March 1

Events

• 1562 - Over 1,000 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Vassy, France marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.
• 1565 - The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.
• 1580 - Michel de Montaigne signs off the preface to his main work, Essays. The work is first published later that year.
• 1628 - Writs are issued in February by Charles I of England that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.
• 1633 - Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.
• 1642 - Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine) becomes the first incorporated city in America.
• 1692 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of four women with witchcraft.
• 1700 - Sweden introduces its own Swedish calendar, in an attempt to reform into the Gregorian calendar, then reverts to the Julian calendar on this date in 1712, and then introduces the Gregorian Calendar on this date in 1753.
• 1781 - The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation.
• 1790 - The first United States census is authorized.
• 1803 - Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state, retroactive from August 7, 1953.
• 1805 - Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.
• 1811 - Leaders of the Mameluke dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.
• 1815 - Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.
• 1819 - USS Columbus launched.
• 1836 - A Convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.
• 1840 - Adolphe Thiers becomes prime minister of France.
• 1843 - Zürich issues stamps, making it the second type of stamp in the world.
• 1845 - President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.
• 1851 - Victor Hugo gives speech at the French national assembly and uses the phrase United States of Europe several times.
• 1852 - Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
• 1854 - German pyschologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in the canal near Charlottenburg.
• 1867 - Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state; Lancaster, Nebraska is renamed Lincoln and becomes the state capital.
• 1872 - Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.
• 1873 - E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York, start production of the first practical typewriter.
• 1896 - Battle of Adowa, in which Ethiopia defended its independence against Italy, begins. The Italian invasion, with 100,000 troops, is defeated, ending the First Italo-Abyssinian War.
• 1896 - Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity.
• 1899 - In Afghanistan Capt. George Roos-Keppel makes a sudden attack on a predatory band of Chamkannis that have been raiding in the Kurram Valley and captures 100 prisoners with 3,000 head of cattle.
• 1912 - Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.
• 1912 - Georg Ritter von Trapp, head of the famous Austrian singing family memorialized in the musical The Sound of Music marries Agathe.
• 1917 - U.S. government releases the plaintext of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public.
• 1918 - German submarine Unterseeboot 19 (U-19) sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island.
• 1919 - March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea.
• 1921 - the city Kiryu, located in Gunma, Japan, is founded.
• 1925 - Edgar Varèse's Intégrales is premiered in New York City
• 1932 - The son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, is kidnapped.
• 1936 - Hoover Dam is completed.
• 1941 - World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact thus joining the Axis powers.
• 1941 - W47NV (now known as WSM-FM) begins operations in Nashville, Tennessee becoming the first FM radio station.
• 1946 - The Bank of England is nationalised.
• 1947 - The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.
• 1949 - Indonesia seizes Yogyakarta from the Dutch.
• 1950 - Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by giving them top secret atomic bomb data.
• 1953 - Joseph Stalin collapses, having suffered a stroke. He dies four days later.
• 1954 - Nuclear testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.
• 1954 - Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.
• 1956 - The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.
• 1958 - Samuel Alphonsus Stritch, is appointed Pro-Perfect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first American member of the Roman Curia.
• 1961 - President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
• 1961 - Uganda becomes self-governing as its first elections held.
• 1965 - A fire at an apartment building in LaSalle, Quebec killed 28 people.
• 1966 - Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
• 1966 - The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria.
• 1969 - During a performance at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium, Jim Morrison of the Doors is arrested for exposing himself during the show. Morrison is officially charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, indecent behavior, open profanity and public drunkenness.
• 1969 - John Kerry officially leaves active duty in Vietnam.
• 1971 - A bomb explodes in a men's room in the White House: the Weather Underground claims responsibility.
• 1971 - Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
• 1972 - The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani province
• 1974 - Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
• 1975 - Colour television transmissions begin in Australia.
• 1978 - Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from a Swiss cemetery.
• 1980 - Voyager 1 probe confirms that Janus (moon of Saturn) exists.
• 1983 - Swatch introduces their first timepieces.
• 1989 - The United States becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1990 - Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
• 1995 - Polish Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak resigns from parliament and is replaced by ex-communist Józef Oleksy
• 1995 - To howls of protest, Daniel Sleator announces his intentions to commercialize the Internet Chess Server (ICS) himself, rename it the Internet Chess Club (ICC), and charge a yearly membership fee of $49.
• 1995 - Muntinlupa City, Philippines officially becomes a city.
• 1999 - Hutu rebels kill eight tourists in Uganda.
• 1999 - The Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines comes into force.
• 2000 - The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.
• 2000 - Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.
• 2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.
• 2002 - The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500 kilograms (9.5 tons).
• 2002 - Space Shuttle Columbia flies Hubble Space Telescope service mission (STS-109).
• 2002 - The Peseta is discontinued as official currency of Spain and is replaced with the euro (€).
• 2003 - Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
• 2004 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former President of Haiti, announces that his resignation of February 29 was forced, and that he was forced to leave the country by American soldiers.
• 2004 - Terry Nichols is convicted of state murder charges and accomplice to the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh starts his trial in McAlester, Oklahoma.
• 2004 - The Price is Right airs its 6,000 episode.
• 2004 - Punycode adopted by the national registrars of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
• 2004 - Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum becomes President of Iraq.
  

