On this day: March 15
Referee Run Off Field by Entire Team in 1979 Match
On March 15, 1979, a soccer referee was reportedly forced off the pitch after players from one team surrounded and escorted him away following a contentious decision. Contemporary reports describe an unusually unified player response rather than isolated confrontation.
Julius Caesar Murdered on the Ides of March, 44 BCE
On March 15, 44 BCE, Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated during a Senate session in the Theatre of Pompey, stabbed by a group of senators opposed to his accumulation of power. The killing precipitated a final round of Roman civil wars and the end of the Roman Republic.
The first confirmed industrial pollution deaths, March 15, 1930
On March 15, 1930, investigators identified the first widely documented fatalities directly attributed to industrial chemical pollution—workers and nearby residents whose deaths prompted early public health and regulatory responses.
First Successful Transfusion Using Stored Blood, March 15, 1914
On 15 March 1914 a team in Britain reported a successful transfusion using blood stored for days in citrate solution, marking a crucial step toward modern blood banking and safer transfusion practice.
Scholarly Release: First Official Publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1955)
On March 15, 1955, scholars announced the official publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls’ initial corpus after years of piecemeal disclosure and intensive editorial work, marking a major moment for biblical studies and Second Temple Judaism research.
First successful kidney transplant performed between identical twins
On March 15, 1954, surgeons at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston performed the first successful human kidney transplant, transferring a healthy kidney from one identical twin to another, marking a milestone in organ transplantation.
U.S. enacts first federal food safety inspection law
On March 15, 1906, Congress approved legislation establishing federal inspection of meat and food products, marking the first major U.S. law to regulate food safety at a national level and respond to growing public concern about industrial food processing.
Symbolics.com: the first registered internet domain name
On March 15, 1985, Symbolics, a Massachusetts computer company, registered symbolics.com—the first commercial domain name registered in the .com top-level domain, marking a key step in the development of the Domain Name System.