Portal:United States/On this day/March 3
On this day for the United States
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Events
- 1791 - The United States Mint is created by the U.S. Congress.
- 1817 - The Alabama Territory is created by splitting the Mississippi Territory.
- 1820 - The U.S. Congress passes the Missouri Compromise.
- 1845 - Florida is admitted as the 27th U.S. state.
- 1845 - For the first time the U.S. Congress passes legislation overriding a presidential veto.
- 1849 - The United States Department of the Interior is established.
- 1849 - The U.S. Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of gold coins.
- 1863 - Idaho Territory organizes as a political division of the United States.
- 1865 - The U.S. Congress authorizes formation of the Freedmen's Bureau.
- 1873 - Censorship: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail.
- 1877 - Rutherford B. Hayes is privately inaugurated as the 19th President of the United States (his public inauguration coming on March 5).
- 1879 - The United States Geological Survey is created.
- 1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State.
- 1910 - Rockefeller Foundation: John D. Rockefeller Jr. announces his retirement from managing his businesses so that he could devote full time to being a philanthropist.
- 1915 - NACA, the predecessor of NASA founded.
- 1923 - Time magazine is published for the first time.
- 1931 - The United States officially adopts "The Star-Spangled Banner" as its national anthem.
- 1933 - Mount Rushmore National Memorial is dedicated.
- 1933 - US President Herbert Hoover signs the Norris–La Guardia Act into law and opening the doors to increased unionization.
- 1969 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
- 1972 - Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes in unexplained circumstances.
- 1985 - Censorship: Women Against Pornography award their "Pig Award" to Huggies diapers, claiming that the television ads had "crossed the line between eye-catching and porn."
- 1991 - An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.
- 2005 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo without any stops without refueling - a journey of 40,234 km/25,000 mi completed in 67 hours and 2 minutes.
Births
- 1831 - George Pullman, American inventor and industrialist (d. 1897)
- 1860 - John Montgomery Ward, American baseball player (d. 1925)
- 1866 - Fred A. Busse, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1914)
- 1873 - William Green, American labor union leader (d. 1952)
- 1880 - Florence Auer, American actress (d. 1962)
- 1893 - Beatrice Wood, American artist and ceramicist (d. 1998)
- 1895 - Matthew Ridgway, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, U.S. Army Chief of Staff (d. 1993)
- 1910 - Kittens Reichert, American silent screen child actor (d. 1990)
- 1911 - Jean Harlow, American actress (d. 1937)
- 1920 - Julius Boros, American golfer (d. 1994)
- 1923 - Barney Martin, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1923 - Doc Watson, American musician
- 1926 - Joseph Anthony Ferrario, American Catholic prelate (d. 2003)
- 1926 - James Merrill, American poet (d. 1995)
- 1933 - Lee Radziwill, American fashion executive
- 1937 - Bobby Driscoll, American actor (d. 1968)
- 1947 - Jennifer Warnes, American singer and songwriter
- 1949 - Gloria Hendry, American actress
- 1949 - Jesse Jefferson, American baseball player
- 1950 - Tim Kazurinsky, American actor and comedian
- 1955 - Andy Breckman, American comedian and radio personality
- 1958 - Marc Silvestri, American comic book artist and publisher (Top Cow Productions)
- 1959 - Ira Glass, American radio host
- 1960 - Neal Heaton, American baseball player
- 1962 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee, American athlete
- 1962 - Glen E. Friedman, American photographer and artist
- 1962 - Herschel Walker, American football player
- 1966 - Tone Lōc, American rapper and actor
- 1968 - Brian Leetch, American ice hockey player
- 1970 - Julie Bowen, American actress
- 1974 - David Faustino, American actor
- 1978 - Matt Diaz, American baseball player
- 1979 - Patrick Renna, American actor
- 1980 - Mason Unck, American football player
- 1981 - Dusty Dvoracek, American football player
- 1981 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
- 1982 - Jessica Biel, American actress
- 1986 - Stacie Orrico, American singer
- 1992 - Madison Cross, American singer and actress
Deaths
- 1850 - Oliver Cowdery, American religious leader (b. 1806)
- 1894 - Ned Williamson, American baseball player (b. 1857)
- 1899 - William P. Sprague, American politician from Ohio (b. 1827)
- 1953 - James J. Jeffries, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1875)
- 1959 - Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
- 1966 - William Frawley, American actor (b. 1887)
- 1966 - Alice Pearce, American actress (b. 1917)
- 1987 - Danny Kaye, American actor, singer, and comedian (b. 1913)
- 1988 - Sewall Wright, American biologist (b. 1889)
- 1990 - Gérard Blitz, Belgian waterpoloist and entrepreneur (b. 1912)
- 1991 - Arthur Murray, American dancer and dance instructor (b. 1895)
- 1995 - Howard W. Hunter, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1907)
- 1996 - John Krol, American cardinal (b. 1910)
- 1998 - Fred Friendly, American broadcast executive (b. 1915)
- 2001 - Louis Edmonds, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2002 - Harlan Howard, American musician (b. 1927)
- 2003 - Luis Marden, American photojournalist (b. 1913)
- 2004 - Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (b. 1958)
- 2005 - Max M. Fisher, American philanthropist (b. 1928)