March 2

Events

• 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 King of the Franks.
• 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.
• 1561 - Mendoza, Argentina, is founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro del Castillo.
• 1657 - Great Fire of Meireki: A fire in Edo, Japan, caused more than 100,000 deaths; it lasted three days
• 1717 - The Loves of Mars and Venus is the first ballet performed in England.
• 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 the 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 banknotes.
• 1807 - The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.
• 1808 - The inaugural meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh.
• 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.
• 1825 - Roberto Cofresí, one of the last successful Caribbean pirates, is defeated in combat and captured by authorities.
• 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, 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 McLean in Windsor.
• 1896 - The Battle of Adwa: The Italian Army defeated by the Ethiopian Army in Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia.
• 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.
• 1933 - The film King Kong opens at New York's Radio City Music Hall.
• 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: Allied aircraft defeat a Japanese attempt to ship troops to New Guinea.
• 1946 - Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.
• 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.
• 1961 - John F. Kennedy announces the creation of the Peace Corps in a nationally televised broadcast.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1989 - Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons by the end of the century.
• 1990 - Nelson Mandela is elected deputy President of the African National Congress.
• 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 join the United Nations.
• 1995 - Researchers at Fermilab announce the discovery of the top quark.
• 1995 - Yahoo! is incorporated.
• 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,.
• 2004 - War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.
• 2012 - A tornado outbreak occurred 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 were officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia.

