A massive 7.7 earthquake on the Richter scale hits Caracas, Venezuela, destroying 90% of Caracas and killing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people.
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What Happened in March?
The first Olympic games, the founding of dynasties, and legendary battles. Explore historic milestones from March that influenced today's world. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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The New York Stock Exchange was formally organized on March 8, 1817 as the New York Stock & Exchange Board; adopting its modern name in 1863.
It followed and built on the Buttonwood Agreement signed by 24 brokers on May 17, 1792, on Wall Street in New York City to establish a safer, more structured market for securities, aiming to curb excessive commission rates and establish trust among brokers. While early, informal trading occurred under a buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street, the formally organized Stock exchange moved into rented rooms, eventually establishing a permanent home.
The Missouri Compromise is enacted, allowing Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free State. so as not to upset the balance between slave and free states in the nation.
It also outlawed slavery above the 36º 30' latitude line in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in its Dred Scott v. Sandford decision that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional and upheld slavery in United States territories, denied the legality of black citizenship in America.
Maine is admitted to the United States on March 15, 1820, becoming the 23rd State of the Union.
The Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire begins with an uprising in the Peloponnese.
James Monroe is inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States on Monday, March 5, 1821, in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol. The ceremony was delayed by one day due to March 4 falling on a Sunday.
Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 4, 1831,representing southeastern Massachusetts for the 22nd Congress, becoming the only former president to do so. More
The Republic of Texas formally declares independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, at the convention of Washington-on-the-Brazos which was attended by 45 delegates, representing 21 municipalities. Over the next ten days, delegates prepared a constitution for the Republic of Texas; David G. Burnet was elected president.
The new constitution explicitly legalized slavery which Mexico had officially abolished in Texas in 1829. Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845 and became the 28th state on December 29, 1845. On March 2, 1861, Texas becomes the seventh state to secede from the Union. More
Martin Van Buren is inaugurated as the eighth President of the United States on March 4, 1837. He was the first president born in the U.S. after the Declaration of Independence, rather than as a British subject.
Only 67 days into his term, on May 10, 1837 the nation was hit by the Panic of 1837, triggering a severe financial crisis that made him a on time president
The initials OK came into the lime light when they were published by the Boston Morning Post as part of a joke. The initials stood for "oll korrect." Just as todays teenagers, younger, educated circles during the late 1830s intentionally misspelled words and then abbreviate them to use them as slang. However ,the term has also been attributed to the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaw. The Choctaw word okeh means the same as the American word okay. Experts say early explorers in the American West spoke the Choctaw language and spread the term. More
William Henry Harrison is inaugurated as the ninth President of the United States on March 4, 1841. He died one month later on April 4, 1841, making his presidency the shortest one on record.
He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causing a brief constitutional crisis, since presidential succession was not then fully defined in the U.S. Constitution.He was succeeded by his Vice president, William John Tyler who was sworn in on April 6, 1841 becoming the 10th President of the United States.
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The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case was issued on March 9, 1841, ruling that the Africans were free and could return home. Read about The Amistad
U.S. President John Tyler signs the Congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas. Texas officially joined the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845, during the presidency of his successor, James K. Polk.
Florida is admitted to the United States Union on March 3, 1845, becoming the the 27th State.
The German composer Richard Strauss is born.
The British East India Company officially annexes the Kingdom of Punjab on March 29, 1849, following a decisive victory against the Sikh Empire at the Battle of Gujrat in February 1849. This conquest, concluding the Second Anglo-Sikh War, ended the last major independent kingdom in India and integrated the region into the British Raj.
Henry Wells and William George Fargo found the Wells, Fargo & Company to handle the banking and transportation business prompted by the nescient California Gold Rush. After several mergers and acquisitions, Wells Fargo is now a major multinational financial services company.
The Crimean War begins with Britain and France declaring war on Russia.
The treaty of Kanagawa. between Japan and the United States is signed. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, representing the U.S. on an elaborately planned mission to open Japan and an unwavering policy by Japan's government of forbidding commerce with foreign nations found a way to reach agreement. More
The U.S. Supreme Court delivers its 7-2 decision in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, on March 6. 1857, ruling against Dred Scott's freedom, that enslaved people were not U.S. citizens, had no right to sue in federal court, and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in federal territories.
The decision also found that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional, intensifying the divisions in the nation over slavery.