What happened on March 3? There are more than 294 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About March 3
March 3 is the 63rd day of the year 2024. There are 303 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday. This day falls under the 9th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Lurgan, Pennsylvania 17232 sunrise occured at 06:38 AM and sunset occured at 06:06 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Pisces. The modern birthstone for this month is Aquamarine while the mystical birthstone is Jade.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 332 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 21 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For March 3
- 1284The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England.
- 1575Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi.
- 1585The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza.
- 1776American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
- 1779American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek near Savannah, Georgia.
- 1820The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
- 1845Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
- 1857Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
- 1861Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs.
- 1865Opening of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the founding member of the HSBC Group.
- 1873Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” books through the mail.
- 1875Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen receives its première at the Opéra Comique in Paris.
- 1875The first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey is played in Montreal, Canada as recorded in The Montreal Gazette.
- 1878The Russo-Turkish War ends as Bulgaria regains its independence from Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano; shortly after Congress of Berlin stripped its status to an autonomous state of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1885The American Telephone & Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York.
- 1904Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison’s phonograph cylinder.
- 1905Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly, the Duma.
- 1910Rockefeller Foundation: J.D. Rockefeller Jr. announces his retirement from managing his businesses so that he can devote all his time to philanthropy.
- 1915NACA, the predecessor of NASA, is founded.
- 1918Germany, Austria and Russia sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia’s involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
- 1923TIME magazine is published for the first time.
- 1924The 1400-year-old Islamic caliphate is abolished when Caliph Abdul Mejid II of the Ottoman Empire is deposed. The last remnant of the old regime gives way to the reformed Turkey of Kemal Atatürk.
- 1924The Free State of Fiume is annexed by Kingdom of Italy.
- 1931The United States adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem.
- 1938Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
- 1939In Mumbai, Mohandas Gandhi begins to fast in protest at the autocratic rule in India.
- 1940Five people are killed in an arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Norrskensflamman in Luleå, Sweden.
- 1942World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people.
- 1943World War II: In London, England, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
- 1944The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
- 1945World War II: A former Armia Krajowa unit massacres at least 150 Ukrainian civilians in Pawłokoma, Poland.
- 1945World War II: American and Filipino troops recapture Manila in the Philippines.
- 1951Jackie Brenston, with Ike Turner and his band, records “Rocket 88”, often cited as “the first rock and roll record”, at Sam Phillips’ recording studios in Memphis, Tennessee.
- 1953A Canadian Pacific Airlines De Havilland Comet crashes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11.
- 1958Nuri as-Said becomes the prime minister of Iraq for the 14th time.
- 1969Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
- 1972Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.
- 1974Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard.
- 1980The USS Nautilus is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.
- 1985A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless.
- 1985Arthur Scargill declares that the National Union of Mineworkers national executive voted to end the longest-running industrial dispute in Great Britain without any peace deal over pit closures.
- 1991An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
- 1991In concurrent referenda, 74% of the population of Latvia votes for independence from the Soviet Union, and 83% in Estonia.
- 1991United Airlines Flight 585 crashes on approach into Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing 25.
- 1997The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.
- 2002Citizens of Switzerland narrowly vote in favor of their country becoming a member of the United Nations.
- 2004Belgian brewer Interbrew and Brazilian rival AmBev agree to merge in a $11.2 billion deal that forms InBev, the world’s largest brewer.
- 2005Mayerthorpe Incident: James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. It is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.
- 2005Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling.
- 2009The building of the Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Historical Archives) in Cologne, Germany, collapses.
Who Were Born On March 3?
