March 31

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

• 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian.
• 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade.
• 1492 – Queen Isabella of Castile issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion.
• 1561 – The city of San Cristóbal, Táchira is founded.
• 1717 – A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provokes the Bangorian Controversy.
• 1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.
• 1822 – The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix.
• 1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Convention of Kanagawa with the Tokugawa Shogunate, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
• 1885 – The United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
• 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened.
• 1899 – Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, is captured by American forces.
• 1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States.
• 1909 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• 1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert.
• 1917 – The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands.
• 1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed.
• 1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time.
• 1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed.
• 1930 – The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years.
• 1931 – An earthquake in Nicaragua destroys Managua; killing 2,000.
• 1931 – A Transcontinental & Western Air airliner crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne.
• 1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States.
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession.
• 1945 – World War II: A defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands.
• 1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.
• 1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
• 1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government.
• 1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265.
• 1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
• 1964 – Brazilian General Olímpio Mourão Filho orders his troops to move towards Rio de Janeiro, beginning the coup d'état.
• 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
• 1968 – American President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks to the nation of "Steps to Limit the War in Vietnam" in a television address. At the conclusion of his speech, he announces: "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."^[1]
• 1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
• 1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors.
• 1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• 1990 – Approximately 200,000 protesters take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax.
• 1991 – Georgian independence referendum, 1991: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union.
• 1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
• 1992 – The Treaty of Federation is signed in Moscow.
• 1995 – TAROM Flight 371, an Airbus A310-300, crashes near Balotesti, Romania, killing all 60 people on board.
• 1995 – Selena is murdered by her fan club's president Yolanda Saldívar at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas after accusations of Saldívar embezzling money from Selena's fan club.
• 1998 – Netscape releases Mozilla source code under an open source license.
• 2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed.

