Birthdays in History on March 17

  • March
  • 1231 Emperor Shijō of Japan (d. 1242)
  • 1473 James IV, King of Scots (1488-1513)
  • 1578 Francesco Albana, Italian painter (Mary's Ascension)
  • 1628 Daniel van Papenbroeck, [Papebrochius], Flemish historian
  • 1637 Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japanese daimyō & warrior (Japan's second "great unifier"), born in Nakamura-ku, Japan (d. 1598)
  • 1676 Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
  • 1685 Jean-Marc Nattier, French portrait painter
  • 1695 Antoine Court, French minister and itinerant preacher in the Reformed church who restored Protestantism to France, born in Villeneuve-de-Berg, France (d. 1760)
  • 1725 Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (d. 1806)
  • 1754 Madame Roland [Marie-Jeanne Phlippon], French revolutionary (member of the Girondist faction), born in Paris, France (d. 1793)
  • 1777 Roger Brooke Taney, Calvert Md, 5th Chief Justice (Dred Scott dec)
  • 1780 Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and 1st moderator (Free Church of Scotland 1843-47), born in Anstruther, Scotland (d. 1847)
  • 1781 Dominique J de Eerens, governor-general of Neth Indies
  • 1781 Ebenezer Elliott, British Poet. Know as the "Corn Law Rhymer'" (d. 1849)
  • 1804 James Bridger, scout/fur trader/mountain man par excellance
  • 1820 Patrick Edward Connor, Irish-American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in County Kerry, Republic of Ireland (d. 1891)

  • 1820 Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
  • 1825 Rodolphe Bresdin, French cartoonist/lithographer (Le Bon Samaritain)
  • 1826 Oskar Peschel, German journalist/geography (Volkerkunder)
  • 1828 Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, Major General (Confederate Army)
  • 1832 Moncure Daniel Conway, US abolitionist (Life of Thomas Paine)
  • 1832 Walter Quintin Gresham, American statesman, jurist, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Lanesville, Indiana (d. 1895)
  • 1834 Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer/inventor/designed 1st motorcycle
  • 1846 Kate Greenaway, England, artist/book illustrator (Under the Window)
  • 1856 Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
  • 1862 Silvio Gesell, Belgian economist (d. 1930)
  • 1866 Pierce Butler, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1939)
  • 1870 Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (d. 1951)
  • 1873 Chard Somerset, 1st woman Cabinet minister (1929-31)
  • 1873 Margaret Bondfield, British politician and 1st British female cabinet minister (Labour), born in Chard (d. 1953)
  • 1874 Stephen Samuel Wise, American Rabbi and President of Zionist Org of America, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1949)
  • 1877 Albert P Hahn, Dutch political cartoonist (People/Nutcracker)
  • 1880 Sir Patrick Hastings, British barrister (d. 1952)
  • 1880 Lawrence Oates, English army officer and Antarctic explorer (d. 1912)
  • 1881 Kristian Elster, Norwegian author (Less bror Harris)
  • 1881 Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
  • 1883 Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
  • 1886 Princess Patricia of Connaught, British princess (d. 1974)
  • 1887 Ben Sajet, Dutch physician/politician
  • 1888 Paul Ramadier, French politician (d. 1961)
  • 1892 Benjamin Drake Van Wissen, Australian Engineer (d. 1984)

  • 1894 Paul Green, American novelist/playwright (In Abraham's Bosom)
  • 1897 Jozef C. Mazur, American stained glass artist and painter (d. 1970)
  • 1901 Eisaku Sato, premier of Japan (Nobel 1974)
  • 1906 Brigitte Helm [Gisele Eve von Kuenheim], German actress (Gloria, Gold, Metropolis), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1996)
  • 1907 Jan M J van Houtte, premier Belgium (1952-54)
  • 1908 Boris N Poveloi, [Kampov], Russian journalist/writer [OS=Mar 4]
  • 1909 Patrick Reilly, Ootacamund, India, British diplomat

Person of interestBayard Rustin

1910 Bayard Rustin, American civil rights leader (March on Washington organizer, Social Democrats USA), born in West Chester, Pennsylvania (d. 1987)

