Historical Events on Saturday, 14th March

14/03/2021

Burmese security forces kill at least 65 civilians in the Hlaingthaya massacre.

The Hlaingthaya massacre was a mass killing of civilians on 14 March 2021, in Hlaingthaya Township, Yangon, Myanmar. During the massacre, Myanmar Army troops and Myanmar Police Force officers killed at least sixty-five individuals. The massacre became one of the deadliest domestic incidents to occur in the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, and marked a serious escalation in the military's violence against civilians resisting the coup. The violent crackdown also precipitated a mass exodus of factory workers, residents, and businesses from Hlaingthaya, a major factory hub in the country.

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14/03/2019

Cyclone Idai makes landfall near Beira, Mozambique, causing devastating floods and over 1,000 deaths.

Intense Tropical Cyclone Idai was one of the costliest and deadliest tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage, and a humanitarian crisis in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, leaving more than 1,500 people dead and many more missing. Idai is the deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the South-West Indian Ocean basin. In the Southern Hemisphere, which includes the Australian, South Pacific, and South Atlantic basins, Idai ranks as the second-deadliest tropical cyclone on record. The only system with a higher death toll is the 1973 Flores cyclone that killed 1,650 off the coast of Indonesia. Idai is also the second costliest tropical cyclone in the South-West Indian Ocean basin, behind Cyclone Chido of 2024.

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14/03/2017

A naming ceremony for the chemical element nihonium takes place in Tokyo, with then Crown Prince Naruhito in attendance.

Nihonium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Nh and atomic number 113. It is extremely radioactive: its most stable known isotope, nihonium-286, has a half-life of about 10 seconds. In the periodic table, nihonium is a transactinide element in the p-block. It is a member of period 7 and group 13.

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14/03/2008

A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupt in Lhasa and subsequently spread elsewhere in Tibet.

The 2008 Tibetan unrest, also referred to as the 2008 Tibetan uprising in Tibetan media, was a series of protests and demonstrations over the Chinese Communist Party's treatment and persecution of Tibetans. Protests in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, by monks and nuns on 10 March have been viewed as the start of the demonstrations. Numerous protests and demonstrations were held to commemorate the 49th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising Day, when the 14th Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet. The protests and demonstrations spread spontaneously to a number of monasteries and throughout the Tibetan plateau, including into counties located outside the designated Tibet Autonomous Region.

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14/03/2007

The Nandigram violence in Nandigram, West Bengal, results in the deaths of at least 14 people.

Violence erupted in Nandigram, West Bengal, India, in 2007 due to the land acquisition for a project taken up by the Left Front-led Government of West Bengal to create a chemical hub, a type of special economic zone (SEZ). The policy led to an emergency in the region, and 14 people died in a police shooting.

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14/03/2006

The 2006 Chadian coup d'état attempt ends in failure.

The 2006 Chadian coup attempt was an attempted coup d'état against Chadian President Idriss Déby that was foiled on the night of March 14, 2006.

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Operation Bringing Home the Goods: Israeli troops raid an American-supervised Palestinian prison in Jericho to capture six Palestinian prisoners, including PFLP chief Ahmad Sa'adat.

Operation Bringing Home the Goods was a raid launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on March 14, 2006, on a Palestinian prison in Jericho. The prison held several prisoners wanted by Israel, whose incarceration was monitored by British and American wardens. In early 2006, the newly elected Hamas government announced that it intended to release the prisoners.

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14/03/1995

Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle.

Norman Earl Thagard is an American scientist and former U.S. Marine Corps officer and naval aviator and NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five space flights and on March 14, 1995, he became the first American to ride to space on board a Russian vehicle, the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft for the Russian Mir-18 mission.

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14/03/1991

Escondida in Chile's Atacama Desert – which was to become the worlds most productive copper mine – is officially inaugurated.

Escondida is a large open-pit copper mine at 3,100 m (10,200 ft) elevation in the Atacama Desert in Antofagasta Region, Chile. It has for decades been one of world's most productive copper mines and is the mine that leads in copper and gold production in Chile. In 2019 it was estimated that the mine and its ancillary industries generated 2.5% of Chile's GDP. The mine's produce is largely exported to China as ore concentrate that contained as of 2020 an estimate of 4% chalcopyrite, 35% chalcocite and 46% pyrite.

