March 31

Events

• 307 - After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
• 1146 - Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
• 1492 - Queen Isabella of Castile issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
• 1561 - The city of San Cristóbal, Táchira is founded.
• 1717 - A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, preached in the presence of King George I of Great Britain, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
• 1774 - American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
• 1854 - Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
• 1885 - The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
• 1889 - The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
• 1899 - Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces.
• 1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
• 1909 - Serbia formally withdraws its opposition to Austro-Hungarian actions in the Bosnian Crisis.
• 1913 - The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.
• 1917 - According to the terms of the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, the islands become American possessions.
• 1918 - Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
• 1918 - Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
• 1921 - The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
• 1930 - The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.
• 1931 - An earthquake in Nicaragua destroys Managua; killing 2,000.
• 1931 - A Transcontinental & Western Air airliner crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne.
• 1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
• 1942 - World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
• 1945 - World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
• 1949 - The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
• 1951 - Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
• 1957 - Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
• 1958 - In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
• 1959 - The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
• 1964 - Brazilian General Olímpio Mourão Filho orders his troops to move towards Rio de Janeiro, beginning the coup d'état.
• 1966 - The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
• 1968 - American President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks to the nation of "Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam" in a television address. At the conclusion of his speech, he announces: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."
• 1970 - Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
• 1980 - The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
• 1985 - The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE, takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• 1990 - Approximately 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.
• 1991 - Georgian independence referendum: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1992 - The, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
• 1992 - The Treaty of Federation is signed in Moscow.
• 1995 - TAROM Flight 371, an Airbus A310-300, crashes near Balotesti, Romania, killing all 60 people on board.
• 1995 - Selena is murdered by her fan club's president Yolanda Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas after accusations of Saldívar embezzling money from Selena's fan club.
• 1998 - Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license.
• 2004 - Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.
• 2018 - Start of the 2018 Armenian revolution.

