/year

March 1 in history

345 sourced entries recorded on March 1, from 86 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 86 BCESiege of Athens (87–86 BC) ends when Sulla captures Athens from the Pontic army, removing the tyrant Aristion.source
  • 29 BCEHorace writes the ode Occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen.source
  • 264March 1–3 – Zhong Hui's Rebellion in China is quelled.source
  • 293Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius I and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the Quattuor Principes Mundi ("Four Rulers of the World"). (Some sources and scholars date Galerius' elevation to May 21.)source
  • 317Emperor Constantine the Great and co-emperor Licinius elevate their sons Crispus, Constantine II and Licinius II to Caesars. After this arrangement Constantine rules the dioceses Pannonia and Macedonia, and establishes his residence at Sirmium, from where he prepares a campaign against the Goths and Sarmatians.source
  • 350Vetranio is asked by Constantina, sister of Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar. Constantius accepts the new emperor and sends him funds to raise an army.source
  • 499During a synod in Rome, which is attended by 72 bishops and all of the Roman clergy, Pope Symmachus makes Antipope Laurentius bishop of the diocese of Nocera in Campania.source
  • 834Emperor Louis the Pious is restored as sole ruler of the Frankish Empire. After his re-accession to the throne, his eldest son Lothair I flees to Burgundy.source
  • 884Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, count of Castile, founds and repopulates (repoblación) Burgos and Ubierna (Northern Spain), under the mandate of King Alfonso III of Asturias.source
  • 901Nicholas Mystikos, a layman close to Photios, becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.source
  • 991In Rouen, Pope John XV ratifies the first Truce of God, between Æthelred the Unready and Richard I of Normandy.source
  • 1224Pope Honorius III sends a letter to the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, Francisco Clemente Pérez Capera, notifying him that the armies and navies of the Holy Roman Empire, the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Sicily will be departing soon to begin the Sixth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the Arab rulers.source
  • 1290The University of Coimbra is founded in Lisbon by Denis I ("the Poet King"). He decrees that Portuguese is the official language of Portugal, replacing classical Latin in that capacity.source
  • 1404Under the Emperor Cheng Zu, China continues to build its fleet, ordering the construction of 50 new seagoing ships from the Capital Guards in Nanjing.source
  • 1407Persian astronomer and mathematician Jamshid al-Kashi completes his treatise Sullam al-sama ("The Ladder of the Sky")source
  • 1416Sigismund arrives in Paris to reach an agreement with the French government, but is unable to because of difficulty in reaching a conclusion satisfactory to both its Orleanist and Burgundian factions.source
  • 1420Pope Martin V issues the papal bull Omnium plasmatoris domini, calling upon Roman Catholics to unite in a crusade against what he considers heretic Christian sects, including the adherents of John Wycliffe (Lollards) and the followers of Jan Hus (Hussites).source
  • 1441Battle of Samobor: The army of Ulrich II, Count of Celje, defeats the army of Stjepan Banić at Samobor, Croatia in union with Hungary.source
  • 1457Prince Zhu Jianshen is designated as the heir to the Chinese throne by his father, the Emperor Yingzong.source
  • 1486King James III of Scotland gives royal assent to acts passed by the Scottish Parliament, including the Tallow Act, the Hides Act and the Currency Act.source
  • 1489Creation of the Marquis of Vila Real title of nobilitysource
  • 1493Martín Alonso Pinzón returns in the Pinta to the city of Bayona in Spain from Christopher Columbus's voyage of discovery, sending the first notice about the discovery to the Catholic Monarchs. Columbus himself is delayed by a storm in the Azores.source
  • 1507Eleven months after the Lisbon Massacre, King Manuel I of Portugal issues an edict permitting the cristãos-novos ("New Christians", Portuguese Jews who had been forced to convert to Christianity) to freely emigrate from the kingdom.source
  • 1510Battle of Salt River: Indigenous ǃUriǁʼaekua decisively defeat sailors of the Portuguese Empire in South Africa.source
  • 1516Desiderius Erasmus publishes a new Greek edition of the New Testament, Novum Instrumentum omne, in Basel.source
  • 1539King Henry VIII of England summons Parliament to meet, with the session to start on April 28.source
  • 1553The second (and last) session of the Parliament of England during the reign of King Edward VI is opened by the King at Westminster and lasts until March 31. Sir James Dyer serves during the session as Speaker of the House of Commons.source
  • 1561Inauguration of the Kullen Lighthouse.source
  • 1562Over 80 Huguenots are massacred by the ultra-Catholic François, Duke of Guise in Wassy-sur-Blaise, triggering the First War of Religion in France.source
  • 1562An army led by François de Lorraine, Duke of Guise carries out the Massacre of Vassy, killing 50 and injuring hundreds of Protestants, starting the French Wars of Religion.source
  • 1565The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is founded as São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro by Estácio de Sá.source
  • 1579Off of the coast of what is now Ecuador, the English galleon Golden Hind, captained by Francis Drake, captures the Spanish freighter Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (unofficially called "Cagafuego") and its cargo, including 26 tons of silver and 1,000 pounds of gold.source
  • 1580Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later this year.source
  • 1580Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, Essays. They are published later the same year.source
  • 1591Pope Gregory XIV excommunicates King Henry IV of France and orders the clergy, nobles, judicial functionaries and the Third Estate of France to renounce the nation's king.source
