15 March

44 BC – Julius Caesar (born 100 BC), Dictator of the Roman Republic, is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March.

1327 – Albert of Schwarzburg (died), grand preceptor of the Knights Hospitaller

1493 – Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first trip to the Americas.

1575 – Annibale Padovano (died), Italian organist and composer (born 1527)

1591 – Alexandre de Rhodes (born), French missionary and lexicographer (died 1660)

1666 – George Bähr (born), German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (died 1738)

1670 – John Davenport (died), English-American clergyman, co-founded the New Haven Colony (born 1597)

1672 – Charles II of England issues the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.

1673 – Salvator Rosa (died), Italian painter and poet (born 1615)

1684 – Francesco Durante (born), Italian composer (died 1755)

1737 – Amarindra (born), Thai wife of Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (died 1826)

1754 – Archibald Menzies (born), Scottish surgeon and botanist (died 1842)

1767 – Andrew Jackson (born), American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (died 1845)

1771 – Robert Hett Chapman (born), American minister and academic (died 1833)

1772 – József Ficzkó (born), Slovene-Croatian priest and author (died 1843)

1781 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Guilford Courthouse – Near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina, 1,900 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis defeat an American force numbering 4,400.

1783 – In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d’état never takes place.

1813 – John Snow (born), English physician (died 1858)

1820 – Maine becomes the 23rd U.S. state.

1824 – Jules Chevalier (born), French priest, founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (died 1907)

1851 – William Mitchell Ramsay (born), Scottish archaeologist and scholar (died 1939)

1852 – Augusta, Lady Gregory, (born) Irish playwright (died 1932)

1854 – Emil Adolf von Behring (born), German physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1917)

1858 – Liberty Hyde Bailey (born), American botanist, co-founded the American Society for Horticultural Science (died 1954)

1860 – Waldemar Haffkine (born), Russian bacteriologist (died 1930)

1864 – American Civil War: The Red River Campaign: U.S. Navy fleet arrives at Alexandria, Louisiana.

1864 – Johan Halvorsen (born), Norwegian violinist, composer, and conductor (Oslo Philharmonic) (died 1935)

1868 – Grace Chisholm Young (born), English mathematician (died 1944)

1875 – Archbishop of New York John McCloskey is named the first cardinal in the United States.

1878 – Rezā Shāh (born), Iranian king (died 1944)

1887 – Marjorie Merriweather Post (born), American businesswoman, founded General Foods (died 1973)

1890 – Boris Delaunay (born), Russian mathematician and mountaineer (died 1980)

1898 – Henry Bessemer (died), English engineer (born 1813)

1902 – Henri Saint Cyr (born), Swedish equestrian and four-time Olympic champion (died 1979)

1906 – Rolls-Royce Limited is incorporated.

1912 – Lightnin’ Hopkins (born), American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1982)

1916 – Harry James (born), American trumpet player, bandleader, and actor (died 1983)

1916 – President Woodrow Wilson sends 4,800 United States troops over the U.S.-Mexico border to pursue Pancho Villa.

1917 – Jürgen Ohlsen (born), German actor (died 1994)

1917 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the Russian throne and his brother the Grand Duke becomes Tsar.

1918

1918 – Richard Ellmann (born), American author and critic (died 1987)

1922 – After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.

1932 – Alan Bean (born), American captain, pilot, and astronaut

1933 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg (born), American judge

1935 – Jimmy Swaggart (born), American pastor, singer, and television host

1935 – Judd Hirsch (born), American actor

1935 – Percy Shaw founded his company Reflecting Roadstuds Limited to make reflecting traffic markers.

1937 – H. P. Lovecraft (died), American author (born 1890)

1940 – Phil Lesh (born), American bass player (Grateful Dead, The Other Ones, The Dead, and Furthur)

1941 – Mike Love (born), American singer-songwriter (The Beach Boys)

1941 – Philippine Airlines, the flag carrier of the Philippines takes its first flight between Manila (from Nielson Field) to Baguio City with a Beechcraft Model 18 making the airline the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia operating under its original name.

1943 – Sly Stone (born), American singer-songwriter and producer (Sly and the Family Stone)

1944 – Francis Mankiewicz (born), Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1993)

1947 – Ry Cooder (born), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1952 – In Cilaos, Réunion, 1870 mm (73 inches) of rain falls in a 24 hour period, setting a new world record (March 15 through March 16).

1956 – My Fair Lady receives its premiere performance on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.

1961 – South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.

1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells U.S. Congress “We shall overcome” while advocating the Voting Rights Act.

1975 – Aristotle Onassis (died), Greek businessman (born 1900)

1975 – Eva Longoria (born), American actress and producer

1975 – will.i.am (born), American rapper, producer, and actor (The Black Eyed Peas)

1978 – Somalia and Ethiopia signed a truce to end the Ethiopian-Somali War.

1978 – Takeru Kobayashi (born), Japanese competitive eater

1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first President of the Soviet Union.

1991 – The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.

1998 – Benjamin Spock (died), American pediatrician and author (born 1903)

2001 – Ann Sothern (died), American actress and singer (born 1909)

2004 – William Hayward Pickering (died), New Zealand-American scientist (born 1910)

2007 – Bowie Kuhn (died), American lawyer (born 1926)

2011 – Beginning of the Syrian civil war.

2013 – Leverne McDonnell (died), Australian actress (born 1963)

2013 – Peter Worsley (died), English sociologist (born 1924)

2013 – Terry Lightfoot (died), English clarinet player (born 1935)

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EO Smith

Interests include biological anthropology, evolution, social behavior, and human behavior. Conducted field research in the Tana River National Primate Reserve, Kenya and on Angaur, Palau, Micronesia, as well as research with captive nonhuman primates at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Institute for Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya.
EO Smith
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