1899
Mar 20, Martha M. Place of Brooklyn, N.Y., became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair. She was put to death at Sing Sing for the murder of her stepdaughter.



1976
Mar 20, Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was convicted of armed robbery for her part in a San Francisco bank holdup.



1988
Mar 20, Eight-year-old DeAndraAnrig found herself airborne when the string of her kite was snagged by an airplane flying over Shoreline Park in Mountain View, Calif. Not seriously hurt, she was lifted 10 feet off the ground and carried 100 feet until she let go.



1994
Mar 20, IlariaAlpi (32), Italian journalist, was shot and killed in Somalia along with her cameraman, MiranHrovatin, on the same day that Italian troops left the country. She had collected evidence of brutality by Italian officers against Somalis along with evidence of illegal gun-running.



2004
Mar 20, Former Netherlands Queen Juliana (94), who presided over the dismantling of the centuries-old Dutch empire and witnessed the birth of a social revolution during her 32-year reign (1948-1980, died.


2006
Mar 20, Bangladesh PM Begum Khaleda Zia began her first visit to India in five years. India and Bangladesh will be trying to rebuild confidence and end distrust that has crept into their relationship.





2011
Mar 20, Haiti held a presidential runoff election between MirlandeManigat, the former first lady, and Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, a star of Haitian compas music, the top two finishers in a first-round vote in November. Martelly captured nearly 68 percent of the vote.

2013
Mar 20, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet decided not to attempt a ban of the country's biggest far-right party but said it would support a bid brought by the country's states — a resolution slammed by the Germany's main Jewish group as the wrong signal to neo-Nazis.