On This Day

March 2011 in History

Events in History

  • Mar 1 Tomb of a 700 year old female mummy, discovered by road workers, opened in Taizhou, Jiangsu, China
  • Mar 9 Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights
  • Mar 11 9.0 magnitude earthquake strikes 130 km (80 miles) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people and causing the second worst nuclear accident in history at Fukushima nuclear plant
  • Mar 12 A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant melts and explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after Japan's earthquake.
  • Mar 18 MESSENGER spacecraft enters Mercury's orbit
  • Mar 30 Global credit information group Experian report that economic recovery in Wales slower than the rest of the UK, forecasting growth of 1.6% vs 2.2% for the rest of the UK

Deaths in History

  • Mar 1 John M. Lounge, American engineer & astronaut (STS 51-I, STS 26, STS 35), dies at 64
  • Mar 3 May Cutler, Canadian politician and publisher (b. 1923)
  • Mar 4 Alenush Terian, Iranian astronomer and physicist (b. 1920)
  • Mar 4 Arjun Singh, Indian politician (b. 1930)
  • Mar 4 Charles Jarrott, British film and television director (b. 1927)
  • Mar 4 Frank Chirkinian, American producer (b.c. 1926)
  • Mar 4 Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Indian politician and former Nepali Prime Minister (b. 1924)
  • Mar 4 Mikhail Simonov, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1920)
  • Mar 4 Simon van der Meer, Dutch physicist who won the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics with Carlo Rubbia, dies at 85
  • Mar 4 Vivienne Harris, British businesswoman and newspaper publisher (b.c. 1921)
  • Mar 9 David S. Broder, American journalist (Pulitzer 1973), dies at 81
  • Mar 10 Howard A. Roberts, American choral director (Leslie Uggams Show), dies at 86

David RumelhartDavid Rumelhart (1942-2011)

Mar 13 American psychologist (backpropagation algorithm), dies of Pick's disease at 68

David Rumelhart
  • Mar 16 Richard Wirthlin, American political strategist for Ronald Reagan, dies at 80
  • Mar 18 Warren M Christopher, 63rd United States Secretary of State (1993-97), dies at 85
  • Mar 26 Diana Wynne Jones, British sci-fi author (Drowned Ammet; Witch Week), dies of lung cancer at 76

Geraldine FerraroGeraldine Ferraro (1935-2011)

Mar 26 American politician (US Representative from New York (D), 1979-85), and the 1st female vice-presidential nominee (1984), dies of nulitiple myelomaat 75

Geraldine Ferraro
  • Mar 26 Paul Baran, internet pioneer who helped create the technical underpinnings of Arpanet, dies at 84
  • Mar 29 Ângelo de Sousa, Portuguese painter and sculptor (b. 1938)

Historical Figures

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