History March This Day in History

                           

March This Day in History, Historic Events

Leprechaun Day

What Historic March Events Occurred on Your Birthday?

Our “This Day in History for March” section contains historical March events categorized by month and day. See what happened on your birthday, or any day of the year. Find out what happened on this day in March.

Major Historical March Events:

March 1, 1790 – The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for the first time.

March 1, 1872 – Yellowstone becomes the U.S.’s first national park.

March 1, 1932 – The Hoover Dam is completed.

March 1, 1958 – U.S. launches Explorer I, its first satellite.

March 1, 1961 – The U.S. Peace Corps is founded.

March 1, 1982 – Late Night with David Letterman premieres on NBC.

March 2, 1836 – Texas declared its independence from Mexico.

March 2, 1887 – The first Ground Hog Day is observed in Punxsutawney, PA  

March 2, 1933 – The movie King Kong premieres.

March 2, 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 100 points in a basketball game.

March 3, 1931 – The Star Spangled Banner becomes the National Anthem

March 3, 1791 – Congress establishes the U.S. Mint.

March 3, 1855 – The U.S. Congress authorizes $30,000 to study the feasibility of using camels for military purposes.

March 3, 1899 – George Dewey becomes the first Admiral of the U.S. Navy.

March 3, 1931 – Congressional resolution makes the “Star Spangled Banner” the official U.S. anthem.

March 3, 1933 – Mount Rushmore is dedicated.

March 3, 1997 – The Howard Stern Radio Show premieres in Fayetteville, NC

March 4, 1789 – The Constitution of the United States of America goes into effect.

March 4, 1924 – “Happy Birthday to You” is published by Claydon Sunny.

March 4, 1930 – Mrs. Charles Fahning of Buffalo N.Y. is recognized as the first woman to bowl a perfect 300 game.

March 4, 1966 – John Lennon proclaims “We (Beatles) are more popular than Jesus.”

March 5, 1770 – The Boston Massacre occurred. 

March 5, 1836 – Samuel Colt manufactures the first pistol, the 34 caliber “Texas”.

March 5, 1868 – C.H. Gould patents the Stapler in England.

March 5, 2004 – Martha Stewart is convicted of Obstructing Justice, a felony.

March 6, 1836 –  The battle of the Alamo ends as Mexican forces overwhelm and kill all defenders.

March 6, 1899 – Felix Hoffmann at German Bayer company patents aspirin.

March 6, 1950 – Silly putty is invented. 

March 6, 1964 – Boxing great Cassius Clay converts to Islam and changes his name to Muhammad Ali.

March 6, 1981 – Well known and loved Walter Cronkite signs off as anchorman of the CBS Evening News

March 7, 1857 – Baseball determines that nine innings constitutes a full game, not nine runs.

March 7, 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell patents the Telephone.

March 7, 1933 – The Monopoly board game is invented.

March 7, 2011 – Charlie Sheen is fired from the CBS comedy sitcom “Two and a Half Men”

March 8, 1531 – King Henry III is officially recognized as the Supreme Head of the Church of England by the Convocation of Canterbury.

March 8, 1817 –  The New Your Stock Exchange is founded.

March 8, 1936 –  The first stock car race is run at Daytona Beach.

March 8, 1983 –  President Ronald Reagan calls the USSR an “Evil Empire”.

March 8, 1999 – Baseball great Joe DiMaggio dies.

March 9, 1562 – Kissing is banned in Naples, Italy, and punishable by death.

March 9, 1862 – Ironclad ships the Monitor and the Merrimack battle in the Civil War.

March 9, 1959 – Mattel debuts Barbie dolls at the International American Toy Fair in New York City. See Barbie Doll Day

March 9, 1964 –  The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line.

March 10, 1862 – The U.S. government issues paper money for the first time. 

March 10, 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell places the world’s first telephone call, to his assistant in the next room.

Leprechaun with Pot of Gold

March Brings Spring to the Northern Hemisphere

March 11, 1669 – Mt. Etna in Sicily erupts in its largest eruption ever, killing over 15,000 people.

March 11, 1888 – The most famous storm in American history begins…. the Blizzard of 1888.

March 11, 1997 – The ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry are launched into space.

March 11, 1997 – Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

March 12, 1894 – Coca Cola is sold in bottles for the first time in a candy store in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

March 12, 1912 – Girl Scouts of USA were founded by Juliette Low of Savannah, GA.

March 12, 1942 – Baseball great Joe DiMaggio agrees to a new contract with the NY Yankees and gets a $6,250 raise. My, how times have changed!

March 12, 1965 – The song “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and Pharaohs is released as a single. Karaoke anyone!?

March 13, 1639 – Harvard University is named after clergyman John Harvard.

March 13, 1868 – Senate begins the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.

March 13, 1887 – Greenwood patented earmuffs, originally called the “Champion Ear Protector”.  See Ear Muff Day

March 13, 1936 – Work on the Boulder dam is completed.

March 13, 1969 – Disney releases the movie “The Love Bug”.

March 13, 2012 – Encyclopedia Britannica announces it will no longer produce a printed version of its encyclopedia.

March 14, 1794 – Eli Whitney patents the Cotton Gin.

