From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

March 20 is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 286 days remaining until the end of the year.

March 20th is also the usual date of the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, and the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere when both day and night are of equal length, therefore it is frequently the date of traditional Iranian holiday Norouz in many countries.

Events

• 1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden.
• 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
• 1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
• 1739 – Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
• 1760 – The "Great Fire" of Boston, Massachusetts 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 – Revolutions of 1848 in the German states: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
• 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
• 1861 – An earthquake completely 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.
• 1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
• 1914 – In New Haven, Connecticut, the first international figure skating championship takes place.
• 1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
• 1922 – The USS Langley (CV-1) is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
• 1933 – Giuseppe Zangara is executed in Florida's electric chair for fatally shooting Anton Cermak in an assassination attempt against President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• 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 United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
• 1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
• 1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
• 1974 – Ian Ball attempts, but fails, to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
• 1980 – The Radio Caroline ship, Mi Amigo founders in a gale off the English coast.
• 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 – An IRA bomb explodes, killing two children in Warrington, Northwest England.
• 1995 – A sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway kills 12 and wounds 1,300 persons.
• 1999 – Legoland California, the only Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California.
• 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 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.
• 2004 – Stephen Harper wins the leadership of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada, becoming the party's first leader.
• 2005 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Fukuoka, Japan, its first major quake in over 100 years. One person is killed, hundreds are injured and evacuated.
• 2006 – Cyclone Larry makes landfall in eastern Australia, destroying most of the country's banana crop.
• 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 Deby.

