- 363 Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire in a campaign that leads to his death
- 1046 Persian scholar Naser Khosrow begins a seven-year Middle Eastern journey, which he later describes in his book "Safarnama"
- 1179 3rd Lateran Council (11th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
Cabot Granted Commission
1496 English King Henry VII grants John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) a commission to explore for new lands
- 1528 Utrecht Governor Maarten van Rossum plunders The Hague
- 1558 Smoking tobacco is introduced to Europe by Spanish physician Francisco Fernández
- 1579 Betuwe joins the Union of Utrecht
De Revolutionibus
1616 Astronomical work 'de Revolutionibus' by Nicolaus Copernicus placed on Catholic Forbidden index
- 1623 Virginia enacts the first American temperance law
- 1645 Battle of Jankau in Bohemia: Sweden defeats Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III
- 1651 South Sea dike in Amsterdam breaks after storm
- 1684 Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Venetian Republic sign an agreement establishing the Holy League to prevent further expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe
- 1713 Handel's "Jubilate" first performance in a public rehearsal at St. Paul's Cathedral, London
- 1731 Mission San Francisco de la Espada, first of the San Antonio missions, reestablished by Spanish missionaries on the bank of the San Antonio River [1]
- 1743 First US religious journal, "The Christian History," is published in Boston
- 1746 Jacobite troops leave Aberdeen
Shakespeare 1st Performed in America
1750 First American Shakespearean production, an altered Richard III, is performed in New York City
- 1766 Antonio de Ulloa takes possession of Louisiana Territory from the French
1770 British soldiers kill five men in a crowd throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks at them. African American Crispus Attucks is the first to die and is later held up as an early Black martyr. The Boston Massacre or Incident on King Street galvanizes anti-British feelings.
Hancock's Massacre Day Oration
1774 John Hancock delivers the fourth annual Massacre Day oration, a commemoration of the Boston Massacre, and denounces the presence of British troops in Boston, enhancing Hancock's stature as a leading Patriot
- 1783 King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski grants rights to Jews of Kovno
- 1784 Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, is named President of the Board of Trade.
- 1793 French troops are defeated by Austrian forces and Liège is recaptured
- 1795 Amsterdam celebrates Revolution on the Dam; Square of Revolution
- 1795 Treaty of Basel - Prussia ends war with France
- 1803 First newspaper published in Australia the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser by government printer and ex-convict George Howe [1]
- 1820 Dutch city of Leeuwarden forbids Jews to go to synagogues on Sundays
- 1821 Monroe is 1st US President inaugurated on March 5th, because 4th was Sunday
- 1824 First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma
Colt's 1st Pistol
1836 Samuel Colt's Patent Arms Manufacturing Company manufactures first pistol, 36-caliber "Texas" model, in Paterson, New Jersey
- 1841 First continuous filibuster in the US Senate begins, as the Democratic minority attempt to run out the clock on a bill to establish a national bank, lasts until March 11
- 1842 Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande.
