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17 February 1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.

Orange Free State

1854–1902 Boer republic in Southern Africa

This article is about the former Boer republic. For the former province of South Africa, see Orange Free State (province). For the current province of South Africa, see Free State (province).

The Orange Free State (Dutch: Oranje Vrijstaat [oːˈrɑɲə ˈvrɛistaːt]; Afrikaans: Oranje-Vrystaat [uˈraɲə ˈfrəistɑːt]) was a landlocked independent Boer republic in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Empire at the end of the Second Boer War in 1902. It is one of the three historical precursors to the present-day Free State province.^[2]

Extending between the Orange and Vaal rivers, its borders were determined by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the Orange River Sovereignty, with a British Resident based in Bloemfontein.^[3] Bloemfontein and the southern parts of the Sovereignty had previously been settled by Griqua and by Trekboere from the Cape Colony.

The Voortrekker Republic of Natalia, founded in 1837, administered the northern part of the territory through a landdrost based at Winburg. This northern area was later in federation with the Republic of Potchefstroom which eventually formed part of the South African Republic (Transvaal).^[3]

Following the granting of sovereignty to the Transvaal Republic, the British sought to drop their defensive and administrative responsibilities between the Orange and Vaal rivers, while local European residents wanted the British to remain. This led to the British recognising the independence of the Orange River Sovereignty and the country officially became independent as the Orange Free State on 23 February 1854, with the signing of the Orange River Convention. The new republic incorporated the Orange River Sovereignty and continued the traditions of the Winburg-Potchefstroom Republic.^[3]

The Orange Free State was annexed as the Orange River Colony in 1900. It ceased to exist as an independent Boer republic on 31 May 1902 with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging at the conclusion of the Second Boer War. Following a period of direct rule by the British, it attained self-government in 1907 and joined the Union of South Africa in 1910 as the Orange Free State Province, along with the Cape Province, Natal, and the Transvaal.^[3] In 1961, the Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa.^[2]

The Republic's name derives partly from the Orange River, which was named by the Dutch explorer Robert Jacob Gordon in honour of the Dutch ruling family, the House of Orange, whose name in turn derived from its partial origins in the Principality of Orange in French Provence.^[4] The official language in the Orange Free State was Dutch.^[3]

1. ^ Sketch of the Orange Free State of South Africa. Bloemfontein: Orange Free State. Commission at the International Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876. 1876. p. 10. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Free State". Encyclopædia Britannica. 6 November 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Cite error: The named reference eb1911-cite was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. ^ "Introduction to the Orange River basin". Department of Water and Sanitation, South Africa. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.

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18 February 1885 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is published in the United States.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1885 novel by Mark Twain

For other uses, see Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (disambiguation).

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a picaresque novel by American author Mark Twain that was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. It is commonly named among the Great American Novels, and it is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. Being the direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, it is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, the narrator of two other later Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective) and a friend of Tom Sawyer.

The book is noted for "changing the course of children's literature" in the United States for the "deeply felt portrayal of boyhood".^[2] It is also known for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist over 20 years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing satire on entrenched attitudes, particularly racism.

Perennially popular with readers, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also been the continued object of study by literary critics since its publication. The book was widely criticized upon release because of its extensive use of coarse language and racial epithets. Throughout the 20th century, and despite arguments that the protagonist and the tenor of the book are anti-racist,^[3][4] criticism of the book continued due to both its perceived use of racial stereotypes and its frequent use of the racial slur "nigger".

1. ^ Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's comrade)…. 1885.
2. ^ "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Summary & Characters". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
3. ^ Twain, Mark (October 1885). Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's comrade).... ... - Full View – HathiTrust Digital Library – HathiTrust Digital Library. C. L. Webster.
4. ^ Jacob O'Leary, "Critical Annotation of "Minstrel Shackles and Nineteenth Century 'Liberality' in Huckleberry Finn" (Fredrick Woodard and Donnarae MacCann)," Wiki Service, University of Iowa, last modified February 11, 2012, accessed April 12, 2012 Archived March 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

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19 February 1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands.

William Smith (mariner)

19th-century English captain and Antarctic explorer

William Smith (c. 1790–1847) ^[1] was an English captain born in Blyth, Northumberland, who discovered the South Shetland Islands, an archipelago off the Graham Land in Antarctica. His discovery was the first ever made south of 60° south latitude, in the present Antarctic Treaty area.

1. ^ "Smith Island". SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer. Standing Committee on Antarctic Research. 8 September 1953. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

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20 February 1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art museum in New York City

"Metropolitan Museum" redirects here. For other uses, see Metropolitan Museum (disambiguation).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the fourth-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5,727,258 visitors in fiscal year 2025, it was the most-visited museum in the United States and the fourth-most visited art museum in the world.^[7]

In 2000, its permanent collection had over two million works;^[1] it currently lists a total of 1.5 million works.^[8] The collection is divided into 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums. The first portion of the approximately 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m²) building was built in 1880. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. The museum was established by a group of Americans, including philanthropists, artists, and businessmen, with the goal of creating a national institution that would inspire and educate the public.^[9] The museum's permanent collection consists of works of art ranging from the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt, through classical antiquity to the contemporary world. It includes paintings, sculptures, and graphic works from many European Old Masters, as well as an extensive collection of American, modern, and contemporary art. The Met also maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes, and decorative arts and textiles, as well as antique weapons and armor from around the world. Several notable interiors, ranging from 1st-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries.

1. ^ ^{a b} "Metropolitan Museum Launches New and Expanded Web Site" Archived November 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, press release, The Met, January 25, 2000.
2. ^ "Today in Met History: April 13". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
3. ^ "The Metropolitan Museum of Art | About". www.artinfo.com. 2008. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Met History was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
6. ^ The Art Newspaper , September 16, 2025
7. ^ "The Art Newspaper" September 16, 2025
8. ^ "General Information". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
9. ^ "History of the Museum". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved December 7, 2024.

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21 February 1848 – Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto.

The Communist Manifesto

1848 political pamphlet by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The Communist Manifesto (German: Das Kommunistische Manifest), originally the Manifesto of the Communist Party (Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was commissioned by the Communist League and published in London in 1848. The text represents the first and most systematic attempt by the two founders of scientific socialism to codify for wide consumption the historical materialist idea, namely, that "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles", in which social classes are defined by the relationship of people to the means of production. Published amid the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, the manifesto has become one of the world's most influential political documents.

In the Manifesto, Marx and Engels combine philosophical materialism with the Hegelian dialectical method in order to analyze the development of European society through its modes of production, including primitive communism, antiquity, feudalism, and capitalism, noting the emergence of a new, dominant class at each stage. The text outlines the relationship between the means of production, relations of production, forces of production, and mode of production, and posits that changes in society's economic "base" affect changes in its "superstructure". The authors assert that capitalism is marked by the exploitation of the proletariat (working class of wage labourers) by the ruling bourgeoisie, which is "constantly revolutionising the instruments [and] relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society".^[1] They argue that capital's need for a flexible labour force dissolves the old relations, and that its global expansion in search of new markets creates "a world after its own image".^[2]

The Manifesto concludes that capitalism does not offer humanity the possibility of self-realization, instead ensuring that human beings are perpetually stunted and alienated. It theorizes that capitalism will bring about its own destruction by polarizing and unifying the proletariat, and predicts that a revolution will lead to the emergence of communism, a classless society in which "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all".^[3] Marx and Engels propose the following transitional policies: abolition of private property in land and inheritance; introduction of a progressive income tax; confiscation of emigrants' and rebels' property; nationalisation of credit, communication, and transport; expansion and integration of industry and agriculture; enforcement of universal obligation of labour; provision of universal education; and elimination of child labour.^[4] The text ends with three rousing sentences, reworked and popularized into the famous slogan of working-class solidarity: "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains".

1. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, pp. 38–9.
2. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, p. 40.
3. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, p. 60.
4. ^ Marx & Engels 1977, p. 59.

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22 February 1848 – The French Revolution of 1848, which would lead to the establishment of the French Second Republic, begins.

French Revolution of 1848

Civil unrest in Paris, France

For previous revolutions in France, see French Revolution and July Revolution.

The French Revolution of 1848 (French: Révolution française de 1848), also known as the February Revolution (Révolution de février), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked the wave of revolutions of 1848.^[1]

The revolution took place in Paris, and was preceded by the French government's crackdown on the campagne des banquets. Starting on 22 February as a large-scale protest against the government of François Guizot, it later developed into a violent uprising against the monarchy. After intense urban fighting, large crowds managed to take control of the capital, leading to the abdication of King Louis Philippe I on 24 February and the subsequent proclamation of the Second Republic.

1. ^ Popkin, Jeremy D. (2021). New World Begins. ISBN 978-1541620179.

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23 February 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Siege of the Alamo (prelude to the Battle of the Alamo) begins in San Antonio, Texas.

Siege of the Alamo

Part of the Battle of the Alamo

This article is about the events at the Alamo between February 23 and March 6. For a description of the entire battle, see Battle of the Alamo.

The siege of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was the first thirteen days of the Battle of the Alamo. On February 23, Mexican troops under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna entered San Antonio de Bexar, Texas, and surrounded the Alamo Mission. The Alamo was defended by a small force of Texians and Tejanos, led by William Barrett Travis and James Bowie, and included Davy Crockett. Before beginning his assault on the Alamo, Santa Anna offered them one last chance to surrender. Travis replied by opening fire on the Mexican forces and, in doing so, effectively sealed their fate.^[5] The siege ended when the Mexican Army launched an early-morning assault on March 6. Almost all of the defenders were killed, although several civilians survived.

1. ^ ^{a b} Hardin, Stephen L. "Alamo, Battle of The". The Handbook of Texas Online. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. Accessed December 11, 2014
2. ^ Todish et al. (1998), p. 55.
3. ^ Hardin (1961), p. 155.
4. ^ Nofi (1992), p. 136.
5. ^ Fowler (2007), p. 166.

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24 February 1809 – Britain invades and captures the French colony of Martinique.

Invasion of Martinique (1809)

1809 invasion of the Caribbean campaign of 1803–1810

The British invaded and captured the French colony of Martinique between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the West Indies campaign of 1804–1810 of the Napoleonic Wars. Martinique, like the nearby island of Guadeloupe, was a major threat to Britain's trade in the West Indies, providing a sheltered base from which privateers and French Navy warships could raid British merchant shipping and disrupt the trade routes that maintained the economy of the United Kingdom. Both islands also provided a focus for larger-scale French operations in the region and in the autumn of 1808, following the Spanish alliance with Britain, the Admiralty decided to order a British squadron to neutralise the threat, beginning with Martinique.

The British mustered a large expeditionary force under Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and Lieutenant-General George Beckwith, commanding 29 ships and 10,000 men – almost four times the number of French regular troops garrisoning Martinique. Landing in force on both the southern and northern coasts of the island, British troops pushed inland, defeating French regulars in the central highlands and routing colonial militia units in the south of the island. By 9 February, the entire island was in British hands except Fort Desaix, a powerful fortification intended to protect the island capital of Fort-de-France, which had been bypassed during the British advance. In a siege lasting 15 days, the Fort was constantly bombarded, with the French garrison suffering 200 casualties before finally surrendering.

The capture of the island was a significant blow to France's power in the region, eliminating an important naval base from their control and denying safe harbours to French shipping in the West Indies. The consequences of losing Martinique were so severe that the French Navy dispatched a naval squadron to reinforce the garrison during the invasion. Arriving much too late to affect the outcome, these reinforcements were intercepted off the islands and scattered during the action of 14–17 April 1809; half the force failed to return to France. With Martinique occupied, British attention in the region turned to Guadeloupe, which was captured the following year.

