In England until the 17th Century, this day, Lady Day or the feast of the Annunciation, is accounted the first day of the year and hence New Year's Day. The usage still lingers in the dating of the financial year of the government and other bodies to April 6th – March 25th as modified by the change from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar.

Events

• 1199 – Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France, leading to his death on April 6.

• 1306 – Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland.

• 1409 – The Council of Pisa opens.

• 1584 – Sir Walter Raleigh is granted a patent to colonize Virginia.

• 1634 – The first settlers arrive in Maryland.

• 1655 – Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens.

• 1802 – The Treaty of Amiens is signed as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace" between France and the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

• 1807 – The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire.

• 1807 – The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger carrying railway in the world.

• 1811 – Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for his publication of the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.

• 1821 – (Julian Calendar) Greeks revolt against the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence.

• 1865 – American Civil War: In Virginia, Confederate forces temporarily capture Fort Stedman from the Union in a bloody battle.

• 1894 – Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, departs Massillon, Ohio for Washington D.C.

• 1903 – Racing Club de Avellaneda, one of the big five of Argentina, is founded.

• 1908 – Clube Atletico Mineiro is founded in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

• 1911 – In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 garment workers.

• 1917 – The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811.

• 1918 – The Belarusian People's Republic is established.

• 1924 – On the anniversary of Greek Independence, Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the Second Hellenic Republic.

• 1931 – The Scottsboro Boys are arrested in Alabama and charged with rape.

• 1939 – Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli becomes Pope Pius XII.

• 1941 – The Kingdom of Yugoslavia joins the Axis powers with the signing of the Tripartite Pact.

• 1947 – An explosion in a coal mine in Centralia, Illinois kills 111.

• 1948 – The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.

• 1949 – The extensive deportation campaign known as March deportation is conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to force collectivisation by way of terror. The Soviet authorities deported more than 92,000 people from Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union.

• 1955 – United States Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" as obscene.

• 1957 – The European Economic Community is established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg).

• 1958 – Canada's Avro Arrow makes its first flight.

• 1965 – Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama.

• 1969 – During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel (until March 31).

• 1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: Beginning of Operation Searchlight of Pakistan Army against East Pakistani civilians.

• 1975 – Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by a mentally ill nephew.

• 1979 – The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch.

• 1988 – The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

• 1992 – Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returns to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the Mir space station.

• 1995 – The world's first wiki, a part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham.

• 1996 – An 81-day-long standoff between the anti-government group Montana Freemen and law enforcement near Jordan, Montana, begins.

• 1996 – The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

• 2006 – Capitol Hill massacre: A gunman kills six people before taking his own life at a party in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

• 2006 – Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, 2006 clash with riot police. Opposition leader Aleksander Kozulin is among several protesters arrested.

Births

• 1252 – Conradin, Duke of Swabia (d. 1268)

• 1259 – Andronikos II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (d. 1332)

• 1297 – Andronicus III Palaeologus, Byzantine emperor (d. 1341)

• 1297 – Arnost of Pardubice, Archbishop of Prague (d. 1364)

• 1345 – Blanche of Lancaster, wife of John of Gaunt (d. 1369)

• 1347 – Catherine of Siena, Italian saint (d. 1380)

• 1404 (baptism) – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English military leader (d. 1444)

• 1479 – Vasili III, Grand Prince of Moscow (d. 1533)

• 1539 – Christopher Clavius, German mathematician (d. 1612)

• 1541 – Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1587)

• 1593 – Jean de Brébeuf, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)

• 1643 – Louis Moréri, French encylopedist (d. 1680)

• 1661 – Paul de Rapin, French historian (d. 1725)

• 1699 – Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer (d. 1783)

• 1767 – Joachim Murat, King of Naples (d. 1815)

• 1782 – Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples (d. 1839)

• 1800 – Heinrich von Dechsen, German geologist (d. 1889)

• 1824 – Clinton L. Merriam, American politician (d. 1900)

• 1840 – Myles Keogh, U.S. Soldier in U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment & Irish Soldier of Fortune (d. 1876)

• 1863 – Simon Flexner, American pathologist (d. 1946)

• 1867 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor, (d. 1957)

• 1868 – William Lockwood, English cricketer (d. 1932)

• 1873 – Rudolf Rocker, German anarchist (d. 1958)

