/year

March 4 in history

265 sourced entries recorded on March 4, from 303 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 303Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia are martyred.source
  • 852Trpimir I, duke (knez) of Croatia, and founder of the Trpimirović dynasty, issues a first state document in Bijaći of all Slavonic peoples. In this Latin document Trpimir refers to himself as the "duke of the Croats" (dux Chroatorum), and to his country as the "state of the Croats" (regnum Chroatorum).source
  • 884Emperor Yōzei is forced to abdicate the throne by Fujiwara no Mototsune, chancellor (kampaku) of the Japanese royal court. He is succeeded by his great-uncle Kōkō.source
  • 1215John, King of England ("Lackland"), hoping to gain the support of Pope Innocent III against the Barons, takes the oath to go on Crusade. By doing so, Innocent declares John to be his vassal and claims ownership of the whole kingdom (with political protection under church law). On April 1, Innocent sends a letter to the Barons, asking them to halt their actions against John.source
  • 1226Just before dawn, a great conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter is observed from Earth. The conjunction is more significant than other occurrences because the separation of the two planets as visible in the sky of Earth (2.1 arcminutes or 1/30th of one degree of arc) will not be closer again until March 8, 4523 CE, and the close conjunction is the most easily visible from Earth until the conjunction of December 21, 2020.source
  • 1238Battle of the Sit River: The Mongols defeat a Kievan Rus' army (some 4,000 men) under Grand Prince Yuri II of Vladimir in an engagement at the Sit River (located in the Sonkovsky District). With Yuri's death, so too dies the hope of any united Rus' resistance against the Mongols. Batu Khan splits his forces up into several contingents – ordering each to wreak havoc across the Rus' territories (modern-day Russia and Ukraine).source
  • 1302After learning of the rejection of the papal bull by King Philip of France, Pope Boniface VIII sends Cardinal Jean Lemoine to inform King Philip of the Pope's plans for an ecclesiastical council to control the appointment of French clergy.source
  • 1302After learning of the rejection of the papal bull Ausculta Fili by King Philip of France, Pope Boniface VIII sends Cardinal Jean Lemoine to inform King Philip of the Pope's plans for an ecclesiastical council to control the appointment of French clergy.source
  • 1315March 4 (4 Dhu al-Hijjah 714 AH) – The Emir of Mecca, Abu al-Ghayth, is defeated in a battle near Mecca by his brother Humaydah ibn Abi Numayy. Wounded in battle, then captured by the enemy, Abu al-Ghayth is executed by order of his brother at Khayf Bani Shadid.source
  • 1345Guy de Chauliac observes the planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars conjoined in the sky, under the sign of Aquarius, and a solar eclipse on the same day. This sign is interpreted as foreboding by many, and Chauliac will later blame it for the Black Plague.source
  • 1351The Ayutthaya Kingdom is established by King Uthong (Ramathibodi I) in modern-day Thailand. He begins to propagate Theravada Buddhism as the state religion.source
  • 1368On behalf of Louis of Anjou, brother of France's King Charles V, Bertrand Du Guesclin and 2,000 troops began a siege of the city of Tarascon, which surrenders to him on March 22.source
  • 1375Under an agreement between King Lajos of Hungary and Leopold III, Duke of Austria, Ludvik's one-year-old daughter, Princess Jadwiga, is betrothed to Leopold's four-year-old son Wilhelm of Habsburg.source
  • 1380The impostor Paul Palaiologos Tagaris becomes noticed by the Eastern Orthodox church when he donates a purported Christian relic, the skull of James the Just, the 1st century leader of the Church of Jerusalem, to the city of Ancona.source
  • 1386Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania is crowned Władysław II Jagiełło, King of Poland, beginning the Jagiellonian dynasty.source
  • 1391The University of Ferrara is founded on the Italian Peninsula.source
  • 1411Gujarat Sultan Ahmen Shah I declares the new city of Ahmedabad to be the new Gujarat capital.source
  • 1411Friso-Hollandic Wars: Friesland soldiers capture the Netherlands city of Staveren, the last Netherlands stronghold in Friesland, after a bitter winter prevents ships from both sides from crossing the Zuiderzee and freezes the moat around the city walls.source
  • 1447The papal conclave opens at the Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome with 18 of the 24 living members of the College of Cardinals arriving to select a new Pope With 12 votes necessary for the require two-thirds needed for an election, Cardinal Prospero Colonna receives 10 and Cardinal Domenico Capranica gets 8.source
