Today in History: March 15, Julius Caesar assassinated on ‘ides of March’

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Today is Sunday, March 15, the 74th day of 2026. There are 291 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 15, 44 B.C., on the “ides of March,” Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by Roman senators, including Brutus and Cassius, who feared Caesar was working to establish a monarchy.

Also on this date:

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson, addressing a joint session of Congress, called for federal legislation to guarantee every American’s right to vote. The result was passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In 1972, “The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola’s film based on the Mario Puzo novel and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premiered in New York.

In 2012, convicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich entered a federal prison in Colorado, where the 55-year-old Democrat began serving a 14-year sentence for corruption. (He was released in February 2020 after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence; Trump pardoned Blagojevich in February 2025.)

In 2018, a pedestrian bridge under construction over a busy Miami highway collapsed, crushing vehicles; six people died and 10 were injured.

In 2019, a gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, while livestreaming the massacre. (Brenton Tarrant, an Australian white supremacist, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to 51 counts of murder and other charges.)

In 2022, Russia stepped up its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, while an estimated 20,000 civilians fled the desperately encircled port city of Mariupol by way of a humanitarian corridor.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Judd Hirsch is 91. Singer Mike Love (The Beach Boys) is 85. Filmmaker David Cronenberg is 83. Musician Ry Cooder is 79. Actor Frances Conroy is 73. Baseball Hall of Famer Harold Baines is 67. Filmmaker Renny Harlin is 67. Rock singer Bret Michaels (Poison) is 63. Singer-TV host Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray) is 58. Actor Kim Raver is 57. Actor Eva Longoria is 51. Musician will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) is 51. Actor Kellan Lutz is 41. Actor Carson MacCormac is 27.