Here are 31 newsworthy and notable anniversaries coming up in March 2020.
We list the anniversaries 6 months in advance so you have time to research and write about them. This list is a short extract from The Date-A-Base Book 2020, which lists hundreds of newsworthy and notable anniversaries for each month. It’s just the thing you need for writing anniversary tie-ins and “on this day in history” features.
1 Mar 1620 – 400 years ago
Death of Thomas Campion, English poet and composer.
2 Mar 1970 – 50 years ago
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) proclaimed itself a republic.
3 Mar 1845 – 175 years ago
Florida was admitted as the 27th state of the USA.
4 Mar 1970 – 50 years ago
The French submarine Eurydice exploded in the Mediterranean, killing all 57 crew.
5 Mar 1960 – 60 years ago
Rock and roll singer Elvis Presley was officially discharged from the U.S. Army after completing his two years’ service.
6 Mar 1930 – 90 years ago
Clarence Birdseye’s first frozen foods went on sale in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, in a (successful) marketing test.
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8 Mar 1950 – 70 years ago
Volkswagen launched the Type 2/Transporter van – also known as the VW Camper, Bus, microbus, or Kombi. It became the bestselling van in history, and early versions remain much-loved icons of the counterculture/hippie movement.
9 – 10 Mar 1945 – 75 years ago
World War II – Operation Meetinghouse (the Bombing of Tokyo, Japan). Considered to be the most destructive air raid in history. 330 U.S. B-29 bombers carried out low-altitude incendiary bomb attacks on Tokyo, destroying a quarter of the city and killing over 100,000 people.
10 Mar 1820 – 200 years ago
The Royal Astronomical Society was founded in Britain.
11 Mar 1960 – 60 years ago
NASA launched its Pioneer 5 space probe. It was the USA’s first successful deep space probe and operated until 30th April. It returned a wealth of data on cosmic radiation, electrical fields, and magnetic fields in the interplanetary space between the Earth and Venus.
12 Mar 1945 – 75 years ago
New York became the first U.S. state to ban discrimination against job applicants and employees on the basis of their race, religion or creed. (Ives–Quinn Anti-Discrimination Bill.)
13 Mar 1945 – 75 years ago
World War II: Queen Wilhelmina returned to the Netherlands, having evacuated to the UK at the start of the war.
14 Mar 1820 – 200 years ago
Birth of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy (1861 – 78). The first king of united Italy since the 6th century.
15 Mar 1820 – 200 years ago
Maine was admitted as the 23rd state of the USA.
16 Mar 1970 – 50 years ago
The complete New English Bible was published. It was a fresh translation of the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts into modern English.
17 Mar 1870 – 150 years ago
Wellesley College was founded in Massachusetts, USA (as Wellesley Female Seminary). It opened to students on 8th September 1875.
18 Mar 1845 – 175 years ago
Death of Johnny Appleseed, American environmentalist and nurseryman. He introduced apple trees to large parts of the Midwest, which helped prepare the way for 19th-century pioneers.
19 Mar 1920 – 100 years ago
The U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles and U.S. membership of the League of Nations.
20 Mar 1995 – 25 years ago
A terrorist group released sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo underground, killing 12 people and injuring over 5,000.
21 Mar 1960 – 60 years ago
Sharpeville Massacre, South Africa. Police opened fire on a group of black anti‐apartheid demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.
22 Mar 1960 – 60 years ago
The first laser was patented by American physicists Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes.
23 Mar 1940 (24th in Pakistan) – 80 years ago
The Lahore Resolution was adopted by the All-India Muslim League at its annual convention. This led to the establishment of Pakistan as the world’s first Islamic republic in 1956.
24 Mar 1955 – 65 years ago
Tennessee Williams’s play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened on Broadway.
25 Mar 1920 – 100 years ago
The British special constables known as the “Black and Tans” (officially the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force) arrived in Ireland to suppress revolution and target the IRA.
26 Mar 1945 – 75 years ago
Death of David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister (1916–22).
27 Mar 1845 – 175 years ago
Birth of Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist who discovered X-rays. Winner of the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. The chemical element roentgenium is named in his honor.
28 Mar 1960 – 60 years ago
The first permanent star was laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (It honored the director Stanley Kramer.)
29 Mar 1945 – 75 years ago
World War II: the last German V-1 flying bomb hit Britain (Datchworth, Hertfordshire). On the same day, the Allies captured the last German V-1 launch site, preventing further attacks.
30 Mar 1820 – 200 years ago
Birth of Anna Sewell, British novelist who wrote the children’s classic Black Beauty.
31 Mar 1990 – 30 years ago
Poll tax riots in London. 200,000 protestors took to the streets and clashed with police. Violence and looting erupted, leading to the worst riots in the city for a century.
More anniversaries:
The above list is a short extract from The Date-A-Base Book 2020. You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for each month in the book. The 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions are currently available, as PDF ebooks and in print. Find out more at ideas4writers.com