  • 1448The Republic of Venice offers a reward to anyone who is successful in assassinating the Albanian rebel leader Skanderbeg, with a pension of 100 gold ducats per month as a reward.source
  • 1459Austrian troops, on orders of Frederick III, invade Hungary, starting the Austrian–Hungarian War. The war continues for three years before the Austrians withdraw in 1462.source
  • 1460At Rome on the Wednesday during Ember Days, Pope Pius II addresses an assembly of the College of Cardinals and criticizes most of them, declaring that "Your lifestyle is such that you would appear to have been chosen, not to govern the state, but called to enjoy pleasures. You avoid neither hunting, nor games, nor the company of women. You put together parties that are more opulent than is fitting. You wear clothes that are far too expensive. You overflow with gold and silver." He then directs them to consider the qualities of new candidates for the College. The next day, six cardinals are elected, including Francesco Nanni-Todeschini-Piccolomini, the Pope's nephew, who will later become Pope Pius III.source
  • 1461Edward, Duke of York, son of the late Richard of York and heir to the English throne, seizes London, and proclaims himself King Edward IV.source
  • 1472A mount of piety is established in Siena (Italy), origin of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world's oldest surviving retail bank.source
  • 1486The first English Parliament of King Henry VII is dissolved after more than four months.source
  • 1493Christopher Columbus anchors in Lisbon and completes his February 15 letter on the first voyage, conveying the news of his discoveries.source
  • 1501Minkhaung II becomes the sole King of Burma upon the death of his son Thihathura II, with whom he was co-ruler for 15 years. Minkhaung's reign ends five weeks later when he dies on April 7.source
  • 1513The conclave of the Roman Catholic Cardinals begins at the Niccoline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in Rome, with 25 of the 31 Cardinals participating. In the first round of balloting, none of the Cardinals receives the required 17 votes necessary for a three-fourth's majority, though Cardinal Jaime Serra I Cau of Spain, Bishop of Albano, receives 13.source
  • 1517The first intentional landing by Europeans on the coast of Mexico takes place as the Cordoba Expedition arrives at Cabo Catoche on the Yucatán Peninsula, now in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The Spaniards are attacked by the Mayans after being invited to visit, and a battle breaks out with 13 Spaniards ambushed and 15 Mayans killed.source
  • 1519Hernán Cortés and his conquistadores land in Mexico.source
  • 1562Prince Abu Abdallah Mohammed II Saadi, heir to the throne of the Sultanate of Morocco, arrives at Mazagan with 100,000 troops.source
  • 1590Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, takes Breda, by concealing 68 of his best men in a peat-boat, to get through the impregnable defenses.source
  • 1611George Abbot is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury in England.source
  • 1617On Shrove Tuesday, angry rioters burn down London's Cockpit Theatre because of its increase in the price of admission to its plays. Three rioters are killed when the actors at the theater defend themselves.source
  • 1629Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a royal charter, and the colony is the first to be created in what will become the United States 150 years later, covering almost all of what will be the U.S. state of Massachusetts.source
  • 1634Belgian scientist Jan Baptist van Helmont is interrogated by the Spanish Inquisition and put under house arrest for his experiments into plant growth.source
  • 1645English Civil War: Prince Rupert leaves Oxford for Bristol.source
  • 1649The first ever set of rules and regulations for England's Parliamentary Navy, Robert Blake's The Laws of War and Ordinances of the Sea, is adopted by the House of Commons, and Blake is promoted to the position of General at Sea of the English fleet.source
  • 1651St. Peter's Flood: Another storm tide in the North Sea strikes the Netherlands, flooding Amsterdam.source
  • 1656The "Çınar incident", named for the Turkish word for the sycamore tree takes place after Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV declines the request of soldiers to have 30 named government officials put to death. When Mehmet agrees only to dismiss the people from office, the rebels seek out the men on the list and publicly hang most of them from the cinar trees.source
  • 1663The Prince Edward Islands in the sub-antarctic Indian Ocean are discovered by Barent Barentszoon Lam, of the Dutch ship Maerseveen, and named Dina (Prince Edward) and Maerseveen (Marion).source
  • 1665The Second Anglo-Dutch War begins.source
  • 1665beginning of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.source
  • 1675John Flamsteed is appointed by King Charles II as England's "astronomical observator", in effect, becoming the first Astronomer Royal.source
  • 1675John Flamsteed appointed as "astronomical observator", in effect, the first Astronomer Royal.source
  • 1681In order to settle a debt of £16,000, King Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn, for territory west of Delaware River in America between 40° N and 42° N, later to be called Pennsylvania.source
  • 1681William Penn receives a royal charter to establish a sectarian colony in the Americas.source
  • 1699Jews are expelled from Lübeck, Germany.source
  • 1717February 26–March 6 – What becomes the northeastern United States is paralyzed by a series of blizzards that bury the region.source
  • 1727Battle of Halidzor in Armenia: A small group of defenders overcomes a much larger Ottoman Empire army.source
  • 1727The Battle of Halidzor begins. A small group of defenders in lead of David Bek, Mkhitar Sparapet and Ter Avetis, overcomes a much larger Ottoman Empire army.source
  • 1731The Reformed Church in Copenhagen is reinaugurated after its rebuilding.source
  • 1759November 20 – Étienne de Silhouette serves as Controller-General of France and attempts major financial reforms.source
  • 17594 March–20 November – Étienne de Silhouette serves as Controller-General and attempts major financial reformssource
  • 1766The funeral of Frederick V of Denmark takes place at Roskilde Cathedral.source
  • 1769Mozart departs Italy, after the last of his three tours there.source
  • 1776American Revolutionary War: American Patriots capture Dorchester Heights, dominating the port of Boston.source
  • 1777The Fourth Continental Congress, with John Hancock as president, begins a 199 day session in Philadelphia, lasting until September 18.source
  • 1789At Federal Hall in New York City, the 1st United States Congress meets, and declares the new United States Constitution to be in effect. The bicameral United States Congress replaces the unicameral Congress of the Confederation, as the legislature of the federal government of the United States.source
  • 1789At Federal Hall in New York City, the 1st United States Congress meets and declares the new United States Constitution to be in effect.source
  • 1790France is divided into 83 départements, which cut across the former provinces, in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on noble ownership of land.source
  • 1791Vermont is admitted as the 14th U.S. state.source
  • 1791Vermont is admitted as the 14th U.S. state (see History of Vermont).source
  • 1793George Washington is sworn in as the president of the United States in Philadelphia, for his second term.source
  • 1794The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution is passed by Congress for submission to the states for ratification.source
  • 1797John Adams is sworn in as the second president of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson is sworn in as the second vice president.source
  • 1799The Russo-Ottoman Siege of Corfu (1798–1799) ends with the surrender of the French garrison, bringing an end to the first period of French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799).source
  • 1804March 4–March 5 – The Castle Hill convict rebellion breaks out in New South Wales, led by Irish convicts in Australia.source
  • 1804The Castle Hill convict rebellion, also known as the Battle of Vinegar Hill, takes place: 200 convicts, mostly Irish, rebel. Fifty-one convicts are punished, and nine hanged.source
  • 1805Thomas Jefferson is sworn in for a second term as President of the United States, and George Clinton is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.source
  • 1809James Madison is sworn in as the fourth president of the United States, and George Clinton is sworn in for a second term as the fourth vice president.source
  • 1811The charter of the First Bank of the United States expires.source
  • 1813James Madison is sworn in as President of the United States for his second term, and Elbridge Gerry is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.source
  • 1813Cyril VI of Constantinople is elected Ecumenical Patriarch.source
  • 1817James Monroe is sworn in as the fifth president of the United States, and Daniel D. Tompkins is sworn in as the sixth vice president.source