Births

• 43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
• 1469 – Princess Cecily of York (d. 1507)
• 1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian (d. 1527)
• 1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
• 1644 – Ivan Mazepa, Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate (d. 1709)
• 1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1789)
• 1735 – Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist (d. 1784)
• 1737 – Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, King of Thailand (d. 1809)
• 1741 – Jean Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (d. 1828)
• 1770 – Friedrich Hölderlin, German writer (d. 1843)
• 1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (d. 1839)
• 1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican Head of State (d. 1845)
• 1811 – Napoleon II of France, (d. 1832)
• 1823 – Ned Buntline, American publisher (d. 1886)
• 1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian writer (d. 1906)
• 1831 – Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman (d. 1881)
• 1834 – Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University (d. 1926)
• 1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American politician (d. 1886)
• 1836 – Sir Edward Poynter, British painter (d. 1919)
• 1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
• 1856 – Sir John Lavery, Irish artist (d. 1941)
• 1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American inventor (d. 1915)
• 1870 – Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
• 1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (d. 1945)
• 1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman (d. 1927)
• 1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian biochemist (d. 1960)
• 1882 – René Coty, French President (d. 1962)
• 1890 – Beniamino Gigli, Italian tenor (d. 1957)
• 1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish tenor (d. 1973)
• 1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-born psychologist (d. 1981)
• 1897 – Ruby Muhammad, American matriarch of Black Islam
• 1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist (d. 1990)
• 1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby footballer (d. 1949)
• 1906 – Abraham Beame, American politician (d. 2001)
• 1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American bandleader and actor (d. 1975)
• 1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor (d. 1985)
• 1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican diplomat and Nobel laureate (d. 1991)
• 1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor (d. 1968)
• 1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, President of Austria (d. 2000)
• 1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Soviet pianist (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Pierre Messmer, French politician and Prime Minister (d. 2007)
• 1917 – Vera Lynn, English actress and singer
• 1918 – Jack Barry, American TV host (d. 1984)
• 1918 – Donald Featherstone, British writer and wargamer
• 1918 – Marian McPartland, British jazz pianist
• 1920 – Pamela Harriman, British-American diplomat (d. 1997)
• 1921 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer (d. 1973)
• 1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian resistance fighter, philosopher and literary historian (d. 1977)
• 1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader
• 1922 – Ray Goulding, American comedian (d. 1990)
• 1922 – Carl Reiner, American film director
• 1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani Author, Journalist and Political Activist (d. 2006)
• 1924 – Jozef Kroner, Slovak actor (d. 1998)
• 1925 – John Ehrlichman, American political figure (d. 1999)
• 1927 – John Joubert, South African-born British composer
• 1928 – Fred Rogers, American TV host (d. 2003)
• 1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish actor
• 1931 – Hal Linden, American actor
• 1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
• 1933 – Alexander Gorodnitsky, Russian geologist and poet
• 1934 – Willie Brown, American politician
• 1934 – David Malouf, Australian author
• 1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1936 – Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jamaican Reggae artist
• 1936 – Vaughn Meader, American comedian (d. 2004)
• 1937 – Lois Lowry, American children's author
• 1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer and actor (d. 2008)
• 1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian Mathematician, Fields Medalist
• 1939 – Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada
• 1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player
• 1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese long-distance runner
• 1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
• 1943 – Naima Neidre, Estonian graphic artist
• 1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American TV producer
• 1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American fighter pilot
• 1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
• 1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
• 1947 – John Boswell, American historian (d. 1994)
• 1948 – John de Lancie, American actor
• 1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1949 – Marcia Ball, American singer and pianist
• 1950 – William Hurt, American actor
• 1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
• 1951 – Curt Smith, American author and media host
• 1951 – Jimmie Vaughan, American blues guitarist
• 1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian racing driver
• 1954 – Mike Francesa, American sports talk show host
• 1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
• 1956 – Catherine Ashton, British politician
• 1956 – Anne Donahue, Vermont state representative
• 1957 – Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
• 1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
• 1957 – Spike Lee, American film director
• 1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
• 1957 – Farida Samerkhanova, Canadian writer
• 1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator
• 1958 – Phil Anderson, Australian cyclist
• 1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress
• 1959 – Dave Beasant, English football goalkeeper
• 1959 – Steve McFadden, British actor
• 1959 – Sting, American professional wrestler
• 1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer
• 1961 – Slim Jim Phantom, American musician (Stray Cats)
• 1962 – Stephen Sommers, American film director
• 1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player
• 1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian athlete (d. 2007)
• 1963 – Manabu Suzuki, Japanese racing driver and broadcaster
• 1963 – David Thewlis, British actor
• 1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model and actress
• 1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
• 1965 – William Dalrymple, Writer and Historian
• 1966 – Alka Yagnik, Indian singer
• 1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
• 1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
• 1968 – Liza Snyder, American actress
• 1969 – Caroline Brunet, Quebec kayaker
• 1969 – Mannie Fresh, American producer
• 1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor
• 1970 – Michele Jaffe, U.S.American novelist
• 1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
• 1971 – Ingrid Kavelaars, Canadian actress
• 1971 – Touré, American writer
• 1972 – Alexander Kapranos, Greek-British musician (Franz Ferdinand)
• 1973 – Jane March, English actress
• 1973 – Jung Woo-sung, South Korean actor
• 1973 – Cedric Yarbrough, American actor
• 1974 – Paula Garces, Colombian actress
• 1974 – Andrzej Pilipiuk, Polish writer
• 1976 – Chester Bennington, American musician (Linkin Park)
• 1979 – Silvia Abascal, Spanish actress
• 1979 – Freema Agyeman, British actress
• 1979 – Bianca Lawson, American actress
• 1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
• 1979 – Bernard O'Connor, Gaelic Footballer
• 1979 – Molly Jenson, American musician
• 1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
• 1980 – Ock Ju-Hyun, South Korean singer
• 1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish Footballer
• 1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
• 1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 – Justine Ezarik, American Internet personality
• 1984 – Valtteri Filppula, Finnish ice-hockey player
• 1984 – Markus Niemelä, Finnish racing driver
• 1984 – Christy Carlson Romano, American actress
• 1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
• 1984 – Marcus Vick, American football player
• 1984 – Winta, Norwegian musician
• 1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
• 1985 – Yoan Merlo, French e-sport gamer
• 1986 – Dean Geyer, Australian singer and actor
• 1986 – Ruby Rose Langenheim, Australian VJ
• 1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian football player
• 1987 – Patrick Boyle, Scottish footballer
• 1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
• 1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian hockey player
• 1987 – Kangana Ranaut, Indian actress
• 1988 – Louie Vito, American snowboarder
• 1989 – Catherine McNeil, Australian model
• 1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi cricketer
• 2006 – Chris and Cru Kahui, New Zealand murder victims (d.2006)

Deaths

• 687 – St. Cuthbert, patron saint of Northumbria (b. c. 634)
• 1239 – Hermann von Salza, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (b. c. 1179)
• 1390 – Alexios III, Emperor of Trebizond (b. 1338)
• 1413 – King Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
• 1549 – Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour, widower of Queen Catherine Parr (b. 1508)
• 1568 – Duke Albert of Prussia (b. 1490)
• 1586 – Richard Maitland, Scottish statesman and historian (b. 1496)
• 1619 – Mathias, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1557)
• 1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish prior (b. 1603)
• 1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
• 1732 – Johann Ernst Hanxleden, German philologist (b. 1681)
• 1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter (b. 1656)
• 1780 – Sir Benjamin Truman – English brewer
• 1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician (b. 1705)
• 1835 – Louis-Leopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
• 1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English mason and inventor (b. 1788)
• 1865 – Keisuke Yamanami, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
• 1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer (b. 1810)
• 1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
• 1890 – Alexander F. Mozhaiski, aviation pioneer (b. 1825)
• 1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet (b. 1821)
• 1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist (b. 1822)
• 1916 – Ota Benga, Congolese pygmy (b. 1884)
• 1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American Civil War General (b. 1828)
• 1925 – George Nathaniel Curzon, British statesman (b. 1859)
• 1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French commander of allied forces in World War I (b. 1851)
• 1931 – Hermann Müller, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
• 1934 – Queen Emma of the Netherlands (b. 1858)
• 1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
• 1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and filmdirector (b. 1884)
• 1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish playwright and author (b. 1923)
• 1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (b. 1896)
• 1970 – Manolis Chiotis, Greek bouzouki virtuoso and song writer (b. 1920)
• 1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
• 1974 – Chet Huntley, American television journalist (b. 1911)
• 1981 – Gerry Bertier, American wheelchair Olympian (b. 1953)
• 1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician (b. 1891)
• 1990 – Lev Yashin, Soviet footballer (b. 1929)
• 1991 – Conor Clapton, son of Eric Clapton (b. 1986)
• 1992 – Georges Delerue, French film composer (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1911)
• 1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American humorist (b. 1946)
• 1995 – Big John Studd, American professional wrestler (b. 1948)
• 1997 – Tony Zale, American boxer (b. 1913)
• 1997 – V. S. Pritchett, British writer and critic (b. 1900)
• 1998 – George Howard, American jazz saxophone musician (b. 1956)
• 2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1961)
• 2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1949)
• 2003 – Sailor Art Thomas, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
• 2004 – Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
• 2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian military officer and politician (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Armand Lohikoski, Finnish film director (b. 1912)
• 2007 – Gilbert E. Patterson, presiding bishop of COGIC (b. 1939)
• 2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician (b. 1938)
• 2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (b. 1948)
• 2008 – Eric Ashton, English rugby league footballer (b. 1935)
• 2008 – Shoban Babu, Indian actor (b. 1937)
• 2008 – Brian Wilde, English actor (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Klaus Dinger, German musician (b. 1946)
• 2009 – Mel Brown, American/Canadian blues guitarist (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day
  • Abdon and Sennen, celebrated in Soissons, France
  • Alexandra
  • Cuthbert of Lindisfane, patron saint of Northumbria
  • Herbert
  • Wulfram
• Earliest day for the vernal equinox:
  • Earth Day, during its first celebration in 1971. Now celebrated on April 22.
  • Norouz (Iran)
  • International Astrology Day (astrologers and astrology enthusiasts)
  • Sham el-Nessim (Egypt)
  • Shunbun no Hi, a national holiday in Japan.
  • World Storytelling Day, a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling.
• Earliest possible date for Good Friday (Christianity)
• Independence Day, independence of Tunisia from France in 1956. (Tunisia)
• International Day of the Francophonie (International Organization of the Francophonie)
• The second day of Quinquatria (Roman Empire)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

From Wikiquote

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

Where there is great love there are always miracles. ~ Willa Cather

• selected by Kalki

2005

Everything comes gradually and at its appointed hour. ~ Ovid (born 20 March 43 BC)