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25 February 1836 – Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for his revolver firearm.

Samuel Colt

American industrialist and inventor (1814–1862)

For other people named Samuel Colt, see Samuel Colt (disambiguation).

Samuel Colt (/koʊlt/; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company and made the mass production of revolvers commercially viable.

Colt's first two business ventures were producing firearms in Paterson, New Jersey, and making underwater mines. His business expanded rapidly after 1847, when the Texas Rangers ordered 1,000 revolvers during the American war with Mexico. During the American Civil War, his factory in Hartford supplied firearms both to the North and the South. Later, his firearms were used widely during the settling of the western frontier. When Colt died in 1862, he was one of the wealthiest men in the United States.

Colt's manufacturing methods were at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. His use of interchangeable parts helped him become one of the first to make efficient use of the assembly line manufacturing process. Moreover, his innovative use of art, celebrity endorsements, and corporate gifts to promote his wares made him a pioneer in advertising, product placement, and mass marketing.

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26 February 914 – HMHS Britannic, sister to the RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast

HMHS Britannic

Olympic-class ocean liner and WWI hospital ship

For other White Star liners with this name, see SS Britannic (1874) and MV Britannic (1929).

"RMS Britannic" redirects here; not to be confused with RMS Britannia.

HMHS^[a] Britannic (/brɪˈtænɪk/) was the third and final vessel of the White Star Line's Olympic class of ocean liners and the second White Star ship to bear the name Britannic. She was the younger sister of RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She operated as a hospital ship from 1915 until her sinking near the Greek island of Kea, in the Aegean Sea at position 37°42′05″N 24°17′02″E / 37.70139°N 24.28389°E / 37.70139; 24.28389, in November 1916. At the time she was the largest hospital ship in the world, and the largest vessel built in Britain.

Britannic was launched on 26 February 1914, months before the start of the First World War. She was designed to be the safest of the three ships with design changes made during construction due to lessons learned from the sinking of the Titanic. She was laid up at her builders, Harland & Wolff, in Belfast, for many months before being requisitioned as a hospital ship. In 1915 and 1916 she operated between the United Kingdom and the Dardanelles.

On the morning of 21 November 1916, she hit a naval mine of the Imperial German Navy near the Greek island of Kea and sank 55 minutes later, killing 30 of 1,066 people on board; the 1,036 survivors were rescued from the water and from lifeboats. Britannic was the largest ship lost in the First World War.^[3] After the War, the White Star Line was compensated for the loss of Britannic by the award of SS Bismarck as part of postwar reparations; she entered service as RMS Majestic. The wreck of the Britannic was located and explored by Jacques Cousteau in 1975. The vessel is the largest intact passenger ship on the seabed in the world.^[4] The wreck was bought in 1996 and is currently owned by Simon Mills, a maritime historian.

1. ^ Lynch (2012), p. 161.
2. ^ "HMHS Britannic (1914) Builder Data". MaritimeQuest. Archived from the original on 2 September 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
3. ^ Vladisavljevic, Brana. "Titanic's sister ship Britannic could become a diving attraction in Greece". Lonely Planet. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
4. ^ Chirnside 2011, p. 275.

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27 February 1922 – A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Leser v. Garnett.

Leser v. Garnett

1922 U.S. Supreme Court case on the constitutionality of the 19th Amendment

1922 United States Supreme Court case

Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Nineteenth Amendment was constitutional.^[1]

1. ^ Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922).  This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.

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28 February 1983 – The final episode of M*A*S*H airs, with almost 110 million viewers

Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

16th episode of the 11th season of M*A*S*H

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" is a television film that served as the series finale of the American television series M*A*S*H. The 2½-hour episode first aired on CBS on February 28, 1983, ending the series' original run. The episode was written by eight collaborators, including series star Alan Alda, who also directed. As of 2025^[update], it remains the most-watched single episode of any television series in U.S. history, and for twenty-seven years was the most-watched single broadcast in television history.

The episode's plot chronicles the final days of the Korean War at the 4077th MASH; it features several storylines intended to show the war's effects on the individual personnel of the unit and to bring closure to the series. After the ceasefire goes into effect, the members of the 4077th throw a party before taking down the camp for the last time. After tear-filled goodbyes, the main characters go their separate ways, leading to the final scene of the series.

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1 March 1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.

Napoleon

French general and emperor (1769–1821)

"Napoleon Bonaparte" redirects here. For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation) and Napoleon Bonaparte (disambiguation).

Napoleon Bonaparte^[a] (born Napoleone di Buonaparte;^[1][b] 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was Emperor of the French from 18 May 1804 until his first abdication in 1814, with a brief restoration during the Hundred Days in 1815. He rose to prominence as a general during the French Revolution and led a series of military campaigns across Europe and North Africa during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. As a statesman, he implemented numerous legal and administrative reforms in France and Europe.

Born on the island of Corsica to a family of Italian origin, Napoleon moved to mainland France in 1779 and was commissioned as an officer in the French Royal Army in 1785. He supported the French Revolution in 1789 and promoted its cause in Corsica. He rose rapidly through the ranks after winning the siege of Toulon in 1793 and defeating royalist insurgents in Paris on 13 Vendémiaire in 1795. In 1796, he commanded a military campaign against the Austrians and their Italian allies in the War of the First Coalition, scoring decisive victories and becoming a national hero. He led an invasion of Egypt and Syria in 1798, which served as a springboard to political power. In November 1799, Napoleon engineered the Coup of 18 Brumaire against the French Directory and became First Consul of the Republic. He won the Battle of Marengo in 1800, which secured France's victory in the War of the Second Coalition, and in 1803, he sold the territory of Louisiana to the United States. In December 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French, further expanding his power.

The breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens led to the War of the Third Coalition by 1805. Napoleon shattered the coalition with a decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, which led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. In the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon defeated Prussia at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt in 1806, marched his Grande Armée into Eastern Europe, and defeated the Russians in 1807 at the Battle of Friedland. Seeking to extend his trade embargo against Britain, Napoleon invaded the Iberian Peninsula and installed his brother Joseph as King of Spain in 1808, provoking the Peninsular War. In 1809, the Austrians again challenged France in the War of the Fifth Coalition, in which Napoleon solidified his grip over Europe after winning the Battle of Wagram. In the summer of 1812, he launched an invasion of Russia. After victory at the Battle of Borodino, he briefly occupied Moscow before conducting a catastrophic retreat of his army that winter. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russia in the War of the Sixth Coalition, in which Napoleon was decisively defeated at the Battle of Leipzig. The coalition invaded France and captured Paris, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April 1814. They exiled him to the Mediterranean island of Elba and restored the Bourbons to power. Ten months later, Napoleon escaped from Elba with a thousand men and marched on Paris, again taking control of the country. His opponents responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon was exiled to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died of stomach cancer in 1821, aged 51.

Napoleon is considered one of the great military commanders in history, and Napoleonic tactics are still studied at military schools worldwide. His legacy endures through the modernizing legal and administrative reforms he enacted in France and Western Europe, embodied in the Napoleonic Code. He established a system of public education,^[2] abolished the vestiges of feudalism,^[3] emancipated Jews and other religious minorities,^[4] abolished the Spanish Inquisition,^[5] enacted the principle of equality before the law for an emerging middle class,^[6] and centralized state power at the expense of religious authorities.^[7] His conquests acted as a catalyst for political change and the development of nation states. However, he is controversial because of his role in wars which devastated Europe, his looting of conquered territories, and his mixed record on civil rights. He abolished the free press, ended directly elected representative government, exiled and jailed critics of his regime, reinstated slavery in French colonies, banned the entry of black people and mulattos into France, reduced the civil rights of women and children, reintroduced a hereditary monarchy and nobility,^[8][9][10] and violently repressed popular uprisings against his rule.^[11]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Dwyer (2008a), p. xv.
2. ^ Grab (2003), p. 56.
3. ^ Broers, M.; Hicks, P.; Guimera, A. (2012). The Napoleonic Empire and the New European Political Culture. Springer. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-137-27139-6. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
4. ^ Conner (2004), pp. 38–40.
5. ^ Pérez, Joseph (2005). The Spanish Inquisition: A History. Yale University Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-300-11982-4. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
6. ^ Fremont-Barnes & Fisher (2004), p. 336.
7. ^ Grab (2017), pp. 204–11.
8. ^ Dwyer (2015a), pp. 574–76, 582–84.
9. ^ Conner (2004), pp. 32–34, 50–51.
10. ^ Bell (2015), p. 52.
11. ^ Repa, Jan (2 December 2005). "Furore over Austerlitz ceremony". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.

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2 March 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick Maclean in Windsor.

Queen Victoria

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901

"Victoria of the United Kingdom" redirects here. For other uses, see Victoria of the United Kingdom (disambiguation) and Queen Victoria (disambiguation).

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days, which was longer than those of any of her predecessors, constituted the Victorian era, a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the deaths of her father and grandfather in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father's three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate issue. Victoria attempted privately to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her maternal first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet "grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, British republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond jubilees were times of public celebration. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, at the age of 81. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII.
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3 March 1799 – The Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison.

Siege of Corfu (1798–1799)

Russian and Ottoman military offensive during the War of the Second Coalition

For other sieges of Corfu, see Siege of Corfu (disambiguation).

The Siege of Corfu (November 1798 – March 1799) was a military operation by a joint Russian and Turkish fleet against French troops occupying the fortified island of Corfu; ended in Coalition victory. Corfu fortifications had a strong reputation, but by the siege time they were in a parlous state.^[4][7]

1. ^ Russell & Russell 2017, pp. 169–170.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Bodart 1908.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Tashlykov 2016.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Velichko et al. 1913.
5. ^ Baeyens 1973, p. 46.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Novikov 1948, p. 153.
7. ^ Baeyens 1973, pp. 23–24.

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4 March 1794 – The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed by the U.S. Congress.

Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

1795 amendment restricting ability to sue states in federal courts

The Eleventh Amendment (Amendment XI) is an amendment to the United States Constitution which was passed by Congress on March 4, 1794, and ratified by the states on February 7, 1795. The Eleventh Amendment restricts the ability of individuals to bring suit against states of which they are not citizens in federal court.

The Eleventh Amendment was adopted to overrule the Supreme Court's decision in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793). In that case, the Court held that states did not enjoy sovereign immunity from suits made by citizens of other states in federal court. Although the Eleventh Amendment established that federal courts do not have the authority to hear cases brought by private parties against a state of which they are not citizens, the Supreme Court has ruled the amendment applies to all federal suits against states brought by private parties. The Supreme Court has also held that Congress can abrogate state sovereign immunity when using its authority under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Other recent cases (Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety, Central Virginia Community College v. Katz, PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey) have identified further exceptions to the general sovereign immunity of states when Congress acts pursuant to its Article I powers, which have alternatively been referred to as "waivers in the plan of the Convention". The Supreme Court has also held that federal courts can enjoin state officials from violating federal law.

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5 March 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus's book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Mathematician and astronomer (1473–1543)

"Copernicus" and "Kopernik" redirect here. For other uses, see Copernicus (disambiguation).

