On this day in History - Mar. 18

• 3952 BC - According to the Venerable Bede, the world was created.
• 0037 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Caligula emperor.
• 0417 - St Zosimus begins his reign as Catholic Pope .
• 0731 - St Gregory III begins his reign as Catholic Pope .
• 0978 - King Edward the Martyr of England, dies (b. c. 962) .
• 1227 - Pope Honorius III dies (b. 1148).
• 1229 - Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor declares himself King of Jerusalem during the Sixth Crusade.
• 1241 - Kraków ravaged by Mongols.
• 1314 - Jacques de Molay, the 23rd and the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned at the stake. / Morte de Jacques DeMolay, destemido Cavaleiro da Ordem dos Templários, em Paris-França.
• 1395 - John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter was born (d. 1447). English military leader.
• 1438 - Albert II of Habsburg becomes King of Germany.
• 1483 - Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio de Urbino) was born. Italian painter (Sistine Madonna) .
• 1496 - Mary Tudor was born (d. 1533). Daughter of Henry VII of England and queen consort of Louis XII of France.
• 1555 - François, Duke of Anjou was born (d. 1584).
• 1583 - King Magnus of Livonia dies (b. 1540).
• 1584 - Ivan IV of Russia the terrible, dies at 53. Russian tsar (1547-84).
• 1590 - Manuel de Faria e Sousa was born (d. 1649). Portuguese historian and poet.
• 1602 - Jacques de Billy was born (d. 1679). French mathematician.
• 1603 - Simon Bradstreet was born (d. 1693). Massachusetts Bay colonist.
• 1608 - Susenyos formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia
• 1634 - Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette was born (d. 1693). French writer.
• 1640 - Philippe de la Hire was born (d. 1719). French mathematician and astronomer.
• 1657 - Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni was born (d. 1743). Italian composer.
• 1673 - John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Quakers.
• 1675 - Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall dies (b. 1606). Irish soldier.
• 1679 - Matthew Decker was born (d. 1759). English merchant and writer.
• 1685 - Ralph Ersine was born (d. 1752). Scottish minister.
• 1689 - John Dixwell dies (b. 1607). English judge.
• 1690 - Christian Goldbach was born (d. 1764). Prussian mathematician.
• 1696 - Robert Charnock dies. English conspirator
• 1701 - Niclas Sahlgren was born (d. 1776). Swedish merchant and philanthropist.
• 1745 - Sir Robert Walpole dies (b. 1676). Prime Minister of Britain.
• 1746 - Anna Leopoldovna dies (b. 1718). Regent of Russia.
• 1754 - Duke of Newcastle becomes English premier .
• 1764 - Antônio da Madre de Deus Galvão dies (b. 1697). Portuguese catholic religious
• 1766 - American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, which was very unpopular in the British colonies.
• 1768 - Laurence Sterne dies (b. 1713). Irish writer (Sentimental Journey France & Italy).
• 1769 - Em Portugal, é promulgada a Lei da Boa Razão, a qual dá ao direito subsidiário uma nova dimensão no preenchimento das lacunas existentes no campo do direito privado.
• 1780 - Milos Obrenovic was born (d. 1860). Leader of The Second Serbian Uprsing and Prince of Serbia.
• 1781 - Anne Robert Turgot dies (b. 1727). French statesman.
• 1782 - John C. Calhoun was born (d. 1850). Vice President of the United States.
• 1793 - The first republican state in Germany, the Republic of Mainz, is declared by Andreas Joseph Hofmann
• 1793 - 2nd Battle at Neerwinden: Austria army beats France.
• 1813 - Christian Friedrich Hebbel was born (d. 1864). German writer.
• 1823 - Antoine Eugène Alfred Chanzy was born (d. 1883). French general.
• 1823 - Jean-Baptiste Breval dies (b. 1753). French composer.
• 1828 - William Randal Cremer was born (d. 1908). English politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1834 - Six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England are sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
• 1835 - Christian Gunther von Bernstorff dies (b. 1767). Danish and Prussian statesman and diplomat.
• 1837 - Grover Cleveland was born (d. 1908). President of the United States
• 1838 - Sir William Randal Cremer was born. English pacifist Nobel Prize for Peace in 1903.
• 1840 - William Cosmo Monkhouse was born (d. 1901). English poet, critic.
• 1842 - Stéphane Mallarmé was born (d. 1898). French poet.
• 1844 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was born (d. 21 Jun 1908). Russian composer (Scheherazade, Song of India, The Flight of the Bumblebee).
• 1848 - Nathanael Herreshoff was born (d. 1938). American naval architect.
• 1848 - Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll was born (d. 1939). Daughter of Queen Victoria.
• 1850 - American Express is founded by Henry Wells & William Fargo.
• 1856 - La Paz de París pone fin a la Guerra de Crimea.
• 1858 - Rudolf Diesel was born (d. 1913). German inventor of the compression ignition engine.
• 1861 - Tras diecisiete años de independencia, la ex-colonia de Santo Domingo vuelve a pertenecer a España.
• 1865 - American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America adjourns for the last time.
• 1865 - Fusilamiento del patriota mexicano Romero, juzgado por un consejo de guerra francés.
• 1869 - Neville Chamberlain was born (d. 1940). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1870 - Estreia no Scala de Milan a ópera "O guarani", do compositor brasileiro Carlos Gomes .
• 1870 - Joaquín y Garbayo Gaztambide, Spanish composer, dies at 48 .
• 1871 - Declaration of the Paris Commune: President of the French government Thiers orders evacuation of Paris, a socialist government rules the city / Início do movimento revolucionário conhecido pelo nome de Comuna de Paris.
• 1871 - Augustus De Morgan dies (b. 1806). Indian-born British mathematician and logician.
• 1872 - Anna Held was born (d. 1918). Polish actress and singer.
• 1872 - Duarte Borges da Câmara e Medeiros dies (b. 1799). Portuguese noble.
• 1874 - Hawaii signs a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.
• 1874 - Nikolai Berdyaev was born (d. 1948). Russian philosopher.
• 1875 - Portugal - Ginásio Club Português is fiounded
• 1877 - Clem Hill was born (d. 1945). Australian cricketer.
• 1877 - Edgar Cayce was born (d. 1945). American psychic.
• 1879 - Ciro Costa was born in Limeira (SP) (d. 22 May 1937). Brazilian poet
• 1882 - Gian Francesco Malipiero was born (d. 1973). Italian composer .
• 1886 - Edward Everett Horton was born (d. 1970). American actor.
• 1893 - Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best ice hockey team in Canada; originally presented to amateur champions, the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the top pro team since 1910, and since 1926, only to National Hockey League teams.
• 1893 - Costante Girardengo was born (d. 1978). Italian cylist.
• 1893 - Wilfred Owen was born (d. 1918). English poet.
• 1896 - Prestes Maia was born (d. 1965). Brazilian civil engeneer, architect and politician.
• 1897 - Criação das Escolas Normais, para habilitação de professores da instrução primária.
• 1898 - Jake Swirbul was born (d. 1960). American aircraft manufacturer.
• 1898 - Matilda Joslyn Gage dies (b. 1826). American suffragist.
• 1899 - Jean Goldkette was born (d. 1962). Greek-born jazz musician.
• 1900 - Ajax Amsterdam Football Club is founded.
• 1900 - António Nobre dies in Foz do Douro (b. 1867). Portuguese poet (Só [Lonely]) / Morreu o poeta português António Nobre (n. 16 Ago 1867) .
• 1903 - As ordens religiosas são abolidas em França.
• 1903 - O. E. Plauen was born († 1944) . Illustrator and cartoonist
• 1904 - Srečko Kosovel was born († 1926). Slovenian poet
• 1905 - Thomas Townsend Brown was born († 1985). American scientist
• 1905 - Robert Donat was born († 1958). English actor.
• 1906 - Traian Vuia flew a self-propelled heavier-than-air aircraft which took off without any external means.
• 1907 - John Zachary Young was born (d. 1997). Biologist.
• 1907 - Marcellin Berthelot dies (b. 1827). French chemist and politician.