Births

• 250 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman emperor (d. 306)
• 397 – K'uk B'alam I, king of Palenque
• 822 – Al-Mutawakkil, Abbasid caliph (d. 861)
• 1347 – Frederick III, Duke of Austria (d. 1362)
• 1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415)
• 1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565)
• 1504 – Guru Angad, Indian religious leader (d. 1552)
• 1519 – Henry II of France (d. 1559)
• 1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shōgun (d. 1565)
• 1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1650)
• 1601 – Jakov Mikalja, Italian linguist and lexicographer (d. 1654)
• 1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician (d. 1678)
• 1651 – Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (d. 1685)
• 1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758)
• 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1750)
• 1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781)
• 1723 – Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766)
• 1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1783)
• 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1809)
• 1740 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849)
• 1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer (d. 1800)
• 1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (d. 1859)
• 1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist and ornithologist (d. 1858)
• 1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852)
• 1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and translator (d. 1883)
• 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, novelist, and playwright (d. 1852)
• 1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864)
• 1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1901)
• 1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886)
• 1833 – Mary Abigail Dodge, American writer and essayist (d. 1896)
• 1835 – John La Farge, American artist (d. 1910)
• 1847 – Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (d. 1904)
• 1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1878)
• 1851 – Francis Bell, Jewish New Zealand lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1936)
• 1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman (d. 1899)
• 1859 – Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor and screenwriter (d. 1924)
• 1865 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician (d. 1887)
• 1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish journalist and politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann (d. 1922)
• 1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929)
• 1874 – Benjamín G. Hill, Mexican revolutionary general, governor of Sonora (d. 1920)
• 1874 – Henri Marteau, French violinist and composer (d. 1934)
• 1876 – Borisav Stanković, Serbian author (d. 1927)
• 1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
• 1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer and academic (d. 1946)
• 1885 – Pascin, Sephardi Jewish Bulgarian-American painter and illustrator (d. 1930)
• 1890 – Ben Adams, American jumper (d. 1961)
• 1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor and director (d. 1976)
• 1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (d. 1954)
• 1893 – Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German physician and historian (d. 1982)
• 1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author and academic (d. 1968)
• 1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974)
• 1905 – Robert Stevenson, English director and screenwriter (d. 1986)
• 1905 – George Treweek, Australian rugby league player (d. 1991)
• 1906 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
• 1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999)
• 1911 – Freddie Green, American guitarist (d. 1987)
• 1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986)
• 1912 – William Lederer, American soldier and author (d. 2009)
• 1913 – Etta Baker, African-American singer and guitarist (d. 2006)
• 1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
• 1914 – Dagmar Lange, Swedish author (d. 1991)
• 1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian and author (d. 1993)
• 1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997)
• 1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012)
• 1916 – Tommy Bolt, American golfer (d. 2008)
• 1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 1979)
• 1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violinist and educator (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Ted Post, American director (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993)
• 1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, British aristocrat, socialite and author (d. 2014)
• 1921 – Lowell Fulson, African-American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress and casting director (d. 2011)
• 1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Patrick Magee, Irish actor (d. 1982)
• 1923 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author and academic (d. 1998)
• 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Jean Coutu, Canadian actor and director (d. 1999)
• 1926 – John Fowles, English novelist (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Beni Montresor, Italian director, set designer, author, and illustrator (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Rocco Petrone, American colonel and engineer (d. 2006)
• 1927 – Cesar Chavez, American labor union leader and activist (d. 1993)
• 1927 – William Daniels, American actor
• 1927 – Eduardo Martinez Somalo, Spanish cardinal
• 1927 – Vladimir Ilyushin, Russian pilot (d. 2010)
• 1927 – Elmer Diedtrich, American businessman and politician (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988)
• 1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975)
• 1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
• 1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne Inc. (d. 2007)
• 1929 – Bert Fields, American lawyer and author
• 1930 – Yehuda Nir, Polish Jewish-American psychiatrist (d. 2014)
• 1930 – Jim Mutscheller, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Tamara Tyshkevich, Belarusian shot putter (d. 1997)
• 1932 – John Jakes, American author
• 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (d. 1999)
• 1933 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983)
• 1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor
• 1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer
• 1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
• 1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1934 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author (d. 2009)
• 1935 – Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer
• 1935 – Judith Rossner, Jewish-American author (d. 2005)
• 1936 – Marge Piercy, American poet and novelist
• 1936 – Walter E. Williams, American economist and academic
• 1938 – Patrick Bateson, English biologist and academic
• 1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 22nd Governor of Kerala
• 1938 – Antje Gleichfeld, German runner
• 1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2005)
• 1938 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (d. 2005)
• 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1938 – David Steel, Scottish academic and politician
• 1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian anthropologist and politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993)
• 1939 – Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1939 – Walker David Miller, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer
• 1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer
• 1940 – Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer and art director (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Barney Frank, American lawyer and politician
• 1940 – Patrick Leahy, American lawyer and politician
• 1941 – Franco Bonvicini, Italian author and illustrator (d. 1995)
• 1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician
• 1942 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Michael Savage, American radio host and author
• 1943 – Roy Andersson, Swedish director and screenwriter
• 1943 – Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer
• 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor
• 1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter
• 1944 – Angus King, American politician
• 1944 – Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1945 – Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist and engineer
• 1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor and comedian
• 1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995)
• 1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984)
• 1946 – Bob Russell, English politician
• 1947 – Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-American mathematician and academic
• 1947 – Wendy Overton, American tennis player
• 1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer
• 1947 – Don Foster, English academic and politician
• 1947 – César Gaviria, Colombian economist and politician, 36th President of Colombia
• 1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist and economist (d. 2011)
• 1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba
• 1948 – Al Gore, American soldier and politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate
• 1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress
• 1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist
• 1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author
• 1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor
• 1950 – Sandra Morgen, American anthropologist and academic (d. 2016)^[2]
• 1953 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (d. 2014)
• 1955 – Svetozar Marović, President of Serbia and Montenegro
• 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter
• 1955 – Kim Kwan-cheol, Korean voice-actor
• 1957 – Alan Duncan, English businessman and politician, former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
• 1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator
• 1961 – Ron Brown, American sprinter and football player
• 1961 – Howard Gordon, American screenwriter and producer
• 1962 – Olli Rehn, Finnish footballer and politician
• 1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer
• 1964 – Mark Hoban, English accountant and politician
• 1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach
• 1965 – Patty Fendick, American tennis player and coach
• 1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006)
• 1965 – William McNamara, American actor and producer
• 1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter
• 1966 – Roger Black, English runner and journalist
• 1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver
• 1968 – César Sampaio, Brazilian footballer
• 1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician
• 1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1970 – Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia
• 1970 – Samantha Brown, American television host
• 1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer
• 1971 – Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee
• 1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
• 1971 – Paul Grayson, English cricketer
• 1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
• 1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter
• 1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach
• 1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs
• 1973 – Christopher Hampson, English ballet dancer and choreographer
• 1974 – Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player
• 1974 – Jani Sievinen, Finnish swimmer
• 1975 – Adam Green, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1975 – Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1975 – Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player
• 1975 – Ryan Rupe, American baseball player
• 1976 – Howard Frier, American basketball player
• 1976 – Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer
• 1976 – Graeme Smith, Scottish swimmer
• 1977 – Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer
• 1977 – Garth Tander, Australian race car driver
• 1978 – Michael Clark, Australian cricketer and footballer
• 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer and coach
• 1978 – Jarrod Cooper, American football player
• 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer
• 1979 – Omri Afek, Israeli footballer
• 1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish martial artist and coach
• 1979 – Alexis Ferrero, Argentinian footballer
• 1979 – Charlie Manning, American baseball player
• 1979 – Jonna Mendes, American skier
• 1979 – Rhys Wesser, Australian rugby league player
• 1980 – Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer
• 1980 – Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer and blogger
• 1980 – Matias Concha, Swedish footballer
• 1980 – Riccardo Corallo, Italian footballer
• 1980 – Dean Clark, English footballer
• 1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
• 1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer
• 1981 – Han Tae-you, South Korean footballer
• 1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer
• 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer
• 1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer
• 1982 – Bam Childress, American football player
• 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter
• 1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer
• 1983 – Sophie Hunger, Swiss-German musician
• 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast
• 1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby league player
• 1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – James Jones, American football player
• 1984 – Martins Dukurs, Latvian sled racer
• 1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete
• 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer
• 1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player
• 1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player
• 1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer
• 1985 – Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian race car driver
• 1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player
• 1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler
• 1986 – Matthew Collins, Welsh footballer
• 1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer
• 1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player
• 1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer
• 1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer
• 1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer
• 1987 – Vojislava Lukić, Serbian tennis player
• 1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer
• 1987 – Justin Braun, American soccer player
• 1987 – Carl Dickinson, English footballer
• 1987 – Humpy Koneru, Indian chess player
• 1987 – Eros Pisano, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Aridane Santana, Spanish footballer
• 1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player
• 1987 – Winston Venable, American football player
• 1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater
• 1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer
• 1988 – Conrad Sewell, Australian singer and songwriter
• 1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player
• 1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player
• 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer
• 1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer
• 1989 – Alfredo Marte, Dominican baseball player
• 1989 – Josmil Pinto, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer
• 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
• 1990 – George Iloka, American football player
• 1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player
• 1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper
• 1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer
• 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer
• 1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer
• 1992 – Henri Laaksonen, Swiss-Finnish tennis player
• 1992 – Beatričė Rožinskaitė, Lithuanian figure skater
• 1992 – Adam Zampa, Australian cricketer
• 1993 – Jonatan Isenia, Dutch baseball player
• 1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer
• 1994 – Tyler Wright, Australian surfer
• 1998 – Valeria Gorlats, Estonian tennis player
• 1998 – Jakob Chychrun, American-born Canadian ice hockey player
• 1998 – Oskar Buur, Danish soccer player
• 1998 – Lucian Oprea, Romanian soccer player
• 1998 – Hristiyan Iliev, Bulgarian soccer player

