Historical Events
The Batman
Mar 1 DC film "The Batman" starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz, directed and written by Matt Reeves premieres in New York City
Event of Interest
Mar 1 US President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address, says Vladimir Putin has "badly miscalculated" by invading Ukraine [1]
- Mar 2 UN states agree to create legally binding plastic pollution treaty (tbc 2024) after talks in Nairobi, Kenya - hailed most significant environmental deal since 2015 Paris climate accord [1]
- Mar 3 Russian forces seize the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the largest in Europe
- Mar 4 Four-ton rocket debris crashes into the far side of the moon, unconfirmed booster from China's Chang'e 5-T1 mission in first unintentional collision with the moon [1]
- Mar 4 Suspected suicide bomb attack on a shia mosque in Pakistani city of Peshawar kills at least 56 and injures 190 [1]
Event of Interest
Mar 5 Explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance that sank in 1915, is rediscovered after 107 years in excellent condition in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica [1]
- Mar 7 Global death toll from Covid-19 passes 6 million according to Johns Hopkins figures, with 57% of the world's population fully vaccinated [1]
- Mar 7 UN refugee agency says Russian invasion of Ukraine has now led to 1.7 million people fleeing the country, civilian deaths recorded at 406 with 801 injured [1]
- Mar 8 Florida Senate passes controversial "Parental Rights in Education bill, known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, restricting teachers from discussing gender identity [1]
- Mar 8 President Joe Biden announces the US is banning Russian oil imports with UK phasing out imports by the end of the year
Agreement of Interest
Mar 8 Reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers agrees to remain with the Green Bay Packers in a reported 4-year, $200m deal that would make him the highest paid player in NFL history
- Mar 8 Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon formally apologises to the 4,000 Scots, mostly women, accused of witchcraft between 1563 and 1736 [1]
- Mar 8 Sydney has wettest start to the year since records began, recording 822 millimetres of rain amid widespread flooding [1]
- Mar 8 UK band Glass Animals' song "Heat Waves" sets new record of 59 weeks for longest time to reach No. 1 on US Billboard Top 100 [1]
Event of Interest
Mar 8 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invokes Winston Churchill speaking virtually to the UK parliament "We will not fail. We will fight till the end" [1]
Music History
Mar 9 American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie receives Library of Congress Gershwin Prize at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
- Mar 9 Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian city of Mariupol hit a hospital, killing at least three people, as attempts to create a humanitarian corridor out of the city fail [1]
Event of Interest
Mar 9 Stolen notebooks belonging to naturalist Charles Darwin, including his famous 'tree of life' sketch, mysteriously returned after 22 years to Cambridge University Library [1]
Election of Interest
Mar 9 Yoon Suk-yeol elected President of South Korea, defeating sitting President Moon Jae-in [1]
BAFTA Awards
Mar 13 75th BAFTA awards: Best Film "The Power of the Dog", Best Director Jane Campion, acting awards Joanna Scanlan, Will Smith
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Mar 14 Dolly Parton removes herself from the ballot for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame saying "I don’t feel that I have earned that right” (she later reconsiders and gets in) [1]
- Mar 14 Omicron causes the largest outbreak of COVID-19 in China since Wuhan 2020 with 26 million people under lockdown in Changchun and Shenzhen [1]
- Mar 14 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Australian Cameron Smith wins $3.6m, biggest individual event purse in golf history; beats Anirban Lahiri of India by 1 stroke
- Mar 15 Architectures' Pritzker Prize awarded to Francis Kéré from Burkina Faso [1]
- Mar 15 Hong Kong amid its worst COVID-19 outbreak records over 4,000 deaths in a few months, largely due to low vaccination, as Omicron hits, forcing it to abandon its covid-zero policy,
- Mar 16 After 20 seasons as Fox's NFL lead broadcast team, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman join ESPN as new lead commentators of Monday Night Football
- Mar 16 British-Iranians Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori return to the UK after being detained for five and six years on spying charges [1]
- Mar 16 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses US Congress remotely pleading for further aid against the Russian invasion [1]
- Mar 16 US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for the first time since 2018 by a quarter of a point to help ease rising price inflation [1]
- Mar 17 Claude Giroux, NHL Philadelphia Flyers longest-serving captain, becomes only 2nd player in franchise history to play 1,000th game for the team, joining Bobby Clarke
Event of Interest
Mar 17 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari apologies for recent fuel shortages and power outages, including the failure of the national electricity grid and an increase in adulterated fuel [1]
Sports History
Mar 19 LeBron James moves past Karl Malone (36,909) into second on NBA's all-time scoring list with 38 points in LA Lakers' 127-119 loss to Washington Wizards; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leads (38,387)
- Mar 20 Intense fighting in Ukrainian city of Mariupol continues as Russian forces encircle the city, trapping 300,000 people [1]
- Mar 21 178 wildfires have burnt more than 108,000 acres across southwest Texas according to local fire officials with 23 still active [1]
- Mar 21 China Eastern Airlines jetliner crashes in mountains in Guangxi region, China, with 132 people on board
- Mar 21 Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings begin in Washington D.C.
Event of Interest
Mar 22 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party reaches a deal with opposition New Democratic Party to stay in power till 2025 [1]
- Mar 22 Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards declares a state of emergency after tornadoes tear through New Orleans suburbs, killing at least one person [1]
- Mar 22 Microplastics found in human blood for first time through new research conducted at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands [1]
- Mar 23 Abel Prize, mathematics' Nobel equivalent, awarded to American Dennis Sullivan for his work on topography [1]
- Mar 23 After 114 consecutive weeks as world #1 female tennis player, 25-year-old Australian Ash Barty makes shock retirement announcement; cites contentment with all she achieved in the sport
- Mar 23 Brian Houston, Australian founder of megachurch Hillsong, resigns after an internal investigation finds he breached their code of conduct with two women
- Mar 23 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally declares that members of Russia armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine [1]
- Mar 25 Sydney forward Lance "Buddy" Franklin kicks 4 goals to become only 6th player in VFL/AFL history to kick 1,000 career goals; Swans overrun Geelong, 107-77 at the SCG
- Mar 26 US President Joe Biden says of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power" in unscripted remarks in Poland [1]
- Mar 27 94th Academy Awards: "CODA" wins best film, best director Jane Campion, best actress Jessica Chastain, best actor Will Smith who also controversially slaps host Chris Rock live on stage [1]
- Mar 27 China announces Shanghai will be locked down in two stages over nine days affecting 25 million people to carry out COVID-19 testing [1]
Event of Interest
Mar 27 Duke and Duchess of Cambridge end an eight-day tour of Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas that highlighted issues of decolonization and calls for slave reparations [1]
- Mar 27 El Salvador's parliament declares a state of emergency after 62 gang killings in one day [1]
- Mar 28 Actor Will Smith issues an apology on Instagram to Oscars host Chris Rock for slapping him live on stage during the ceremony [1]
Event of Interest
Mar 28 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs so called "Don't Say Gay" bill limiting LGBTQ classroom instruction [1]
- Mar 29 BA.2 version of Omicron is now the dominant form of COVID-19 in America according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [1]
- Mar 29 In a major victory for Ukraine, Russia announces it is withdrawing its badly mauled forces from around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv
- Mar 29 New study of Pluto finds evidence of cryovolcanoes and ice lava from NASA's New Horizons footage 2015 [1]
- Mar 29 US FDA authorizes a second Pfizer or Moderna booster shot for people over 50 or immunocompromised [1]
- Mar 29 US President Joe Biden signs the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law, making lynching a federal hate crime after over 200 attempts to pass similar legislation since 1900 [1]
Film & TV History
Mar 30 Bruce Willis announces he is stepping away from acting after a diagnosis of aphasia [1]
- Mar 30 Computer's Turing Award won by American programmer Jack Dongarra, whose work paved the way for supercomputers [1]
Music History
Mar 30 Rock band Foo Fighters cancel their world tour after the unexpected death of their drummer Taylor Hawkins in Bogotá, Colombia [1]
Cricket History
Mar 30 State memorial service held for Australian cricketing great Shane Warne at Melbourne Cricket Ground, attended by 50,000
- Mar 31 First truly complete sequence of a human genome published by Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) consortium, after breakthroughs in new technology (previously just over 90% coded) [1]
- Mar 31 US announces it will release 1 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for six months to drive down prices [1]
Famous Weddings
Julian Assange
Mar 23 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (50) marries Stella Moris in prison in Belmarsh prison, London
Famous Deaths
- Mar 1 Alevtina Kolchina, Russian cross-country skier (Olympic gold 3×5km relay 1964, silver 1956, bronze 1968; bronze 5k 1964, 68), dies at 91
- Mar 1 Conrad Janis, American actor (Mork & Mindy - "Fred"; Quark; Bonino), and traditional jazz trombonist (Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band), dies at 94
- Mar 1 Warner Mark [McPherson], American country music singer-songwriter (Sittin' on a Rock (Cryin' in a Creek)); Talkin' to the Wall), dies at 86
- Mar 2 Johnny Brown, American stage and screen comic actor (Good Times - "Bookman"; Laugh-In), and singer, dies of heart failure at 84
- Mar 2 Robert Cohen, French boxer (NYSAC, NBA, The Ring bantamweight titles 1954-56), dies at 91
- Mar 2 Tony Walton, British Tony, Oscar, and Emmy Award-winning set and costume designer (Pippin; Mary Poppins; All That Jazz), dies from stroke complications at 87
- Mar 3 Dean Woods, Australian track cyclist (Olympic gold team pursuit 1984; silver individual pursuit 1988; bronze team pursuit 1988, 96), dies from cancer at 55
- Mar 3 Frank Connor, Scottish soccer manager (Cowdenbeath FC, Berwick Rangers FC, Celtic FC, Raith Rovers FC), dies at 86
- Mar 3 Tim Considine, American actor (Spin & Marty; My Three Sons, 1960-65 - "Mike"), and photographer, dies at 81
- Mar 4 Maryan Wisniewski, French soccer striker (33 caps; Lens, Sampdoria, Saint-Étienne, Sochaux, Grenoble), dies at 85
- Mar 4 Mitchell Ryan, American actor (Dark Shadows; Lethal Weapon; Dharma & Greg; Executive Suite), dies at 88
- Mar 4 Rod Marsh, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (96 Tests, 355 dismissals, 3 x 100; coach Australian & England Academies) and broadcaster (9 Network), dies following heart attack at 74
Shane Warne (1969-2022)
Mar 4 Australian cricket spin bowler and broadcaster (145 Tests, 708 wickets, BB 8/71; 194 ODIs; Victoria CA, Hampshire CCC), dies from a heart attack at 52
- Mar 7 Berkrerk Chartvanchai, Thai boxer (WBA flyweight title 1970), dies at 77
- Mar 7 Raja, Sri Lanka's most revered elephant (carried golden casket of Buddhist relics at Esala Perahera pageant), dies at 68 [1]
- Mar 8 Gordon Lee, English soccer manager (Port Vale, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United, Everton, Preston NE, KR Reykjavik), dies at 87
- Mar 8 Johnny Grier, American football official (1981-2004; first African-American referee in NFL history 1988), dies at 74
- Mar 8 Ron Miles, American jazz cornetist, composer, and bandleader, dies Polycythemia vera, a rare blood disorder, at 58
- Mar 8 Tomás Boy, Mexican football midfielder and manager (52 caps; Tigres UANL 413 games), dies from a pulmonary thromboembolism at 70
- Mar 9 Jimmy Lydon, American actor (Twice Blessed, Life with Father), dies at 98
- Mar 9 Justice Christopher, Nigerian soccer midfielder (11 caps; Antwerp FC, Trelleborg FF, Herfølge Boldklub), dies at 40
- Mar 9 Richard Podolor, American session guitarist, sound engineer, and record producer (Three Dog Night; Steppenwolf), dies at 86
- Mar 10 Jessica Williams, American jazz pianist and composer (In the Key of Monk), dies at 73
- Mar 10 Jürgen Grabowski, German soccer midfielder/forward (44 caps West Germany; Eintracht Frankfurt 441 games), dies from kidney disease at 77
- Mar 10 Odalis Pérez, Dominican baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 2002; Atlanta Braves, LA Dodgers, KC Royals), dies after a fall at 44
- Mar 11 Timmy Thomas, American R&B singer-songwriter ("Why Can't We Live Together"), dies of cancer at 77
- Mar 12 Barry Bailey, American rock guitarist (Atlanta Rhythm Section), dies from complications of multiple sclerosis at 73 [1]
