History of the Day for:
March 3
- 1791: In the United States, the first Internal Revenue Act was passed by Congress. It established one revenue district per state and placed a tax on drink.
- 1815: Following piracy in the Mediterranean, the United States declared war on the Bey of Algiers. After the American threat to bomb Algiers, hostilities ended swiftly in August 1815.
- 1845: Florida became the 27th state of the Union; for the first time, the U.S. Senate overrode a presidential veto ? the bill in question dealt with revenue cutters and steamers.
- 1847: Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, was born in Scotland.
- 1875: The first performance of French composer George Bizet's opera "Carmen" took place at the Opera Comique, Paris.
- 1879: Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood became the first woman lawyer to be admitted to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States.
- 1931: The "Star-Spangled Banner," originally the "Defense of Fort McHenry," was adopted as the American national anthem; Cab Calloway recorded the classic "Minnie The Moocher." It became the first million-selling jazz album.
- 1942: World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raid the town of Broome, Western Australia killing more than 100 people.
- 1943: World War II: In London, England, 173 people are killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station.
- 1944: The Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov are instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards.
- 1945: World War II: American and Filipino troops take Manila in the Philippines.
- 1953: A Canadian Pacific Airlines De Havilland Comet crashes in Karachi, Pakistan killing 11.
- 1959: The new home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team was officially named Candlestick Park.
- 1969: Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
- 1978: The remains of comedian Charlie Chaplin were stolen by extortionists from his grave in Switzerland.
- 1991: Motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers after a high-speed chase in a scene captured on home video by George Holliday.
- 1991: In two concurring referendums: 74 % of the population of Latvia votes for independence from the Soviet Union, in Estonia – 83 %.
- 1991: United Airlines Flight 585 crashes on approach into Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing 25.
- 1992: The nation of Bosnia is established.
- 1997: The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction.
- 2002: Citizens of Switzerland narrowly vote in favor of their country becoming a member of the United Nations.
- 2004: Belgian brewer Interbrew and Brazilian rival AmBev agree to merge in a $11.2 billion deal that forms InBev, the world's largest brewer.
- 2005: Mayerthorpe Incident: James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. It is the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion.
- 2005: Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling.
- 2009: The Sri Lankan cricket team is attacked by terrorists while on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore for a Test match against Pakistan.
- 2009: The building of the Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Historical Archives) in Cologne, Germany, collapses.