March 3 is the 62nd day of the year (63rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 303 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays
- Christian Feast Day:
- Hinamatsuri or “Girl’s Day” (Japan)
- Liberation Day (Bulgaria)
- Martyrs’ Day (Malawi)
- Mother’s Day (Georgia)
- Sportsmen’s day (Egypt)
- Teacher’s Day, celebrated until March 9 (Lebanon)
History
In 473, Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
In 724, Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
In 1111, Bohemond I of Antioch (b. 1058) dies a broken man. He Prince of Taranto and Prince of Antioch, was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. The Crusade had no outright military leader, but instead was ruled by a committee of nobles. Bohemond was one of the most important of these leaders. Bohemond served under his father in the great attack on the Byzantine Empire (1080–1085) and commanded the Normans during Guiscard’s absence (1082–1084), penetrating into Thessaly as far as Larissa, but being eventually repulsed by Alexius I Comnenus. This early hostility to Alexius had a great influence in determining the course and policy of the Empire from the time of Bohemond (whom his father had destined for the throne of Constantinople) to that of Roger II of Sicily.
In 1096, Bohemond, along with his uncle Roger I of Sicily the great count of Sicily, was attacking Amalfi, which had revolted against Duke Roger, when bands of crusaders began to pass, on their way through Italy to Constantinople. The zeal of the crusader came upon Bohemond; it is possible, however, that he saw in the First Crusade nothing more than a chance to carve for himself an eastern principality. Geoffrey Malaterra bluntly states that Bohemond took the Cross with the intention of plundering and conquering Greek lands.
He gathered a Norman army, perhaps one of the finest in the crusading host, at the head of which he crossed the Adriatic Sea, and penetrated to Constantinople along the route he had tried to follow in 1082–1084. He was careful to observe a “correct” attitude towards Alexius, and when he arrived at Constantinople in April 1097 he did homage to the emperor. He may have negotiated with Alexius about a principality at Antioch; if he did so, he had little encouragement. From Constantinople to Antioch, Bohemond was the real leader of the First Crusade; and it says much for his leadership that the First Crusade succeeded in crossing Asia Minor, which the Crusade of 1101, the Second Crusade in 1147, and the Third Crusade in 1189 failed to accomplish.
In 1284, The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England.
In 1575, Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi.
In 1585, The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza.
In 1703, Robert Hooke, English architect and philosopher (b. 1635) dies. He was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath. His adult life comprised three distinct periods: as a scientific inquirer lacking money; achieving great wealth and standing through his reputation for hard work and scrupulous honesty following the great fire of 1666, but eventually becoming ill and party to jealous intellectual disputes. These issues may have contributed to his relative historical obscurity. He was at one time simultaneously the curator of experiments of the Royal Society and a member of its council, Gresham Professor of Geometry and a Surveyor to the City of London after the Great Fire of London, in which capacity he appears to have performed more than half of all the surveys after the fire. He was also an important architect of his time – though few of his buildings now survive and some of those are generally misattributed – and was instrumental in devising a set of planning controls for London whose influence remains today. Allan Chapman has characterised him as “England’s Leonardo“.
In 1776, American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
In 1779, American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek near Savannah, Georgia.
In 1791, Congress passes a resolution ordering the U.S. Mint to be established.
In 1791, the first internal revenue law is passed (a tax of 20 to 30 cents a gallon is put on distilled spirits).
In 1799, The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison.
In 1820, The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
In 1836, Texans celebrate the first Texas Independence Day with the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence, officially broke Texas from Mexico, and creating the Republic of Texas.
In 1845, Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
In 1857, Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
In 1861, Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs.
In 1865, Opening of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the founding member of the HSBC Group.
In 1873, Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” books through the mail. Censorship in the United States involves the suppression of speech or public communication and raises issues of freedom of speech, which is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Interpretation of this fundamental freedom has varied since its enshrinement.
In 1875, Georges Bizet‘s opera Carmen receives its première at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
In 1875, The first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey is played in Montreal, Canada as recorded in The Montreal Gazette.
In 1878, The Russo-Turkish War ends as Bulgaria regains its independence from Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano; shortly after Congress of Berlin stripped its status to an autonomous state of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1885, The American Telephone & Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York.
In 1901, George Gilman, American businessman, founded The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company , better known as A&P, (b. 1826) dies of Bright’s disease. He founded The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. A native of Waterville, Maine, he moved to Manhattan when he joined his father’s leather tanning business. By age 30, he had his own leather business in New York. After his father died, Gilman decided to enter the more respectable tea and coffee business and started what would ultimately become A&P. Gilman had a flair for marketing and pioneered many sales techniques that are now commonplace retailing. Initially he opened stores in New York City and also operated a nationwide mail order business selling tea and coffee. In 1871, he opened a store in Chicago, Illinois and within a few years operated stores in 16 cities. In 1878, Gilman retired to his mansion in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he became known as an eccentric. The firm was operated by George Huntington Hartford who had been responsible for the company’s business affairs. Under the unwritten understanding, Hartford received half of the profits. Gilman never had children and died without a will. Hartford asserted in court that he was entitled to half of the company and Gilman’s estate agreed to a settlement that allowed Hartford to ultimately buy out the Gilman interests.
