# March 2

* March 2 in recent years
* 2025 (Sunday)
* 2024 (Saturday)
* 2023 (Thursday)
* 2022 (Wednesday)
* 2021 (Tuesday)
* 2020 (Monday)
* 2019 (Saturday)
* 2018 (Friday)
* 2017 (Thursday)
* 2016 (Wednesday)
March 2 is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 304 days remain until the end of the year.

## Events
### Pre-1600

* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off.
* 986 – Louis V becomes the last Carolingian king of West Francia after the death of his father, Lothaire.
* 1331 – Fall of Nicaea to the Ottoman Turks after a siege.
* 1444 – Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhë.
* 1458 – George of Poděbrady is chosen as the king of Bohemia.
* 1476 – Burgundian Wars: The Old Swiss Confederacy hands Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a major defeat in the Battle of Grandson in Canton of Neuchâtel.
* 1484 – The College of Arms is formally incorporated by Royal Charter signed by King Richard III of England.
* 1498 – Vasco da Gama's fleet visits the Island of Mozambique.

### 1601–1900

* 1657 – The Great Fire of Meireki begins in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, causing more than 100,000 deaths before it exhausts itself three days later.
* 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia units attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in and around the Savannah River by a small fleet of the Royal Navy in the Battle of the Rice Boats.
* 1791 – Claude Chappe demonstrates the first semaphore line near Paris.
* 1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound banknotes.
* 1807 – The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.
* 1811 – Argentine War of Independence: A royalist fleet defeats a small flotilla of revolutionary ships in the Battle of San Nicolás on the River Plate.
* 1815 – Signing of the Kandyan Convention treaty by British invaders and the leaders of the Kingdom of Kandy.
* 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico is adopted.
* 1855 – Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.
* 1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, once thought to be the largest such auction in United States history, begins.
* 1865 – East Cape War: The Völkner Incident in New Zealand.
* 1867 – The U.S. Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act.
* 1877 – Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 U.S. presidential election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote.
* 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick Maclean in Windsor.

### 1901–present

* 1901 – United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.
* 1901 – The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment limiting the autonomy of Cuba, as a condition of the withdrawal of American troops.
* 1903 – In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
* 1917 – The enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
* 1919 – The first Communist International meets in Moscow.
* 1932 – Finnish president P. E. Svinhufvud gives a radio speech, which four days later finally ends the Mäntsälä Rebellion and the far-right Lapua Movement that started it.
* 1933 – The film King Kong premieres in Radio City Music Hall and RKO Roxy in New York City
* 1937 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee signs a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, leading to unionization of the United States steel industry.
* 1939 – Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII.
* 1941 – World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joins the Axis Pact.
* 1943 – World War II: During the Battle of the Bismarck Sea Allied aircraft defeated a Japanese attempt to ship troops to New Guinea.
* 1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.
* 1955 – Norodom Sihanouk, king of Cambodia, abdicates the throne in favor of his father, Norodom Suramarit.
* 1962 – In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d'état.
* 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.
* 1965 – The US and Republic of Vietnam Air Force begin Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
* 1968 – Baggeridge Colliery closes marking the end of over 300 years of coal mining in the Black Country.
* 1969 – In Toulouse, France, the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.
* 1970 – Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.
* 1972 – The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.
* 1977 – Libya becomes the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as the General People's Congress adopted the "Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People".
* 1978 – Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
* 1978 – The late iconic actor Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from his grave in Switzerland.
* 1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.
* 1986 – Aeroflot Flight F-77 crashes near Bugulma Airport, killing all 38 people aboard.
* 1989 – Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
* 1990 – Nelson Mandela is elected deputy president of the African National Congress.
* 1991 – Establishment of Kuwait Democratic Forum, center-left political organization in Kuwait.
* 1991 – Battle at Rumaila oil field brings an end to the 1991 Gulf War.
* 1992 – Start of the war in Transnistria.
* 1992 – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all of which (except San Marino) were former Soviet republics, join the United Nations.
* 1995 – Researchers at Fermilab announce the discovery of the top quark.
* 1995 – Space Shuttle Endeavour launches from the Kennedy Space Center on STS-67, carrying the ASTRO-2 spacelab observatory.
* 1998 – Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.
* 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
* 2004 – War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.
* 2012 – A tornado outbreak occurs over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.
* 2017 – The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson are officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia.
* 2022 – Russian forces capture the city of Kherson during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which subsequently began the start of the Russian occupation and military-civilian administration in Kherson. Kherson is the only regional capital in Ukraine that Russia captured.

