Events Pre-1600 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus. 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia. 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberios III publicly executed in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. 1002 – At an assembly at Pavia of Lombard nobles, Arduin of Ivrea is restored to his domains and crowned King of Italy. 1113 – Pope Paschal II issues Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, recognizing the Order of Hospitallers. 1214 – During the Anglo-French War (1213–1214), an English invasion force led by John, King of England, lands at La Rochelle in France. 1493 – While on board the Niña, Christopher Columbus writes an open letter (widely distributed upon his return to Portugal) describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World.
1601–1900 1637 – Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor. 1690 – Constantin Cantemir, Prince of Moldavia, and the Holy Roman Empire sign a secret treaty in Sibiu, stipulating that Moldavia would support the actions led by the House of Habsburg against the Ottoman Empire. 1764 – The city of St. Louis is established in Spanish Louisiana (now in Missouri, USA). 1798 – The Roman Republic is proclaimed after Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome five days earlier. 1835 – Serbia's Sretenje Constitution briefly comes into effect. 1852 – The Helsinki Cathedral (known as St. Nicholas' Church at time) is officially inaugurated in Helsinki, Finland. 1862 – American Civil War: Confederates commanded by Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attack General Ulysses S. Grant's Union forces besieging Fort Donelson in Tennessee. Unable to break the fort's encirclement, the Confederates surrender the following day.Nevin, David, and the Editors of Time-Life Books. The Road to Shiloh: Early Battles in the West. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1983. pp. 84–86 1870 – Stevens Institute of Technology is founded in New Jersey, US, and offers the first Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering. 1872 – First issue of the Bulletin de la Fédération jurassienne, the first or one of the first anarchist newspapers. 1879 – Women's rights: US President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. 1898 – The battleship explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing about 274 of the ship's roughly 354 crew. The disaster pushes the United States to declare war on Spain. 1899 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia issues a declaration known as the February Manifesto, which reduces the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland, thus beginning the first period of oppression.
1901–present 1909 – The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico, kills 250. 1923 – Greece becomes the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar. 1925 – The 1925 serum run to Nome: The second delivery of serum arrives in Nome, Alaska. 1933 – In Miami, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate US President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6. 1940 – Paul Creston's Saxophone Sonata is officially premiered at the Carnegie Chamber Hall by saxophonist Cecil Leeson, who had commissioned it, and the composer. 1942 – World War II: Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history. 1944 – World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins. 1944 – World War II: The Narva Offensive begins. 1946 – ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 1949 – Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls. 1952 – King George VI of the United Kingdom is buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. 1954 – Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska. 1961 – Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team along with several of their coaches and family members. 1965 – The maple leaf is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign flag. 1970 – Dominicana de Aviación Flight 603 crashes into the Caribbean Sea after takeoff from Las Américas International Airport, killing 102, including members of the Puerto Rico women's national volleyball team and lightweight boxer Carlos Cruz. 1971 – The decimalisation of the currencies of the United Kingdom and Ireland is completed on Decimal Day. 1972 – Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time. 1972 – José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time. 1982 – The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers. 1989 – Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan. 1991 – The Visegrád Group, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. 1992 – Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is sentenced in Milwaukee to 15 terms of life in prison. 1992 – Air Transport International Flight 805 crashes in Swanton, Ohio, near Toledo Express Airport, killing all four people on board. 1996 – At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3B rocket carrying Intelsat 708 veers off course and crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing somewhere between six and 100 people. 1996 – Then-Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien applies a chokehold to protester Bill Clennett, an incident later named the Shawinigan Handshake. 2001 – The first draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature. 2003 – Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between eight million and 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history. 2003 – The last Ariane 4 rocket is launched from the Guiana Space Centre, carrying Intelsat 907. 2010 – Two trains collide in the Halle train collision in Halle, Belgium, killing 19 and injuring 171 people. 2012 – Three hundred and sixty people die in a fire at a Honduran prison in the city of Comayagua. 2013 – A meteor explodes over Russia, injuring 1,500 people as a shock wave blows out windows and rocks buildings. This happens unexpectedly only hours before the expected closest ever approach of the larger and unrelated asteroid 2012 DA14. 2021 – Sixty people drown and hundreds are missing after a boat sinks on the Congo River near the village of Longola Ekoti, Mai-Ndombe Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Births Pre-1600 1377 – Ladislaus of Naples (died 1414) 1458 – Ivan the Young, son of Ivan III of Russia (died 1490) 1472 – Piero the Unfortunate, Italian ruler (died 1503) 1506 – Juliana of Stolberg, German countess (died 1580) 1519 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (died 1574) 1557 – Alfonso Fontanelli, Italian composer (died 1622) 1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician (died 1642)
1601–1900 1612 – Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, French soldier, founded Montreal (died 1676) 1627 – Charles Morton, Cornish nonconformist minister (died 1698) 1638 – Zeb-un-Nissa, Mughal princess and poet (died 1702) 1705 – Charles-André van Loo, French painter (died 1765) 1710 – Louis XV of France (died 1774) 1725 – Abraham Clark, American surveyor, lawyer, and politician (died 1794) 1734 – William Stacy, American colonel (died 1802) 1739 – Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, French architect, designed the Paris Bourse (died 1813) 1748 – Jeremy Bentham, English jurist and philosopher (died 1832) 1759 – Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist and critic (died 1824) 1760 – Lars Ingier, Norwegian road manager, land owner, and mill owner (died 1828) 1760 – Jean-François Le Sueur, French composer and educator (died 1837) 1809 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist and academic (died 1857) 1809 – Cyrus McCormick, American journalist and businessman, co-founded International Harvester (died 1884) 1810 – Mary S. B. Shindler, American poet, writer, and editor (died 1883) 1811 – Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Argentinian journalist and politician, 7th President of Argentina (died 1888) 1812 – Charles Lewis Tiffany, American businessman, founded Tiffany & Co. (died 1902) 1820 – Susan B. Anthony, American suffragist and activist (died 1906) 1825 – Carter Harrison, Sr., American lawyer and politician, 29th Mayor of Chicago (died 1893) 1834 – V. A. Urechia, Moldavian-Romanian historian, author, and playwright (died 1901) 1835 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek businessman and philanthropist (died 1908) 1839 – Rayko Zhinzifov, Bulgarian poet and translator (died 1877) 1840 – Titu Maiorescu, Romanian philosopher, academic, and politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Romania (died 1917) 1841 – Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 4th President of Brazil (died 1913) 1845 – Elihu Root, American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937) 1847 – Robert Fuchs, Austrian composer and educator (died 1927) 1849 – Rickman Godlee, English surgeon and academic (died 1925) 1850 – Sophie Bryant, Irish mathematician, academic and activist (died 1922) 1851 – Spiru Haret, Romanian mathematician, astronomer, and politician, 55th Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs (died 1912) 1856 – Emil Kraepelin, German psychiatrist and academic (died 1926) 1861 – Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1938) 1861 – Alfred North Whitehead, English mathematician and philosopher (died 1947) 1873 – Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-Swedish biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1964) 1874 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish captain and explorer (died 1922) 1883 – Sax Rohmer, English-American author (died 1959) 1890 – Robert Ley, German politician (died 1945) 1892 – James Forrestal, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Defense (died 1949) 1893 – Roman Najuch, Polish professional tennis player (died 1967) 1897 – Gerrit Kleerekoper, Dutch gymnast and coach (died 1943) 1898 – Totò, Italian actor, singer, and screenwriter (died 1967) 1899 – Georges Auric, French composer (died 1983) 1899 – Gale Sondergaard, Danish-American actress (died 1985)
1901–present 1904 – Mary Adshead, English painter (died 1995) 1904 – Antonin Magne, French cyclist and manager (died 1983) 1905 – Harold Arlen, American composer (died 1986) 1907 – Jean Langlais, French organist and composer (died 1991) 1907 – Cesar Romero, American actor (died 1994) 1908 – Sarto Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (died 1980) 1909 – Miep Gies, Austrian-Dutch humanitarian, helped hide Anne Frank and her family (died 2010) 1910 – Irena Sendler, Polish nurse and humanitarian, Righteous Gentile (died 2008) 1912 – George Mikes, Hungarian-English journalist and author (died 1987) 1913 – Erich Eliskases, Austrian chess player (died 1997) 1914 – Hale Boggs, American lawyer and politician (died 1972) 1914 – Kevin McCarthy, American actor (died 2010) 1918 – Allan Arbus, American actor and photographer (died 2013) 1918 – Hank Locklin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2009) 1920 – Endicott Peabody, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 62nd Governor of Massachusetts (died 1997) 1920 – Eio Sakata, Japanese Go player (died 2010)