  • 1628Writs issued in February, by King Charles I, require every county in England (not just seaport towns) to pay ship tax by this date.source
  • 1633Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France, on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.source
  • 1634The Russians vacate their camp, ending the Siege of Smolensk.source
  • 1642Georgeana, Massachusetts (later known as York, Maine) becomes the first incorporated city in the British colonies of North America.source
  • 1659in exile in the Netherlands while plotting the restoration of the monarchy to Britain, Charles appoints seven royalists (including six from the "Sealed Knot" group) to a "Great Trust and Commission" to make plans for a post-restoration government. The Great Trust is led by Charles's trusted advisor, Edward Hyde.source
  • 1659In exile in the Netherlands while plotting the restoration of the monarchy to England, Scotland and Ireland, Charles, son of the late King Charles I appoints seven royalists (including six from the "Sealed Knot" group) to a "Great Trust and Commission" to make plans for a post-restoration government. The Great Trust is led by Charles's trusted advisor, Edward Hyde.source
  • 1688A great fire devastates Bungay, England.source
  • 1688great fire devastates Bungay.source
  • 1692The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony, with the charging of 3 women with witchcraft. Tituba, a slave owned by Samuel Parris, is the first to be arrested, and she implicates Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, who are arrested later in the day.source
  • 1694British flagship HMS Sussex (carrying gold coin) and twelve other ships are wrecked in a storm in the Mediterranean off Gibraltar with the loss of approximately 1,200 lives.source
  • 1694British flagship HMS Sussex (carrying gold coin) and twelve other ships are wrecked in a storm in the Mediterranean off Gibraltar with the loss of approximately 1,200 lives.source
  • 1700March 1 (Gregorian) – Protestant Germany and Denmark–Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar.source
  • 1700March 1 (Swedish), March 11 (Gregorian), February 29 (Julian) – The Swedish calendar is adopted.source
  • 1700The Gregorian calendar is adopted.source
  • 1703The Recruiting Act 1703 goes into effect in England, providing for the forcible enlistment of able-bodied but unemployed men into the English Army and Royal Navy in order to fight in Queen Anne's War in North America. The Act expires at the end of February 1704.source
  • 1703the Recruiting Act 1703 goes into effect, providing for the forcible enlistment of able-bodied but unemployed men into the Army and Royal Navy in order to fight in Queen Anne's War in North America. The Act expires at the end of February 1704.source
  • 1710The Sacheverell riots start in London with an attack on an elegant Presbyterian meeting-house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, followed by riots through the West End of London.source
  • 1711The Spectator is founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in London.source
  • 1711first edition of the magazine The Spectator published in London, edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.source
  • 1713Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore's Carolina militia lays siege to the Tuscaroran stronghold of Fort Neoheroka, located a few miles up Contentnea Creek from Fort Hancock.source
  • 1715The Society of Antient Britons is founded in London. Thomas Jones, its first treasurer and secretary, presents the society's "loyal address" to King George I and is subsequently knighted.source
  • 1717February 26–March 6 – What becomes the northeastern United States is paralyzed by a series of blizzards that bury the region.source
  • 1729A St. David's Society is established by Welsh immigrants in Philadelphia.source
  • 1744March 1 (approximately) – The Great Comet of 1744, one of the brightest ever seen, reaches perihelion.source
  • 1745Augustus III, the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, declares his candidacy to become the next Holy Roman Emperor, but loses in September to Francis, Duke of Tuscany.source
  • 1753Sweden adopts the Gregorian calendar, by skipping the 11 days difference between it and the Julian calendar, and letting February 17 be followed directly by March 1.source
  • 1763Charles Townshend becomes President of the Board of Trade in the British government.source
  • 1763Charles Townshend becomes President of the Board of Trade in the British government.source
  • 1768King Louis XV decrees that all cities and towns in France will be required to post house numbering on all residential buildings, primarily to facilitate the forced quartering of troops in citizens' homes.source
  • 1768King Louis XV decrees that all cities and towns in the kingdom will be required to post house numbering on all residential buildings, primarily to facilitate the forced quartering of troops in citizens' homessource
  • 1771The news of the King's death reach Gustav III of Sweden in Paris.source
  • 1776The Peshwa of the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company sign the Treaty of Purandar in which the British are able to secure Salsette Island and accept Sawai Madhavrao as a new Peshwa. The Marathas agree not to recognise existence of the French in India.source
  • 1777David Samwell, at sea between New Zealand and Tahiti with Captain Cook, writes a pennillion.source
  • 1779Capture and sack of Vientiane by Siamese forces.source
  • 1780The legislature of Pennsylvania votes, 34 to 21, to approve An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery.source
  • 1780The Pennsylvania General Assembly passes An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, prohibiting the further importation of adults and children into the Commonwealth for the purposes of enslaving themsource
  • 1781The United States Continental Congress implements the Articles of Confederation, forming its Perpetual Union as the United States in Congress Assembled.source