## Births
### Pre-1600

* 480 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian Christian saint (d. 543 or 547)
* 1316 – Robert II of Scotland (d. 1390)
* 1409 – Jean II, Duke of Alençon (d. 1476)
* 1432 – Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach, countess consort of Hanau (d. 1457)
* 1453 – Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (d. 1512)
* 1459 – Pope Adrian VI (d. 1523)
* 1481 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (d. 1523)
* 1545 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (d. 1613)
* 1577 – George Sandys, English traveller, colonist and poet (d. 1644)

### 1601–1900

* 1628 – Cornelis Speelman, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1684)
* 1651 – Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (d. 1730)
* 1705 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1793)
* 1740 – Nicholas Pocock, English naval painter (d. 1821)
* 1760 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician (d. 1794)
* 1769 – DeWitt Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of New York (d. 1828)
* 1770 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general (d. 1826)
* 1779 – Joel Roberts Poinsett, American physician and politician, 15th United States Secretary of War (d. 1851)
* 1793 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)
* 1800 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian-Italian poet and philosopher (d. 1844)
* 1810 – Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903)
* 1816 – Alexander Bullock, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1882)
* 1817 – János Arany, Hungarian journalist and poet (d. 1882)
* 1820 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (d. 1887)
* 1824 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1884)
* 1829 – Carl Schurz, German-American general, lawyer, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1906)
* 1836 – Henry Billings Brown, American lawyer and judge (d. 1913)
* 1842 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer, art collector, and philanthropist (d. 1914)
* 1846 – Marie Roze, French soprano (d. 1926)
* 1849 – Robert Means Thompson, American commander, lawyer, and businessman (d. 1930)
* 1859 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (d. 1916)
* 1860 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (d. 1961)
* 1862 – John Jay Chapman, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1933)
* 1869 – Julien Félix, French military officer and aviator (d. 1914)
* 1876 – James A. Gilmore, American businessman and baseball executive (d. 1947)
* 1876 – Pope Pius XII (d. 1958)
* 1880 – René Vallon, French aviator (d. 1911)
* 1886 – Willis H. O'Brien, American animator and director (d. 1962)
* 1886 – Kurt Grelling, German logician and philosopher (d. 1942)
* 1900 – Kurt Weill, German-American pianist and composer (d. 1950)

### 1901–present

* 1901 – Grete Hermann, German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1984)
* 1902 – Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy (d. 1972)
* 1902 – Edward Condon, American physicist and academic (d. 1974)
* 1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children's book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991)
* 1905 – Marc Blitzstein, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
* 1905 – Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (d. 1985)
* 1908 – Walter Bruch, German engineer (d. 1990)
* 1909 – Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1958)
* 1912 – Henry Katzman, American pianist, composer, and painter (d. 2001)
* 1913 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch television host and author (d. 1971)
* 1913 – Mort Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1958)
* 1914 – Martin Ritt, American actor and film director (d. 1990)
* 1915 – John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon (d. 2010)
* 1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1986)
* 1917 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (d. 1967)
* 1917 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player and coach (d. 1976)
* 1919 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (d. 2009)
* 1919 – Eddie Lawrence, American actor, singer, and playwright (d. 2014)
* 1919 – Tamara Toumanova, Russian-American ballerina and actress (d. 1996)
* 1921 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2006)
* 1921 – Ernst Haas, Austrian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1986)
* 1922 – Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, American saxophonist (d. 1986)
* 1922 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1999)
* 1922 – Frances Spence, American computer programmer (d. 2012)
* 1923 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (d. 1999)
* 1923 – Robert H. Michel, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
* 1923 – Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
* 1924 – Cal Abrams, American baseball player (d. 1997)
* 1924 – Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic (d. 2004)
* 1926 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (d. 2014)
* 1926 – Murray Rothbard, American economist and historian (d. 1995)
* 1927 – Roger Walkowiak, French cyclist and economist (d. 2017)
* 1930 – John Cullum, American actor and singer
* 1930 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress (d. 2007)
* 1930 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (d. 2018)
* 1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2022)
* 1932 – Gun Hägglund, Swedish journalist and translator (d. 2011)
* 1933 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (d. 2012)
* 1934 – Howard Cassady, American football player (d. 2019)
* 1934 – Dottie Rambo, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
* 1935 – Gene Stallings, American football player and coach
* 1936 – Haroon Ahmed, Pakistani-English engineer and academic
* 1936 – John Tusa, Czech-English journalist and academic
* 1937 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerian soldier and politician, 5th President of Algeria (d. 2021)
* 1938 – Clark Gesner, American author and composer (d. 2002)
* 1938 – Ricardo Lagos, Chilean economist, lawyer, and politician, 33rd President of Chile
* 1938 – Lawrence Payton, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1997)
* 1939 – Jan Howard Finder, American author and academic (d. 2013)
* 1940 – Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer (d. 2019)
* 1941 – John Cornell, Australian actor, director, and producer (d. 2021)
* 1941 – David Satcher, American admiral and physician, 16th Surgeon General of the United States
* 1942 – John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter
* 1942 – Claude Larose, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* 1942 – Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iranian architect and politician, 79th Prime Minister of Iran
* 1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (d. 2013)
* 1942 – Derek Woodley, English footballer (d. 2002)
* 1943 – George Layton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
* 1943 – Peter Straub, American author and poet (d. 2022)
* 1943 – Robert Williams, American painter and cartoonist
* 1944 – Leif Segerstam, Finnish conductor and composer (d. 2024)
* 1945 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2013)
* 1947 – John Dawkins, Australian politician
* 1947 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
* 1947 – Harry Redknapp, English footballer and manager
* 1948 – Larry Carlton, American guitarist and songwriter
* 1948 – Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1995)
* 1948 – Jeff Kennett, Australian journalist and politician, 43rd Premier of Victoria
* 1948 – Carmen Lawrence, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Western Australia
* 1950 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (d. 1983)
* 1952 – Mark Evanier, American author and screenwriter
* 1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian
* 1953 – Russ Feingold, American lawyer and politician
* 1953 – Kazuo Kitagawa, Japanese politician
* 1954 – Ed Johnstone, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
* 1955 – Dale Bozzio, American pop-rock singer-songwriter
* 1955 – Jay Osmond, American singer, drummer, actor, and TV/film producer
* 1955 – Ken Salazar, American lawyer and politician, 50th United States Secretary of the Interior
* 1955 – Steve Small, Australian cricketer
