1st

First day of March is celebrated in Wales as St David's Day.  Girls wear the Welsh national costume, and boys wear rugby shirts to schools throughout Wales. Check out 'St Davids Day'

In 1780; Pennsylvania became the first US state to abolish slavery.  Well done Pennsylvania:  More details in: 'The Underground Railroad Timeline'

2nd

Howard Carter English Egyptologist who discovered Tutankhamen's tomb died today in 1939

3rd

The British House of Commons unanimously passed a bill in 1995, that would largely prohibit game hunting in the country. The proposed legislation, known as The Wild Mammals Bill mainly targets fox, stag, and hare hunting.

4th

It's 1861 in America, and Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the 16th president of the USA.

5th

English engineer Robert Stephenson's tubular bridge was opened, linking Anglesey with mainland Wales in 1850:

6th

Cyrano de Bergerac, French novelist and playwright born today in 1619:  SparkNotes- Cyrano de Bergerac

7th

Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 and coined the immortal phrase 'you can ring my bell'.

8th

The February Revolution began in today in 1917 at Petrograd (St Petersburg), Russia, heralding the rise of Russian communism.

9th

In 1074 Pope Gregory VII excommunicated all married priests which was another step back into darkness.

10th

1987 and the Vatican document, 'Instruction on respect for human life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation.' Replies to Certain Questions of the Day', condemned artificial methods of fertilization and called for a ban on experiments on living embryos.

11th

The first successful English daily newspaper, the Daily Courant was published in London today in 1702: Check out History in English for early paparazzi musings. 

12th

Anne Frank, Dutch Jewish diarist, died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945: 

13th

Its 1996 an American style mass killings have arrived at a school in Dunblane, Scotland: Sixteen children aged five and six, together with their teacher, were shot dead by legalized gun holder Thomas Hamilton

14th

Queen Isabella of Castile ordered the expulsion of 150,000 Jews from Spain in 1492,  unless they accepted Christian baptism.

15th

Julius Caesar, Roman emperor, assassinated beware the ides of March in 44 BC

16th

A Pakistani judge convicted Javed Iqbal, Pakistan's most notorious serial killer, of murdering 100 children and sentenced him to be strangled, chopped up into pieces, and dissolved in acid in front of the parents of his victims in 2000:

17th

National Day of Ireland. Feast day of St-Patrick's and a time when all self-respecting Irish people world-wide (and others) party in style.

18th

In 1834, six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, were sentenced to transportation to Australia for forming a trade union.  They became known as the The Tolpuddle Martyrs. 

19th

Sir Richard F. Burton, English explorer and scholar, translator of 'The Karma Sutra' and 1001 Arabian nights, first European to enter Mecca, possible finder of the Nile and much, much more was born this day in 1821.

20th

1852: US author Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' was published.

21st

Irish theologian and archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher who in 1656 fixed the date of the Creation at 4004 BC (on a Wednesday at about lunch time most probably).

22nd

Johann Wolfgang Goethe, German poet, novelist, and playwright died today in 1832:

23rd

In 1983 President Reagan proposed the 'Star Wars' defense system for the USA, using satellites to detect enemy missiles and effect their destruction.

24th

The crowns of England and Scotland were united in 1603 when King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne. More details in The Stuarts in Scotland

25th

1807 and the the British parliament has abolished the slave trade in what became known as The '1807 Abolition of Slavery Act'.

26th

Raymond Chandler, US novelist who created private eye Philip Marlowe died today in 1959.

27th

In 1871, England and Scotland played their first rugby international, in Edinburgh; Scotland won and you can find out the score @ Scotland- Sports and Interests

28th

In 1939, The Spanish Civil War came to an end as Madrid surrendered to General Franco

The last US troops left Vietnam 1973 as reported by the Washington post.

 Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter born today in 1853.