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14/03/1988

In the Johnson South Reef Skirmish Chinese forces defeat Vietnamese forces in an altercation over control of one of the Spratly Islands.

The Johnson South Reef skirmish took place on 14 March 1988 between military forces of China and Vietnam, on the Johnson South Reef in the Union Banks region of the Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea.

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14/03/1982

The South African government bombs the headquarters of the African National Congress in London.

The London offices of the African National Congress (ANC) were wrecked by an 11-kilogram (24 lb) bomb which exploded against the rear wall at 9 am on 14 March 1982. Windows up to 400 yd (370 m) away were broken. Caretaker Vernet Mbatha, an ANC voluntary worker, who was sleeping in a flat above the offices, was injured. Significant damage was caused to buildings on White Lion Street and Penton Street, where the office was located. The offices served as the ANC's headquarters in exile since the 1960s.

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14/03/1980

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 crashes during final approach near Warsaw, Poland, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 was an Ilyushin Il-62 that crashed near Warsaw-Okecie Airport in Poland, on 14 March 1980, as the crew aborted a landing and attempted to go-around, killing all 77 passengers and 10 crew members on board. It was caused by the disintegration of a turbine disc in one of the plane's engines, leading to uncontained engine failure. The turbine shaft was later found to have manufacturing faults.

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14/03/1979

Alia Royal Jordanian Flight 600 crashes at Doha International Airport, killing 45 people.

Alia Royal Jordanian Flight 600 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan, to Seeb International Airport, Muscat, Oman, via Doha International Airport in Qatar. On the night of 13 March 1979, the Boeing 727 operating the flight was carrying out a missed approach to Doha's Runway 34 when it flew into a downburst, causing the aircraft to crash onto the runway, flip over and slide tail-first into a fire station, killing 41 passengers and 4 crew. However, there were also 19 survivors from those on board. The crash remains the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Qatar.

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14/03/1978

The Israel Defense Forces launch Operation Litani, a seven-day campaign to invade and occupy southern Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces, alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym Tzahal (צה״ל), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and the Israeli Navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security apparatus. The IDF is headed by the chief of the general staff, who is subordinate to the defense minister.

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14/03/1972

Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashes near Kalba, United Arab Emirates while on approach to Dubai International Airport, killing 112 people.

On 14 March 1972, Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed into a mountain ridge on approach to Dubai in Al Hail, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Flight 296 was a charter flight from Colombo to Copenhagen with stops in Bombay, Dubai, and Ankara. All 112 passengers and crew on board died in the crash which was attributed to pilot error. The flight was operated by a Sud Aviation Caravelle, registration OY-STL. To date, it is the deadliest air disaster to involve a Caravelle and the deadliest air disaster in history in United Arab Emirates along with Gulf Air Flight 771 which also killed 112.

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14/03/1967

The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest person elected president, at 43 years, and the first Catholic president. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his foreign policy concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A member of the Democratic Party, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the United States Congress before his presidency.

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14/03/1964

Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin who had shot and killed John F. Kennedy the previous year.

Jack Leon Ruby was an American nightclub owner, notable for murdering Lee Harvey Oswald.

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14/03/1961

A USAF B-52 bomber carrying nuclear weapons crashes near Yuba City, California.

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is a part of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and is one of the six armed forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the Air Force was established by transfer of personnel from the Army Air Forces with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

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14/03/1951

Korean War: United Nations troops recapture Seoul for the second time.

The Korean War was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea was supported by the United Nations led by the United States under the auspices of the United Nations Command (UNC). The conflict was one of the first major proxy wars of the Cold War and one of its deadliest conflicts on noncombatants, especially civilians. It is estimated that 1.5 to 3 million Korean civilians were killed during the war. The Korean War was the first time the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) authorized the use of military force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

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14/03/1945

The R.A.F. drop the Grand Slam bomb in action for the first time, on a railway viaduct near Bielefeld, Germany.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918 through the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world. Since its formation, the RAF has played a significant role in British military history. In particular, during the Second World War, the RAF defeated the German Luftwaffe's efforts to establish air superiority over England during the Battle of Britain, and played a key role in the Combined Bomber Offensive alongside the USAAF.