William Hurt (1950-2022)
Mar 13 American Academy Award-winning actor (Big Chill; Children of a Lesser God; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Broadcast News), dies of prostate cancer at 71 [1]
- Mar 14 Razor Ramon [Scott Hall], American pro wrestler (9 x WCW World Tag Team Champion; WWE HOF 2014), dies from a heart attack at 63
- Mar 15 David Stephenson, English rugby league outside back (10 caps Great Britain; Wigan RLFC, Salford RLFC), dies at 63
- Mar 15 Eugene Parker, American solar astrophysicist (Parker Space Probe named after him), dies at 94
- Mar 15 Lu Liang-Huan, Taiwanese golfer (British Open 1971 runner-up), dies at 85
- Mar 16 Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer (1st Japanese rider to win GP race 1961) and auto racer (4 x All-Japan Sports Prototype C'ship), dies at 82
- Mar 16 Ralph Terry, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1962, 62²; World Series 1961, 62 [MVP]; NY Yankees, KC Athletics, Cleveland Indians, NY Mets), dies at 86
- Mar 16 Slobodan Škrbić, Serbian soccer defender (4 caps Yugoslavia; Red Star Belgrade, Lille), dies at 77
- Mar 17 Alan Rees, Welsh rugby union fly-half (3 Tests; Maesteg RFC), rugby league five eighth (Leeds RLFC) and cricket all-rounder (Glamorgan CCC), dies at 84
- Mar 17 Peter Bowles, British actor (I, Claudius; Rumpole of the Bailey - "Featherstone"), dies of cancer at 85
- Mar 18 Alfons Dirnberger, Austrian soccer midfielder (3 caps; FC Austria Wien), dies at 80
- Mar 18 Don Young, American politician and US Representative from Alaska (Republican: 1973- 2022), dies at 88
- Mar 18 John Clayton, American sports journalist/reporter (The Pittsburgh Press, The News Tribune; ESPN), dies at 67
- Mar 18 Murray Day, New Zealand sports administrator (President World Squash Federation 1975-81), dies at 90
- Mar 19 Dave Sims, English rugby union lock (3 Tests; Gloucester RFC; Barbarians RFC 1995, 96, 99), dies at 52
- Mar 19 Federico Martín Aramburú, Argentine rugby union winger (22 Tests; 11 competitions Argentina Sevens; Biarritz Olympique, Perpignan, Glasgow Warriors), dies in a drive-by shooting at 42
- Mar 19 Scoey Mitchell [Roscoe Mitchill], American TV writer, director, and actor (Barefoot in the Park; Rhoda), dies of kidney failure at 92
- Mar 19 Tom Young, American basketball coach (American Uni, Rutgers Uni, Catholic Uni, Old Dominion Uni), dies at 89
- Mar 21 Fevzi Zemzem, Turkish soccer striker (18 caps; AS Göztepe 356 games) and manager (Orduspor), dies at 80
- Mar 21 Nikolai Osyanin, Russian soccer striker (3 caps; PFC Krylia Sovetov Kuibyshev, FC Spartak Moscow), dies at 80
- Mar 23 Jimmy Lindley, English jockey (2,000 Guineas 1963, 66; St Leger 1964) and broadcaster (BBC), dies at 86
Madeleine Albright (1937-2022)
Mar 23 American diplomat (UN Delegate, 1993-97), and 1st female US Secretary of State (1997-2001), dies of cancer at 84
- Mar 25 Taylor Hawkins, American drummer (Foo Fighters - "Everlong"; "My Hero"), dies at 50
- Mar 26 Joe Williams, American men's college basketball coach (Jacksonville Uni 1964-70; Furman Uni 1970-78; Florida State Uni 1978-86), dies at 88
- Mar 27 Alexandra Zabelina, Russian fencer (Olympic gold USSR women's team foil 1960, 68, 72), dies at 85
- Mar 27 Karl Korte, American composer (Pale is This Good Prince; The Time Is:),and educator (University of Texas, 1971-97), dies at 91
- Mar 27 Titus Buberník, Czech soccer midfielder (23 caps Czechoslovakia; ČH Bratislava, LASK Linz), dies at 88
- Mar 28 Naci Erdem, Turkish soccer centre-back (31 caps; Fenerbahçe), dies at 91
- Mar 30 Yanick Étienne, Haitian singer (Roxy Music - "Avalon"; Bryan Ferry), dies of cancer at 64
- Mar 31 Fred Johnson, American doo-wop bass vocalist (The Marcels - "Blue Moon"), dies at 80
- Mar 31 Georgi Atanasov, Bulgarian communist politician, (Prime Minister 1986-90), dies at 88
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists