Almanac - March 3

Georg Cantor 1845-1918

Events

• 1284 – The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England.
• 1575 – Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi.
• 1585 – The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau.
• 1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army is routed at the Battle of Brier Creek near Savannah, Georgia.
• 1820 – The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
• 1845 – Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
• 1857 – Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China.
• 1861 – Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs.
• 1865 – Opening of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the founding member of the HSBC Group.
• 1873 – Censorship 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.
• 1875 – Georges Bizet's opera Carmen receives its première at the Opéra Comique in Paris.
• 1875 – The first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey is played in Montreal, Canada as recorded in The Montreal Gazette.
• 1878 – The 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.
• 1885 – The American Telephone & Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York.
• 1904 – Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany becomes the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's phonograph cylinder.
• 1905 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly, the Duma.
• 1910 – Rockefeller Foundation: J.D. Rockefeller Jr. announces his retirement from managing his businesses so that he can devote all his time to philanthropy.
• 1915 – NACA, the predecessor of NASA, is founded.
• 1918 – Germany, 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.
• 1923 – TIME magazine is published for the first time.
• 1924 – The 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.
• 1924 – The Free State of Fiume is annexed by Kingdom of Italy.
• 1931 – The United States adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem.
• 1938 – Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.
• 1939 – In Mumbai, Mohandas Gandhi begins to fast in protest at the autocratic rule in India.
• 1940 – Five people are killed in an arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Norrskensflamman in Luleå, Sweden.
• 1942 – World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people.
• 1943 – World 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.
• 1944 – The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
• 1945 – World War II: American and Filipino troops recapture Manila in the Philippines.
• 1945 – World War II: A former Armia Krajowa unit massacres at least 150 Ukrainian civilians in Pawlokoma, Poland.
• 1951 – Jackie 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.
• 1953 – A Canadian Pacific Airlines De Havilland Comet crashes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11.
• 1958 – Nuri as-Said becomes the prime minister of Iraq for the 14th time.
• 1969 – Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
• 1972 – Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.
• 1974 – Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard.
• 1980 – The USS Nautilus is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.
• 1985 – Arthur 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.
• 1985 – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless.
• 1991 – An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
• 1991 – In concurrent referenda, 74% of the population of Latvia votes for independence from the Soviet Union, and 83% in Estonia.
• 1991 – United Airlines Flight 585 crashes on approach into Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing 25.
• 1997 – The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.
• 2002 – Citizens of Switzerland narrowly vote in favor of their country becoming a member of the United Nations.
• 2004 – Belgian brewer Interbrew and Brazilian rival AmBev agree to merge in a $11.2 billion deal that forms InBev, the world's largest brewer.
• 2005 – Mayerthorpe 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.
• 2005 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling.
• 2009 – The building of the Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Historical Archives) in Cologne, Germany, collapses.