Deaths

• 32 BC – Titus Pomponius Atticus, Roman nobleman of the Equestrian order (b. 109 BC)
• 528 – Xiaoming, emperor of Northern Wei (b. 510)
• 963 – Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Saffarid emir (b. 906)
• 1241 – Pousa, voivode of Transylvania
• 1251 – William of Modena, Italian bishop and diplomat
• 1340 – Ivan I of Moscow, Russian Grand Duke (b. 1288)
• 1342 – Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro, Italian Augustinian monk
• 1462 – Isidore II of Constantinople, patriarch of Constantinople
• 1491 – Bonaventura Tornielli, Italian Roman Catholic priest (b. 1411)
• 1547 – Francis I, French king (b. 1494)
• 1567 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504)
• 1621 – Philip III, Spanish king (b. 1578)
• 1622 – Gonzalo Méndez de Canço, Royal Governor of La Florida (b. 1554)
• 1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572)
• 1671 – Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (b. 1637)
• 1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English soldier and politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1661)
• 1741 – Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar and author (b. 1668)
• 1751 – Frederick, Prince of Wales, Hanoverian-born heir to the British throne (b. 1707)^[3]
• 1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist (b.1745)
• 1837 – John Constable, English painter and educator (b. 1776)
• 1850 – John C. Calhoun, American lawyer and politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782)
• 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet (b. 1816)
• 1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1801)
• 1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1835)
• 1885 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (b. 1819)
• 1907 – Galusha A. Grow, American lawyer and politician, 28th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1823)
• 1910 – Jean Moréas, Greek poet, essayist and art critic (b. 1856)
• 1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier (b. 1837)
• 1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner and captain (b. 1882)
• 1917 – Emil von Behring, German physiologist and immunologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
• 1924 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (b. 1855)
• 1927 – Kang Youwei, Chinese scholar and political reformer (b. 1858)
• 1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1836)
• 1931 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (b. 1888)
• 1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume (b. 1885)
• 1939 – Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general (b. 1887)
• 1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885)
• 1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand banker and politician (b. 1884)
• 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)
• 1950 – Robert Natus, Estonian architect (b. 1890)
• 1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1877)
• 1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian-American race car driver and actor (b. 1884)
• 1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885)
• 1970 – Semyon Timoshenko, Soviet Commander during the Winter War and the Eastern Front of World War II (b. 1894)
• 1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897)
• 1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and director (b. 1890)
• 1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian physiologist and biochemist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899)
• 1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet and author (b. 1905)
• 1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913)
• 1981 – Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (b. 1889)
• 1983 – Christina Stead, Australian author and academic (b. 1902)
• 1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925)
• 1988 – William McMahon, Australian lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
• 1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1965)
• 1993 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (b. 1900)
• 1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (b. 1971)
• 1996 – Dante Giacosa, Italian automobile designer and engineer (b. 1905)
• 1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
• 1998 – Bella Abzug, American lawyer, activist, and politician (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924)
• 1998 – Joel Ryce-Menuhin, American pianist (b. 1933)
• 1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist and ethnographer (b. 1922)
• 2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967)
• 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
• 2002 – Barry Took, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian activist and politician (b. 1924)
• 2003 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian mathematician and academic (b. 1907)
• 2003 – Anne Gwynne, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1949)
• 2004 – Scott Helvenston, American soldier (b. 1965)
• 2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist and academic (b. 1951)
• 2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino lawyer and politician (b. 1905)
• 2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920)
• 2006 – Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1911)
• 2008 – Bill Keightley, American equipment manager (b. 1926)
• 2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (b. 1927)
• 2009 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and judge (b. 1911)
• 2011 – Tony Barrell, English-Australian journalist and broadcaster (b. 1940)
• 2011 – Gil Clancy, American boxer and trainer (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Mary Greyeyes, the first First Nations woman to join the Canadian Armed Forces (b. 1920)^[4]
• 2011 – Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and actress (b. 1941)
• 2011 – Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist (b. 1914)
• 2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Alberto Sughi, Italian painter (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Halbert White, American economist and academic (b. 1950)
• 2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Helena Carroll, Scottish-American actress (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Bob Clarke, American illustrator (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician, Iranian Minister of Interior (b. 1917)
• 2013 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1980)
• 2014 – Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, historian, and academic (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Charles Keating, American lawyer, businessman, and criminal (b. 1923)
• 2014 – Roger Somville, Belgian painter (b. 1923)
• 2015 – Betty Churcher, Australian painter, historian, and curator (b. 1931)
• 2015 – Cocoa Fujiwara, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1983)
• 2015 – Carlos Gaviria Díaz, Colombian lawyer and politician (b. 1937)
• 2015 – Riccardo Ingram, American baseball player and coach (b. 1966)
• 2015 – Dalibor Vesely, Czech-English historian, author, and academic (b. 1934)
• 2016 – Ronnie Corbett, Scottish comedian, actor and screenwriter (b. 1930)
• 2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician (b. 1927)
• 2016 – Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-born English architect and academic, designed the Bridge Pavilion (b. 1950)
• 2016 – Imre Kertész, Hungarian author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
• 2016 – Denise Robertson, British writer and television broadcaster (b. 1932)
• 2017 – Gilbert Baker, American artist and LGBT rights activist (b. 1951)
• 2017 – James Rosenquist, American artist (b. 1933)

Holidays and observances

• Cesar Chavez Day (United States)
• Christian feast day
  • Abdas of Susa
  • Acathius of Melitene (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Anesius and companions
  • Benjamin
  • Balbina
  • John Donne (Anglican Communion, Lutheran)
  • March 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of Genocide of Azerbaijanis (Azerbaijan)
• Freedom Day (Malta)
• International Transgender Day of Visibility
• King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
• Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey, United States)
• Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands)
• World Backup Day

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to March 31.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Today in Canadian History