What Happened On March 17

10 odd things that happened on March 17

• 
  1891 Oddly true

  The transatlantic steamship Utopia accidentally collided with the battleship HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar, sinking in less than twenty minutes and killing 562.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1337 First ever

  Edward the Black Prince was created Duke of Cornwall, the first English dukedom.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1862 First ever

  The first railway line of Finland between cities of Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, called Päärata, is officially opened.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1337 First ever

  Edward the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first duchy in England.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  45 BC Oddly true

  In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  2011 First ever

  First Libyan Civil War: The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1973, authorizing military intervention in Libya to protect civilians.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1955 Oddly true

  Ice hockey fans in Montreal rioted to protest the suspension of Montreal Canadiens star Maurice Richard for hitting an official.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1942 First ever

  The Holocaust: The first mass killings of Jews began at Belzec extermination camp in occupied Poland, the first of the Operation Reinhard camps to begin operation.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1985 First ever

  Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

• 
  1969 First ever

  Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

  Read more →

  Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Observed today

• Birthday of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangladesh)
• Children's Day (Bangladesh)
• Christian feast day: Alexius of Rome (Eastern Church)
• Christian feast day: Gertrude of Nivelles
• Christian feast day: John Sarkander
• Christian feast day: Joseph of Arimathea (Western Church)
• Christian feast day: Patrick of Ireland
• Christian feast day: March 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Evacuation Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts)
• Saint Patrick's Day, a public holiday in Ireland, Montserrat and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, widely celebrated in the English-speaking world and to a lesser degree in other parts of the world.

• 2016Rojava conflict: At a conference in Rmelan, the Movement for a Democratic Society declares the establishment of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. Wikipedia →
• 2004Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. Thirty-five Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Serbia are destroyed. Wikipedia →
• 2003Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Wikipedia →
• 2000Five hundred and thirty members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in a fire, considered to be a mass murder or suicide orchestrated by leaders of the cult. Elsewhere another 248 members are later found dead. Wikipedia →
• 1992Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242. Wikipedia →
• 1992A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%. Wikipedia →
• 1988A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143. Wikipedia →
• 1988Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet. Wikipedia →
• 1985Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree. Wikipedia →
• 1979The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers. Wikipedia →
• 1979Aeroflot Flight 1691 crashes on approach to Vnukovo International Airport, killing 58. Wikipedia →
• 1973The Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Wikipedia →
• 1969Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel. Wikipedia →
• 1968As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead. Wikipedia →
• 1966Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb. Wikipedia →
• 1963Mount Agung erupts on Bali killing more than 1,100 people. Wikipedia →
• 1962A Clockwork Orange, a British dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess, is published. Wikipedia →
• 1960U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Wikipedia →
• 1960Northwest Airlines Flight 710 explodes and crashes near Cannelton, Indiana, killing 63. Wikipedia →
• 1958The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, which is also the first satellite to achieve a long-term orbit. Wikipedia →
• 1957A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others. Wikipedia →
• 1950Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "californium". Wikipedia →
• 1948Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO. Wikipedia →
• 1945World War II: The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture. Wikipedia →
• 1942Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland. Wikipedia →
• 1921The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution. Wikipedia →
• 1891SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board. Wikipedia →
• 1862The first railway line of Finland between cities of Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, called Päärata, is officially opened. Wikipedia →
• 1861The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed. Wikipedia →
• 1860The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars. Wikipedia →
• 1842The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo is formally organized with Emma Smith as president. Wikipedia →
• 1824The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch. Wikipedia →
• 1805The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy. Wikipedia →
• 1776American Revolutionary War: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city. Wikipedia →
• 1400Turko-Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. Wikipedia →
• 1337Edward the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first duchy in England. Wikipedia →
• 455Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire; he forces Licinia Eudoxia, the widow of his predecessor, Valentinian III, to marry him. Wikipedia →
• 180Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eighteen, following the death of his father, Marcus Aurelius. Wikipedia →
• 45 BCIn his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. Wikipedia →