Civil Rights Activist Bayard Rustin
Civil Rights Activist
Bayard Rustin
  • 1911 Patrick Maitland, 17th Earl of Lauderdale, Scottish Unionist politician
  • 1915 Hans Namuth, German/US photographer (Todos Santos, Guatemala)
  • 1915 Henry Bumstead, American art director (d. 2006)
  • 1916 David Stafford-Clark, English psychiatrist, born in Bromley, Kent, England (d. 1999)
  • 1916 Donald Gibson, British vice-admiral, Fleet Air Arm pilot of the WWII
  • 1917 Arthur Basil Cotle, medievalist
  • 1918 Wilhelmus M J Russell, Dutch attorney and Member of 1st chamber (KVP/CDA)
  • 1918 Józef Franczak, Polish soldier and anti-communist resistance fighter who was the last cursed soldiers, born in Kozice Górne, Kingdom of Poland (d. 1963)
  • 1921 Donald Barron, Scottish accountant and CEO (Midland Bank), born in Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland (d. 2015)
  • 1922 Megan Bull, British head mistress (Holloway Jail)

Person of interestSheikh Mujibur Rahman

1922 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Founding father of Bangladesh and 1st and 4th President of Bangladesh (1971-72 and 1975-76), born in Tungipara, Bengal Presidency, British India (d. 1975)

Founding Father of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Founding Father of Bangladesh
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
  • 1925 Jerome Lejeune, physiologist
  • 1926 Siegfried Lenz, German writer (Ein Kriegsende)
  • 1927 Nancy Sheehan, writer
  • 1927 Roberto Suazo Córdova, President of Honduras (1982-86), born in La Paz, Honduras (d. 2018)
  • 1928 William John McKeag, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
  • 1930 James Benson Irwin, Col USAF/astronaut (Apollo 15), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1931 David Peakall, British scientist (d. 2001)
  • 1932 Donald N. Langenberg, American physicist
  • 1933 Penelope Lively, British writer (Moon Tiger, The Ghost of Thomas Kempe), born in Cairo, Egypt
  • 1933 Myrlie Evers-Williams, American civil rights activist (NAACP chair), born in Vicksburg, Mississippi
  • 1936 Thomas K Mattingly II, Chic, Capt USN/astro (Apollo 16, STS-4, 51C)
  • 1936 Ken Mattingly, American astronaut
  • 1936 Robert Daniel, republican Congressman for Virginia (1972-1983), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 2012)
  • 1937 Frank Calabrese [Frankie Breeze], mafia hitman, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2012)
  • 1938 Keith O'Brien, Scottish Catholic archbishop (St Andrews & Edinburgh), born in Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
  • 1939 Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
  • 1940 Mark White, American politician, lawyer, and 43rd Governor of Texas (1983-7), born in Henderson, Texas (d. 2017)
  • 1941 Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese politician

Person of interestJohn Wayne Gacy

1942 John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer who killed 33 young men, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1994)

Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy
Serial Killer
John Wayne Gacy
  • 1942 Sidney K Barthelmy, US politician(?)
  • 1944 Pattie Boyd, English photographer and author (Mrs George Harrison/Mrs Eric Clapton)
  • 1945 Michael Hayden, General USAF, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
  • 1947 James Morrow, American author
  • 1947 Jan Andersson, Swedish politician
  • 1948 Pat Lloyd, rocker (The Equals), born in London
  • 1948 Robert Braunwart, who added thousands of dates to this database
  • 1948 William [Ford] Gibson, Canadian sci-fi author (Neuromancer, Count Zero)
  • 1948 Alexander Nelson Hood, 4th Viscount Bridport, British-born investment banker
  • 1950 Betty Dukes, American Walmart employee who fought against gender discrimination (2001 Betty Dukes v. Walmart lawsuit), born in Tallulah, Louisiana
  • 1951 Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
  • 1953 Filemon Lagman, Filipino communist revolutionary (d. 2001)
  • 1955 Cynthia McKinney, (Rep-D-Georgia)
  • 1956 Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
  • 1962 Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, Dutch politician
  • 1967 Barry Minkow, American religious leader and ex-convict (fraud)
  • 1969 [Lee] Alexander McQueen, English fashion designer, born in London (d. 2010)
  • 1974 Mark Dolan, TV show host
  • 1983 Martin Shkreli, American businessman (Pharma), former hedge fund manager, and convicted felon born in Brooklyn, New York

March in History