On This Day: 15 March

15 March in Indian history

• 1564Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes the jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects.India

15 March in world history

• 2022The 2022 Sri Lankan protests begins amidst Sri Lanka's economic collapse.
• 1991Cold War: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany comes into effect, granting full sovereignty to the Federal Republic of Germany.
• 1978Somalia and Ethiopia sign a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.
• 1974Fifteen 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.
• 1965President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to the Selma crisis, tells the U.S. Congress "We shall overcome" while advocating the Voting Rights Act.
• 1960Students from the Atlanta University Center, inspired by similar actions in Greensboro, North Carolina, began occupying lunch counters in Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1927In rowing, Oxford defeated Cambridge in the inaugural edition of the Women's Boat Race.
• 1922After Egypt gains nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.
• 1921Talaat Pasha, the main perpetrator of the Armenian genocide, was assassinated by Soghomon Tehlirian.
• 1918Finnish Civil War: The Battle of Tampere started, leading to the capture of approximately 11,000 Red prisoners, and turning the tide of the war in favour of the Whites.
• 1916Six days after Pancho Villa and his cross-border raiders attacked Columbus, New Mexico, U.S. general John J. Pershing led a punitive expedition into Mexico to pursue him.
• 1823Sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reports the existence of the island of New South Greenland near Antarctica.
• 1783George 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.
• 1412Treaty of Lublowa: After the Peace of Thorn, Grand Master Heinrich von Plauen asks Sigismund of Hungary for economic aid. Sigismund agrees to mediate reduction to the third installment, demarcation of the Samogitian border, and other matters with a grand tourn
• 1147Reconquista: Portuguese troops under King Afonso I captured the city of Santarém from the Almoravids.
• 856Michael III, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, overthrows the regency of his mother, empress Theodora (wife of Theophilos) with support of the Byzantine nobility.
• 44 BCJulius Caesar , the dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus.

Born on 15 March

• 1977Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Indian military officer (died 2008)India
• 1965Sunetra Gupta, Indian epidemiologist, author, and academicIndia
• 1953Frances Conroy, American actress
• 1934Kanshi Ram, Indian politician (died 2006)India
• 1830Paul Heyse, German author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1914)
• 1493Anne de Montmorency, French captain and diplomat (died 1567)

Died on 15 March

• 2025Rajnikumar Pandya, Indian writer (born 1938)India
• 2010Kazim al-Samawi, Iraqi poet (born 1925)
• 2008Sarla Thakral, First Indian woman to earn a pilot's license. (born 1914)India
• 1981René Clair, French director and screenwriter (born 1898)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 15 March in history?

2022: The 2022 Sri Lankan protests begins amidst Sri Lanka's economic collapse. 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. 1978: Somalia and Ethiopia sign a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War. 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.

What happened on 15 March in Indian history?

1564: Mughal Emperor Akbar abolishes the jizya tax on non-Muslim subjects.

Which famous people were born on 15 March?

Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Indian military officer (died 2008) (1977); Sunetra Gupta, Indian epidemiologist, author, and academic (1965); Frances Conroy, American actress (1953); Kanshi Ram, Indian politician (died 2006) (1934).

Which day is observed on 15 March?

World Consumer Rights Day; Ancient Roman religious observance: Ides of March; Constitution Day (Belarus); International Day To Combat Islamophobia; Joseph Jenkins Roberts' Birthday (Liberia).