On This Day 2026
Hello, … and welcome to day 74 of the year.

Sunday, March 15th

Today is Mothers Day (UK), World Speech Day, Ides of March, National Brutus Day and Pretzel Sunday. Your star sign is Pisces and your birthstone is Aquamarine.
44 BC – Julius Caesar was assassinated. It happened during a Senate meeting in Rome where senators stabbed him 23 times because they believed Caesar was undermining the Roman Republic.
Julius Caesar was assassinated. It happened during a Senate meeting in Rome where senators stabbed him 23 times because they believed Caesar was undermining the Roman Republic.
Today’s birthdays
1943 – Lynda La Plante (83), English author, screenwriter and former actress often known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series, born in Liverpool.
1949 – John Duttine (77), English actor (The Day of the Triffids, Wuthering Heights, Heartbeat), born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
1952 – Howard Devoto (74), English singer, songwriter, former frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks and co-founder of punk band Magazine, born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
1962 – Terence Trent D’arby (64), American singer and songwriter (“Sign Your Name”), born in Manhattan, New York, United States.
1963 – Bret Michaels (63), American singer, songwriter and lead vocalist with rock band Poison (“Every Rose Has Its Thorn”), born in Butler, Pennsylvania, United States.
1964 – Rockwell (62), American singer best known for his hit single “Somebody’s Watching Me”, born in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
1971 – Penny Lancaster (55), English model, television personality (Loose Women) and the wife of Rod Stewart, born in Redbridge, Ilford.
1975 – will.i.am [William Adams] (51), American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer (Black Eyed Peas – “Where Is the Love?”), born in Los Angeles, United States.
1986 – Jai Courtney (40), Australian actor (Jack Reacher, Terminator Genisys, Divergant), born in Sydney, Australia.
1993 – Paul Pogba (33), French professional footballer (Manchester United, Juventus, France), born in Lagny-sur-Marne, France.
Famous deaths
44 BC – Julius Caesar (b. 100 BC), Roman general and statesman who was the dictator of the Roman Republic almost continuously from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC.

2003 – Thora Hird (b. 1911), English actress best known for her role as Edie Pegden in Last of the Summer Wine from 1986 – 2003.

2014 – Clarissa Dickson Wright (b. 1947), English chef, author, and television personality (Two Fat Ladies). A former barrister, Clarissa Dickson Wright was, until 2013 the youngest woman ever to be called to the Bar, passing her exams aged 21.
2016 – Sylvia Anderson (b. 1927), English television and film producer, writer, voice actress (Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds) and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson (Joe 90, Stingray, Captain Scarlett).
The day today
1906 – Rolls-Royce Limited, the British car and aero-engine manufacturing company was founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls.
1909 – Selfridges store (named after its owner Harry Gordon Selfridge) was opened in London’s Oxford Street. In September 1997 they opened their first store outside London when the Trafford Centre (Manchester) opened.
1917 – Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the Russian throne, initially for himself and his son, Alexei, nominating his brother, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, to succeed him. Michael refused the throne the next day, pending approval by an elected assembly, effectively ending the Romanov dynasty.
1961 – South African Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd withdrew South Africa’s application to remain in the Commonwealth as a republic, following intense pressure from member states over its apartheid policies. The decision took place during a London conference, with official withdrawal effective May 31, 1961.
1964 – Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were married for the first time. The couple famously met on the set of Cleopatra in 1961 and began a high-profile romance. This first marriage lasted just over 10 years before they divorced in June 1974. Following their divorce, they remarried on October 10, 1975, in Kasane, Botswana, but divorced again in July 1976.
1974 – The architect John Poulson was jailed for five years for corruption. He was found guilty of bribing public figures to win contracts.
1980 – England beats Scotland, 30-18 at Murrayfield to claim it’s 18th outright Five Nations Rugby Championship, 8th Grand Slam and 15th Triple Crown. On the same day, Wolves defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0 at Wembley to lift the League Cup for the second time in the club’s history.
1985 – The very first .com domain was registered. The domain name was symbolics.com and was made by Symbolic Inc – a computer company in Massachusetts, US.
1990 – Iraq hanged British journalist Farzad Bazoft, a freelance reporter for The Observer, for alleged spying for Israel while working in Iraq. Immediately after the execution, Britain recalled her ambassador to Iraq and all ministerial visits were cancelled. Bazoft’s story contributed to international isolation of Saddam’s Hussein’s regime and just months after the incident, on 2nd August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, sparking the first Gulf War.
1993 – In a landmark case, Mohamed Tabet, police commissioner of Casablanca, is convicted of sexually abusing over 1,500 women and sentenced to death.
2010 – Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher were married in an intimate Jewish ceremony in Paris, France. The couple met in 2001, became engaged in 2004, and shared three children together. They finalised their divorce in 2024 after 13 years of marriage.

2017 – Disney withdrew the release of the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast in Malaysia rather than comply with local censors demanding a cut of a brief “gay moment” involving the character LeFou. The Malaysian Film Censorship Board deemed the scene inappropriate for children, citing strict regulations against LGBTQ+ content.

