On this day: March 15

Events on March 15

• 44 BC Julius Caesar , the dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus. Wikipedia
• 44 BC The assassination of Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic, by a group of senators takes place on the Ides of March. Wikipedia
• 856 Michael III, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, overthrows the regency of his mother, empress Theodora (wife of Theophilos) with support of the Byzantine nobility. Wikipedia
• 1564 Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes the jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects. Wikipedia
• 1626 A dam failure causes the sudden flooding of the mining city of Potosí in present-day Bolivia leading to the death of thousands and the massive release of toxic mercury into the environment. Wikipedia
• 1783 George Washington delivered a speech to Continental Army officers in Newburgh, New York, asking them to support the supremacy of the Congress of the Confederation, defusing a potential coup. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1820 Maine is admitted as the twenty-third U.S. state. Wikipedia
• 1823 Sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reports the existence of the island of New South Greenland near Antarctica. Wikipedia
• 1877 First ever official cricket test match is played: Australia vs England at the MCG Stadium, in Melbourne, Australia. Wikipedia
• 1907 The first parliamentary elections of Finland (at the time the Grand Duchy of Finland) are held. Wikipedia
• 1917 Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate in the February Revolution, ending three centuries of Romanov rule. Wikipedia
• 1921 Talaat Pasha, former Grand Vizir of the Ottoman Empire and chief architect of the Armenian genocide, is assassinated in Berlin by a 23-year-old Armenian, Soghomon Tehlirian. Wikipedia
• 1922 After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt. Wikipedia
• 1927 The first Women's Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on The Isis in Oxford. Wikipedia
• 1927 In rowing, Oxford defeated Cambridge in the inaugural edition of the Women's Boat Race. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: German forces recaptured Kharkov after four days of house-to-house fighting against Soviet troops, ending the month-long Third Battle of Kharkov. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Third Battle of Kharkiv: The Germans retake the city of Kharkiv from the Soviet armies. Wikipedia
• 1943 The deportation of 50,000 Jews from the Greek city of Thessaloniki began. Wikipedia
• 1956 The musical My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, debuted at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City. Wikipedia
• 1960 Students from the Atlanta University Center, inspired by similar actions in Greensboro, North Carolina, began occupying lunch counters in Atlanta, Georgia. Wikipedia
• 1965 President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells the U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act. Wikipedia
• 1974 Fifteen people are killed when Sterling Airways Flight 901, a Sud Aviation Caravelle, catches fire following a landing gear collapse at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran. Wikipedia
• 1978 Somalia and Ethiopia sign a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War. Wikipedia
• 1990 Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first and only President of the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 1991 Cold War: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany. Wikipedia

Born on March 15

• 1638 Shunzhi Emperor of China (died 1661) Wikipedia
• 1666 George Bähr, German architect, designed the Dresden Frauenkirche (died 1738) Wikipedia
• 1767 Andrew Jackson, American general, judge, and politician, 7th President of the United States (died 1845) Wikipedia
• 1779 William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1848) Wikipedia
• 1830 Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914) Wikipedia
• 1830 Élisée Reclus, French geographer and anarchist (died 1905) Wikipedia
• 1854 Emil von Behring, German physiologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1917) Wikipedia
• 1857 Christian Michelsen, Norwegian businessman and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Norway (died 1925) Wikipedia
• 1878 Reza Shah, Iranian Shah (died 1944) Wikipedia
• 1920 E. Donnall Thomas, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2012) Wikipedia
• 1930 Zhores Alferov, Belarusian-Russian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019) Wikipedia
• 1932 Alan Bean, American astronaut and pilot (died 2018) Wikipedia
• 1933 Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American lawyer and judge (died 2020) Wikipedia
• 1943 David Cronenberg, Canadian actor, director, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1959 Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and author Wikipedia
• 1967 Naoko Takeuchi, Japanese manga artist and creator of Sailor Moon Wikipedia
• 1969 Timo Kotipelto, Finnish musician and lead singer of the power metal band Stratovarius Wikipedia
• 1975 Eva Longoria, American actress Wikipedia
• 1975 will.i.am, American rapper, producer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1985 Kellan Lutz, American actor and model Wikipedia
• 1993 Alia Bhatt, British actress Wikipedia
• 1993 Paul Pogba, French footballer Wikipedia

Died on March 15

• 44 BC Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (born 100 BC) Wikipedia
• 220 Cao Cao, Chinese general, warlord and statesman Wikipedia
• 493 Odoacer, first king of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (born 433) Wikipedia
• 990 Siegfried I (the Older), German nobleman Wikipedia
• 1190 Isabella of Hainault, queen of Philip II of France (born 1170) Wikipedia
• 1842 Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer and theorist (born 1760) Wikipedia
• 1921 Talaat Pasha, Ottoman politician, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (born 1874) Wikipedia
• 1937 H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, and novelist (born 1890) Wikipedia
• 1962 Arthur Compton, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1975 Aristotle Onassis, Greek-Argentinian businessman (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1983 Rebecca West, English author and critic (born 1892) Wikipedia
• 1997 Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1998 Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician and author (born 1903) Wikipedia
• 2004 John Pople, English-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1925) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Ancient Roman religious observance: Ides of March Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Aristobulus of Britannia (Roman Catholic Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Artémides Zatti Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Clement Mary Hofbauer Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Leocritia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Saint Longinus Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Louise de Marillac Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed William Hart Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: March 15 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Belarus) Wikipedia
• International Day To Combat Islamophobia Wikipedia
• Joseph Jenkins Roberts' Birthday (Liberia) Wikipedia
• National Day, celebrating the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (Hungary) Wikipedia
• World Consumer Rights Day (International) Wikipedia
• Youth Day (Palau) Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “March 15” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.