Historical anniversaries are great for “On This Day in History” features and anniversary tie-ins. They’re popular with readers and viewers, editors and producers love them, they’re easy to research, and you can easily turn them into newspaper and magazine articles, films, TV/radio/theatre shows, and more.
Here are 31 newsworthy and notable historical anniversaries coming up in March 2022 (so you have time to write about them!)
We’ve randomly picked one anniversary for each day of the month from The Date-A-Base Book 2022. You’ll find hundreds more in the book. The 2023 and 2024 editions are also available if you work further ahead.
1 Mar 1872 – 150 years ago
Yellowstone National Park was established as the first national park in the USA, and probably also the first in the world.
2 Mar 1972 – 50 years ago
NASA launched the Pioneer 10 space probe to explore the outer solar system. It famously carries a gold plaque that describes what humans look like and where we are. It was the first space probe to fly through the Asteroid Belt and the first to fly past Jupiter.
(The last communication from the probe was received on 23rd January 2003, after which its power supply became too weak to power its transmitter.)
3 Mar 1847 – 175 years ago
Birth of Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born American engineer and scientist. Credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Co-founder of AT&T. President of the National Geographic Society (1898–1903).
4 Mar 1897 – 125 years ago
William McKinley was inaugurated as the 25th President of the United States.
5 Mar 1982 – 40 years ago
Death of John Belushi, American comedy actor and musician. Best known for his appearances on the U.S. TV series Saturday Night Live, and for the films National Lampoon’s Animal House and The Blues Brothers. (Drug overdose, aged 33.)
6 Mar 1957 – 65 years ago
The Gold Coast declared its independence from the UK and changed its name to Ghana.
It was the first African nation to declare independence from European colonisation.
7 Mar 1872 – 150 years ago
Birth of Piet Mondrian, Dutch abstract artist. Regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Best known for his paintings of simple geometric shapes in red, yellow, blue, black and white.
8 Mar 1962 – 60 years ago
The Beatles gave their first performance on BBC radio in the UK, on the show Teenagers’ Turn: Here We Go. (Recorded 7th March, broadcast 8th.)
9 – 17 Mar 1522 – 500 years ago
Martin Luther preached his Invocavit Sermons. He urged citizens to adhere to the core Christian values and trust in God, rather than using violence to bring about change.
10 Mar 1922 – 100 years ago
Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi was arrested and charged with sedition for his campaign of non-cooperation against the British Indian government. He was sentenced to six years in prison but was released after two years as he required surgery for appendicitis.
11 Mar 1942 – 80 years ago
World War II: American General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the Allied forces in the south-west Pacific, left the Philippines and fled to Australia, as instructed by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. He arrived in Australia on 17th March. On 20th March he made his famous speech in which he vowed: ‘I came out of Bataan and I shall return.’ (He did return.)
12 Mar 1947 – 75 years ago
U.S. President Harry S. Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine. It granted economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey, which were threatened by the spread of communism.
13 Mar 1997 – 25 years ago
The Net Book Agreement was abolished in Britain after being ruled anti-competitive by the Restrictive Practices Court. It allowed publishers to fix the price of books, preventing them from being sold at a discount.
14 Mar 1942 – 80 years ago
The first successful use of penicillin to treat a patient. Anne Miller, who was dying of streptococcal septicaemia, was given an injection of penicillin by doctors Orvan Hess and John Bumstead at Yale–New Haven Hospital, Connecticut, USA. She made a full recovery.
15 – 16 Mar 1952 – 70 years ago
The current world record for the most rainfall in 24 hours was set: 73.62 inches (1,869.9 mm) at Cilaos, Réunion Island, Indian Ocean.
16 Mar 1872 – 150 years ago
The first FA Cup Final was held at The Oval in Kennington, London. Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1–0.
17 Mar 1897 – 125 years ago
British boxer Bob Fitzsimmons beat American Jim Corbett in Carson City, Nevada, USA, to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The match was filmed in its entirety, and was the longest film to date, running for about 100 minutes. It was released on 22nd May as the world’s first feature film: The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight. Only fragments of it survive.
18 Mar 2002 – 20 years ago
Burger King became the first fast-food chain to sell veggie burgers on a nationwide basis in the USA.
19 Mar 1822 – 200 years ago
The city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA was incorporated.
20 Mar 1942 – 80 years ago
Holocaust: Auschwitz–Birkenau concentration camp opened in Poland and began receiving prisoners.
Eichmann transports of Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe began on 26th March. 75% of prisoners were exterminated in gas chambers on arrival.
21 Mar 1952 – 70 years ago
The Moondog Coronation Ball was held in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It is generally regarded as the world’s first rock and roll concert.
22 Mar 1997 – 25 years ago
Comet Hale–Bopp made its closest approach to Earth. It reached perihelion on 1st April. It was a spectacular object and could be seen clearly with the naked eye even before the sky was dark.
23 Mar 1872 – 150 years ago
Birth of Michael Joseph Savage, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1935–40). He is best known for creating New Zealand’s welfare state. (Died in office.)
24 Mar 1997 – 25 years ago
The Australian Senate overturned the world’s first voluntary euthanasia law, passed by the Northern Territory. Four people had voluntarily ended their lives while the law was in force.
25 Mar 1972 – 50 years ago
The pop song Long Haired Lover From Liverpool by Little Jimmy Osmond was released.
He was 9 years old and remains the youngest performer to have a #1 hit in the UK.
26 Mar 1997 – 25 years ago
Police discovered the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate religious cult who had committed suicide in Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA. Cult members apparently believed their souls would reach an alien spacecraft that was following Comet Hale–Bopp, and they would then be transported to a higher level of existence.
27 Mar 1952 – 70 years ago
Sun Records was founded by Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
28 Mar 1942 – 80 years ago
World War II – Operation Chariot. The British Royal Navy and Army Commandos blew up the dry docks in the Occupied French port of Saint-Nazaire, forcing large German warships in the Atlantic to return to Germany for repairs.
29 Mar 1992 – 30 years ago
U.S. presidential candidate Bill Clinton admitted experimenting with marijuana while he was a student at Oxford University. He said he tried it a time or two, didn’t like it, didn’t inhale, and didn’t try it again. He was elected president in November.
30 Mar 1822 – 200 years ago
The Territory of Florida became an incorporated territory of the United States. It became a U.S. state in 1845.
31 Mar 1997 – 25 years ago
American geneticists led by Dr. Huntington Willard from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, announced the creation of the first artificial human chromosome.
More anniversaries:
You’ll find hundreds more anniversaries for this month in The Date-A-Base Book 2022. The 2023 and 2024 editions are also available if you work further ahead. The 2025 and 2026 editions will be released later this year. Find out more at ideas4writers.com.