• 1877 – Walter Little, Canadian politician (d. 1961)

• 1881 – Béla Bartók, Hungarian composer (d. 1945)

• 1881 – Mary Gladys Webb, English writer (d. 1927)

• 1884 – Georges Imbert, Alsatian chemist (d. 1950)

• 1886 – Athenagoras, Patriarch of Constantinople (d. 1972)

• 1892 – Andy Clyde, American actor (d. 1967)

• 1895 – Siegfried Handloser, German physician (d. 1954)

• 1897 – John Laurie, Scottish actor (d. 1980)

• 1899 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (d. 1978)

• 1901 – Ed Begley, American actor (d. 1970)

• 1903 – Nahum Norbert Glatzer, Jewish-American scholar (d. 1990)

• 1903 – Frankie Carle, American pianist and bandleader (d. 2001)

• 1906 – A.J.P. Taylor, British historian (d. 1990)

• 1906 – Jean Sablon, French singer (d. 1994)

• 1908 – Helmut Käutner, German actor and director (d. 1980)

• 1908 – David Lean, English film director (d. 1991)

• 1910 – Magda Olivero, Italian soprano

• 1911 – Jack Ruby, killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (d. 1967)

• 1912 – Jean Vilar, French stage and film actor (d. 1971)

• 1913 – Sir Reo Stakis, Anglo-Cypriot hotel magnate (d. 2001)

• 1914 – Norman Borlaug, American agriculturalist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 2009)

• 1918 – Howard Cosell, American sports reporter (d. 1995)

• 1920 – Patrick Troughton, English actor (d. 1987)

• 1920 – Arthur Wint, Jamaican runner (d. 1992)

• 1921 – Nancy Kelly, American actress (d. 1995)

• 1921 – Simone Signoret, French actress (d. 1985)

• 1921 – Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, Queen of Yugoslavia (d. 1993)

• 1922 – Eileen Ford, American model agency executive

• 1923 – Bonnie Guitar, American singer

• 1923 – Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (d. 2003)

• 1924 – Machiko Kyô, Japanese actress

• 1925 – Flannery O'Connor, American author (d. 1964)

• 1926 – László Papp, Hungarian boxer (d. 2003)

• 1926 – Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet (d. 1999)

• 1928 – Jim Lovell, American astronaut

• 1931 – Paul Motian, American jazz drummer and composer

• 1932 – Gene Shalit, American film critic

• 1934 – Johnny Burnette, American singer (d. 1964)

• 1934 – Gloria Steinem, American feminist and publisher

• 1935 – Flash Elorde, Filipino boxer

• 1937 – Tom Monaghan, founder of Dominos pizza

• 1938 – Hoyt Axton, American country music singer-songwriter (d. 1999)

• 1938 – Fritz d'Orey, Brazilian racing driver

• 1939 – Toni Cade Bambara, American author (d. 1995)

• 1940 – Anita Bryant, American singer

• 1941 – Gudmund Hernes, Norwegian politician

• 1942 – Aretha Franklin, American singer

• 1942 – Richard O'Brien, English actor and writer

• 1942 – Kim Woodburn, English television personality

• 1943 – Paul Michael Glaser, American actor

• 1946 – Cliff Balsam, English footballer

• 1946 – Stephen Hunter, American author

• 1946 – Maurice Krafft, French vulcanologist (d. 1991)

• 1946 – Gerard John Schaefer, American serial killer (d. 1995)

• 1947 – Elton John, English singer and songwriter

• 1948 – Bonnie Bedelia, American actress

• 1948 – Lynn Faulds Wood, Scottish television presenter

• 1950 – Chuck Greenberg, American musician (Shadowfax) (d. 1995)

• 1951 – Jumbo Tsuruta, Japanese professional wrestler (d. 2000)

• 1952 – Antanas Mockus, Colombian mathematician

• 1954 – Elli Stai, Greek journalist and TV presenter

• 1954 – Thom Loverro, American sportswriter

• 1955 – Daniel Boulud, French chef and restaurateur

• 1955 – Lee Mazzilli, American baseball player

• 1956 – Matthew Garber, English actor (d. 1977)

