March 1

1790 - First U.S. census authorized.

1781 - The continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.

1845 - President Tyler signed a congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.

1867 - Nebraska became the 37th state.

1872 - Congress authorized the creation of Yellowston National Park.

1896 - The Battle of Adowa began in Ethiopia between the forces of Emperor Menelik II and Italian troops. The Italians suffered a crushing defeat.

March 2

1793 - The first president of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston was born near Lexington, VA.

1836 - Texas declares its independance from Mexico.

1877 - Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, even though Tilden had won the popularity vote.

1897 - President Cleveland vetoed legislation that would have required a literacy test for immigrants.

1899 - Congress established Mount Rainier National Park.

March 3

1841 - Sir George Simpson, governor of Hudson's Bay Co., began a trip around the world. The trip would take 20 months. Simpson was 53 when the trip began and had been governor of what is now Western Canada for 20 years. Simpson once told a Commons committee that the soil in Western Canada was useless for farming. He knew better - he was just trying to protect the area for fur-trading.

1890 - Dr. Norman Bethune, the first westerner recognized as a hero by China, was born in Gravenhurst, Ontario.

1845 - Florida became the 27th state.

1847 - The inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1849 - The Home Department, forerunner of Interior Department, was established.

1875 - The Georges Bizet opera, "Carmen" premiered in Paris.

March 4

1865 - The New Brunswick government led by Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, was defeated in an election called on the issue of Confederation.

1789 - The Constitution of the U.S. went into effect as the first federal Congress met in New York. Lawmakers then adjourned for a lack of a quarum.

1791 - Vermont became the 14th state.

1829 - An unruly crowd mobbed the White House during the inaugural reception for President Jackson.

1837 - the Illinois state legislature granted a city charter to Chicago.

1861 - Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated president.

March 5

1766 - Spanish official Don Antonio de Ulloa arrived in New Orleans to take possession of the Louisianna Territory from the French.

1770 - The Boston Massacre took place as British Soldiers who'd been taunted by a crowd of colonists open fire, killing five people. Two British Soldiers were later convicted of Manslaughter.

1867 - an abortive Fenian uprisin against English rule took place in Ireland.

1868 - The Senate was organized into a court of impeachment to decide charges against President Andrew Johnson.

March 6

1521 - Magellan discovers Guam.

1837 - The British government introduced resolutions that would allow the governor of Lower Canada to pay government officials without seeking Britain's approval.

1836 - The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas fell to Mexican forces after a 13-day siege.

1806 - Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born in Durham, England.

1834 - The city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.

1853 - Verdi's opera "La Traviata" premiered in Venice, Italy.

1857 - In its Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court held that Scott, a slave, could not sue for his freedom in federal court.

March 7

1867 - The New Brunswick legislature rejected Confederation.

1849 - Horticulturalist Luther Burbank was born in Lancaster, Mass.

1850 - In a three-hour speech to the U.S. Senate, Daniel Webster endorsed the Compromise of 1850 as a means of preserving the Union.

1875 - Composer Maurice Ravel was born in Cibourne, France.

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for his telephone.

March 8

1702 - England's Queen Anne ascended the throne upon the death of King William III.

1782 - the Gnadenhutten massacre took place as some 90 Indians slain by militiamen in Ohio in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.

1841 - Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. the "Great Dissenter," was born in Boston, Mass.

1854 - U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry made his second land in Japan. Within a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese.

1874 - The 13th President of the United States, Millard Fillmore died in Buffalo, New York.

March 9

1841 - U.S. Supreme Court rules Negroes are free (Amistad incident).

1796 - The future emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, married Josephine de Beauharnais. The couple divorced in 1809.

1862 - During the Civil War, the ironclads "Monitor" and "Virginia" (formerly "Merrimac")clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, VA.

March 10

1862 - U.S. issues first paper currency in denominations of : $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1000.

1871 - The first legislative council of Manitoba opened.

1496 - Christopher Columbus concluded his second visit to the Western Hemisphere.

1629 - England's King Charles I dissolved Parliament and did not call it back for 11 years.

1785 - Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin.

1848 - The Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war with Mexico.

1864 - Ulysses S. Grant became commander of the Union armies in the Civil War.

1880 - The Salvation Army arrived in the U.S. from England.

March 11

1835 - The first formal police force in Canada was established in Toronto.

1810 - Emperor Napoleon of France was married by proxie to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria.

1861 - The Confederat convention in Mongomery, Ala., adopted a constitution.

1888 - The famous "Blizzard of "88" struck the northeastern U.S. resulting in some 400 deaths.

March 12

1622 - Ignatius of Loyola declared a Saint.

1664 - New Jersey became a British Colony as King Charles II granted land in the New World to his brother James, the Duke of York.

March 13

1884 - Standard Time was adopted throughout the U.S.

1781 - The planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel.

1868 - The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the U.S. Senate.

1852 - "Uncle Sam" made his debut as a cartoon character in the New York "Lantern".

1901 - The 23rd President of the U.S., Benjamin Harrison died in Indianapolis.

March 14

1843 - James Douglas of the Hudson's Bay Company founded Vicotia when he landed at Clover Point with 15 men. The company had sent Douglas to formerly occupy the southern part of Vancouber and build a base for the company when the partition of Oregon Territory became imminent. This was done to strengthen British claims to the whole island; those claims were recognized in the 1846 partition. Douglas was governor of Vancouver from 1851 - 1863 and of British Columbia from 1858 - 1864.

1885 - Gilbert & Sullivan's "Mikado" premieres in London.

1743 - The first recorded town meeting in America was held at Faneuil Hall in Boston.

1794 - Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin, an invention that revolutionized America's cotton industry.

1879 - Physicist Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany.

1883 - German political philosopher Karl Marx died in London.

1900 - Congress ratified the Gold Standard Act.

March 15

1892 - First escalator patented by inventor Jesse W. Reno (NYC).

1871 - The legislative assembly of Manitoba opened it's first session in the home of A.G.B. Bannayne, Red River's most respected politician and businessman, because there was no buildings suitable for this purpose. Outside the residence there was a ceremonial guard provide by the Ontario Rifles.

1603 - Samuel de Champlain sailed on his first voyage to Canada.

44BC - Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included Brutus and Cassius.

March 16

1830 - Slowest day ever for the New York Stock Exchange (31 shares traded).

1846 - The Earl of Cathcart was appointed governor-general of Canada

1802 - Congress authorized the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY.

1751 - James Madison, fourth president of the U.S. was born.

1836 - the Republic of Texas approved a constitution.

March 17

1753 - First official St. Patrick's Day celebrated in the U.S.

1810 - The first issue of the Kingston News was published.

461AD - According to tradition, St. Patrick -- the patron Saint of Ireland, died in Saul.

1776 - British forces evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War.

March 18

1836 - The Hudson's Bay Company steamer Beaver, the first on the Pacific Coast, arrived at Fort Victoria.

1766 - Britain repealed the Stamp Act.

1837 - The 22nd and 24th president of the u.S. Grover Cleveland, was born in Caldwell, NJ.

March 19

1859 - The opera, "Faust" by Charles Gounod, premiered in Paris

March 20

1899 - Martha M. Place of Brooklyn, NY, became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair. She was put to death at Sing sing for the murder of her step-daughter.

1413 - England's King Henry IV died.

1727 - Physicist, mathematician and astronomer Sir Isaac Newton died.

1815 - Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris beginning his "Hundred days" rule.

1816 = U.S. Marines landed in Nicaragua to protect U.S. citizens in the wake of the revolution.

March 21

1666 - New France Intendant Jean Talon counted 3,000 people in Canada's first census.

1685 - Composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany

1790 - Thomas Jefferson reported to President Washington in New York City as a new secretary of state.

1804 - The French civil code, the Code Napoleon, was adopted.

1806 - Benito Juarez. Mexico's first president of Indian ancestry was born in Oaxaca.

March 22

1638 - Religious dissident Anne Hutchinson was expelled from the Massachusett's Bay Colony.

1765 - Britian enacted the Stamp Act to raise money from the American Colonies.

1820 - U.S. Naval hero, Sephen Decatur, was killed in a duel with Commodore James Barron near Washington, DC

1882 - Congress outlawed polygamy.

March 23

1490 - First dated edition of Maimonides' "Mishna Torah" published.

1752 - Canada's first Newspaper, The Halifax Gazette, was printed by John Bushell.

1806 - Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean.

March 24

1837 - Canada grants blacks the right to vote.

1890 - Reformer and politician Agnes Macphail was born at Proton Twp. Grey County, Ontario.

1874 - Escape artist and magician Erich Weiss (Harry Houdini) was born in Budapest.

1882 - German scientist Robert Koch discovers that bacillus is the cause of TB.

1883 - The first telephone call is made between NY and Chicago.

March 25

1593 - Jesuit missionary Jean de Brebeuf, a prominent figure in early Canadian settlement was born at Conde-sur-Vire, France.

1609 - Henry Hudson embarks on an exploration for Dutch East India Company.

1880 - George Brown, editor of the Globe of Toronto and a father of Confederation was shot and killed by a disgruntled employee.

March 26

1845 - Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precursor of the band aid.

1885 - A force fo Metis led by Gabriel Dumont defeat Leif Crozier, with a force of 98 Northwest Mounted Police, at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, marking the outbreak of the Northwest Rebellion.

1663 - Bishop Laval founds the Quebec Seminary to train priests throughtout the diocese.

1859 - The first sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury, is registered.

752 - Stephen II begins his reign as Catholic Pope.

1668 - Bombay, India falls under English rule.

1804 - American Congress orders Indians east of Mississippi to move to Louisianna.

1830 - Joseph Smith, 24, publishes "The Book of Mormon" saying he derived it from golden plates he had discovered with the aid of the angel Mormon.

1863 - Voters in West Virginia approve the gradual emancipation of slaves.

1892 - Poet and naturalist Walt Witman dies.

March 27

1647 - French King Louis XIV sets up the Counsil of Quebec providing the first political constitution of New France.

1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sights Florida.

1625 - James I Stuart, King of Scotland (1567) and England (1603 - 25) dies at the age 58.

1721 - France and Spain sign the Treaty of Madrid.

1861 - African - American demonstrators in Charleston stage ride-ins on street cars.

March 28

1797 - Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patented the washing machine.

1834 - The U.S. Senate voted to censure President Jackson for the removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States.

1854 - During the Crimean War, Britain and France declared war on Russia.

1989 - The Supreme Court ruled that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese parents was a U.S. citizen.

March 29

1778 - Explorer James Cook landed at Vancouver Island.

1638 - Swedish Colonists settled in present-day Delaware.

1790 - The 10th president of the U.S. John Tyler was born.

1867 - The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.

March 30

1874 - Louis Riel arrived in Ottawa to claim the parliamentary seat of Provencher, Manitoba. Riel was twice elected to the seat, but was expelled from Parliament as a fugitive on April 16 for his organization of the Red River Rising in 1870. He was committed to Quebec mental asylums for 3 years, having suffered a nervous breakdown shortly after his expulsion. In 1878, Riel went to the U.S. returned to Manitoba in 1884 and led a second rebellion only to be defeated, captured and hanged in 1885.

1822 - Florida became a U.S. Terrritory.

1870 - The 15th Amendment to the Constitution, giving black me the right to vote, was declared in effect.

1870 - Texas was readmitted to the Union.

1867 - U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached an agreement with Russia to purchase the Territory of Alaska for 7.2 million, a deal roundly ridiclued as "Seward's Folly".

March 31

1831 - Montreal and Quebec City became incorporated as cities.

1492 - King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued on edict expelling those Jews unwilling to convert to Christianity.