• 1909 - Einar Dessau uses a short-wave radio transmitter becoming the first to broadcast as a ham radio operator.
• 1909 - Ernest Gallo was born (d. 2007). American winemaker.
• 1910 - Chiang Ching-kuo was born († 1988). President of the Republic of China .
• 1911 - Portugal: Criação do Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo.
• 1911 - Smiley Burnette was born (d. 1967). American singer and songwriter.
• 1913 - King George I of Greece is assassinated in the recently liberated liberated city of Thessaloniki.
• 1913 - Werner Molders was born (d. 1941). German WWII pilot
• 1913 - René Clément was born (d. 1996). French film director and screenwriter.
• 1914 - Nascimento de Guerra Peixe (César Guerra-Peixe), compositor erudito moderno, em Petrópolis-RJ.
• 1915 - World War I: Massive naval attack in Battle of Gallipoli. Three battleships are sunk during a failed British & French naval attack on the Dardanelles.
• 1915 - Richard Condon was born († 1996). American novelist.
• 1917 - Frederika of Hanover was born (d. 1981). Queen of the Hellenes.
• 1918 - Al Benton was born († 1968). American baseball player.
• 1918 - Bob Broeg was born († 2005). American sports writer.
• 1919 - Valencia C.F. , Spanish club, is founded.
• 1921 - The second Peace of Riga between Poland and Soviet Union. Despite the recent Polish successes, Soviets annex Ukraine and Belarus. Government of Ukraine emigrates to France. Famine kills millions of Russians.
• 1922 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience. He would serve only 2 years.
• 1922 - The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City.
• 1922 - Egon Bahr was born. German politician
• 1923 - Andy Granatelli was born. American motorsports entrepreneur.
• 1925 - The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people.
• 1926 - Augusto Abelaira was born in Ançã, Cantanhede. Portuguese writer.
• 1926 - Peter Graves was born. American actor (Mission Impossible, The Winds of War, Airplane, Airplane 2, Stalag 17, The President’s Plane is Missing, The Night of the Hunter) .
• 1926 - Dick Littlefield was born (d. 1997). American baseball player.
• 1927 - John Kander was born. American songwriter.
• 1927 - George Plimpton was born († 2003). American writer and actor.
• 1928 - Julia Mullock was born. Princess of Korea
• 1928 - Fidel V. Ramos was born. President of the Philippines
• 1928 - Miguel Poblet was born. Spanish cyclist
• 1929 - John Macurdy was born. American bass
• 1930 - Pluto is discovered by Clyde Tombaugh (USA) .
• 1930 - Pat Halcox was born. British musician
• 1931 - Juan Bautista Aznar becomes premier of Spain.
• 1931 - John Fraser was born. Scottish-born stage, film and televison actor
• 1932 - Real Zaragoza Club de Fútbol is founded.
• 1932 - John Updike was born. American author The Witches of Eastwicke, Rabbit Run .
• 1933 - Radio Clube de Mocambique's, 1st radio transmission.
• 1935 - Ole Barndorff-Nielsen was born. Danish mathematician.
• 1936 - Frederik Willem de Klerk was born. President of South Africa [1989-1994]; recipient [with Nelson Mandela] of Nobel Peace Prize [1993] for democratization of South Africa.
• 1936 - Eleutherios Venizelos dies (b. 1864). Former Prime minister of Greece
• 1937 - A natural gas explosion at the New London School kills three hundred, mostly children.
• 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Spanish Republican forces hand theItalian forces a grave defeat at the Battle of Guadalajara.
• 1937 - The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) outside Milan.
• 1937 - Rudi Altig was born. German cyclist.
• 1937 - Mark Donohue was born (d. 1975). American auto racer - Indianapolis 500 winner [1972]; killed practicing for Austrian Grand Prix at Graz, Austria (19 Aug 1975).
• 1938 - Mexico under the President Lázaro Cárdenas, nationalizes all foreign-owned oil properties within its borders.
• 1938 - Charley Pride was born. American country musician.
• 1938 - Shashi Kapoor was born. Indian actor.
• 1939 - Giannis Markopoulos was born. Greek composer.
