On this day...

78 Origin of Saka Era (India)
1634 First tavern in Boston opens
1791 Congress establishes the US Mint
1791 Internal Revenue Act taxes distilled spirits & carriages
1801 First US Jewish governor, David Emanuel, takes office in Georgia
1803 First impeachment trial of a federal judge, John Pickering, begins
1812 Congress passes first foreign aid bill
1813 Office of surgeon general of the US Army established
1817 Territory of Alabama organized
1820 Missouri Compromise enacted by Congress
1835 Congress authorizes a US mint at New Orleans, Louisiana
1842 First US child labor law regulating working hours passed, Massachusetts
1845 First US law overriding a presidential veto (John Tyler President at the time)
1845 Congress authorizes ocean mail contracts for foreign mail delivery
1845 Florida becomes 27th state
1847 Post Office Department authorized to issue postage stamps
1849 Congress authorizes $20 Double Eagle gold coin
1849 Territory of Minnesota organized
1849 US Department of the Interior established by Congress
1851 Congress authorizes smallest US silver coin (3 cent piece)
1861 Russian Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom
1863 First US wartime military conscription bill enacted
1863 Abraham Lincoln approves charter for National Academy of Sciences
1863 Congress authorizes a US mint at Carson City, Nevada
1863 Gold certificates (currency) authorized by Congress
1865 Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, & Abandoned Lands established
1865 Freedman's Savings & Trust Company chartered by Congress
1869 University of South Carolina opens to all races
1871 Congress establishes the civil service system
1873 Congress authorizes federal departmental postage stamps
1875 Congress authorizes 20 cent coin
1878 Bulgaria liberated from Turkey
1879 Belva Lockwood is first woman admitted to practice before Supreme Court
1883 Congress authorizes the first steel vessels in US Navy
1885 First US state (California) establishes a permanent forest commission
1885 AT&T incorporated
1885 Special delivery service authorized by Congress
1887 Anne Sullivan begins teaching Helen Keller
1893 Congress authorizes first federal road agency, in Department of Agriculture
1899 Congress authorizes Lafayette silver dollar
1899 George Dewey becomes first in US with rank of Admiral of the Navy
1901 Congress creates National Bureau of Standards, in Department of Commerce
1903 North Carolina becomes first state requiring registration of nurses
1911 First US federal cemetery with Union & Rebel graves opens, Missouri
1917 Congress passes first excess profits tax on corporations
1918 Russia withdraws from WW I, signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany
1919 First international air mail service from US, Seattle-Victoria, BC
1921 Toronto's Dr. Banting & Dr. Best announce discovery of insulin
1926 International Greyhound Racing Association formed (Miami, Florida)
1931 "Star Spangled Banner" officially became US National Anthem
1943 US wins Battle of Bismarck Sea over Japan
1945 US & Philippine forces recapture Corregidor
1951 Bill Mikvy (Temple) scores NCAA basketball record 73 pts
1956 Morocco gains independence from France (Anniversary of throne)
1959 First US probe to enter solar orbit, Pioneer 4, is launched
1959 SF Giant's rename their stadium Candlestick Park
1962 British Antarctic Territory formed
1966 Rock group Buffalo Springfield forms
1966 Twister hits Jackson Miss; 3 minutes after first sighting, 57 die
1967 Grenada gains partial independence from Britain
1974 World's worst air disaster, Turkish DC-10 crashes in Paris (346 die)
1978 Charlie Chaplin's remains are stolen in Switzerland
1984 Peter Ueberroth is elected baseball's commissioner
1985 "Moonlighting" with Cybill Shepard & Bruce Willis premiers
1985 Bill Shoemaker is first jockey to surpass $100 million in race winnings
1989 Robert McFarlane gets $20,000 fine, 2 years probation for Iran-Contra
1991 25 die as United Boeing 737 crashes in Colorado Springs
1991 Iraqi generals & Gen Schwarzkopf meet to discuss the cease fire
1991 Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King captured on amateur video
1991 Latvia & Estonia vote to become independent of the USSR

Birthdays which occurred on March 3rd:

1549 Henric Spieghel, Dutch Renaissance poet (Hertspiegel)
1652 Thomas Otway, England, dramatist/poet (Venice Preserved)
1747 Kasamir Pulaski, US Revolutionary War General
1756 William Godwin, philosopher/political writer (Caleb Williams)
1831 George M. Pullman, inventor (railway sleeping car)
1847 Alexander Graham Bell, inventor (telephone)
1872 Wee Willie Keeler, outfielder (Baltimore Orioles)
1873 William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor (1924-52)
1890 Edmund Lowe, San Jose California, actor (Front Page Detective)
1895 General Matthew Ridgeway, US, military leader (WW II, Korea)
1895 Ragnar Frisch, Norway, economist (first Nobel Prize in Economics-1969)
1902 Ruby Dandridge, Memphis Tennessee, actress (Father of the Bride)
1911 Jean Harlow, 1930s' sex goddess, actress (Dinner at 8)
1912 Joe Stydahar, NFL tackle (Chicago Bears)
1918 Arnold Newman, photographer (Faces USA)
1920 Julius Boros, golfer (US Open 1952,63)
1920 Martin Ritt, director (The Front, Nuts)
1921 Allen Ginsberg, beat generation poet (1969 Arts & Letters Award)
1921 Junior Parker, Arkansas, blues vocalist/songwriter (Mystery Train)
1934 Gia Scala, Italy, actress (Angry Hills, Don't Go Near the Water)
1938 Willie Chambers, guitarist/vocalist (Chambers Brothers)
1942 Mike Pender, vocalist/guitarist (Searchers-Needles & Pins)
1945 Hattie Winston, Greenville Miss, actress (Nurse, Electric Company)
1950 Tim Kazurinsky, Johnstown PA, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
196- Laura Herring, Sinalos Mexico, actress (Carla-General Hospital)
1961 Mary Page Keller, actress (Duet, Scared Stiff, Baby Talk)
1962 Herschel Walker, NFL running back and Heisman Trophy winner
1962 Jackie Joyner-Kersee, heptathlete (Olympic-gold-1988)
1966 Anthony Terrell Smith, LA Calif, rap artist (a.k.a., Tone Loc)
1974 Jared Rushton, actor (Big, Honey I Shrank the Kids)

Deaths which occurred on March 3rd:

1959 Lou Costello, comedian (Abbott & Costello), dies at 52
1966 Alice Pearce, comedienne (Gladys Kravitz-Bewitched), dies at 52
1966 William Frawley, actor (Fred Mertz-I Love Lucy), dies at 89
1974 Frank Wilcox, actor (John-Beverly Hillbillies), dies at 66
1987 Danny Kaye, comedian (Danny Kaye Show), dies at 74
1991 Arthur Murray, dance instructor, dies at 95 of pneumonia
1992 Robert Beatty, actor (Odd Man Out), dies at 82