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March 2

1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound banknotes.

1807 – The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.

1836 – Texas Revolution: Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.

1855 – Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.

1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, begins.

1877 – U.S. presidential election, 1876: Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote on November 7, 1876.

1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick McLean in Windsor.

1901 – United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.

1933 – The film King Kong opens at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

1946 – Ho Chi Minh is elected the President of North Vietnam.

1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.

1962 – Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.

1965 – The US and South Vietnamese Air Force begin Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.

1969 – In Toulouse, France, the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.

1972 – The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.

1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.

1995 – Researchers at Fermilab announce the discovery of the top quark.

2017 – The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson were officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia

Births

1793 – Sam Houston, 1900 – Kurt Weill, 1904 – Dr. Seuss, 1909 – Mel Ott, 1917 – Desi Arnaz, 1919 – Jennifer Jones, 1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, 1931 – Tom Wolfe, 1942 – Lou Reed, 1943 – Peter Straub, 1948 – Rory Gallagher, 1950 – Karen Carpenter, 1952 – Laraine Newman, 1955 – Dale Bozzio, 1955 – Jay Osmond, 1956 – John Cowsill, 1958 – Ian Woosnam, 1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, 1964 – Laird Hamilton, 1968 – Daniel Craig, 1977 – Chris Martin, 1980 – Rebel Wilson, 1981 – Bryce Dallas Howard, 1982 – Ben Roethlisberger

Deaths

1791 – John Wesley, 1896 – Jubal Early, 1930 – D. H. Lawrence, 1939 – Howard Carter, 1982 – Philip K. Dick, 1987 – Randolph Scott, 1992 – Sandy Dennis, 1999 – Dusty Springfield, 2003 – Hank Ballard, 2004 – Mercedes McCambridge, 2004 – Marge Schott, 2008 – Jeff Healey