  Births

• 480 - Benedict of Nursia, Italian Christian saint
• 1316 - Robert II of Scotland
• 1409 - Jean II, Duke of Alençon
• 1432 - Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach, countess consort of Hanau
• 1453 - Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer
• 1459 - Pope Adrian VI
• 1481 - Franz von Sickingen, German knight
• 1545 - Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library
• 1577 - George Sandys, English traveller, colonist and poet
• 1628 - Cornelis Speelman, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
• 1651 - Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet
• 1705 - William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• 1740 - Nicholas Pocock, English naval painter
• 1760 - Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician
• 1769 - DeWitt Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of New York
• 1770 - Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general
• 1779 - Joel Roberts Poinsett, American physician and politician, 15th United States Secretary of War
• 1793 - Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas
• 1800 - Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian-Italian poet and philosopher
• 1810 - Pope Leo XIII
• 1816 - Alexander Bullock, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Massachusetts
• 1817 - János Arany, Hungarian journalist and poet
• 1820 - Multatuli, Dutch writer
• 1824 - Bedřich Smetana, Czech pianist and composer
• 1829 - Carl Schurz, German-American general, lawyer, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior
• 1836 - Henry Billings Brown, American lawyer and judge
• 1842 - Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer, art collector, and philanthropist
• 1846 - Marie Roze, French soprano
• 1849 - Robert Means Thompson, American commander, lawyer, and businessman
• 1859 - Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright
• 1860 - Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician
• 1862 - John Jay Chapman, American lawyer, author, and poet
• 1876 - Pope Pius XII
• 1878 - William Kissam Vanderbilt II, American sailor and race car driver
• 1886 - Willis H. O'Brien, American animator and director
• 1886 - Kurt Grelling, German logician and philosopher
• 1900 - Kurt Weill, German-American pianist and composer
• 1901 - Grete Hermann, German mathematician and philosopher
• 1902 - Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy
• 1902 - Edward Condon, American physicist and academic
• 1904 - Dr. Seuss, American children's book writer, poet, and illustrator
• 1905 - Marc Blitzstein, American composer and songwriter
• 1905 - Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic
• 1908 - Walter Bruch, German engineer
• 1909 - Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster
• 1912 - Henry Katzman, American pianist, composer, and painter
• 1913 - Godfried Bomans, Dutch television host and author
• 1913 - Mort Cooper, American baseball player
• 1914 - Martin Ritt, American actor and film director
• 1915 - John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon
• 1917 - Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer
• 1917 - David Goodis, American author and screenwriter
• 1917 - Jim Konstanty, American baseball player and coach
• 1919 - Jennifer Jones, American actress
• 1919 - Eddie Lawrence, American actor, singer, and playwright
• 1919 - Tamara Toumanova, Russian-American ballerina and actress
• 1921 - Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and coach
• 1921 - Ernst Haas, Austrian-American photographer and journalist
• 1922 - Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, American saxophonist
• 1922 - Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
• 1922 - Frances Spence, American computer programmer
• 1923 - Basil Hume, English cardinal
• 1923 - Robert H. Michel, American soldier and politician
• 1923 - Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach
• 1924 - Cal Abrams, American baseball player
• 1924 - Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic
• 1926 - Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal
• 1926 - Murray Rothbard, American economist and historian
• 1927 - Roger Walkowiak, French cyclist and economist
• 1930 - John Cullum, American actor and singer
• 1930 - Emma Penella, Spanish actress
• 1930 - Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author
• 1931 - Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, President of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1932 - Gun Hägglund, Swedish journalist and translator
• 1934 - Dottie Rambo, American singer-songwriter
• 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
• 1938 - Ricardo Lagos, Chilean economist, lawyer, and politician, 33rd President of Chile
• 1938 - Lawrence Payton, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1938 - Clark Gesner, American author and composer
• 1939 - Jan Howard Finder, American author and academic
• 1940 - Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer
• 1941 - John Cornell, Australian actor, director, and producer
• 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
• 1942 - Derek Woodley, English footballer
• 1943 - George Layton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1943 - Peter Straub, American author and poet
• 1943 - Robert Williams, American painter and cartoonist
• 1945 - Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer
• 1947 - Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter
• 1947 - Harry Redknapp, English footballer and manager
• 1948 - Larry Carlton, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1948 - Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 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
• 1952 - Mark Evanier, American author and screenwriter
• 1952 - Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian
• 1953 - Russ Feingold, American lawyer and 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 - Hossein Dehghan, Iranian general and politician, Iranian Minister of Defense
• 1957 - Dito Tsintsadze, Georgian film director and screenwriter
• 1957 - Mark Dean, American inventor and computer engineer
• 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 - Alvin Youngblood Hart, American singer and guitarist
• 1963 - Anthony Albanese, Australian politician, 15th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
• 1963 - Vidyasagar, Indian composer, musician and singer
• 1964 - Laird Hamilton, American surfer and actor
• 1964 - Mike Von Erich, American wrestler
• 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 - 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 and producer
• 1977 - Stephen Parry, English swimmer and sportscaster
• 1977 - Andrew Strauss, South African-English cricketer
• 1978 - Gabby Eigenmann, Filipino actor and singer
• 1978 - Lee Hodges, English footballer and manager
• 1978 - Tomáš Kaberle, Czech ice hockey player
• 1979 - Damien Duff, Irish international footballer, winger
• 1979 - Gayatri Asokan, Indian playback singer
• 1979 - Jim Troughton, English cricketer
• 1979 - Nicky Weaver, English footballer
• 1980 - Chris Barker, English footballer and manager
• 1980 - Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter
• 1981 - Lance Cade, American wrestler
• 1981 - Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress
• 1982 - Kevin Kurányi, German footballer
• 1982 - Henrik 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, Argentinian footballer
• 1983 - Jay McClement, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 - Glen Perkins, American baseball player
• 1983 - Ryan Shannon, American ice hockey player
• 1985 - Reggie Bush, American football player
• 1985 - Suso Santana, Spanish footballer
• 1986 - Jonathan D'Aversa, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1987 - Jonas Jerebko, Swedish basketball player
• 1988 - Édgar Andrade, Mexican footballer
• 1988 - James Arthur, English singer-songwriter
• 1988 - Laura Kaeppeler, Miss America 2012
• 1988 - Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
• 1988 - Chris Rainey, American football player
• 1988 - Geert Arend Roorda, Dutch footballer
• 1989 - Alemão, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 - Toby Alderweireld, Belgian international footballer, defender
• 1989 - André Bernardes Santos, Portuguese footballer
• 1989 - Marcel Hirscher, Austrian skier
• 1989 - Shane Vereen, American football player
• 1989 - Chris Woakes, English cricketer
• 1990 - Rauno Alliku, Estonian footballer
• 1990 - Malcolm Butler, American football player
• 1990 - Josh McGuire, Australian rugby league player
• 1990 - Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
• 1991 - Nick Franklin, American baseball player
• 1992 - Jack Stockwell, Australian rugby league player
• 1995 - Ange-Freddy Plumain, French footballer
• 1997 - Becky G, American singer and actress
• 2010 - Hailey Dawson, American with a 3D-printed robotic hand
• 2016 - Prince Oscar, duke of Skåne and prince of Sweden

