March 20
Events
Pre-1600
- 1206 - Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1600 - The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund.
1601–1900
- 1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.
- 1616 - Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
- 1760 - The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
- 1815 - After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
- 1848 - German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
- 1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
- 1854 - The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
- 1861 - An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
- 1883 - The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
- 1888 - The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
- 1890 - Chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
- 1896 - With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
1901–present
- 1903 - The first of a series of auctions of sheep farming land in southern Patagonia takes place impacting established settlers.
- 1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
- 1914 - In the Curragh incident over 100 British Army officers threatened to resign if ordered to march against the Ulster Volunteers.
- 1916 - Albert Einstein submits his paper, "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity", which establishes his general theory of relativity, to the journal Annalen der Physik.
- 1921 - The Upper Silesia plebiscite, mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland, is held.
- 1922 - The is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
- 1923 - The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
- 1926 - Chiang Kai-shek initiates a purge of communist elements within the National Revolutionary Army in Guangzhou.
- 1933 - Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
- 1942 - World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".
- 1948 - With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
- 1951 - Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
- 1952 - The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan.
- 1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France.
- 1964 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
- 1969 - A United Arab airlines Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Aswan international Airport, killing 100 people.
- 1972 - The Troubles: The first car bombing by the Provisional IRA in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
- 1985 - Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
- 1987 - The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
- 1988 - Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
- 1990 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
- 1993 - The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
- 1995 - The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 and wounding over 6,200 people.
- 1999 - Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
- 2000 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
- 2003 - Iraq War: The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland begin an invasion of Iraq.
- 2006 - Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
- 2010 - Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland begins eruptions that would last for three months, heavily disrupting air travel in Europe.
- 2012 - At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
- 2014 - Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
- 2015 - A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.
- 2015 - Syrian civil war: The Siege of Kobanî is broken by the People's Protection Units and Free Syrian Army, marking a turning point in the Rojava–Islamist conflict.
- 2019 - Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is sworn in as acting president of Kazakhstan, following the resignation of long-time president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Births
Pre-1600
- 43 BC - Ovid, Roman poet
- 1253 - Magadu, renamed Wareru, founder of Ramanya Kingdom, renamed Hanthawady Kingdom of Pegu
- 1319 - Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke
- 1469 - Cecily of York
- 1477 - Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar
- 1479 - Ippolito d'Este, Italian cardinal
- 1502 - Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist
- 1532 - Juan de Ribera, Roman Catholic archbishop
1601–1900
- 1612 - Anne Bradstreet, Puritan American poet
- 1615 - Dara Shikoh, Indian prince
- 1639 - Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine
- 1680 - Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer
- 1725 - Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan
- 1737 - Rama I, Thai king
- 1771 - Heinrich Clauren, German author
- 1796 - Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician
- 1799 - Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author
- 1800 - Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica
- 1805 - Thomas Cooper, British poet
- 1811 - Napoleon II, French emperor
- 1811 - George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri
- 1821 - Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher
- 1824 - Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist
- 1828 - Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director
- 1831 - Patrick Jennings, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales
- 1831 - Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician
- 1834 - Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic
- 1836 - Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician
- 1836 - Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator
- 1840 - Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter
- 1843 - Ambrosio Flores, Filipino politician
- 1851 - Ismail Gasprinski, Crimean Tatar educator, publisher, and politician
- 1856 - John Lavery, Irish painter
- 1856 - Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer
- 1870 - Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general
- 1874 - Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist
- 1876 - Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist
- 1879 - Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist
- 1882 - René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France
- 1882 - Harold Weber, American golfer
- 1884 - Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher
- 1884 - John Jensen, Australian public servant
- 1885 - Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer
- 1888 - Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator
- 1890 - Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor
- 1894 - Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter
- 1895 - Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author
- 1897 - Frank Sheed, Australian-British Catholic writer and apologist
- 1898 - Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist
- 1899 - Vladimír Mandl, Czechoslovak lawyer
- 1900 - Amelia Chopitea Villa, Bolivia's first female physician
1901–present
- 1903 - Edgar Buchanan, American actor
- 1904 - B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author
- 1905 - Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer
- 1906 - Abraham Beame, American accountant and politician, 104th Mayor of New York City
- 1906 - Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader
- 1907 - Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator
- 1908 - Michael Redgrave, English actor and director
- 1909 - Elisabeth Geleerd, Dutch-American psychoanalyst
- 1910 - Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower
- 1911 - Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1912 - Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist
- 1913 - Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer
- 1914 - Wendell Corey, American actor and politician
- 1915 - Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria
- 1915 - Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer
- 1915 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1916 - Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France
- 1917 - Vera Lynn, English singer, songwriter and actress
- 1917 - Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
- 1918 - Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions
- 1918 - Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author
- 1918 - Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer
- 1918 - Bernd Alois Zimmermann, German composer
- 1919 - Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace
- 1920 - Pamela Harriman, English-American diplomat, 58th United States Ambassador to France
- 1920 - Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter
- 1921 - Usmar Ismail, Indonesian filmmaker
- 1921 - Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher
- 1921 - Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist
- 1922 - Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader
- 1922 - Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter
- 1922 - Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1923 - Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager
- 1923 - Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist
- 1925 - John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel
- 1927 - John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic
- 1928 - Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach
- 1928 - James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer
- 1928 - Fred Rogers, American television host and producer
- 1929 - William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge
- 1929 - Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director
- 1930 - S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic
- 1931 - Dinos Christianopoulos, Greek poet
- 1931 - Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
- 1933 - Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician
- 1933 - George Altman, American baseball player
- 1934 - Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
- 1934 - David Malouf, Australian author and playwright
- 1935 - Ted Bessell, American actor and director
- 1935 - Bettye Washington Greene, American chemist
- 1936 - Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jamaican singer, songwriter, music producer, and inventor
- 1936 - Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
- 1937 - Lois Lowry, American author
- 1937 - Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1938 - Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic, winner of the Fields Medal
- 1939 - Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician
- 1939 - Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1939 - Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic
- 1939 - Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Canada
- 1940 - Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1940 - Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist
- 1940 - Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company
- 1941 - Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager
- 1941 - Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
- 1943 - Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
- 1943 - Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings
- 1943 - Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer
- 1944 - John Cameron, English composer and conductor
- 1944 - Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
- 1944 - Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
- 1945 - Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot
- 1945 - Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
- 1945 - Pat Riley, American basketball player, coach and executive
- 1945 - Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
- 1946 - Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1946 - Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer
- 1947 - John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic
- 1948 - John de Lancie, American actor
- 1948 - Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer
- 1949 - Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
- 1952 - Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
- 1952 - David Greenaway, English economist and academic
- 1953 - Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
- 1954 - Mike Francesa, American radio talk show host and television commentator
- 1954 - Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
- 1954 - Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
- 1955 - Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
- 1955 - Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter
- 1955 - Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1956 - Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
- 1956 - Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
- 1956 - Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
- 1957 - David Foster, Australian woodchopper
- 1957 - Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1957 - Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
- 1958 - Rickey Jackson, American football player
- 1959 - Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
- 1959 - Mary Roach, American author
- 1959 - Sting, American wrestler
- 1959 - Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, British Labour Party politician and peer
- 1960 - Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
- 1960 - Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
- 1960 - Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
- 1961 - Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
- 1961 - Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
- 1961 - Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
- 1962 - Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1963 - Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
- 1963 - Yelena Romanova, Russian runner
- 1964 - Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter
- 1965 - William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
- 1967 - Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1967 - Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
- 1968 - A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
- 1968 - Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
- 1968 - Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter
- 1968 - Ken Ono, Japanese-American mathematician
- 1969 - Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- 1969 - Fabien Galthié, French rugby player
- 1970 - Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1970 - Josephine Medina, Filipino Paralympic table tennis player
- 1971 - Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
- 1971 - Touré, American journalist and author
- 1972 - Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1972 - Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1972 - Greg Searle, English rower
- 1972 - Marco Sejna, German footballer
- 1972 - Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
- 1973 - Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
- 1973 - Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
- 1973 - Talal Khalifa Aljeri, Kuwaiti businessman
- 1974 - Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
- 1975 - Ramin Bahrani, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1975 - Isolde Kostner, Italian skier
- 1976 - Chester Bennington, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1978 - Kevin Betsy, English-Seychelles footballer and manager
- 1979 - Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
- 1979 - Freema Agyeman, English actress
- 1979 - Daniel Cormier, American mixed martial artist
- 1979 - Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
- 1980 - Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
- 1980 - Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1980 - Michelle Snow, American basketball player
- 1981 - Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
- 1982 - Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1982 - Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
- 1982 - José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 - Carolina Padrón, Venezuelan journalist
- 1983 - Jenni Vartiainen, Finnish singer
- 1984 - Vikram Banerjee, English cricketer
- 1984 - Valtteri Filppula, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1984 - IJustine, American YouTuber
- 1984 - Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
- 1985 - Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
- 1985 - Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
- 1985 - Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
- 1986 - Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
- 1986 - Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
- 1986 - Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
- 1987 - Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
- 1987 - Jon Brockman, American basketball player
- 1987 - Jô, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 - Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 - Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
- 1989 - Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
- 1989 - Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1990 - Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 - Brad Hand, American baseball player
- 1990 - Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
- 1991 - Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
- 1991 - Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
- 1991 - Nick Leddy, American ice hockey player
- 1992 - Justin Faulk, American ice hockey player
- 1993 - Fabian Fahl, German politician
- 1993 - JaKarr Sampson, American basketball player
- 1995 - Kei, South Korean singer
- 1995 - Nick Paul, Canadian ice hockey player
- 2000 - Hyunjin, South Korean rapper
- 2001 - Trevor Zegras, American ice hockey player
- 2002 - Jahmyr Gibbs, American football player
- 2003 - Cooper Hoffman, American actor