Births

• 1455 – King John II of Portugal (d. 1495)
• 1520 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian Protestant reformer (d. 1575)
• 1583 – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (d. 1648)
• 1589 – Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch theologian (d. 1676)
• 1606 – Edmund Waller, British poet (d. 1687)
• 1652 – Thomas Otway, British dramatist (d. 1685)
• 1678 – Madeleine de Verchères, French Canadian heroine (d. 1747)
• 1756 – William Godwin, English journalist, political philosopher and novelist (d. 1836)
• 1778 – Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Hanover (d. 1841)
• 1793 – William Charles Macready, English actor (d. 1873)
• 1800 – Heinrich Georg Bronn, German geologist (d. 1862)
• 1805 – Jonas Furrer, first President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1861)
• 1816 – William James Blacklock, British landscape painter (d. 1858)
• 1825 – Shiranui Koemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 11th Yokozuna (d. 1879)
• 1831 – George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1897)
• 1839 – Jamsetji Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 1904)
• 1845 – Georg Cantor, German mathematician (d. 1918)
• 1847 – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-Canadian inventor (d. 1922)
• 1848 – Adelaide Neilson, English actress (d. 1880)
• 1851 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author (d. 1911)
• 1860 – John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player (d. 1925)
• 1863 – Arthur Machen, Welsh-born author (d. 1947)
• 1866 – Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1914)
• 1868 – Émile Chartier, French philosopher, journalist and pacifist (d. 1951)
• 1869 – Henry Joseph Wood, English conductor (d. 1944)
• 1871 – Maurice Garin, French cyclist (d. 1957)
• 1873 – William Green, American labor union leader (d. 1952)
• 1879 – József Klekl, Slovene writer and journalist (d. 1936)
• 1880 – Florence Auer, American actress (d. 1962)
• 1880 – Sir Robert Chapman, British soldier and politician (d. 1963)
• 1880 – Yosuke Matsuoka, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan (d. 1946)
• 1882 – Charles Ponzi, Italian fraud convict (d. 1949)
• 1883 – Cyril Burt, educational psychologist (d. 1971)
• 1886 – Tore Ørjasæter, Norwegian poet (d. 1968)
• 1887 – Lincoln J. Beachey, American aviator (d. 1915)
• 1890 – Norman Bethune, Canadian doctor and humanitarian (d. 1939)
• 1890 – Edmund Lowe, American silent and early talkie film actor (d. 1971)
• 1891 – Damaskinos, Archbishop of Athens and Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1949)
• 1891 – Federico Moreno Torroba, Spanish composer (d. 1982)
• 1893 – Beatrice Wood, American artist and ceramicist (d. 1998)
• 1894 – Ethel Grandin, silent film actress (d. 1988)
• 1895 – Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch, Norwegian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
• 1895 – Matthew Ridgway, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, U.S. Army Chief of Staff (d. 1993)
• 1896 – Leontios, Archbishop of Cyprus (d. 1947)
• 1898 – Emil Artin, German mathematician (d. 1962)
• 1901 – Claude Choules, One of two surviving British veterans of World War I
• 1903 – Vasily Kozlov, Soviet politician (d. 1967)
• 1906 – Artur Lundkvist, Swedish writer, poet and literary critic (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Kittens Reichert, American silent screen child actor (d. 1990)
• 1911 – Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
• 1911 – Hugues Lapointe, Canadian politician and Lieutenant governor of Quebec (d. 1982)
• 1911 – Harold J. Stone, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Margaret Bonds, American composer and pianist (d. 1972)
• 1914 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter (d. 1973)
• 1917 – Sameera Moussa, Egyptian nuclear scientist (d. 1952)
• 1918 – Dr. Arthur Kornberg, American biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2007)
• 1918 – Fritz Thiedemann, German equestrian (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Julius Boros, American golfer (d. 1994)
• 1920 – James Doohan, Canadian-born actor (d. 2005)
• 1920 – Ronald Searle, British illustrator
• 1921 – Diana Barrymore, stage & film actress (d. 1960)
• 1922 – Nándor Hidegkuti, Hungarian footballer (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Barney Martin, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1923 – Doc Watson, American musician
• 1924 – Tomiichi Murayama, former Prime Minister of Japan
• 1924 – Lilian Velez, Filipno actress (d. 1948)
• 1924 – Ali Faik Zaghloul, Egyptian radio presenter (d. 1995)
• 1926 – Lys Assia, Swiss singer
• 1926 – Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (d. 2003)
• 1926 – James Merrill, American poet (d. 1995)
• 1927 – Pierre Aubert, member of the Swiss Federal Council
• 1928 – Pierre Michelot, French double bass player (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Gudrun Pausewang, German writer
• 1930 – Heiner Geißler, German politician
• 1930 – Ion Iliescu, 2nd President of Romania
• 1930 – K. S. Rajah, Senior Counsel and former Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore (d. 2010)
• 1933 – Margaret Fink, Australian film producer
• 1933 – Alfredo Landa, Spanish actor
• 1933 – Marco Antonio Muñiz, Mexican singer (Los Tres Aces)
• 1933 – Lee Radziwill, American fashion executive
• 1937 – Bobby Driscoll, American actor (d. 1968)
• 1940 – Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian writer and journalist
• 1940 – Perry Ellis, fashion designer (d. 1986)
• 1940 – Jean-Paul Proust, French-born Minister of State of Monaco (d. 2010)
• 1940 – Owen Spencer-Thomas, English broadcaster, journalist and Anglican clergyman
• 1942 – Mike Pender, English singer and guitarist (The Searchers)
• 1944 – Lee Holdridge, Haitian-American composer
• 1945 – George Miller, Australian film director
• 1946 – John Virgo, English snooker player
• 1947 – Clifton Snider, American poet and writer
• 1947 – Otto Stuppacher, Austrian racing driver (d. 2001)
• 1947 – Jennifer Warnes, American singer and songwriter
• 1948 – Snowy White, British guitarist (Thin Lizzy, Pink Floyd)
• 1949 – Jüri Allik, Estonian psychologist
• 1949 – Gloria Hendry, American actress
• 1949 – Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player
• 1950 – Tim Kazurinsky, American actor and comedian
• 1951 – Lindsay Cooper, English musician and composer (Henry Cow, News from Babel)
• 1951 – Andy Murray, Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1951 – Heizo Takenaka, Japanese economist and retired politician
• 1952 – Rudy Fernandez, Filipino actor (d. 2008)
• 1953 – Robyn Hitchcock, British musician
• 1953 – Zico, Brazilian footballer
• 1954 – Édouard Lock, Canadian dance choreographer (La La La Human Steps)
• 1954 – Jorge José Emiliano dos Santos Brazilian football referee (d. 1995)
• 1955 – Andy Breckman, American comedian and radio personality
• 1955 – Darnell Williams, British actor
• 1956 – Zbigniew Boniek, Polish footballer
• 1957 – Thom Hoffman, Dutch actor and photographer
• 1958 – Miranda Richardson, British actress
• 1959 – Ira Glass, American radio host
• 1959 – Duško Vujoševic, Montenegrin basketball coach
• 1960 – Neal Heaton, American baseball player coach
• 1960 – Colin Wells, English cricketer
• 1961 – Mary Page Keller, American actress
• 1961 – John Matteson, American biographer
• 1961 – Perry McCarthy, English racing driver
• 1961 – Knut Nærum, Norwegian comedian
• 1961 – Fatima Whitbread, English javelin thrower
• 1962 – Glen E. Friedman, American photographer and artist
• 1962 – Jackie Joyner-Kersee, American athlete
• 1962 – Herschel Walker, American football player
• 1963 – Sophia Aliberti, Greek actress and TV presenter
• 1964 – Raúl Alcalá, Mexican cyclist
• 1964 – Laura Harring, Mexican-born American actress
• 1965 – Dragan Stojkovic, Serbian footballer
• 1966 – Fernando Colunga, Mexican actor
• 1966 – Tone Loc, American rapper and actor
• 1966 – Timo Tolkki, Finnish musician (Stratovarius)
• 1967 – Go Mi-Young, South Korean female mountaineer (d. 2009)
• 1968 – Brian Cox, British physicist and television presenter
• 1968 – Brian Leetch, American ice hockey player
• 1968 – Scott Radinsky, American musician (Pulley, Ten Foot Pole)
• 1969 – Simon Whitlock, Australian darts player
• 1970 – Julie Bowen, American actress
• 1970 – Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistani cricketer
• 1971 – Charlie Brooker, English comedian, writer and broadcaster
• 1971 – Tyler Florence, chef, television personality and cookbook author
• 1972 – Darren Anderton, English footballer
• 1973 – Matthew Marsden, English actor and singer
• 1973 – Romans Vainšteins, Latvian cyclist
• 1973 – Victoria Zdrok, Ukrainian model
• 1974 – Paula Malai Ali, Malaysian-Bruneian TV presenter and actress
• 1974 – David Faustino, American actor
• 1975 – Aleksandr Abdulkhalikov, Russian professional footballer
• 1975 – Aleksei Abdulkhalikov, Russian professional footballer
• 1976 – Fraser Gehrig, Australian Rules footballer
• 1977 – Ronan Keating, Irish singer
• 1977 – Stéphane Robidas, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Ilias Anastasakos, Greek footballer
• 1978 – Matt Diaz, American baseball player
• 1978 – Ashwin Madia, U.S. politician
• 1978 – Seomoon Tak, Korean singer
• 1979 – Manuel Benthin, German footballer
• 1979 – Albert Jorquera, Spanish footballer
• 1979 – Patrick Renna, American actor
• 1979 – Alex Zane, English comedian
• 1980 – Mason Unck, American football player
• 1981 – Dusty Dvoracek, American football player
• 1981 – Kim Yoo-Jin (Eugene), South Korean singer and actress
• 1981 – Lil' Flip, American rapper
• 1981 – Paul Lloyd, Jr., South African professional wrestler
• 1981 – Julius Malema, South African politician
• 1981 – Emmanuel Pappoe, Ghanaian footballer
• 1981 – Sung Yu Ri, South Korean singer and actress
• 1982 – Jessica Biel, American actress
• 1982 – Martin Hauswald, German footballer
• 1982 – Colton Orr, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1982 – Derreck Robinson, American football player
• 1983 – Ashley Hansen, Australian Rules footballer
• 1983 – Marie-Pier Boudreau Gagnon, Canadian synchronized swimmer
• 1983 – Sarah Poewe, South African swimmer
• 1983 – Chris Roberson, American football player
• 1984 – Valerio Bernabò, Italian rugby player
• 1984 – Santonio Holmes, American football player
• 1984 – Hayley Marie Norman. American actress
• 1984 – Alexander Semin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1985 – Sam Morrow, Northern Irish footballer
• 1986 – Jed Collins, American football player
• 1986 – Stacie Orrico, American singer
• 1988 – Riccardo Bocchino, Italian rugby player
• 1988 – Christa-Elizabeth Goulakos, Greek-Canadian ice dancer
• 1988 – Jan-Arie van der Heijden, Dutch footballer
• 1988 – Michael Morrison, English footballer
• 1990 – Vladimir Jankovic, Greek-Serbian basketball player
• 1992 – Jordy Lucas, Australian actress
• 1994 – Umika Kawashima, Japanese actress

