March 3

Events
Up to 1900
1284 - The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England.
1575 - Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great defeats a Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi.
1585 - The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza, Italy.
1776 - American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins in the Battle of Nassau.
1779 - American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army is routed (heavily beaten) at the Battle of Brier Creek.
1788 - Europen settlement begins on Norfolk Island.
1799 - Russo-Ottoman Siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison.
1820 - United States Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
1836 - Texas declares independence from Mexico.
1845 - Florida becomes the 27th state of the United States.
1849 - The Minnesota Territory is created.
1857 - Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
1861 - Tsar Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing the serfs.
1875 - Georges Bizet's opera Carmen receives its premiere at the Opera-Comique in Paris.
1875 - The first-ever organised indoor ice hockey game is held in Montreal.
1878 - The Russo-Turkish War ends, as Bulgaria regains its independence from the Ottoman Empire.
1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York.
1901 2000
1904 - Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first ruler to make a sound recording of a political document, using the phonograph cylinder.
1905 - Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly, the Duma.
1913 - Thousands of women march in a suffrage parade in Washington, DC.
1915 - NACA, the predecessor of NASA, is founded.
1918 - World War I: Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending Russia's involvement in the war.
1923 - TIME magazine is first published.
1924 - End of the Ottoman caliphate.
1925 - The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is unveiled, having been created by Gutzon Borglum. Carved into rock are the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
1931 - The United States adopts "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem.
1933 - Ching Yun University is established.
1938 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
1939 - Mahatma Gandhi begins a fast (a period without eating) in protest against autocratic rule in British colonial India.
1942 - World War II: Ten Japanese war planes raid the town of Broome in Western Australia, killing over 100 people.
1943 - World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter the air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
1945 - World War II: American and Filipino troops recapture Manila from Japanese forces.
1945 - A former Armia Krajowa unit massacres at least 150 Ukrainian civilians in Pawlokoma, Poland.
1945 - World War II: The Royal Air Force accidentally bombs the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in The Hague, killing 511 people.
1953 - A Canadian Pacific Airlines Comet aircraft crashes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11 people.
1958 - Nuri as-Said becomes Prime Minister of Iraq for the 14th time.
1961 - Hassan II becomes King of Morocco.
1962 - The British Antarctic Territory is created.
1969 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
1973 - Wasington Convention is signed.
1974 - Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville, near Paris, killing all 346 people on board.
1978 - The body of movie actor Charles Chaplin is stolen from his grave in Switzerland.
1985 - Arthur Scargill announces the decision by the National Mineworkers Union to end the longest-running industrial dispute in the United Kingdom without a peace agreement over pit closures.
1985 - A magnitude 8.3 earthquake strikes the Valparaiso region of Chile, killing 177 people.
1991 - Referendum votes in both Estonia and Latvia show overwhelming support for independence from the Soviet Union.
1991 - United Airlines Flight 585 crashes at Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing 25 people on board.
1991 - Rodney King is hit and kicked by the Los Angeles police, which leads to big riots.
1992 - Kyrgyzstan starts to use its current flag.
1992 - Alija Izetbegovic declares Bosnia and Herzegovina independent.
1996 - The Partido Popular wins the Spanish parliamentary election, leading to Jose Maria Aznar becoming Prime Minister.
1997 - The Sky Tower, the southern hemisphere's tallest free-standing structure at a height of 328 metres, opens in Auckland, New Zealand, following more than years of building work.
From 2001
2002 - Switzerland votes to join the United Nations, breaking its long history of being neutral.
2002 - The Hindu Kush in Afghanistan is hit by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, killing 166 people.
2005 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world without refuelling.
2009 - An armed attack targets the Sri Lanka national cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan.
2009 - The Historical Archives building in Cologne, Germany, collapses, killing 2 people. Many documents are either completely destroyed or badly damaged.