• selected by Kalki

2006

The spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom — these are the pillars of society. ~ Henrik Ibsen (born 20 March 1828)

• selected by Kalki

2007

It is not only what we have inherited from our fathers and mothers that exists again in us, but all sorts of old dead ideas and all kinds of old dead beliefs and things of that kind. They are not actually alive in us; but there they are dormant, all the same, and we can never be rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper and read it, I fancy I see ghosts creeping between the lines. There must be ghosts all over the world. They must be as countless as the grains of the sands, it seems to me. And we are so miserably afraid of the light, all of us. ~ Henrik Ibsen (born 20 March 1828)

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2008

If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run — and often in the short one — the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative. ~ Arthur C. Clarke (recent death)

• selected by Kalki

2009

What is all that men have done and thought over thousands of years, compared with one moment of love. But in all Nature, too, it is what is nearest to perfection, what is most divinely beautiful! There all stairs lead from the threshold of life. From there we come, to there we go. ~ Friedrich Hölderlin

• proposed by Zarbon

2010

Suggestions

You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone. ~ Henrik Ibsen

• 3 because strength is heightened ten-fold by serenity, devoid of human obsessions and needs. Zarbon 05:33, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm. ~ Henrik Ibsen

• 4 because unlike the dictatorship where one person steers the ship, the community steers the ship. This, in some cases, is both damaging and positive...a mixture of thought and deduction, never solid, and moreso governed by the changing of times, parallel to how hard the wind blows the ship in a comparative image. Zarbon 05:33, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
• 3 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

We can learn even from our enemies. ~ Ovid

• 3 because learning from friends and allies alone will never be enough. In order to understand one's enemies, one must study them and learn from them. Very militaristic strategist persona taken here. Zarbon 05:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
• 3 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Nothing is stronger than habit. ~ Ovid

• 3 because those governed by habit will become accustomed to it and the harder it will become to separate oneself from it. Zarbon 05:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are. ~ Ovid

• 3 because convenience is a very powerful ally. To decipher motives based on convenience and to conceive of opportunities solely based on belief when needed, is how people become successful...it takes more than being at the right place at the right time. Zarbon 05:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Time, the devourer of all things. ~ Ovid

• 3 because the description of time here is solid, a personification of the very word, characterizing time as a learner of man's history, and a devourer who has never subsided or been subdued. Zarbon 05:41, 2 May 2008 (UTC)
• 3 UDScott 20:31, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC), but I would prefer to include the original Latin as well: Tempus edax rerum
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

You need a reason to be sad. You don't need a reason to be happy. ~ Louis Sachar

• 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Yet still are you holy to me, as the might of the earth
That bore you away, audaciously perishing!
And I would follow the hero into the depths
Did love not hold me.
~ Friedrich Hölderlin

• 3 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

What is the wisdom of a book compared with the wisdom of an angel? ~ Friedrich Hölderlin

• 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. The mystery which surrounds a thinking machine already surrounds a thinking man. ~ B. F. Skinner

• 3 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC) (but part of this quote was already used, and there are others I prefer to use).
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Society attacks early, when the individual is helpless. ~ B. F. Skinner

• 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. ~ B. F. Skinner

• 2 Zarbon 14:58, 11 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 10:07, 13 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

When we dead awaken. ... We see that we have never lived. ~ Henrik Ibsen

• 3 Kalki 15:26, 19 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Zarbon 04:15, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Tho' Doubt's beleaguering forces hem us in,
Yet Truth upon the Serpent's head shall trample.
The cause of Love shall win —
Yes, Love shall win!
~ Henrik Ibsen ~

• 3 Kalki 15:26, 19 March 2009 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:27, 19 March 2009 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 04:15, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Games released on March 20.

From Familypedia

March 20 is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 286 days remaining until the end of the year.

March 20 is also the usual date of the vernal equinox (first day of spring) in the Northern Hemisphere, and the autumnal equinox (first day of autumn) in the Southern Hemisphere, therefore it is frequently the date of traditional Iranian holiday Nowruz in many countries.