  • 1817Habeas corpus suspended amidst fears of insurrection (to January 1818).source
  • 1824The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is founded in the British Isles.source
  • 1825A penal settlement is established on Maria Island, Tasmania.source
  • 1831James Stirling commissioned as Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia, rectifying the absence of a legal instrument providing the authority detailed in Stirling's Instructions of 30 December 1828.source
  • 1833Andrew Jackson is sworn in for his second term as President of the United States, and Martin Van Buren is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.source
  • 1840Alexander S. Wolcott and John Johnson open the world's first commercial photography portrait studio, their Daguerreian Parlor, on Broadway in Manhattan.source
  • 1840Alexander S. Wolcott and John Johnson open their "Daguerreian Parlor" on Broadway (Manhattan), the world's first commercial photography portrait studio.source
  • 1843M'Naghten is found not guilty of murder "by reason of insanity", giving rise to the M'Naghten Rules on criminal responsibility, and subsequently committed to Bethlem Hospital.source
  • 1847The 30th United States Congress is sworn into office.source
  • 1848Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia.source
  • 1848The so-called Great Ministry of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine begins.source
  • 1848Karl Marx deported from Belgiumsource
  • 1849Hungarian Revolution of 1848: The Habsburg emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria promulgates at Olomouc the March Constitution of Austria, which abolishes the April Laws promulgated by the Hungarian Batthyány-govern, and degrades Hungary to a simple Austrian province.source
  • 1852Phi Mu sorority is founded in Macon, Georgia.source
  • 1857James Buchanan is sworn in as the 15th president of the United States, and John C. Breckinridge is sworn in as the 14th vice president.source
  • 1857Thomas Gee launches the radical nonconformist newspaper Baner Cymru in Denbigh.source
  • 1858A speech by fire-eater James Henry Hammond of South Carolina in the United States Senate promotes the idea of "King Cotton" and the "mudsill theory" in support of slave labor.source
  • 1861Abraham Lincoln is sworn in as the 16th president of the United States.source
  • 1861American Civil War: The "Stars and Bars" is adopted as the flag of the Confederate States of America.source
  • 1865Washington College and Jefferson College are merged to form Washington & Jefferson College in the United States.source
  • 1868Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario establishedsource
  • 1869Ulysses S. Grant is sworn in as the 18th president of the United States, and Schuyler Colfax is sworn in as the 17th vice president.source
  • 1871The Tribune newspaper reports that the streets of fever-infested Buenos Aires are so dark at night that "it truly appeared as if the terrible scourge had swept away all the residents".source
  • 1872The Boston Globe is founded in Boston, Massachusetts, as the largest newspaper of the New England region.source
  • 1873President Ulysses S. Grant begins his second term. Henry Wilson sworn in as Vice President of the United States.source
  • 1877Romualdo Pacheco of California takes office as the first Latino to serve in the United States Congress.source
  • 1877Emile Berliner patents the microphone in the United States.source
  • 1877Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake debuts in Moscow.source
  • 1880The Belgian ship Mercator founders off the coast of the Netherlands port of Vlissingen with the loss of her entire crew of more than 60 people.source
  • 1890The Forth Bridge, the longest bridge in Great Britain, on the Firth of Forth in Scotland, is opened to rail traffic.source
  • 1890the Forth Bridge (1,710 ft) is opened to rail traffic.source
  • 1895Japanese troops capture Liaoyang and land in Taiwan.source
  • 1896The government of Prime Minister Francesco Crispi collapsed after the humiliating defeat of the Italian army at Adwa in Ethiopia during First Italo-Ethiopian War amidst Italian disenchantment with "foreign adventures".source
  • 1899Cyclone Mahina strikes Bathurst Bay, Queensland. A 12-meter-high wave reaches up to 5 km inland, leaving over 400 dead (one of the deadliest natural disasters in Australia's history).source
  • 1899Cyclone Mahina strikes Bathurst Bay in Queensland. Approximately 400 persons are killed, and the pearling fleet is sunk. A storm surge of up to 14 metres sweeps 5 kilometres inland.source
