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364 - Valentinian I is elevated as Roman Emperor.

1700 - Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar.

1784 - John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.

1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight.

1844 - A gun on USS ''Princeton'' explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing two United States Cabinet members and several others.

1849 - Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS ''California'' in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor.

1850 - The University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1854 - The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin.

1861 - Colorado is organized as a United States territory.

1870 - The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire.

1883 - The first vaudeville theater opens in Boston, Massachusetts.

1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. (American Bell would later merge with its subsidiary.)

1897 - Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch in Madagascar, was deposed by a French military force.

1900 - The Second Boer War: The 118-day "Siege of Ladysmith" is lifted.

1922 - The United Kingdom accepts the independence of Egypt.

1933 - Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire.

1935 - Nylon is discovered by Wallace Carothers.

1939 - The first issue of Serbian weekly magazine Politikin zabavnik was published.

1939 - The word "Dord" is discovered in the Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation.

1940 - Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden).

1942 - The heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed.

1947 - 228 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down at a loss of 30,000 civilian lives.

1953 - James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; formal announcement April 25 following publication in April Nature (pub. April 2).

1960 - The United States defeats Czechoslovakia 9-4 to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.

1972 - Sino-American relations: The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.

1973 - Formation Of the American Hard Rock Band KISS

1974 - After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations.

1975 - A major tube train crash at Moorgate station, London kills 43 people.

1983 - The final episode of M*A*S*H is broadcast in the USA, becoming the most watched television episode in history, with 106–125 million viewers in the U.S. (estimate varies by source).

1986 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.

1993 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff.

1997 - The North Hollywood shootout takes place.

1998 - Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive againt the KLA in Kosovo.

2001 - An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia area of the U.S. state of Washington.

2002 - At least 55 are killed in Ahmadabad, India when Hindus burn Muslim homes.

2004 - Over 1 million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947

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1155 - Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (d. 1183)

1533 - Michel de Montaigne, French writer and philosopher (d. 1592)

1552 - Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)

1612 - John Pearson, English theologian (d. 1686)

1670 - Benjamin Wadsworth, American President of Harvard University (d. 1737)

1675 - Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726)

1683 - René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French scientist (d. 1757)

1704 - Louis Godin, French astronomer (d. 1760)

1712 - Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander (d. 1759)

1724 - George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, British field marshal (d. 1807)

1820 - John Tenniel, English illustrator (d. 1914)

1823 - Ernest Renan, French philosopher (d. 1892)

1827 - Blondin, French tightrope walker (d. 1897)

1833 - Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913)

1838 - Maurice Lévy, French engineer (d. 1910)

1865 - Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador (d. 1940).

1878 - Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (d. 1929)

1878 - Artur Kapp, Estonian composer (d. 1952)

1882 - Geraldine Farrar, American soprano (d. 1967)

1882 - José Vasconcelos, Mexican writer and politician (d. 1959)

1894 - Ben Hecht, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 1964)

1896 - Philip Showalter Hench, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1965)

1900 - Wolfram Hirth, German pilot and aircraft designer (d. 1959)

1901 - Linus Pauling, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Peace (d. 1994)

1903 - Vincente Minnelli, American director (d. 1986)

1906 - Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947)

1907 - Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) (d. 1988)

1908 - Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002)

1909 - Stephen Spender, English poet (d. 1995)

1915 - Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1987)

1915 - Zero Mostel, American actor (d. 1977)

1921 - Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot (d. 2006)

1923 - Charles Durning, American actor

1926 - Svetlana Alliluyeva, Soviet defector, daughter of Joseph Stalin

1929 - Hayden Fry, American football coach

1929 - Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect

1930 - Leon Neil Cooper, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1930 - Gavin MacLeod, American actor

1931 - Dean Smith, American basketball coach

1932 - Don Francks, Canadian actor

1933 - Rein Taagepera, Estonian politician

1939 - Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1939 - Tommy Tune, American dancer, choreographer, and actor

1940 - Mario Andretti, American race car driver

1940 - Joe South, American singer and songwriter

1942 - Frank Bonner, American actor and director

1942 - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (d. 1969)

