Unix Timestamp: 1235865600
Sunday, March 1. 2009, 12:00:00 AM UTC

Martin O'Malley, the Governor of the US state of Maryland, signs a law legalizing gay marriage in that state. //www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-maryland-governor-gay-marriage-20120301,0,2064981.story?track=rssutm_source=feedburnerutm_medium=feedutm_caign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fpolitics+(L.A.+Times+-+Politics) ("Los Angeles Times")

A wind storm in Europe kills four people in Austria, two people in Germany, and two people in the Czech Republic. //www.afp.com/english/news/stories/newsmlmmd.e909ab19bf7d28bf157a8b19c431454c.141.html (AFP)

In Gaza Strip, at least 52 Palestinians and 2 Israeli soldiers are killed in the most intense Israeli air strikes since 2005.

Raúl Reyes, the second in command of the FARC guerilla organization, is killed in a Colombian military operation in northern Ecuador. //www.eltiempo.com/conflicto/noticias/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3981514.html ("El Tiempo")

Two IDF soldiers and at least 50 Palestinians are killed during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip. //www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1204213992578pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ("Jerusalem Post")

The fourth International Polar Year, a $1.5 billion research program to study both the North Pole and South Pole is launched in Paris, France. //news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6406735.stm (BBC)

The International Polar Year, a $1.5 billion research program to study both the North Pole and South Pole, is launched in Paris.

Space Shuttle mission STS-109 is launched at

The Constitution of Finland rewritten.

The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.

Australian federal election, 1996 is held. Labor's Paul Keating loses to Liberal leader John Howard

Ranabima Royal College is established in Sri Lanka.

Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraqi forces refuse UNSCOM inspection teams access to 5 sites designated for inspection. The teams enter the sites only after delays of up to 17 hours.

The first victims of the Bosnian War are a Serb groom's father and an Orthodox Priest in a Sarajevo shooting. A majority of the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat communities vote for Bosnian independence.

The Balearic Islands and Madrid become Autonomous communities of Spain.

Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican Army member, begins a hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison (he dies May 5, the first of 10 men).

Scotland votes narrowly for home rule, which is not implemented, and Wales votes against it.

Charlie Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.

Charlie Chaplin is knighted by Elizabeth II.

A Canadian parliamentary committee is televised for the first time.

A bomb explodes in the Paris offices of the Springer Press. The 6 March Group (connected to the Red Army Faction) demands amnesty for the Baader-Meinhof Group.

Aston Villa wins the Football League Cup at Wembley, beating Norwich City 1–0 in the final.

Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement in their border dispute.

Rhodesia severs its last tie with the United Kingdom, declaring itself a republic.

President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.

The Turkish passenger ship "Uskudar" capsizes and sinks at Izmit Bay, Kocaeli, Turkey at least 300 die.

The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Founding of the British Phycological Society.

Franklin D. Roosevelt gives what will be his last address to a joint session of Congress, reporting on the Yalta Conference.

An anti-fascist strike begins in northern Italy.

WWII: A train stalls inside a railway tunnel outside Salerno, Italy 521 choke to death.

The 16th Academy Awards ceremony is held.

The "USS Tarawa" and "USS Kearsarge" are laid down.

Heinz Guderian becomes the Inspector-General of the Armoured Troops for the German Army.

March 1–2 ndash WWII: Koriukivka massacre takes place in Ukraine.

A Japanese Imperial Army ammunition dump explosion on the outskirts of Osaka kills 94.

Construction of Hoover Dam is completed.

King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) of Siam abdicates the throne. He is succeeded by his 9-year-old-nephew Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII).

İsmet İnönü forms the new government in Turkey. (8th government During Atatürk's presidency, İnönü had served seven times as a prime minister)

Manchuria becomes Manchukuo, following an invasion by the Japanese.

John Dillinger escapes from jail in Crown Point, Indiana, using a wooden pistol.

Erich Franke invents the wire bearing (today wire race bearing) and files a patent application.