  Deaths

• 274 - Mani, Persian prophet and founder of Manichaeism
• 672 - Chad of Mercia, English bishop and saint
• 986 - Lothair, king of West Francia
• 968 - William, archbishop of Mainz
• 1009 - Mokjong, king of Goryeo
• 1127 - Charles the Good, Count of Flanders
• 1316 - Marjorie Bruce, Scottish daughter of Robert the Bruce
• 1333 - Wladyslaw I, king of Poland
• 1589 - Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal and diplomat
• 1619 - Anne of Denmark, queen of Scotland
• 1729 - Francesco Bianchini, Italian astronomer and philosopher
• 1755 - Louis de Rouvroy, French duke and diplomat
• 1791 - John Wesley, English cleric and theologian
• 1793 - Carl Gustaf Pilo, Swedish-Danish painter and academic
• 1797 - Horace Walpole, English historian and politician
• 1829 - Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Mexican revolutionary
• 1830 - Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician, anatomist, and anthropologist
• 1835 - Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1840 - Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer
• 1855 - Nicholas I, Russian emperor
• 1864 - Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel
• 1865 - Carl Sylvius Völkner, German-New Zealand priest and missionary
• 1880 - John Benjamin Macneill, Irish engineer
• 1895 - Berthe Morisot, French painter
• 1895 - Isma'il Pasha, Egyptian politician
• 1896 - Jubal Early, American general
• 1921 - Champ Clark, American lawyer and politician, 41st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
• 1930 - D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, and critic
• 1938 - Ben Harney, American pianist and composer
• 1939 - Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian
• 1943 - Gisela Januszewska, Jewish-Austrian physician
• 1944 - Ida Maclean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society
• 1945 - Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author
• 1946 - Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture
• 1946 - George E. Stewart, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient
• 1947 - Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels, Dutch architect and urban planner
• 1949 - Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist
• 1953 - James Lightbody, American runner
• 1957 - Selim Sırrı Tarcan, Turkish educator and politician
• 1958 - Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager
• 1962 - Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic
• 1967 - José Martínez Ruiz, Spanish author and critic
• 1972 - Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer
• 1979 - Christy Ring, Irish hurler
• 1982 - Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author
• 1987 - Randolph Scott, American actor and director
• 1987 - Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer and academic
• 1991 - Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director
• 1992 - Sandy Dennis, American actress
• 1994 - Anita Morris, American actress, singer, and dancer
• 1999 - Dusty Springfield, English singer
• 2000 - Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler
• 2003 - Hank Ballard, American singer-songwriter
• 2003 - Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer
• 2004 - Cormac McAnallen, Irish footballer
• 2004 - Mercedes McCambridge, American actress
• 2004 - Marge Schott, American businesswoman
• 2005 - Martin Denny, American pianist and composer
• 2007 - Thomas S. Kleppe, American soldier and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Interior
• 2007 - Clem Labine, American baseball player
• 2007 - Ivan Safronov, Russian colonel and journalist
• 2007 - Henri Troyat, Russian-French historian and author
• 2008 - Jeff Healey, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 2009 - João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau
• 2010 - Winston Churchill, English journalist and politician
• 2012 - Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author
• 2012 - Van T. Barfoot, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient
• 2012 - Norman St John-Stevas, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• 2012 - James Q. Wilson, American political scientist and academic
• 2013 - Peter Harvey, Australian journalist
• 2013 - Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player
• 2013 - Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author
• 2014 - Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet and translator
• 2015 - Dean Hess, American minister and colonel
• 2015 - Dave Mackay, Scottish-English footballer and manager
• 2015 - Mal Peet, English author and illustrator
• 2016 - Benoît Lacroix, Canadian priest, historian, and philosopher
• 2016 - Aubrey McClendon, American businessman
• 2018 - Billy Herrington, American actor
• 2018 - Lin Hu, Chinese lieutenant general
• 2019 - Mike Oliver, British sociologist, disability rights activist

  Holidays and observances

• Air Force Day
• Baloch Culture Day
• Christian feast day:
• *Agnes of Bohemia
• *Angela of the Cross
• *Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders
• *Chad of Mercia
• *John Maron
• *March 2
• Feast of 'Alá, First day of the 19th month of the Bahá'í calendar and first day of the Baha'i Nineteen Day Fast
• Jamahiriya Day
• Peasants' Day
• Texas Independence Day
• Victory at Adwa Day