• 1957 – Jim Uhls, American screenwriter

• 1958 – Sisy Chen, Taiwanese politician and television commentator

• 1958 – James McDaniel, American actor

• 1958 – Ray Tanner, American college baseball coach

• 1958 – John Ensign, American politician

• 1958 – Åsa Torstensson, Swedish politician

• 1960 – Idy Chan Yuk-Lin, Hong Kong actress

• 1960 – Steve Norman, British saxophonist (Spandau Ballet)

• 1960 – Peter O'Brien, Australian actor

• 1960 – Haywood Nelson, American actor

• 1960 – Brenda Strong, American actress

• 1961 – Fred Goss, American actor, comedian, and writer

• 1962 – Marcia Cross, American actress

• 1964 – Lisa Gay Hamilton, American actress

• 1964 – Kate DiCamillo, American children's author

• 1964 – Alex Solis, Panamanian jockey

• 1964 – Ken Wregget, Canadian ice hockey player

• 1965 – Sarah Jessica Parker, American actress

• 1965 – Avery Johnson, American basketball player and coach

• 1965 – Stefka Kostadinova, Bulgarian high jumper

• 1966 – Tom Glavine, American baseball player

• 1966 – Jeff Healey, Canadian guitarist (d. 2008)

• 1966 – Tatjana Patitz, German supermodel

• 1966 – Anton Rogan, Irish footballer

• 1967 – Matthew Barney, American media artist

• 1967 – Debi Thomas, American figure skater

• 1967 – Doug Stanhope, American comedian

• 1969 – Dale Davis, American basketball player

• 1969 – Cathy Dennis, English singer, songwriter, and actress

• 1969 – Jeffrey Walker, British Musician (Carcass)

• 1970 – Kari Matchett, Canadian actress,

• 1970 – Teri Moïse, American singer

• 1971 – Cammi Granato, American ice hockey player

• 1971 – Sheryl Swoopes, American basketball player

• 1971 – Stacy Dragila, American pole vaulter

• 1972 – Giniel de Villiers, South African racing driver

• 1973 – Anthony Barness, English footballer

• 1973 – Anders Fridén, Swedish singer (In Flames)

• 1973 – Bob Sura, American basketball player

• 1974 – Lark Voorhies, American actress

• 1975 – Ladislav Benýšek, Czech ice hockey player

• 1975 – Melanie Blatt, British singer (All Saints)

• 1976 – Baek Ji Young, South Korean singer

• 1976 – Francis Bellew, Irish Gaelic footballer

• 1976 – Cha Tae-hyun, South Korean actor

• 1976 – Juvenile, American rapper

• 1976 – Wladimir Klitschko, Ukrainian boxer

• 1976 – Gigi Leung, Hong Kong singer/actress

• 1978 – Teanna Kai, American porn star

• 1979 – Lee Pace, American actor

• 1979 – Natasha Yi, American model

• 1980 – Carrie Lam, Hong Kong actress

• 1982 – Danica Patrick, American race car driver

• 1982 – Sean Faris, American actor and model

• 1982 – Álvaro Saborío, Costa Rican footballer

• 1984 – Katharine McPhee, American singer and actress

• 1986 – Marco Belinelli, Italian basketball player

• 1986 – Megan Gibson, American softball player

• 1986 – Kyle Lowry, American basketball player

• 1987 – Jacob Bagersted, Danish handballer

• 1987 – Jason Castro, American singer

• 1987 – Nobunari Oda, Japanese figure skater

• 1987 – Victor Obinna, Nigerian footballer

• 1988 – Erik Knudsen, Canadian actor

• 1989 – Alyson Michalka, American actress and singer

• 1989 – Scott Sinclair, English footballer

Deaths

• 752 – Pope-elect Stephen, Italian priest and elected successor to Pope Zachary

• 1223 – Afonso II of Portugal (b. 1185)

• 1345 – Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, English politician (b. 1281)

• 1458 – Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marqués de Santillana, Spanish poet (b. 1398)

• 1558 – Marcos de Niza, French Franciscan explorer

• 1561 – Conrad Lycosthenes, French-born German philosopher and encyclopedist (b. 1518)

• 1603 – Ikoma Chikamasa, Japanese warlord (b. 1526)

• 1609 – Olaus Martini, Swedish Archbishop of Uppsala (b. 1557)

• 1620 – Johannes Nucius, German composer

• 1625 – Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (b. 1569)

• 1712 – Nehemiah Grew, English naturalist (b. 1641)

