On this day ( 15. March )

Day 1,942, 04:21 • Published in Japan Japan • by Imre Bertalan

44 BC: Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by high ranking Roman Senators. The day is known as the "Ides of March."

1493: Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first New World voyage.

1848: Hungary started an uprising against Austria for total independence.

1907: In Finland, woman won their first seats in the Finnish Parliament. They took their seats on May 23.

1938: Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

1939: German forces occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and part of Czechoslovakia.

1944: Cassino, Italy, was destroyed by Allied bombing.

1960: The first underwater park was established as Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve.

1979: Pope John Paul II published his first encyclical "Redemptor Hominis." In the work he warned of the growing gap between the rich and poor.

1985: In Brazil, two decades of military rule came to an end with the installation of a civilian government.

1990: Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the first executive president of the Soviet Union.