2017 – French fashion house Givenchy appoints it first female designer, Englishwoman Clare Waight Keller.

2018 – Toys R Us announced it would close or sell all 885 of its U.S. stores and all UK locations after failing to find a buyer following its bankruptcy filing. The liquidation resulted in over 30,000 U.S. job losses and 3,000+ in the UK, driven by heavy debt, high interest payments, and failure to adapt to online competition.

2019 – 1.4 million students across 125 nations participated in the School Strike for Climate. The protests were inspired by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, with students making demands of their respective governments to take immediate action to prevent climate change.

2021 – A ruling approved by Pope Francis, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) declared that Catholic priests cannot bless same-sex unions because God “does not and cannot bless sin”. The decree states the Church lacks authority to bless relationships involving sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage.
2025 – US launches airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen killing at least 53 people, after the militia group said they would resume attacks on Israeli shipping.
Today in music
1968 – During a Scandinavian tour Led Zeppelin played two shows in one day. The first was at Teens Club Box 45, Gladsaxe, Denmark and the second at the Brondby Pop Club in Norregard, Denmark. Also on the bill for the second show was The Keef Hartley Band, Ham and Swedish band Made In Sweden.

1969 – Roberta Flack was at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’. Flack first heard the song on an airline, when the Lori Lieberman original was featured on the in-flight audio program. The song was born from a poem Lieberman wrote after experiencing a strong reaction after seeing Don McLean perform the song ‘Empty Chairs’.

1969 – Tommy Roe started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Dizzy’, also No.1 in the UK. In 1991 Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff took the song to No.1 on the UK chart.
1969 – T-Rex singer Marc Bolan’s first book of poetry ‘The Warlock Of Love’ was published.
1970 – Mary Ann Ganser American singer with The Shangri-Las died in Queens, New York aged 22 of a drug overdose. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with teen melodramas, and remain especially known for their hits ‘Leader of the Pack’, ‘Remember (Walking in the Sand)’, and ‘Give Him a Great Big Kiss’. The Shangri-Las were two sets of sisters: Mary Weiss (lead singer) and Elizabeth “Betty” Weiss and identical twins Marge Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser.
1982 – Bob Dylan was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame at the 13th annual dinner held at the Hilton Hotel in New York City.

1986 – The Bangles were at No.2 on the UK singles chart with ‘Manic Monday’, a song written by Prince under the pseudonym Christopher, it also made No.2 in the US, held of No.1 by Prince with ‘Kiss’.

1988 – Mick Jagger opened his first ever solo tour, his first ever performances in Japan and his first full concerts since 1982, with three shows at Osaka’s Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. The show was mostly made up of Rolling Stones songs, including songs not performed by the Stones for a long time, including ‘Bitch’, ‘Gimmie Shelter’, ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ as well as the Jimi Hendrix song ‘Foxy Lady’.
1997 – The Spice Girls went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Mama’, making them the first act ever to have their first four singles reach No.1 on the UK chart.
1998 – Madonna scored her sixth UK No.1 album with her seventh studio album Ray of Light. up until this point, no other female artist had achieved more than three UK No.1 albums.
1999 – Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame by U2’s Bono at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
2002 – Yoko Ono unveiled a seven foot bronze statue of John Lennon overlooking the check-in hall of Liverpool John Lennon airport. The re-branding of the airport featured a sketch of Lennon’s face with the words ‘Above Us Only Skies.’
2019 – George Michael’s art collection sold at auction raising more than £11 million for charity at the London branch of Christie’s auction house. The singer-songwriter was a major supporter of British artists, including the likes of Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. The highest price was for The Incomplete Truth, a 2006 Hirst work consisting of a dove preserved in formaldehyde, which sold for £911,250.
Today in history
44 BC – Julius Caesar was assassinated. It happened during a Senate meeting in Rome where senators stabbed him 23 times because they believed Caesar was undermining the Roman Republic. The Ides of March is the day on the Roman calendar marked as the Idus, roughly the midpoint of a month, of Martius, corresponding to 15 March on the Gregorian calendar and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar.
1672 – King Charles II enacted the ‘Declaration of Indulgence’, a first step at establishing freedom of religion in England to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics. It suspended the laws that punished those who did not attend the services of the Church of England. The following year the Cavalier Parliament compelled him to withdraw this Declaration. When Charles II’s Catholic successor (James II) attempted to issue a similar Declaration it led to the Glorious Revolution that ousted him from the throne.
1813 – The birth of John Snow, the English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene.
1824 – Building work started on the London Bridge designed by John Rennie (which opened in 1831 and moved more than 130 years later to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, U.S.). Other bridges he designed include Waterloo Bridge and Southwark Bridge.
1877 – The first cricket test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne. Australia won by 45 runs.
1898 – The death of Sir Henry Bessemer, English metallurgist and pioneer of mass-produced steel.
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