- 1455King John II of Portugal (d. 1495)
- 1520Matthias Flacius, Croatian Protestant reformer (d. 1575)
- 1583Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (d. 1648)
- 1589Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch theologian (d. 1676)
- 1606Edmund Waller, British poet (d. 1687)
- 1652Thomas Otway, British dramatist (d. 1685)
- 1678Madeleine de Verchères, French Canadian heroine (d. 1747)
- 1756William Godwin, English journalist, political philosopher and novelist (d. 1836)
- 1778Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Hanover (d. 1841)
- 1793William Charles Macready, English actor (d. 1873)
- 1800Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist (d. 1862)
- 1805Jonas Furrer, first President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1861)
- 1816William James Blacklock, British landscape painter (d. 1858)
- 1825Shiranui Kōemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 11th Yokozuna (d. 1879)
- 1831George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1897)
- 1839Jamsetji Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 1904)
- 1845Georg Cantor, German mathematician (d. 1918)
- 1847Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian inventor (d. 1922)
- 1848Adelaide Neilson, English actress (d. 1880)
- 1851Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author (d. 1911)
- 1860John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player (d. 1925)
- 1863Arthur Machen, Welsh-born author (d. 1947)
- 1866Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1914)
- 1868Émile Chartier, French philosopher, journalist and pacifist (d. 1951)
- 1869Henry Joseph Wood, English conductor (d. 1944)
- 1871Maurice Garin, French cyclist (d. 1957)
- 1873William Green, American labor union leader (d. 1952)
- 1879József Klekl, Slovene writer and journalist (d. 1936)
- 1880Florence Auer, American actress (d. 1962)
- 1880Sir Robert Chapman, British soldier and politician (d. 1963)
- 1880Yōsuke Matsuoka, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan (d. 1946)
- 1882Charles Ponzi, Italian fraud convict (d. 1949)
- 1883Cyril Burt, educational psychologist (d. 1971)
- 1886Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet (d. 1968)
- 1887Lincoln J. Beachey, American aviator (d. 1915)
- 1890Edmund Lowe, American silent and early talkie film actor (d. 1971)
- 1890Norman Bethune, Canadian doctor and humanitarian (d. 1939)
- 1891Damaskinos, Archbishop of Athens and Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1949)
- 1891Federico Moreno Torroba, Spanish composer (d. 1982)
- 1893Beatrice Wood, American artist and ceramicist (d. 1998)
- 1894Ethel Grandin, silent film actress (d. 1988)
- 1895Matthew Ridgway, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, U.S. Army Chief of Staff (d. 1993)
- 1895Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1896Leontios, Archbishop of Cyprus (d. 1947)
- 1898Emil Artin, German mathematician (d. 1962)
- 1901Claude Choules, One of two surviving British veterans of World War I
- 1903Vasily Kozlov, Soviet politician (d. 1967)
- 1910Kittens Reichert, American silent screen child actor (d. 1990)
- 1911Harold J. Stone, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1911Hugues Lapointe, Canadian politician and Lieutenant governor of Quebec (d. 1982)
- 1911Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
- 1914Asger Jorn, Danish painter (d. 1973)
- 1917Sameera Moussa, Egyptian nuclear scientist (d. 1952)
- 1918Dr. Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
- 1918Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrian (d. 2000)
- 1920James Doohan, Canadian-born actor (d. 2005)
- 1920Julius Boros, American golfer (d. 1994)
- 1920Ronald Searle, British illustrator
- 1921Diana Barrymore, stage & film actress (d. 1960)
- 1922Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (d. 2002)
- 1923Barney Martin, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1923Doc Watson, American musician
- 1924Ali Faik Zaghloul, Egyptian radio presenter (d. 1995)
- 1924Lilian Velez, Filipno actress (d. 1948)
- 1924Tomiichi Murayama, former Prime Minister of Japan
- 1926James Merrill, American poet (d. 1995)
- 1926Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (d. 2003)
- 1926Lys Assia, Swiss singer
- 1927Pierre Aubert, member of the Swiss Federal Council
- 1928Gudrun Pausewang, German writer
- 1930Heiner Geißler, German politician
- 1930Ion Iliescu, former President of Romania
- 1930K. S. Rajah, Senior Counsel and former Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore (d. 2010)
- 1933Alfredo Landa, Spanish actor
- 1933Lee Radziwill, American fashion executive
- 1933Marco Antonio Muñiz, Mexican singer (Los Tres Aces)
- 1933Margaret Fink, Australian film producer
- 1937Bobby Driscoll, American actor (d. 1968)
- 1940Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian writer and journalist
- 1940Jean-Paul Proust, French-born Minister of State of Monaco (d. 2010)
