March 31

2024 Calendar

March 31 is the 90th day of the year (91st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 275 days remaining until the end of the year.

It is the last day of the first quarter of the year.

Events

Up to 1900

1074 – Yorimichi Fujiwara, Regent of Japan (b. 992)
1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France and England (b. 1121)
1340 – Ivan I of Russia (b. 1288)
1547 – Francis I of France (b. 1494)
1567 – Philip I of Hesse (b. 1504)
1621 – Philip III of Spain (b. 1578)
1671 – Anne Hyde, Duchess of York (b. 1637)
1703 – Johann Christoph Bach, German composer (b. 1642)
1727 – Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and physicist (b. 1643)
1741 – Pieter Burmann the Elder, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1668)
1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian-American slave and activist (b. around 1745)
1837 – John Constable, English painter (b. 1776)
1850 – John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782)
1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English writer (b. 1816)
1877 – Antoine Auguste Cournot, French mathematician (b. 1801)
1885 – Franz Wilhelm Abt, German composer (b. 1819)

1901 – 2000

1913 – J. P. Morgan, American financier (b. 1837)
1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, British runner (b. 1882)
1917 – Emil von Behring, German doctor, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1901) (b. 1854)
1920 – Lothar von Trotha, German general (b. 1848)
1929 – Myron T. Herrick, American politician, Governor of Ohio (b. 1854)
1931 – Knute Rockne, American football coach (b. 1888)
1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese general (b. 1885)
1945 – Anne Frank, German-born diarist (b. 1929)
1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist (b. 1881)
1946 – Martin Davey, Governor of Ohio (b. 1884)
1949 – Friedrich Bergius, German chemist (b. 1856)
1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian racing driver (b. 1884)
1968 – Gary Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
1972 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress (b. 1932)
1972 – Ramon Iglesias i Navarri, Catalan bishop of Urgell, co-Prince of Andorra (b. 1889)
1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897)
1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and movie maker (b. 1890)
1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian medical scientist (b. 1899)
1980 – Jesse Owens, American athlete (b. 1913)
1986 – O'Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer (The Isley Brothers) (b. 1937)
1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925)
1988 – William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor (b. 1965)
1995 – Selena, Mexican-American singer-songwriter (b. 1971)
1997 – Friedrich Hund, German physicist (b. 1896)
1998 – Bella Abzug, American politician (b. 1920)

From 2001

2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist (b. 1915)
2005 – Terri Schiavo, American patient in right-to-die case (b. 1963)
2007 – Paul Watzlawick, American psychologist (b. 1921)
2008 – Jules Dassin, American movie director (b. 1911)
2009 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish television journalist (b. 1943)
2009 – Raul Alfonsin, President of Argentina (b. 1927)
2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist (b. 1914)
2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920)
2014 – Irene Fernandez, Malaysian activist (b. 1946)
2014 – Frankie Knuckles, American DJ and record producer (b. 1955)
2014 – Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, professor and historian (b. 1931)
2014 – Charles Keating, American banker (b. 1923)
2014 – David Hannay, Australian movie producer (b. 1939)
2014 – Ferdinand Masset, Swiss politician (b. 1920)
2014 – Roger Somville, Belgian painter (b. 1923)
2016 – Georges Cottier, Swiss cardinal (b. 1922)
2016 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish actor and comedian (b. 1930)
2016 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian writer (b. 1929)
2016 – Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-British architect (b. 1950)
2016 – Douglas Wilmer, English actor (b. 1920)
2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician and diplomat (b. 1927)
2016 – Denise Robertson, English broadcaster (b. 1932)
2017 – Halit Akçatepe, Turkish actor (b. 1938)
2017 – Gilbert Baker, American LGBT activist, creator of the Rainbow flag (b. 1951)
2017 – William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr., American lawyer, judge and politician (b. 1920)
2017 – Mike Hall, British endurance cyclist (b. 1981)
2017 – James Rosenquist, American artist (b. 1933)
2017 – Richard Nelson Bolles, American writer (b. 1927)
2017 – Jerrier A. Haddad, American computer engineer (b. 1922)
2017 – Amy Ridenour, American political activist (b. 1959)
2018 – Margarita Carrera, Guatemalan philosopher (b. 1929)
2018 – Luigi De Filippo, Italian actor (b. 1930)
2018 – Peg Lautenschlager, American attorney and politician (b. 1955)
2018 – Michael Tree, American violist (b. 1934)
2019 – Peter Coleman, Australian writer and politician (b. 1928)
2019 – Hedi Turki, Tunisian painter (b. 1922)
2019 – Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (b. 1985)
2020 – Vincent Marzello, American voice actor (b. 1951)

Births

Up to 1800

250 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman Emperor (d. 306)
1360 – Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal (d. 1415)
1425 – Bianca Maria Visconti, Duchess of Milan (d. 1468)
1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
1504 – Guru Angad Dev, 2nd Sikh Guru (d. 1552)
1519 – King Henry II of France (d. 1559)
1536 – Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, Japanese shogun (d. 1565)
1576 – Louise Juliana of Nassau, Regent of Bohemia (d. 1644)
1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician (d. 1650)
1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet (d. 1678)
1635 – Patrick Gordon, Scottish general in the Russian army (d. 1699)
1644 – Henry Winstanley, English painter and engineer (d. 1703)
1651 – Karl II, Elector Palatine (d. 1685)
1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
1684 – Francesco Durante, Italian composer (d. 1755)
1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer (d. 1750)
1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)
1723 – King Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809)
1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German musician and composer (d. 1800)
1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist (d. 1859)
1788 – Jessadabodindra (Rama III), King of Siam (d. 1851)
1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American politician (d. 1852)