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14/03/1943

The Holocaust: The liquidation of the Kraków Ghetto is completed.

The Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered around six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, approximately two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were committed primarily through mass shootings across Eastern Europe and poison gas chambers in extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, Chełmno and Majdanek death camps in occupied Poland. Concurrent Nazi persecutions killed millions of other non-Jewish civilians and prisoners of war (POWs); the term Holocaust is sometimes used to include the murder and persecution of non-Jewish groups, such as the Romani and Soviet POWs.

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14/03/1942

Anne Miller becomes the first American patient to be treated with penicillin, under the care of Orvan Hess and John Bumstead.

Penicillins are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from Penicillium moulds, principally P. chrysogenum and P. rubens. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using deep tank fermentation and then purified. A number of natural penicillins have been discovered, but only two purified compounds are in clinical use: penicillin G and penicillin V. Penicillins were among the first medications to be effective against many bacterial infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci. They are still widely used today for various bacterial infections, though many types of bacteria have developed resistance following extensive use.

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14/03/1939

Slovakia declares independence under German pressure.

Slovakia, officially the (First) Slovak Republic, and from 14 March until 21 July 1939 officially known as the Slovak State, was a partially recognized clerical fascist client state of Nazi Germany which existed between 14 March 1939 and 4 April 1945 in Central Europe. The Slovak part of Czechoslovakia declared independence with German support one day before the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. It controlled most of the territory of present-day Slovakia, without its current southern parts, which were ceded by Czechoslovakia to Hungary in 1938. The client state was the first formally independent Slovak state in history. Bratislava was declared the capital city.

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14/03/1931

Alam Ara, India's first talking film, is released.

Alam Ara is a 1931 Indian historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a fakir tells the king that the former wife will give birth to a boy, later named Qamar, but the child will die following his 18th birthday if Navbahaar cannot find the necklace he asks for. Meanwhile, the king finds out that Dilbahaar falls for the senapati Adil, leading the king to arrest him and evicts his pregnant wife, who later gives birth to Alam Ara (Zubeida).

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14/03/1926

The El Virilla train accident, Costa Rica, kills 248 people and wounds another 93 when a train falls off a bridge over the Río Virilla between Heredia and Tibás.

The El Virilla train accident occurred in Costa Rica on 14 March 1926, when an overcrowded train carrying mostly farmers and laborers derailed while crossing a bridge across the Virilla River Canyon, killing 385 and injuring 93.

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14/03/1923

Charlie Daly and three other members of the Irish Republican Army are executed by Irish Free State forces.

Charlie Daly, born in Castlemaine, County Kerry, was the second son of Con. W. Daly, of Knockaneacoolteen, Firies, County Kerry. He went to school, first to Ballyfinnane National School, and later to the Christian Brothers at Tralee.

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14/03/1921

Six members of a group of Irish Republican Army activists known as the Forgotten Ten are hanged in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various militant organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperialism through Irish republicanism, the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic free from British colonial rule.

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14/03/1920

In the second of the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, about 80% of the population in Zone II votes to remain part of Weimar Germany.

The Schleswig plebiscites were two plebiscites, organized according to section XII, articles 109 to 114 of the Treaty of Versailles of 28 June 1919, in order to determine the future border between Denmark and Germany through the former Duchy of Schleswig. The process was monitored by a commission with representatives from France, the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden.

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14/03/1916

Battle of Verdun: German attack captures Côte 265 at the west end of Mort-Homme but the French 75th Infantry Brigade manages to hold Côte 295 at the east end.

The Battle of Verdun was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry.

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14/03/1903

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and part of the Everglades Headwaters NWR complex, located just off the western coast of Orchid Island, Florida in the Indian River Lagoon east of Sebastian, Florida. The refuge consists of a 3-acre (12,000 m2) island that includes an additional 2.5 acres (10,000 m2) of surrounding water and is located off the east coast of Florida of the Indian River Lagoon. Established by an executive order of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 14, 1903, Pelican Island was the first National wildlife refuge in the United States. It was created to protect egrets and other birds from extinction through plume hunting. The oldest government wildlife refuge of any kind in North America is the Lake Merritt Bird Refuge in Oakland, California. Oakland Mayor Samuel Merritt declared it a wildlife refuge for migrating birds in 1869. In 1870, the state of California designated Lake Merritt a state game refuge.

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14/03/1901

Utah governor Heber Manning Wells vetoes a bill that would have eased restrictions on polygamy.

Heber Manning Wells was an American politician and banker who served as the first governor of the State of Utah. Utah gained statehood on January 4, 1896; Wells served as governor from January 6, 1896, until January 2, 1905.

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14/03/1900

The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.

The Gold Standard Act was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President William McKinley and effective on March 14, 1900, defining the United States dollar by gold weight and requiring the United States Treasury to redeem, on demand and in gold coin only, paper currency the Act specified.

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14/03/1885

The Mikado, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in London.

The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, the second-longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. By the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera.

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14/03/1864

Rossini's Petite messe solennelle is first performed, by twelve singers, two pianists and a harmonium player in a mansion in Paris.

Gioachino Rossini's Petite messe solennelle was written in 1863, possibly at the request of Count Alexis Pillet-Will for his wife Louise, to whom it is dedicated. The composer, who had retired from composing operas more than 30 years before, described it as "the last of my péchés de vieillesse".

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14/03/1794

Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.

Eli Whitney Jr. was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin in 1793, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Whitney's invention made upland short cotton into a profitable crop, which strengthened the economic foundation of slavery in the United States and prolonged the institution. Despite the social and economic impact of his invention, Whitney lost much of his profits in legal battles over patent infringement for the cotton gin. Thereafter, he turned his attention to securing contracts with the government in the manufacture of muskets for the newly formed United States Army. He continued making arms and inventing until his death in 1825.

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14/03/1780

American Revolutionary War: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama, the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans.

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war's outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war, but Washington and the Continental Army's decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war. In 1783, in the Treaty of Paris, the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.

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14/03/1757

Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch for breach of the Articles of War.

Admiral of the Blue John Byng was a Royal Navy officer and politician who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to vice-admiral in 1747. He also served as Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland Colony in 1742, Commander-in-Chief, Leith, 1745 to 1746 and was a member of Parliament from 1751 until his death.

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14/03/1674

The Third Anglo-Dutch War: The Battle of Ronas Voe results in the Dutch East India Company ship Wapen van Rotterdam being captured with a death toll of up to 300 Dutch crew and soldiers.

The Third Anglo-Dutch War, began on 27 March 1672, and concluded on 19 February 1674. A naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France, it is considered a related conflict of the wider 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch War.

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14/03/1663

According to his own account, Otto von Guericke completes his book Experimenta Nova (ut vocantur) Magdeburgica de Vacuo Spatio, detailing his experiments on vacuum and his discovery of electrostatic repulsion.

Otto von Guericke was a German scientist, inventor, mathematician, and physicist. His pioneering scientific work, the development of experimental methods and repeatable demonstrations on the physics of the vacuum, atmospheric pressure, electrostatic repulsion, his advocacy for the reality of "action at a distance" and of "absolute space" were noteworthy contributions for the advancement of the Scientific Revolution.

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14/03/1647

Thirty Years' War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.

The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from the effects of battle, famine, or disease, with parts of Germany reporting population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War, the Torstenson War, the Dutch–Portuguese War, and the Portuguese Restoration War.

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14/03/1590

Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under Charles, Duke of Mayenne, during the French Wars of Religion.

The Battle of Ivry was fought on 14 March 1590, during the French Wars of Religion. The battle was a decisive victory for Henry IV of France, leading French royal and English forces against the Catholic League by the Duc de Mayenne and Spanish forces under the Count of Egmont. Henry's forces were victorious and he went on to lay siege to Paris.

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14/03/1074

Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland.

The Battle of Mogyoród took place on 14 March 1074. It was an internal conflict between Solomon, King of Hungary and his cousins duke Géza and Ladislaus, who were claiming rights to the throne.

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