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.

• 1856 – Costa Rican troops rout Walker's soldiers.

• 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 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.

• 1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married.

• 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 Petrovich 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 – 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 – 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

• 1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer

• 1965 – William Dalrymple, Writer and Historian

• 1966 – Alka Yagnik, Indian singer

• 1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player

• 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

• 1990 – Joaquin Maria Gutierrez, Filipino violinist

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, 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, 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

• The second day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva.

• The vernal equinox usually occurs on this day. This is a national holiday of Japan.

• Though dependent on the exact day of the vernal equinox, New Year of Iranian Calendar: Norouz is sometimes celebrated on March 20 if the equinox falls on this day.

• World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling, celebrated every year on March 20.

• The Thelemic New Year is often celebrated on March 20, since the vernal equinox and Equinox of the Gods often both fall on this day. (Strict observance of the new year however, occurs on the Aries equinox, which can usually fall anytime between March 19 and March 21.)

• Feast of St. Cuthbert, patron saint of Northumbria (d.687)

• Feast of Abdon and Sennen celebrated in Soissons, France

• Saint Herbert (d.687)

• Saint Wulfram (d.704)

• Saint Alexandra

• International Francophonie Day