• 1736 – Nicholas Hawksmoor, British architect

• 1738 – Turlough O'Carolan, Irish harper and composer (b. 1670)

• 1751 – Frederick I of Sweden (b. 1676)

• 1801 – Novalis, German poet (b. 1772)

• 1818 – Caspar Wessel, Danish mathematician (b. 1745)

• 1860 – James Braid, Scottish surgeon (b. 1795)

• 1873 – Wilhelm Marstrand, Danish painter (b. 1810)

• 1908 – Durham Stevens, American diplomat (b. 1851)

• 1914 – Frédéric Mistral, French poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1830)

• 1917 – Elizabeth Storrs Mead, American educator (b. 1832)

• 1917 – Spyridon Samaras, Greek composer (b. 1861)

• 1918 – Claude Debussy, French composer (b. 1862)

• 1918 – Peter Martin, Australian rules footballer

• 1931 – Ida Wells, American civil rights activist (b. 1862)

• 1951 – Eddie Collins, American baseball player (b. 1887)

• 1957 – Max Ophüls, German director and writer (b. 1902)

• 1958 – Tom Brown, American musician (b. 1888)

• 1967 – Renato Cellini, Italian conductor (b.c.1913)

• 1969 – Max Eastman, American writer (b. 1883)

• 1969 – Billy Cotton, British bandleader & entertainer (b. 1889)

• 1975 – King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (b. 1906)

• 1975 – Juan Gaudino, Argentine racing driver (b. 1893)

• 1980 – Roland Barthes, French literary critic and writer (b. 1915)

• 1980 – Milton H. Erickson, American psychiatrist (b. 1901)

• 1980 – Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (b. 1913)

• 1980 – James Wright, American poet (b. 1927)

• 1983 – Bob Waterfield, American football player (b. 1920)

• 1988 – Robert Joffrey, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1930)

• 1991 – Marcel Lefebvre, French Catholic prelate (b. 1905)

• 1992 – Nancy Walker, American actress (b. 1922)

• 1994 – Max Petitpierre, Swiss politician and jurist (b. 1899)

• 1995 – James Coleman, American sociologist (b. 1926)

• 1995 – Krešimir Ćosić, Croatian basketball player (b. 1948)

• 1995 – John Hugenholtz, Dutch race track designer (b. 1914)

• 1996 – John Snagge, British radio personality (b. 1904)

• 1998 – Max Green, Australian lawyer (b. 1952)

• 1998 – Steve Schiff, United States Congressman (b. 1947)

• 1999 – Cal Ripken, Sr., American baseball manager (b. 1936)

• 2000 – Helen Martin, American actress (b. 1909)

• 2001 – Brian Trubshaw, British Concorde test pilot (b. 1924)

• 2002 – Kenneth Wolstenholme, English football commentator (b. 1920)

• 2005 – Paul Henning, American TV/film producer and writer (b. 1911)

• 2006 – Rocío Dúrcal, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)

• 2006 – Richard Fleischer, American film director (b. 1916)

• 2006 – Buck Owens, American singer and television personality (b. 1929)

• 2007 – Andranik Margaryan, Armenian politician (b. 1951)

• 2008 – Rafael Azcona, Spanish screenwriter (b. 1926)

• 2008 – Ben Carnevale, American basketball coach (b. 1915)

• 2008 – Thierry Gilardi, French football and rugby commentator (b. 1958)

• 2008 – Gene Puerling, American vocalist and arranger (b. 1929)

• 2009 – Johnny Blanchard, American baseball player (b. 1933)

• 2009 – Gábor Ocskay, Hungarian hockey player (b. 1975)

• 2009 – Giovanni Parisi, Italian boxer (b. 1967)

• 2009 – Kosuke Koyama, Japanese theologian (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• In Christianity, March 25 is typically celebrated as the day of the Annunciation so long as it does not fall on a Sunday or during Holy Week or Easter Week.

• Hilaria, day of resurrection of Attis, a Phrygian deity

• Historic start of the new year (Lady Day) in England, Wales, Ireland, and the future United States until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752. (The year 1751 began on 25 March; the year 1752 began on 1 January.)

• Maryland Day

• Greek Independence Day

• Freedom Day in Belarus

• Mother's Day in Slovenia.

• One of the four Quarter days in Ireland and England.

• Saint Dysmas, the 'Good Thief'

• Saint Humbert

• Barontius and Desiderius