On this day: March 2

Events on March 2

• 1657 The Great Fire of Meireki begins in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, causing more than 100,000 deaths before it exhausts itself three days later. Wikipedia
• 1796 Napoleon Bonaparte is appointed to command the Army of Italy. Wikipedia
• 1859 The two-day Great Slave Auction, once thought to be the largest such auction in United States history, begins. 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
• 1901 The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment limiting the autonomy of Cuba, as a condition of the withdrawal of American troops. Wikipedia
• 1917 The enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship. Wikipedia
• 1919 Communist, revolutionary-socialist, and syndicalist delegates met in Moscow to establish the Communist International. Wikipedia
• 1933 The film King Kong premieres in Radio City Music Hall and RKO Roxy in New York City. Wikipedia
• 1941 World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joins the Axis Pact. 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
• 1955 Norodom Sihanouk, king of Cambodia, abdicates the throne in favor of his father, Norodom Suramarit. Wikipedia
• 1962 In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d'état. 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
• 1970 Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown. Wikipedia
• 1972 The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets. Wikipedia
• 1977 Libya becomes the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as the General People's Congress adopts the "Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People". Wikipedia
• 1978 The late iconic actor Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from his grave in Switzerland. Wikipedia
• 1990 Nelson Mandela is elected deputy president of the African National Congress. Wikipedia
• 1991 Establishment of Kuwait Democratic Forum, center-left political organization in Kuwait. Wikipedia
• 1992 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all of which (except San Marino) were former Soviet republics, join the United Nations. Wikipedia
• 1998 Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice. Wikipedia
• 2002 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities). Wikipedia
• 2004 War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500. Wikipedia
• 2017 The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson are officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia. Wikipedia
• 2017 A naming ceremony for the chemical elements moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson took place at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Wikipedia
• 2026 The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah launches several projectiles into northern Israel as a response to the assassination of Ali Khamenei, formally initiating the 2026 Lebanon War. 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
• 1127 Charles the Good, Count of Flanders (born 1084) Wikipedia
• 1316 Marjorie Bruce, Scottish daughter of Robert the Bruce (born 1296) 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

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

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 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.