- 1848 Louis Antoine Garnier-Pages is named French minister of Finance
- 1850 The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened
1853 Piano company Steinway & Sons is founded by Heinrich Steinweg (later Henry Steinway) in New York City
- 1856 Covent Garden Opera House, London, destroyed in a fire
- 1856 Georgia becomes 1st state to regulate railroads
- 1860 Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia
- 1862 Union troops under Brigadier General Wright occupy Fernandina, Florida (US Civil War)
- 1864 1st track meet between Oxford & Cambridge
- 1868 Arrigo Boito's opera "Mefistofele" premieres in Milan
- 1868 Stapler patented in England by C H Gould
- 1868 US Senate organizes to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson
Archibald Primrose PM
1894 Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, becomes First Lord of the Treasury (the official title of the UK Prime Minister)
- 1894 Seattle authorizes 1st municipal employment office in US
- 1896 Italian governor of Eritrea, General Baldissera, reaches Massawa
- 1896 Italian premier Francesco Crispi resigns
- 1897 American Negro Academy forms
- 1899 1st performance of Edward MacDowell's 2nd Concerto in D
- 1903 Definitive treaty for construction of Baghdad railway drawn up
Tesla Explains Ball Lighting
1904 Nikola Tesla describes the process of the ball lightning formation in Electrical World and Engineer
- 1907 1st radio broadcast of a musical composition aired
- 1907 The second Duma opens in St. Petersburg, Russia and 40,000 demonstrators have to be dispersed by Russian troops
- 1908 1st ascent of Mt Erebus, Antarctica
- 1910 Ramon Inclan's "La Farsa Infantil de la Cabeza del Dragon" premieres
- 1910 Stanley Cup, Dey's Arena, Ottawa, ON: Montreal Wanderers beat Ottawa Senators, 3-1
- 1912 Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
- 1912 Spanish steamer "Principe de Asturias" sinks NE of Spain, 500 die
- 1915 World War I: The LZ 33, a zeppelin, is damaged by enemy fire and stranded south of Ostend.
- 1919 Louis Hirsch & Harold Atteridge's musical premieres in NYC
- 1921 The Durban Land Alienation Ordinance passes, enabling the Durban City Council to exclude Indians from ownership or occupation of property in white areas, South Africa
- 1921 The US warns Costa Rica and Panama to settle disputes peacefully
- 1923 Montana & Nevada become 1st states to enact old age pension laws
- 1924 Frank Carauna, becomes 1st to bowl 2 successive perfect 300 games
- 1924 King Hussein of Hedzjaz appoints himself caliph, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire
- 1927 1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property
- 1928 Karl Zuckmayer's "Der Hauptmann von Köpenick" premieres in Berlin
Gandhi-Irwin Pact
1931 Gandhi & British viceroy Lord Irwin sign pact in London - marks end of the Civil Disobedience Movement in India
10-Day Bank Holiday
1933 FDR proclaims 10-day bank holiday in the US in attempt stem bank failures and restore confidence [1]
- 1933 Germany's Nazi Party wins majority in parliament (43.9%-17.2M votes)
- 1934 Mother-in-law's day 1st celebrated (Amarillo, Texas)
- 1935 1st premature baby health law in US (Chicago)
- 1936 Spitfire makes its 1st flight (Eastleigh Aerodrome in Southampton)
- 1942 Japanese troop march into Batavia
Tito's 3rd Brigade
1942 Josip Tito establishes 3rd Proletarian Brigade in Bosnia
- 1943 Anti-fascist strikes in Italy
- 1943 RAF bombs Essen Germany
Piston's 2nd Symphony
1944 1st performance of Walter Piston's 2nd Symphony by the National Symphony, in Washington, D.C.
- 1945 Allies bombs The Hague, Netherlands
- 1945 Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton and Alexander Patch meet in Lunéville, France
- 1945 US 7th Army Corps captures Cologne
- 1945 World War II: The Battle of the Ruhr begins.
- 1946 Hungarian Communists and Social Democrats co-found the Left Bloc.
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
1946 Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri, popularizes the term and draws attention to the division of Europe
- 1948 US rocket flies record 4800 kph to 126km height
Bradman's Last 1st Class Innings
1949 Donald Bradman plays his last innings in first-class cricket, scores 30
- 1949 Jharkhand Party is founded in India to campaign for a separate Jharkhand state
Elvis' 1st TV Appearance
1955 Elvis Presley makes his 1st TV appearance on a local video broadcast of the popular radio program "Louisiana Hayride" from the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana
- 1955 WBBJ TV channel 7 in Jackson, TN (ABC) begins broadcasting
- 1956 "King Kong" 1st televised
Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
1956 Capitol Records releases "Songs for Swingin' Lovers!", the tenth album by American singer Frank Sinatra: upbeat collection of pop tunes with jazz arrangements by Nelson Riddle became the first album ever to top the new UK Albums Chart
Election of Interest
1957 Eamon de Valera's Fianna Fail-party wins election in Ireland
- 1957 Sgt Bilko satirizes Elvis Presley (Elvis Pelvin)
- 1958 Explorer 2 fails to reach Earth orbit
- 1958 KDUH TV channel 4 in Scottsbluff-Hay Spring, NB (ABC) 1st broadcast
- 1959 Iran & US sign economic & military treaty
- 1960 Ice Dance Championship at Vancouver won by Denny & Jones (GRB)
- 1960 Ice Pairs Championship at Vancouver won by Wagner & Paul (CAN)
Famous Photo
1960 Iconic photograph 'Guerrillero Heroico' taken of Che Guevara at a memorial service in Havana, by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda, possibly the most reproduced photo in history
- 1960 The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis originates when Alister Hardy publicly announces his idea that ape-human divergence may have been due to a coastal phase.
