1779 – US Army Corps of Engineers established (1st time)
1862 – Confederate Army General Stonewall Jackson begins evacuation of Winchester, Virginia
1919 – General strike in Germany crushed
1991 – 17th People’s Choice Awards: Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts win (Motion Picture star) and Bill Cosby and Kirstie Alley win (TV)
2000 – 21st Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament: St. John’s beats Connecticut, 80-70
2001 – 48th ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: #3 Duke beats #6 North Carolina, 79-53
2011 – 9.0 magnitude earthquake strikes 130 km (80 miles) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami that kills thousands and causes the second worst nuclear accident in history at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
2013 – Falkland Islands’ sovereignty referendum: 99.8% choose to remain an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom
Author: gil7
Today in History for 11th March 2026
Historical Events
1513 – Giovanni de’ Medici chosen Pope Leo X
1665 – NY approves new code guaranteeing Protestants religious rights
1924 – 3rd term of Belgium Theunis government begins
1982 – Failed military coup under Rambocus and Hawker in Suriname
2020 – Smallest dinosaur ever discovered – skull preserved in piece of amber smaller than a fingertip from a mine in Myanmar, reported in “Nature”
Famous Birthdays
1819 – Marius Petipa, French ballet dancer and choreographer (Don Quiotte), born in Marseille, France (d. 1910)
1907 – Eleni Gatzoyiannis, Greek heroine (subject of “Eleni” by son Nicholas Gage about how she saved her children), born in Greece (d. 1948)
1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricket batsman and captain (30 Tests, 7 x 100, HS 164no; Maharashtra, Central India, Baroda, Holkar), born in Sangli, India (d. 2004)
1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star and World Series 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates; pitched no-hitter 1971), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2008)
1961 – Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler and President of the UAE (2022-), born in Al Ain, Trucial States
Famous Deaths
1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, Australian writer (Robbery Under Arms), dies at 88
1989 – John Jay McCloy, American lawyer and banker (Secretary of War 1941-45, Chairman Chase Manhattan Bank, President of World Bank 1947-49), dies at 93
1997 – Hugo Weisgall, American composer (4 Impressions), dies at 84
2000 – Alfred Schwarzmann, German gymnast (Olympic gold individual, team, horse vault, 2 x bronze 1936; silver 1952), dies at 87
2019 – Hal Blaine [Harold Belsky], American pop and rock session drummer (The Wrecking Crew), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 10th March 2026
1588 – Theodor Zwinger, Swiss physician and scholar, dies at 54
1861 – Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian national poet and painter, dies at 47
1944 – David Vogel, Russian-Hebrew poet, and writer (Married Life; Before the Dark Gate; In the Sanatorium), murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp at 52
1966 – Frank O’Connor, Irish author and translator of Irish poetry, fiction, and memoirs, dies from a heart attack at 62
1966 – Mari Sandoz, American author (Cheyenne Autumn), dies at 64
2010 – (Doyle) “Nick” Taylor, American rock guitarist (Bloodrock), dies in a car accident at 63
2012 – Erico Menczer, Italian cinematographer (Chosen, Miranda), dies at 85
2016 – Anita Brookner, English novelist (Hotel du Lac) and art historian, dies at 87
2017 – Tony Haygarth, British stage and screen actor (Kinvig, The Infiltrator), dies at 72
2022 – Odalis Pérez, Dominican baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 2002; Atlanta Braves, LA Dodgers, KC Royals), dies after a fall at 44
Historical Events for 10th March 2026
1900 – Stanley Cup, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal Shamrocks outclass Halifax Crescents, 11-0 to sweep challenge series, 2-0
1925 – Cyprus becomes a British crown colony
1927 – Albania mobilizes due to threats from the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
1928 – Christine Collins’ son, Walter Collins, disappears in Los Angeles
1931 – Oswald Mosley leaves British Labour party and founds the “New Party”
1956 – General strike in Cyprus protesting exile of Archbishop Makarios
1981 – “Bette Davis Eyes” single released by Kim Carnes (Billboard Song of the Year 1981)
1990 – Prosper Avril resigns as President of Haiti
Today in History for 10th March 2026
Historical Events
1791 – Pope condemns France’s Civil Constitution of the clergy
1874 – Purdue University (Indiana) admits its 1st student
1962 – Gala preview dinner held atop the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington, prior to opening of the Century 21 Exposition (World’s Fair)
1964 – Simon and Garfunkel record the first version of “The Sound of Silence” at Columbia Studios in New York City
1996 – 37th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Mississippi State beats Kentucky, 84-73
Famous Birthdays
1769 – Joseph Williamson, English philanthropist and tunnel builder (Williamson tunnels in Liverpool), born in West Riding, England (d. 1840)
1887 – Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese martial artist and Bujinkan teacher, born in Akashi, Japan (d. 1972)
1916 – Pamela Mason [Ostrer], British actress, author and talk-show host (Lady Possessed), born in Rochford, England (d. 1996)
1933 – Ralph Emery, American country music DJ and television host (Nashville Now), born in McEwen, Tennessee (d. 2022)
1970 – Matt Barlow, American heavy metal vocalist (Ashes of Ares; Iced Earth; Pyramaze), born in Biloxi, Mississippi
Famous Deaths
1897 – Teodulo Mabellini, Italian composer, dies at 79
1967 – Yiorgos Batis, Greek composer and rebetiko musician, dies at about 82
