| 3 March 161 | Roman Empire [political events] | The Roman emperor Antoninus Pius calls his adopted son and heir Marcus Aurelius to his bedside in Lorium, Etruria, Italy, has his golden statue of Fortune transferred to his adopted son's room, and dies. Marcus Aurelius succeeds Antoninus Pius and, remembering Antoninus' wish, has his fellow adopted son and heir, Lucius Verus, made his full colleague. This sets a precedent for later divisions of the imperial maiestas. |
| 3 March 1081 | Byzantine Empire [administration] | The Byzantine emperor Nicephorus III Botaneiates is deposed in favour of Alexius I Comnenus, founder of the Comnenian dynasty. |
| 3 March 1095 | Holy Roman Empire [Crusades (1095–1272)] | In a council at Piacenza, Pope Urban II appeals to Western Europe to rescue Constantinople from the Turks. |
| 3 March 1135 | Holy Roman Empire [political events] | In a diet (legislative assembly) at Bamberg, the ‘antiking’ Conrad III Hohenstaufen and his son Frederick submit to Emperor Lothair III. |
| 3 March 1305 | Flanders [administration] | Guy, Count of Flanders, dies and is succeeded by his son, Robert of Béthune. |
| 3 March 1372 | Castile, Spain, England, Portugal [wars] | John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, claims the throne of Castile on his standing as the son-in-law of King Pedro I of Castile. King Henry II of Castile besieges Lisbon, Portugal, in order to compel King Ferdinand I of Portugal to abandon his alliance with John of Gaunt. |
| 3 March 1431 | Papal States, Italy [administration] | Gabriel Condulmer is elected Pope Eugenius IV. |
| 3 March 1706 | Germany [births and deaths] | Johann Pachelbel, German organ composer, known particularly for his Canon in D Major, dies in Nuremberg, Germany (53). |
| 3 March 1707 | India, Mogul Empire [political events] | The death of the Mogul emperor Aurangzeb, whose formerly successful rule in India has been increasingly challenged by the Marathas and other enemies, leads to the succession of Bahadur, who oversees the further crumbling of the empire. |
| 3 March 1707 | India [births and deaths] | Aurangzeb, Mogul emperor of India 1658–1707, dies in India (88). |
| 3 March 1837 | USA, Republic of Texas [political events] | In one of his last acts in office, US president Andrew Jackson recognizes the Republic of Texas. |
| 3 March 1847 | Scotland, USA [births and deaths] | Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born US scientist who invents the telephone, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (–1922). |
| 3 March 1848 | Hungary [revolution] | A revolution breaks out in Budapest and on 15 March the Hungarian diet (national assembly) is subsequently granted the reforms it advocated in March 1847, making it effectively independent under Austrian rule. |
| 3 March 1861 | Russian Empire [serfdom] | An edict emancipating serfs on private Russian estates is proclaimed, ending the medieval practice which ties them to their landlords. |
| 3 March 1869 | England [births and deaths] | Henry Joseph Wood, English conductor, founder of the Promenade Concerts (the ‘Proms’) in 1895, born in London, England (–1944). |
| 3 March 1878 | Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Balkans [treaties] | By the preliminary Treaty of San Stefano ending the Russo-Ottoman War over the Balkans, Montenegro is to be enlarged with the port of Antivari; Romania, Montenegro, and Serbia are to be independent; reforms are to be undertaken in Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria is to be enlarged with a seaboard on the Aegean and most of Macedonia; and Russia is to receive the fortified cities of Ardahan, Kars, and Batum in eastern Anatolia, while the Ottoman Empire is to pay Russia a huge indemnity. |
| 3 March 1886 | Ottoman Empire, Serbia [treaties] | The Peace of Bucharest ends the war between Serbia and Bulgaria on the basis of the status quo. |
| 3 March 1918 | Russia, United Kingdom [World War I (1914–18)] | A British force lands in Murmansk, Russia, to aid anti-Bolshevik forces and keep Russia in the war against Germany. |
| 3 March 1918 | Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Anatolia, Ottoman Empire [treaties] | Russia and the Central Powers sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, in which Russia cedes the Baltic Provinces and Russian Poland, and recognizes the independence of Finland and the Ukraine. The Ottoman Empire takes the former Russian districts of Kars, Ardahan, and Batum. |
| 3 March 1923 | USA [magazines] | US editor Henry A Luce and US publisher Briton Hadden found the weekly news magazine Time in New York City. |
| 3 March 1924 | Turkey [political events] | The Turkish national assembly expels the Ottoman dynasty and abolishes the caliphate and other religious institutions. |
| 3 March 1957 | Europe, UK [television] | The Eurovision Song Contest, which started in 1956, is shown for the first time on British television. |
| 3 March 1978 | Rhodesia [law and government] | The Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, and three black leaders sign an agreement for a power-sharing government and eventual majority rule, but exclude Robert Mugabe's and Joshua Nkomo's Patriotic Front. |
| 3 March 1985 | UK [work and unemployment] | A National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) delegates' conference in Britain votes to return to work without a formal settlement of the pit strike. |
| 3 March 1991 | Iraq, USA, UK [Gulf War (1990–91)] | An armistice is signed by leaders of the international coalition and the Iraqi army, ending the Gulf War (in force from 11 April). |
| 3 March 2005 | [aircraft] | US millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly around the world on a solo, non-stop journey without refuelling aboard the specially-designed Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft. Between take-off and landing at Salina in Kansas, he sets a record of just over 67 hours. |
