On This Day — 3 March

2000s

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2013

A bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan, kills at least 48 people and injured 200 others in a predominantly Shia Muslim area.

March 2013 Karachi bombing

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2005

James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. This is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.

Mayerthorpe tragedy

2005

Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling.

Steve Fossett

2005

Margaret Wilson is elected as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, beginning a period lasting until August 23, 2006, where all the highest political offices (including Elizabeth II as Head of State), were occupied by women, making New Zealand the first country for this to occur.

Margaret Wilson

1900s

1991

An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.

Amateur film

1991

United Airlines Flight 585 crashes on its final approach to Colorado Springs killing everyone on board.

United Airlines Flight 585

1986

The Australia Act 1986 commences, causing Australia to become fully independent from the United Kingdom.

Australia Act 1986

1985

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake strikes the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless.

1985 Algarrobo earthquake

1980

The USS Nautilus is decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.

USS Nautilus (SSN-571)

1974

Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard.

Turkish Airlines Flight 981

1972

Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.

Mohawk Airlines Flight 405

1969

Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.

Apollo program

1958

Nuri al-Said becomes Prime Minister of Iraq for the eighth time.

Nuri al-Said

1953

A De Havilland Comet (Canadian Pacific Air Lines) crashes in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11 people.

De Havilland Comet

1945

World War II: In poor visibility, the RAF mistakenly bombs the Bezuidenhout area of The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people.

Royal Air Force

1944

The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.

Order of Nakhimov

1944

A freight train carrying stowaway passengers stalls in a tunnel shortly after departing from Balvano, Basilicata, Italy just after midnight, with 517 dying from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Freighthopping

1943

World War II: In London, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.

Bethnal Green tube station

1942

World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people.

World War II

1940

Five people are killed in an arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Flamman in Luleå, Sweden.

Left Party (Sweden)

1939

In Bombay, Mohandas Gandhi begins a hunger strike in protest at the autocratic rule in British India.

Mumbai

1938

Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.

Petroleum

1924

The Ottoman Caliphate is abolished, when the Caliph Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman dynasty is deposed. The last remnant of the old monarchy gives way to the reformed Turkey of Kemal Atatürk.

Ottoman Caliphate

1924

The Free State of Fiume is annexed by the Kingdom of Italy.

Free State of Fiume

1923

US magazine Time publishes its first issue.

Time (magazine)

1918

Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, agreeing to withdraw from World War I, and conceding German control of the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine. It also conceded Turkish control of Ardahan, Kars and Batumi.

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

1913

Thousands of women march in the Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C.

Woman Suffrage Procession

1800s

1891

Shoshone National Forest is established as the first national forest in the US and world.

Shoshone National Forest

1878

The Russo-Turkish War ends with Bulgaria regaining its independence from the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano.

Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)

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1873

Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene literature and articles of immoral use" through the mail.

Censorship in the United States