  Births

• 1360 - Philippa of Lancaster
• 1499 - Pope Pius IV
• 1504 - Guru Angad, Indian religious leader
• 1519 - Henry II of France
• 1536 - Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun
• 1596 - René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher
• 1601 - Jakov Mikalja, Italian linguist and lexicographer
• 1621 - Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician
• 1651 - Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark
• 1675 - Pope Benedict XIV
• 1718 - Mariana Victoria of Spain
• 1723 - Frederick V of Denmark
• 1730 - Étienne Bézout, French mathematician and theorist
• 1732 - Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer
• 1740 - Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician
• 1747 - Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer
• 1777 - Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer
• 1778 - Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist
• 1794 - Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior
• 1809 - Edward FitzGerald, English poet and translator
• 1809 - Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright
• 1809 - Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer
• 1813 - Félix María Zuloaga, Mexican general and unconstitutional interim president
• 1819 - Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
• 1823 - Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author
• 1833 - Mary Abigail Dodge, American writer and essayist
• 1835 - John La Farge, American artist
• 1847 - Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor
• 1847 - Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician and theorist
• 1851 - Francis Bell, Jewish New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand
• 1855 - Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman
• 1859 - Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor and screenwriter
• 1865 - Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician
• 1871 - Arthur Griffith, Irish journalist and politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann
• 1872 - Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes
• 1874 - Benjamín G. Hill, Mexican revolutionary general, governor of Sonora
• 1874 - Henri Marteau, French violinist and composer
• 1876 - Borisav Stanković, Serbian author
• 1878 - Jack Johnson, American boxer
• 1884 - Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic
• 1885 - Pascin, Sephardi Jewish Bulgarian-American painter and illustrator
• 1890 - Ben Adams, American jumper
• 1890 - William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1891 - Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor and director
• 1893 - Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager
• 1893 - Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German physician and historian
• 1895 - Vardis Fisher, American author and academic
• 1900 - Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
• 1905 - Robert Stevenson, English director and screenwriter
• 1905 - George Treweek, Australian rugby league player
• 1906 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1908 - Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer
• 1911 - Freddie Green, American guitarist
• 1911 - Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano
• 1912 - William Lederer, American soldier and author
• 1913 - Etta Baker, African-American singer and guitarist
• 1914 - Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1914 - Dagmar Lange, Swedish author
• 1915 - Albert Hourani, English historian and author
• 1915 - Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant
• 1916 - Lucille Bliss, American voice actress
• 1916 - Tommy Bolt, American golfer
• 1916 - John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge
• 1917 - Dorothy DeLay, American violinist and educator
• 1918 - Ted Post, American director
• 1919 - Frank Akins, American football player
• 1920 - Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, British aristocrat, socialite and author
• 1921 - Lowell Fulson, African-American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1921 - Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director
• 1922 - Richard Kiley, American actor and singer
• 1922 - Patrick Magee, Irish actor
• 1923 - Don Barksdale, American basketball player
• 1923 - François Sermon, Belgian footballer
• 1924 - Leo Buscaglia, American author and academic
• 1924 - Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer
• 1925 - Jean Coutu, Canadian actor and director
• 1926 - John Fowles, English novelist
• 1926 - Beni Montresor, Italian director, set designer, author, and illustrator
• 1926 - Rocco Petrone, American colonel and engineer
• 1927 - Cesar Chavez, American labor union leader and activist
• 1927 - William Daniels, American actor
• 1927 - Eduardo Martínez Somalo, Spanish cardinal
• 1927 - Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot
• 1927 - Elmer Diedtrich, American businessman and politician
• 1927 - Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1928 - Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1928 - Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1929 - Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne Inc.
• 1929 - Bert Fields, American lawyer and author
• 1930 - Yehuda Nir, Polish Jewish-American psychiatrist
• 1930 - Jim Mutscheller, American football player and coach
• 1931 - Miller Barber, American golfer
• 1931 - Tamara Tyshkevich, Belarusian shot putter
• 1932 - John Jakes, American author
• 1932 - Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter
• 1933 - Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist
• 1933 - Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet
• 1934 - Richard Chamberlain, American actor
• 1934 - Shirley Jones, American actress and singer
• 1934 - John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1934 - Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1934 - Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author
• 1935 - Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer
• 1935 - Judith Rossner, Jewish-American author
• 1936 - Marge Piercy, American poet and novelist
• 1936 - Walter E. Williams, American economist and academic
• 1938 - Patrick Bateson, English biologist and academic
• 1938 - Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 22nd Governor of Kerala
• 1938 - Antje Gleichfeld, German runner
• 1938 - Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager
• 1938 - Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player
• 1938 - Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1938 - David Steel, Scottish academic and politician
• 1939 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia
• 1939 - Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1939 - Walker David Miller, American lawyer and judge
• 1939 - Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer
• 1939 - Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
• 1940 - Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer and art director
• 1940 - Barney Frank, American lawyer and politician
• 1940 - Patrick Leahy, American lawyer and politician
• 1941 - Franco Bonvicini, Italian author and illustrator
• 1941 - Faith Leech, Australian swimmer
• 1942 - Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician
• 1942 - Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer
• 1942 - Michael Savage, far-right American radio host and author
• 1943 - Roy Andersson, Swedish director and screenwriter
• 1943 - Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer
• 1943 - Christopher Walken, American actor
• 1944 - Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter
• 1944 - Angus King, American politician
• 1944 - Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1945 - Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist and engineer
• 1945 - Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
• 1945 - Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress
• 1946 - Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1946 - Bob Russell, English politician
• 1947 - Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-American mathematician and academic
• 1947 - Wendy Overton, American tennis player
• 1947 - Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer
• 1947 - Don Foster, English academic and politician
• 1947 - César Gaviria, Colombian economist and politician, 36th President of Colombia
• 1947 - Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and economist
• 1948 - Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba
• 1948 - Al Gore, American soldier and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1948 - Rhea Perlman, American actress
• 1948 - Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist
• 1949 - Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1950 - András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author
• 1950 - Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
• 1950 - Sandra Morgen, American anthropologist and academic
• 1953 - Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer
• 1955 - Svetozar Marović, President of Serbia and Montenegro
• 1955 - Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter
• 1957 - Alan Duncan, English businessman and politician, former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
• 1959 - Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator
• 1961 - Ron Brown, American sprinter and football player
• 1961 - Howard Gordon, American screenwriter and producer
• 1962 - Olli Rehn, Finnish footballer and politician
• 1963 - Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer
• 1964 - Mark Hoban, English accountant and politician
• 1965 - Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1965 - Patty Fendick, American tennis player and coach
• 1965 - Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer
• 1965 - William McNamara, American actor and producer
• 1965 - Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter
• 1966 - Roger Black, English runner and journalist
• 1966 - Nick Firestone, American race car driver
• 1968 - César Sampaio, Brazilian footballer
• 1969 - Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician
• 1969 - Steve Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1970 - Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia
• 1971 - Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer
• 1971 - Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee
• 1971 - Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
• 1971 - Craig McCracken, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 - Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
• 1972 - Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter
• 1972 - Andrew Bowen, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 - Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach
• 1972 - Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs
• 1973 - Christopher Hampson, English ballet dancer and choreographer
• 1974 - Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1974 - Natali, Russian singer, composer and songwriter
• 1974 - Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player
• 1974 - Jani Sievinen, Finnish swimmer
• 1975 - Adam Green, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1975 - Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1975 - Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player
• 1975 - Ryan Rupe, American baseball player
• 1976 - Howard Frier, American basketball player
• 1976 - Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer
• 1976 - Graeme Smith, Scottish swimmer
• 1977 - Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer
• 1977 - Garth Tander, Australian race car driver
• 1978 - Michael Clark, Australian cricketer and footballer
• 1978 - Stephen Clemence, English footballer, midfeider and manager
• 1978 - Jarrod Cooper, American football player
• 1978 - Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
• 1979 - Omri Afek, Israeli footballer
• 1979 - Euan Burton, Scottish martial artist and coach
• 1979 - Alexis Ferrero, Argentinian footballer
• 1979 - Charlie Manning, American baseball player
• 1979 - Jonna Mendes, American skier
• 1979 - Rhys Wesser, Australian rugby league player
• 1980 - Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer
• 1980 - Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger
• 1980 - Matias Concha, Swedish footballer
• 1980 - Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
• 1980 - Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 - Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1981 - Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer
• 1981 - Han Tae-you, South Korean footballer
• 1981 - Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
• 1981 - Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
• 1982 - Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
• 1982 - Bam Childress, American football player
• 1982 - Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
• 1983 - Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
• 1983 - Ashleigh Ball, Canadian voice actress and musician
• 1983 - Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician
• 1983 - Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
• 1983 - Nigel Plum, Australian rugby league player
• 1984 - David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 - Eddie Johnson, American soccer player
• 1984 - James Jones, American football player
• 1984 - Martins Dukurs, Latvian sled racer
• 1984 - Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete
• 1984 - Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
• 1984 - Ed Williamson, English rugby player
• 1985 - Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 - Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player
• 1985 - Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer
• 1985 - Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian race car driver
• 1985 - Kory Sheets, American football player
• 1985 - Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler
• 1986 - Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
• 1986 - James King, Scottish rugby player
• 1986 - Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer
• 1987 - Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
• 1987 - Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer
• 1987 - Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer
• 1987 - Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player
• 1987 - Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player
• 1987 - Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater
• 1988 - Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer
• 1988 - Conrad Sewell, Australian singer and songwriter
• 1988 - Dorin Dickerson, American football player
• 1988 - DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player
• 1988 - Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
• 1989 - Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer
• 1989 - Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer
• 1989 - Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
• 1990 - George Iloka, American football player
• 1990 - Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player
• 1990 - Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper
• 1991 - Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer
• 1991 - Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
• 1992 - Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer
• 1992 - Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer
• 1993 - Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
• 1994 - Samira Asghari, Afghan member of the International Olympic Committee
• 1994 - Tyler Wright, Australian surfer
• 1994 - Mads Würtz Schmidt, Danish road cyclist
• 1995 - Fiona Brown, footballer
• 1998 - Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player
• 1999 - Japhet Tanganga, English footballer