  Births

• 1104/5 - Alfonso VII, king of Castile (d. 1157)
• 1445 - Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (d. 1510)
• 1474 - Angela Merici, Italian nun (d. 1540)
• 1760 - François Nicolas Leonard Buzot, French revolutionary (suicide) (d. 1794)
• 1769 - François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (d. 1796)
• 1807 - Wilford Woodruff, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1898)
• 1810 - Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French composer and pianist, (d. 1849)
• 1821 - Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Old Catholic bishop (d. 1896)
• 1837 - William Dean Howells, American writer, historian, editor, politician, (d. 1920)
• 1852 - Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (d. 1923)
• 1858 - Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1918)
• 1865 - Abe Iso, Japanese politician (d. 1949)
• 1871 - Ben Harney, American composer and ragtime pianist (d. 1938)
• 1876 - Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian IOC president, (d. 1942)
• 1880 - Giles Lytton Strachey British writer and biographer (d. 1932)
• 1886 - Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter, graphic artist, and poet, (d. 1980)
• 1889 - Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese ethicist and philosopher (d. 1960)
• 1892 - Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Japanese writer (d. 1927)
• 1893 - Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (d. 1968)
• 1896 - Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor, pianist, and composer (d. 1960)
• 1901 - Pietro Spiggia, Italian poet
• 1904 - Glenn Miller, American bandleader, (d. 1944)
• 1904 - Paul Hartman, American actor (d. 1973)
• 1906 - Phạm Văn Ðồng, Prime Minister of North Vietnam (d. 2000)
• 1910 - David Niven, English actor, (d. 1983)
• 1914 - Ralph Ellison, American writer, (d. 1994)
• 1914 - Harry Caray, American baseball announcer (d. 1998)
• 1917 - Robert Lowell, American poet, (d. 1977)
• 1917 - Harry Caray, American sports broadcaster (d. 1998)
• 1918 - João Goulart, president of Brazil (1961-March 31, 1964) (d. 1976)
• 1918 - Roger Delgado, British actor (d. 1973)
• 1920 - Howard Nemerov, American poet (d. 1991)
• 1921 - Richard Wilbur, American poet
• 1921 - Richard Wilbur, American poet
• 1921 - Terence Cardinal Cooke, tenth bishop (seventh archbishop) of the Roman Catholic diocese of New York (d. 1983)
• 1922 - Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1995)
• 1922 - William Gaines, American publisher, founder of MAD Magazine, (d. 1992)
• 1923 - Kuczka Péter, Hungarian writer, poet and Science Fiction editor (d. 1999)
• 1924 - Deke Slayton, astronaut (d. 1993)
• 1926 - Alvin "Pete" Rozelle, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) (d. 1996)
• 1926 - Robert Clary, French actor
• 1927 - Harry Belafonte, American musician and actor
• 1927 - Robert Bork, American law professor
• 1928 - Jacques Rivette, French director
• 1928 - Dr. Seymour Papert, South African mathematician, artificial intelligence researcher
• 1929 - Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident, (d. 1978)
• 1933 - Jakob Maria Mierscheid, fictitious politician in the German Bundestag since 1983
• 1935 - Robert Conrad, American actor
• 1937 - Jed Allan, American actor
• 1939 - Warren Davis, The Monotones
• 1942 - Richard Bowman Myers, General of the United States Air Force, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
• 1943 - Gil Amelio, American CEO of National Semiconductor and Apple Computer and venture capitalist
• 1944 - Roger Daltrey, English rock musician (The Who)
• 1944 - Mike D'Abo, rock vocalist of band Mannfred Mann
• 1944 - John Breaux, United States Senator from Louisiana
• 1945 - Dirk Benedict, American movie and television actor
• 1946 - Lana Wood, American actress
• 1947 - Alan Thicke, Canadian actor, songwriter
• 1948 - Winston Rodney, aka Burning Spear, Jamaican roots rock reggae singer and musician
• 1952 - Steven Barnes, science fiction writer
• 1953 - Richard Bruton, Irish Fine Gael politician and economist
• 1954 - Ron Howard, American actor, director, producer
• 1954 - Catherine Bach, American actress
• 1956 - Timothy Daly, American actor
• 1958 - Bertrand Piccard, Swiss balloonist and psychiatrist
• 1963 - Dan Michaels, producer, saxophonist, member of the rock band The Choir and also The Swirling Eddies, owner of Galaxy21 Music.
• 1964 - Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, suspected military head of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda (his birth date is also reported to be April 14, 1965)
• 1965 - Stewart Elliott, Canadian jockey
• 1967 - Aron Winter, Dutch soccer player
• 1969 - Javier Bardem, Spanish actor
• 1969 - Dafydd Ieuan, Welsh drummer with the band Super Furry Animals
• 1971 - Tyler Hamilton, American cyclist
• 1973 - Ryan Peake, guitarist with the band Nickelback
• 1974 - Mark-Paul Gosselaar, American actor
  