- 1960 Worlds Ladies' Figure Skating Champions in Vancouver won by Carol E Heiss (USA)
- 1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1963 The Beatles record "From Me to You" and "Thank You Girl"
- 1964 Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr, announces a baseball team is moving there
- 1964 Emergency crisis proclaimed in Ceylon due to social unrest
- 1965 1st performance of Walter Piston's 8th Symphony (his last), by the Boston Symphony, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf
- 1965 Ernie Terrell beats Eddie Machen by unanimous points decision over 15 rounds in Chicago, Illinois to win vacant WBA heavyweight boxing title
- 1965 March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence
- 1966 75 MPH air currents causes BOAC 707 crash into Mount Fuji, 124 die
- 1966 Bob Seagren pole vaults 5.19m indoor world record
- 1966 Player reps elect Marvin Miller as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association
- 1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 1967 WEDN TV channel 53 in Norwich, CT (PBS) begins broadcasting
- 1968 US launches Solar Explorer 2 to study the Sun
- 1969 Gustav Heinemann elected President of West Germany
- 1969 Joe Orton's "What the Butler Saw" premieres in London
- 1969 Price of gold reaches then record high ($47 per ounce) in Paris
- 1970 Dubnium atoms are first detected conclusively.
- 1970 Edison Theater opens at 240 W 47th St NYC
- 1970 Nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect
- 1972 Dutch speed skater Atje Keulen-Deelstra becomes Women's Allround World Champion at Heerenveen, Netherlands, her second title in 3 years
- 1972 Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis leaves communist party
- 1973 Yankee pitchers Peterson & Kekich announce they swapped wives
- 1974 First performance in 3,000 years of world's oldest known song "Hymn to Nikkal" a 3,400 year old Hurrian hymn to moon god Nikkal from Ugarit in Syria, played at Berkeley University by Anne Kilmer and Richard Crocker [1]
- 1974 Ralph Stewart failed in 2nd Islander penalty shot
- 1976 British pound falls below $2 for 1st time
- 1978 Landsat 3 launched from Vandenberg AFB, California
- 1979 Iran resumes petroleum exports
- 1979 Voyager I's closest approach to Jupiter (172,000 miles)
- 1980 Earth satellites record gamma rays from remnants of supernova N-49
- 1981 Ice Pairs Champ at Hartford won by Irina Vorobieva & I Lisovski (URS)
- 1981 US government grants Atlanta $1 million to search for black boy murderer
Sports History
1982 MLB pitcher Gaylord Perry (with 297 wins) signs with Seattle Mariners
- 1982 Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus sends back data
- 1984 Supreme Court (5-4): city may use public money for Nativity scene
- 1984 US accuse Iraq of using poison gas
- 1985 About 700 grain farmers from America's Midwest rally in Washington, D.C. at the Agriculture Department and march to the White House, demanding higher guaranteed prices for their products in pending farm legislation
- 1985 Mexican authorities find the body of US drug agent Enrique "Kike" Camarena Salaazar
Sports History
1985 NHL New York Islanders Mike Bossy is 1st to score 50 goals in 8 straight seasons
- 1986 "Today" tabloid launches as Britain's first national color newspaper; it folds in 1995
- 1988 Constitution of Turks and Caicos Islands is restored and revised.
