Discover what happened on March 3 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

March 3

Discover what happened on March 3 with HISTORY&#8217;s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.

March 3 Archives - History.com

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1887

1991

1931

1820

1863

1945

1965

1875

1877

1845

1879

1915

1974

1952

1865

1918

Eastern Front

America’s Founding Fathers decided that one elected civilian - the U.S. president - would lead the executive branch of the federal government, a governmental structure that has remained in place for more than 200 years.

U.S. Presidents

World War I pitted Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire against Great Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Italy and Japan. New military technology resulted in unprecedented carnage. By the time the war was over and the Allied Powers claimed victory, more than 16 million people—soldiers and civilians alike—were dead.

World War I

Riots

Film

Slavery was widely practiced throughout the ancient world, and in the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, which helped propel the United States into the Civil War.

Slavery

Race in America

The Vietnam War pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the United States. The war ended when U.S. forces withdrew in 1973 and Vietnam unified under Communist control two years later.

Vietnam War

The Civil War was America's bloodiest and most divisive conflict, pitting the Union Army against the Confederate States of America. The war resulted in the deaths of more than 620,000 people, with millions more injured and the South left in ruins.

Civil War

Disasters

The 1990s is often remembered as a decade of relative peace and prosperity: The Soviet Union fell, ending the decades-long Cold War, and the rise of the internet ushered in a radical new era of communication, business and entertainment.&nbsp;However, the decade was not without violence and tragedy, including&nbsp;the Bosnian genocide,&nbsp;the&nbsp;Rodney King beating and subsequent L.A. Riots, and the&nbsp;jihadist bombing of the World Trade Center. The Columbine High School shooting marked a solemn chapter in gun violence, and the devastatingly deadly Oklahoma City bombing by a domestic terrorist followed lethal standoffs between federal agents and armed civilians at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas.&nbsp;

1990s

Sports and recreation are an integral part of human history, from the ancient Olympics to the Kentucky Derby, Jackie Robinson, Negro League Baseball, the Super Bowl and more.

Sports

Videos

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History.com Editors

Art history tells the complex story of human civilization through art and design. It ranges from prehistoric art of the Neolithic period through Renaissance masterpieces, Impressionism, Modernism, the Bauhaus and contemporary art.

Art, Literature, and Film History

<a href="https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history">World War II</a> was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945. Explore the battles, leaders and atrocities from the war and its impact on geopolitics and humankind.

World War II

Aircraft

Vietnam War Tech

Though the 19th century saw the rise of populism, the labor movement and Jacksonian democracy, it also ushered in the Gilded Age, when men like Cornelius Vanderbilt and J. P. Morgan wielded control over politics and business.

19th Century

The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted for decades and resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster.

Cold War

Hockey

Natural disasters and changes in the environment, such as global warming, the San Francisco Earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the Galveston Hurricane, the Krakatoa eruption and others, have profoundly shaped human history. Explore both the sudden and long-term impacts of natural and human-made disasters.

This Day In History: March 3

Helen Keller meets Anne Sullivan, her teacher and “miracle worker”

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This Day in History Video: What Happened on March 3

LAPD officers beat Rodney King on camera

“The Star‑Spangled Banner” becomes official U.S. national anthem

Congress passes the Missouri Compromise

Congress passes Civil War Conscription Act

Finland declares war on Germany

Ho Chi Minh Trail

First indoor game of ice hockey

Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated in a private ceremony

Congress overrides presidential veto for first time

United States Geological Survey created

“Birth of a Nation” opens in New York

Faulty door dooms plane

Supreme Court rules on communist teachers

Freedmen’s Bureau created

Treaty of Brest‑Litovsk concluded

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