  Deaths

• 32 BC - Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman nobleman of the Equestrian order
• 528 - Xiaoming, emperor of Northern Wei
• 963 - Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir
• 1241 - Pousa, voivode of Transylvania
• 1251 - William of Modena, Italian bishop and diplomat
• 1340 - Ivan I of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke
• 1342 - Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro, Italian Augustinian monk
• 1462 - Isidore II of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople
• 1491 - Bonaventura Tornielli, Italian Roman Catholic priest
• 1547 - Francis I, French king
• 1567 - Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
• 1621 - Philip III, Spanish king
• 1622 - Gonzalo Méndez de Canço, Royal Governor of La Florida
• 1631 - John Donne, English lawyer and poet
• 1671 - Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England
• 1723 - Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York
• 1741 - Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar and author
• 1751 - Frederick, Prince of Wales, Hanoverian-born heir to the British throne
• 1797 - Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist
• 1837 - John Constable, English painter and educator
• 1850 - John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States
• 1855 - Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet
• 1877 - Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher
• 1880 - Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer
• 1885 - Franz Abt, German composer and conductor
• 1907 - Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• 1910 - Jean Moréas, Greek poet, essayist and art critic
• 1913 - J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier
• 1915 - Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner and captain
• 1917 - Emil von Behring, German physiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1924 - George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator
• 1927 - Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and political reformer
• 1930 - Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg
• 1931 - Knute Rockne, American football player and coach
• 1935 - Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume
• 1939 - Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general
• 1944 - Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral
• 1945 - Frank Findlay, New Zealand banker and politician
• 1945 - Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1950 - Robert Natus, Estonian architect
• 1952 - Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician
• 1956 - Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver and actor
• 1968 - Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player
• 1970 - Semyon Timoshenko, Soviet Commander during the Winter War and the Eastern Front of World War II
• 1975 - Percy Alliss, English golfer
• 1976 - Paul Strand, American photographer and director
• 1978 - Astrid Allwyn, American actress
• 1978 - Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin
• 1980 - Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author
• 1980 - Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper
• 1981 - Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright
• 1983 - Christina Stead, Australian author and academic
• 1986 - Jerry Paris, American actor and director
• 1988 - William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia
• 1993 - Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist
• 1993 - Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter
• 1995 - Selena, American singer-songwriter
• 1996 - Dante Giacosa, Italian automobile designer and engineer
• 1996 - Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1998 - Bella Abzug, American lawyer, activist, and politician
• 1998 - Tim Flock, American race car driver
• 1998 - Joel Ryce-Menuhin, American pianist
• 1999 - Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist and ethnographer
• 2001 - David Rocastle, English footballer
• 2001 - Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 2002 - Barry Took, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
• 2002 - Moturu Udayam, Indian activist and politician
• 2003 - Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic
• 2003 - Anne Gwynne, American actress
• 2003 - Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
• 2004 - Scott Helvenston, American soldier
• 2005 - Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist and academic
• 2005 - Justiniano Montano, Filipino lawyer and politician
• 2005 - Frank Perdue, American businessman
• 2006 - Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer
• 2007 - Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher
• 2008 - Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
• 2008 - Bill Keightley, American equipment manager
• 2009 - Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina
• 2009 - Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge
• 2011 - Gil Clancy, American boxer and trainer
• 2011 - Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author
• 2011 – Mary Greyeyes, the first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces
• 2011 - Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach
• 2011 - Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and actress
• 2011 - Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist
• 2012 - Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician
• 2012 - Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic
• 2012 - Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist
• 2012 - Jerry Lynch, American baseball player
• 2012 - Alberto Sughi, Italian painter
• 2012 - Halbert White, American economist and academic
• 2013 - Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop
• 2013 - Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician
• 2013 - Bob Clarke, American illustrator
• 2013 - Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician, Iranian Minister of Interior
• 2013 - Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player
• 2014 - Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, historian, and academic
• 2014 - Roger Somville, Belgian painter
• 2015 - Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator
• 2015 - Cocoa Fujiwara, Japanese author and illustrator
• 2015 - Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian lawyer and politician
• 2015 - Dalibor Vesely, Czech-English historian, author, and academic
• 2016 - Ronnie Corbett, Scottish comedian, actor and screenwriter
• 2016 - Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician
• 2016 - Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-born English architect and academic, designed the Bridge Pavilion
• 2016 - Imre Kertész, Hungarian author, Nobel Prize laureate
• 2016 - Denise Robertson, British writer and television broadcaster
• 2017 - Gilbert Baker, American artist and LGBT rights activist
• 2017 - James Rosenquist, American artist
• 2019 - Nipsey Hussle, American rapper

  Holidays and observances

• Cesar Chavez Day
• Christian feast day
• * Abdas of Susa
• * Acathius of Melitene
• * Anesius and companions
• * Benjamin
• * Balbina
• * John Donne
• * March 31
• Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis
• Freedom Day
• International Transgender Day of Visibility
• King Nangklao Memorial Day
• Thomas Mundy Peterson Day
• Transfer Day
• World Backup Day