* 1956 – John Cowsill, American musician, songwriter, and producer
* 1956 – Mark Evans, Australian rock bass player
* 1957 – Mark Dean, American inventor and computer engineer
* 1957 – Hossein Dehghan, Iranian general and politician, Iranian Minister of Defense
* 1957 – Dito Tsintsadze, Georgian film director and screenwriter
* 1958 – Kevin Curren, South African-American tennis player
* 1958 – Ian Woosnam, English-Welsh golfer
* 1959 – Larry Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
* 1961 – Simone Young, Australian conductor, director, and composer
* 1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
* 1962 – Paul Farrelly, English journalist and politician
* 1962 – Tom Nordlie, Norwegian footballer and coach
* 1962 – Brendan O'Connor, Australian politician, Australian Minister for Employment
* 1962 – Raimo Summanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
* 1962 – Gabriele Tarquini, Italian race car driver
* 1963 – Anthony Albanese, Australian politician, 31st Prime Minister of Australia
* 1963 – Alvin Youngblood Hart, American singer and guitarist
* 1964 – Laird Hamilton, American surfer and actor
* 1964 – Mike Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1987)
* 1965 – Ron Gant, American baseball player and journalist
* 1965 – Lembit Öpik, Northern Irish politician
* 1966 – Ann Leckie, American author
* 1966 – Simon Reevell, English lawyer and politician
* 1968 – Daniel Craig, English actor and producer
* 1970 – James Purnell, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
* 1970 – Ciriaco Sforza, Swiss footballer and manager
* 1970 – Wibi Soerjadi, Dutch pianist and composer
* 1971 – Roman Čechmánek, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2023)
* 1971 – Dave Gorman, English comedian, author and television presenter
* 1971 – Method Man, American rapper, record producer and actor
* 1972 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentinian footballer and manager
* 1973 – Dejan Bodiroga, Serbian basketball player
* 1973 – Trevor Sinclair, English footballer and manager
* 1974 – Hayley Lewis, Australian swimmer and television host
* 1975 – Daryl Gibson, New Zealand rugby player
* 1977 – Dominique Canty, American basketball player and coach
* 1977 – Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter (Coldplay)
* 1977 – Heather McComb, American actress
* 1977 – Stephen Parry, English swimmer and sportscaster
* 1977 – Andrew Strauss, South African-English cricketer
* 1978 – Jim Chalmers, Australian politician
* 1978 – Gabby Eigenmann, Filipino actor and singer
* 1978 – Lee Hodges, English footballer and manager
* 1978 – Sebastian Janikowski, Polish gridiron football player
* 1978 – Tomáš Kaberle, Czech ice hockey player
* 1979 – Damien Duff, Irish footballer
* 1979 – Jim Troughton, English cricketer
* 1979 – Nicky Weaver, English footballer
* 1980 – Chris Barker, English footballer and manager (d. 2020)
* 1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter
* 1981 – Lance Cade, American wrestler (d. 2010)
* 1981 – Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress
* 1982 – Kevin Kurányi, German footballer
* 1982 – Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
* 1982 – Joel Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
* 1982 – Ben Roethlisberger, American football player
* 1982 – Corey Webster, American football player
* 1983 – Deuce, American singer-songwriter and producer
* 1983 – Lisandro López, Argentine footballer
* 1983 – Jay McClement, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1983 – Glen Perkins, American baseball player
* 1983 – Ryan Shannon, American ice hockey player
* 1984 – Jonathan Ericsson, Swedish ice hockey player
* 1985 – Reggie Bush, American football player
* 1985 – Robert Iler, American actor
* 1985 – Suso Santana, Spanish footballer
* 1986 – Jonathan D'Aversa, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1986 – Jason Smith, American basketball player
* 1987 – Jonas Jerebko, Swedish basketball player
* 1988 – Édgar Andrade, Mexican footballer
* 1988 – James Arthur, English singer-songwriter
* 1988 – Laura Kaeppeler, American beauty queen, Miss America 2012
* 1988 – Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
* 1988 – Dexter Pittman, American basketball player
* 1988 – Geert Arend Roorda, Dutch footballer
* 1989 – Toby Alderweireld, Belgian footballer
* 1989 – Alemão, Brazilian footballer
* 1989 – Nathalie Emmanuel, English actress
* 1989 – Marcel Hirscher, Austrian skier
* 1989 – André Bernardes Santos, Portuguese footballer
* 1989 – Shane Vereen, American football player
* 1989 – Chris Woakes, English cricketer
* 1990 – Rauno Alliku, Estonian footballer
* 1990 – Malcolm Butler, American football player
* 1990 – Luke Combs, American singer-songwriter
* 1990 – Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
* 1991 – Nick Franklin, American baseball player
* 1992 – Charlie Coyle, American ice hockey player
* 1993 – Nicolás Brussino, Argentine-Italian basketball player
* 1993 – Adolis García, Cuban baseball player
* 1995 – Miguel Andújar, Dominican baseball player
* 1995 – Max Domi, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1995 – Ange-Freddy Plumain, French footballer
* 1997 – Becky G, American singer and actress
* 1996 – Jin Longguo, Chinese singer based in South Korea
* 1997 – Arike Ogunbowale, American basketball player
* 1998 – Tua Tagovailoa, American football player
* 1999 – Isiah Pacheco, American football player
* 2006 – Windy Zhan, Hong Kong singer and actress
* 2016 – Prince Oscar, Duke of Skåne

## Deaths
### Pre-1600

* 274 – Mani, Persian prophet and founder of Manichaeism (b. 216)
* 672 – Chad of Mercia, English bishop and saint (b. 634)
* 968 – William, archbishop of Mainz (b. 929)
* 986 – Lothair, king of West Francia (b. 941)
* 1009 – Mokjong, king of Goryeo (b. 980)
* 1127 – Charles the Good, Count of Flanders (b. 1084)
* 1316 – Marjorie Bruce, Scottish daughter of Robert the Bruce (b. 1296)
* 1333 – Wladyslaw I, king of Poland (b. 1261)
* 1589 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal and diplomat (b. 1520)

### 1601–1900

* 1619 – Anne of Denmark, queen of Scotland (b. 1574)
* 1729 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian astronomer and philosopher (b. 1662)
* 1755 – Louis de Rouvroy, French duke and diplomat (b. 1675)
* 1791 – John Wesley, English cleric and theologian (b. 1703)
* 1793 – Carl Gustaf Pilo, Swedish-Danish painter and academic (b. 1711)
* 1797 – Horace Walpole, English historian and politician (b. 1717)
* 1829 – Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Mexican revolutionary (b. ca. 1773)
* 1830 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician, anatomist, and anthropologist (b. 1755)
* 1835 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1768)
* 1840 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (b. 1758)
* 1855 – Nicholas I, Russian emperor (b. 1796)
* 1864 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (b. 1842)
* 1865 – Carl Sylvius Völkner, German-New Zealand priest and missionary (b. 1819)
* 1880 – John Benjamin Macneill, Irish engineer (b. 1790)
* 1895 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (b. 1841)
* 1895 – Isma'il Pasha, Egyptian politician (b. 1830)
* 1896 – Jubal Early, American general (b. 1816)

### 1901–present

* 1921 – Champ Clark, American lawyer and politician, 41st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1850)
* 1930 – D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1885)
* 1938 – Ben Harney, American pianist and composer (b. 1871)
* 1939 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (b. 1874)
* 1943 – Gisela Januszewska, Austrian physician (b.1867)
* 1944 – Ida Maclean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (b. 1877)
* 1945 – Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author (b. 1871)
* 1946 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1895)
* 1946 – George E. Stewart, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
* 1947 – Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels, Dutch architect and urban planner (b. 1882)
* 1949 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (b. 1879)
* 1953 – James Lightbody, American runner (b. 1882)
* 1957 – Selim Sırrı Tarcan, Turkish educator and politician (b. 1874)
* 1958 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
* 1962 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (b. 1866)
* 1967 – José Martínez Ruiz, Spanish author and critic (b. 1873)
* 1972 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (b. 1877)
* 1977 – Eugénie Brazier, French chef (b. 1895)
* 1979 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (b. 1920)
* 1982 – Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (b. 1928)
* 1987 – Randolph Scott, American actor and director (b. 1898)
* 1987 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer and academic (b. 1935)
* 1991 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (b. 1928)
* 1992 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (b. 1937)
* 1994 – Anita Morris, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1943)
* 1999 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (b. 1939)
* 2000 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (b. 1963)
* 2003 – Hank Ballard, American singer-songwriter (b. 1927)
* 2003 – Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer (b. 1931)
* 2004 – Cormac McAnallen, Irish footballer (b. 1980)
* 2004 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (b. 1916)
* 2004 – Marge Schott, American businesswoman (b. 1928)
* 2005 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
* 2007 – Thomas S. Kleppe, American soldier and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1919)
* 2007 – Clem Labine, American baseball player (b. 1926)
* 2007 – Ivan Safronov, Russian colonel and journalist (b. 1956)
* 2007 – Henri Troyat, Russian-French historian and author (b. 1911)
* 2008 – Jeff Healey, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1966)
* 2009 – João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
* 2010 – Winston Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1940)
* 2012 – Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author (b. 1950)
* 2012 – Van T. Barfoot, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
* 2012 – Norman St John-Stevas, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1929)
* 2012 – James Q. Wilson, American political scientist and academic (b. 1931)
* 2013 – Peter Harvey, Australian journalist (b. 1944)
* 2013 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player (b. 1945)
* 2013 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1942)
* 2014 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet and translator (b. 1935)
* 2015 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (b. 1917)
* 2015 – Dave Mackay, Scottish-English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
* 2015 – Mal Peet, English author and illustrator (b. 1947)
* 2016 – Benoît Lacroix, Canadian priest, historian, and philosopher (b. 1915)
* 2016 – Aubrey McClendon, American businessman (b. 1959)
* 2018 – Billy Herrington, American actor (b. 1969)
* 2018 – Lin Hu, Chinese lieutenant general (b. 1927)
* 2019 – Mike Oliver, British sociologist, disability rights activist (b. 1945)
* 2024 – Janice Burgess, American television executive, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1952)
* 2024 – Jaclyn Jose, Filipino actress (b. 1963)

## Holidays and observances

* Air Force Day (Sri Lanka)
* Baloch Culture Day (Balochistan)
* Christian feast day:
** Agnes of Bohemia
** Angela of the Cross
** Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders
** Chad of Mercia (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church)
** John Maron
** March 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
* Feast of 'Alá (Loftiness), First day of the 19th month of the Baháʼí calendar (Baháʼí Faith) and first day of the Baháʼí Nineteen Day Fast
* National Read Across America Day (United States)
* Peasants' Day (Myanmar)
* Texas Independence Day
* Adwa Victory Day (Ethiopia)