  • 1782It is proposed, in Congress, to treat Vermont as hostile, failing submission to the terms of 20 August 1781, and to divide it between New York and New Hampshire, along the ridge of the Green Mountains; and that the Commander-in-chief employ the Congressional forces to further this resolution.source
  • 1784The Confederation Congress accepts Virginia's cession of all rights to the Northwest Territory and to Kentucky (Illinois County).source
  • 1786The Ohio Company of Associates is organized by five businessmen at a meeting at the Bunch-of-Grapes Tavern in Boston to purchase land from the United States government to form settlements in the modern-day U.S. state of Ohio.source
  • 1790The first United States Census is authorized; it is held later in the year.source
  • 1790The first United States census is authorized.source
  • 1792Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, the last emperor, takes office.source
  • 1793March 1–3 – John Langdon serves as President pro tempore of the United States Senate.source
  • 1797Kreditkassen for Husejere i Kjøbenhavn is founded by royal resolution.source
  • 1799Federalist James Ross becomes President pro tempore of the United States Senate.source
  • 1801London Stock Exchange founded as a regulated institution; its new building is completed on 30 December.source
  • 1803Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state, retroactive from August 7, 1953 (see History of Ohio).source
  • 1805Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted of impeachment charges by the United States Senate.source
  • 1805Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted of impeachment charges by the U.S. Senate.source
  • 1808The slave trade is abolished by the United Kingdom in all of its colonies as the Slave Trade Act 1807 takes effect. This year, the British Royal Navy establishes the West Africa Squadron on the coast of West Africa to enforce the abolitionist Blockade of Africa.source
  • 1809The Embargo Act of 1807 is repealed in the United States; the Non-Intercourse Act replaces it.source
  • 1809The City of Edinburgh arrives in the Bay of Islands, returning chief (Maa-)Tara from Port Jackson. Tara dies of bronchitis some months later (possibly July–September).source
  • 1811Citadel Massacre in Cairo: Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali kills the last Mamluk leaders.source
  • 1815Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.source
  • 1815Georgetown University's congressional charter is signed into law, by President James Madison.source
  • 1816The Gorkha War between the United Kingdom and Nepal is ended after more than a year by the ratification of the Treaty of Sugauli, with Nepal ceding about one-third of its territory to British Indian control.source
  • 1817suffocating fumes in the Leadhills lead mine kill seven.source
  • 1819The U.S. naval vessel USS Columbus is launched in Washington, D.C.source
  • 1821The first gas street lighting in Wales is installed at Swansea.source
  • 1825The outbound British East Indiaman Kent 1820 EIC ship is destroyed by fire in the Bay of Biscay with the loss of more than 80 lives, but over 550 are saved by passing ships.source
  • 1825A fire destroys the outbound East Indiaman Kent 1820 EIC ship in the Bay of Biscay with the loss of more than 80 lives, but passing ships save over 550.source
  • 1827Official opening of St David's College, Lampeter. Llewelyn Lewellin becomes its first principal, with Alfred Ollivant as vice-principal.source
  • 1836Texas Revolution – Convention of 1836: Delegates from many Texas communities gather in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.source
  • 1837The Congregation of Holy Cross is formed in Le Mans, France, by the signing of the Fundamental Act of Union, which legally joins the Auxiliary Priests of Blessed Basil Moreau, CSC, and the Brothers of St. Joseph (founded by Jacques-François Dujarié) into one religious association.source
  • 18371 March–31 May – At only 5.63 °C Central England temperature, the coolest English spring on record; this remains the last recorded coolest traditional season in the CET series.source
  • 1840Adolphe Thiers becomes prime minister of France.source
  • 1840Governor Hobson suffers a stroke.source
  • 1845President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas, subject to approval by the voters in the Republic. The territory claimed includes all of the future U.S. state of Texas, as well as portions of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming.source
  • 1845Ragamuffin War: peace negotiations led by Luis Alves de Lima e Silva and Antônio Vicente da Fontoura concluded with the signing of the Ponche Verde Treaty between rebels and imperial government, in Dom Pedrito. The treaty offered the rebels a full amnesty, full incorporation into the imperial army and the choice of the next provincial president. All the debts of the Riograndense Republic were paid off by the Empire of Brazil and a tariff of 25% was introduced on imported charque. The Treaty did not state clearly whether the Riograndense and Juliana republics remained independent, but they remained in the Empire of Brazilsource
  • 1845Work begins on the construction of the Chester and Holyhead Railway; Robert Stephenson is chief engineer on the project.source
  • 1846February 20–March 3 – Kraków uprising: Polish nationalists stage an uprising in the Free City of Kraków; it is suppressed by forces of the Austrian Empire, supported by peasants.source
  • 1847Faustin Soulouque is elected President of Haiti.source
  • 1847The state of Michigan formally abolishes the death penalty.source
  • 1848Pro-republic forces overthrow the Council of State of the Canton of Neuchatel, declare the Canton a republicsource
  • 1851Victor Hugo uses the phrase United States of Europe, in a speech to the French National Assembly.source
  • 1852Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.source
  • 1854The British Inman Line's SS City of Glasgow sets out from Liverpool on passage to the United States with 480 on board; she is lost without a trace.source
  • 1854Inman Line's SS City of Glasgow sets out from Liverpool on passage to the United States with 480 on board; she is lost without trace.source