  • 1901President William McKinley begins his second term; Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as Vice President.source
  • 1906Native American tribal governments are terminated in Indian Territory, a prerequisite for creating the U.S. state of Oklahoma in 1907.source
  • 1908Bank of Communications, a major financial services provider in China, is founded in Beijing.source
  • 1908One of earlier financial service founded in this nation, China Bank of Communications was founded.source
  • 1908The Collinwood school fire near Cleveland, Ohio kills 175.source
  • 1908The Collinwood School Fire, near Cleveland, Ohio, kills 174 people.source
  • 1908The Pretoria branch of Transvaal University College, precursor to the University of Pretoria, is established.source
  • 1908The Pretoria branch of the Transvaal University College, precursor to the University of Pretoria, is established.source
  • 1910The Rogers Pass avalanche buries a group of Canadian Pacific Railway workers clearing tracks in the Selkirk Mountains at Rogers Pass (British Columbia), making it the worst snowslide accident in Canadian history.source
  • 1913March 4–6 – First Balkan War: Battle of Bizani – Forces of the Kingdom of Greece capture the forts of Bizani (covering the approaches to Ioannina) from the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1913The U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Department of Labor are established, by splitting the duties of the 10-year-old Department of Commerce and Labor. The Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey form part of the Department of Commerce.source
  • 1916Germany surrenders German Cameroon (Kamerun) to British and French occupying forces.source
  • 1916third war budget raises income tax to five shillings in the pound.source
  • 1917Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives.source
  • 1918A soldier at Camp Funston, Kansas falls sick with the first confirmed case of the Spanish flu.source
  • 1919Russian Civil War: The White forces in Siberia under the command of Admiral Alexander Kolchak attack the positions of the Red Army in the Spring Offensive. The Whites crush the 5th Red Army under Jan Blumberg, and capture Okhansk, Osa, Sarapul and finally Ufa over the next days.source
  • 1919The Communist International (Comintern) is founded.source
  • 1922The silent horror film Nosferatu is premièred at the Berlin Zoological Garden in Germany.source
  • 1923The far-right National-Christian Defense League (Liga Apărării Național Creștine, LANC) is founded.source
  • 1924Leif Erichsen, sailor and Olympic silver medallist (born 1888)source
  • 1925İsmet İnönü is appointed prime minister in Turkey (Turkey's 4th and İnönü's 3rd government).source
  • 1927A diamond rush in South Africa includes trained athletes, who have been hired by major companies to stake claims.source
  • 1929The National Revolutionary Party (Partido Nacional Revolucionario) is established in Mexico, by ex-President Plutarco Elías Calles. Under a succession of names, it will hold power in the country continuously for the next 71 years.source
  • 1929Charles Curtis takes office as the first multiracial Vice President of the United States.source
  • 1931Holden's Motor Body Builders is purchased by General Motors, and is renamed General Motors–Holden's Ltd.source
  • 1933The Parliament of Austria is suspended because of a quibble over procedure; Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss initiates authoritarian rule by decree, an origin of Austrofascism.source
  • 1933Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in as the 32nd president of the United States.source
  • 1934Argentine legislative election, 1934source
  • 1934Ankara Radio began broadcastingsource
  • 1936March 2–8. Strike action at Polish-Swiss Chocolate Factory Philippe Suchard in Kraków,source
  • 1941British Commandos carry out a successful raid on the Lofoten Islands.source
  • 1941ends the 1941 South American Championship held in Chile.source
  • 1942WWII: Operation K – The Japanese launch an unsuccessful attack carried out by two Kawanishi H8K ("Emily") flying boats at Pearl Harbor. This is the longest distance ever undertaken by a two-plane bombing mission, and one of the longest bombing sorties ever planned without fighter escort.source
  • 1943The 15th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Los Angeles. Mrs. Miniver wins the Best Picture Award.source
  • 1945In the United Kingdom, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), joins the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as a truck driver/mechanic in London.source
