March in History

1872

Nature

President Ulysses S. Grant signs a law creating Yellowstone, widely seen as the world's first national park.

Yellowstone sits on top of a huge volcanic hotspot that powers more than half of the world's geysers. Its creation inspired national parks in many other countries, and it remains one of the largest intact temperate ecosystems on Earth.

Meanwhile in art: Realism, Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — Yellowstone National Park · Wikidata — Q351

1969

Technology

The Concorde prototype makes its first flight from Toulouse, starting tests of the supersonic airliner.

Concorde could cruise at about twice the speed of sound, crossing the Atlantic in around three and a half hours. Only 20 were built, and British Airways and Air France flew them in passenger service from 1976 until 2003.

Sources: Wikipedia — Concorde · Wikidata — Q6505

1875

Culture

Bizet's opera Carmen premieres at the Opéra-Comique in Paris to a cool reception.

Critics found the story too racy for the family-friendly Opéra-Comique. Bizet died three months later, before the opera's worldwide success. Carmen is now one of the most performed operas in the world.

Meanwhile in art: Realism, Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — Carmen · Wikidata — Q185968

1789

Society

The First United States Congress convenes in New York City under the new Constitution.

The First Congress met in 1789, but it took weeks to gather a quorum. It counted the votes that made George Washington president and proposed the Bill of Rights.

Meanwhile in art: Neoclassicism

Sources: Wikipedia — 1st United States Congress · Wikidata — Q162932

1946

Society

Winston Churchill gives his "Sinews of Peace" speech in Fulton, Missouri, warning of an "iron curtain" across Europe.

Churchill's 1946 speech at Westminster College made the phrase "iron curtain" famous. It is often seen as an early sign of the Cold War.

Sources: Wikipedia — Fulton Speech · Wikidata — Q2102143

1902

Sports

Madrid Football Club, later Real Madrid, is officially founded in the Spanish capital.

Madrid Football Club was founded in 1902 and gained the title Real ("royal") in 1920. It has won more European Cups and Champions League titles than any other club.

Meanwhile in art: Post-Impressionism, Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Real Madrid CF · Wikidata — Q8682

2009

Science

NASA launches the Kepler space telescope to search for Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars.

Kepler, launched in 2009, discovered more than 2,600 confirmed exoplanets. It showed that planets are common, and many stars have planets about the size of Earth.

Sources: Wikipedia — Kepler space telescope · Wikidata — Q47272

2019

Culture

Captain Marvel opens in US cinemas, the first Marvel Studios film led by a female superhero.

Captain Marvel opened in March 2019 and earned more than $1 billion worldwide. It was the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first led by a female hero.

Sources: Wikipedia — Captain Marvel (film) · Wikidata — Q23781129

1776

Society

Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations in London, a founding work of modern economics.

Smith spent about a decade writing the book, which argued that free exchange and specialization make nations richer. It sold well from the start and has shaped economic thinking ever since, earning Smith the title 'father of economics'.

Meanwhile in art: Rococo, Neoclassicism

Sources: Wikipedia — The Wealth of Nations · Wikidata — Q233562

1905

Sports

Chelsea Football Club is founded at a pub opposite Stamford Bridge in west London.

The club was elected to the Football League within months. Its first league title came fifty years later, and it has since become one of England's most successful clubs, winning the Champions League twice.

Meanwhile in art: Post-Impressionism, Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Chelsea F.C. · Wikidata — Q9616

1851

Culture

Verdi's opera Rigoletto premieres at La Fenice in Venice and becomes an instant hit.

Rigoletto was based on Victor Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse, which had been banned in France. Verdi reportedly kept 'La donna è mobile' secret until the final rehearsal so it would not leak. It remains one of the most performed operas today.

Meanwhile in art: Romanticism, Realism

Sources: Wikipedia — Rigoletto · Wikidata — Q189234

1912

Society

Juliette Gordon Low holds the first Girl Guide meeting in Savannah, Georgia, founding the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Juliette Gordon Low founded the first troop in 1912; the American Girl Guides were renamed Girl Scouts in 1915. The group has had tens of millions of members.

Meanwhile in art: Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Girl Scouts of the USA · Wikidata — Q2576280

1781

Science

William Herschel spots Uranus from his garden in Bath, the first planet discovered with a telescope.

Herschel, a musician by profession, was observing from his home in Bath, England. The new planet orbits about twice as far from the Sun as Saturn. The discovery made him famous and earned him a royal pension from George III.

Meanwhile in art: Neoclassicism

Sources: Wikipedia — Uranus · Wikidata — Q324

1885

Culture

Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera The Mikado opens at the Savoy Theatre in London.

The Mikado opened in 1885 and ran for 672 performances. It was the most successful of the Savoy operas.

Meanwhile in art: Impressionism, Post-Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — The Mikado · Wikidata — Q1195818

1906

Technology

Charles Rolls and Henry Royce form the company Rolls-Royce Limited in Britain.

The firm's Silver Ghost built a reputation for quality and reliability. Rolls-Royce also became a major maker of aircraft engines. Today the car business and the aero-engine business are separate companies that share the famous name.