  • 1854The Plan de Ayutla calls for liberal reforms and the ouster of President Antonio López de Santa Anna of Mexico.source
  • 1854German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; 2 years later his remains are found in the canal near Charlottenburg.source
  • 1864Alejandro Mon y Menéndez takes office as Prime Minister of Spain.source
  • 1866Stellenbosch Gymnasium is opened, later to be renamed Stellenbosch University.source
  • 1867Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S. state.source
  • 1867Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S. state (see History of Nebraska).source
  • 1869(O. S. February 17) – Dmitri Mendeleev finishes his design of the first periodic table and sends it for publishing.source
  • 1869The North German Confederation issues 10gr and 30gr value stamps, printed on goldbeater's skin.source
  • 1870End of the Paraguayan War. Following this, Argentina seeks to enforce one of the secret clauses of the Treaty of the Triple Alliance, which would have permitted it to annex a large portion of the Gran Chaco region. The Brazilian government, wishing to maintain Paraguay as a buffer with Argentina, it rejects the Argentine proposal.source
  • 1870Battle of Cerro Corá, Paraguay: Marshal Francisco Solano López's last troops are cornered by those of the Triple Alliance. López refuses to surrender and is killed, ending the Paraguayan War.source
  • 1872In the United States, Yellowstone National Park (once dubbed "Colter's Hell" after John Colter, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) is established as the world's first national park.source
  • 1872Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.source
  • 1873E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, New York, start production of the first practical typewriter.source
  • 1873The sailing ship Chacabuco sinks off the Great Orme with the loss of 24 lives.source
  • 1875The United States Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in public accommodations and jury duty.source
  • 1875The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) is founded.source
  • 1881The Cunard Line's SS Servia, the first large steel transatlantic liner, is launched at Clydebank in Scotland.source
  • 1886The Anglo-Chinese School is founded by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham on Amoy Street in Singapore.source
  • 1888As a reaction to the strict protectionist tariff established in Italy in July 1887, France introduced a discriminatory trade tariff, and Italy raised their duties on French goods by 50%; initiating a full-scale tariff war. The short-term effects of the tariff war would be dramatic: "Trade between the two countries was halved. Italian exports to France fell from an average of 444 million lire in 1881-87 to an average of 165 million lire in 1888-90; the French share of Italian exports fell from 41 per cent to 18 per cent. Imports from France went down from 307 million to 164 million lire. Only about one-third of the lost export market could be made up elsewhere. Silk and wine were particularly affected, although rice, dairy produce and cattle exports all suffered."source
  • 1888Queensland's Western Railway Line reaches Charleville.source
  • 1892Theodoros Deligiannis ends his term as Prime Minister of Greece and Konstantinos Konstantopoulos takes office.source
  • 1894Brazilian presidential election, 1894source
  • 1896Battle of Adwa: Ethiopia defends its independence from Italy, ending the First Italo-Ethiopian War.source
  • 1896The Battle of Adwa between Ethiopia and Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray. It was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War, securing Ethiopian sovereignty and ending Italian attempts at its conquest for another three and a half decades. The Italians suffered about 7,000 killed and 1,500 wounded in the battle and subsequent retreat back into Eritrea, with 3,000 taken prisoner. Ethiopian losses have been estimated at around 4,000–5,000 killed and 8,000 wounded. When the news reached Italy, street demonstrations and rioting broke out in major cities.source
  • 1898In the presidential election, Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales of the Republican Party of São Paulo, is successful, with 90.9% of the vote, replacing incumbent president Prudente de Morais who, because of ill-health, had already delegated most of his presidential duties to Vice President Manuel Vitorino.source
  • 1899Juan Lindolfo Cuestas resumes office as President of Uruguay after stepping down for 24 days to allow Senate President José Batlle y Ordóñez to serve as acting president.source
  • 1899Sankyo Pharmaceutical established in Yokohama, as predecessor of Daiichi Sankyo.source
  • 1901The United Kingdom, Germany and Japan protest the Sino-Russian agreement on Manchuria.source
  • 1901The 1901 Census of India is taken, the fourth, and first reliable, census of the British Raj.source
  • 1902Presidential election: Rodrigues Alves of the Republican Party of São Paulo receives 91.7% of the vote. Francisco Silviano de Almeida Brandão is elected vice-president but dies suddenly before the start of his term of office.source
  • 19031903 Japanese general election: The Rikken Seiyūkai party remained the largest in the House of Representatives, winning 175 of the 376 seats, but lost its majority.source
  • 1905John Jenkins resigns as Premier of South Australia to become Agent-General for South Australia in London. He is replaced by Richard Butler.source
  • 1906In the presidential election, Afonso Pena of the Mineiro Republican Party receives 97.9% of the vote.source
  • 1906The steamship "Thor" sinks near Lyngholmen in Sveio Municipality, 39 people perish.source
  • 1907Liberal Fernando Figueroa was sworn in as President of El Salvador. Manuel Enrique Araujo was sworn in as Vice President.source
  • 1910In the presidential election, Hermes da Fonseca receives 57.1% of the vote. Fonseca is supported by several of the most influential Republican parties, while his main opponent, Rui Barbosa, is supported by the Civilist Campaign.source
