| 15 March 44 BC | Roman Empire [political events] | A conspiracy of 60 Roman senators, led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, culminates in the assassination of (Gaius) Julius Caesar, Roman general, dictator, statesman, and conqueror of Transalpine Gaul, in the Senate House in Rome on the Ides of March (c. 56). |
| 15 March 1851 | France [education] | An act drawn up by the French minister of education, Frederick, Vicomte de Falloux, is passed, reintroducing clerical control of education in France. |
| 15 March 1874 | France, Annam [colonies and mandate] | France assumes a protectorate over Annam (part of modern Vietnam), which breaks off its vassalage to China. |
| 15–19 March 1877 | Australia, UK [cricket] | Australia defeats England by 45 runs in the first ever Test cricket match, played in Melbourne, Australia. Approximately 20,000 spectators attend the match over the four days of play. |
| 15 March 1903 | Nigeria, United Kingdom [colonies and mandate] | British forces under Colonel Morland complete the conquest of northern Nigeria by taking the key Nigerian town of Sokoto from the emir of Kano. |
| 15 March 1909 | United Kingdom, USA [shops and shopping] | The US businessman H G Selfridge opens the first modern department store in Britain, Selfridge's in London, England, using the slogan, ‘All your shopping under one roof.’ |
| 15 March 1916 | USA, Mexico [wars] | A US punitive expedition under the command of General John J Pershing is sent into Mexico to pursue the Mexican revolutionary Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa. |
| 15 March 1916 | Germany [World War I (1914–18)] | Germany begins a second campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. |
| 15 March 1917 | Russian Empire [political events] | Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the throne on behalf of both himself and his son. His brother Grand Duke Michael refuses the throne on 16 March, thereby ending the rule of the Romanov dynasty. |
| 15 March 1922 | Ireland, UK [political events] | The Irish nationalist leader Eamon de Valera organizes a Republican Society demanding full independence for Ireland, to fight the Pro-Treaty Party (Cumann na nGaedheal) which supports the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. |
| 15 March 1934 | Latvia [political events] | Premier Karlis Ulmanis becomes dictator in Latvia after suspending parliament in response to an alleged communist plot. |
| 15 March 1939 | Germany, Czechoslovakia [political events] | German troops occupy Bohemia and Moravia in Czechoslovakia. The German Führer makes a triumphal entry into Prague, the Czech capital, the same evening. The regions become a German protectorate under Konstantin von Neurath. |
| 15 March–12 April 1948 | USA [unions and associations] | Over 200,000 US coal miners strike for more generous pension benefits. They return to work on April 12 after the United Mine Workers union president, John L Lewis, reaches an agreement with mine operators. |
| 15 March 1964 | Canada, USA, UK [everyday life] | The actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are married in Montreal, Canada. |
| 15 March 1975 | UK [popular music] | The British heavy metal rock group Led Zeppelin releases the album Physical Graffiti and becomes the first band ever to have six albums in the US chart simultaneously. |
| 15 March 1975 | UK [everyday life] | Military troops are used to clear 70,000 tonnes of rubbish caused by the nine-week strike by refuse collectors in Britain. |
| 15 March 1976 | France [banking and finance] | The French franc is forced out of the European currency ‘snake’ (system of exchange rates). |
| 15 March 1979 | Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, UK [political events] | The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) defence pact collapses when Turkey withdraws, following the withdrawal of Iran and Pakistan on 12 March. |
| 15 March 1985 | Brazil [political events] | Twenty-one years of military rule in Brazil ends after increasing popular discontent during 1984, with the election of Tancredo Neves as president. When he dies on 21 April, Vice President José Sarney is elected in his place. |
| 15 March 1990 | USSR [political events] | Mikhail Gorbachev is sworn in as the first executive president of the USSR. |