In 1904, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison‘s phonograph cylinder.
In 1905, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly, the Duma.
In 1910, Rockefeller Foundation: J.D. Rockefeller Jr. announces his retirement from managing his businesses so that he can devote all his time to philanthropy.
In 1913, Thousands of women march in a suffrage parade in Washington, D.C.
In 1915, NACA, the predecessor of NASA, is founded.
In 1918, Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia’s involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
In 1923, TIME magazine is published for the first time.
In 1924, The thirteen-century-old Islamic caliphate is abolished when Caliph Abdul Mejid II of the Ottoman Empire is deposed. The last remnant of the old regime gives way to the reformed Turkey of Kemal Atatürk.
In 1924, The Free State of Fiume is annexed by Kingdom of Italy.
In 1925, Mount Rushmore honoring the Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, & Teddy Roosevelt was commissioned by Congress. It was completed on October 31, 1941.
In 1931, The United States adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem.
In 1938, Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
In 1938, The Mallard the fastest steam driven train on the planet, was built by LNER Doncaster Works England
In 1939, In Mumbai, Mohandas Gandhi begins to fast in protest at the autocratic rule in India.
In 1939, A new craze began to sweep college campuses. Getting a start at the Ivy League’s Harvard University, the much publicized fad began to take shape. It was perceived as being kind of “fishy”, however, coming from the button-down minds at Harvard. In fact, it was deemed quite unbelievable for such a prestigious school of higher learning. The fad? Goldfish swallowing. (Gulp!)
In 1940, Five people are killed in an arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Norrskensflamman in Luleå, Sweden.
In 1942, World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people.
In 1943, World War II: In London, England, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
In 1944, The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
In 1945, World War II: American and Filipino troops recapture Manila in the Philippines.
In 1945, World War II: A former Armia Krajowa unit massacres at least 150 Ukrainian civilians in Pawłokoma, Poland.
In 1945, World War II: The RAF accidentally bombs the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.
In 1951, Jackie Brenston, with Ike Turner and his band, records “Rocket 88“, often cited as “the first rock and roll record“, at Sam Phillips‘ recording studios in Memphis, Tennessee.
In 1953, A Canadian Pacific Airlines De Havilland Comet crashes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11.
In 1958, Nuri as-Said becomes the prime minister of Iraq for the eighth time.
In 1959, Lou Costello, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1906) died of a heart attack at Doctors’ Hospital in Beverly Hills, three days before his 53rd birthday. He was born Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906), known by the stage name Lou Costello, was an American actor and comedian best remembered for the comedy double act of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott. Costello played a chubby, bumbling character. He was known for the catchphrases “Heeeeyyy, Abbott!” and “I’m a baaaaad boy!”
He was considered a gifted athlete. He excelled in basketball and reportedly was once the New Jersey state free throw champion (his singular basketball prowess can be seen in Here Come The Co-Eds (1945), in which he performs all his own tricky hoop shots without special effects). He also fought as a boxer under the name “Lou King”
In 1966, William Frawley, American actor (b. 1887) collapsed of a heart attack while walking down Hollywood Boulevard after seeing the movie Inside Daisy Clover. He was dragged to the nearby Knickerbocker Hotel, where he had previously lived for many years, by his nurse — a constant companion since his prostate cancer operation more than a year before. He then was rushed to the nearby Hollywood Receiving Hospital (now the Hollywood LAPD Precinct) on Wilcox Avenue, where he was pronounced dead.
He was an American stage entertainer, screen and television actor. Although Frawley acted in over 100 films, he is best known for his television work, playing landlord Fred Mertz in the long-running situation comedy I Love Lucy and “Bub” in another TV comedy series, My Three Sons.
In 1969, Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
In 1972, Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.
In 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard.
In 1980, The USS Nautilus is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.
In 1985, Arthur Scargill declares that the National Union of Mineworkers national executive voted to end the longest-running industrial dispute in Great Britain without any peace deal over pit closures.
In 1985, A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless.
In 1991, An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
In 1991, In concurrent referenda, 74% of the population of Latvia votes for independence from the Soviet Union, and 83% in Estonia.
In 1991, United Airlines Flight 585 crashes on approach into Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing 25.
In 1997, The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.
In 1998, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that his company [su_highlight]wasn’t a monopoly[/su_highlight] out to [su_highlight]crush rivals[/su_highlight] in the Internet software market. While I agree with the first part, the second is the nature of business.
In 1998, The Supreme Court ruled that local lawmakers’ votes are immune to lawsuits even if they had been based on illegal or discriminatory motives.
In 2005, Mayerthorpe tragedy: James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. It is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.
In 2005, Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling.
In 2009, The Historical Archive of the City of Cologne collapses.
In 2012, Two trains crash in the small Polish town of Szczekociny near Zawiercie, with 16 people killed and up to 58 people injured.
In 2013, A bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan, kills at least 45 people and injured 180 others in a predominately Shia Muslim area.
In 2014, The trial of Oscar Pistorius begins in Pretoria.