March 2

### Up to 1900

- 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under King Vitiges begins the siege of the city.
- 871 – Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army at the Battle of Marton.
- 986 – Louis V becomes King of the Franks.
- 1127 – Assassination of Charles I, Count of Flanders.
- 1444 – Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhe.
- 1476 – Burgundian Wars: The Old Swiss Confederacy hands Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a major defeat in the Battle of Grandson in the Canton of Neuchâtel.
- 1484 – The College of Arms is formally incorporated by a Royal Charter, signed by King Richard III of England.
- 1498 – Vasco da Gama's fleet visits the Island of Mozambique.
- 1561 – Mendoza, Argentina, is founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro del Castillo.
- 1657 – Great Fire of Meireki: A fire in Edo (now Tokyo) kills 100,000 people and lasts three days.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia units arrest the Royal Governor of Georgia, James Wright, and attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in the Battle of Rice Boats.
- 1791 – Long–distance communication speeds up with the unveiling of a semaphore machine in Paris.
- 1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one–pound and two–pound notes.
- 1798 – The Swiss Canton of Thurgau is created.
- 1807 – United States Congress bans the importation of more slaves into the country.
- 1811 – Argentine War of Independence: A royalist fleet defeats a small flotilla of revolutionary ships in the Battle of San Nicolas.
- 1815 – Signing of the Kandyan Convention Treaty between the British and the King of Sri Lanka.
- 1818 – Italian adventurer Giovanni Battista Belzani re–discovers the tomb in the Chephren Pyramid in Egypt, though he finds it empty.
- 1825 – Blida, in Algeria, is hit by an earthquake, killing 7,000 people.
- 1836 – The Republic of Texas declares its independence from Mexico.
- 1855 – Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.
- 1861 – The Dakota Territory is created, covering the current states of North Dakota, South Dakota and parts of Montana and Wyoming. Yankton, South Dakota is the territorial capital.
- 1877 – Rutherford B. Hayes is declared the winner of the 1876 US presidential election, despite Samuel J. Tilden winning the popular vote.
- 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick McLean in Windsor.
- 1885 – Sino-French War: French victory in the Battle of Hoa Moc, near Tuyen Quang, North Vietnam.
- 1899 – The Mount Rainier National Park in the State of Washington, is created.

### 1901 – 2000

- 1903 – In New York City, the Martha Washington Hotel opens, the first hotel only to cater for women.
- 1917 – The Jones–Shafroth Act grants United States citizenship to people from Puerto Rico.
- 1919 – The first Communist International meets in Moscow.
- 1933 – The Sanriku earthquake in Japan, measuring at magnitude 8.4, kills almost 3,000 people.
- 1933 – The movie _King Kong_ opens at New York City's Radio Music Hall.
- 1935 – Prajadhipok abdicates as King of Thailand, being succeeded by the 9–year–old Ananda Mahidol.
- 1939 – cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope on his 63rd birthday. He chooses to be known as Pope Pius XII.
- 1943 – World War II: In the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, US and Australian forces sink Japanese convoy ships.
- 1946 – Ho Chi Minh is elected President of North Vietnam.
- 1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B–50 Superfortress _Lucky Lady II_ airplane at Fort Worth, Texas, after flying non–stop around the world in 94 hours and 1 minute.
- 1949 – The first automatic street light is installed in New Milford, Connecticut.
- 1955 – Norodom Sihanouk abdicates as King of Cambodia, in favour of his father, Norodom Suramarit.
- 1956 – Morocco declares independence from France.
- 1958 – Edmund Hillary and Vivian Fuchs complete their crossing of Antarctica.
- 1962 – In Burma, the Army, led by Ne Win, seizes power in a coup.
- 1962 – Basketball: Wilt Chamberlain sets an NBA record by scoring 100 points in a single game.
- 1965 – United States and South Vietnamese Air Forces begin Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
- 1969 – Soviet and Chinese forces clash at the border outpost on the Ussuri River.
- 1969 – In Toulouse, the first test flight of Concorde is carried out.
- 1970 – Rhodesia declares itself a Republic.
- 1972 – The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
- 1978 – Czechoslovakian Vladimir Remek becomes the first human in space who is neither Soviet or American.
- 1983 – Compact Discs and Compact Disc players are released in the United States, though they were already available in Japan.
- 1987 – The Chrysler Group takes over the American Motors Corporation.
- 1989 – 12 European Community nations agree to ban the production of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
- 1990 – Nelson Mandela is declared Deputy Head of the African National Congress.
- 1991 – Battle of Rumaila takes place at the end of the Gulf War.
- 1992 – San Marino joins the UN, along with the former Soviet States of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
- 1993 – The 1993 Storm of the Century begins to form in the North Atlantic Ocean.
- 1998 – Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has an ocean of liquid water under a thick crust of ice.
- 1998 – In Austria, 10–year–old Natascha Kampusch is kidnapped by Wolfgang Priklopil and is held in captivity until her escape in 2006, after which Priklopil commits suicide.
- 2000 – Former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet is allowed to return home after the United Kingdom refused to extradite him to Spain on torture charges.