  • 1952A crowded steam-powered passenger train derails while crossing a bridge over the Pavuna River near Anchieta station, sending two old wooden carriages broadside onto the adjacent line. A modern high-speed electric freight train travelling in the opposite direction ploughs into the wooden carriages, telescoping them upwards. 119 people are killed and more than 200 are injured, resulting in an outcry prompting a major new investment in Brazilian railways.source
  • 1957A few minutes past midnight, Israel Kastner is shot outside his house by Ze'ev Eckstein (who pulled the trigger), Dan Shemer and Yosef Menkes. All three were former members of the pre-state right-wing underground Jewish militant group Lehi. Kastner dies of his injuries twelve days later.source
  • 1963In Paris, six people are sentenced to death for conspiring to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle pardons five, but the other conspirator, Jean Bastien-Thiry, is executed by firing squad several days later.source
  • 1964U.N. Security Council Resolution 186 was adopted unanimously. It asked the Government of Cyprus to take all additional measures necessary to stop violence and bloodshed and called on communities in Cyprus and their leaders to act with restraint.source
  • 1966In an interview with London Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, John Lennon of the Beatles states: "We're more popular than Jesus now."source
  • 1966Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 crashes during a night landing in poor visibility at Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing 64 of 72 people on board.source
  • 1967The first North Sea gas is pumped ashore at Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK.source
  • 1967Queens Park Rangers become the first 3rd Division side to win the English Football League Cup at Wembley Stadium, defeating West Bromwich Albion 3–2.source
  • 1971The southern part of Quebec, and especially Montreal, receives 16 1/2" (42 cm) of snow in what becomes known as the Century's Snowstorm (la tempête du siècle).source
  • 1972Libya and the Soviet Union sign a cooperation treaty.source
  • 1972The Organisation of the Islamic Conference Charter is signed (effective February 28, 1973).source
  • 1974Following a hung parliament in the United Kingdom general election, Conservative prime minister Edward Heath resigns and is succeeded by Labour's Harold Wilson, who previously led the country from 1964 to 1970.source
  • 1976The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland, resulting in Direct rule over Northern Ireland by the Government of the United Kingdom in London.source
  • 1976The Maguire Seven are found guilty in London of possessing explosives for use by the Provisional Irish Republican Army and subsequently jailed for 14 years; their convictions were overturned in 1991.source
  • 1977The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in the Vrancea Mountains of Romania kills over 1,500 people.source
  • 1977An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 that occur in neighbouring Romania had destroyed and damaged many buildings in Soviet Moldova.source
  • 1979The U.S. Voyager 1 spaceprobe photos reveal Jupiter's rings.source
  • 1980Robert Mugabe is elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.source
  • 1984Gunmen opened fire on a bus in Ramallah, injuring at least six Palestinian workers. Terror against Terror claimed responsibility.source
  • 1987U.S. President Ronald Reagan addresses the American people on the Iran–Contra affair, acknowledging that his overtures to Iran had "deteriorated" into an arms-for-hostages deal.source
  • 1988Honduras and La Negra farm massacre: 20 ex-guerrillas recruited by the Colombian Army's Voltíjeros battalion attack the Honduras farm in Currulao, Antioquia and kill 17 of its workers. The same men then travel to the nearby La Negra farm and kill 3 of its workers.source
  • 1989Time Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner. (Now Warner Bros. Discovery)source
  • 1989The Purley station rail crash in London leaves five people dead and 94 injured.source
  • 1996March 3–4 – Two suicide bombs explode in Israel, killing 32 people. The Yahya Ayyash Units admit responsibility, and Palestinian president Yasser Arafat condemns the killings in a televised address. Israel warns of retaliation.source
  • 1996Dizengoff Center suicide bombing: A Hamas suicide bomber detonates a bomb outside the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv's largest shopping mall, killing 20 and wounding 75 others, including children celebrating the Jewish Purim holiday.source
  • 1997U.S. President Bill Clinton bans federal funding for any research on human cloning.source