Nicolaus Copernicus^[b] (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. The publication of Copernicus's model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), just before his death in 1543, was a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution and making a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution.^[6] Though a similar heliocentric model had been developed eighteen centuries earlier by Aristarchus of Samos, an ancient Greek astronomer, Copernicus likely arrived at his model independently.^[7][c][d][e]

Copernicus was born and died in Royal Prussia, a semiautonomous and multilingual region created within the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland from lands regained from the Teutonic Order after the Thirteen Years' War.

A polyglot and polymath, he obtained a doctorate in canon law and was a mathematician, astronomer, physician, classics scholar, translator, governor, diplomat, and economist. From 1497 he was a Warmian Cathedral chapter canon. In 1517 he derived a quantity theory of money—a key concept in economics—and in 1519 he formulated an economic principle that later came to be called Gresham's law.^[f]

1. ^ André Goddu, Copernicus and the Aristotelian Tradition (2010), p. 436 (note 125), citing Goddu, review of Jerzy Gassowski, "Poszukiwanie grobu Mikołaja Kopernika" ("Search for Grave of Nicolaus Copernicus"), in Journal for the History of Astronomy, 38.2 (May 2007), p. 255.
2. ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Roach, Peter; Hartmann, James; Setter, Jane (eds.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-3-12-539683-8
3. ^ "Copernicus". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
4. ^ "Copernicus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871.
5. ^ "Stanisław Borawski "Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus)"". Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
6. ^ Edward Rosen, "Copernicus, Nicolaus", Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition, volume 7, Danbury, Connecticut, Grolier Incorporated, 1986, ISBN 0-7172-0117-1, pp. 755–56.
7. ^ Linton 2004, pp. 39, 119.
8. ^ ^{a b} Owen Gingerich, "Did Copernicus Owe a Debt to Aristarchus?", Journal for the History of Astronomy, vol. 16, no. 1 (February 1985), pp. 37–42. "There is no question but that Aristarchus had the priority of the heliocentric idea. Yet there is no evidence that Copernicus owed him anything.(!9) As far as we can tell both the idea and its justification were found independently by Copernicus."
9. ^ Armitage 1951, p. 91.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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6 March 1951 – Cold War: The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

American spies for the Soviet Union (d. 1953)

Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (born Greenglass; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were an American married couple who were convicted of spying for the Soviet Union, including providing top-secret information about American radar, sonar, jet propulsion engines, and nuclear weapon designs. They were executed by the federal government of the United States in 1953 using New York's state execution chamber in Sing Sing in Ossining,^[1] New York, becoming the first American civilians to be executed for such charges and the first to be executed during peacetime.^[2][3][4][5]

Other convicted co-conspirators were sentenced to prison, including Ethel's brother, David Greenglass (who had made a plea agreement), Harry Gold, and Morton Sobell. Klaus Fuchs, a German scientist working at the Los Alamos Laboratory, was convicted in the United Kingdom.^[6][7] For decades, many people, including the Rosenbergs' sons (Michael and Robert Meeropol), initially maintained that both parents were – and later that Ethel was – innocent of spying and have sought an exoneration from multiple U.S. presidents.^[8]

Among records the U.S. government declassified after the fall of the Soviet Union are many related to the Rosenbergs, including a trove of decoded Soviet cables (code-name Venona), which detailed Julius' role as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets. In 2008, the National Archives of the United States published most of the grand jury testimony related to the prosecution of the Rosenbergs.^[9] Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests filed about the Rosenbergs and the legal case against them have resulted in additional U.S. government records being made public, including formerly classified materials from U.S. intelligence agencies.

1. ^ The Federal government has the power to use state correctional centers to carry out its executions as per 18 U.S. Code § 3597.
2. ^ Radosh, Ronald (June 10, 2016). "Rosenbergs Redux". Archived from the original on July 3, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
3. ^ "What the K.G.B. Files Show About Ethel Rosenberg". The New York Times. August 13, 2015. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
4. ^ Radosh, Ronald; Klehr, Harvey; Haynes, John Earl; Hornblum, Allen M.; Usdin, Steven (October 17, 2014). "The New York Times Gets Greenglass Wrong". Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
5. ^ "Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2020. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
6. ^ Ranzal, Edward (March 19, 1953). "Greenglass, in Prison, Vows to Kin He Told Truth about Rosenbergs". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2008. David Greenglass, serving 15 years as a confessed atom spy, denied to members of his family recently that he had been coached by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the drawing of segments of the atom bomb.
7. ^ Whitman, Alden (February 14, 1974). "1972 Death of Harry Gold Revealed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved July 7, 2008. Harry Gold, who served fifteen years in Federal prison as a confessed atomic spy courier, for Klaus Fuchs, a Soviet agent, and who was a key Government witness in the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage case in 1951, died 18 months ago in Philadelphia.
8. ^ "Exonerate Ethel". Rosenberg Fund for Children. September 10, 2024. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
9. ^ "National Archives of the United States of America". National Archives Catalog. National Archives and Records Administration. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.

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7 March 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius

Roman emperor from 138 to 161

Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (/ˌæntəˈnaɪnəs ˈpaɪəs/;^[3] Latin: [antoːˈniːnus ˈpius]; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty.^[4]

Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held various offices during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. He married Hadrian's niece Faustina, and Hadrian adopted him as his son and successor shortly before his death. Antoninus acquired the cognomen Pius after his accession to the throne, either because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive father,^[5] or because he had saved senators sentenced to death by Hadrian in his later years.^[6] His reign is notable for the peaceful state of the Empire, with no major revolts or military incursions during this time. A successful military campaign in southern Scotland early in his reign resulted in the construction of the Antonine Wall.

Antoninus was an effective administrator, leaving his successors a large surplus in the treasury, expanding free access to drinking water throughout the Empire, encouraging legal conformity, and facilitating the enfranchisement of freed slaves. He died of illness in AD 161 and was succeeded by his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus as co-emperors.

1. ^ Salomies, O (2014). "Adoptive and Polyonymous Nomenclature in the Roman Empire – Some Addenda". In Caldelli, M. L.; Gregori, G. L. (eds.). Epigrafia e ordine senatorio, 30 anni dopo. Edizioni Quasar. pp. 492–493. ISBN 9788871405674. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
2. ^ ^{a b} Cooley, Alison E. (2012). The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 492–493. ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2.
3. ^ "Antoninus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. "Pius". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871.
4. ^ Bowman 2000, p. 150.
5. ^ Birley 2000, p. 54; Dio, 70:1:2.
6. ^ Birley 2000, p. 55; citing the Historia Augusta, Life of Hadrian 24.4.

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8 March 1963 – The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d'état.

Ba'ath Party

Syrian political party (1947–1966)

For the party which governed Iraq, see Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region. For the party which governed Syria, see Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region. For other uses, see Ba'ath Party (disambiguation).

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي Ḥizb al-Baʿth al-ʿArabī al-Ishtirākī [ˈħɪzb alˈbaʕθ alˈʕarabiː alɪʃtɪˈraːkiː]), also known simply as the Baʽth Party (Arabic: حزب البعث, lit. 'resurrection party'),^[2] was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arab, Arab socialist, and anti-imperialist interests. Ba'athism calls for the unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Freedom, Socialism", refers to Arab unity and freedom from non-Arab control and interference as well as supporting socialism.

The party was founded by the merger of the Arab Ba'ath Movement, led by Aflaq and al-Bitar, and the Arab Ba'ath, led by al-ʾArsūzī, on 7 April 1947 as the Arab Ba'ath Party. The party quickly established branches in other Arab countries - although it would only hold power in Iraq and Syria. In 1953, the Arab Ba'ath Party merged with the Arab Socialist Movement, led by Akram al-Hourani, to form the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. The newly formed party was a relative success, and it became the second-largest party in the Syrian parliament in the 1954 election. This, coupled with the increasing strength of the Syrian Communist Party,^{[citation needed]} led to the establishment of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union of Egypt and Syria, in 1958. The UAR would prove unsuccessful, and was dissolved following the 1961 Syrian coup d'état.

Following the break-up of the UAR, the Ba'ath Party was reconstituted. However, during the UAR period, military activists had established the Military Committee that took control of the Ba'ath Party away from civilian hands. In the meantime, in Iraq, the local Ba'ath Party branch had taken power by orchestrating and leading the Ramadan Revolution, only to lose power a couple of months later. The Military Committee, with Aflaq's consent, took power in Syria in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état.

A power struggle quickly developed between the civilian faction led by Aflaq, al-Bitar, and Munīf ar-Razzāz and the Military Committee led by Salah Jadid and Hafez al-Assad. As relations between the two factions deteriorated, the Military Committee initiated the 1966 Syrian coup d'état, which ousted the National Command led by al-Razzāz, Aflaq, and their supporters. The 1966 coup split the Ba'ath Party between the Iraqi-dominated Ba'ath Party and the Syrian-dominated Ba'ath Party. There are currently no Ba’athist run countries after the fall of the Ba’ath regime in Syria on 8 December 2024.

1. ^ Bengio, Ofra (1998). Saddam's Word: Political Discourse in Iraq (paperback). Oxford / New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-19-511439-3. "The name Ba'th at once evokes the party's central slogans: "A single Arab nation with an eternal mission" and "Unity, freedom, socialism." The first slogan echoes several verses of the Qur'an where the words umma wahida (one nation) appear. Verse 209 of the sura al-Baqara, for instance, reads: "The people were one nation; then God sent forth the Prophets, good tidings to bear and warning." The whole party phrase, with its internal rhyme in Arabic, elicits a longing for completeness, a yearning for a messianic transformation. The glorious past of the Arabs is made the source and aim fo emulation. Arsuzi wrote: "The Arabs conquered the world in order to civilize it and for that vision they sacrificed their lives... They spread their rule from the Chinese Wall to the Atlantic Ocean and from the center of Europe to the center of Africa... One caliph, one law, one official language."
2. ^ Mohammed Shaffi Agwani (January 1961). "The Baʻth: A Study in Contemporary Arab Politics". International Studies. 3 (1): 6–24. doi:10.1177/002088176100300102. ISSN 0020-8817. S2CID 154673494.

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9 March 1776 – Scottish philosopher Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations, ushering in the classical period of political economy.

The Wealth of Nations

1776 economics book by Adam Smith

This article is about the book by Adam Smith. For data on the monetary wealth of countries, see List of countries by total wealth.

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, usually referred to by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, is a book by Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith. Published on 9 March 1776, it offers one of the first accounts of what builds nations' wealth. It has become a fundamental work in classical economics, and been described as "the first formulation of a comprehensive system of political economy".^[1] Reflecting upon economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Smith introduced key concepts such as the division of labour, productivity, free markets and the role prices play in resource allocation.^[2][3]

The book fundamentally shaped the field of economics and provided a theoretical foundation for free market capitalism and economic policies that prevailed in the 19th century. A product of the Scottish Enlightenment and the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the treatise offered a critical examination of the mercantilist policies of the day and advocated the implementation of free trade and effective tax policies to drive economic progress. It represented a clear paradigm shift from previous economic thought by proposing that self-interest and the forces of supply and demand, rather than regulation, should determine economic activity.

Smith laid out a system of political economy with the famous metaphor of the "invisible hand" regulating the marketplace through individual self-interest. He provided a comprehensive analysis of different economic aspects – the accumulation of stock, price determination, and the flow of labor, capital, and rent. The book contained Smith's critique of mercantilism, high taxes on luxury goods, the slave trade, and monopolies, advocating for free competition and open markets. Over revised editions during his lifetime, the work evolved and gained widespread recognition, shaping economic philosophies, government policies, and the intellectual discourse on trade, taxation, and economic growth in the coming centuries.

1. ^ "The Wealth of Nations | Summary, Themes, Significance, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 3 August 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
2. ^ O'Rourke, P. J. (2006). On The Wealth of Nations. Books That Changed the World. Atlantic Monthly Press. ISBN 978-0871139498.
3. ^ Smith, Matthew (2023). "Adam Smith on Growth and Economic Development". History of Economics Review. 86 (1): 2–15. doi:10.1080/10370196.2023.2243741.

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10 March 1831 – The French Foreign Legion is created by Louis Philippe, the King of France, from the foreign regiments of the Kingdom of France.

French Foreign Legion

French Army corps of foreign nationals

"Legionnaire" redirects here. For other uses, see Legionnaire (disambiguation).

For other uses, see French Legion.

Military unit

The French Foreign Legion (French: Légion étrangère, also known simply as la Légion, 'the Legion') is a corps of the French Army created to allow foreign nationals into French service.^[8] The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consists of several specialities, namely infantry, cavalry, engineers, and airborne troops.^[9] It formed part of the Armée d'Afrique, French Army units associated with France's colonial project in North Africa, until the end of the Algerian War in 1962.^[10]

Legionnaires are today renowned as highly trained soldiers whose training focuses on traditional military skills and on the Legion's strong esprit de corps, as its men come from different countries with different cultures. Consequently, training is often described as not only physically challenging, but also very stressful psychologically. Legionnaires may apply for French citizenship after three years' service, or immediately after being wounded in the line of duty: This latter provision is known as "Français par le sang versé" ("French by spilled blood").^[11]

1. ^ "Le saviez-vous ? Les militaires aussi ont leurs saints patrons!". Ministère des Armées. 21 January 2022. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
2. ^ Official Website of the General Command of the Foreign Legion
3. ^ "French Foreign Legion Traditions". Foreign Legion Info. 30 June 2016.
4. ^ "French Foreign Legion Uniforms Grant". Foreign Legion Info.
5. ^ Musique de la Légion étrangère (16 April 2013). "Le Boudin – Musique de la Légion étrangère (vidéo officielle)". Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 – via YouTube.
6. ^ "United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)".
7. ^ "The COMLE". Legion Etrangere (in French).
8. ^ "Légion étrangère". www.legion-recrute.com. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
9. ^ "L'essentiel sur la Légion". www.legion-etrangere.com (in French). Retrieved 11 January 2022.^{[permanent dead link]}
10. ^ Jean, Des Vallières (1963). Et voici la Legion Etrangere. Éditions André Bonne. OCLC 155659405.; Anthony Clayton, "France, Soldiers, and Africa," Brassey's, 1988.
11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Tweedie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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11 March 2020 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the COVID-19 virus epidemic a pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic

Pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2

The global COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It spread to other parts of Asia and then worldwide in early 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, and assessed it as having become a pandemic on 11 March.^[3] The WHO declared that the public health emergency caused by COVID-19 had ended in May 2023.^[4]

COVID-19 symptoms range from asymptomatic to deadly, but most commonly include fever, sore throat, nocturnal cough, and fatigue. Transmission of the virus is often through airborne particles. Mutations have produced many strains (variants) with varying degrees of infectivity and virulence.^[11] COVID-19 vaccines were developed rapidly and deployed to the general public beginning in December 2020, made available through government and international programmes such as COVAX, aiming to provide vaccine equity. Treatments include novel antiviral drugs and symptom control. Common mitigation measures during the public health emergency included travel restrictions, lockdowns, business restrictions and closures, workplace hazard controls, mask mandates, quarantines, testing systems, and contact tracing of the infected.

The pandemic caused severe social and economic disruption around the world, including the largest global recession since the Great Depression.^[12] Widespread supply shortages, including food shortages, were caused by supply chain disruptions and panic buying. Reduced human activity led to an unprecedented temporary decrease in pollution. Educational institutions and public areas were partially or fully closed in many jurisdictions, and many events were cancelled or postponed during 2020 and 2021. Telework became much more common for white-collar workers as the pandemic evolved. Misinformation circulated through social media and occasionally through mass media, and political tensions intensified. The pandemic raised issues of racial and geographic discrimination, health equity, and the balance between public health imperatives and individual rights.

The disease has continued to circulate since 2023. By 2025, experts generally believed the pandemic to be over, having transitioned into the endemic phase.^[13][14] Different definitions of pandemics lead to different determinations of when they end.^[15][16] As of 3 April 2026, COVID-19 has caused 7,111,504^[5] confirmed deaths, and 18.2 to 33.5 million estimated deaths.^[9] The pandemic was the fifth-deadliest pandemic or epidemic in history.

1. ^ Zoumpourlis V, Goulielmaki M, Rizos E, Baliou S, Spandidos DA (October 2020). "[Comment] The COVID‑19 pandemic as a scientific and social challenge in the 21st century". Molecular Medicine Reports. 22 (4): 3035–3048. doi:10.3892/mmr.2020.11393. PMC 7453598. PMID 32945405.
2. ^ Cite error: The named reference who-origins-20210330 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
3. ^ ^{a b} "Archived: WHO Timeline – COVID-19". World Health Organization. 27 April 2020. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
4. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference reuters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
5. ^ ^{a b c} Mathieu E, Ritchie H, Rodés-Guirao L, Appel C, Giattino C, Hasell J, et al. (2020–2024). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
6. ^ Mathieu E, Ritchie H, Rodés-Guirao L, Appel C, Giattino C, Hasell J, et al. (5 March 2020). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
7. ^ John P. A. Ioannidis (26 March 2022). "The end of the COVID-19 pandemic". European Journal of Clinical Investigation. 52 (2) e13782. doi:10.1111/eci.13782. PMC 9111437. PMID 35342941.
8. ^ Emma E. Goldberg, Qianying Lin, Ethan O. Romero-Severson, Ruian Ke (14 February 2023). "Quantifying the rate and magnitude of the Omicron outbreak in China after sudden exit from 'zero-COVID' restrictions". medRxiv 10.1101/2023.02.10.23285776.
9. ^ ^{a b} "The pandemic's true death toll". The Economist. 26 July 2023 [18 November 2021]. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
10. ^ "COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)". ArcGIS. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
11. ^ "Clinical questions about COVID-19: Questions and answers". CDC Stacks. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
12. ^ Gita G (14 April 2020). "The Great Lockdown: Worst Economic Downturn Since the Great Depression". IMF Blog. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
15. ^ Cite error: The named reference timemarch2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
16. ^ Cite error: The named reference charters2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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12 March 1968 – Mauritius gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Mauritius

Island country in the Indian Ocean

This article is about the independent island nation in the Indian Ocean. For other uses, see Mauritius (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Mauritania.

Mauritius,^[a] officially the Republic of Mauritius,^[b] is an island country in the Indian Ocean, located about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon (Cargados Carajos shoals).^[11][12] The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion (a French overseas department), are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) and has an exclusive economic zone covering approximately 580,000 square nautical miles (2,000,000 km²; 770,000 sq mi).^[13][14]

The 1502 Portuguese Cantino planisphere has led some historians to speculate that Arab sailors were the first to discover the uninhabited island around 975, naming it Dina Arobi.^[15][16] Called Ilha do Cirne or Ilha do Cerne on early Portuguese maps, the island was visited by Portuguese sailors in 1507.^[17] A Dutch fleet, under the command of Admiral Van Warwyck, landed at what is now the Grand Port District and took possession of the island in 1598, renaming it after Maurice, Prince of Orange. Short-lived Dutch attempts at permanent settlement took place over a century aimed at exploiting the local ebony forests, establishing sugar and arrack production using cane plant cuttings from Java together with over three hundred Malagasy slaves, all in vain.^[18] When French colonisation began in 1715, the island was renamed "Isle de France". In 1810, the United Kingdom seized the island and under the Treaty of Paris, France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to the United Kingdom. The British colony of Mauritius now included Rodrigues, Agaléga, St. Brandon, the Chagos Archipelago, and, until 1906, the Seychelles.^[11][12] Mauritius and France dispute sovereignty over the island of Tromelin, the treaty failing to mention it specifically.^[19] Mauritius became the British Empire's main sugar-producing colony and remained a primarily sugar-dominated plantation-based colony until independence, in 1968. The country became a republic in 1992 but retained the Privy Council of the United Kingdom as highest court of appeal.^[20]

In 1965, three years before the independence of Mauritius, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago away from Mauritius, and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar, and Desroches from the Seychelles, to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).^[21] The local population was forcibly expelled and the largest island, Diego Garcia, was leased to the United States restricting access to the archipelago.^[22] Ruling on the sovereignty dispute, the International Court of Justice has ordered the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius leading to a 2025 bilateral agreement on the recognition of its sovereignty on the islands, signed in May 2025.^{[23][24][25][26]}

Given its geographic location and colonial past, the people of Mauritius are diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and faith. It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practised religion.^[27][28] Indo-Mauritians make up the bulk of the population with significant Creole, Sino-Mauritian and Franco-Mauritian minorities. The island's government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system with Mauritius highly ranked for economic and political freedom. The Economist Democracy Index ranks Mauritius as the only country in Africa with full democracy while the V-Dem Democracy Indices classified it as an electoral democracy.^[29][30]

Mauritius ranks 73rd (very high) in the Human Development Index and the World Bank classifies it as a high-income economy.^[31][32] It is amongst the most competitive and most developed economies in the African region.^[33] The country is a welfare state. The government provides free universal health care, free education up through the tertiary level, and free public transportation for students, senior citizens, and the disabled.^[34] Mauritius is consistently ranked as the most peaceful country in Africa.^[35]

Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its biodiverse flora and fauna with many unique species endemic to the country. The main island was the only known home of the dodo, which, along with several other avian species, became extinct soon after human settlement. Other endemic animals, such as the echo parakeet, the Mauritius kestrel and the pink pigeon, have survived and are subject to intensive and successful ongoing conservation efforts.^[36]

1. ^ "Government Information Service – Coat of Arms". govmu.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
2. ^ The Mauritian constitution makes no mention of an official language. The Constitution only mentions that the official language of the National Assembly is English; however, any member can also address the chair in French.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Economic and Social Indicators" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
4. ^ "Mauritius". The World Factbook (2023 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
5. ^ "2022 Housing and Population Census" (PDF). Republic of Mauritius. May 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.^{: 136–138}
6. ^ "2022 Census". Statistics Mauritius. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
7. ^ "2022 Population Census – Main Results". Statistics Mauritius. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
8. ^ ^{a b c d} "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2024 Edition. (Mauritius)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
9. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) – Mauritius". World Bank. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
10. ^ "Human Development Report 2025" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 6 May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
11. ^ ^{a b} "Written Statement of the Republic of Mauritius" (PDF). International Court of Justice. 1 March 2018. pp. 23–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
12. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference PCA Memorial Vol 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ "Figure 7: Mauritius' EEZ: 1977". Memorial of the Republic of Mauritius (PDF). Vol. IV. Permanent Court of Arbitration. 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
14. ^ Runghen, H.; Goodwille, A.; Ferrini, V.; Wigley, R. (2014). Managing Geophysical Data in the South West Indian Ocean using GeoMapApp (PDF). Challenger 2014 Conference. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
15. ^ "History". Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
16. ^ International Education: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues and Systems. Routledge. 17 March 2015. ISBN 978-1-317-46751-9.
17. ^ "Republic of Mauritius- History". govmu.org. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
18. ^ Allen, Richard B. (August 2003). "The Mascarene Slave-Trade and Labour Migration in the Indian Ocean during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries". Slavery & Abolition. 24 (2): 33–50. doi:10.1080/01440390308559154.
19. ^ Gaymard, Hervé (20 March 2013). A. Un Différend Ancien Avec Maurice Quant À La Souveraineté Sur Tromelin. National Assembly (Report) (in French).
20. ^ "Rise of the Sugar Economy". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
21. ^ "Colonial Office Telegram No. 199 to Mauritius, No. 222 to Seychelles, 21 July 1965, FO 371/184524" (PDF). Permanent Court of Arbitration.
22. ^ "Visiting British Indian Ocean Territory". Retrieved 16 December 2018.
23. ^ "UK and Mauritius joint statement, 3 October 2024". Government of the United Kingdom. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
24. ^ "UK and Mauritius joint statement, 3 October 2024" (PDF). Government of Mauritius. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
25. ^ Crerar, Pippa; Walker, Peter (15 January 2025). "UK stalls Chagos Islands deal until Trump administration can 'consider detail'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
26. ^ Courea, Eleni; Elgot, Jessica (22 May 2025). "UK signs £3.4bn deal to cede sovereignty over Chagos Islands to Mauritius". The Guardian.
27. ^ "Religions in Africa | African Religions | PEW-GRF". www.globalreligiousfutures.org. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
28. ^ "The Global Religious Landscape". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
29. ^ "Democracy Index 2021: the China challenge". Economist Intelligence Unit.
30. ^ https://v-dem.net/documents/75/V-Dem_Institute_Democracy_Report_2026_lowres.pdf
31. ^ Nations, United. Human Development Index (Report). United Nations.
32. ^ Cite error: The named reference WB GROUP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
33. ^ "The Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018" (PDF). Retrieved 24 December 2018.
34. ^ Stiglitz, Joseph (7 March 2011). "The Mauritius miracle, or how to make a big success of a small economy". The Guardian.
35. ^ "Global Peace Index measuring peace in a complex world Global Peace Index 2019" (PDF). Institute for Economics and Peace. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
36. ^ "Saving Africa's Rarest Species". usafricabizsummit.com. Retrieved 19 May 2024.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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12 March 1968 – Mauritius gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Mauritius

Island country in the Indian Ocean

This article is about the independent island nation in the Indian Ocean. For other uses, see Mauritius (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Mauritania.

Mauritius,^[a] officially the Republic of Mauritius,^[b] is an island country in the Indian Ocean, located about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Agaléga, and St. Brandon (Cargados Carajos shoals).^[11][12] The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, along with nearby Réunion (a French overseas department), are part of the Mascarene Islands. The main island of Mauritius, where the population is concentrated, hosts the capital and largest city, Port Louis. The country spans 2,040 square kilometres (790 sq mi) and has an exclusive economic zone covering approximately 580,000 square nautical miles (2,000,000 km²; 770,000 sq mi).^[13][14]

The 1502 Portuguese Cantino planisphere has led some historians to speculate that Arab sailors were the first to discover the uninhabited island around 975, naming it Dina Arobi.^[15][16] Called Ilha do Cirne or Ilha do Cerne on early Portuguese maps, the island was visited by Portuguese sailors in 1507.^[17] A Dutch fleet, under the command of Admiral Van Warwyck, landed at what is now the Grand Port District and took possession of the island in 1598, renaming it after Maurice, Prince of Orange. Short-lived Dutch attempts at permanent settlement took place over a century aimed at exploiting the local ebony forests, establishing sugar and arrack production using cane plant cuttings from Java together with over three hundred Malagasy slaves, all in vain.^[18] When French colonisation began in 1715, the island was renamed "Isle de France". In 1810, the United Kingdom seized the island and under the Treaty of Paris, France ceded Mauritius and its dependencies to the United Kingdom. The British colony of Mauritius now included Rodrigues, Agaléga, St. Brandon, the Chagos Archipelago, and, until 1906, the Seychelles.^[11][12] Mauritius and France dispute sovereignty over the island of Tromelin, the treaty failing to mention it specifically.^[19] Mauritius became the British Empire's main sugar-producing colony and remained a primarily sugar-dominated plantation-based colony until independence, in 1968. The country became a republic in 1992 but retained the Privy Council of the United Kingdom as highest court of appeal.^[20]

In 1965, three years before the independence of Mauritius, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago away from Mauritius, and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar, and Desroches from the Seychelles, to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).^[21] The local population was forcibly expelled and the largest island, Diego Garcia, was leased to the United States restricting access to the archipelago.^[22] Ruling on the sovereignty dispute, the International Court of Justice has ordered the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius leading to a 2025 bilateral agreement on the recognition of its sovereignty on the islands, signed in May 2025.^{[23][24][25][26]}

Given its geographic location and colonial past, the people of Mauritius are diverse in ethnicity, culture, language and faith. It is the only country in Africa where Hinduism is the most practised religion.^[27][28] Indo-Mauritians make up the bulk of the population with significant Creole, Sino-Mauritian and Franco-Mauritian minorities. The island's government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system with Mauritius highly ranked for economic and political freedom. The Economist Democracy Index ranks Mauritius as the only country in Africa with full democracy while the V-Dem Democracy Indices classified it as an electoral democracy.^[29][30]

Mauritius ranks 73rd (very high) in the Human Development Index and the World Bank classifies it as a high-income economy.^[31][32] It is amongst the most competitive and most developed economies in the African region.^[33] The country is a welfare state. The government provides free universal health care, free education up through the tertiary level, and free public transportation for students, senior citizens, and the disabled.^[34] Mauritius is consistently ranked as the most peaceful country in Africa.^[35]

Along with the other Mascarene Islands, Mauritius is known for its biodiverse flora and fauna with many unique species endemic to the country. The main island was the only known home of the dodo, which, along with several other avian species, became extinct soon after human settlement. Other endemic animals, such as the echo parakeet, the Mauritius kestrel and the pink pigeon, have survived and are subject to intensive and successful ongoing conservation efforts.^[36]

1. ^ "Government Information Service – Coat of Arms". govmu.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
2. ^ The Mauritian constitution makes no mention of an official language. The Constitution only mentions that the official language of the National Assembly is English; however, any member can also address the chair in French.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Economic and Social Indicators" (PDF). Statistics Mauritius. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
4. ^ "Mauritius". The World Factbook (2023 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
5. ^ "2022 Housing and Population Census" (PDF). Republic of Mauritius. May 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.^{: 136–138}
6. ^ "2022 Census". Statistics Mauritius. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
7. ^ "2022 Population Census – Main Results". Statistics Mauritius. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
8. ^ ^{a b c d} "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2024 Edition. (Mauritius)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
9. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate) – Mauritius". World Bank. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
10. ^ "Human Development Report 2025" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 6 May 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
11. ^ ^{a b} "Written Statement of the Republic of Mauritius" (PDF). International Court of Justice. 1 March 2018. pp. 23–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
12. ^ ^{a b} Cite error: The named reference PCA Memorial Vol 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ "Figure 7: Mauritius' EEZ: 1977". Memorial of the Republic of Mauritius (PDF). Vol. IV. Permanent Court of Arbitration. 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
14. ^ Runghen, H.; Goodwille, A.; Ferrini, V.; Wigley, R. (2014). Managing Geophysical Data in the South West Indian Ocean using GeoMapApp (PDF). Challenger 2014 Conference. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
15. ^ "History". Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
16. ^ International Education: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Issues and Systems. Routledge. 17 March 2015. ISBN 978-1-317-46751-9.
17. ^ "Republic of Mauritius- History". govmu.org. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
18. ^ Allen, Richard B. (August 2003). "The Mascarene Slave-Trade and Labour Migration in the Indian Ocean during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries". Slavery & Abolition. 24 (2): 33–50. doi:10.1080/01440390308559154.
19. ^ Gaymard, Hervé (20 March 2013). A. Un Différend Ancien Avec Maurice Quant À La Souveraineté Sur Tromelin. National Assembly (Report) (in French).
20. ^ "Rise of the Sugar Economy". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
21. ^ "Colonial Office Telegram No. 199 to Mauritius, No. 222 to Seychelles, 21 July 1965, FO 371/184524" (PDF). Permanent Court of Arbitration.
22. ^ "Visiting British Indian Ocean Territory". Retrieved 16 December 2018.
23. ^ "UK and Mauritius joint statement, 3 October 2024". Government of the United Kingdom. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
24. ^ "UK and Mauritius joint statement, 3 October 2024" (PDF). Government of Mauritius. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
25. ^ Crerar, Pippa; Walker, Peter (15 January 2025). "UK stalls Chagos Islands deal until Trump administration can 'consider detail'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
26. ^ Courea, Eleni; Elgot, Jessica (22 May 2025). "UK signs £3.4bn deal to cede sovereignty over Chagos Islands to Mauritius". The Guardian.
27. ^ "Religions in Africa | African Religions | PEW-GRF". www.globalreligiousfutures.org. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
28. ^ "The Global Religious Landscape". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
29. ^ "Democracy Index 2021: the China challenge". Economist Intelligence Unit.
30. ^ https://v-dem.net/documents/75/V-Dem_Institute_Democracy_Report_2026_lowres.pdf
31. ^ Nations, United. Human Development Index (Report). United Nations.
32. ^ Cite error: The named reference WB GROUP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
33. ^ "The Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018" (PDF). Retrieved 24 December 2018.
34. ^ Stiglitz, Joseph (7 March 2011). "The Mauritius miracle, or how to make a big success of a small economy". The Guardian.
35. ^ "Global Peace Index measuring peace in a complex world Global Peace Index 2019" (PDF). Institute for Economics and Peace. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
36. ^ "Saving Africa's Rarest Species". usafricabizsummit.com. Retrieved 19 May 2024.

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13 March 1781 – William Herschel discovers Uranus.

William Herschel

German-British astronomer and composer (1738–1822)

For other uses, see William Herschel (disambiguation).

Frederick William Herschel^[1][2] KH, FRS (/ˈhɜːrʃəl/ HUR-shəl;^[3] German: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈhɛʁʃl̩]; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer.^[4] He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover, he followed his father into the military band of Hanover, before immigrating to Britain in 1757 at the age of 19.

Taking an interest in astronomy in 1766, Herschel constructed his first large telescope in 1774, after which he spent nine years carrying out sky surveys to investigate double stars. Herschel published catalogues of nebulae in 1802 (2,500 objects) and in 1820 (5,000 objects). The resolving power of the Herschel telescopes revealed that many objects called nebulae in the Messier catalogue were actually clusters of stars. On 13 March 1781 while making observations he made note of a new object in the constellation of Gemini. This would, after several weeks of verification and consultation with other astronomers, be confirmed to be a new planet, eventually given the name of Uranus. This was the first planet to be discovered since antiquity, and Herschel became famous overnight. As a result of this discovery, George III appointed him Court Astronomer. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and grants were provided for the construction of new telescopes.

Herschel pioneered the use of astronomical spectrophotometry, using prisms and temperature measuring equipment to measure the wavelength distribution of stellar spectra. In the course of these investigations, Herschel discovered infrared radiation.^[5] Other work included an improved determination of the rotation period of Mars,^[6] the discovery that the Martian polar caps vary seasonally, the discovery of Titania and Oberon (moons of Uranus) and Enceladus and Mimas (moons of Saturn). Herschel was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order in 1816. He was the first President of the Royal Astronomical Society when it was founded in 1820. He died in August 1822, and his work was continued by his only son, John Herschel.

1. ^ Hoskin, Michael, ed. (2003). Caroline Herschel's autobiographies. Cambridge: Science History Publ. p. 13. ISBN 978-0905193069.
2. ^ "William Herschel | Biography, Education, Telescopes, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
3. ^ Wells, J. C. (2000). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Pearson Longman. p. 358. ISBN 978-0-582-36467-7.
4. ^ "Sir William Herschel | British-German astronomer". 21 August 2023.
5. ^ "Herschel discovers infrared light". Cool Cosmos. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Copus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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14 March 1900 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.

Gold Standard Act

1900 U.S. legislation which established gold as the standard for the U.S. dollar

The Gold Standard Act was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President William McKinley and effective on March 14, 1900, defining the United States dollar by gold weight and requiring the United States Treasury to redeem, on demand and in gold coin only, paper currency the Act specified.^[1]

The Act formalized the American gold standard that the Coinage Act of 1873, which demonetized silver, and the Resumption Act of 1875, which made all legal tender notes redeemable in gold at the Treasury, had established by default.^[2][3] Before and after the Act, silver currency including silver certificates and the silver dollar circulated at face value as fiat currency not redeemable for gold.^[4]

The Act fixed the value of one dollar at 25.8 grains of 90% pure gold, equivalent to about $20.67 per troy ounce, very near its historic value. American circulating gold coins of the period comprised an alloy of 90% gold and 10% copper for durability. After the realigning 1932 United States elections following the onset of the Great Depression, the gold standard was abandoned from March 1933, and the Act abrogated, by a coordinated series of policy changes including executive orders by President Franklin D. Roosevelt,^[5] new laws,^[6] and U.S. Supreme Court rulings known as the Gold Clause Cases narrowly upheld the Roosevelt administration's policies.

After World War II international agreements comprising the Bretton Woods system formally restored foreign central banks' ability to exchange United States dollars for gold at a fixed price. World trade growth increasingly stressed this system, which was abandoned in the Nixon shock of 1971.^[7] Attempts to reform the Bretton Woods system quickly proved unworkable and failed. All modern currencies thus became fiat currencies freely floating and subject to market forces despite capital controls imposed by some central banks, with gold as a commodity.^{[dubious – discuss]}

1. ^ Including gold certificates, United States notes, Treasury notes, and later Federal Reserve notes, but excluding silver certificates and National Bank notes which were secured by government bonds issuing national banks had deposited with the Treasury. Though the Act did not require national banks to redeem their issued National Bank notes in gold coin, ordinarily they would, as might other banks.
2. ^ Taussig, F. W. (1900). "The Currency Act of 1900". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 14 (3): 394–415. doi:10.2307/1882566. ISSN 0033-5533. JSTOR 1882566.
3. ^ Falkner, Roland P. (1900). "The Currency Law of 1900". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 16: 33–55. ISSN 0002-7162.
4. ^ Johnson, Joseph French (1900). "The Currency Act of March 14, 1900". Political Science Quarterly. 15 (3): 482–507. doi:10.2307/2140799. ISSN 0032-3195. JSTOR 2140799.
5. ^ Federal Reserve. "Roosevelt's Gold Program".
6. ^ Wikisource. "Joint Resolution of June 5, 1933".
7. ^ James Stuart Olson. Historical Dictionary of the Great Depression, 1929–1940. p. 131.

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15 March 44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic, by a group of senators takes place on the Ides of March

Assassination of Julius Caesar

44 BC murder in Rome

"Death of Caesar" redirects here. For other uses, see Death of Caesar (disambiguation) and Assassination of Julius Caesar (disambiguation).

Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, was assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March), 44 BC, by a group of senators during a Senate session at the Curia of Pompey, located within the Theatre of Pompey in Rome. The conspirators, numbering 60 individuals and led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, stabbed Caesar approximately 23 times. They justified the act as a preemptive defense of the Roman Republic, asserting that Caesar's accumulation of lifelong political authority—including his perpetual dictatorship and other honors—threatened republican traditions. The assassination failed to achieve its immediate objective of restoring the Republic's institutions. Instead, it precipitated Caesar's posthumous deification, triggered the Liberators' civil war (43–42 BC) between his supporters and the conspirators, and contributed to the collapse of the Republic. These events ultimately culminated in the rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus, marking the beginning of the Principate era.

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15 March 44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar, the dictator of the Roman Republic, by a group of senators takes place on the Ides of March

Assassination of Julius Caesar

44 BC murder in Rome

"Death of Caesar" redirects here. For other uses, see Death of Caesar (disambiguation) and Assassination of Julius Caesar (disambiguation).

Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, was assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March), 44 BC, by a group of senators during a Senate session at the Curia of Pompey, located within the Theatre of Pompey in Rome. The conspirators, numbering 60 individuals and led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, stabbed Caesar approximately 23 times. They justified the act as a preemptive defense of the Roman Republic, asserting that Caesar's accumulation of lifelong political authority—including his perpetual dictatorship and other honors—threatened republican traditions. The assassination failed to achieve its immediate objective of restoring the Republic's institutions. Instead, it precipitated Caesar's posthumous deification, triggered the Liberators' civil war (43–42 BC) between his supporters and the conspirators, and contributed to the collapse of the Republic. These events ultimately culminated in the rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus, marking the beginning of the Principate era.

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16 March 1898 – In Melbourne, the representatives of five colonies adopt a constitution, which would become the basis of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Constitution of Australia

The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a federation under a constitutional monarchy governed with a parliamentary system. Its eight chapters set down the structure and powers of the three constituent parts of the federal level of government: the Parliament, the Executive Government and the Judicature.

The Constitution was drafted between 1891 and 1898 at a series of conventions conducted by representatives of the six self-governing British colonies in Australia: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.^[a] This final draft was then approved by each state in a series of referendums from 1898 to 1900. The agreed constitution was transmitted to London where, after some minor modifications, it was enacted as section 9 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into effect on 1 January 1901, at which point the six colonies became states within the new Commonwealth of Australia.

The Constitution is the primary, but not exclusive, source of Australian constitutional law; it operates alongside constitutional conventions, state constitutions, the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Australia Acts 1986, prerogative instruments and judicial interpretations of these laws by the High Court of Australia.

The document may only be amended by referendum, through the procedure set out in section 128. This requires a double majority: a nationwide majority as well as a majority of voters in a majority of states. Only eight of the 45 proposed amendments put to a referendum have passed.^[3] Proposals to amend the document to recognise Indigenous Australians and to become a republic are the subject of significant contemporary debate. The most recent referendum occurred on 14 October 2023, in which a proposed amendment to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament was rejected.^[4]

1. ^ "Catch a glimpse of the original Australian Constitution at National Archives". National Archives of Australia. 22 June 2023.
2. ^ "The Federation of Australia". Parliamentary Education Office. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
3. ^ "Referendum dates and results". Australian Electoral Commission. 7 November 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
4. ^ Worthington, Brett (14 October 2023). "Australians reject Indigenous recognition via Voice to Parliament, referendum set for defeat". ABC News.

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17 March 1337 – Edward the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first duchy in England.

Edward the Black Prince

Heir of the English throne (1330–1376)

"Black Prince" redirects here. For other uses, see Black Prince (disambiguation).

Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376),^[1] known as the Black Prince,^[a] was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father, and so his son Richard II succeeded to the throne instead. Edward was one of the most successful English commanders of the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). He was regarded by English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of his era's greatest knights.^[2]

Edward was made Duke of Cornwall, the first English dukedom, in 1337. He was made Prince of Wales in 1343, and knighted by his father at La Hougue in 1346. In 1346, Edward commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Crécy. He took part in Edward III's 1349 Calais expedition. In 1355, he was appointed the king's lieutenant in Gascony, and ordered to lead an army into Aquitaine on a chevauchée, during which he sacked Avignonet, Castelnaudary, Carcassonne, and Narbonne. In 1356, on another chevauchée, he ravaged Auvergne, Limousin, and Berry, but failed to take Bourges. The forces of King John II of France met Edward's armies near the city of Poitiers. After negotiations between them broke down, the Battle of Poitiers began. Edward's forces routed the French army and captured John II.

In 1360, he negotiated the Treaty of Brétigny. He was made Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1362, but his suzerainty was not recognised by the Lord of Albret or other Gascon nobles. He was directed by his father to stop the raids of the English and Gascon free companies in 1364. He made an agreement with Kings Peter of Castile and Charles II of Navarre, by which Peter covenanted to mortgage Castro Urdiales and the province of Biscay to him as security for a loan; in 1366, a passage was secured through Navarre. In 1367, he defeated Henry of Trastámara, Peter's half-brother and rival, at the Battle of Nájera. After waiting several months—during which, he failed to obtain either the province of Biscay, or liquidation of the debt from Don Pedro—he returned to Aquitaine. Edward persuaded the estates of Aquitaine to allow him a hearth tax of ten sous for five years in 1368, which alienated the Lord of Albret and other nobles.

Prince Edward returned to England in 1371 and resigned the principality of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1372. He led the Commons in their attack upon the Lancastrian administration in 1376, before dying soon after.

1. ^ Barber 2008.
2. ^ Wagner 2006, p. 116.

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18 March 1766 – American Revolution: The British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act.

Stamp Act 1765

British statute which taxed its American colonies' use of printed materials

The Stamp Act 1765, also known as the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765 (5 Geo. 3. c. 12), was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper from London which included an embossed revenue stamp.^[1][2] Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies, and it had to be paid in British currency, not in colonial paper money.^[3]

The purpose of the tax was to pay for British military troops stationed in the American colonies after the French and Indian War, but the colonists had never feared a French invasion to begin with, and they contended that they had already paid their share of the war expenses.^[4] Colonists suggested that it was actually a matter of British patronage to surplus British officers and career soldiers who should be paid by London.

The Stamp Act 1765 was very unpopular among colonists. A majority considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial legislatures could grant. Their slogan was "No taxation without representation". Colonial assemblies sent petitions and protests, and the Stamp Act Congress held in New York City was the first significant joint colonial response to any British measure when it petitioned Parliament and the King.