Events

• 1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.
• 1616 - Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years imprisonment.
• 1739 - Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
• 1760 - The "Great Fire" of Boston destroys 349 buildings.
• 1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
• 1848 - Revolutions of 1848 in the German states: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
• 1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
• 1856 - Costa Rican troops rout Walker's soldiers.
• 1861 - An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, a city in western Argentina.
• 1883 - Signature of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
• 1899 - At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place is sentenced to become the first woman executed in an electric chair.
• 1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang), is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
• 1914 - In New Haven, the first international figure skating championship takes place.
• 1916 - Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
• 1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
• 1933 - Giuseppe Zangara is executed in Florida's electric chair for fatally shooting Anton Cermak in an assassination attempt against Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
• 1942 - In Zgierz, Poland, 100 Poles are taken from a labor camp and shot by the Germans.
• 1942 - Holocaust: in Rohatyn, western Ukraine, German SS murder 3,000 Jews, including 600 children, annihilating 70% of Rohatyn's Jewish ghetto.
• 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 United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
• 1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France.
• 1964 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
• 1974 - A failed kidnap attempt is made on Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
• 1980 - The Radio Caroline ship, Mi Amigo founders in a gale off the English coast.
• 1985 - Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
• 1986 - Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France.
• 1987 - The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
• 1990 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
• 1993 - A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Warrington, northwest England, killing two children.
• 1995 - A sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway kills 12 and wounds 1,300 persons.
• 1999 - Legoland California opens in Carlsbad, California.
• 2000 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after a gun battle that leaves a Georgia sheriff's deputy dead.
• 2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.
• 2004 - Stephen Harper wins the leadership of the newly created Conservative Party of Canada, thus becoming the first leader in the party's history.
• 2005 - A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Fukuoka, Japan, its first major quake in over 100 years. One person is killed, hundreds are injured and evacuated.
• 2006 - Cyclone Larry makes landfall in eastern Australia, destroying most of the country's banana crop.
• 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 Deby.

