Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, ending the Ingrian War.
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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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Samoset, an Abenaki leader was the first American Indian known to make contact with the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in New England. He walked into the Plymouth Colony on March 16, 1621, and startled them by greeting them in English, saying "Welcome, Englishmen!.
Samoset was visiting from modern-day Maine where he had learned English from fishermen. He went on to become a crucial interpreter, facilitating a peace treaty with the Wampanoag leader Massasoit, and introducing them to Squanto. He went on to help with and provided critical information about the local area, before returning home.
The Powhatan Confederacy, led by Opechancanough, launched a coordinated surprise attack, on March 22, 1622, on English settlements along the James River in Virginia. Known as the 1622 Indian Massacre or Uprising, it killed approximately 347 to 400+ settlers—roughly a quarter to one-third of the colony's population.
The attack led to a decade-long conflict—the Second Anglo-Powhatan War—in which English colonists retaliated with excessive violence, destroying crops and villages, fundamentally changing a wary peace to almost all out war. More
England's King James I dies on March 27, 1625, and his son, Charles I, succeeds him as the second Stuart King of Great Britain and Ireland. Charles I's reign began with tensions with Parliament over finances and his marriage to the Catholic Henrietta Maria of France, ultimately leading to the English Civil War and his execution in 1649.
King Charles I, grants a Royal Charter to the Massachusetts Bay Company, on March 4, 1629, officially establishing the New England colony, a year before the main body of settlers departed for New England in 1630.
This charter formally incorporated the company, granted land, and established the structure for a self governing colony, crucial for early Puritan autonomy.
Charles I dissolves the English Parliament on March 10, 1629, initiating the period known as the Eleven Years' Tyranny. His decision was in pursuit of absolute monarchy and a break from parliamentary governance and consent.
The first settlers arrive in Maryland on March 25, 1634, landing at St. Clements Island in today's St. Mary’s County. On this island, the first Roman Catholic Mass in the English-speaking colonies was celebrated. The colony of Maryland was founded so that the English Catholics could have a place to live where they could escape the intolerance of the English monarchy.
Officially the colony is said to be named in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I although some Catholic scholars believe that George Calvert, who was a publicly declared Catholic named the province after Mary, the mother of Jesus. The name in the charter was phrased Terra Mariae, anglice, Maryland. Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore never travelled to Maryland. More
The Battle of Cheriton, was fought on March 29, 1644, during the First English Civil War; resulting in a Parliamentarian victory as Sir William Waller’s army defeated the Royalist force commanded by the Earl of Forth and Lord Hopton. The loss forced King Charles I to abandon plans to dominate southern England.
England's House of Commons passes an act abolishing the House of Lords.
Dutch astronomer, Christiaan Huygens discovers Titan, Saturn's largest moon on March 25, 1655, using a high-powered telescope of his own design. It was the first moon of Saturn ever discovered confirming it as a major satellite. Huygens probe landed in Titan in 2005
The Great Fire of Meireki destroys a significant portion of Edo (modern-day Tokyo), on March 2, 1657 leading to the rebuilding of the city. The catastrophic blaze, lasted for days and killed an estimated 100,000 people destroying more than half of the city, including parts of Edo Castle.
The English Parliament passed the Humble Petition and Advice and formally presents it to Oliver Cromwell, on March 31, 1657, offering him the crown and sought to reinstate a limited, hereditary monarchy with a new bicameral parliament.
Cromwell considered the offer for six weeks but ultimately rejected the kingship, stating, "I would not seek to set up that which Providence hath destroyed and laid in the dust". but accepted the rest of the petition, and was reinstalled as Lord Protector with greater powers and the ability to appoint his successor.
Mount Etna in Sicily erupts on March 11, 1669, causing significant destruction to nearby towns. The catastrophic event lasted for about four months destroying a large portion of Catania, Sicily, with a reported death toll as high as 20,000.
Some contemporary accounts suggest less fatalities despite the massive destruction. The eruption produced the longest lava flow in recorded history for Etna, burying the city and filling the moat of the Ursino Castle before entering the sea.
1672 CE, Circa March
The first formal French-language newspaper, "Le Mercure Galant," is published in France. Its name was changed to Le Mercure de France in 1724. It was suppressed in 1811 and ceased publication in 1825. The name was revived in 1890 as a literary review.
King Charles II of England grants a royal land charter on March 4,1681, to Quaker leader William Penn for over 45,000 square miles of land in North America as a settlement for a £16,000 debt owed to Penn's late father.
The charter made Penn the proprietor of the territory, giving him authority to govern and establish laws. It granted land west of New Jersey, north of Maryland, and south of New York, making Penn one of the world's largest private landowners. More
The window tax, a property tax based on the number of windows in a house became law on March 25, 1696. The Act was passed during the 1695 parliamentary session with the 1696 effectivity.
Queen Anne ascends to the throne of England, Scotland, and Ireland on March 8, 1702, following the death of her brother-in-law, William III. The last Stuart monarch reign, was defined by the Acts of Union uniting England and Scotland and the War of the Spanish Succession.
The Daily Courant, published by Elizabeth Mallet in London on March 11, 1702 became the first London newspaper to be published daily. It was a single sheet of paper, published daily except for Sundays focused on digests of foreign news providing factual reporting without commentary.
The Act of Union, uniting the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland into a single political state, receives Royal assent on March 6, 1707. It had been ratified is by the Scottish Parliament on January 16, 1707 and became effective on May 1, 1707 when Scotland and England formally became the single Kingdom of Great Britain.
France and Austria (Holy Roman Empire), sign the Treaty of Rastatt on March 7, 1714. The treaty complemented the Treaty of Utrecht, and it took another step to end the War of Spanish Succession which was formally finalized with the Treaty of Baden, later that year on September 7, 1714.
The Spanish war of Succession was a major European conflict which was triggered by the death of the childless Charles II of Spain, threatening to unite the French and Spanish crowns under the Bourbon dynasty. The conflict, lasting from 1701 to 1714) was fought between the "Grand Alliance" of Britain, Holland, Holy Roman Empire and others, vs. France and Spain (Spain, under a new Bourbon monarch, mostly aligned with France)