  • 1910The Wellington, Washington avalanche sweeps away two Great Northern Railway (U.S.) passenger trains in the Cascade Mountains, killing 96, making it the worst snowslide accident in United States history.source
  • 1911The Imperial Theater is completed, but is later lost to fire during the Great Kanto earthquake.source
  • 1912Albert Berry is reported to have made the first parachute jump from a flying airplane.source
  • 1912suffragettes smash shop windows in the West End of London, especially around Oxford Street.source
  • 1912A national coal miners' strike begins, led in Wales by Vernon Hartshorn and Noah Ablett, among others.source
  • 1914In the presidential election, incumbent Vice-President Venceslau Brás, of the Mineiro Republican Party, receives 91.6% of the vote.source
  • 1915Carlos Meléndez Ramírez was sworn in as President of El Salvador. Alfonso Quiñónez Molina was sworn in as vice president.source
  • 1917WWI: The U.S. government releases the text of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public.source
  • 1917Ōmuta, Japan, is founded by Hiroushi Miruku.source
  • 1918WWI: German submarine SMU U-19 sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland.source
  • 1918Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-19 sank HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island.source
  • 1918armed merchant cruiser HMS Calgarian is torpedoed and sunk off Rathlin Island, Ireland, by Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-19 with the loss of 49 lives.source
  • 1919Jorge Meléndez was sworn in as President of El Salvador. Alfonso Quiñónez Molina was sworn in as Vice President.source
  • 1919March 1st Movement: one of the earliest public displays of Korean resistance during the occupation of the Korean Empire by Japan takes place when 33 activists convene at Taehwagwan Restaurant in Seoul and read the Korean Declaration of Independence. The activists initially planned to assemble at Tapgol Park in downtown Seoul, but chose a more private location out of fear that the gathering might turn into a riot. The leaders of the movement signed the document and sent a copy to the Governor-General of Korea.source
  • 1919The March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea is formed.source
  • 1920The United States Railroad Administration returns control of American railroads to its constituent railroad companies.source
  • 1920Hungarian admiral and statesman Miklós Horthy becomes the Regent of Hungary.source
  • 1921The Australia national cricket team, led by Warwick Armstrong, becomes the first to complete a whitewash of the touring England team in The Ashes, something that will not be repeated for 86 years.source
  • 1921The city of Kiryū, located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, is founded.source
  • 1922In the Brazilian presidential election, Artur Bernardes of the Mineiro Republican Party receives 56.0% of the vote.source
  • 1922A general election is held for the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, running until 11 March. The governing National Liberal Party retains power.source
  • 1923Eskom, the largest electricity producer in Africa, is established in South Africa.source
  • 1923The Electricity Supply Commission (Eskom), largest electricity producer in Africa, is established.source
  • 1923The USS Connecticut is decommissioned.source
  • 1925New York City Fire Department Rescue 2 is put in service in Brooklyn.source
  • 1926In the presidential election, Washington Luís of the Republican Party of São Paulo, who received 98.0% of the vote.source
  • 1926Modern criminal codesource
  • 1927an underground gas and coal dust explosion at Marine Colliery, Cwm, Monmouthshire, kills 52.source
  • 1931Arturo Araujo was sworn in as President of El Salvador. Maximiliano Hernández Martínez was sworn in as vice president.source
  • 1932Japan installs Puyi as puppet emperor of Manchukuo.source
  • 1932Lindbergh kidnapping: Charles Lindbergh Jr., the infant son of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, New Jersey. On May 12 he is found dead just a few miles away.source
  • 1933Hundreds are arrested as the National Socialists round up their political opponents.source
  • 1934Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state in Manchuria established in 1932, proclaimed a monarchy under Puyi.source
  • 1935İsmet İnönü forms the new government in Turkey (the 8th government; during Atatürk's presidency, İnönü has served seven times as a prime minister).source
  • 19351935 Greek coup d'état attempt: Nikolaos Plastiras, Anastasios Papoulas and other Venizelists lead a coup against the People's Party government in Greece. The attempt is suppressed by March 11, and the leaders condemned to death for treason.source
  • 1936Construction of Hoover Dam is completed in the United States.source
  • 1938Sir Harold MacMichael assumes office as the High Commissioner of Palestine.source
  • 1938Lee Byung-chul establishes a trucking business in Daegu, South Korea, which he names Samsung Trading Co, the forerunner to Samsung.source
  • 1939An Imperial Japanese Army ammunition dump explosion on the outskirts of Osaka kills 94.source
  • 1941WWII: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, thus joining the Axis powers.source
  • 1943Benny Begin, Israeli geologist and politiciansource
  • 1945President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives what will be his last address to a joint session of the United States Congress, reporting on the Yalta Conference.source
  • 1947A centre-right government is formed between the Christian Social People's Party and the Democratic Group under incumbent Prime Minister Pierre Dupong.source
  • 1947The International Monetary Fund begins to operate.source
  • 1947German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun marries his first cousin, 18-year-old Maria von Quirstorp.source
  • 1949Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch.source
  • 1950Acting President of the Republic of China Li Zongren ends his term in office and Chiang Kai-shek resumes his duties as president, after moving the government of the Republic to Taipei, Taiwan.source