1942 - Dino Zoff, Italian footballer

1944 - Kelly Bishop, American actress

1944 - Sepp Maier, German footballer

1944 - Win Aung, Burmese politician

1945 - Bubba Smith, American football player and actor

1946 - Robin Cook, British politician (d. 2005)

1946 - Syreeta Wright, American singer (d. 2004)

1947 - Stephanie Beacham, British actress

1948 - Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate

1948 - Mike Figgis, English director, writer, and composer

1948 - Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer

1948 - Mercedes Ruehl, American actress

1952 - William Finn, American composer and lyricist

1954 - Brian Billick, American football coach

1955 - Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian and actor

1955 - Silky Sullivan, American racehorse (d. 1977)

1956 - Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born Northern Irish footballer

1956 - Mike Tenay, American wrestling commentator

1957 - John Turturro, American actor

1960 - Dorothy Stratten, Canadian actress and model (d. 1980)

1961 - Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress

1961 - Charles Patrick Garcia, Panamanian-American author, businessman and Hispanic leader

1961 - Mark Latham, Australian politician

1963 - Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist

1964 - Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Uzbekistan cyclist

1967 - Colin Cooper, English footballer

1969 - Robert Sean Leonard, American actor

1969 - Patrick Monahan, American rock singer (Train)

1970 - Noureddine Morceli, Algerian athlete

1970 - Daniel Handler, American writer, better known as Lemony Snicket

1971 - Tristan Louis, American writer

1972 - Rory Cochrane, American actor

1973 - Eric Lindros, Canadian hockey player

1973 - Nicolas Minassian, French racing driver

1974 - Lee Carsley, Irish footballer

1976 - Ali Larter, American Actress

1977 - Jason Aldean, American Country singer

1978 - Benjamin Raich, Austrian Olympic skier

1979 - Primož Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper

1979 - Sébastien Bourdais, French racing driver

1980 - Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer

1980 - Piotr Giza, Polish footballer

1982 - Natalia Vodianova, Russian supermodel

1984 - Karolína Kurková, Czech supermodel

1985 - Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player

1985 - Fefe Dobson, Canadian singer

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1261 - Henry III, Duke of Brabant (c. 1230)

1326 - Duke Leopold I of Austria (b. 1290)

1453 - Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400)

1485 - Niclas, Graf von Abensberg, German soldier (b. 1441)

1510 - Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer

1572 - Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (b. 1505)

1621 - Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590)

1648 - King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, (b. 1577)

1746 - Hermann von der Hardt, German historian (b. 1660)

1786 - John Gwynn, English architect and engineer (b. 1713)

1788 - Thomas Cushing, American Continental Congressman (b. 1725)

1857 - André Dumont, Belgian geologist (b. 1809)

1916 - Henry James, American writer (b. 1843)

1925 - Friedrich Ebert, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1871)

1929 - Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician (b. 1874)

1936 - Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1866)

1941 - King Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886)

1942 - Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (b. 1889)

1959 - Maxwell Anderson, American playwright and film writer (b. 1888)

1967 - Henry Luce, American publisher (b. 1898)

1974 - Bobby Bloom, American singer/songwriter (b. 1946)

1977 - Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, American actor (b. 1905)

1978 - Eric Frank Russell, English author (b. 1905)

1978 - Philip Ahn, American actor (b. 1905)

1978 - Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892)

1985 - David Byron, British singer (Uriah Heep) (b. 1947)

1985 - Ray Ellington, British singer (b. 1916)

1986 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)

1991 - Reinhard Bendix, German sociologist (b. 1916)

1993 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1910)

1998 - Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (b. 1952)

1998 - Arkady Shevchenko, Soviet diplomat (b. 1930)

2002 - Mary Stuart, American actress (b. 1926)

2002 - Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (b. 1920)

2003 - Chris Brasher, British athlete (b. 1928)

2003 - Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (heart attack) (b. 1917)

2003 - Roger Michael Needham, British cryptographer (b. 1935)

2004 - Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (b. 1914)

2004 - Andres Nuiamäe, first Estonian soldier to be killed in the Iraq War (b. 1982)

2006 - Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel Prize recipient (b. 1920)

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Bahá'í Faith - Day 3 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.

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Saint Romanus (died 463)

Saint Oswald (d. 992)

Saint Rufinus

Saint Silvana

Blessed Antonia of Florence (d. 1472)