  Deaths

• 1244 - Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, eldest, illegitimate son of Llywelyn the Great (b. 1200)
• 1383 - Amadeus VI of Savoy, Count of Savoy (b. 1334)
• 1546 - George Wishart, Scottish religious reformer (b 1513)
• 1620 - Thomas Campion, English poet and composer (b. 1567)
• 1633 - George Herbert, English poet and orator (b. 1593)
• 1643 - Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian keyboard composer. (b. 1583)
• 1661 - Richard Zouch, English jurist (b. 1590)
• 1697 - Francesco Redi, Italian physician (b. 1626)
• 1734 - Roger North, English biographer (b. 1653)
• 1768 - Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher and writer (b. 1694)
• 1792 - Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1747)
• 1862 - Peter Barlow, English mathematician (b. 1776)
• 1875 - Tristan Corbière, French poet (b. 1845)
• 1879 - Joachim Heer, Swiss politician (b. 1825)
• 1884 - Isaac Todhunter, English mathematician (b. 1820)
• 1898 - George Bruce Malleson, English officer in India, author (b. 1825)
• 1911 - J. H. van 't Hoff, Dutch physical and organic chemist, the winner of the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1852)
• 1912 - George Grossmith, English actor and comic writer, best remembered for his work with Gilbert & Sullivan. (b. 1847)
• 1914 - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (b. 1845)
• 1920 - John H. Bankhead, United States Senator (b. 1842)
• 1920 - Joseph Trumpeldor, early Zionist activist (b. 1880)
• 1922 - Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, Spanish football player (b. 1892)
• 1924 - Louise-Marie Amélie, daughter of Leopold II of Belgium, wife of Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1858)
• 1932 - Frank Teschemacher, jazz clarinetist and alto-saxophonist
• 1938 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian poet, dramatist, daredevil, war hero and politician (b. 1863)
• 1966 - Fritz Houtermans, physicist (b. 1903)
• 1970 - Lucille Hegamin, U.S. singer and entertainer (b. 1894)
• 1974 - Bobby Timmons, jazz pianist (b. 1935)
• 1979 - Mustafa Barzani, leader of Kurdistan Democratic Party (b. 1903)
• 1980 - Wilhelmina, fashion modeling agent
• 1984 - Jackie Coogan, actor (b. 1914)
• 1988 - Joe Besser, member of the Three Stooges (b. 1907)
• 1991 - Edwin H. Land, inventor (b. 1909)
• 1995 - Vladislav Listyev, Russian journalist, anchor, and director of ORTV (b. 1956)
• 2000 - Dennis Danell guitarist of band Social Distortion
• 2003 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, former president of El Salvador (1967-1972) (b. 1917)
  

  Holidays and observances

• Korea - Independence Movement Day (Samiljeol; 삼일절)
• Roman Empire - Matronalia in honor of Juno
• Roman Empire - Feriae Marti in honor of Mars
• Roman Empire - New Year
• Roman Empire - The sacred fire of Rome was renewed (See Vesta)
• Saint David's Day (National Holiday of Wales)
• World Day of Prayer
• Bahá'í Faith - Last Day (4 or 5) of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
• Labour day - Western Australia
• Eight Hours Day - Tasmania, Australia
• Martenitsa - a seasonal holiday in Bulgaria
• Martisor - a seasonal holiday in Romania
• Historically, March 1st was considered to be the beginning of the year. The names of some months reflect this. (September = Seventh, October = Eighth, November = Ninth, December = Tenth). (see New Year) If the days of the year were counted from March 1, till the next March 1, each date of the year would have the same number every year, unlike counting from January 1.
  

  Seasons beginning March 1

Year Beginning March 1

Mar 31 Aug 31 Jan 31 Apr 30 Sep 30 Feb 28/29 May 31 Oct 31 Jun 30 Nov 30 Jul 31 Dec 31 This regularity is sometimes used in calendar calculations.

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