard Raymond Radatz was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "The Monster", the 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), 230 lb (100 kg) right-hander had a scorching but short-lived period of dominance for the Boston Red Sox in the early 1960s. Radatz is reported to have gotten his nickname during a game against the New York Yankees in Boston in 1963 in which he came in to pitch with the bases loaded and no one out. He consecutively struck out Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Elston Howard, after which Mantle grumbled about Radatz being "that monster". Over his career, Radatz struck out Hall of Famer Mantle 44 times in 63 at-bats. Read more
16 Mar 2004: Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (born 1910) Vilém Tauský CBE was a Czech conductor and composer. From the advent of the Second World War, he lived and worked in the United Kingdom, and was one of a significant group of émigré composers and musicians who settled there. Read more
16 Mar 2003: Rachel Corrie, American activist (born 1979) Rachel Aliene Corrie was an American nonviolence activist and diarist. She was a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and was active throughout the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. In 2003, she was in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip then under Israeli occupation, where the demolishment of Palestinian houses by Israeli forces was taking place at the height of the Second Intifada. While protesting the demolitions as they were being carried out, she was killed by an Israeli armored bulldozer that crushed her. Read more
16 Mar 2003: Ronald Ferguson, English captain, polo player, and manager (born 1931) Major Ronald Ivor Ferguson, OStJ was a British Army officer and polo manager, initially to the Duke of Edinburgh and later, for many years, to the then Charles, Prince of Wales. His daughter, Sarah Ferguson, is the former wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly The Prince Andrew, Duke of York. He was the maternal grandfather of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. Read more
16 Mar 2001: Bob Wollek, French race car driver (born 1943) Robert Jean "Bob" Wollek, nicknamed "Brilliant Bob", was a race car driver from Strasbourg, France. He won a total of 76 races in his career, 71 in Porsche cars, including four editions of the 24 Hours of Daytona and one edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring. He died in a road accident in Florida while riding a bicycle back to his accommodation after the day's practice sessions for the following day's race, the 12 Hours of Sebring. Read more
16 Mar 2000: Thomas Ferebee, American colonel and pilot (born 1918) Thomas Wilson Ferebee was the bombardier aboard the B-29 Superfortress, Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic bomb "Little Boy" on Hiroshima in 1945. Read more
16 Mar 2000: Pavel Prudnikau, Belarusian poet and author (born 1911) Pavel Ivanovich Prudnikau was a Belarusian writer. He was a cousin of another Belarusian writer, Ales Prudnikau. Read more
16 Mar 2000: Michael Starr, Canadian judge and politician, 16th Canadian Minister of Labour (born 1910) Michael Starr, was a Canadian politician and the first Canadian cabinet minister of Ukrainian descent, his parents having emigrated from Halychyna (Galicia), then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now Western Ukraine. Read more
16 Mar 2000: Carlos Velázquez, Puerto Rican pitcher (born 1948) Carlos Quiñones Velázquez [″Carlín″] was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Listed at 5' 11", 180 lb., he batted and threw right handed. Read more
16 Mar 1999: Gratien Gélinas, Canadian actor, director, and playwright (born 1909) Gratien Gélinas, was a Canadian writer, playwright, actor, director, producer and administrator who is considered one of the founders of modern Canadian theatre and film. Read more
16 Mar 1998: Derek Barton, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918) Sir Derek Harold Richard Barton was an English organic chemist and Nobel Prize laureate for 1969. Read more
16 Mar 1998: Esther Bubley, American photographer (born 1921) Esther Bubley was an American photographer who specialized in expressive photos of ordinary people in everyday lives. She worked for several agencies of the American government and her work also featured in several news and photographic magazines. Read more
16 Mar 1994: Eric Show, American baseball player (born 1956) Eric Vaughn Show was an American professional baseball player who was a pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the San Diego Padres and holds the team record for most career wins (100). Show was a member of the first Padres team to play in the World Series in 1984. On September 11, 1985, he surrendered Pete Rose's record-breaking 4,192nd career hit. Read more
16 Mar 1992: Yves Rocard, French physicist and engineer (born 1903) Yves-André Rocard was a French physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb for France. Read more
16 Mar 1991: Chris Austin, American country singer (born 1964) Christopher Clay Austin was an American country music singer. Austin was signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988 and charted three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. His highest-charting single, "Blues Stay Away from Me," was included on the 1989 compilation album New Tradition Sings the Old Tradition. Austin also co-wrote Ricky Skaggs' 1991 single "Same Ol' Love." Read more
16 Mar 1991: Jean Bellette, Australian artist (born 1908) Jean Bellette was an Australian artist. Born in Tasmania, she was educated in Hobart and at Julian Ashton's art school in Sydney, where one of her teachers was Thea Proctor. In London she studied under painters Bernard Meninsky and Mark Gertler. Read more
16 Mar 1990: Ernst Bacon, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1898) Ernst Lecher Bacon was an American composer, pianist, and conductor. A prolific composer, Bacon wrote over 250 songs over his career. He was awarded three Guggenheim Fellowships and a Pulitzer Scholarship in 1932 for his Second Symphony. Read more
16 Mar 1988: Jigger Statz, American baseball player (born 1897) Arnold John "Jigger" Statz was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. An outfielder, Statz appeared in 683 games played in Major League Baseball, but had a lengthy and notable minor league career, playing in almost 2,800 games. He is one of only nine players known to have amassed at least 4,000 combined hits in the major and minor leagues. The native of Waukegan, Illinois, threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall and 150 pounds (68 kg). Read more
16 Mar 1988: Mickey Thompson, American race car driver (born 1928) Marion Lee "Mickey" Thompson was an American auto racing builder and promoter. Read more
16 Mar 1985: Roger Sessions, American composer, critic, and educator (born 1896) Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, teacher, and writer on music. He had started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved towards complex harmonies and postromanticism, and finally the twelve-tone serialism of the Second Viennese School. Sessions's friendship with Arnold Schoenberg influenced him, but he modified his technique to a unique style involving rows to supply melodic themes, while composing subsidiary parts freely. Read more
16 Mar 1985: Eddie Shore, Canadian-American ice hockey player (born 1902) Edward William Shore was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League. Iconic for his aggressiveness, toughness and defensive skill, he was called both "Old Blood and Guts" and "the Edmonton Express." In 2017, Shore was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Read more
16 Mar 1983: Arthur Godfrey, American actor and television host (born 1903) Arthur Morton Godfrey was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid-1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days a week, at times for as many as nine separate broadcasts for CBS. His programs included Arthur Godfrey Time, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, The Arthur Godfrey Digest and King Arthur Godfrey and His Round Table. Read more
16 Mar 1983: Fred Rose, Polish-Canadian politician (born 1907) Fred Rose was a Polish-Canadian politician and trade union organizer, best known for being the only member of the Canadian Parliament to ever be convicted of a charge related to spying for a foreign country. A member of the Communist Party of Canada and Labor-Progressive Party, he served as the MP for Cartier from 1943 to 1947. He was expelled from his seat after being found guilty of conspiring to steal weapons research for the Soviet Union. Read more
16 Mar 1979: Jean Monnet, French economist and politician (born 1888) Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, and administrator. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered one of the founding fathers of the European Union. Read more
16 Mar 1977: Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese lawyer and politician (born 1917) Kamal Fouad Jumblatt was a Lebanese politician and za'im, who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. He was a major ally of the Palestine Liberation Organization until his assassination in 1977. He authored more than 40 books centred on various political, philosophical, literary, religious, medical, social, and economic topics. In September 1972, Kamal Jumblatt received the International Lenin Peace Prize. He is the father of the Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and the son-in-law of the Arab writer and politician Shakib Arslan. Read more
16 Mar 1975: T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1910) Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 67 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Read more
16 Mar 1972: Pie Traynor, American baseball player (born 1898) Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor was an American third baseman, manager, scout and radio broadcaster in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career between 1920 and 1937 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Traynor had a .320 career batting average, batting over .300 ten times with seven seasons with over 100 runs batted in (RBI). With home runs limited by playing in Forbes Field, the most difficult park for power hitting in the National League (NL), he compensated by reaching double digits in triples eleven times, leading the league in 1923. He batted .346 in the 1925 World Series to help the Pirates take their first championship in 16 years. Read more
16 Mar 1971: Bebe Daniels, American actress (born 1901) Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer. Read more
16 Mar 1971: Thomas E. Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 47th Governor of New York (born 1902) Thomas Edmund Dewey was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States in 1944 and 1948, losing the former election to Franklin D. Roosevelt and the latter election to Harry S. Truman in a major upset. Read more
16 Mar 1970: Tammi Terrell, American singer (born 1945) Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, professionally known as Tammi Terrell, was an American singer-songwriter, widely known as a star singer for Motown Records during the 1960s, notably for a series of duets with singer Marvin Gaye. Read more
16 Mar 1968: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American pianist and composer (born 1895) Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In 1939 he emigrated to the United States and became a film composer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for some 200 Hollywood movies for the next fifteen years. He also wrote concertos for Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky. Read more
16 Mar 1968: Gunnar Ekelöf, Swedish poet and translator (born 1907) Bengt Gunnar Ekelöf was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958. He won a number of prizes for his poetry. Read more
16 Mar 1967: Thomas MacGreevy, Irish poet (born 1893) Thomas MacGreevy was a pivotal figure in the history of Irish literary modernism. A poet, he was also director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1950 to 1963 and served on the first Irish Arts Council. Read more
16 Mar 1965: Alice Herz, German activist (born 1882) Alice Jeanette Herz was a German feminist, anti-fascist and peace activist. She was the first person in the United States known to have immolated herself in protest of the escalating Vietnam War, following the example of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức who immolated himself in protest of the oppression of Buddhists under the South Vietnamese government of Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem. Read more
16 Mar 1963: Laura Adams Armer, American author and photographer (born 1874) Laura Adams Armer was an American artist and writer. In 1932, her novel Waterless Mountain won the Newbery Medal. She was also an early photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more
16 Mar 1961: Chen Geng, Chinese general and politician (born 1903) Geng Chen was a Chinese military officer who served as a senior general in the People's Liberation Army. Enlisting in a warlord's army at the age of 13, Geng Chen joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1922 and was accepted into Whampoa Military Academy in 1924. He approached Chiang Kai-shek and even saved his life by preventing him from committing suicide. He served as a Communist spy in the National Revolutionary Army for 6 years. After being discovered, he joined the Communist base in Jiangxi and participated in the Long March. He fought the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and then the Nationalists during the Chinese Civil War. Once victory was obtained, he went to Vietnam to help Hồ Chí Minh against the French during the First Indochina War and then participated in the Korean War with the People's Volunteer Army. He became a senior general in 1955. He then founded an academy of military technologies but died before finalizing the ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Read more
16 Mar 1961: Václav Talich, Czech violinist and conductor (born 1883) Václav Talich was a Czech conductor, violinist and later a musical pedagogue. He is remembered today as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, the object of countless reissues of his many recordings. Read more
16 Mar 1958: Leon Cadore, American baseball player (born 1891) Leon Joseph Cadore was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1924. Read more
16 Mar 1957: Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian-French sculptor, painter, and photographer (born 1876) Constantin Brâncuși was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism, Brâncuși is called the patriarch of modern sculpture. As a child, he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1905 to 1907. His art emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Brâncuși sought inspiration in non-European cultures as a source of primitive exoticism, as did Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, André Derain, and others. However, other influences emerge from Romanian folk art traceable through Byzantine and Dionysian traditions. Read more
16 Mar 1955: Nicolas de Staël, French-Russian painter and illustrator (born 1914) Nicolas de Staël was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration, and textiles. Read more
16 Mar 1945: Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (born 1874) Börries Albrecht Conon August Heinrich Freiherr von Münchhausen was a German poet and Nazi activist. Read more
16 Mar 1940: Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1858) Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf was a Swedish writer. She published her first novel, Gösta Berling's Saga, at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which she was awarded in 1909. In 1914, she was the first woman to be granted a membership of the Swedish Academy. Read more
16 Mar 1937: Austen Chamberlain, English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1863) Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain was a British statesman, Nobel Peace Prize winner, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 45 years, as Chancellor of the Exchequer (twice) and was briefly Conservative Party leader before serving as Foreign Secretary. Read more
16 Mar 1937: Alexander von Staël-Holstein, Estonian orientalist and sinologist (born 1877) Alexander Wilhelm Freiherr Staël von Holstein was a Baltic German aristocrat, Russian and Estonian orientalist, sinologist, and Sanskritologist specializing in Buddhist texts. Read more
16 Mar 1936: Marguerite Durand, French actress, journalist, and activist (born 1864) Marguerite Durand was a French stage actress, journalist, and a leading suffragette. She founded her own newspaper, and ran for election. She is also known for having a pet lion. The Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand was named in her honour for her contributions to the women's suffrage movement in France. Read more
16 Mar 1935: John Macleod, Scottish physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1876) John James Rickard Macleod,, was a Scottish biochemist and physiologist. He devoted his career to diverse topics in physiology and biochemistry, but was chiefly interested in carbohydrate metabolism. He is noted for his role in the discovery and isolation of insulin during his tenure as a lecturer at the University of Toronto, for which he and Frederick Banting received the 1923 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine. Awarding the prize to Macleod was controversial at the time, because according to Banting's version of events, Macleod's role in the discovery was negligible. It was not until decades after the events that an independent review acknowledged a far greater role than was attributed to him at first. Read more
16 Mar 1935: Aron Nimzowitsch, Latvian-Danish chess player (born 1886) Aron Nimzowitsch was a Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimzowitsch was one of the best chess players in the world. He was the foremost figure amongst the hypermoderns and wrote a very influential book on chess theory: My System (1925–1927). Nimzowitsch's seminal work Chess Praxis, originally published in Germany, in 1929, was purchased by a pre-teen and future World Champion Tigran Petrosian and was to have a great influence on his development as a chess player. Read more
16 Mar 1930: Miguel Primo de Rivera, Spanish general and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (born 1870) Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, GE, was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Bourbon Restoration. Read more
16 Mar 1925: August von Wassermann, German bacteriologist and hygienist (born 1866) August Paul von Wassermann was a German bacteriologist and hygienist. Read more
16 Mar 1914: Gaston Calmette, French journalist (born 1858) Gaston Calmette was a French journalist and newspaper editor, whose murder was the subject of a notable murder trial. Read more
16 Mar 1914: Charles Albert Gobat, Swiss lawyer and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1843) Charles Albert Gobat was a Swiss lawyer, educational administrator, and politician who jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize with Élie Ducommun in 1902 for their leadership of the Permanent International Peace Bureau. Read more
16 Mar 1914: John Murray, Scottish oceanographer, biologist, and limnologist (born 1841) Sir John Murray was a pioneering Canadian-born British oceanographer, marine biologist and limnologist. He is considered to be the father of modern oceanography. Read more
16 Mar 1912: Max Burckhard, Austrian theater director (born 1854) Max Eugen Burckhard was director of the Burgtheater, Vienna, from 1890 to 1898. Read more
16 Mar 1907: John O'Leary, Irish republican and journalist (born 1830) John O'Leary was an Irish separatist and a leading Fenian. He studied both law and medicine but did not take a degree and for his involvement in the Irish Republican Brotherhood, he was imprisoned for five years in England during the nineteenth century. Read more
16 Mar 1903: Roy Bean, American justice of the peace (born 1825) Phantly Roy Bean Jr. was an American saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, Texas, who called himself "The Only Law West of the Pecos." He held court in his saloon along the Rio Grande in a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert. Legend records his jurisprudence as thoroughly abnormal and in many instances comical. Although remembered as a hanging judge who said "hang 'em first and try 'em later," he never had anyone hanged. Read more
16 Mar 1899: Joseph Medill, American journalist and politician, 26th Mayor of Chicago (born 1823) Joseph Medill was a Canadian-American newspaper editor, publisher, and Republican Party politician. He was co-owner and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, and he was Mayor of Chicago from after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 until 1873. Read more
16 Mar 1898: Aubrey Beardsley, English author and illustrator (born 1872) Aubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the aesthetic movement, which also included Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler. Beardsley's contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau and poster styles was significant despite his early death from tuberculosis. He is one of the important Modern Style figures. Read more
16 Mar 1892: Samuel F. Miller, American politician (born 1827) Samuel Franklin Miller was a United States representative from New York during the latter half of the American Civil War. Read more
16 Mar 1888: Hippolyte Carnot, French politician (born 1801) Lazare Hippolyte Carnot was a French politician.
He was the younger brother of the founder of thermodynamics Sadi Carnot and the
second son of the revolutionary politician and general Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot, who also served in the government
of Napoleon, as well as the father of French president Marie François Sadi Carnot. Read more
16 Mar 1884: Art Croft, American baseball player (born 1855) Arthur F. Croft was an American Major League Baseball player. He played for three teams during three-year professional and Major League career. Read more
16 Mar 1868: David Wilmot, American politician, sponsor of Wilmot Proviso (born 1814) David Wilmot was an American politician and judge from Pennsylvania who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, and as a judge of the Court of Claims. He is best known for being the prime sponsor and eponym of the Wilmot Proviso, a failed legislative proposal to ban the expansion of slavery into western territories gained in the Mexican Cession. A northern Democrat when he introduced and supported the Proviso, he subsequently became a notable member of the anti-slavery Free Soil Party. Later, Wilmot was instrumental in establishing the Pennsylvania Republican Party. Read more
16 Mar 1841: Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist (born 1791) Félix Savart was a French physicist and mathematician who is primarily known for the Biot–Savart law of electromagnetism, which he discovered together with his colleague Jean-Baptiste Biot. His main interest was in acoustics and the study of vibrating bodies. A particular interest in the violin led him to create an experimental trapezoidal model. He gave his name to the savart, a unit of measurement for musical intervals, and to Savart's wheel—a device he used while investigating the range of human hearing. Read more
16 Mar 1838: Nathaniel Bowditch, American ocean navigator and mathematician (born 1773) Nathaniel Bowditch was an early American mathematician remembered for his work on ocean navigation. He is often credited as the founder of modern maritime navigation; his book The New American Practical Navigator, first published in 1802, is still carried on board every commissioned U.S. Naval vessel. Read more
16 Mar 1804: Henrik Gabriel Porthan, Finnish professor and historian (born 1739) Henrik Gabriel Porthan was a professor and rector at the Royal Academy of Turku, Finland, which was then part of the Kingdom of Sweden. He was a scholar sometimes known as The Father of Finnish History. Porthan's legacy greatly influenced the rise of the Finnish national culture and romanticism of the early 19th century. Read more

Why is 16 March Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 16 March, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 16 March in World history?

On 16 March, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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