  • 1999Singapore Expo is officially opened, making it the largest meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) venue in Singapore. This comes after some exhibition space in World Trade Centre had to make way for the North East MRT line.source
  • 2000Sony releases the PlayStation 2 in Japan to compete with the Dreamcast. It launches in other countries later in the year.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
  • 2001The Hintze Ribeiro Bridge collapses in northern Portugal, killing 59 people.source
  • 2002March 2–10 – Afghan and coalition troops carry out Operation Anaconda in the Shah-i-Kot Valley, the largest combat operation against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to that point.source
  • 2005Nicola Calipari, Italian secret agentsource
  • 2007The First Ivorian Civil War ends with a peace agreement.source
  • 2009The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. al-Bashir is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC since its establishment in 2002.source
  • 20102010 Togolese presidential electionsource
  • 2012Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.source
  • 2012A series of explosions is reported at a munitions dump in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, with at least 250 people dead.source
  • 2013Latvia applies to enter the eurozone in 2014, in a move which could see it become the 18th member of the bloc.source
  • 20162016 Samoan general electionsource
  • 2018The 2018 Italian general election is held to elect all 315 members of the Senate of the Republic and all 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies.source
  • 2018Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, are poisoned by the Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, England. UK counter-terrorism police investigate amid speculation the Kremlin was behind the incident.source
  • 2018scheduled time for the Belgrade City Assembly election, 2018source
  • 2021Twenty migrants drown after 80 people are thrown overboard on a boat en route from Djibouti to Yemen.source
  • 2022Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: An Afghan man on behalf of the Islamic State – Khorasan Province commits a suicide attack at a Shia mosque in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, killing 63 people.source
  • 2022March 4 – March 13 – The 2022 Winter Paralympics are held in Beijing, China, making it the first city to host both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.source
  • 2023Kivu conflict: Burundi deploys 100 troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help fight insurgencies by militias, including M23.source
  • 2025Colossal Biosciences creates woolly mice as part of de-extinction efforts for the woolly mammoth.source

Births

  • 895Liu Zhiyuan, founder of the Later Han (died 948)source
  • 977Al-Musabbihi, Fatimid historian (died 1030)source
  • 1188Blanche of Castile, queen and regent of France (died 1252)source
  • 1394Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese patron of exploration (died 1460)source
  • 1484George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (died 1543)source
  • 1502Elisabeth of Hesse, Hereditary Princess of Saxony (died 1557)source
  • 1519Hindal Mirza, Mughal Emperor (died 1551)source
  • 1526Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (died 1596)source
  • 1537March 4 or January 23 – Longqing Emperor, Emperor of China (died 1572)source
  • 1600Hans Christoff von Königsmarck, soldier (died 1663)source
  • 1610March 4 (bapt.) – William Dobson, English portraitist and painter (died 1646)source
  • 1634Kazimierz Łyszczyński, Polish philosopher (died 1689)source
  • 1643Fran Krsto Frankopan, Croatian baroque poet, nobleman and politician (died 1671)source
  • 1651John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England (died 1716)source
  • 1655Fra Galgario, Italian painter (died 1743)source
  • 1665Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, Swedish soldier (died 1694)source
  • 1676Hans Schack, 2nd Count of Schackenborg (died 1719)source
  • 1678Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer (died 1741)source
  • 1702Jack Sheppard, British burglar and escaper (died 1724)source
  • 1706Lauritz de Thurah, Danish architect and architectural writer (died 1759)source
  • 1719George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot, British governor of Madras (died 1777)source
  • 1745Charles Dibdin, English composer (died 1814)source
  • 1745Kazimierz Pułaski, American Revolutionary War general (died 1779)source
  • 1756Sir Henry Raeburn, Scottish painter (died 1823)source
  • 1760Gabriel Schanche Kielland, businessman and ship owner (died 1821)source
