Historical Events
- Mar 1 1st permanent automobile license plates issued (Ct)
- Mar 1 Governor Wouters innaugrates the radio station on the Dutch Antilles
- Mar 1 US Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day
9th Academy Awards
Mar 4 9th Academy Awards: "The Great Ziegfeld", Paul Muni & Luise Rainer wins
- Mar 7 Bucharin, Jagoda & Rykov pushed out of CPSU in USSR
King of Swing
Mar 10 Benny Goodman unofficially crowned the “King of Swing” at New York City's Paramount Theater as his band plays before exuberant sell-out crowd filled with teenagers; unable to attend nightclub performances, kids dance in the aisles
Battle of the Century
Mar 14 Battle of the Century: US comedians Fred Allen and Jack Benny meet on radio during their "feud"
- Mar 15 1st state contraceptive clinic opens in Raleigh, North Carolina
- Mar 15 First American blood bank in a hospital is opened at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois
- Mar 18 Gas explosion in school in New London, Texas: 294 die
- Mar 18 The human-powered aircraft, Pedaliante, flies 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) outside Milan.
- Mar 19 96th Grand National: With King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in attendance, aptly-named Royal Mail ridden by jockey Evan Williams wins at odds of 100/6; estimated crowd, 300,000
- Mar 19 Astronomer Fritz Zwicky publishes his research on stellar explosion in which he coins the term "supernova" and hypothesizes that they were the origin of cosmic rays
- Mar 19 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Divini redemptoris against communism
- Mar 20 England beats Scotland, 6-3 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh to clinch the Home Nations Rugby Championship and Triple Crown
Battle of Guadalajara
Mar 20 Franco's Republican army launch their (eventually successful) counter-offensive against Italian International Brigades fighting for the Nationalists at the Battle of Guadalajara, Spain
- Mar 21 Ponce massacre, police kill 19 at Puerto Rican Nationalist parade
- Mar 23 LA Railway Co starts using PCC streetcars
- Mar 24 Bus carrying a roller skater troupe to Cincinnati from St.Louis crashes into a bridge abutment in Salem, Illinois, killing 21 people
- Mar 24 National Gallery of Art established by Congress
- Mar 25 Italy & Yugoslavia sign non-aggression treaty (Pact of Belgrade)
- Mar 25 Lionel Conacher misses on 1st Stanley Cup penalty shot
- Mar 25 Washington Daily News is 1st US newspaper with perfumed advertising page
DiMaggio's New Bat
Mar 26 Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice and replaces his 40 oz bat with a 36 oz one
- Mar 26 Spinach growers of Crystal City, Texas, erect statue of Popeye
- Mar 26 William H. Hastie becomes 1st black federal judge (Virgin Islands)
- Mar 27 Feijenoord Stadion, home ground of Dutch football club Feyenoord Rotterdam and nicknamed De Kuip opens after 2 years in construction
Famous Birthdays
- Mar 1 Jed Allan, actor (Days of our Lives, CC-Santa Barbara), born in The Bronx, New York
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (1937-2021)
Mar 2 Algerian politician, President of Algeria (1999-2019), born in Oujda, Morocco
- Mar 2 Denny Crum, American College Basketball & Basketball Hall of Fame coach (University of Louisville 1971-2001; NCAA C'ship 1980, 86; 6 x Final Fours), born in San Fernando, California (d. 2023)
- Mar 3 Bobby Driscoll, American Academy Juvenile Award-winning actor (Song Of The South; The Window), born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (d. 1968)
- Mar 4 Barney Wilen, French tenor, composer and saxophonist, born in Nice, France (d. 1996)
- Mar 4 Graeme Dowling, New Zealand cricket batsman (39 Tests, 3 x 100s, TS 239 v India 1968; Canterbury CA), born in Christchurch, New Zealand
- Mar 4 Leslie Gelb, American foreign policy advisor
- Mar 4 Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich, Russian cosmonaut
- Mar 5 Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ, Nigerian military leader and politician (President of Nigeria, 1999-2007), born in Ibogun-Olaogun, British Nigeria
- Mar 5 Stephen Fitz-Simon, British fashion retailer and entrepreneur (Biba), born in Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, England (d. 1997)
- Mar 6 Ben Keith [Schaeufele], American musician and record producer (Neil Young, Great Speckled Bird), born in Fort Riley, Kansas (d. 2010)
- Mar 6 Doug Dillard, American country rock musician (The Dillards; Gene Clark; Dillard & Clark) and actor (Popeye - "Clem"), born in East St. Louis, Illinois (d. 2012)
- Mar 6 Guy Boniface, French rugby union centre (35 Tests; Stade Montois Rugby; IRB HOF), born in Montfort-en-Chalosse, France (d. 1968)
- Mar 6 Ivan Boesky, stockbroker inside trading, born in Detroit, Michigan
- Mar 6 Paul Mefano, French composer, born in Basra, Iraq
Valentina Tereshkova (87 years old)
Mar 6 Soviet cosmonaut and 1st woman in space (Vostok 6), born in Maslennikovo, Russia
- Mar 7 Anne Kristen, Scottish actress (Coronation St, Sunset Song), (d. 1996)
- Mar 7 Don Bonker, American politician (Rep-D-WA, 1975-89), born in Denver, Colorado
Juvénal Habyarimana (1937-1994)
Mar 8 Rwandan General, Dictator and President of Rwanda (1973-94) who was assassinated at the start of the Rwandan genocide, born in Ruanda-Urundi, Belgian Colonial Empire
- Mar 8 Juvénal Hayarimana, president of Rwanda (1973-94)
- Mar 8 Pamela McEvoy-Johnston, psychotherapist-board member (WIC)
- Mar 8 Raynoma Singleton [Gordy], music producer and singer-songwriter (Motown), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2016)
- Mar 8 Richard Fariña, American folk singer-songwriter ("Birmingham Sunday"), and novelist ("Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me"), born in New York City (d. 1966)
- Mar 9 Bernard Landry, Premier of Quebec (2001-2003), born in Saint-Jacques, Quebec, Canada
- Mar 9 Brian Redman, English racing driver, born in Colne, Lancashire
- Mar 9 Grahame Chevalier, South African cricketer (one Test for South Africa 1970, 0 & 0*, 5-100), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 2017)
- Mar 10 Alfred Janson, Norwegian jazz and classical pianist and composer (Passacaglia Vendetta; Variations over Variations on a Norwegian Folk Tune), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 2019)
- Mar 10 Joe Viterelli, American actor (d. 2004)
- Mar 10 John Creighton, New Zealand rugby union hooker (1 Test, 6 apps NZ; Canterbury), born in Rotherham, New Zealand (d. 2022)
- Mar 10 Oscar Abrams, Guyanese-born architect and community organizer (Keskidee Centre) (d. 1996)
- Mar 11 Alexandra Zabelina, Russian fencer (Olympic gold USSR women's team foil 1960, 68, 72), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 2022)
- Mar 11 Carlos Larrañaga, Spanish actor
- Mar 11 John Ward, New Zealand cricket wicketkeeper (8 Tests; 17 dismissals), born in Timaru, New Zealand (d. 2021)
- Mar 11 Milan Vukcevich, Yugoslavian chemist and a grandmaster of chess problem composition, born in Belgrade, Serbia (d. 2003)
- Mar 12 Elizabeth Vaughan, Welsh opera soprano (Victor/Victoria), born in Llanfyllin, Wales
- Mar 13 Fofó Iosefa Fiti Sunia, Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from American Samoa, born in Fagasá, Pago Pago
- Mar 13 Terence "Terry" Cox, British drummer (Pentangle; Duffy's Nucleus; Humblebums; Charles Aznavour), born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
- Mar 14 Arturo Chaires, Mexican soccer defender (22 caps; C.D. Guadalajara), born in Guadalajara, Mexico (d. 2020)
- Mar 14 Peter van der Merwe, South African cricketer (South African captain of mid-1960's)
- Mar 15 Dick Bass, American NFL running back (Pro Bowl 1962, 63, 66; LA Rams), born in Georgetown, Mississippi (d. 2006)
- Mar 15 Randy Duncan Jr., American College Football HOF quarterback (University of Iowa; #1 pick 1959 NFL Draft by GB Packers), born in Osage, Iowa (d. 2015)
- Mar 15 Valentin Rasputin, Russian writer (To Live and Remember), born in Atalanka, Soviet Union (d. 2015)
- Mar 16 Amos Tversky, Israeli cognitive and mathematical psychologist, born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine (d. 1996)
- Mar 16 Constança Capdeville, Porteguese pianist and composer, born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 1992)
- Mar 16 David Del Tredici, American pianist, Neo-Romantic composer, and 1980 Pulitzer Prize winner (In Memory of a Summer Day), born in Cloverdale, California (d. 2023) [1]
- Mar 17 Frank Calabrese [Frankie Breeze], American mafia hitman, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2012)
- Mar 17 Galina Samsova [Samtsova], Russian ballerina (London Festival Ballet, 1964-73), and artistic director, born in Stalingrad, Soviet Union (d. 2021)
- Mar 18 Mark Donohue, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500, 1972), born in Haddon Township, New Jersey (d. 1975)
- Mar 18 Rudi Altig, German cyclist
- Mar 19 Carlo Mazzone, Italian soccer manager (Ascoli, Fiorentina, Roma, Napoli, Bologna, Cagliari) and centre-back (AS Roma, SPAL, Ascoli), born in Rome, Italy (d. 2023)
- Mar 19 Clarence "Frogman" Henry, American R&B pianist and singer ("Ain't Got No Home"; "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do"), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2024) [1]
- Mar 19 Egon Krenz, former East German folitician and last communist leader of East Germany (1989), born in Kolberg, Nazi Germany
- Mar 20 Elizabeth Gille, French writer (Le Mirador), translator and editor, born in Paris, France (d. 1996)
- Mar 20 Helmut Recknagel, German 90m ski jump (Olympic gold 1960)
- Mar 20 Jerry Reed, American country music singer (When You're Hot, You're Hot) and actor (Bat 21; Smokey and the Bandit), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2008)
- Mar 20 Joe Rivers, American rocker (Johnnie & Joe), born in Charleston, South Carolina (d. 2016)
- Mar 20 Mark Saville, QC, British high court judge
- Mar 21 Tom Flores, NFL quarterback and coach (Raiders), born in Fresno, California
- Mar 22 Angelo Badalamenti, American Grammy Award-winning film composer (Twin Peaks; The Straight Story; Blue Velvet; Mulholland Drive), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2022) [1]
- Mar 22 Armin Hary, German athlete (2 Olympic gold 100m, 4x100m relay 1960), born in Quierschied, Germany
- Mar 22 Jon Hassell, American composer and trumpet player (Dream Theory In Malaya), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 2021)
Craig Breedlove (1937-2023)
Mar 23 American auto racer (5 x world land speed record holder; first to reach 500mph (800km/h) and 600mph (970km/h), born in Los Angeles, California
- Mar 23 Heinz Martin Lonquich, German pianist, conductor, composer (The Silence of John of Nepomuk; Where year and day don't count), and clergyman, born in Trier, Germany (d. 2014)
- Mar 23 Robert Cage, American blues guitarist (From Lake Mary), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2012)
- Mar 23 Robert Gallo, American physician
- Mar 23 Tony Burton, American boxer, and actor (Rocky films), born in Flint, Michigan (d. 2016)
- Mar 24 Benjamin Luxon, British operatic baritone (Owen Wingrave), born in Redruth, England
- Mar 24 Billy Stewart, American R&B singer ("I Do Love You"; "Summertime"), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1970)
- Mar 24 Erskine Sandiford, Premier of Barbados, 1987-94)
- Mar 25 Scot Palmer, Australian sports journalist (The Sun, Sunday Press, Seven Network; President Football Writers Association), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 2022)
- Mar 25 Tom Monaghan, American founder of Dominos pizza, born in Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Mar 26 Barbara Jones, American athlete who won Olympic gold 4 x 100m relay 1952, 60), born in Chicago, Illinois
- Mar 26 Wayne Embry, American Basketball HOF center (5 x NBA All Star; NBA C'ship 1968 Boston Celtics) and executive (NBA Executive of the Year 1992 Cleveland Cavaliers, 1998 Toronto Raptors), born in Springfield, Ohio
- Mar 27 Francesco Janich, Italian soccer defender (6 caps; Bologna), born in Udine, Italy (d. 2019)
- Mar 27 Johnny Copeland, American blues guitarist and singer (Lion's Den), born in Haynesville, Louisiana (d. 1997)
- Mar 27 Thomas Aquinas Daly, American painter, born in Albany, New York
- Mar 29 Billy Carter, brother of US President Jimmy Carter, born in Plains, Georgia (d. 1988)
- Mar 29 Smarck Michel, Haitian Prime Minister (1994-95), born in Saint-Marc, Haiti (d. 2012)
- Mar 30 Jay W Macintosh, American actress (Sons & Daughters), born in Gainesville, Georgia
- Mar 30 Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth [Ian MacLaurin], British businessman and chairman (Vodafone), born in Blackheath, England
Warren Beatty (87 years old)
Mar 30 American actor (Bonnie & Clyde, Shampoo, Dick Tracy), born in Richmond, Virginia
- Mar 31 Willem Duyn [Mouth], Dutch singer (Mouth & MacNeal), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 2004)
Famous Weddings
D. W. Griffith
Mar 2 Film director D. W. Griffith (61) weds actress Evelyn Baldwin (26)
Famous Deaths
Howie Morenz (1902-1937)
Mar 8 Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (Montreal Canadiens, 3-time Stanley Cup winner), dies of a heart attack at 34
- Mar 9 Paul Elmer More, American critic and essayist, dies at 72
- Mar 10 Yevgeny Zamyatin, Russian writer and Soviet dissident (We), dies at 53
- Mar 11 Joseph S. Cullinan, American oil industrialist (b. 1860)
- Mar 11 Paul Scheinpflug, composer, dies at 61
- Mar 12 Charles-Marie Widor, French organist (Saint-Sulpice, 1870-1933), composer (10 organ symphonies), and professor (American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, 1921-34), dies at 93
- Mar 12 Jenő Hubay [Huber], Hungarian violinist, composer, and educator (Budapest Conservatory, 1886-1934), dies at 78
- Mar 13 Elihu Thomson, English-born American engineer who co-founded General Electric Company and inventor with 696 patents, dies at 83 [1]
- Mar 15 H. P. Lovecraft, American horror writer (At the Mountains of Madness, Weird Tales), dies at 46
- Mar 16 Austen Chamberlain, British statesman, (Foreign Secretary 1924-29, Nobel Peace Prize 1925 for anti-war Locano Pact), dies at 73
- Mar 18 Charles Haslewood Shannon, English lithographer and painter, dies at 73
- Mar 19 Horacio Quiroga, Uruguayan playwright, poet, and short story writer (Anaconda, El Crimen del Otro), commits suicide at 58
Harry Vardon (1870-1937)
Mar 20 Jersey golfer (6 time British Open champion, US Open 1900), dies of lung cancer at 66
- Mar 22 Mary Russell, Duchess of Bedford, English aviator and ornithologist, dies at 71
- Mar 23 Helge Rode, Danish poet and critic, dies at 66
- Mar 25 John Drinkwater, English poet and playwright (Bird in Hand), dies at 54
- Mar 26 Albert Relf, English cricket all-rounder (13 Tests, 1 x 50, 25 wickets, BB 5/85; Sussex CCC, Auckland CA), commits suicide at 52
- Mar 29 Karol Szymanowski, Polish pianist and composer (Symphony No. 3 - Song Of The Night), dies of tuberculosis at 54
