What Happened in March?

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, becomes independent after 106 years of German and South African rule, Namibia is a country in Southern Africa bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the northeast,  Zimbabwe lies less than 660 feet (200 meters) away along the Zambezi River near Kazungula, Zambia. Namibia's has a reported 2025 population of over 3 Million, its capital and largest city is Windhoek.

Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese doomsday cult, carries out a sarin gas attack by releasing several packages on the Tokyo subway system, killing 13 and injuring over 5000. The odorless, colorless, and highly toxic nerve gas was invented by the Nazis and is one of the most lethal nerve gases known to man.

NATO begins airstrikes against Yugoslavia, marking the start of the Kosovo War.

NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5,048.62 during the dot-com bubble.

The BBC airs the first episode of "The Office," a British mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

The Taliban destroy two ancient statues of Buddha in Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley.

President George W. Bush announces that U.S. forces have begun a military operation into Iraq. U.S. forces invaded Iraq vowing to destroy Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and end the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein. When WMD intelligence proved illusory and a violent insurgency arose, the war lost public support. 4,700 U.S. and allied troop deaths, and more than one hundred thousand Iraqi civilians were killed and 31,994 U.S. troops wounded in action (WIA). More

The United States and its allies invade Iraq, initiating the Iraq War.

Coordinated bombings in Madrid's commuter train system kill 191 people and wounding around 2,000 others. More

The first episode of the social media platform Facebook is launched by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates.

The People's Republic of China passes an anti-secession law, authorizing the use of force against Taiwan if it moves towards formal independence.

Israel officially withdraws from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation.

The first public tweet is sent by Twitter co-founder  Jack Dorsey,  The message was: "just setting up my twttr". The tweet was sent at 9:50 PM. At the time, Twitter was still in its early stages and known as "Twttr".

The UN Human Rights Council holds its first session in Geneva, replacing the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

The seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," is announced by J.K. Rowling.

The riots and protests in Tibet against Chinese rule and for independence begin.

A nationwide protest in Tibet against Chinese rule and for independence begins.

The Kepler space observatory, designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, is launched by NASA.

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami strike in Japan causing the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and considerable damage in the region. The tsunami inundated about 560 km2 and resulted in a human death toll of about 19,500 and much damage to coastal ports and towns, with over a million buildings destroyed or partly collapsed. It was a rare and complex double quake giving a severe duration of about 3 minutes. An area of the seafloor extending 650 km north-south moved typically 10-20 meters horizontally. Japan moved a few metres east and the local coastline subsided half a meter. More

A massive earthquake and tsunami strike Japan, causing the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.