• 455 – After arranging for the assassination of Valentinian III, Petronius Maximus seized the throne of the Western Roman Empire, only to be killed 11 weeks later during the sack of Rome.

• 1860 – The First Taranaki War began at Waitara, New Zealand, marking an important phase of the New Zealand land wars.

• 1891 – The transatlantic steamship SS Utopia accidentally collided with the battleship HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar, sinking in less than twenty minutes and killing 562.

• 1902 - Bobby Jones  (3/17/1902 - 12/18/1971) American golfer; first to win the Grand Slam.


• 1950 – The synthesis of californium, a radioactive transuranium element, was announced.