The USS "Arizona" is placed back in full commission after a refit.

The March 1st Movement against Japanese colonial rule in Korea is formed.

The German submarine off Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland.

LiberalBritish Columbia Premier Harlan Carey Brewster's term in office ends.

The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.

Albert Berry is reported to have made the first parachute jump from a flying airplane.

Australian Conservative leader Richard Butler takes office as Premier of South Australia.

In Afghanistan, Capt. George Roos-Keppel makes a sudden attack on a predatory band of Chamkannis that have been raiding in the Kurram Valley, and captures 100 prisoners with 3,000 head of cattle.

Battle of Adwa: Ethiopia defends its independence from Italy.

William L. Wilson is appointed United States Postmaster General.

Theodoros Deligiannis ends his term as Prime Minister of Greece and Konstantinos Konstantopoulos takes office.

The United States Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in public accommodations and jury duty.

In the United States, Yellowstone National Park (once laughingly dubbed Colter's Hell after John Colter, of the Lewis Clark Expedition) is established as the world's first national park.

George Westinghouse patents the failsafe automatic railway air brake.

The case of the Tichborne Claimant is decided against the claimant Arthur Orton (who, as a result, is convicted of perjury in 1874).

Marshal Francisco Solano López' last troops are cornered by Triple Alliance troops at Cerro Cora. López refuses to surrender and is killed. Fighting ends in Paraguay ndash the Paraguayan War is over.

North German Confederation issues 10gr and 30gr value sts, printed on goldbeater's skin.

The Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity is founded at the University of Virginia.

Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S. state.

Alejandro Mon Menéndez takes office as Prime Minister of Spain.

GermanpsychologistFriedrich Eduard Beneke disappears 2 years later his remains are found in the canal near Charlottenburg.

Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

Victor Hugo uses the phrase "United States of Europe" in a speech to the French National Assembly.

President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.

The U.S. naval vessel USS "Columbus" is launched in Washington, DC.

Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.

Citadel Massacre in Cairo: Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali kills the last Mamluk leaders.

Embargo Act of 1807 is repealed in the United States the Non-Intercourse Act replaces it.

Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted of impeachment charges by the U.S. Senate.

Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state, retroactive from August 7, 1953.

Federalist James Ross becomes President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate.

3 ndash John Langdon serves as President pro tempore of the United States Senate.

Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, the last emperor, takes office.

The first United States census is authorized.

The United StatesContinental Congress implements the Articles of Confederation, forming its Perpetual Union as the United States in Congress Assembled.

Charles Townshend becomes President of the Board of Trade in the British government.

Sweden adopts the Gregorian calendar.

approximately) ndash The Great Comet of 1744, one of the brightest ever seen, reaches perihelion

Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore's Carolina militia lays siege to the Tuscaroran stronghold of Fort Neoheroka, located a few miles up Contentnea Creek from Fort Hancock.

Sweden temporarily adopts February 30 as a day to adjust the Swedish Calendar back to the Julian calendar.

Swedish), March 11 (Gregorian), February 29 (Julian) ndash Swedish calendar adopted.

early March ndash William Congreve's comedy "The Way of the World" is first performed in London.ref name=Cassell's Chronology

Gregorian) ndash Protestant Germany and Denmark–Norway adopt the Gregorian calendar.

The HMS \'\'Sussex\'\' treasure fleet of thirteen ships is wrecked in the Mediterranean off Gibraltar with the loss of approximately 1,200 lives.

The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony, with the charging of 3 women with witchcraft.

Spring ndash James VII and II orders his Declaration of Indulgence, suspending penal laws against Catholics, to be read from every Anglican pulpit in England. The Church of England and its staunchest supporters, the peers and gentry, are outraged.

Great fire devastates Bungay in England.

Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine) becomes the first incorporated city in America.

Battle of Smolensk: King Ladislaus IV of Poland defeats the Russian army.

Samuel de Chlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.

Writs issued in February by King Charles I required every county in England (not just seaport towns) to pay ship tax by this date.

Michel de Montaigne signs the preface to his most significant work, "Essays". They are published later the same year.

The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is founded.

Over 80(?) Huguenots are massacred by the ultra-Catholic Francis, Duke of Guise in Wassy-sur-Blaise, marking the start of the First War of Religion in France. Protestant forces led by Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé and Gaspard de Coligny quickly seize control of Orleans, Rouen, and other cities throughout France.

Kingston Grammar School is founded in England.

'(approximate date)" ndash da Verrazzano's expedition makes landfall at Cape Fear.

Emperor Le Thanh Tong captures the Cha Capital, establishing new regions in middle Vietnam.

March ndash The Yorkist King Edward IV returns to England to reclaim his throne.

The University of Coimbra is founded in Lisbon, Portugal by King Denis of Portugal it moves to Coimbra in 1308.

Pope Leo VIII is restored in place of Pope Benedict V.

Nicholas Mystikos, a layman close to Photios, become patriarch of Constantinople.Theodora Antonopoulou //books.google.fr/books?id=U9SzVoeMgpMCpg=PA7 "The Homilies of the Emperor Leo VI" BRILL, 1997 ISBN 978-90-04-10814-1

Diego Rodríguez Porcelos founds and repopulates Burgos.

Pope John VII succeeds Pope John VI (died on 11 January) as the 86th Pope.ref name=Byz705/

Work begins on the Grand Mosque of Damascus.

During a synod in Rome, which is attended by 72 bishops and all of the Roman clergy, Pope Symmachus makes Antipope Laurentius bishop of the diocese of Nocera in Cania.

Vetranio is asked by Constantina, sister of Constantius II, to proclaim himself Caesar. Constantius accept the new emperor and sends him money to raise an army.

Sixteen Kingdoms: Jin Yuandi flees with remnants of the Jin court and noble families to the south. He succeeds Jin Mindi as first emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and decides to make Jiankang (modern Nanjing) his new capital.

The earliest historically verified reference to tea is recorded, although the Chinese have been drinking the beverage for centuries.

Emperor Constantine the Great and co-emperor Licinius elevate their sons Crispus, Constantine II (being still an baby) and Licinius II to "Caesars". After this arrangement Constantine rules the dioceses Pannonia and Macedonia, and established his residence at Sirmium, from where he prepares a caign against the Goths and Sarmatians.

Licinius recognise Constanstine I as senior emperor and executes Valerius Valens.

Mediolanum (Milan, near the Alps) becomes the capital of Maximian

Tuoba Fu succeeds his uncle Tuoba Chuo as chieftain of the Chinese Tuoba clan.

Nicomedia (northwestern Asia Minor) becomes the capital of Diocletian

Emperor Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesars. This is considered the beginning of the Tetrarchy, known as the "Quattuor Principes Mundi" (Four Rulers of the World).

The four Tetrarchs establish their capitals close to the Roman frontier:

Sirmium (Serbia, on the Danube border) becomes the capital of Galerius

Probus succeeds Rufinus as Patriarch of Constantinople.

Diocletian\\\\'s Palace is built at a small bay on the Dalmatian coast, four miles from Salona, today's Split, Croatia.

Narseh becomes king of Persia and engaged Rome in eight years of constant warfare.

Carausius, Roman usurper, is murdered by his finance minister Allectus who proclaims himself emperor of Britain.

King Tiridates III of Armenia, (with Rome as suzerainty) invades Assyria.

Constantius Chlorus retakes some of the Gallic territories and conquers the crucial port of Bononia (modern Boulogne).

King Bahram II of the Persian Empire dies after a 17-year reign, his son Bahram III ascends to the throne. After four months he is murdered by viceroy Narseh with support of the nobility.

Augusta Treverorum (Trier, in Germany) becomes the capital of Constantius Chlorus

Constantius Chlorus defeats the Franks on the Rhine frontier in Batavia (Netherlands).