- 1940Owen Spencer-Thomas, English broadcaster, journalist and Anglican clergyman
- 1940Perry Ellis, fashion designer (d. 1986)
- 1942Mike Pender, English singer and guitarist (The Searchers)
- 1944Lee Holdridge, Haitian-American composer
- 1945George Miller, Australian film director
- 1946John Virgo, English snooker player
- 1947Clifton Snider, American poet and writer
- 1947Jennifer Warnes, American singer and songwriter
- 1947Otto Stuppacher, Austrian racing driver (d. 2001)
- 1948Snowy White, British guitarist (Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd)
- 1949Gloria Hendry, American actress
- 1949Jüri Allik, Estonian psychologist
- 1949Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player
- 1950Tim Kazurinsky, American actor and comedian
- 1951Heizō Takenaka, Japanese economist and retired politician
- 1951Lindsay Cooper, English musician and composer (Henry Cow, News from Babel)
- 1952Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor (d. 2008)
- 1953Robyn Hitchcock, British musician
- 1953Zico, Brazilian footballer
- 1954Édouard Lock, Canadian dance choreographer (La La La Human Steps)
- 1954Jorge José Emiliano dos Santos Brazilian football referee (d. 1995)
- 1955Andy Breckman, American comedian and radio personality
- 1955Darnell Williams, British actor
- 1956Zbigniew Boniek, Polish footballer
- 1957Thom Hoffman, Dutch actor and photographer
- 1958Miranda Richardson, British actress
- 1959Duško Vujošević, Montenegrin basketball coach
- 1959Ira Glass, American radio host
- 1960Colin Wells, English cricketer
- 1960Neal Heaton, American baseball player coach
- 1961Fatima Whitbread, English javelin thrower
- 1961John Matteson, American biographer
- 1961Knut Nærum, Norwegian comedian
- 1961Mary Page Keller, American actress
- 1961Perry McCarthy, English racing driver
- 1962Glen E. Friedman, American photographer and artist
- 1962Herschel Walker, American football player
- 1962Jackie Joyner-Kersee, American athlete
- 1963Sophia Aliberti, Greek actress and TV presenter
- 1964Laura Harring, Mexican-born American actress
- 1964Raúl Alcalá, Mexican cyclist
- 1965Dragan Stojković, Serbian footballer
- 1966Fernando Colunga, Mexican actor
- 1966Timo Tolkki, Finnish musician (Stratovarius)
- 1966Tone Lōc, American rapper and actor
- 1967Go Mi-Young, South Korean female mountaineer (d. 2009)
- 1968Brian Cox, British physicist and television presenter
- 1968Brian Leetch, American ice hockey player
- 1968Scott Radinsky, American musician (Pulley, Ten Foot Pole)
- 1969Simon Whitlock, Australian darts player
- 1970Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer
- 1970Julie Bowen, American actress
- 1971Charlie Brooker, English comedian, writer and broadcaster
- 1971Tyler Florence, chef, television personality and cookbook author
- 1972Darren Anderton, English footballer
- 1973Matthew Marsden, English actor and singer
- 1973Romāns Vainšteins, Latvian cyclist
- 1973Victoria Zdrok, Ukrainian model
- 1974David Faustino, American actor
- 1974Paula Malai Ali, Malaysian-Bruneian TV presenter and actress
- 1975Aleksandr Abdulkhalikov, Russian professional footballer
- 1975Aleksei Abdulkhalikov, Russian professional footballer
- 1976Fraser Gehrig, Australian Rules footballer
- 1977Ronan Keating, Irish singer
- 1977Stéphane Robidas, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978Ashwin Madia, U.S. politician
- 1978Ilias Anastasakos, Greek footballer
- 1978Matt Diaz, American baseball player
- 1978Seomoon Tak, Korean singer
- 1979Albert Jorquera, Spanish footballer
- 1979Alex Zane, English comedian
- 1979Manuel Benthin, German footballer
- 1979Patrick Renna, American actor
- 1980Mason Unck, American football player
- 1981Dusty Dvoracek, American football player
- 1981Emmanuel Pappoe, Ghanaian footballer
- 1981Julius Malema, South African politician
- 1981Kim Yoo-Jin (Eugene), South Korean singer and actress
- 1981Lil' Flip, American rapper
- 1981Paul Lloyd, Jr., South African professional wrestler
- 1981Sung Yu Ri, South Korean singer and actress
- 1982Colton Orr, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982Derreck Robinson, American football player
- 1982Jessica Biel, American actress
- 1982Martin Hauswald, German footballer
- 1983Ashley Hansen, Australian Rules footballer
- 1983Chris Roberson, American football player
- 1983Sarah Poewe, South African swimmer
- 1984Alexander Semin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1984Hayley Marie Norman. American actress
- 1984Santonio Holmes, American football player
- 1984Valerio Bernabò, Italian rugby player
- 1985Sam Morrow, Northern Irish footballer
- 1986Jed Collins, American football player
- 1986Stacie Orrico, American singer
- 1988Christa-Elizabeth Goulakos, Greek-Canadian ice dancer
- 1988Jan-Arie van der Heijden, Dutch footballer
- 1988Michael Morrison, English footballer
- 1988Riccardo Bocchino, Italian rugby player
- 1990Vladimir Janković, Greek-Serbian basketball player
- 1992Jordy Lucas, Australian actress
Who Died On March 3?
