On this day...

1642 York, Maine becomes first American city to incorporate
1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba arrest for witchcraft (Salem, MA)
1780 Pennsylvania becomes first US state to abolish slavery
1781 Continental Congress adopts Articles of Confederation
1784 E. Kidner opens first cooking school, in Great Britain
1785 Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture organized
1790 First US census authorized
1792 US Presidential Succession Act passed
1803 Ohio becomes 17th state
1864 Rebecca Lee becomes first black woman MD in US
1867 Most of Nebraska becomes 37th US state (expanded later)
1871 J. Milton Turner named minister to Liberia
1872 Yellowstone becomes world's first national park
1875 Congress passes Civil Rights Act; invalidated by Supreme Court, 1883
1876 Guernsey cattle club formed, Farmington, Connecticut
1879 Library of Hawaii founded
1890 First US edition of Sherlock Holmes (Study in Scarlet) published
1896 Battle of Aduwa: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians
1909 First US university school of nursing established, Univ of Minn
1910 3 passenger trains buried at Steven's Pass in Cascade Range kills 118. Worst snowslide in US history
1912 Isabella Goodwin, first US woman detective, appointed, NYC
1913 First state law requiring bonding of officers & state employees, ND
1913 Federal income tax takes effect with the 16th amendment
1916 Germany begins attacking ships in the Atlantic
1917 First federal land bank chartered
1919 Demonstrations for Korean independence from Japan begin
1932 Charles Lindbergh Jr kidnapped in NJ
1937 First permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut)
1941 First US commercial FM radio station goes on the air, Nashville, Tennessee
1941 Elmer Layden becomes first NFL commissioner
1947 International Monetary Fund began operations
1949 Joe Louis retires as heavyweight boxer
1952 Helgoland, in North Sea, returned to West Germany by Britain
1954 4 Puerto Ricans open fire in US House of Representatives injuring 5
1954 Ted Williams fractures collarbone in first game of spring training
1954 US explodes a hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll
1962 American Airlines 707 plunges nose first into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95
1965 Gas explosion kills 28 in apartment complex (La Salle, Quebec)
1966 Venera 3 becomes first man-made object to impact on a planet (Venus)
1967 Dominica & St. Lucia gain independence from Britain
1967 House of Representatives expels Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY) (307 to 116)
1969 Jim Morrison arrested for exposing himself at Dinner Key Auditorium
1969 Mickey Mantle announces his retirement from baseball
1970 End of US commercial whale hunting
1970 White government of Rhodesia declares independence from Britain
1973 Robyn Smith becomes first female jockey to win a major race
1974 Watergate grand jury indicts 7 presidential aides
1982 Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus, sends back data
1982 The NY Times raises it's price from 25 cents to 30 cents
1983 Tamara McKinney becomes first US woman skier to win the World Cup
1985 Milwaukee businessman Herb Kohl purchases the Milwaukee Bucks
1988 Pontiac announces the end of the Fiero automobile
1988 Wayne Gretsky passes Gordie Howe with his record 1,050th NHL assist
1989 Ben Johnson's coach testifies Johnson began using steroids in 1981

Birthdays which occurred on March 1st:

1810 Chopin, Poland, composer/pianist (Concert in F Minor)
1837 William Dean Howells, US, novelist/critic/editor (Atlantic)
1841 Blanche K. Bruce, Virginia, (Sen-Mississippi, 1875-1881)
1848 Augustus Saint-Gaudens, US, sculptor; designed 1907 $20 gold piece
1860 Suzanna Salter, first US female mayor/temperance leader
1880 Julian Myrick, promoter of junior tennis
1880 Lytton Strachey, biographer/critic (Benson Medal 1923)
1892 Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Japan, writer (Rashomon in Kappa)
1904 Glenn Miller, bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood)
1904 Paul Hartman, San Francisco, actor (Bert-Petticoat Junction)
1907 Lois Moran, Pittsburgh, actress (Mom-Waterfront)
1909 Terence De Marney, England, actor (Case Thomas-Johnny Ringo)
1917 Dinah Shore, Winchester Tennessee, singer
1917 Robert Lowell, poet (Lord Weary's Castle, Near the Ocean)
1919 Lawrence Ferlinghetti, US, poet (Coney Island of the Mind)
1920 Howard Nemerov, US, 3rd US poet laureate/novelist/critic
1921 Richard Wilbur, 2nd US Poet Laureate (Ceremony, Walking to Sleep)
1924 Donald "Deke" K. Slayton, Sparta Wisconsin, Major USAF/astronaut
1926 Cesare Danova, Rome Italy, actor (Garrison's Gorillas)
1926 Pete Rozelle, NFL commissioner (1960-89)
1926 Robert Clary, Paris France, actor (LeBeau-Hogan's Heroes)
1927 Harry Belafonte, Harlem NY, calypso singer (Buck & the Preacher)
1935 Robert Conrad, Chicago, actor (Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep)
1942 Joan Hackett, NY, actress (Will Penny, One Stone Pony)
1944 Dirk Benedict, Helena Montana, actor (A-Team, Battlestar Galactica)
1944 Roger Daltrey, rock vocalist (The Who)
1954 Catherine Bach, Warren Ohio, actress (Daisy Duke-Dukes of Hazzard)
1954 Ron Howard, Oklahoma, actor/director (Andy Griffith, Happy Days)
1956 Timothy Daly, NY, actor (Almost Grown, Diner, Made in Heaven)
1957 Jon Carroll, Washington DC, vocalist (Starland Vocal Band-Afternoon Delight)
1958 Nik Kershaw, singer/songwriter (Wouldn't it be Good)
1961 Mike Rozier, NFL running back, Heisman Trophy winner
1963 Robert James Affuso, Newburgh NY, rock drummer (Skid Row)
1974 Mark-Paul Gosselaar, actor (Zack-Saved by the Bell)

Deaths which occurred on March 1st:

1920 Joseph Trumpeldor, killed defending Tel-Mai against Arab attack
1962 Roscoe Ates, actor (Deputy Roscoe-Marshal of Gunsight Pass), dies at 70
1984 Jackie Coogan, actor (Uncle Fester-Addams Family), dies at 69
1988 Joe Besser, comedian (Three Stooges, Abbott & Costello) dies at 80
1991 Edwin H. Land, inventor (Polaroid Camera), dies at 81