Famous birthdays, deaths and events of March 15
Birthdays 1455 - Pietro Accolti, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1532) 1493 - Anne de Montmorency, Constable of France (d. 1567) 1591 - Alexandre de Rhodes, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1660) 1684 - Francesco Durante, Italian composer (d. 1755) 1791 - Charles Knight, English publisher (d. 1873) 1813 - John Snow, English epidemiologist (d. 1858) 1824 - Jules Chevalier, French priest (d. 1907) 1830 - Paul Heyse, German writer 1831 - Daniel Comboni, Italian missionary (d. 1881) 1835 - Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (d. 1916) 1835 - John Henrie Kagi, American abolitionist (d. 1859) 1838 - Karl Davydov, Russian cellist (d. 1889) 1851 - William Mitchell Ramsay, Scottish archaeologist (d. 1939) 1852 - Augusta, Lady Gregory 1864 - Johan Halvorsen, Norwegian composer (d. 1935) 1867 - Lionel Johnson, British poet (d. 1902) 1882 - Jim Lightbody, American runner (d. 1953) 1884 - Angelos Sikelianos, Greek poet and playwright 1887 - Marjorie Merriweather Post, American socialite and businesswoman (d. 1973) 1897 - Jackson Scholz, American runner (d. 1986) 1899 - George Brent, American film actor (d. 1979) 1907 - Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (d. 1981) 1912 - Lightnin' Hopkins, American musician (d. 1982) 1913 - MacDonald Carey, American actor (d. 1994) 1913 - Jack Fairman, British racing driver (d. 2002) 1914 - Aniello Dellacroce, American gangster (d. 1985) 1915 - Joe E. Ross, American actor and comedian (d. 1982) 1919 - Lawrence Tierney, American actor (d. 2002) 1920 - Lawrence Sanders, American novelist (d. 1998) 1921 - Madelyn Pugh, American television writer 1924 - Walter Gotell, German actor (d. 1997) 1926 - Norm Van Brocklin, American football player (d. 1983) 1926 - Ben Johnston, American composer 1927 - Carl Smith, American singer 1927 - Christian Marquand, French actor and director (d. 2000) 1929 - Cecil Taylor, American jazz pianist 1932 - Alan Bean, American astronaut 1933 - Philippe de Broca, French film director (d. 2004) 1934 - Richard Layard, Baron Layard 1935 - Judd Hirsch, American actor 1936 - Howard Greenfield, American songwriter (d. 1986) 1939 - Jack Whyte, Scottish-Canadian author 1940 - Phil Lesh, American musician (Grateful Dead) 1940 - Margo Coleman, American advice columnist 1941 - Mike Love, American musician (The Beach Boys) 1943 - David Cronenberg, Canadian film director 1944 - Sly Stone, American musician 1944 - Jacques Doillon, French film director 1945 - Mark J. Green, American public official 1946 - Bobby Bonds, American baseball player (d. 2003) 1946 - Masaharu Satō, Japanese seiyū 1946 - Howard E. Scott, American musician (War) 1947 - Ry Cooder, American guitarist 1947 - Juraj Kukura, Slovak actor 1948 - Kate Bornstein, American author 1950 - Jørgen Olsen, Danish singer 1954 - Craig Wasson, American actor 1955 - Dee Snider, American singer (Twisted Sister) 1956 - Clay Matthews, American football player 1957 - Park Overall, American actress 1957 - David Silverman, American animator 1959 - Harold Baines, American baseball player 1959 - Renny Harlin , Finnish film director 1959 - Lisa Holton, American writer 1959 - Fabio Lanzoni, Italian model 1960 - Chris Sanders, American animator and director 1960 - Marco Pennette, American television producer 1961 - Terry Cummings, American basketball player 1961 - Craig Ludwig, American ice hockey player 1962 - Terence Trent D'Arby, American singer 1962 - Jimmy Baio, American actor 1963 - Bret Michaels, American musician (Poison) 1964 - Davide Pinato, Italian footballer 1968 - Kahimi Karie, Japanese singer 1968 - Mark McGrath , American musician (Sugar Ray) 1968 - Sabrina Salerno , Italian singer 1968 - Jon Schaffer, American guitarist (Iced Earth) 1969 - Timo Kotipelto, Finnish musician 1969 - Kim Raver , American actress 1969 - Gianluca Festa, Italian footballer 1969 - Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey 1970 - Derek Parra, American speed skater 1971 - Penny Lancaster , English model 1971 - Joanne Wise, English long jumper 1972 - Mark Hoppus, American musician (+44 and blink-182) 1974 - Robert Fick, American baseball player 1974 - John "Beatz" Holohan, American musician 1975 - Eva Longoria , American actress 1975 - Will.i.am, American musician 1975 - Veselin Topalov, Bulgarian chess player 1975 - Darcy Tucker, Canadian hockey player 1976 - Katherine Brooks, American television director 1976 - Cara Pifko, Canadian actress 1976 - Jose Sanchez Zolliker, Mexican writer 1977 - Joe Hahn, American musician 1977 - Brian Tee, American actor 1977 - Adrian Burnside, Australian baseball player 1978 - Takeru Kobayashi, Japanese competitive eater 1979 - Kevin Youkilis, American baseball player 1980 - Freddie Bynum, American baseball player 1981 - Mikael Forssell, Finnish footballer 1981 - Young Buck, American rapper 1982 - Emily Tyndall, American actress 1982 - Rafael Pérez, Dominican baseball player 1982 - Jordan Hastings, Canadian drummer (Alexisonfire) 1983 - Sean Biggerstaff, Scottish actor 1983 - Daryl Murphy, Irish footballer 1984 - Kostas Vassiliadis, Greek basketball player 1985 - Antti Autti, Finnish snowboarder 1985 - James MacLurcan, Australian actor 1985 - F.V.A. Morriello, Canadian author 1985 - Eva Amurri , American actress 1985 - Tom Chilton, British racing driver 1987 - Taiwan Brown, video jockey 1988 - Ever Guzman, Mexican footballer 1989 - Caitlin Wachs , American actress 1991 - Kie Kitano, Japanese actress