1801 – 1900

1808 – James Pinckney Henderson, 1st Governor of Texas (d. 1858)
1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet (d. 1883)
1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Russian writer (d. 1852)
1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, German statesman (d. 1901)
1822 – Dmitry Grigorovich, Russian writer (d. 1900)
1831 – Archibald Scott Couper, Scottish chemist (d. 1892)
1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician (d. 1878)
1848 – Diederik Korteweg, Dutch mathematician (d. 1941)
1848 – William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, American-born British financier, writer and statesman (d. 1919)
1851 – Francis Bell, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
1853 – Isaac Bayley Balfour, Scottish botanist (d. 1922)
1870 – James M. Cox, Governor of Ohio (d. 1957)
1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish politician (d. 1922)
1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet impresario, publicist, curator and art critic (d. 1929)
1872 – Alexandra Kollontai, Russian Communist revolutionary (d. 1952)
1873 – William D. Denney, Governor of Delaware (d. 1953)
1876 – Borisav Stankovic, Serbian writer (d. 1927)
1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer (d. 1946)
1884 – Henri Queuille, Prime Minister of France (d. 1970)
1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-British physicist (d. 1971)
1890 – Ben Adams, American athlete (d. 1961)
1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (d. 1954)
1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)

1901 – 1950

1904 – Sam Zimbalist, American film producer (d. 1958)
1905 – Robert Stevenson, British director, screenwriter and producer (d. 1986)
1906 – Shin'ichiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist (d. 1979)
1913 – Etta Baker, American blues musician and singer (d. 2006)
1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican writer (d. 1998)
1914 – Dagmar Lange (Maria Lang), Swedish writer (d. 1991)
1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997)
1916 – Lucille Bliss, American actress (d. 2012)
1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violin instructor (d. 2002)
1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, English aristocrat (d. 2014)
1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor (d. 1999)
1922 – William Stanley Peart, British physician and clinical researcher (d. 2019)
1925 – Andrea Bianchi, Italian movie director and writer
1926 – John Fowles, English novelist (d. 2005)
1927 – César Chávez, American labor activist (d. 1993)
1927 – Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot (d. 2010)
1927 – Eduardo Martinez Somalo, Spanish cardinal
1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-born fashion designer (d. 2007)
1930 – Yehuda Nir, Polish-born psychiatrist (d. 2014)
1930 – Jim Mutscheller, American football player (d. 2015)
1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese movie director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor
1934 – Shirley Jones, American singer and actress
1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist
1935 – Herb Alpert, American trumpeter and bandleader
1937 – Sid Ahmed Ghozali, former Prime Minister of Algeria
1938 – David Steel, Scottish politician
1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician
1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, President of the Republic of Georgia (d. 1993)
1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German movie director
1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
1940 – Barney Frank, American politician
1940 – Patrick Leahy, American politician
1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
1943 – Sharon Hampson, Canadian singer and musician (Sharon, Lois & Bram)
1944 – Mick Ralphs, English guitarist
1944 – Angus King, 72nd Governor of Maine
1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
1945 – Valerie Curtin, American actress and screenwriter
1946 – F'Murr, French comic artist (d. 2018)
1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish musician and recording executive
1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist (d. 2011)
1947 – César Gaviria, 36th President of Colombia
1948 – Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States
1948 – David Eisenhower, American author and educator
1948 – Natalia Dubova, Russian ice dancer and coach
1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician, 20th Premier of Manitoba

1951 – 1975

1952 – Dermot Morgan, Irish comedian and actor (d. 1998)
1953 – Dennis Kamakahi, American musician (d. 2014)
1954 – Laima Vaikule, Latvian actress, singer, director and choreographer
1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian musician (AC/DC)
1955 – Svetozar Marovic, only President of Serbia and Montenegro
1957 – Alan Duncan, British politician
1958 – Tony Cox, American actor
1960 – Popa Chubby, American blues singer and guitarist
1964 – Christian Allard, French-born Scottish politician
1964 – Oleksandr Turchynov, former interim President of Ukraine
1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player
1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006)
1966 – Roger Black, British athlete
1969 – Francesco Moriero, Italian footballer
1970 – Alenka Bratusek, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia
1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
1971 – Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee
1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, producer and screenwriter
1972 – Alejandro Amenabar, Chilean-Spanish movie director, screenwriter and composer
1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman
1975 – Adam Green, American director, producer and screenwriter

From 1976

1978 – Daniel Mays, English actor
1978 – Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton, Scottish nobleman
1979 – Danny Invincibile, Australian footballer
1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish judoka
1979 – Josh Kinney, American baseball player
1980 – Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese voice actress and singer
1980 – Michael Ryder, American ice hockey player
1980 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
1983 – Silver Leppik, Estonian basketball player
1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player
1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch-Moroccan footballer
1987 – Georg Listing, German musician (Tokio Hotel)
1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player
1989 – Pablo Piatti, Argentine footballer
1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper, actor and dancer
1990 – Lyra McKee, Northern Irish journalist (d. 2019)
1994 – Thomas Batuello, American musician and actor
1998 – Anna Seidel, German speed skater

Deaths

Observances

Cesar Chavez Day (United States)
Freedom Day (Malta)
King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
Transfer Day (United States Virgin Islands
International Transgender Day of Visibility