  • 1950Chiang Kai-shek resumes his duties as Chinese president after moving his government to Taipei, Taiwan.source
  • 1950Klaus Fuchs is convicted in London of spying against both Britain and the United States for the Soviet Union, by giving to the latter top secret atomic bomb data.source
  • 1953Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke, after an all-night dinner with Soviet Union interior minister Lavrentiy Beria and future premiers Georgy Malenkov, Nikolai Bulganin, and Nikita Khrushchev. The stroke paralyzes the right side of his body and renders him unconscious until his death on March 5.source
  • 1953Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg is made deputy constable and lieutenant governor of Windsor Castle.source
  • 1954U.S. Capitol shooting incident: Four Puerto Rican nationalists open fire in the United States House of Representatives chamber and wound 5; they are apprehended by security guards.source
  • 1954U.S. officials announce that a hydrogen bomb test (Castle Bravo) has been conducted, on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The explosion produces a yield of 15 megatons TNT instead of the predicted 5 MT; the Japanese fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryū Maru is caught up inside the fallout zone, some 80 miles from the explosion with several of her crew members suffering from radiation sickness as a consequence.source
  • 1954Adelaide and large parts of southern South Australia are shaken by a 5.6 magnitude earthquake, resulting in the injuries of 16 people, and a damage bill of £17 million (2017: $578 million).source
  • 1955Paul Thibeau is appointed to the Council of State.source
  • 1956The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the radiotelephony spelling alphabet, for the International Civil Aviation Organization.source
  • 1957U Nu becomes Prime Minister of Burma.source
  • 1957Arturo Lezama becomes President of the National Council of Government of Uruguay.source
  • 1957Sud Aviation forms, from a merger between SNCASE (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Est) and SNCASO (Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud Ouest).source
  • 1958Two medium-size airlines, FarEastern Airways of Japan and Nippon Helicopter Transport, are merged to become All Nippon Airways (ANA) which begins operation in Japan.source
  • 1958Turkish passenger ship SS Üsküdar capsizes and sinks in a sudden gale while crossing the Gulf of İzmit, Turkey; many of the 272 who die are teenage students.source
  • 1958Commuter boat Üsküdar sinks. Most of the passengers were students.source
  • 1959Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus from exile.source
  • 1959The USS Tuscaloosa, USS New Orleans, USS Tennessee and USS West Virginia are stricken from the United States Naval Vessel Register.source
  • 1962President Ayub Khan promulgates a constitution which sought to reinforce his authority in the absence of martial law.source
  • 1962American Airlines Flight 1 (a Boeing 707) crashes on takeoff at New York International Airport, after a rudder malfunction causes an uncontrolled roll, resulting in the loss of control of the aircraft, with the loss of all 95 on board.source
  • 1966The British Government announces plans for the decimalisation of the pound sterling (hitherto denominated in 20 shillings and 240 pence to the £), to come into force on 15 February 1971 (Decimal Day).source
  • 1966Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.source
  • 1967City of Hatogaya, Saitama founded.source
  • 1967Brazilian police arrest Franz Stangl, ex-commander of Treblinka and Sobibór extermination camps.source
  • 1967Police arrest Franz Stangl, ex-commander of Treblinka and Sobibór extermination camps.source
  • 1968Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 further reduces right of entry for citizens from the British Commonwealth to the United Kingdom.source
  • 1968First performance of an Andrew Lloyd Webber–Tim Rice musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in its original form as a "pop cantata", by pupils of a private school in London.source
  • 1969The first Rajdhani Express commenced its journey between Delhi and Howrah.source
  • 1969The establishment of Aero Industry Development Center in Taichung.source
  • 1971Canadian John Robarts ends his term of office as the 17th Premier of Ontario.source
  • 1971Pakistani president Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending National Assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.source
  • 1971A bomb explodes in the men's room at the United States Capitol; the Weather Underground claims responsibility.source
  • 1975Australian television switches to full-time colour.source
  • 1975An Iraqi Airways airliner was hijacked by three Kurdish gunmen, shortly after taking off from Mosul to Baghdad with 93 people on board. The hijackers (Ahmad Hasan, Taha Naimi and Faud al-Qeitan) demanded that 85 Kurdish political prisoners be released, that they receive five million dollars, and that they be flown to Iran. After the plane made a forced landing in Tehran on a blocked runway, a gunbattle ensued between Iraqi security guards onboard and the gunmen. One passenger were killed and ten others wounded, including Hasan, who later died of his wounds. Taimi and al-Qeitan were executed a month later by a firing squad in Iran.source
  • 1975Aston Villa win the English Football League Cup at Wembley, beating Norwich City 1–0 in the final.source
  • 1976U.K. Home Secretary Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for scheduled terrorist crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.source
  • 1976Bradford Bishop allegedly murders five of his family members in Bethesda, Maryland. The crime goes undiscovered for 10 days and the suspect is never caught. From 2014 to 2018 he is on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.source
  • 1977Abdul Ati al-Obeidi is appointed General Secretary of the General People's Committee.source
  • 19781977–78 Balkans Cup: Albania defeats Greece 2-0 at Skënderbeu Stadium, Korçësource
  • 1978Charlie Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.source
