March 17 in history — What Happened Today in History

Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

As a result of nerve gas testing by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps in Skull Valley, Utah, over 6,000 sheep are found dead.

Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.

Mount Agung erupts on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.

A Clockwork Orange, a British dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess, is published.

U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Northwest Airlines Flight 710 explodes and crashes near Cannelton, Indiana, killing 63.

The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, which is also the first satellite to achieve a long-term orbit.

A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "californium".

Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.

World War II: The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany, collapses, ten days after its capture.

Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.

The Second Polish Republic adopts the March Constitution.

SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.

The first railway line of Finland between cities of Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, called Päärata, is officially opened.

The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed.

The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand Wars.

The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo is formally organized with Emma Smith as president.

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty is signed in London, dividing the Malay archipelago. As a result, the Malay Peninsula is dominated by the British, while Sumatra and Java and surrounding areas are dominated by the Dutch.

The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King of Italy.

American Revolutionary War: The British Army evacuates Boston, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.

John Boyega, British actor and producer

Patrick Cantlay, American golfer

Yeltsin Tejeda, Costa Rican footballer

Sergey Kalinin, Russian ice hockey player

Cordarrelle Patterson, American football player

Thomas Robinson, American-Lebanese basketball player

Hozier, Irish musician

Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player

Jean Segura, Dominican baseball player

Mikael Backlund, Swedish ice hockey player

Shinji Kagawa, Japanese footballer

Juan Lagares, Dominican baseball player

Harry Melling, English actor

William B. Caldwell III, American general (born 1925)

Lawrence Fuchs, American scholar and academic (born 1927)

A.B.C. Whipple, American journalist and historian (born 1918)

Shenouda III, pope of Alexandria (born 1923)

Margaret Whitlam, Australian swimmer and author (born 1919)

Michael Gough, English actor (born 1916)

Ferlin Husky, American country music singer (born 1925)

Alex Chilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1950)

Sid Fleischman, American author and screenwriter (born 1920)

Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian television host and politician (born 1937)

Roland Arnall, French-American businessman and diplomat, 63rd United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (born 1939)

John Backus, American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (born 1924)

Oleg Cassini, French-American fashion designer (born 1913)