Births

• 43 BC - Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17)
• 1469 - Princess Cecily of York (d. 1507)
• 1477 - Jerome Emser, German theologian (d. 1527)
• 1502 - Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (d. 1575)
• 1725 - Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1789)
• 1735 - Torbern Bergman, Swedish chemist (d. 1784)
• 1737 - Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, King of Thailand (d. 1809)
• 1741 - Jean Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (d. 1828)
• 1770 - Friedrich Hölderlin, German writer (d. 1843)
• 1799 - Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (d. 1839)
• 1811 - Napoleon II of France, (d. 1832)
• 1823 - Ned Buntline, American publisher (d. 1886)
• 1828 - Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian writer (d. 1906)
• 1831 - Solomon L. Spink, U.S. Congressman (d. 1881)
• 1834 - Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University (d. 1926)
• 1836 - Ferris Jacobs, American politician (d. 1886)
• 1836 - Sir Edward Poynter, British painter (d. 1919)
• 1840 - Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (d. 1894)
• 1856 - Sir John Lavery, Irish artist (d. 1941)
• 1856 - Frederick Winslow Taylor, American inventor (d. 1915)
• 1870 - Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (d. 1964)
• 1874 - Börries von Münchhausen, German poet (d. 1945)
• 1876 - Payne Whitney, American businessman (d. 1927)
• 1879 - Maud Menten, Canadian biochemist (d. 1960)
• 1882 - René Coty, French President (d.1962)
• 1890 - Beniamino Gigli, Italian tenor (d. 1957)
• 1890 - Lauritz Melchior, Danish tenor (d. 1973)
• 1895 - Fredric Wertham, German-born psychologist (d. 1981)
• 1897 - Ruby Muhammad, American matriarch of Black Islam
• 1903 - Edgar Buchanan, American actor (d. 1979)
• 1904 - B. F. Skinner, American psychologist (d. 1990)
• 1906 - Abraham Beame, American politician (d. 2001)
• 1906 - Ozzie Nelson, American bandleader and actor (d. 1975)
• 1908 - Michael Redgrave, English actor (d. 1985)
• 1911 - Alfonso García Robles, Nobel laureate (d. 1991)
• 1914 - Wendell Corey, American actor (d. 1968)
• 1915 - Rudolf Kirchschläger, President of Austria (d. 2000)
• 1915 - Sviatoslav Richter, Soviet pianist (d. 1997)
• 1916 - Pierre Messmer, French politician and Prime Minister (d. 2007)
• 1917 - Vera Lynn, English actress and singer
• 1918 - Jack Barry, American TV host (d. 1984)
• 1918 - Marian McPartland, British jazz pianist
• 1920 - Pamela Harriman, British-American diplomat (d. 1997)
• 1921 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer (d. 1973)
• 1922 - Ray Goulding, American comedian (d. 1990)
• 1922 - Carl Reiner, American film director
• 1923 - Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani Author, Journalist and Political Activist (d. 2006)
• 1924 - Jozef Kroner, Slovak actor (d. 1998)
• 1925 - John Ehrlichman, American political figure (d. 1999)
• 1927 - John Joubert, South African-born British composer
• 1928 - Fred Rogers, American TV host (d. 2003)
• 1929 - Germán Robles, Spanish actor
• 1931 - Hal Linden, American actor
• 1933 - George Altman, American baseball player
• 1933 - Alexander Gorodnitsky, Russian geologist and poet
• 1934 - Willie Brown, American politician
• 1935 - Ted Bessell, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1936 - Lee "Scratch" Perry, Reggae artist
• 1936 - Vaughn Meader, American comedian (d. 2004)
• 1937 - Jerry Reed, American singer and actor
• 1939 - Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada
• 1941 - Pat Corrales, American baseball player
• 1943 - Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
• 1943 - Naima Neidre, Estonian graphic artist
• 1943 - Paul Junger Witt, American TV producer
• 1945 - Henry Bartholomay, American fighter pilot
• 1945 - Rick Berman, American TV and film producer
• 1945 - Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
• 1945 - Pat Riley, American basketball player and coach
• 1947 - John Boswell, American historian (d. 1994)
• 1948 - John de Lancie, American actor
• 1948 - Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1949 - Marcia Ball, American singer and pianist
• 1950 - William Hurt, American actor
• 1950 - Carl Palmer, English drummer (Emerson)
• 1951 - Jimmie Vaughan, American blues guitarist
• 1952 - Geoff Brabham, Australian racing driver
• 1954 - Mike Francesa, American sports talk show host
• 1954 - Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
• 1957 - Vanessa Bell Calloway, American actress
• 1957 - David Foster, Australian world champion woodchopper
• 1957 - Spike Lee, American film director
• 1957 - Theresa Russell, American actress
• 1958 - Phil Anderson, Australian cyclist
• 1958 - Holly Hunter, American actress
• 1959 - Steve McFadden, British actor
• 1959 - Sting, American professional wrestler
• 1961 - Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer
• 1961 - Slim Jim Phantom, American musician (Stray Cats)
• 1962 - Stephen Sommers, American film director
• 1963 - Paul Annacone, American tennis player
• 1963 - Yelena Romanova, Russian athlete (d. 2007)
• 1963 - Manabu Suzuki, Japanese racing driver and broadcaster
• 1964 - Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
• 1966 - Alka Yagnik, Indian singer
• 1969 - Caroline Brunet, Quebec kayaker
• 1969 - Mannie Fresh, American producer
• 1971 - Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
• 1971 - Touré, American writer
• 1972 - Alexander Kapranos, Greek-British musician (Franz Ferdinand)
• 1973 - Jung Woo-sung, South Korean actor
• 1973 - Cedric Yarbrough, American actor
• 1974 - Paula Garces, Colombian actress
• 1974 - Andrzej Pilipiuk, Polish writer
• 1976 - Chester Bennington, American musician (Linkin Park)
• 1979 - Bianca Lawson, American actress
• 1979 - Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
• 1980 - Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
• 1980 - Ock Ju-Hyun, South Korean singer
• 1982 - Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1982 - Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
• 1982 - Nick Wheeler, American guitarist (The All-American Rejects)
• 1982 - José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
• 1984 - Christy Carlson Romano, American actress
• 1984 - Rami Malek, Egyptian-born actor
• 1984 - Justine Ezarik, American Internet personality
• 1984 - Markus Niemelä, Finnish racing driver
• 1984 - Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
• 1984 - Marcus Vick, American football player
• 1984 - Winta, Norwegian musician
• 1987 - Patrick Boyle, Scottish footballer
• 1987 - Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian football player
• 1987 - João Alves de Assis Silva, Brazilian footballer