  • 1979Scottish devolution referendum: Scotland votes in favour of a Scottish Assembly, which is not implemented due to failing a condition that at least 40% of the electorate must support the proposal; in a Welsh devolution referendum, Wales votes against devolution.source
  • 1979Philips publicly demonstrate a prototype of an optical digital audio disc at a press conference in Eindhoven, Netherlands.source
  • 1980The Commonwealth Trade Union Council is established.source
  • 1980The Voyager 1 probe confirms the existence of Janus, a moon of Saturn.source
  • 1980The federal executive of the Australian Labor Party decides to intervene in the Queensland branch, with most key office-holders replaced.source
  • 19811981 Irish hunger strike: Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican Army member, begins a hunger strike for political status at HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in Northern Ireland, dying on May 5, the first of 7 IRA and 3 INLA hunger strikers to die.source
  • 1981Bobby Sands begins the 1981 Irish hunger strike in the Maze Prison (Long Kesh) near Lisburn.source
  • 1982The Carretera Austral begins to work, which connects the city of Puerto Montt with the town of Villa O'Higgins.source
  • 1983The Balearic Islands and Madrid become Autonomous communities of Spain.source
  • 1985After a 12-year-long dictatorship, Julio María Sanguinetti is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Uruguay.source
  • 1985SES is established as Europe's first commercial satellite operator.source
  • 1986Olof Palme's deputy Ingvar Carlsson becomes acting Prime Minister of Sweden. He is elected Prime Minister by the Swedish Riksdag on March 15.source
  • 1987A new Have Three or More (if you can afford it) policy is announced to encourage people to have three or more children. This comes after significant decreases in population through the previous 'Stop at Two' policy of 1972.source
  • 1987The first Starbucks outside of the US is opened in Vancouver, Canada.source
  • 1989The Berne Convention, an international treaty on copyrights, is ratified by the United States.source
  • 1989The Political Party of Radicals, Pacifist Socialist Party, Communist Party of the Netherlands and the Evangelical People's Party amalgamate to form the Dutch political party GroenLinks (GL, GreenLeft).source
  • 1989A curfew is imposed in Kosovo, where protests continue over the alleged intimidation of the Serb minority.source
  • 1989After 74 years, Iceland ends its prohibition on beer; celebrated since as bjórdagur or beer day.source
  • 1990Steve Jackson Games is raided by the U.S. Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.source
  • 1990A fire at the Sheraton Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, kills 16 people.source
  • 1992The first victims of the Bosnian War are a Serb bridegroom's father and an Orthodox priest in a Sarajevo shooting. In the Bosnian independence referendum, held from February 29 to March 1 and boycotted by Bosnian Serbs, the majority of the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat communities have voted for Bosnia-Herzegovina's independence.source
  • 1993The Securities Commission (SC) was established.source
  • 1994The opening of the civil section of Kinmen Airport in Kinmen County.source
  • 1995Julio María Sanguinetti is sworn in as President of Uruguay for his second term.source
  • 1995Polish Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak resigns from Parliament and is replaced by ex-communist Józef Oleksy.source
  • 1995Yonhap Television News was official start on broadcasting for 24-hours news channel.source
  • 1996Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces refuse UNSCOM inspection teams access to five sites designated for inspection. The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to seventeen hours.source
  • 1999Rwandan Hutu rebels kill and dismember eight foreign tourists at the Buhoma homestead, Uganda.source
  • 1999Sudan enters the Second Congo War.source
  • 1999One of four bombs detonated in Lusaka, Zambia, which destroys the Angolan Embassy.source
  • 2000February 23–March 7 – Mayon volcano in Albay erupts, with the most violent occurred, February 28 – March 1; its status is raised to the highest, Alert Level 5, on February 24 due to its hazardous explosions with pyroclastic and lahar flows that affected parts of the province, with several thousands evacuated even outside identified danger zones.source
  • 2002The Envisat environmental satellite is launched, with its purpose being the recording of information on environmental change.source
  • 2003Khalid Sheikh Mohammed of al-Qaeda is captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.source
  • 2006The United States urges the United Arab Emirates to end its boycott of Israel: "The Bush administration said yesterday it is pressing the United Arab Emirates to drop its economic boycott of Israel – a major sticking point in the proposed takeover of key U.S. ports by a UAE-owned firm."source
  • 2007The fourth International Polar Year, a $1.73 billion research program to study both the North Pole and South Pole, is launched in Paris.source
  • 201063-year-old former President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ejup Ganić is detained at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the UK to escape charges of war crimes.source
  • 2012Sauli Niinistö is inaugurated as the 12th President of Finland.source
  • 2014Amid tensions in Ukraine's Crimea, the Federation Council of Russia authorizes President Vladimir Putin to use force.source
  • 20142014 Kunming attack: Eight knife-wielding terrorists stabbed and slashed passengers at the Kunming railway station in Kunming, Yunnan, China, killing 31 people and injuring 143 others.source
  • 2021The French/Guatemalan movie La Lollorona is nominated for a Golden Globe Award.source
  • 2022World Athletics bans both Russia and Belarus from competing in all of its events.source
  • 2025President Irfaan Ali accuses the Venezuelan Navy of entering its territorial waters and harassing an offshore unit of ExxonMobil.source

Births

  • 1105Alfonso VII, king of León and Castile (died 1157)source