Deaths 1536 - Pargalı İbrahim Pasha, Grand Vizer under Suleiman the Magnificent 1575 - Annibale Padovano, Italian composer (b. 1527) 1701 - Jean Renaud de Segrais, French writer (b. 1624) 1711 - Eusebio Kino, Italian Catholic missionary (b. 1645) 1842 - Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer (b. 1760) 1849 - Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, Italian cardinal and linguist (b. 1774) 1891 - Théodore de Banville, French writer (b. 1823) 1898 - Henry Bessemer, English metallurgist (b. 1813) 1937 - H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (b. 1890) 1957 - Ernst Nobs, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1886) 1959 - Lester Young, American musician (b. 1909) 1970 - Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian writer (b. 1897) 1971 - Jean-Pierre Monseré, Belgian cyclist (b. 1948) 1975 - Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (b. 1900) 1977 - Antonino Rocca, Argentine professional wrestler 1977 - Hubert Aquin, Quebec novelist 1981 - René Clair, French film director (b. 1898) 1983 - Rebecca West, English writer (b. 1892) 1988 - Dmitri Polyakov, Soviet double-agent (b. 1926) 1989 - Muhammad Jameel Didi, Maldivian poet (b. 1915) 1990 - Tom Harmon, American football player and broadcaster (b. 1919) 1991 - Bud Freeman, American jazz musician (b. 1906) 1997 - Gail Davis, American actress (b. 1925) 1998 - Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and writer (b. 1903) 2001 - Ann Sothern , American actress (b. 1909) 2003 - Dame Thora Hird, British actress (b. 1911) 2006 - Red Storey, Canadian football player and hockey referee (b. 1918) 2007 - Bowie Kuhn, American commissioner of baseball (b. 1926) 2007 - Stuart Rosenberg, American film and television director (b. 1927) 2008 - Vytautas Kernagis, Lithuanian singer 2008 - Mikey Dread,Jamaican singer, (b. 1954) 2009 - Lionel Ziprin, 84, American poet, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 2009 - Jack Lawrence, 96, American songwriter, complications from a fall. 2009 - Edmund Hockridge, 89, Canadian singer and actor. 2009 - Billy C. Clark, 80, American writer. 2009 - Miguel Bernad, 91, Filipino Jesuit priest, academician and writer. 2011 - Nate Dogg, American rapper (b. 1969)
Events 351 - Constantius II elevates his cousin Gallus to Caesar, and puts him in charge of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire. 933 - After a ten-year truce, German King Henry I defeats a Hungarian army at the Battle of Riade near the Unstrut river. 1311 - Battle of Halmyros: The Catalan Company defeats Walter V of Brienne to take control of the Duchy of Athens, a Crusader state in Greece. 1493 - Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas. 1545 - First meeting of the Council of Trent. 1672 - Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence. 1776 - South Carolina becomes the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government. 1781 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse 1783 - In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d'etat never takes place. 1820 - Maine becomes the 23rd U.S. state. 1848 - A revolution breaks out in Hungary. The Habsburg rulers are compelled to meet the demands of the Reform party. 1873 - The Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity is founded at Massachusetts Agricultural College. 1877 - The first Test cricket match begins between England and Australia. 1906 - Rolls-Royce Limited is incorporated. 1916 - President Woodrow Wilson sends 12,000 United States troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa. 1917 - Czar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne and his brother the Grand Duke becomes Tsar. 1922 - After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt. 1926 - The dictator Theodoros Pangalos is elected President of Greece without opposition. 1933 - Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss keeps members of the National Council from convening, starting the austrofascist dictatorship. 1939 - World War II: German troops occupy the remaining part of Bohemia and Moravia; Czechoslovakia ceases to exist. 1943 - World War II: Third Battle of Kharkov 1944 - World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino 1952 - In Cilaos, Réunion, 1870 mm (73 inches) of rain falls in one day, setting a new world record. 1961 - South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations. 1965 - President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act. 1970 - The Expo '70 world's fair opens in Osaka, Japan. 1985 - The first Internet domain name is registered (symbolics.com). 1988 - The Halabja poison gas attack of the Iran–Iraq War begins. 1989 - The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is established. 1990 - Gulf War: Iraq hangs British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying. 1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union. 1990 - The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureş begin on the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. 2003 - Hu Jintao takes over presidency for the People's Republic of China. 2004 - Announcement of the discovery of 90377 Sedna, the farthest natural object in the Solar system so far observed.