Deaths

• 1239 - Hermann von Salza, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (c. 1179)
• 1413 - King Henry IV of England (b. 1367)
• 1549 - Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour, 4th. husband of Queen Catherine Parr (executed) (b. 1508)
• 1568 - Duke Albert of Prussia (b. 1490)
• 1586 - Richard Maitland, Scottish statesman and historian (b. 1496)
• 1619 - Mathias (b. 1557)
• 1673 - Augustyn Kordecki, Polish prior (b. 1603)
• 1727 O.S. - Sir Isaac Newton, English physicist (b. 1642)
• 1730 - Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (b. 1692)
• 1732 - Johann Ernst Hanxleden, German philologist (b. 1681)
• 1746 - Nicolas de Largillière, French painter (b. 1656)
• 1780 - Sir Benjamin Truman - English brewer (b. 1699/1700)
• 1793 - William Murray, Scottish judge and politician (b. 1705)
• 1835 - Louis-Leopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
• 1855 - Joseph Aspdin, English mason and inventor (b. 1788)
• 1865 - Keisuke Yamanami, Japanese samurai (b. 1833)
• 1874 - Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer (b. 1810)
• 1878 - Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (b. 1814)
• 1890 - Alexander F. Mozhaiski, aviation pioneer (b. 1825)
• 1897 - Apollon Maykov, Russian poet (b. 1821)
• 1899 - Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist (b. 1822)
• 1916 - Ota Benga, Congolese pygmy (b. 1884)
• 1918 - Lewis A. Grant, American Civil War General (b. 1828)
• 1925 - George Nathaniel Curzon, British statesman (b. 1859)
• 1929 - Ferdinand Foch, French commander of allied forces in World War I (b. 1851)
• 1931 - Hermann Müller, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1876)
• 1934 - Queen Emma of the Netherlands (b. 1858)
• 1940 - Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (b. 1860)
• 1947 - Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and filmdirector (b. 1884)
• 1964 - Brendan Behan, Irish playwright and author (b. 1923)
• 1970 - Manolis Chiotis, Greek bouzouki virtuoso and song writer (b. 1920)
• 1972 - Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (b. 1921)
• 1974 - Chet Huntley, American television journalist (b. 1911)
• 1983 - Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician (b. 1891)
• 1990 - Lev Yashin, Soviet footballer (b. 1929)
• 1991 - Conor Clapton, son of Eric Clapton (b. 1986)
• 1992 - Georges Delerue, French film composer (b. 1925)
• 1993 - Polykarp Kusch, German-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1911)
• 1994 - Lewis Grizzard, American humorist (b. 1946)
• 1995 - Big John Studd, American professional wrestler (b. 1948)
• 1997 - Tony Zale, American boxer (b. 1913)
• 1998 - George Howard, American jazz saxophone musician
• 2000 - Gene Eugene, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1961)
• 2001 - Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1949)
• 2003 - Sailor Art Thomas, American professional wrestler (b. 1924)
• 2004 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (b. 1909)
• 2004 - Pierre Sévigny, French Canadian military officer and politician (b. 1917)
• 2005 - Armand Lohikoski, Finnish film director (b. 1912)
• 2007 - Gilbert E. Patterson, presiding bishop of COGIC (born 1939)
• 2007 - Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician (b. 1938)
• 2007 - Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (born 1948)

Holidays and observances

• The vernal equinox usually occurs on this day.
• The second day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.
• New Year of Iranian Calendar: Norouz occurs on the vernal equinox.
• Canberra Day
• Though dependent on the exact day of the vernal equinox, International Astrology Day is sometimes celebrated on March 20 if the equinox falls on this day.

Liturgical observances

• Feast of St. Cuthbert, patron saint of Northumbria (d.704)
• Abdon and Sennen at Soissons ^[1]
• Saint Herbert (d.687)
• Saint Wulfram (d.704)
• Saint Alexandra

References

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day

• On This Day in Canada