Events 1687 - The men under explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle murder him while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. 1831 - City Bank of New York is the site of the first bank robbery in United States history ($245,000 taken). 1861 - Maori War ends in New Zealand. 1865 - American Civil War: The Battle of Bentonville begins. By the end of the battle on the 21st the Confederate forces had retreated from Greenville, North Carolina. 1915 - Pluto is photographed for the first time but was not recognized as a planet. 1916 - First United States air combat mission in history as eight American planes take off in pursuit of Pancho Villa. 1918 - The United States Congress establishes time zones and approves daylight saving time. 1920 - The United States Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles for the second time (first time was on November 19, 1919). 1932 - Sydney Harbour Bridge opens. 1942 - The Thoroughbred Racing Association is establish in Chicago, Illinois. 1945 - World War II: Off the coast of Japan, bombers hit the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 800 of her crew and crippling the ship. 1945 - World War II: Adolf Hitler issues his "Nero Decree" ordering all industries, military installations, shops, transportation facilities and communications facilities in Germany be destroyed. 1946 - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion become overseas départements of France. 1954 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at Madison Square Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color. 1972 - India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty. 1981 - Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia. 1982 - Falklands War: Argentines lands on South Georgia Island, precipitating war. 1987 - Following a scandal involving Jessica Hahn, televangelist Jim Bakker resigns from the PTL. 2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda ends (started on March 2) after killing 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters with 11 allied troop fatalities. Births 1813 - David Livingstone, missionary and explorer († 1873) 1848 - Wyatt Earp, policeman, gunfighter († 1929) 1849 - Alfred von Tirpitz, German soldier († 1930) 1864 - Charles Marion Russell, artist († 1926) 1865 - William Morton Wheeler, american entomologist,myrmecologist,Harvard Professor and pioneer in the field of Ethology. 1873 - Max Reger, composer († 1916) 1883 - Joseph Stilwell, American soldier († 1946) 1890 - Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam († 1969) 1891 - Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States († 1974) 1894 - Joe Venuti, jazz musician and violinist († 1978) 1894 - Moms Mabley, comedienne († 1975) 1900 - Frédéric Joliot, physicist and winner of 1935 Nobel Prize in chemistry († 1958) 1905 - Albert Speer, Nazi official († 1981) 1906 - Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official († 1962) 1909 - Louis Hayward, actor († 1985) 1914 - Jay Berwanger, American football star, winner of the first Heisman Trophy († 2002) 1916 - Irving Wallace, novelist († 1990) 1917 - Dinu Lipatti, pianist († 1950) 1928 - Hans Küng, theologian 1928 - Patrick McGoohan, actor 1930 - Ornette Coleman, musician 1933 - Philip Roth, author 1936 - Ursula Andress, actress 1939 - Joe Kapp, American football star 1944 - Sirhan Sirhan, assassin 1944 - Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize 1947 - Glenn Close, actress 1955 - Bruce Willis, actor Deaths 1286 - King Alexander III of Scotland 1939 - Lloyd L. Gaines, civil rights activist 1945 - Friedrich Fromm, Nazi official 1950 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, author 1980 - Tamara de Lempicka, art deco painter 1982 - Randy Rhoads, guitarist 1987 - Louis-Victor de Broglie, physicist and winner 1929 of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1997 - Willem de Kooning, artist 2003 - Michael Mathias Prechtl, illustrator Holidays and observances Roman Catholic - St. Joseph's Day, spouse of Mary, mother of Jesus. Church of England - St. Joseph of Nazareth, spouse of Mary. Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain The first day of Quinquatria in ancient Rome, held in honor of Minerva. See Also: March 18 - March 20 - February 19 - April 19 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
March 18 - March 20 - February 19 - April 19 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December