One member of the British Parliament argued that the American colonists were no different from the 90-percent of Great Britain who did not own property and thus could not vote, but who were nevertheless "virtually" represented by land-owning electors and representatives who had common interests with them.^[5] Daniel Dulany, a Maryland attorney and politician, disputed this assertion in a widely read pamphlet, arguing that the relations between the Americans and the English electors were "a knot too infirm to be relied on" for proper representation, "virtual" or otherwise.^[6] Local protest groups established Committees of Correspondence which created a loose coalition from New England to Maryland. Protests and demonstrations increased, often initiated by the Sons of Liberty and occasionally involving hanging of effigies. Very soon, all stamp tax distributors were intimidated into resigning their commissions, and the tax was never effectively collected.^[7][8][9]

Opposition to the Stamp Act 1765 was not limited to the colonies. British merchants and manufacturers pressured Parliament because their exports to the colonies were threatened by boycotts. The act was repealed on 18 March 1766 as a matter of expedience, but Parliament affirmed its power to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever" by also passing the Declaratory Act 1766. A series of new taxes and regulations then ensued—likewise opposed by the Americans. The episode played a major role in defining the 27 colonial grievances that were clearly stated within the text of the Indictment of George III section of the United States Declaration of Independence, enabling the organized colonial resistance which led to the American Revolution in 1775.^[10][11][12]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

1. ^ Morgan & Morgan 1963, pp. 96–97.
2. ^ "The Stamp Act of 1765 – A Serendipitous Find" by Hermann Ivester in The Revenue Journal, The Revenue Society, Vol. XX, No. 3, December 2009, pp. 87–89.
3. ^ Wood, S.G. The American Revolution: A History. Modern Library. 2002, p. 24. ^{[ISBN missing]}
4. ^ Testimony of Doctor Benjamin Franklin, before an August Assembly of the British House of Commons, relating to the Repeal of the Stamp-Act, &c., 1766.
5. ^ Jenyns, Soame (1765). The Objections to the Taxation of Our American Colonies by the Legislature of Great Britain, Briefly Considered. London: J. Wilkie.
6. ^ Daniel Dulany, Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies, for the Purpose of Raising a Revenue, by Act of Parliament (1765) (reprinted in The American Revolution, Interpreting Primary Documents 47–51 (Carey 2004)).
7. ^ Draper 1996, pp. 216–223.
8. ^ Nash 2006, pp. 44–56.
9. ^ Maier 1972, pp. 76–106.
10. ^ Middlekauff 2005, pp. 111–120.
11. ^ Miller 1943, pp. 149–153.
12. ^ Daniella Garran (19 July 2010). "Steps to the American Revolution". Lesson Planet. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2010.

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19 March 1932 – The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Bridge across Sydney Harbour in Australia

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, Australia, spanning Sydney Harbour from the central business district (CBD) to the North Shore. The view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is widely regarded as an iconic image of Sydney, and of Australia itself. Nicknamed "the Coathanger" because of its arch-based design, the bridge carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic.^[1][2]

Under the direction of John Bradfield of the New South Wales Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by British firm Dorman Long of Middlesbrough, and opened in 1932.^[3][4] The bridge's general design, which Bradfield tasked the NSW Department of Public Works with producing, was a rough copy of the Hell Gate Bridge in New York City. The design chosen from the tender responses was original work created by Dorman Long, who leveraged some of the design from its own Tyne Bridge.^[5]

It is the eleventh-longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m (440 ft) from top to water level.^[6] It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m (160 ft) wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver was completed in 2012.^[7][8]

The road over the bridge is currently owned by the state government through NSW Motorways.^[9]

1. ^ "7BridgesWalk.com.au". Bridge History. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2006.
2. ^ "Sydney Harbour Bridge". Government of Australia. 14 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
3. ^ "Dr J.J.C. Bradfield". Pylon Lookout: Sydney Harbour Bridge. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
4. ^ "Olympic connections across the UK". BBC News. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
5. ^ James Weirick (2007). "Radar Exhibition – Bridging Sydney". Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
6. ^ "Sydney Harbour Bridge". culture.gov.au. Australian Government. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
7. ^ "Widest Bridge". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
8. ^ "Port Mann Bridge". Transportation Investment Corporation. British Columbia: Province of British Columbia. 2007. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012. Once complete, the new 10-lane Port Mann Bridge will the second largest and longest cable-supported bridge in North America, and at 65 metres wide it will be the widest bridge in the world.
9. ^ O'Sullivan, Matt (1 July 2025). "Plans for shake-up of Sydney's motorway tolls step up a gear". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 30 June 2025. Retrieved 8 December 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

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20 March 1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.

Great Boston Fire of 1760

Fire which destroyed much of downtown Boston, Massachusetts

The Great Boston Fire of 1760 was a major conflagration that occurred on March 20, 1760, in Boston in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The fire destroyed 349 buildings in the area between the modern Washington Street and Fort Hill, as well as several ships in port, and it left more than a thousand people homeless.

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21 March 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Austrian forces repel French troops in the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.

Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube

1814 battle during the War of the Sixth Coalition

War of the Sixth Coalition:
Campaign in north-east France

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118miles

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Bar-sur-Aube

   

  current battle

  Napoleon in command

  Napoleon not in command

The Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube (20–21 March 1814) saw an Imperial French army under Napoleon face a much larger Allied army led by Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg during the War of the Sixth Coalition. On the second day of fighting, Emperor Napoleon finally realized he had blundered into battle as he was massively outnumbered, and immediately ordered a masked retreat. By the time the Austrian Field Marshal Schwarzenberg realized Napoleon was retreating, most of the French had already disengaged and the Allied pursuit afterwards failed to prevent the remaining French army from safely withdrawing to the north. This was Napoleon's penultimate battle before his abdication and exile to Elba, the last being the Battle of Saint-Dizier.

While Napoleon fought against Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher's Russo-Prussian army to the north, Schwarzenberg's army pushed Marshal Jacques MacDonald's army back toward Paris. After his victory at Reims, Napoleon moved south to threaten Schwarzenberg's supply line to Germany. In response, the Austrian field marshal pulled his army back to Troyes and Arcis-sur-Aube. When Napoleon occupied Arcis, the normally cautious Schwarzenberg determined to fight it out rather than retreat. The clashes on the first day were inconclusive and Napoleon mistakenly believed he was following up a retreating enemy. On the second day, the French advanced to high ground and were appalled to see between 74,000 and 100,000 enemies in battle array south of Arcis. After bitter fighting with Napoleon personally participating, the French troops fought their way out, but it was a French setback.

1. ^ Bodart 1908, p. 479.
2. ^ Smith 1998, p. 512.

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22 March 1829 – In the London Protocol, the three protecting powers (United Kingdom, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece.

London Protocol (1829)

Amendment to the first London Protocol (1828) on the independence of Greece

The London Protocol of 22 March 1829 was an agreement between the three Great Powers (Britain, France and Russia), which amended the first London Protocol on the creation of an internally autonomous, but tributary Greek state under Ottoman suzerainty.^[1]

As a result of the Greek War of Independence, which had begun in 1821, and the Great Powers' intervention in the conflict in the Battle of Navarino (1827), the creation of some form of Greek state in southern Greece had become certain. In 1827, the Greek Third National Assembly entrusted the governance of the fledgling nation to Ioannis Kapodistrias, who arrived in Greece in January 1828. Alongside his efforts to lay the foundations for a modern state, Kapodistrias undertook negotiations with the Great Powers as to the extent and constitutional status of the new Greek state, especially during the Poros Conference of the Great Powers' ambassadors in September 1828. In November 1828, disregarding the ambassadors' recommendations, the Great Powers agreed on the first London Protocol, which created an autonomous Greek state encompassing the Peloponnese (Morea) and the Cyclades islands only.

On 22 March 1829, the British Foreign Minister, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, and the envoys of France and Russia, Jules de Polignac and Christoph von Lieven, signed the second London Protocol, which largely accepted the recommendations of the Poros Conference. According to the protocol, Greece would become a separate state enjoying complete autonomy under the rule of a hereditary Christian prince to be selected by the Powers, but recognize the suzerainty of the Ottoman Sultan and pay an annual tribute of 1.5 million Turkish piastres. The borders of the new state would run along the line of the Gulf of Arta in the west to the Pagasetic Gulf in the east, thereby including the Peloponnese and Continental Greece, as well as the Cyclades, but neither Crete nor other Aegean islands like Samos which had played a major part in the War of Independence and were still under Greek control.

The Ottoman Empire was forced to acknowledge the protocol in the Treaty of Adrianople, which concluded the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29, but soon after this, the Powers began to turn towards complete independence for Greece, which was recognized in the London Protocol of 3 February 1830.

1. ^ William Wrigley, "The Ionian Islands & the Restoration of Anglo-Ottoman Diplomacy, 1827–29" Südost-Forschunge (2010/2011), Vol. 69/70, pp. 51–89.

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23 March 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.

Greek War of Independence

Greek rebellion against the Ottoman Empire (1821–1829)

The Greek War of Independence,^[b] also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence fought by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire from 1821 to 1829.^[3] In 1826, the Greeks were assisted by the British Empire, the Kingdom of France, and the Russian Empire, while the Ottomans were aided by their vassals, especially by the Eyalet of Egypt. The war led to the formation of modern Greece, which in subsequent years would be expanded to its current size. The revolution is commemorated by Greeks around the world as independence day on 25 March.

All Greek territory, except the Ionian Islands, came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century, in the decades surrounding the Fall of Constantinople.^[4] During the following centuries, there were sporadic but unsuccessful Greek uprisings against Ottoman rule.^[5] In 1814, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria (Society of Friends) was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. It planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, and Constantinople. The insurrection was planned for 25 March 1821, the Orthodox Christian Feast of the Annunciation. However, the plans were discovered by the Ottoman authorities, forcing it to start earlier.

The first revolt began on 21 February 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. These events urged Greeks in the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March 1821, the Maniots were first to declare war. In September 1821, the Greeks, under the leadership of Theodoros Kolokotronis, captured Tripolitsa. Revolts in Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece broke out, but were suppressed. Greek fleets achieved success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea. Tensions developed among Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars. The Ottoman Sultan called in Muhammad Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son, Ibrahim Pasha, to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gains. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and brought most of the peninsula under Egyptian control by the end of that year. Despite a failed invasion of Mani, Athens also fell and revolutionary morale decreased.

The three great powers—Russia, Britain, and France—decided to intervene, sending their naval squadrons to Greece in 1827. They destroyed the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Navarino, and turned the tide in favor of the revolutionaries. In 1828, the Egyptian army withdrew under pressure from a French expeditionary force. The Ottoman garrisons in the Peloponnese surrendered and the Greek revolutionaries retook central Greece. The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia allowing for the Russian army to move into the Balkans. This forced the Ottomans to accept Greek autonomy in the Treaty of Adrianople and semi-autonomy for Serbia and the Romanian principalities.^[6] After nine years of war, Greece was recognized as an independent state under the London Protocol of February 1830. Further negotiations in 1832 led to the London Conference and the Treaty of Constantinople, which defined the final borders of the new state and established Prince Otto of Bavaria as the first king of Greece.

The slogan of the revolution, Eleftheria i thanatos 'Freedom or death', became Greece's national motto.

1. ^ Sakalis, Alex (25 March 2021). "The Italians Who Fought for Greek Independence". Italics Magazine. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
2. ^ Note: Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.
3. ^ "War of Greek Independence | History, Facts, & Combatants". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2 April 2024. See also: Cartledge, Yianni; Varnava, Andrekos, eds. (2022). Yianni Cartledge & Andrekos Varnava (eds.), New Perspectives on the Greek War of Independence: Myths, Realities, Legacies and Reflections, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10849-5. ISBN 978-3031108488. S2CID 253805406.
4. ^ Finkel, Caroline (2007). Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. Basic Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-0465008506.
5. ^ Woodhouse, A Story of Modern Greece, 'The Dark Age of Greece (1453–1800)', p. 113, Faber and Faber (1968)
6. ^ Bushkovitch, Paul (2012). A concise history of Russia. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0521543231.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

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24 March 1882 – Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis.

Robert Koch

German physician and bacteriologist (1843–1910)

For other people named Robert Koch, see Robert Koch (disambiguation).

Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch (/kɒx/ KOKH;^[1][2] German: [ˈʁoːbɛʁt kɔx] ^ⓘ; 11 December 1843 – 27 May 1910) was a German physician and microbiologist. He won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his investigations and discoveries in relation to tuberculosis".^[3]

As the discoverer of the specific causative agents of deadly infectious diseases including tuberculosis, cholera and anthrax, he is regarded as one of the main founders of modern bacteriology. As such he is popularly nicknamed the father of microbiology (with Louis Pasteur^[4]), and as the father of medical bacteriology.^[5][6] His discovery of the anthrax bacterium (Bacillus anthracis) in 1876 is considered the birth of modern bacteriology.^[7] Koch used his discoveries to establish that germs "could cause a specific disease"^[8] and directly provided proofs for the germ theory of diseases, therefore creating the scientific basis of public health,^[9] saving millions of lives.^[10] For his life's work Koch is seen as one of the founders of modern medicine.

