Did you know
Mike the Headless Chicken was a male Wyandotte chicken that lived for 18 months after he was beheaded, surviving because most of his brain stem remained intact, and a blood clot prevented him from bleeding to death.
Notable Deaths on March 17
1947 — Mike
American Wyandotte chicken, lived 18 months following decapitation (h. 1945)
March 17 has 108 recorded notable deaths across history, from 45 BC to 2025. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
108 source records
45 BC – 2025
Today in history
Major events on March 17
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 1958 The United States launches the first solar-powered satellite, which is also the first satellite to achieve a long-term orbit. Source
- 2003 Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Source
- 1960 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. Source
- 1957 A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others. Source
Did you know
Ramon Magsaysay was the first Philippine president born in the 20th century and the first to be born after the Spanish colonial era.
Did you know
Francis Michael Gough was a British actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances.
Did you know
Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops was not matched by similar chart success in his later work with Big Star and in his subsequent solo career on independent record labels.
Did you know
Daniel Bernoulli was a Swiss mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel.
More major people who died on March 17
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
1957
Ramon Magsaysay
Filipino captain and politician, 7th President of the Philippines (born 1907)
Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. was a Filipino politician and military officer who was the seventh president of the Philippines, serving from 1953 until his death in 1957.
2011
Michael Gough
English actor (born 1916)
Francis Michael Gough was a British actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances.
2010
Alex Chilton
American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (born 1950)
William Alexander Chilton was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star.
1782
Daniel Bernoulli
Dutch-Swiss mathematician and physicist (born 1700)
Daniel Bernoulli was a Swiss mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel.
1680
François de La Rochefoucauld
French author (born 1613)
François de La Rochefoucauld, 2nd Duke of La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marcillac was an accomplished French moralist of the era of French Classical literature and author of Maximes and Memoirs, the only two works of his…
1965
Amos Alonzo Stagg
American football player and coach (born 1862)
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He introduced many innovations to American football.
2007
John Backus
American mathematician and computer scientist, designed Fortran (born 1924)
John Warner Backus was an American computer scientist. He led the team that invented and implemented FORTRAN, the first widely used high-level programming language, and was the inventor of the Backus–Naur form (BNF), a…
2010
Sid Fleischman
American author and screenwriter (born 1920)
Albert Sidney Fleischman was an American author of children's books, screenplays, novels for adults, and nonfiction books about stage magic.
2014
Marek Galiński
Polish cyclist (born 1974)
Marek Galiński was a Polish professional mountain biker and road racing cyclist.
1199
Jocelin of Glasgow
Scottish monk and bishop (born 1130)
Jocelin was a Scottish Cistercian monk and cleric who became the fourth Abbot of Melrose before becoming Bishop of Glasgow, Scotland.
1893
Jules Ferry
French lawyer and politician, 44th Prime Minister of France (born 1832)
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885.
1958
Bertha De Vriese
Belgian physician (born 1877)
Bertha De Vriese was a Belgian physician. When she earned her degree as a doctor of medicine at Ghent University, where she was the first woman to conduct research and the first woman physician to graduate from the…
1620
John Sarkander
Polish-Moravian priest and saint (born 1576)
Jan Sarkander was a Polish-Czech Roman Catholic priest. Sarkander was married for a short period of time before he became widowed and pursued a path to the priesthood where he became active in defence of Catholicism…
2025
Lee Shau-kee
Hong Kong real estate billionaire (born 1928)
Lee Shau-kee was a Hong Kong business magnate, investor and philanthropist.
1956
Irène Joliot-Curie
French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1897)
Irène Joliot-Curie was a French chemist and physicist who received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, for their discovery of induced radioactivity.
1974
Louis Kahn
American architect and academic, designed Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (born 1901)
Louis Isadore Kahn was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935.
2013
A.B.C. Whipple
American journalist and historian (born 1918)
Addison Beecher Colvin ("Cal") Whipple was an American journalist, editor, historian and author. He was born in Glens Falls, New York, on July 15, 1918, and spent most of his childhood in Suffield, Connecticut.
180
Marcus Aurelius
Roman emperor (born 121)
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher.
1976
Luchino Visconti
Italian director and screenwriter (born 1906)
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter.