On this day: March 2

Events on March 2

• 1444 The League of Lezhë, an alliance of regional chieftains, was established in Venetian Albania with Skanderbeg as their commander. Wikipedia
• 1484 The College of Arms, one of the few remaining official heraldic authorities in Europe, was incorporated by royal charter in the City of London. Wikipedia
• 1776 American Revolutionary War: Patriot militiamen from Georgia and South Carolina attempted to resist the British action to seize and remove supply ships anchored at Savannah, Georgia. Wikipedia
• 1791 French inventor Claude Chappe and his brothers first demonstrated the semaphore telegraph, a system to convey information by means of visual signals, using towers with pivoting crossarms. Wikipedia
• 1836 Texas Revolution: At a convention of delegates in Washington-on-the-Brazos, the Mexican state of Texas adopted a declaration of independence, establishing the Republic of Texas. Wikipedia
• 1859 The Great Slave Auction, the largest single sale of slaves in U.S. history, with more than 400 people sold, began in Georgia. Wikipedia
• 1864 Ulysses S. Grant is promoted to lieutenant general, giving him command of all Union Armies. Wikipedia
• 1865 New Zealand Wars: Carl Sylvius Völkner, a Protestant missionary, was killed by Hauhau militants in Ōpōtiki for working as an agent for New Zealand governor-general George Grey. Wikipedia
• 1877 The Electoral Commission awarded twenty disputed electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, thus assuring his victory in the 1876 U.S. presidential election. Wikipedia
• 1901 U.S. Steel, the first billion-dollar corporation and once the world's largest producer of steel, was founded by financier J. P. Morgan. Wikipedia
• 1919 Communist, revolutionary-socialist, and syndicalist delegates met in Moscow to establish the Communist International. Wikipedia
• 1937 The Steel Workers Organizing Committee, the precursor of the United Steel Workers of America, had a major success when it signed a collective-bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: Australian and U.S. air forces attacked and destroyed a large Japanese naval convoy in the Bismarck Sea, north of Papua New Guinea. Wikipedia
• 1949 The B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II landed in Fort Worth, Texas, to complete the first non-stop circumnavigation of the world by airplane. Wikipedia
• 1962 Led by General Ne Win, the Burmese military seized power in a coup d'état. Wikipedia
• 1962 Playing for the Philadelphia Warriors, American basketball player Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks, which remains an NBA record. Wikipedia
• 1965 Vietnam War: The American and South Vietnamese air forces began Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam that eventually became the most intense air–ground battle waged during the Cold War period. Wikipedia
• 1965 The Sound of Music was released in American theatres; it became the highest-grossing film until 1971. Wikipedia
• 1969 The maiden flight of Concorde, the Anglo-French supersonic jet, was conducted in Toulouse, France using a prototype aircraft with the registration F-WTSS. Wikipedia
• 1970 The Rhodesian monarchy was abolished by the government of Rhodesia, which declared the internationally unrecognised country to be a republic. Wikipedia
• 1978 As a cosmonaut on Soyuz 28, Czechoslovak military pilot Vladimír Remek became the first person from outside the Soviet Union or the United States to go into space. Wikipedia
• 1978 The late iconic actor Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from his grave in Switzerland. Wikipedia
• 1995 Researchers at Fermilab in Illinois announced the discovery of the top quark, the most massive of all observed elementary particles. Wikipedia
• 2014 The Oscar selfie, considered to be one of the most influential photographs of all time, was taken at the 86th Academy Awards ceremony. Wikipedia
• 2017 The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson are officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia. Wikipedia
• 2022 Russian forces captured the city of Kherson, the only regional capital to be taken during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Wikipedia

Born on March 2

• 480 Benedict of Nursia, Italian Christian saint (died 543 or 547) Wikipedia
• 1459 Pope Adrian VI (died 1523) Wikipedia
• 1793 Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (died 1863) Wikipedia
• 1810 Pope Leo XIII (died 1903) Wikipedia
• 1820 Multatuli, Dutch writer (died 1887) Wikipedia
• 1824 Bedřich Smetana, Czech pianist and composer (died 1884) Wikipedia
• 1859 Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (died 1916) Wikipedia
• 1876 Pope Pius XII (died 1958) Wikipedia
• 1904 Dr. Seuss, American children's book writer, poet, and illustrator (died 1991) Wikipedia
• 1919 Jennifer Jones, American actress (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1926 Murray Rothbard, American economist and historian (died 1995) Wikipedia
• 1931 Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1937 Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerian soldier and politician, 5th President of Algeria (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1942 Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1942 John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1962 Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor Wikipedia
• 1963 Anthony Albanese, Australian politician, 31st Prime Minister of Australia Wikipedia
• 1968 Daniel Craig, English actor and producer Wikipedia
• 1972 Mauricio Pochettino, Argentinian footballer and manager Wikipedia
• 1977 Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter (Coldplay) Wikipedia
• 1981 Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress Wikipedia
• 1989 Toby Alderweireld, Belgian footballer Wikipedia

Died on March 2

• 274 Mani, Persian prophet and founder of Manichaeism (born 216) Wikipedia
• 1791 John Wesley, English cleric and theologian (born 1703) Wikipedia
• 1797 Horace Walpole, English historian and politician (born 1717) Wikipedia
• 1835 Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1768) Wikipedia
• 1840 Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (born 1758) Wikipedia
• 1855 Nicholas I, Russian emperor (born 1796) Wikipedia
• 1895 Berthe Morisot, French painter (born 1841) Wikipedia
• 1930 D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (born 1885) Wikipedia
• 1939 Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (born 1874) Wikipedia
• 1949 Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (born 1879) Wikipedia
• 1982 Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 1991 Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (born 1928) Wikipedia
• 2007 Henri Troyat, Russian-French historian and author (born 1911) Wikipedia
• 2009 João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (born 1939) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Air Force Day (Sri Lanka) Wikipedia
• Baloch Culture Day (Balochistan) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Agnes of Bohemia Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Angela of the Cross Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Chad of Mercia (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John Maron Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: March 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Feast of 'Alá (Loftiness), First day of the 19th month of the Baháʼí calendar (Baháʼí Faith) and first day of the Baháʼí Nineteen Day Fast Wikipedia
• National Read Across America Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Peasants' Day (Myanmar) Wikipedia
• Texas Independence Day Wikipedia
• Adwa Victory Day (Ethiopia) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “March 2” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/March 2” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “March 2” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for March 2 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.