### From 2001

- 2002 – As part of the US invasion of Afghanistan, Operation Anaconda is launched.
- 2004 – Iraq War: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Kerbala, killing 270 people.
- 2004 – In the US, John Kerry becomes the Democrats' candidate for the US presidential election, which he loses to George W. Bush eight months later.
- 2006 – The Nintendo DS goes on sale in Japan.
- 2008 – Dmitry Medvedev is elected President of Russia, due to Vladimir Putin's term limits, though Putin becomes Prime Minister.
- 2009 – President of Guinea-Bissau Joao Bernardo Vieira is killed in an armed attack on his home.
- 2012 – 27 people are killed as tornadoes sweep across the States of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
- 2017 – Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly are held after the collapse of the power–sharing government.
- 2019 – The SpX–DM1 space mission is launched; it is the first United States–launched manned mission since 2011.

### Up to 1900

- 959 – Emperor En'yu of Japan (d. 991)
- 1241 – Isabella of France, Queen of Navarre (d. 1271)
- 1316 – King Robert II of Scotland (d. 1390)
- 1459 – Pope Adrian VI (d. 1523)
- 1544 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and library founder (d. 1613)
- 1760 – Camille Desmoulins, French lawyer and journalist (d. 1794)
- 1769 – DeWitt Clinton, 6th Governor of New York (d. 1828)
- 1779 – Joel Roberts Poinsett, American statesman (d. 1851)
- 1793 – Sam Houston, President and Governor of Texas (d. 1863)
- 1800 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian poet (d. 1844)
- 1810 – Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903)
- 1816 – Alexander Bullock, 26th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1882)
- 1820 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (d. 1887)
- 1824 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech composer (d. 1884)
- 1829 – Carl Schurz, German politician and revolutionary (d. 1906)
- 1836 – John W. Foster, United States Secretary of State (d. 1917)
- 1842 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer (d. 1914)
- 1843 – Princess Maria Clotilde of Saxony (d. 1911)
- 1851 – Franz von Liszt, German jurist (d. 1919)
- 1859 – Sholom Aleichem, Russian novelist (d. 1916)
- 1860 – Susanna M. Salter, American politician (d. 1961)
- 1862 – Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (d. 1916)
- 1868 – Edmund Schulthess, Swiss politician (d. 1944)
- 1876 – Pope Pius XII (d. 1958)
- 1878 – Wander Johannes de Haas, Dutch physicist and mathematician (d. 1960)
- 1880 – Ivar Kreuger, Swedish industrialist, known for the match stick monopoly (d. 1932)
- 1883 – Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer (d. 1957)
- 1885 – Victor Houteff, Bulgarian religious reformer and writer (d. 1955)
- 1886 – Leo Gehr von Schweppenburg, German general (d. 1974)
- 1894 – Alexander Oparin, Soviet biochemist (d. 1980)
- 1900 – Kurt Weill, German–born American composer (d. 1950)