• 1939 - Ron Atkinson was born. English former footballer and manager.
• 1939 - Henry Simpson Lunn dies (b. 1859). English humanitarian and religious leader.
• 1940 - World War II: Axis powers - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet at Brenner. Pass in the Alps and agree to form an alliance against France and the United Kingdom.
• 1941 - John W. Derr was born. American politician.
• 1941 - Wilson Pickett was born (d. 2006). American singer ( In the Midnight Hour, Land of 1000 Dances, Funky Broadway, Mustang Sally, It’s Too Late, Don’t Knock My Love); Rock and Roll Hall of Famer [1991].
• 1941 - Henri Cornet dies (b. 1884). French cyclist.
• 1943 - Kevin Dobson was born. American actor.
• 1943 - Toula Grivas was born. Greek actress.
• 1944 - The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes.
• 1945 - Marta Suplicy was born. Brazilian psycanalist and politician.
• 1945 - World War II: 1,250 American bombers attack Berlin.
• 1945 - William Grover-Williams dies. British racing driver
• 1946 - The diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union were established.
• 1947 - B.J. Wilson was born. English rock drummer (Procol Harum-Whiter Shade of Pale) .
• 1947 - David Lloyd was born. Cricketer (England opener, 214 vs India 1974) .
• 1947 - Patrick Chesnais was born. French actor
• 1947 - Patrick Barlow was born. English actor, comedian and playwright
• 1947 - William C. Durant dies (b. 1861). Automobile pioneer, founder of General Motors .
• 1948 - Guy Lapointe was born. French Canadian ice hockey player
• 1949 - Alex Higgins was born. North Irish snooker player.
• 1949 - Åse Kleveland was born. Norwegian singer and politician
• 1949 - NATO set up by seven European countries .
• 1950 - Brad Dourif was born. American actor.
• 1950 - Richard Kretchmer was born. English artist and historian.
• 1950 - Rodney Milburn was born (d. 1997). American athlete.
• 1950 - Larry Perkins was born. Australian racing driver
• 1951 - Ben Cohen was born. American co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream
• 1951 - Bill Frisell was born. American jazz musician
• 1952 - Mike Webster was born († 2002). American football player
• 1953 - An earthquake hits western Turkey killing 250.
• 1953 - Matilde Mastrangi was born. Brazilian actress
• 1953 - Teresa Madruga was born. Portuguese actress.
• 1955 - Morte de Armando de Arruda Pereira, em São Paulo-SP. Primeiro Rotariano latino-americano a ocupar a Presidência do Rotary International;
• 1956 - Ingemar Stenmark was born. Swedish skier.
• 1957 - György Pazdera was born. Hungarian bassist (Pokolgép)
• 1957 - Christer Fuglesang was born. Swedish ESA astronaut
• 1959 - American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law allowing for Hawaiian statehood, which would become official on August 21.
• 1959 - Luc Besson was born. French producer, writer, director.
• 1959 - Irene Cara was born. American actress and singer
• 1960 - Guy Carbonneau was born. French Canadian ice hockey player and manager
• 1960 - Richard Biggs was born († 2004). American actor (Days of Our Lives, Babylon 5)
• 1961 - In Cannes, France, Jean-Claude Pascal wins the sixth Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg singing "Nous les amoureux" (We the lovers).
• 1962 - The Evian Accords put an end to the Algerian War of Independence, which began in 1954.
• 1962 - In Luxembourg, Isabelle Aubret wins the seventh Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Un premier amour" (A first love).
• 1962 - James McMurtry was born. American folk singer/songwriter
• 1962 - Mike Rowe was born. American television personality
• 1962 - Thomas Ian Griffith was born. American actor.
• 1962 - Walter W. Bacon dies (b. 1880). Governor of Delaware.
• 1963 - Jeff LaBar was born. American guitarist
• 1963 - Vanessa Williams was born. American beauty queen, actress, singer, Miss America .
• 1963 - Wanda Hawley dies (b. 1895). American actress.
• 1964 - Alex Caffi was born. Italian racecar driver
• 1964 - Bonnie Blair was born. American, Olympic gold medalist in speed skating .
• 1964 - Courtney Pine was born. British jazz saxophonist
• 1964 - Rozalla was born. Zambian singer
• 1964 - Norber Wiener dies (b. 26 Nov 1894). American mathematicien.
• 1964 - Sigfrid Edström dies (b. 1870). Swedish sports official.
• 1965 - Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.
• 1965 - King Farouk I of Egypt dies (b. 1920)
• 1966 - Jerry Cantrell was born. American musician (Alice in Chains)
• 1967 - Supertanker Torrey Canyon Runs aground off the Cornish coast.
• 1967 - The Beatles received a gold record for the hit single, Penny Lane. This was not an unusual event for The Beatles .
• 1967 - Miki Berenyi was born. British singer
• 1968 - Gold standard: The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency.
• 1968 - Shinichiro Miki was born. Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
• 1969 - Shaun Udal was born. English cricketer
• 1969 - Vassily Ivanchuk was born. Ukrainian chess player.
• 1969 - Barbara Bates dies (b. 1925). American film actress.
• 1970 - Queen Latifah was born. American singer and actress.
• 1970 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
• 1970 - Queen Latifah was born. American singer and actress.
• 1971 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200.
• 1972 - Dane Cook was born. American comedian.
• 1973 - Max Barry was born. Australian author.
• 1973 - Jason Beam was born. American artist.
• 1973 - Lauritz Melchior dies (b. 1890). Danish-born American opera singer.
• 1974 - Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
• 1975 - Brian Griese was born. American football player
• 1975 - Tomas Žvirgždauskas was born. Lithuanian footballer
• 1975 - Sutton Foster was born. American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1975 - Rodleen Getsic was born. American musician, civil servant
• 1975 - Alain Grandbois dies (b. 1900). Quebec poet.
• 1976 - Alessandro Nesta was born. Italian footballer.
• 1976 - Jovan Kirovski was born. American soccer player.
• 1976 - Tomokazu Ohka was born. Japanese baseball player.
• 1976 - Scott Podsednik was born. American baseball player.
• 1976 - Giuseppe Genco Russo dies (b. 1893). Sicilian mafioso.
• 1977 - España: decreto de amnistía para los presos políticos.
• 1977 - Danny Murphy was born. English footballer.
• 1977 - Fernando Rodney was born. Dominican baseball player.
• 1977 - Willy Sagnol was born. French footballer.
• 1977 - Terrmel Sledge was born. American baseball player.
• 1977 - Devin Lima was born. American singer.
• 1977 - Zdeno Chára was born. Slovak ice hockey player.
• 1977 - Marien Ngouabi dies (b. 1938). President of the Republic of the Congo.
• 1977 - José Carlos Pace dies (b. 1944). Brazilian race Formula 1 car driver.
• 1978 - Pakistani former premier Ali Bhutto sentenced to death.
• 1978 - Khalilah Adams was born. American actress.
• 1978 - Yoshie Takeshita was born. Japanese volleyball player.
• 1978 - Jan Bulis was born. Czech ice hockey player.
• 1978 - Leigh Brackett dies (b. 1915), American author.
• 1978 - Peggy Wood dies (b. 1892), American actress.
• 1979 - Adam Levine was born. American singer (Maroon 5).
• 1979 - Brandon Lee was born. American adult actor.
• 1980 - On Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia, 50 people were killed at an explosion of a Vostok-2M rocket on its launch pad during a fueling operation.
• 1980 - Alexei Yagudin was born. Russian figure skater.
• 1980 - Sebastien Frey was born. French footballer.
• 1980 - Sophia Myles was born. English actress.
• 1980 - Erich Fromm dies (b. 1900), German-born psychologist and philosopher.
• 1981 - Jang Nara was born. Korean singer and actress.
• 1982 - Falklands War / Islas Malvinas War: A group of Argentine scrap metal merchants working in the South Georgia island is escorted by some military personnel. Britain calls Argentina to remove the military personnel without response.
• 1982 - Chad Cordero was born. American baseball player.
• 1982 - Pedro Mantorras was born. Angolan footballer.
• 1982 - Timo Glock was born. German Formula 1 driver.
• 1983 - Andy Sonnanstine was born. American baseball player.
• 1983 - Kenneth E. Boulding dies (b. 1910). English economist.
• 1983 - King Umberto II of Italy dies (b. 1904). Former Italian king.
• 1984 - El general uruguayo Liber Seregni es puesto en libertad, tras siete años de cárcel por motivos políticos.
• 1984 - Vonzell Solomon was born. American Idol contestant.
• 1984 - Charlie Lau dies (b. 1933). American baseball player.
• 1985 - The first episode of popular soap Neighbours airs on Australian TV.
• 1985 - Vince Lia was born. Australian footballer.
• 1986 - Bia Figueiredo was born. Brazilian racing driver.
• 1986 - Bernard Malamud dies (b. 1914). American writer.
• 1987 - Mauro Zárate was born. Argentinian footballer.
• 1987 - Gabriel Mercado was born. Argentinian footballer.
• 1987 - Ben Waterworth was born. Australian radio personality.
• 1988 - Billy Butterfield dies (b. 1917). American jazz trumpet player.
• 1989 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.
• 1990 - 12 paintings, collectively worth $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history.
• 1990 - East Germany's first elections in over sixty years.
• 1990 - In largest art theft in US history, 12 paintings, collectively worth around $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1990 - Robin Harris dies (b. 1953). American actor and comedian.
• 1992 - Microsoft ships Windows 3.1.
• 1992 - Antonio Molina dies in Madrid (b. 1930). Spanish singer.
• 1995 - Michael Jordan makes his first comeback as an NBA player with a two word fax to the media..."I'm Back".
• 1995 - Boda de la Infanta Elena de Borbón con Jaime de Marichalar.
• 1995 - Robin Jacques dies (b. 1920). Illustrator of children's books.
• 1996 - Madeline Carroll was born. American actress.
• 1996 - Niní Marshall dies. Argentinean comic actress.
• 1996 - Odysseus Elytis dies (b. 1911). Greek poet, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1997 - The tail of a Russian An-24 charter plane breaks off while en-route to Turkey causing the plane to crash and killing all 50 on board. This leads to the grounding of all An-24s.
• 1999 - Juan Antonio Samaranch es ratificado como presidente del Comité Olímpico Internacional.
• 1999 - Marcel Marceau day is established in New York City.
• 1999 - Elizabeth Huckaby dies (b. 1905). American educator.
• 2000 - 2000 Taiwanese presidential election: Chen Shui-bian is elected President of the Republic of China.
• 2001 - John Phillips dies (b. 1935). American musician (The Mamas and the Papas).
• 2002 - Gösta Winbergh dies (b. 1943). Swedish tenor.
• 2002 - R.A. Lafferty dies (b. 1914). American science fiction writer.
• 2003 - US enters war in Iraq. About $1 billion was taken from Iraq's Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family, just hours before the United States began bombing Iraq, biggest bank robbery in history.
• 2003 - FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.
• 2003 - British Sign Language recognised as an official British language.
• 2003 - Adam Osborne dies (b. 1939). British computer pioneer.
• 2003 - Karl Kling dies (b. 1910). German race car driver.
• 2003 - Alan Keith dies. BBC radio show host.
• 2003 - Luis Felipe Angell (Sofocleto) dies. Peruvian writer.
• 2004 - Harrison McCain dies. Canadian Businessman.
• 2005 - The first-ever Muslim Friday prayer led by a woman in a mixed-gender congregation was held in New York City, marking a break with a 1426-year Islamic tradition.
• 2005 - Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband, fueling a worldwide debate about her.
• 2006 - Bill Beutel dies (b. 1930). American journalist.
• 2006 - Dan Gibson dies (b. 1922). Canadian musician.
• 2007 - Bob Woolmer dies (b. 1948). English cricketer and Pakistan national coach.
• United States - National Biodiesel Day.
• Feast day of St Cyril of Jerusalem.
• Aruba - Flag Day (1976).
• Ancient Latvia - Bindus Diena.
• Mexico - Expropiación Petrolera.
• Mothers Day (Nigeria).