Births
Up to 1900
1455 - King John II of Portugal (d. 1495)
1500 - Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1558)
1520 - Matthias Flacius, Croatian Protestant reformer (d. 1575)
1589 - Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch theologian (d. 1676)
1606 - Edmund Waller, English poet (d. 1687)
1652 - Thomas Ottway, English dramatist (d. 1685)
1678 - Madeleine de Vercheres, Canadian heroine (d. 1747)
1756 - William Goodwin, English writer (d. 1836)
1778 - Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Hanover (d. 1841)
1788 - William Carroll, 6th and 9th Governor of Tennessee (d. 1844)
1793 - Charles Sealsfield, Austrian-American journalist (d. 1864)
1800 - Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist (d. 1862)
1805 - Jonas Furrer, 1st President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1861)
1816 - William James Blacklock, English painter (d. 1858)
1819 - Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist (d. 1912)
1823 - Gyula Andrassy, Hungarian regent (d. 1890)
1831 - George Pullman, American inventor (d. 1897)
1838 - George William Hill, American astronomer and mathematician (d. 1914)
1839 - Jamsetji Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 1904)
1841 - John Murray, Scottish oceanographer (d. 1914)
1845 - Georg Cantor, German mathematician (d. 1918)
1847 - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor (d. 1922)
1860 - John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player (d. 1925)
1861 - Racho Petrov, Bulgarian general and politician (d. 1942)
1866 - Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1914)
1869 - Henry Wood, English conductor (d. 1944)
1869 - William M. Calder, United States Senator (d. 1945)
1871 - Maurice Garin, French cyclist (d. 1957)
1873 - William Green, American labor union leader (d. 1953)
1877 - Jon Thorlaksson, Prime Minister of Iceland (d. 1935)
1878 - Leopold Jessner, German producer and director (d. 1945)
1879 - Jozsef Klekl, Slovenian writer (d. 1936)
1880 - Yosuke Matsuoka, Japanese politician (d. 1946)
1880 - Florence Auer, American actress (d. 1962)
1882 - Charles Ponzi, Italian criminal, origin of the term Ponzi scheme (d. 1949)
1886 - Tore Orjasaeter, Norwegian poet (d. 1968)
1886 - Ezequiel Fernandez, 18th President of Panama (d. 1946)
1890 - Norman Bethune, Canadian doctor and humanitarian (d. 1939)
1891 - Damaskinos, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1949)
1891 - Arthur Drewry, British FIFA President (d. 1961)
1893 - Beatrice Wood, American artist and ceramicist (d. 1998)
1895 - Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist (d. 1973)
1901 1950
1901 - Claude Choules, British World War I veteran and supercentenarian (d. 2011)
1903 - Vasily Kozlov, Soviet politician (d. 1987)
1905 - Marie Glory, French actress (d. 2009)
1906 - Artur Lundqvist, Swedish writer (d. 1991)
1911 - Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
1912 - Klaus Gysi, German politician (d. 1999)
1914 - Asger Jorn, Danish painter (d. 1973)
1916 - Paul Halmos, Hungarian-American mathematician (d. 2006)
1918 - Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist (d. 2007)
1918 - Peter O'Sullevan, British horse racing commentator (d. 2015)
1918 - Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrian (d. 2000)
1919 - Loki Schmidt, German environmentalist and wife of Helmut Schmidt (d. 2010)
1919 - Peter Abrahams, South African writer (d. 2017)
1920 - Ronald Searle, British cartoonist (d. 2011)
1920 - Julius Boros, American golfer (d. 1994)
1920 - James Doohan, Canadian actor (d. 2005)
1921 - Diana Barrymore, American actress (d. 1960)
1921 - Doc Paskowitz, American surfer and physician (d. 2014)
1922 - Nandor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (d. 2002)
1923 - Doc Watson, American bluegrass musician (d. 2012)
1924 - Tomiichi Murayama, Prime Minister of Japan
1924 - Lys Assia, Swiss singer and actress (d. 2018)
1928 - Howell Evans, Welsh actor, comedian and singer (d. 2014)
1929 - Mithat Bayrak, Turkish wrestler (d. 2014)
1930 - Heiner Geissler, German politician (d. 2017)
1930 - Ion Iliescu, former President of Romania
1933 - Lee Radziwill, American fashion executive (d. 2019)
1933 - Alfredo Landa, Spanish actor (d. 2013)
1934 - Jimmy Garrison, American jazz musician (d. 1976)
1934 - Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, English politician
1934 - Yasuo Takamori, Japanese footballer
1935 - Zhelyu Zhelev, former President of Bulgaria (d. 2015)
1935 - Michael Walzer, American philosopher
1935 - Malcolm Anderson, Australian tennis player
1937 - Tsukasa Hosaka, Japanese footballer (d. 2018)
1937 - Bobby Driscoll, American actor (d. 1968)
1938 - Bruno Bozzetti, Italian animator and movie director
1942 - Mike Pender, English singer and guitarist
1945 - Ronald Mallett, American theoretical physicist
1945 - George Miller, Australian director
1946 - John Virgo, English snooker player
1946 - James C. Adamson, American astronaut
1947 - Jennifer Warnes, American singer
1947 - Oscar Tabarez, Uruguayan football manager
1948 - Snowy White, British guitarist
1949 - Bonnie J. Dunbar, American engineer, academic and astronaut
1951 1975
1951 - Tony Hall, British broadcasting executive, Director-General of the BBC
1953 - Zico, Brazilian footballer
1955 - Jorge Vergara, Mexican businessman
1955 - Darnell Williams, English-American actor
1956 - Zbigniew Boniek, Polish footballer
1958 - Miranda Richardson, British actress
1958 - Bob Bradley, American soccer coach
1958 - Marc Silvestri, American comic book artist
1960 - Neal Heaton, American baseball player and coach
1961 - Fatima Whitbread, British javelin thrower
1962 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee, American athlete
1966 - Fernando Colunga, Mexican actor
1966 - Timo Tolkki, Finnish musician
1967 - Alexander Volkov, Russian tennis player
1968 - Brian Cox, British physicist, television presenter and former musician
1968 - Brian Leetch, American ice hockey player
1970 - Inzamam ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer
1970 - James Purnell, British politician
1970 - John Carter Cash, American country musician
1971 - Charlie Brooker, British comedian, writer and broadcaster
1971 - Christian Eigner, Austrian drummer and songwriter (Depeche Mode)
1972 - Darren Anderton, English footballer
1973 - Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg
1973 - Olafur Darri Olafsson, Icelandic actor
1974 - David Faustino, American actor
1975 - Aleksandr Abdulkhalikov, Russian footballer
1975 - Aleksei Abdulkhalikov, Russian footballer
From 1976
1976 - Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, Estonian politician
1977 - Ronan Keating, Irish singer
1978 - Seo Moon-tak, South Korean singer
1979 - Albert Jorquera, Spanish footballer
1979 - Alex Zane, British comedian
1981 - Eugene, South Korean singer and actress
1981 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
1981 - Julius Malema, South African politician and leader of Economic Freedom Fighters
1981 - Emmanuel Pappoe, Ghanaian footballer
1982 - Jessica Biel, American actress
1983 - Ashley Hansen, Australian footballer
1984 - Alexander Semin, Russian ice hockey player
1985 - David Davies, Welsh swimmer
1986 - Mehmet Topal, Turkish footballer
1986 - Stacie Orrico, American singer
1987 - Jesus Padilla, Mexican footballer
1988 - Riccardo Bocchino, Italian rugby player
1988 - Bella Heathcote, Australian actress
1988 - Michael Morrison, English footballer
1989 - Erwin Mulder, Dutch footballer
1989 - Hayley Marie Norman, American actress, producer and screenwriter
1989 - Shuichi Gonda, Japanese footballer
1991 - Park Cho-rong, South Korean singer
1992 - Jordy Lucas, Australian actress
1994 - Umika Kawashima, Japanese actress
1995 - Maine Mendoza, Filipina internet and television personality
1997 - Camila Cabello, American singer
Deaths
Up to 1900
1033 - Cunigunde of Luxembourg, Holy Roman Empress (b. 960)
1111 - Bohemund I, Prince of Antioch
1239 - Vladimir III Rurikovich, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1187)
1554 - John Frederick, Elector of Saxony (b. 1503)
1605 - Pope Clement VIII (b. 1536)
1606 - Nyaungyan Min, King of Burma (b. 1557)
1703 - Robert Hooke, English scientist (b. 1635)
1706 - Johann Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1653)
1707 - Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor (b. 1618)
1792 - Robert Adam, Scottish architect (b. 1728)
1824 - Giovanni Battista Viotti, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1755)
1869 - William Lanney (King Billy), the last full blood aborigine in Tasmania.
1899 - William P. Sprague, American politician (b. 1887)
1901 2000
1901 - George Gilman, American businessman (b. 1826)
1920 - Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter (b. 1840)
1927 - Mikhail Artsybashev, Ukrainian author and playwright (b. 1878)
1932 - Eugen d'Albert, German composer (b. 1864)
1932 - Joseph Mackey Brown, Governor of Georgia (b. 1851)
1942 - Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, Italian governor and viceroy (b. 1898)
1945 - William M. Calder, United States Senator (b. 1869)
1953 - James J. Jeffries, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1875)
1959 - Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (d. 1906)
1961 - Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (b. 1887)
1966 - Joseph Fields, American playwright, director and producer (b. 1895)
1975 - Edward H. Griffith, American director (d. 1888)
1979 - Mustafa Barzani, Kurdish politician (b. 1903)
1983 - Herge, Belgian comics creator (b. 1907)
1987 - Danny Kaye, American actor, singer and comedian (b. 1911)
1991 - William Penney, English mathematician (b. 1909)
1993 - Carlos Montoya, Spanish flamenco guitarist (b. 1903)
1993 - Albert Sabin, Polish-born medical researcher (b. 1906)
1995 - Howard Hunter, American religious leader (b. 1907)
1996 - Marguerite Durand, French writer (b. 1914)
1996 - John Krol, American cardinal (b. 1910)
1998 - Fred Friendly, American broadcast executive (b. 1915)
1999 - Gerhard Herzberg, German-born Canadian chemist (b. 1904)
From 2001
2002 - G. M. C. Balayogi, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1951)
2003 - Horst Buchholz, German actor (b. 1933)
2005 - Rinus Michels, Dutch footballer and coach (b. 1928)
2008 - Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian operatic tenor (b. 1921)
2010 - Keith Alexander, British footballer and coach (b. 1956)
2010 - Michael Foot, British politician (b. 1913)
2011 - Allan Louisy, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia (b. 1914)
2012 - Ralph McQuarrie, American conceptual designer and illustrator (b. 1929)
2013 - Luis Cubilla, Uruguayan footballer (b. 1940)
2014 - William R. Pogue, American astronaut (b. 1930)
2015 - M. Stanton Evans, American journalist, author and educator (b. 1934)
2015 - Lynn Borden, American actress (b. 1937)
2015 - Ernest Braun, Austrian-British academic and author (b. 1925)
2016 - Martin Crowe, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1962)
2016 - Ashok Ghosh, Indian politician (b. 1921)
2016 - Thanat Khoman, Thai politician (b. 1914)
2016 - Natalia Krachkovskaya, Russian actress (b. 1938)
2016 - Sophie Dessus, French politician (b. 1955)
2016 - Hayabusa, Japanese professional wrestler (b. 1968)
2017 - Raymond Kopa, French footballer (b. 1931)
2017 - Misha Mengelberg, Dutch jazz pianist and composer (b. 1935)
2017 - Tommy Page, American singer-songwriter (b. 1970)
2017 - Rene Preval, President of Haiti (b. 1943)
2017 - Anne Kristin Sydnes, Norwegian politician (b. 1956)
2018 - Vanessa Goodwin, Australian politician (b. 1969)
2018 - Roger Bannister, English athlete and neurologist (b. 1929)
2018 - David Ogden Stiers, American actor (b. 1942)
2018 - Lin Hu, Chinese air force general (b. 1927)
2018 - Yvon Taillandier, French artist (b. 1926)
2018 - Derek Saunders, English footballer (b. 1928)
2018 - Billy Herrington, American pornographic actor (b. 1969)
2018 - Jorge Wagensberg Lubinski, Spanish physicist, academic and writer (b. 1948)
2018 - Franz Pacher, Austrian engineer (b. 1919)
2019 - Peter Hurford, British organist and composer (b. 1930)
2023 - Kenzaburo Oe, Japanese writer (b. 1935)
Observances
Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day) in Japan
Liberation Day (Bulgaria)
Mother's Day (Georgia)
Sportsmen's Day (Egypt)
Martyrs' Day (Malawi)
World Wildlife Day
March 03