Meanwhile in art: Post-Impressionism, Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Rolls-Royce Limited · Wikidata — Q679888

1872

Sports

Wanderers beat Royal Engineers 1-0 at the Kennington Oval in the first FA Cup Final.

The competition had been proposed by Football Association secretary Charles Alcock, who also captained the winning Wanderers. Fifteen teams entered the first tournament. The FA Cup is still played today.

Meanwhile in art: Realism, Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — 1872 FA Cup final · Wikidata — Q428518

1861

Society

The Kingdom of Italy is proclaimed, with Victor Emmanuel II as its first king.

The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861. Venice joined in 1866 and Rome in 1870; the monarchy lasted until Italy became a republic in 1946.

Meanwhile in art: Realism, Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — Kingdom of Italy · Wikidata — Q172579

1965

Exploration

Alexei Leonov leaves the Voskhod 2 capsule and becomes the first person to walk in space.

Leonov spent about 12 minutes outside. The flight home brought more trouble: the capsule landed far off course in a snowy forest in the Urals, where the crew waited for rescue. Leonov later commanded the Soviet side of the Apollo-Soyuz mission.

Sources: Wikipedia — Voskhod 2 · Wikidata — Q722791

1932

Technology

The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens, after a man on horseback slashes the ribbon before the premier can cut it.

The ribbon was tied back together so Lang could cut it officially. The bridge links central Sydney with the North Shore and is one of the widest long-span bridges in the world. Climbing its arch is now a popular tourist activity.

Meanwhile in art: Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Sydney Harbour Bridge · Wikidata — Q54495

1883

Society

Eleven countries sign the Paris Convention, one of the first international treaties protecting inventions and trademarks.

The treaty grew partly out of foreign inventors' fear of having their ideas copied if they showed them at an international exhibition in Vienna. It is still in force and has more than 175 member states.

Meanwhile in art: Impressionism

Sources: Wikipedia — Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property · Wikidata — Q183080

2001

Technology

Nintendo releases the Game Boy Advance handheld console in Japan.

Together with its later SP and Micro models, the Game Boy Advance sold more than 80 million units. It was followed by the dual-screen Nintendo DS, which could also play its games.

Sources: Wikipedia — Game Boy Advance · Wikidata — Q188642

1945

Society

The Arab League is founded in Cairo to strengthen ties among Arab states.

The league now has 22 members across North Africa and the Middle East. It promotes economic, cultural and political cooperation, and its headquarters stand near Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Meanwhile in art: Early Modernism

Sources: Wikipedia — Arab League · Wikidata — Q7172

1950

Science

The World Meteorological Organization is established as its founding convention comes into force.

Weather ignores borders, so forecasting depends on data shared between countries. The WMO coordinates that global network of observations and later helped set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1951.

Sources: Wikipedia — World Meteorological Organization · Wikidata — Q170424

1955

Culture

Tennessee Williams's play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opens on Broadway, directed by Elia Kazan.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened in 1955 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The 1958 film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman.

Sources: Wikipedia — Cat on a Hot Tin Roof · Wikidata — Q606930

1957

Society

Six European countries sign the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community.

The treaty set out a customs union and a common market for goods, workers, services and money. A companion treaty signed the same day created the atomic energy community Euratom. The EEC grew into today's European Union.

Sources: Wikipedia — Treaty of Rome · Wikidata — Q167457

1979

Society

Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty at the White House, the first between Israel and an Arab state.

Under the treaty, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, returning it to Egypt by 1982, and the two countries opened diplomatic relations. Sadat and Begin had shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. The peace between them has held ever since.

Sources: Wikipedia — Egypt–Israel peace treaty · Wikidata — Q1129412

2020

Science

NASA's NEOWISE space telescope discovers a comet that later becomes a spectacular naked-eye sight.

It was the brightest comet seen from the Northern Hemisphere since Hale-Bopp in 1997, with a long, curving dust tail visible without a telescope. It will not return for several thousand years.

Sources: Wikipedia — Comet NEOWISE · Wikidata — Q90776919

1999

Culture

Matt Groening's animated sitcom Futurama premieres on Fox.

Fox dropped Futurama after four seasons, but it kept coming back, through films and new seasons on cable and streaming. It won several Emmy Awards along the way.

Sources: Wikipedia — Futurama · Wikidata — Q73622

1974

Exploration

Farmers digging a well in China discover the Terracotta Army of the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

Archaeologists have since uncovered pits holding thousands of warriors along with horses and chariots, each soldier with individual features. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China's most visited attractions.

Sources: Wikipedia — Terracotta Army · Wikidata — Q47672

1856

Society

The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War and making the Black Sea neutral waters.

The treaty guaranteed the independence of the Ottoman Empire and turned the Black Sea into neutral waters. A declaration signed soon afterward set new rules for war at sea, including the end of privateering.

Meanwhile in art: Romanticism, Realism

Sources: Wikipedia — Treaty of Paris (1856) · Wikidata — Q319260

1966

Exploration

The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, which becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon.

Luna 10 entered lunar orbit three days after launch. For about two months its instruments measured radiation, magnetic fields and the Moon's gravity, giving early clues about what the Moon is made of.

Sources: Wikipedia — Luna 10 · Wikidata — Q1159895