March 14, 1899 – German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin receives a U.S. patent for a “navigable balloon”.

March 14, 1932 – George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak Company, commits suicide rather than facing the ravages of cancer.

March 15, 44 B.C. –  “The Ides of March” Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus.

March 15, 1892 – Inventor Jesse W. Reno receives a patent for the world’s first escalator.

March 15, 1965 – TGI Friday’s opens their first restaurant, in NYC.

March 15, 2018 – After filing for bankruptcy, Toys R Us announces it will close all of its toy stores.

March 16, 1926 – Professor Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fuel rocket.

Marc 16, 1968 – General Motors produces their 100 millionth automobile, an Oldsmobile Toronado.

March 17 – On this day everyone is a little bit Irish- It’s Saint Patrick’s Day!

March 17, 1762 – First Saint Patrick’s Day parade in NYC. 

March 17, 1845 – The rubber band was invented by Stephen Perry in London. Can you imagine life without them!?!

March 17, 1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.

March 18, 1818 – The U.S. government approves the first pensions for government service.

March 18, 1931 – Shick introduces the first electric shaver to the marketplace.

March 18, 1965 – Soviet Union cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov becomes the first person to take a space walk.

March 19, 1911 – First International Women’s Day, over 1 million men and women attend rallies around the world.

March 19, 1918 – Congress approves Daylight Savings Time

March 20, 1852 – Harriet Beacher Stowe publishes the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

March 20, 1922 –  The U.S. Navy commissions the first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley.

March 20, 1930 –  Kentucky Fried Chicken is founded by “Colonel” Harlan Sanders in North Corbin, KY. It proves to be “finger-lickin’ good!”

March 20, 1941 – General Douglas McArthur escapes Japanese-occupied Philippines, vowing “I shall return!”

Outer Space

Historic March Events - Everyone is a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day

March 21, 1935 – Persia is formally renamed Iran.

March 21, 1963 – The infamous Alcatraz prison is closed.

March 21, 2006 – Twitter is created. Social media will never be the same.

March 22, 1960 – The first patent for a laser is issued to Arthur Schlow and Charles Townes.

March 22, 1963 – The Beatle’s first album “Please, Please Me” is released in England.

March 23, 1775 – Patrick Henry declares “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

March 23, 1857 – Elisha Otis installs the first elevator at 488 Broadway in New York City.

March 24, 1882 – German scientist Robert Koch announces he has discovered the bacillus that causes Tuberculosis.

March 24, 1958 – Elvis Presley joins the U.S. Army.

March 24, 1964 – The Kennedy half dollar is put into circulation.

March 24, 1989 – The supertanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and ruptures, spilling millions of gallons of oil.

March 25, 31 – The First Easter celebration is held.

March 25, 1954 – RCA manufactures the first color television.

March 25, 1957 – The European Economic Community (ECC) is established by the Treaty of Rome.

March 25, 1970 –   The Concorde jet makes its maiden supersonic flight.

March 26, 127 – Greek Astrologer and mathematician Ptolemy begins his observations of the heavens.

March 26, 1827 – Ludwig von Beethoven dies in Vienna, Austria. 

March 26, 1830 – The Book of Mormon is published in Palmyra, New York.

March 26, 1885 – The Eastman Dry Plate and Chemical Company manufactures the first motion picture film.

March 26, 1945 – U.S. Marines raise the American flag at Iwo Jima.

March 27, 1855 – Abraham Gesner receives a patent for kerosene.

March 27, 1909 – Fingerprints are used as evidence in a murder trial for the first time.

March 27, 1964 – The biggest earthquake ever recorded strikes Anchorage, Alaska.  It measured 8.3 on the Richter scale.

March 28, 1797 – Nathaniel Briggs patents the washing machine.

March 28, 1866 – The first ambulance goes into service.

March 28, 1939 – The city of Madrid falls to the forces of Francisco Franco, ending the Spanish Civil War.

March 28, 1963 – The AFL’s NY Titans become the NY Jets.

March 28, 1979 – Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident occurs in Middletown, Pa.

March 29, 1795 – At age 24, Ludwig von Beethoven debuts as a pianist in Venice

March 29, 1848 – Ice jams stop the flow of water over Niagara Falls.

March 29, 1882 – The Knights of Columbus is founded.

March 29, 1886 – Coca Cola is invented.

March 30, 240 B.B. –  First recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet.

March 30, 1842. Ether is used as an anesthesia for the first time by Doctor Crawford Long in Georgia. See Doctor’s Day.

March 30, 1858 – A pencil with an attached eraser is patented by Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia, PA.

March 30, 1867 – The United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.

March 30, 1870 – The 15th Amendment goes into effect, giving black men the right to vote.

March 30, 1964 – Jeopardy debuts on television.

March 30, 2020 – The International Olympic Committee announces the postponement of the 2020 summer games until 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

March 31, 1880 – Wabash, Indiana claims to be the first town to be illuminated 100% by electricity.

March 31, 1958 – The Eiffel Tower opens in Paris, France 

March 31, 1918 – Daylight Savings Time goes into effect for the first time in the U.S.



Additional Resources

Flower of the Month

Birthstone of the Month

Famous Birthdays Who else was born on your Birthday? Find out!

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