March 14: On This Day

Events, births, deaths, holidays and observances for March 14.

Events 42

1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.
1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under Charles, Duke of Mayenne, during the French Wars of Religion.
1647 – Thirty Years' War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.
1663 – According to his own account, Otto von Guericke completes his book Experimenta Nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburgica de Vacuo Spatio, detailing his experiments on vacuum and his discovery of electrostatic repulsion.
1674 – The Third Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of Ronas Voe results in the Dutch East India Company ship Wapen van Rotterdam being captured with a death toll of up to 300 Dutch crew and soldiers.
1757 – Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch for breach of the Articles of War.
1780 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama, the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans.
1794 – Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.
1864 – Rossini's Petite messe solennelle is first performed, by twelve singers, two pianists and a harmonium player in a mansion in Paris.
1885 – The Mikado, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in London.
1900 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.
1901 – Utah governor Heber Manning Wells vetoes a bill that would have eased restrictions on polygamy.
1903 – Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
1916 – Battle of Verdun: German attack captures Côte 265 at the west end of Mort-Homme but the French 75th Infantry Brigade manages to hold Côte 295 at the east end.
1920 – In the second of the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, about 80% of the population in Zone II votes to remain part of Weimar Germany.
1921 – Six members of a group of Irish Republican Army activists known as the Forgotten Ten are hanged in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison.
1923 – Charlie Daly and three other members of the Irish Republican Army are executed by Irish Free State forces.
1926 – The El Virilla train accident, Costa Rica, kills 248 people and wounds another 93 when a train falls off a bridge over the Río Virilla between Heredia and Tibás.
1931 – Alam Ara, India's first talking film, is released.
1939 – Slovakia declares independence under German pressure.
1942 – Anne Miller becomes the first American patient to be treated with penicillin, under the care of Orvan Hess and John Bumstead.
1943 – The Holocaust: The liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto is completed.
1945 – The R.A.F. drop the Grand Slam bomb in action for the first time, on a railway viaduct near Bielefeld, Germany.
1951 – Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul for the second time.
1961 – A USAF B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons crashes near Yuba City, California.
1964 – Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin who had shot and killed John F. Kennedy the previous year.
1967 – The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.
1972 – Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashes near Kalba, United Arab Emirates while on approach to Dubai International Airport, killing 112 people.
1978 – The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation Litani, a seven-day campaign to invade and occupy southern Lebanon.
1979 – Alia Royal Jordanian Flight 600 crashes at Doha International Airport, killing 45 people.
1980 – LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 crashes during final approach near Warsaw, Poland, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.
1982 – The South African government bombs the headquarters of the African National Congress in London.
1988 – In the Johnson South Reef Skirmish Chinese forces defeat Vietnamese forces in an altercation over control of one of the Spratly Islands.
1991 – Escondida in Chile's Atacama Desert – which was to become the worlds most productive copper mine – is officially inaugurated.
1995 – Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle.
2006 – The 2006 Chadian coup d'état attempt ends in failure.
2006 – Operation Bringing Home the Goods: Israeli troops raid an American-supervised Palestinian prison in Jericho to capture six Palestinian prisoners, including PFLP chief Ahmad Sa'adat.
2007 – The Nandigram violence in Nandigram, West Bengal, results in the deaths of at least 14 people.
2008 – A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupt in Lhasa and subsequently spread elsewhere in Tibet.
2017 – A naming ceremony for the chemical element nihonium takes place in Tokyo, with then Crown Prince Naruhito in attendance.
2019 – Cyclone Idai makes landfall near Beira, Mozambique, causing devastating floods and over 1,000 deaths.
2021 – Burmese security forces kill at least 65 civilians in the Hlaingthaya massacre.