### 1901 – 1950

- 1901 – Grete Hermann, German mathematician (d. 1984)
- 1902 – Edward Condon, American physicist (d. 1974)
- 1904 – Dr. Seuss, American writer (d. 1991)
- 1905 – Marc Blitzstein, American composer (d. 1964)
- 1905 – Roberto Francisco Chiari Remón, 31st President of Panama (d. 1981)
- 1908 – Fyodor Matveyevich Okhlopkov, Soviet sniper (d. 1968)
- 1908 – Walter Bruch, German electrical engineer (d. 1990)
- 1909 – Mel Ott, American baseball player (d. 1958)
- 1912 – Henry Katzman, American composer and pianist (d. 2001)
- 1912 – William Thayer Tutt, American ice hockey executive (d. 1989)
- 1913 – Celedonio Romero, Spanish guitarist (d. 1996)
- 1914 – Martin Ritt, American movie director (d. 1990)
- 1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban–born actor, musician and bandleader (d. 1986)
- 1918 – Michael Rye, American voice actor (d. 2012)
- 1919 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Tamara Toumanova, Russian ballerina and actress (d. 1996)
- 1921 – Cornelius Edward Gallagher, American politician (d. 2018)
- 1921 – Kazimierz Gorski, Polish footballer (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Ernst Haas, Austrian photojournalist (d. 1986)
- 1922 – Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, American jazz tenor saxophonist (d. 1986)
- 1923 – Masao Ono, Japanese footballer (d. 2001)
- 1923 – Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster (d. 1999)
- 1923 – Orrin Keepnews, American songwriter and producer (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Dave Strack, American basketball coach (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Robert H. Michel, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
- 1924 – Cal Abrams, American baseball player (d. 1997)
- 1926 – Murray Rothbard, American economist and philosopher (d. 1995)
- 1926 – George Patrick Leonard Walker, British volcanologist (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (d. 2014)
- 1930 – John Cullum, American actor and singer
- 1930 – Pat Arrowsmith, British writer and peace campaigner
- 1930 – Tom Wolfe, American writer (d. 2018)
- 1930 – Sergei Kovalev, Russian dissident and politician
- 1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
- 1931 – Jean Périmony, French actor and theatre director (d. 2017)
- 1932 – Gun Hägglund, Swedish television journalist (d. 2011)
- 1934 – Howard Cassady, American football player (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, former President of Algeria (d. 2021)
- 1937 – Denny Crum, American basketball coach
- 1938 – Aleksandar Kostov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 2019)
- 1938 – Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile
- 1939 – Irina Bogacheva, Russian mezzo–soprano (d. 2019)
- 1939 – Takako Shimazu, Japanese royal
- 1940 – Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer (d. 2019)
- 1940 – Mamnoon Hussain, 12th President of Pakistan
- 1940 – Lothar de Maizière, German lawyer and politician
- 1941 – John Cornell, Australian actor, director, producer and businessman
- 1941 – David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States
- 1942 – Kwang Jo Choi, Korean taekwondo champion
- 1942 – Lou Reed, American singer and guitarist (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iranian politician
- 1942 – John Irving, American writer
- 1943 – Zygfryd Blaut, Polish footballer (d. 2005)
- 1943 – Tony Meehan, British musician (d. 2005)
- 1943 – B. Subhashan Reddy, Indian judge (d. 2019)
- 1944 – Uschi Glas, German actress
- 1947 – Harry Redknapp, English football manager
- 1947 – Yuri Matiyasevich, Russian mathematician
- 1947 – Glenn O'Brien, American journalist, editor and television presenter (d. 2017)
- 1948 – Larry Carlton, American musician
- 1948 – Jeff Kennett, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of Victoria
- 1948 – Rory Gallagher, Irish musician, songwriter and bandleader (d. 1995)
- 1949 – Alain Chamfort, French singer
- 1949 – Gates McFadden, American actress
- 1949 – J. P. R. Williams, Welsh rugby player
- 1950 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (d. 1983)

### 1951 – 1975

- 1951 – Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize
- 1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress, comedienne and writer
- 1953 – Russ Feingold, American politician
- 1954 – Eddie Johnstone, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1955 – Jay Osmond, American drummer and singer
- 1955 – Ken Salazar, American politician
- 1955 – Shoko Asahara, Japanese cult leader (Aum Shinrikyo)
- 1956 – Mark Evans, Australian musician (AC/DC)
- 1956 – John Cowsill, American musician
- 1956 – Eduardo Rodriguez, former President of Bolivia
- 1957 – Mark Dean, American computer scientist
- 1958 – Ian Woosnam, Welsh golfer
- 1958 – Kevin Curren, South African tennis player
- 1959 – Larry Stewart, American singer
- 1960 – Debra Marshall, American wrestler, manager and actress
- 1961 – Simone Young, Australian conductor
- 1962 – Raimo Summanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Morioka Hiroyuki, Japanese writer
- 1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American musician (Bon Jovi)
- 1963 – Anthony Albanese, Australian politician
- 1963 – Henry Bolton, British politician, former leader of UKIP
- 1965 – Lembit Opik, British politician
- 1968 – Daniel Craig, British actor
- 1970 – Alexander Armstrong, British comedian and television presenter
- 1970 – James Purnell, British politician
- 1971 – Dave Gorman, British comedian
- 1971 – Lisa Lackey, Australian actress
- 1971 – Amber Smith, American actress and model
- 1971 – Method Man, American rapper, producer and actor
- 1971 – Norbert Hofer, Austrian politician
- 1972 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentine footballer
- 1973 – Trevor Sinclair, English footballer
- 1973 – Dejan Bodiroga, Serbian basketball player

### From 1976

- 1976 – França, Brazilian footballer
- 1977 – Chris Martin, English musician (Coldplay)
- 1977 – Andrew Strauss, English cricketer
- 1979 – Sergei Davydov, Belarussian figure skater
- 1979 – Damien Duff, Irish footballer
- 1979 – Francesco Tavano, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Nicky Weaver, English footballer
- 1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress
- 1981 – Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress, writer and director
- 1981 – Lance Cade, American professional wrestler (d. 2010)
- 1982 – Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1982 – Kevin Kuranyi, German footballer
- 1982 – Ben Roethlisberger, American football player
- 1982 – Pilou Asbaek, Danish actor
- 1982 – Jade Galbraith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Ryan Shannon, American ice hockey player
- 1983 – Lisandro Lopez, Argentine footballer
- 1984 – Elizabeth Jagger, English model and actress
- 1985 – Suso Santana, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Luke Pritchard, British singer (The Kooks)
- 1986 – Babacar Gueye, French–Senegalese footballer
- 1988 – Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
- 1988 – James Arthur, British singer
- 1988 – Dexter Pittman, American basketball player
- 1989 – Toby Alderweireld, Belgian footballer
- 1989 – Marcel Hirscher, Austrian alpine skier
- 1990 – Rauno Alliku, Estonian footballer
- 1990 – Lee Hongki, South Korean singer and actor
- 1993 – Mariya Yaremchuk, Ukrainian singer
- 1997 – Becky G, American rapper
- 1998 – Tua Tagovailoa, American football player
- 2016 – Prince Oscar, Duke of Skane, Swedish royal

### Up to 1900

- 672 – Chad of Mercia, Anglo–Saxon abbot
- 855 – Lothair I, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor (b. 795)
- 1127 – Charles I, Count of Flanders
- 1316 – Marjorie Bruce, died shortly after giving birth to Robert II of Scotland, (b. 1296)
- 1589 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal (b. 1520)
- 1619 – Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort of Scotland, England and Ireland (b. 1574)
- 1729 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian philosopher and scientist (b. 1662)
- 1791 – John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (b. 1703)
- 1797 – Horace Walpole, English politician and writer (b. 1717)
- 1829 – Karl Gottfried Hagen, German polymath (b. 1749)
- 1835 – Francis, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1768)
- 1840 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (b. 1758)
- 1855 – Tsar Nicholas I of Russia (b. 1796)
- 1895 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (b. 1841)
- 1895 – Isma'il Pasha, Governor of Egypt (b. 1830)

### 1901 – 2000

- 1919 – Melchora Aquino, Filipino national hero (b. 1812)
- 1921 – Nicholas I of Montenegro (b. 1841)
- 1930 – D. H. Lawrence, British writer (b. 1885)
- 1939 – Howard Carter, British archaeologist (b. 1874)
- 1943 – Gisela Januszewska, Austrian physicist (b. 1867)
- 1945 – Emily Carr, Canadian artist (b. 1871)
- 1949 – Pietro Ferrero, Italian businessman and confectioner (b. 1898)
- 1953 – James Lightbody, American athlete (b. 1882)
- 1960 – Stanislaw Taczak, Polish general (b. 1874)
- 1962 – Charles Jean de la Vallee-Poussin, Belgian mathematician (b. 1866)
- 1965 – Mikheil Tsereteli, Georgian historian and diplomat (b. 1878)
- 1967 – Jose Martinez Ruiz, Spanish poet and writer (b. 1873)
- 1975 – Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, Kenyan politician and opposition activist (b. 1929) (unsolved murder)
- 1982 – Philip K. Dick, American writer (b. 1928)
- 1987 – Randolph Scott, American actor and director (b. 1898)
- 1987 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian stepfather of Barack Obama (b. 1935)
- 1991 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer (b. 1928)
- 1994 – Maurice Bambier, French politician (b. 1925)
- 1994 – Anita Morris, American actress and singer (b. 1943)
- 1999 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (b. 1939)
- 2000 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (b. 1963)

### From 2001

- 2003 – Hank Ballard, American singer (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Henri Troyat, French writer (b. 1911)
- 2008 – Jeff Healey, Canadian musician (b. 1966)
- 2009 – Joao Bernardo Vieira, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
- 2009 – Ernst Benda, German politician (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Winston Spencer-Churchill, British politician (b. 1940)
- 2011 – Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistani politician (b. 1968)
- 2011 – Thor Vilhjalmsson, Icelandic writer (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Hans Schnitger, Dutch field hockey player (b. 1915)
- 2014 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarussian painter (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Molly Bobak, Canadian writer, painter and printmaker (b. 1922)
- 2014 – Peter Bares, German composer (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Francisco González Ledesma, Spanish novelist, comics writer, and journalist (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Dave Mackay, Scottish footballer (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Dean Hess, American minister and air force colonel (b. 1917)
- 2016 – Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern, German royal and art historian (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Aubrey McClendon, American energy and basketball executive (b. 1959)
- 2016 – Janusz Bolonek, Polish Roman Catholic prelate and diplomat (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Marion Patrick Jones, Trinidadian writer (b. 1931)
- 2016 – Paul Webley, English educator (b. 1953)
- 2017 – Tommy Gemmell, Scottish footballer (b. 1943)
- 2017 – Simon Hobday, South African golfer (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Howard Schmidt, American cybersecurity advisor (b. 1950)
- 2017 – Andrés Ocaña, Spanish politician (b. 1954)
- 2018 – Gillo Dorfles, Italian art critic, painter and philosopher (b. 1910)
- 2018 – Ota Filip, Czech novelist and journalist (b. 1930)
- 2018 – Brandon Jenkins, American singer-songwriter (b. 1969)
- 2018 – Carlo Ripa di Meana, Italian politician (b. 1929)
- 2019 – Arnulf Baring, German political scientist and historian (b. 1932)
- 2019 – Keith Davis, New Zealand rugby union player (b. 1930)
- 2019 – Fred Hill, American baseball coach (b. 1934)
- 2019 – Med Hondo, Mauritanian–French film director, screenwriter and actor (b. 1936)
- 2019 – Francisco Macri, Italian–Argentine businessman (b. 1930)
- 2019 – Keith Harvey Miller, American politician, 3rd Governor of Alaska (b. 1925)
- 2019 – Ogden R. Reid, American politician and diplomat (b. 1925)
- 2019 – Werner Schneyder, Austrian director and actor (b. 1937)
- 2019 – Rafael Torija de la Fuente, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1927)

## Observances

- Independence Day (Morocco)
- Texas Independence Day
- Read Across America Day in the United States (Birthday of Dr. Seuss)
- Victory at Adwa Day (Ethiopia)
- Peasants Day (Burma)