1994 – Robert Shea, American author (Illuminatus!), dies of cancer at 61
1999 – Oswaldo Guayasamín, Ecuadorian master painter and sculptor, dies at 79
2024 – Karl Wallinger, Welsh rocker and songwriter (The Waterboys, 1983-85; World Party – “Give It All Away”; “Ship Of Fools”), dies of a stroke at 66
Famous Deaths for 9th March 2026
1964 – Johanna “Mina” Bakker, Dutch actress (Boefje), dies at 87
1981 – Max Delbrück, German-American biologist and molecular geneticist (bacteriophage, Nobel Prize 1969), dies at 74
1991 – Jim Hardin, former Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves pitcher (b. 1943)
1992 – Felipe Turich, actor (Lawless), dies
1992 – James Brooks, American mural painter (Flight, La Guardia NY), dies at 85
1995 – Edward Bernays, Austrian-American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, dies at 103
2000 – Ivo Robić, Croatian singer and songwriter (b. 1923)
2016 – Robert Horton [Meade Howard Horton Jr.], American actor and singer (Kings Row, Wagon Train, Arena), dies at 91
2017 – Howard Hodgkin, British abstract painter, dies at 84
2022 – Justice Christopher, Nigerian soccer midfielder (11 caps; Antwerp FC, Trelleborg FF, Herfølge Boldklub), dies at 40
Historical Events for 9th March 2026
1842 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Nabucco” premieres in Milan
1849 – Carl Nikolais opera “Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor” premieres
1918 – Russian Bolshevik Party is renamed the All-Russian Communist Party
1954 – WMUR TV channel 9 in Manchester, NH (ABC) begins broadcasting
1962 – US advisors in South-Vietnam join the fight
1984 – Tim Witherspoon beats Greg Page in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
2011 – Bonham’s Auctions in New York City conducts sale of Eric Clapton and friends’ guitars and amplifiers to benefit Crossroads Centre at Antigua, a drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation facility he co-founded in 1997, raising over $1.75M
2021 – Brazil records its highest daily COVID-19 death toll to date of 1,972 deaths with 168,370 deaths overall
Today in History for 9th March 2026
Historical Events
1776 – Adam Smith publishes the influential economics book “The Wealth of Nations”
1809 – A group of conspirators break into Gripsholm Castle and imprison King Gustav IV Adolf and appoint Charles XIII in his place as Regent of Sweden
1922 – Eugene O’Neill’s “Hairy Ape” premieres in NYC
1984 – The Competitive Enterprise Institute is founded in Washington, D.C.
2020 – National one-day women’s strike held in Mexico to protest high rates of femicide (more than 10 women murdered every day)
Famous Birthdays
1891 – José P. Laurel, 3rd President of the Philippines (1942-44), born in Tanauan, Batangas (d. 1959)
1892 – Frank Puglia, Italian actor (Black Orchid, Jungle Book), born in Sicily, Italy (d. 1975)
1930 – Thomas Schippers, American conductor (Amahl and Night Visitors), born in Kalamazoo, Michigan (d. 1977)
1937 – Grahame Chevalier, South African cricketer (one Test for South Africa 1970, 0 and 0*, 5-100), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 2017)
1981 – Clay Rapada, American baseball player, born in Chesapeake, Virginia
Famous Deaths
1688 – Claude Mellan, French engraver, cartoonist and painter, dies at 89
1980 – Olga Chekova, actress (Moulin Rouge, Pawns of Possession), dies at 82
2010 – Doris Haddock, American political activist (b. 1910)
2011 – Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (youngest female Olympic Games medalist in an individual event [12] bronze 200m breaststroke 1936), dies at 86
2012 – Peter Bergman, American comedian, dies from leukemia at 72
Famous Deaths for 8th March 2026
1895 – Frederick Ellsworth Sickels, American inventor of a valve for steam engines, dies at 75
1920 – Rafael Obligado, Argentine writer (Santos Vega), dies at 69
1937 – Howie Morenz, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (Montreal Canadiens, 3-time Stanley Cup winner), dies of a heart attack at 34
1957 – Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer, chiefly of art songs, and conductor, dies at 70
1973 – Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, American rock singer, harmonica player, and occasional keyboardist (Grateful Dead, 1965-72), dies of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at 27
1994 – John Ewart, Australian radio, stage, and screen actor (The Muddle-Headed Wombat.; The Picture Show Man), dies of throat cancer at 65
2006 – Brian Barratt-Boyes, New Zealand heart surgeon (b. 1924)
2009 – Ali Bongo [William Oliver Wallace], British comedy musician and magician (President of The Magic Circle – “Shriek of Araby”), dies of complications of a stroke and pneumonia at 79
2014 – Jerry Corbitt, American guitarist, harmonica player, singer-songwriter, and record producer (The Youngbloods), dies of lung cancer at 71
2018 – Sir Wilson Harris, Guyanese author (Palace of the Peacock, Jonestown, The Ghost of Memory), dies of natural causes at 96
Historical Events for 8th March 2026
1711 – Antoin de Guiscard, a French and English spy, fails in an attempt to murder English Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert Harley; Harley survives stabbing, and Guiscard dies later from injuries sustained in the fracas
1722 – Afghan monarch Mir Mahmud occupies Persia
1924 – Coal mine explosion kills 171 at Castle Gate, Utah
1967 – New Orleans Saints begin selling season tickets (20,000 sold 1st day)
1973 – Paul and Linda McCartney are fined £100 for growing cannabis
1979 – China withdraws invasion troops from Vietnam
1981 – “Shakespeare’s Cabaret”, Lance Mulcahy’s settings of words of William Shakespeare, closes at the Bijou Theater, NYC, after 54 performances
2021 – US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says COVID-9 pandemic has had an “extremely unfair” effect on income and economic opportunities for women