Births 186

1297 – Uljay Qutlugh Khatun, Mongol empress consort of the Ilkhanate.
1638 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (died 1710)
1737 – Ioan Nicolidi of Pindus, Aromanian physician and noble (died 1828)
1772 – José Núñez de Cáceres, Dominican politician and writer. He was the leader of the Independence movement of the Dominican Republic against Spain in 1821 (died 1846)
1790 – Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver (died 1863)
1800 – James Bogardus, American inventor and architect (died 1874)
1801 – Kristjan Jaak Peterson, Estonian poet (died 1822)
1804 – Johann Strauss I, Austrian composer and conductor (died 1849)
1813 – Joseph P. Bradley, American lawyer and jurist (died 1892)
1820 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (died 1878)
1822 – Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies (died 1889)
1823 – Théodore de Banville, French poet and critic (died 1891)
1833 – Frederic Shields, English painter and illustrator (died 1911)
1833 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor, American dentist and educator (died 1910)
1835 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and historian (died 1910)
1836 – Isabella Beeton, English author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (died 1865)
1837 – Charles Ammi Cutter, American librarian (died 1903)
1844 – Umberto I of Italy (died 1900)
1844 – Arthur O'Shaughnessy, English poet and herpetologist (died 1881)
1847 – Castro Alves, Brazilian poet and playwright (died 1871)
1853 – Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (died 1918)
1854 – Paul Ehrlich, German physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1915)
1854 – John Lane, English publisher, co-founded The Bodley Head (died 1925)
1854 – Alexandru Macedonski, Romanian author and poet (died 1920)
1854 – Thomas R. Marshall, American lawyer and politician, 28th Vice President of the United States of America (died 1925)
1862 – Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist and meteorologist (died 1951)
1864 – Casey Jones, American engineer (died 1900)
1868 – Emily Murphy, Canadian jurist, author, and activist (died 1933)
1869 – Algernon Blackwood, English author and playwright (died 1951)
1874 – Anton Philips, Dutch businessman, co-founded Philips Electronics (died 1951)
1879 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, academic and Nobel Prize laureate (died 1955)
1882 – Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician and academic (died 1969)
1885 – Raoul Lufbery, French-American soldier and pilot (died 1918)
1886 – Firmin Lambot, Belgian cyclist (died 1964)
1887 – Sylvia Beach, American-French bookseller and publisher, who founded Shakespeare and Company (died 1962)
1898 – Reginald Marsh, French-American painter and illustrator (died 1954)
1899 – K. C. Irving, Canadian businessman, founded Irving Oil (died 1992)
1901 – Sid Atkinson, South African hurdler and long jumper (died 1977)
1903 – Adolph Gottlieb, American painter and sculptor (died 1974)
1904 – Doris Eaton Travis, American actress and dancer (died 2010)
1905 – Raymond Aron, French journalist, sociologist, and philosopher (died 1983)
1906 – Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Turkish composer and educator (died 1972)
1908 – Ed Heinemann, American designer of military aircraft (died 1991)
1908 – Maurice Merleau-Ponty, French philosopher and academic (died 1961)
1908 – Phil Vincent, English engineer and businessman, founded Vincent Motorcycles (died 1979)
1908 – Koča Popović, Yugoslav politician and Divisional Commander of the First Proletarian Division of the Yugoslav Partisans (died 1992)
1911 – Akira Yoshizawa, Japanese origamist (died 2005)
1912 – Cliff Bastin, English footballer (died 1991)
1912 – Les Brown, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (died 2001)
1912 – W. Graham Claytor Jr. American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 15th United States Secretary of the Navy (died 1994)