- 1989 19th Easter Seal Telethon raises $37,002,000
- 1989 Elly Verhulst runs world record 3000 m indoor (8:33.82)
- 1991 Iraq repealed its annexation of Kuwait
- 1991 Reggie Miller (Indiana Pacers) begins NBA free throw streak of 52 games
- 1992 Ethic committee votes to reveal congressmen who bounced checks
Sports History
1993 Boston Celtic Larry Bird undergoes backfusion surgery
- 1993 Fokker 100 crashes at Skopje Macedonia, 81 die
- 1993 Marlins beat Astros 12-8 in their 1st spring training game
- 1994 Jefffesron Airplane/Starship singer Grace Slick arrested for pointing a gun at a cop
- 1994 Largest milkshake made; 1,955 gallons of chocolate in Nelspruit, South Africa
- 1994 PBA National Championship won by David Traber
- 1995 Estonia Centrumlinkse Coalition party wins parliamentary election
Event of Interest
1995 Graves of Tsar Nicholas II and family found in St Petersburg
1997 Tommy Lasorda, Nellie Fox and Willie Wells inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1999 Paul Okalik is elected first Premier of Nunavut
- 2001 Thirty-five Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca
- 2003 Seventeen Israeli civilians are killed by a Hamas suicide bomber in the Haifa bus 37 bombing
- 2011 David Silva scores 38' winner as Manchester City scores 1-0 win over Wigan at City of Manchester Stadium to start EPL record 20 home game winning streak; streak ends 31/3/12
- 2012 27 members of Iraq's security force are killed by gunmen disguised as police in Haditha
- 2012 Tropical Storm Irina kills 65 in Madagascar
- 2013 Dow Jones Industrial Average surpasses its 2007 pre-financial crisis levels for 1st time
- 2013 Willcom announces the world’s smallest mobile phone, weighing 32 grams
- 2014 A survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights reports that about 1/3 of women in the European Union have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15
- 2015 -8th Islamic State militants ransack and destroy ancient cities of Nimrud, Hatra and Dur-Sharrukin in Iraq
Film & TV History
2015 Harrison Ford crash-lands his 1942 Ryan Aeronautical ST3KR aeroplane in California
- 2016 US air strike kills 150 Al-Shabaab militants north of Mogadishu, Somalia
- 2018 China announces a military budget of 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion)
Meeting of Interest
2018 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets South Korean officials for the first time since taking office, hosting a dinner in Pyongyang
- 2019 Bugatti announces the most expensive new car ever made - the La Voiture Noire costing €16.7 million (almost $19 million), only one will be made
- 2019 Japanese architect Arata Isozaki wins architecture's Pritzker Prize [1]
Film & TV History
2019 Kylie Jenner is the world's youngest-ever billionaire at 21, according to Forbes
- 2019 Major study into the MMR vaccine involving over 650,000 children in Denmark finds it does not increase the risk of autism
- 2019 Second-ever person "cured" of HIV after stem cell transplant treatment in London, England results published in "Nature"
Event of Interest
2022 Explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, which sank in 1915, is rediscovered after 107 years in excellent condition in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica [1]
Sports History
2023 Caitlin Clark records 30 points, 17 assists, and 10 rebounds in the Big Ten tournament final for Iowa against Ohio State
- 2024 Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto wins 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize for buildings that are a "background and foreground to everyday life" [1]
Firth Auctions Shirt
2024 Shirt worn by (a very wet) Colin Firth in 1995 BBC-TV adaption of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" sells for £20,000 ($32,000) at a charity auction in London [1]
- 2025 Computing's top prize, the Turing Award is given to American researchers Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton for their work on reinforcement learning, a cornerstone of AI technology [1]
- 2025 Manufacture of bone tools by ancient humans is pushed back a million years by the discovery of a 1.5 million year old cache of bone tools in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania [1]