Deaths

• 1111 – Bohemund I, Prince of Antioch
• 1239 – Vladimir III Rurikovich, Grand Prince of Kiev (b. 1187)
• 1459 – Ausiàs March, Catalan poet (b. 1397)
• 1554 – John Frederick, Elector of Saxony (b. 1503)
• 1606 – Nyaungyan Min, King of Burma (b. 1557)
• 1703 – Robert Hooke, English scientist (b. 1635)
• 1706 – Johann Pachelbel, German composer (b. 1653)
• 1707 – Aurangzeb, Mughal Emperor of India (b. 1618)
• 1717 – Pierre Allix, French Protestant pastor (b. 1641)
• 1744 – Jean Barbeyrac, French jurist (b. 1674)
• 1765 – William Stukeley, English archaeologist (b. 1687)
• 1768 – Nicola Porpora, Italian composer (b. 1686)
• 1792 – Robert Adam, Scottish architect (b. 1728)
• 1850 – Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (b. 1806)
• 1894 – Ned Williamson, American baseball player (b. 1857)
• 1899 – William P. Sprague, American politician from Ohio (b. 1827)
• 1920 – Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter (b. 1840)
• 1927 – Mikhail Artsybashev, Russian writer (b. 1878)
• 1927 – J.G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh motor-racing driver (b. 1884)
• 1929 – Katharine Wright, teacher, sister of the Wright Brothers (b. 1874)
• 1932 – Eugen d'Albert, German composer (b. 1864)
• 1943 – George Thompson, English cricketer (b. 1877)
• 1953 – James J. Jeffries, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1875)
• 1959 – Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
• 1961 – Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (b. 1887)
• 1966 – Joseph Fields, American playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, and film producer (b. 1895)
• 1966 – William Frawley, American actor (b. 1887)
• 1966 – Alice Pearce, American actress (b. 1917)
• 1977 – Percy Marmont, British/American actor (b. 1883)
• 1982 – Georges Perec, French writer (b. 1936)
• 1983 – Hergé, Belgian comics creator (b. 1907)
• 1983 – Arthur Koestler, Austrian writer (b. 1905)
• 1987 – Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1913)
• 1988 – Henryk Szeryng, Polish violinist (b. 1918)
• 1988 – Sewall Wright, American biologist (b. 1889)
• 1990 – Gérard Blitz, Belgian waterpoloist and entrepreneur (b. 1912)
• 1991 – Arthur Murray, American dancer and dance instructor (b. 1895)
• 1993 – Mel Bradford, American literary critic (b. 1934)
• 1993 – Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-born gangster (b. 1910)
• 1993 – Carlos Montoya, flamenco guitarist (b. 1903)
• 1993 – Albert Sabin, Polish-born medical researcher (b. 1906)
• 1995 – Howard W. Hunter, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1907)
• 1996 – Marguerite Duras, French writer (b. 1914)
• 1996 – John Krol, American cardinal (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Fred Friendly, American broadcast executive (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Gerhard Herzberg, German-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
• 2000 – Toni Ortelli, Italian composer and alpinist (b. 1904)
• 2001 – Louis Edmonds, American actor (b. 1923)
• 2001 – Eugene Sledge, U.S. Marine and American author (b. 1923)
• 2002 – Harlan Howard, American musician (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Horst Buchholz, German actor (b. 1933)
• 2003 – Luis Marden, American photojournalist (b. 1913)
• 2003 – Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer (b. 1904)
• 2003 – Peter Smithson, English architect (b. 1923)
• 2004 – Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (b. 1958)
• 2005 – Max M. Fisher, American philanthropist (b. 1928)
• 2006 – Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet (b. 1923)
• 2006 – William Herskovic, Holocaust hero and philanthropist (b. 1914)
• 2007 – Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian cartoonist, creator of La Linea (b. 1920)
• 2008 – Giuseppe Di Stefano, Italian operatic tenor (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Norman Smith, English singer and record producer (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Gilbert Parent, Canadian politician, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Keith Alexander, British football manager (b. 1956)
• 2010 – Michael Foot, British politician (b. 1913)
• 2011 – May Cutler, Canadian politician and publisher (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Cunigunde of Luxembourg
  • Katharine Drexel
  • March 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Hinamatsuri or "Girl's Day" (Japan)
• Liberation Day (Bulgaria)
• Mother's Day (Georgia)
• Sportsmen's day (Egypt)