1912 – W. Willard Wirtz, American lawyer and politician, 10th United States Secretary of Labor (died 2010)
1913 – Dominik Tatarka, Slovak writer (died 1989)
1914 – Lee Hays, American singer-songwriter (died 1981)
1914 – Bill Owen, English actor and songwriter (died 1999)
1914 – Lee Petty, American race car driver and businessman, founded Petty Enterprises (died 2000)
1915 – Alexander Brott, Canadian violinist, composer, and conductor (died 2005)
1916 – Horton Foote, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (died 2009)
1917 – Alan Smith, English lieutenant and pilot (died 2013)
1918 – Zoia Horn, American librarian (died 2014)
1919 – Max Shulman, American author and screenwriter (died 1988)
1920 – Hank Ketcham, American author and cartoonist, created Dennis the Menace (died 2001)
1920 – Dorothy Tyler-Odam, English high jumper (died 2014)
1921 – S. Truett Cathy, American businessman, founded Chick-fil-A (died 2014)
1921 – Ada Louise Huxtable, American author and critic (died 2013)
1922 – Les Baxter, American pianist and composer (died 1996)
1923 – Diane Arbus, American photographer (died 1971)
1925 – William Clay Ford Sr., American businessman (died 2014)
1925 – Francis A. Marzen, Roman Catholic priest (died 2004)
1925 – Joseph A. Unanue, American sergeant and businessman (died 2013)
1926 – François Morel, Canadian pianist, composer, conductor, and educator (died 2018)
1927 – Chuck Share, American basketball player (died 2012)
1928 – Frank Borman, American astronaut (died 2023)
1928 – Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, Spanish environmentalist (died 1980)
1929 – Bob Goalby, American golfer (died 2022)
1932 – Mark Murphy, American singer-songwriter and actor (died 2015)
1932 – Naina Yeltsina, Russian wife of Boris Yeltsin, First Lady of Russia
1933 – Michael Caine, English actor
1933 – Quincy Jones, American producer (died 2024)
1934 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (died 2017)
1934 – Paul Rader, American 15th General of The Salvation Army (died 2025)
1936 – Bob Charles, New Zealand golfer
1937 – Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer and referee (died 2013)
1938 – Eleanor Bron, English actress and screenwriter
1938 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (died 2016)
1938 – John Gleeson, Australian cricketer (died 2016)
1938 – Árpád Orbán, Hungarian footballer (died 2008)
1939 – Raymond J. Barry, American actor
1939 – Bertrand Blier, French director and screenwriter (died 2025)
1939 – Yves Boisset, French director and screenwriter (died 2025)
1941 – Wolfgang Petersen, German-American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2022)
1942 – Rita Tushingham, English actress
1943 – Anita Morris, American actress and singer (died 1994)
1944 – Boris Brott, Canadian composer and conductor (died 2022)
1944 – Clyde Lee, American basketball player
1944 – Václav Nedomanský, Czech ice hockey player and manager
1944 – Bobby Smith, English footballer and manager
1944 – Tom Stannage, Australian historian and academic (died 2012)
1945 – Jasper Carrott, English comedian, actor, and game show host
1945 – Michael Martin Murphey, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Walter Parazaider, American saxophonist
1946 – Wes Unseld, American basketball player, coach, and manager (died 2020)
1947 – Roy Budd, English pianist and composer (died 1993)
1947 – William J. Jefferson, American lawyer and politician
1947 – Jona Lewie, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
1948 – Tom Coburn, American physician and politician (died 2020)
1948 – Billy Crystal, American actor, comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter
1948 – Theo Jansen, Dutch sculptor
1950 – Rick Dees, American actor and radio host
1951 – Jerry Greenfield, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben & Jerry's
1953 – Nick Keir, Scottish singer-songwriter (died 2013)
1954 – Brian Smith, Australian rugby league player and coach
1955 – Jonathan Kaufer, American director and screenwriter (died 2013)