  • 1769Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Egyptian ruler (died 1849)source
  • 1778Robert Emmet, Irish rebel (died 1803)source
  • 1793Karl Lachmann, German philologist (died 1851)source
  • 1798Sigurður Breiðfjörð, poet.source
  • 1800William Price, Welsh physician, eccentric (died 1893)source
  • 1820Alexander Worthy Clerk, Jamaican Moravian teacher and missionary (died 1906)source
  • 1883Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (died 1956)source
  • 1907Maria Branyas, supercentenarian, world's oldest living person from January 17, 2023, to August 19, 2024 (born in the United States) (died 2024)source
  • 1910Tancredo Neves, President of Brazil (died 1985)source
  • 1936Jim Clark, Scottish race car driver (died 1968)source
  • 1952Saad El-Katatni, The first Speaker of the People's Assembly after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011source

Deaths

  • 306Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia, Christian martyrssource
  • 561Pope Pelagius I dies in Rome after a five-year reign, and is succeeded by John III as the 61st pope.source
  • 934Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, Fatimid caliph (born 873)source
  • 1123Peter of Pappacarbone, Italian abbot and bishopsource
  • 1172Stephen III, king of Hungary (born 1147)source
  • 1189Humbert III ("the Blessed"), count of Savoy (born 1136)source
  • 1193Saladin (the Lion), sultan of Egypt and Syria (born 1137)source
  • 1193Saladin (the Lion) dies of a fever at Damascus. The lands of the Ayyubid Dynasty of Syria and Egypt are split among his relatives. During his reign, he briefly unites the Muslim world, and drives the Crusaders out of Jerusalem to a narrow strip of coast. At the time of his death, Saladin has seventeen sons and one little daughter. Al-Afdal succeeds his father as ruler (emir) of Damascus, and inherits the headship of the Ayyubid family. His younger brother, the 22-year-old Al-Aziz, proclaims himself as independent sultan of Egypt. Al-Zahir receives Aleppo (with lands in northern Syria), and Turan-Shah receives Yemen. The other dominions and fiefs in the Oultrejordain (also called Lordship of Montréal) are divided between his sons and the two remaining brothers of Saladin.source
  • 1238Joan of England, queen consort of Scotland (born 1210)source
  • 1238Yuri II of Vladimir, Kievan Grand Prince (born 1188)source
  • 1238Vasilko Konstantinovich, Kievan prince (born 1209)source
  • 1303Daniel of Moscow, Russian nobleman and prince (born 1261)source
  • 1303Theodora Palaiologina, Byzantine empress consort (born 1240)source
  • 1314Jakub Świnka, Polish priest and archbishopsource
  • 1371Jeanne d'Évreux, queen consort of France (born 1310)source
  • 1388Thomas Usk, English authorsource
  • 1399John FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Desmond, drowned.source
  • 1484Saint Casimir, Prince of Poland (born 1458)source
  • 1496Sigismund, Archduke of Austria (born 1427)source
  • 1515Dukaginzade Ahmed Pasha, who was appointed as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire less than three months earlier, is executed by order of the Sultan Selim I, and is replaced by his predecessor, Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha.source
  • 1604Fausto Paolo Sozzini, Italian theologian (born 1539)source
  • 1615Hans von Aachen, German painter (born 1552)source
  • 1710Louis III, Prince of Condé (born 1668)source
  • 1728Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, eldest daughter of Peter the Great (born 1708)source
  • 1744John Anstis, English herald (born 1669)source
  • 1777Edward Richard, teacher and poet, 62source
  • 1805Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French painter (born 1725)source
  • 1821Princess Elizabeth of Clarence, daughter of William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) (born 1820)source
  • 1832Jean-François Champollion, French Egyptologist (born 1790)source
  • 1842James Forten, African American abolitionistsource
  • 1852Nikolai Gogol, Russian writer (born 1809)source
  • 1858Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, American naval officer (born 1794)source
  • 1866Alexander Campbell, Irish/U.S. founder of the Disciples of Christ (born 1788)source
  • 1870Red River Rebellion: Thomas Scott is executed by Louis Riel's provisional government, in modern-day Manitoba, Canada.source
  • 1883Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America (born 1812)source
  • 1906John Schofield, American general (born 1831)source
  • 1944Louis Buchalter, the leader of 1930s crime syndicate Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing prison, in Ossining, New York, along with Emanuel Weiss and Louis Capone.source