  • 1253Mattia de Nazarei, Italian abbess and saint (died 1319)source
  • 1261Hugh Despenser the Elder, English chief adviser (died 1326)source
  • 1389Antoninus of Florence, Italian archbishop (died 1459)source
  • 1432Isabella of Coimbra, Portuguese infanta (died 1455)source
  • 1456Vladislaus II, king of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia (died 1516)source
  • 1547Rudolph Goclenius, German philosopher (died 1628)source
  • 1557Anne Howard, Countess of Arundel, English countess and poet (died 1630)source
  • 1611John Pell, English mathematician (died 1685)source
  • 1629Abraham Teniers, painter (died 1670)source
  • 1647John de Brito, Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr (died 1693)source
  • 1657Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian (died 1740)source
  • 1683Caroline of Ansbach, British queen and regent, wife of George II of Great Britain (died 1737)source
  • 1724Manuel do Cenáculo, Portuguese prelate and antiquarian (died 1814)source
  • 1735John Price, librarian (died 1813)source
  • 1807Wilford Woodruff, American religious leader (died 1898)source
  • 1810Frédéric Chopin, Polish composer, pianist (died 1849)source
  • 1812Augustus Pugin, English-born architect (died 1852)source
  • 1904Glenn Miller, American bandleader (died 1944)source
  • 1918João Goulart, 24th President of Brazil (died 1976)source
  • 1922Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1995)source
  • 1922Yitzhak Rabin, Fifth Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (died 1995).source
  • 1927Harry Belafonte, Jamaican-American musician, actor, and civil rights activist (died 2023)source
  • 1994Justin Bieber, Canadian singersource

Deaths

  • 86 BCEAristion, Greek philosopher and tyrantsource
  • 492Pope Felix III dies after a 9-year reign in which he has excommunicated Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, thus dividing the Western Church and Eastern Church (Acacian schism). He is succeeded by Gelasius I as the 49th pope.source
  • 589David, Welsh bishop and saintsource
  • 965Leo VIII, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 965Pope Leo VIII dies after a 13-month reign. He is succeeded by John XIII as the 133rd pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • 977Rudesind, Galician bishop (born 907)source
  • 991En'yū, emperor of Japan (born 959)source
  • 1058Ermesinde, countess and regent of Barcelonasource
  • 1201Shikishi, Japanese princess, poet and writer (born 1149)source
  • 1207Fernando Afonso, Portuguese Grand Mastersource
  • 1233Thomas I (or Tommaso), count of Savoy (born 1178)source
  • 1244Gruffud ap Llywelyn, Welsh nobleman (born 1196)source
  • 1305Blanche of France, French princess and duchess (born 1278)source
  • 1320Emperor Renzong of Yuan (China), the Mongol leader Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, dies after a reign of almost nine years.source
  • 1320Ayurbarwada Buyantu Khan, Mongol emperor (born 1285)source
  • 1383Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy (born 1334)source
  • 1476Imagawa Yoshitada, 9th head of the Imagawa clan (born 1436)source
  • 1510Francisco de Almeida, Portuguese soldier and explorer (born c. 1450)source
  • 1510Francisco de Almeida, nobleman, soldier and explorer (born c.1450)source
  • 1546George Wishart, Scottish religious reformer (martyred) (born 1513)source
  • 1546Scottish Protestant reformer George Wishart, arrested on January 19, is burned at the stake at St Andrews on orders of Cardinal David Beaton of the Roman Catholic church, after being found guilty of heresy. Cardinal Beaton is assassinated less than three months later.source
  • 1546Scottish Protestant reformer George Wishart, arrested on 19 January, is burned at the stake at St Andrews on orders of Cardinal David Beaton of the Roman Catholic church, after being found guilty of heresy. Cardinal Beaton is assassinated less than three months later.source
  • 1570Bernhard VII, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst (born 1540)source
  • 1620Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (born 1567)source
  • 1633George Herbert, English poet and orator (born 1593)source
  • 1633George Herbert, poet and orator (born 1593)source
  • 1643Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian composer (born 1583)source
  • 1665Thomas Wentworth, 5th Baron Wentworth, English baron and politician (born 1612)source
  • 1666Ecaterina Cercheza, Princess consort of Moldavia (born 1620)source
  • 1697Francesco Redi, Italian physician (born 1626)source
  • 1768Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher, writer (born 1694)source
  • 1773Luigi Vanvitelli, Italian architect (born 1700)source
  • 1792Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1747)source
  • 1800John Hazelwood, English-born officer in the U.S. Continental Navy (born 1726)source
  • 1822Jack Jouett, American politician (born 1754)source
  • 1826A male Indian elephant, Chunee, which was brought to London in 1811, is killed at a menagerie after running amok the week before, killing one of his keepers. After arsenic and shooting fail, the animal is stabbed to death.source
  • 1841Claude-Victor Perrin, Duc de Belluno, French marshal (born 1764)source
  • 1870Francisco Solano López, 2nd President of Paraguay (killed in action) (born 1827)source
  • 1879Joachim Heer, politician (born 1825)source
  • 1920Zionist activist Joseph Trumpeldor and five Palestinian Jewish fighters are killed in the battle of Tel Hai. The battle, which gave Tel Hai its long-enduring fame, was significant far beyond the small number of fighters involved on either side – mainly due to its influence on Zionist history, both inspiring an enduring heroic myth and profoundly influencing Zionist military and political strategies over several decades.source
  • 1934Charles Webster Leadbeater, British author and Theosophist (born 1854)source
  • 1938Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer, war hero, and politician (born 1863)source
  • 1943March 1–2 – WWII: Koriukivka massacre – 6,700 inhabitants of Koriukivka are murdered in Ukraine, by a German SS unit.source