What Happened in March 1765

Historical Events

Jean Calas Exonerated

Mar 9 After a public campaign by the writer Voltaire, judges in Paris posthumously exonerate Jean Calas of murdering his son. Calas had been tortured and executed in 1762 on the charge, though his son had actually committed suicide.

Stamp Act Passed

Mar 22 Stamp Act passed; 1st direct British tax on American colonists, organized by Prime Minister George Grenville

Mar 24 Britain enacts Quartering Act, required colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers

Events in 1765

Famous Birthdays

Mar 4 Charles Dibdin, British composer, author (Sea Songs), and actor, baptized in Hampshire, England (d. 1814)
Mar 6 Jan Kops, Dutch agronomist and botanist (Flora Batava), born in Amsterdam (d. 1849)

Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833)

Mar 7 French inventor and pioneer of photography, born in Chalon-sur-Saône, France

Mar 18 David Hendrik Chasse, Dutch general (fought Napoleon at Waterloo), born in Tiel, Netherlands (d. 1849)
Mar 21 Hendrik Fagel, Dutch-English baron and diplomat (Dutch ambassador to London) (d. 1838)
Mar 27 Franz Xaver von Baader, German philosopher and theologist, born in Munich (d. 1841)

Born in 1765

Famous Deaths

Mar 3 William Stukeley, English physician and archaeologist (pioneered investigation of Stonehenge and Avebury), dies at 77