While working as a private physician, Koch developed many innovative techniques in microbiology. He was the first to use the oil immersion lens, condenser, and microphotography in microscopy. His invention of the bacterial culture method using agar and glass plates (later developed as the Petri dish by his assistant Julius Richard Petri) made him the first to grow bacteria in the laboratory. In appreciation of his work, he was appointed as the government advisor at the Imperial Health Office in 1880, promoted to a senior executive position (Geheimer Regierungsrat) in 1882, Director of Hygienic Institute and Chair (Professor of hygiene) of the Faculty of Medicine at Berlin University in 1885, and the Royal Prussian Institute for Infectious Diseases (later renamed Robert Koch Institute after his death) in 1891.

The methods Koch used in bacteriology led to the establishment of a medical concept known as Koch's postulates, four generalized medical principles to ascertain the relationship of pathogens with specific diseases. The concept is still in use in most situations and influences subsequent epidemiological principles such as the Bradford Hill criteria.^[11] A major controversy followed when Koch discovered tuberculin as a medication for tuberculosis which was proven to be ineffective, but developed for diagnosis of tuberculosis after his death.^[12] The day he announced the discovery of the tuberculosis bacterium, 24 March 1882, has been observed by the World Health Organization as "World Tuberculosis Day" every year since 1982.

1. ^ "Koch". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
2. ^ "Koch". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1905". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2007-08-22. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
4. ^ Fleming, Alexander (1952). "Freelance of Science". British Medical Journal. 2 (4778): 269. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4778.269. PMC 2020971.
5. ^ Tan, S. Y.; Berman, E. (2008). "Robert Koch (1843-1910): father of microbiology and Nobel laureate". Singapore Medical Journal. 49 (11): 854–855. PMID 19037548.
6. ^ Gradmann, Christoph (2006). "Robert Koch and the white death: from tuberculosis to tuberculin". Microbes and Infection. 8 (1): 294–301. doi:10.1016/j.micinf.2005.06.004. PMID 16126424.
7. ^ Lakhani, S. R. (1993). "Early clinical pathologists: Robert Koch (1843-1910)". Journal of Clinical Pathology. 46 (7): 596–598. doi:10.1136/jcp.46.7.596. PMC 501383. PMID 8157741.
8. ^ "A Theory of Germs". Science, Medicine, and Animals. National Academies Press (US). 2023-10-20.
9. ^ Lakhtakia, Ritu (2014). "The Legacy of Robert Koch: Surmise, search, substantiate". Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal. 14 (1): e37–41. doi:10.12816/0003334. PMC 3916274. PMID 24516751.
10. ^ "1843: Robert Koch: The Man who Saved Millions of Lives | History.info". 2019-12-10.
11. ^ Margo, Curtis E. (2011-04-11). "From Robert Koch to Bradford Hill: Chronic Infection and the Origins of Ocular Adnexal Cancers". Archives of Ophthalmology. 129 (4): 498–500. doi:10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.53. ISSN 0003-9950. PMID 21482875.
12. ^ Brock, Thomas. Robert Koch: A life in medicine and bacteriology. ASM Press: Washington DC, 1999. Print.

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25 March 1306 – Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scots (Scotland).

Robert the Bruce

King of Scotland from 1306 to 1329

"Robert Bruce" redirects here. For other uses, see Robert Bruce (disambiguation).

Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: Raibeart am Brusach), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329.^[1] Robert led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully during his reign to restore Scotland to an independent kingdom and is regarded in Scotland as a national hero. Robert was a fourth-great-grandson of King David I, and his grandfather, Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale, was one of the claimants to the Scottish throne during the "Great Cause".^[1]

As Earl of Carrick, Robert the Bruce supported his family's claim to the Scottish throne and took part in William Wallace's campaign against Edward I of England. Appointed in 1298 as a Guardian of Scotland alongside his chief rival for the throne, John Comyn of Badenoch, and William Lamberton, Bishop of St Andrews, Robert resigned in 1300 because of his quarrels with Comyn and the apparently imminent restoration of John Balliol to the Scottish throne. After submitting to Edward I in 1302 and returning to "the king's peace", Robert inherited his family's claim to the Scottish throne upon his father's death.

Bruce's involvement in John Comyn's murder in February 1306 led to his excommunication by Pope Clement V (although he received absolution from Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow). Bruce moved quickly to seize the throne and was crowned king of Scots on 25 March 1306. Edward I's forces defeated Robert in the Battle of Methven, forcing him to flee into hiding, before re-emerging in 1307 to defeat an English army at Loudoun Hill and wage a highly successful guerrilla war against the English.

Robert I defeated his other opponents, destroying their strongholds and devastating their lands, and in 1309 held his first parliament. A series of military victories between 1310 and 1314 won him control of much of Scotland, and at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert defeated a much larger English army under Edward II of England, confirming the re-establishment of an independent Scottish kingdom. The battle marked a significant turning point, with Robert's armies now free to launch devastating raids throughout northern England, while he also expanded the war against England by sending armies to invade Ireland, and appealed to the Irish to rise against Edward II's rule.

Despite Bannockburn and the capture of the final English stronghold at Berwick in 1318, Edward II refused to renounce his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish nobility submitted the Declaration of Arbroath to Pope John XXII, declaring Robert as their rightful monarch and asserting Scotland's status as an independent kingdom. In 1324, the Pope recognised Robert I as king of an independent Scotland, and in 1326, the Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son, Edward III, and peace was concluded between Scotland and England with the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton in 1328, by which Edward III renounced all claims to sovereignty over Scotland.

Robert I died in June 1329 and was succeeded by his son, David II. Robert's body is buried in Dunfermline Abbey, while his heart was interred in Melrose Abbey, and his internal organs were embalmed and placed in St Serf's Church, Dumbarton.

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Cite error: The named reference Weir was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
2. ^ "St_Serf's_Church,_Dumbarton".

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26 March 1169 – Saladin becomes the emir of Egypt.

Saladin

Founder of the Ayyubid dynasty (c. 1137–1193)

For other uses, see Saladin (disambiguation).

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub^[a] (c. 1137 – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin,^[b] was a Kurdish commander and political leader. He was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.

Alongside his uncle Shirkuh, a Kurdish mercenary commander in service of the Zengid dynasty,^[9] Saladin was sent to Fatimid Egypt in 1164, on the orders of the Zengid ruler Nur ad-Din. With their original purpose being to help restore Shawar as the vizier to the teenage Fatimid caliph al-Adid, a power struggle ensued between Shirkuh and Shawar after the latter was reinstated. Saladin, meanwhile, climbed the ranks of the Fatimid government by virtue of his military successes against Crusader assaults and his personal closeness to al-Adid. After Shawar was assassinated and Shirkuh died in 1169, al-Adid appointed Saladin as vizier. During his tenure, Saladin, a Sunni Muslim, began to undermine the Fatimid establishment; following al-Adid's death in 1171, he abolished the Cairo-based Fatimid Caliphate who was an Isma'ili (a branch within Shia Islam), and realigned Egypt with the Baghdad-based Sunni Abbasid Caliphate.

In the following years, Saladin led forays against the Crusaders in Palestine, commissioned the successful conquest of Yemen, and staved off pro-Fatimid rebellions in Egypt. Not long after Nur ad-Din died in 1174, Saladin launched his conquest of Syria, peacefully entering Damascus at the request of its governor. By mid-1175, Saladin had conquered Hama and Homs, inviting the animosity of other Zengid lords, who were the official rulers of Syria's principalities; he subsequently defeated the Zengids at the Battle of the Horns of Hama in 1175 and was thereafter proclaimed the Sultan of Egypt and Syria by the Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi. Saladin launched further conquests in northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, escaping two attempts on his life by the Order of Assassins before returning to Egypt in 1177 to address local issues there. By 1182, Saladin had completed the conquest of Syria after capturing Aleppo but failed to take over the Zengid stronghold of Mosul.

Under Saladin's command, the Ayyubid army defeated the Crusaders at the decisive Battle of Hattin in 1187, capturing Jerusalem and re-establishing Muslim military dominance in the Levant. Although the Crusaders' Kingdom of Jerusalem persisted until the late 13th century, the defeat in 1187 marked a turning point in the Christian military effort against Muslim powers in the region. Saladin died in Damascus in 1193, having given away much of his personal wealth to his subjects; he is buried in a mausoleum adjacent to the Umayyad Mosque. Alongside his significance to Muslim culture, Saladin is revered prominently in Kurdish, Turkic, and Arab culture. He has frequently been described as the most famous Kurdish figure in history.

1. ^ ^{a b} Nicolle 2011, p. 26: "This copper dirham, minted at Mayyafariqin in 587 AH (1190/01 AD) shows Saladin wearing the sharbush hat of a Saljuq-style Turkish ruler."
2. ^ Lesley Baker, Patricia (1988). A History of Islamic Court Dress in the Middle East (PDF) (phd). SOAS, London University. p. 119. doi:10.25501/SOAS.00033676. By the end of the 12th century, the wearing of the sharbush demonstrated support for Salah al-Din. Under the later Bahri Mamluks of Egypt and Syria it formed part of the khil'a given to an amir on his investiture.
3. ^ ^{a b} Balog (1980). The Coinage of the Ayyubids. London: Royal Numismatic Society. p. Coin 182., also Whelan Type III, 258-60; Album 791.4
4. ^ Mayall, Simon (12 September 2024). The House of War: The Struggle between Christendom and the Caliphate. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-1-4728-6435-2. In a very short space of time, this had enabled him to consolidate his power swiftly and effectively enough to overthrow and dissolve the Fatimid Shia caliphate just two years later, in 1171. As a result, the Sunnis now, once again after 200 years, controlled the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Thus, Saladin founded the Ayyubid dynasty, and he could now concentrate on strengthening Egypt as a renewed bastion of Sunni Muslim power, with himself as governor, all in the name of Nur ed Din.
5. ^ Nicolle 2011, pp. 11–14: "In a very short space of time, this had enabled him to consolidate his power swiftly and effectively enough to overthrow and dissolve the Fatimid Shia caliphate just two years later, in 1171. As a result, the Sunnis now, once again after 200 years, controlled the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Thus, Saladin founded the Ayyubid dynasty, and he could now concentrate on strengthening Egypt as a renewed bastion of Sunni Muslim power, with himself as governor, all in the name of Nur ed Din."
6. ^ Riley-Smith, Jonathan Simon Christopher, ed. (1991). The atlas of the Crusades. New York, Oxford: Facts on File, Swanston Publishing Limited. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8160-2186-4. Nur al-Din invaded the country and gained control of Egypt, and in 1169 one of his generals, Saladin, was appointed to administer it. Two years later, the Fatimids were deposed and orthodox Sunni Islam reinstated. Nur al-Din died in 1174. Saladin, a Kurd from northern Iraq, was by no means his undisputed successor, but he used his Egyptian power base to wrest control of Syria from his Zangid rivals.
7. ^ Richards 1995, p. 910.
8. ^ Lane-Poole 1906, p. 6.
9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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