1956 – Indu Malhotra, Judge of the Supreme Court of India
1956 – Butch Wynegar, American baseball player and coach
1957 – Tad Williams, American author
1958 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco
1959 – Laila Robins, American actress
1959 – Tamara Tunie, American actress
1960 – Heidi Hammel, American astronomer and academic
1960 – Kirby Puckett, American baseball player (died 2006)
1961 – Mike Lazaridis, Greek–Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded BlackBerry Limited
1963 – Bruce Reid, Australian cricketer and coach
1964 – Chris Johns, Australian rugby league player and administrator
1965 – Kevin Brown, American baseball player and coach
1965 – Aamir Khan, Indian film actor, producer, and director
1965 – Billy Sherwood, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1965 – Kevin Williamson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1966 – Jonas Elmer, Danish actor, director, and screenwriter
1966 – Elise Neal, American actress and producer
1968 – Megan Follows, Canadian-American actress
1968 – Magnús Árni Magnússon, Icelandic politician
1969 – Larry Johnson, American basketball player and actor
1970 – Kristian Bush, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1972 – Irom Chanu Sharmila, Indian poet and activist
1973 – Rohit Shetty, Indian film director and producer
1974 – Santino Marella, Canadian wrestler
1974 – Patrick Traverse, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Steve Harper, English footballer and referee
1975 – Dmitri Markov, Belarusian-Australian pole vaulter
1976 – Brian Quinn, American improvisational comedian and actor
1976 – Phil Vickery, English rugby player and sportscaster
1977 – Vadims Fjodorovs, Latvian footballer and coach
1977 – Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (died 2011)
1977 – Jeremy Paul, New Zealand-Australian rugby player
1978 – Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
1978 – Viesturs Kleinbergs, Latvian politician
1979 – Nicolas Anelka, French footballer and manager
1979 – Dan Avidan, American musician and internet personality
1979 – Chris Klein, American actor
1979 – Sead Ramović, German-Bosnian footballer
1980 – Aaron Brown, English footballer and coach
1980 – Ben Herring, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1981 – Bobby Jenks, American baseball player (died 2025)
1981 – George Wilson, American football player
1982 – Carlos Marinelli, Argentine footballer
1982 – François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (died 2008)
1983 – Bakhtiyar Artayev, Kazakh boxer
1986 – Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwean cricketer
1986 – Jessica Gallagher, Australian skier and cyclist
1986 – Andy Taylor, English footballer
1988 – Stephen Curry, American basketball player
1988 – Rico Freimuth, German decathlete
1989 – Marwin González, Venezuelan baseball player
1989 – Kevin Lacroix, Canadian race car driver
1989 – Patrick Patterson, American basketball player
1990 – Joe Allen, Welsh footballer
1990 – Tamás Kádár, Hungarian footballer
1990 – Haru Kuroki, Japanese actress
1990 – Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, Icelandic footballer
1991 – Emir Bekrić, Serbian hurdler
1992 – Shotzi Blackheart, American wrestler
1992 – Erik Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player
1993 – Anthony Bennett, Canadian basketball player
1993 – J. T. Miller, American ice hockey player
1994 – Ansel Elgort, American actor and DJ
1995 – Brandon Aubrey, American multi-sport athlete
1995 – Nick Eh 30, Canadian live streamer and professional gamer
1996 – Batuhan Altıntaş, Turkish footballer
1997 – Simone Biles, American gymnast
1998 – Tyson Jost, Canadian ice hockey player
1999 – Marvin Bagley III, American basketball player
1999 – Olivia Dean, English singer-songwriter
2000 – Chrisean Rock, American rapper and reality television personality
2000 – Jihoon, South Korean singer
2001 – Nico Mannion, Italian-American basketball player
2008 – Abby Ryder Fortson, American actress

Deaths 71

840 – Einhard, Frankish scholar
968 – Matilda of Ringelheim, Saxon queen (born c. 896)
1471 – Thomas Malory, English writer, the author of Le Morte d'Arthur
1555 – John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (born 1485)
1647 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (born 1584)
1648 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general and politician (born 1584)
1696 – Jean Domat, French lawyer and jurist (born 1625)
1698 – Claes Rålamb, Swedish statesman (born 1622)
1748 – George Wade, Irish field marshal and politician (born 1673)
1757 – John Byng, British admiral and politician, 11th Commodore Governor of Newfoundland (born 1704)
1791 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and critic (born 1725)
1803 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet (born 1724)
1811 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (born 1735)
1823 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general and politician, French Minister of War (born 1739)
1860 – Carl Ritter von Ghega, Italian engineer, designed the Semmering railway (born 1802)
1877 – Juan Manuel de Rosas, Argentinian general and politician, 17th Governor of Buenos Aires Province (born 1793)
1883 – Karl Marx, German philosopher and theorist (born 1818)
1884 – Quintino Sella, Italian economist and politician, Italian Minister of Finances (born 1827)
1921 – Bernard Ryan executed Irish republican (born 1901)
1923 – Charlie Daly and three other Irish Republicans are executed by Irish Free State forces (born 1896)
1930 – A. A. Kannisto, Finnish politician (born 1876)
1932 – George Eastman, American inventor and businessman, founded Eastman Kodak (born 1854)
1932 – Frederick Jackson Turner, American historian (born 1861)
1937 – Lars Edvard Phragmén, Swedish mathematician (born 1863)
1941 – C. R. M. F. Cruttwell, English historian (born 1887)
1953 – Klement Gottwald, Czechoslovak Communist politician and 4th President of Czechoslovakia (born 1896)
1957 – Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot activist (born 1938)
1965 – Marion Jones Farquhar, American tennis player (born 1879)
1968 – Erwin Panofsky, German historian and academic (born 1892)
1969 – Ben Shahn, Lithuanian-American painter, illustrator, and educator (born 1898)
1973 – Howard H. Aiken, American computer scientist and engineer (born 1900)
1973 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (born 1901)
1975 – Susan Hayward, American actress (born 1917)
1976 – Busby Berkeley, American director and choreographer (born 1895)
1977 – Fannie Lou Hamer, American activist and philanthropist (born 1917)
1979 – Frank McEncroe, Australian businessman (born 1908)
1980 – Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Indonesia (born 1902)
1980 – Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, Spanish environmentalist (born 1928)
1984 – Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet (born 1915)
1989 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary (born 1892)
1991 – Howard Ashman, American playwright and composer (born 1950)
1994 – Sheila Humphreys, Irish Republican, political activist and Hunger Striker (born 1899)
1995 – William Alfred Fowler, American physicist and astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)
1997 – Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-American director and producer (born 1907)
1999 – Kirk Alyn, American actor (born 1910)
1999 – John Broome, American author (born 1913)
2003 – Jack Goldstein, Canadian-American painter (born 1945)
2003 – Jean-Luc Lagardère, French engineer and businessman (born 1928)
2006 – Lennart Meri, Estonian director and politician, 2nd President of Estonia (born 1929)
2007 – Lucie Aubrac, French educator and activist (born 1912)
2008 – Chiara Lubich, Italian activist, co-founded the Focolare Movement (born 1920)
2010 – Peter Graves, American actor (born 1926)
2012 – Pierre Schoendoerffer, French director and screenwriter (born 1928)
2012 – Ċensu Tabone, Maltese general and politician, 4th President of Malta (born 1913)
2013 – Jack Greene, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1930)
2013 – Aramais Sahakyan, Armenian poet and author (born 1936)
2013 – Ieng Sary, Vietnamese-Cambodian politician, Cambodian Minister for Foreign Affairs (born 1925)
2014 – Tony Benn, English politician, Postmaster General of the United Kingdom (born 1925)
2014 – Meir Har-Zion, Israeli commander (born 1934)
2016 – John W. Cahn, German-American metallurgist and academic (born 1928)
2016 – Peter Maxwell Davies, English composer and conductor (born 1934)
2016 – Suranimala Rajapaksha, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (born 1949)
2018 – Jim Bowen, English stand-up comedian and TV personality (born 1937)
2018 – Marielle Franco, Brazilian politician and human rights activist (born 1979)
2018 – Stephen Hawking, English physicist and author (born 1942)
2018 – Liam O'Flynn, Irish uileann piper (born 1945)
2019 – Jake Phelps, American skateboarder and Thrasher editor-in-chief (born 1962)
2019 – Charlie Whiting, British motorsport director (born 1952)
2019 – Haig Young, Canadian politician (born 1928)
2022 – Scott Hall, American wrestler (born 1958)
2025 – Alan Simpson, United States senator from Wyoming (born 1931)

Holidays and observances 12

Christian feast day: Leobinus Matilda of Ringelheim March 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Leobinus
Matilda of Ringelheim
March 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Andorra)
Heroes' Day (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
Mother Tongue Day (Estonia)
Nanakshahi New Year, first day of the month of Chet (Sikhism)
Pi Day
Steak and Blowjob Day, a satirical unofficial holiday created in the United States as a male response to Valentine's Day
Summer Day (Albania)
White Day on which men give gifts to women; complementary to Valentine's Day (Japan and other Asian nations)