- 1111Bohemund I, Prince of Antioch
- 1239Vladimir III Rurikovich, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1187)
- 1459Ausiàs March, Catalan poet (b. 1397)
- 1554John Frederick, Elector of Saxony (b. 1503)
- 1606Nyaungyan Min, King of Burma (b. 1557)
- 1703Robert Hooke, English scientist (b. 1635)
- 1706Johann Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1653)
- 1707Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor of India (b. 1618)
- 1717Pierre Allix, French Protestant pastor (b. 1641)
- 1744Jean Barbeyrac, French jurist (b. 1674)
- 1765William Stukeley, English archaeologist (b. 1687)
- 1768Nicola Porpora, Italian composer (b. 1686)
- 1792Robert Adam, Scottish architect (b. 1728)
- 1850Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (b. 1806)
- 1894Ned Williamson, American baseball player (b. 1857)
- 1899William P. Sprague, American politician from Ohio (b. 1827)
- 1920Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter (b. 1840)
- 1927J.G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh motor-racing driver (b. 1884)
- 1927Mikhail Artsybashev, Russian writer (b. 1878)
- 1929Katharine Wright, teacher, sister of the Wright Brothers (b. 1874)
- 1932Eugen d'Albert, German composer (b. 1864)
- 1943George Thompson, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- 1953James J. Jeffries, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1875)
- 1959Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
- 1961Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (b. 1887)
- 1966Alice Pearce, American actress (b. 1917)
- 1966Joseph Fields, American playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, and film producer (b. 1895)
- 1966William Frawley, American actor (b. 1887)
- 1977Percy Marmont, British/American actor (b. 1883)
- 1982Georges Perec, French writer (b. 1936)
- 1983Arthur Koestler, Austrian writer (b. 1905)
- 1983Hergé, Belgian comics creator (b. 1907)
- 1987Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1913)
- 1988Sewall Wright, American biologist (b. 1889)
- 1990Gérard Blitz, Belgian waterpoloist and entrepreneur (b. 1912)
- 1991Arthur Murray, American dancer and dance instructor (b. 1895)
- 1993Albert Sabin, Polish-born medical researcher (b. 1906)
- 1993Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-born gangster (b. 1910)
- 1993Carlos Montoya, flamenco guitarist (b. 1903)
- 1993Mel Bradford, American literary critic (b. 1934)
- 1995Howard W. Hunter, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1907)
- 1996John Krol, American cardinal (b. 1910)
- 1996Marguerite Duras, French writer (b. 1914)
- 1998Fred Friendly, American broadcast executive (b. 1915)
- 1999Gerhard Herzberg, German-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 2000Toni Ortelli, Italian composer and alpinist (b. 1904)
- 2001Eugene Sledge, U.S. Marine and American author (b. 1923)
- 2001Louis Edmonds, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2002Harlan Howard, American musician (b. 1927)
- 2003Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer (b. 1904)
- 2003Horst Buchholz, German actor (b. 1933)
- 2003Luis Marden, American photojournalist (b. 1913)
- 2003Peter Smithson, English architect (b. 1923)
- 2004Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (b. 1958)
- 2005Max M. Fisher, American philanthropist (b. 1928)
- 2006Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet (b. 1923)
- 2006William Herskovic, Holocaust hero and philanthropist (b. 1914)
- 2007Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian cartoonist, creator of La Linea (b. 1920)
- 2008Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian operatic tenor (b. 1921)
- 2008Norman Smith, English singer and record producer (b. 1923)
- 2010Keith Alexander, British football manager (b. 1956)
- 2010Michael Foot, British politician (b. 1913)
- 2011May Cutler, Canadian politician and publisher (b. 1923)
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