MARCH

March 20 wasn’t just another date on the calendar.

It was a day of royal dramas, daring voyages, scientific firsts, and cultural milestones that still ripple through our lives today.

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FAMOUS FIGURES43 BCE

Ovid, Poet of Love and Exile, Is Born

On March 20, 43 BCE, the Roman poet Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) was born in Sulmo, east of Rome. He would become famous for works like the Metamorphoses and Ars Amatoria, playful yet sophisticated poems that mixed myth, romance, and sharp social observation. His writings were so influential that medieval and Renaissance artists and writers constantly mined his tales for inspiration. Ovid’s later exile by Emperor Augustus, to the remote town of Tomis on the Black Sea, only deepened his legend as the poet who turned personal loss into enduring art.

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WORLD HISTORY1413

Henry V Becomes King of England

On March 20, 1413, Henry of Monmouth became King Henry V after the death of his father, Henry IV. His reign would be defined by the Hundred Years’ War and the stunning English victory at Agincourt two years later. Chroniclers portrayed him as a model warrior king, pious yet ruthless on the battlefield. His life later inspired William Shakespeare’s play Henry V, which cemented his image as the king who rallied his “band of brothers” against overwhelming odds.

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SCIENCE & INDUSTRY1602

Dutch East India Company Is Chartered

On March 20, 1602, the States General of the Netherlands granted a charter to the Dutch East India Company, known as the VOC. It was empowered to trade, build forts, and even wage war in Asia, effectively becoming a state-backed commercial empire. According to economic historians, the VOC is often cited as an early example of a multinational corporation with tradable shares. Its spice trade profits reshaped European markets and helped make Amsterdam a financial capital of the early modern world.

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WORLD HISTORY1760

The Great Fire of Boston’s Rival: Fire Ravages Boston, England

On March 20, 1760, a destructive fire swept through the port town of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. Contemporary reports describe houses, warehouses, and parts of the town’s commercial district going up in flames. While not as famous as fires in London or other capitals, the blaze was a harsh reminder of how vulnerable wooden and thatched buildings were in the 18th century. Rebuilding efforts pushed the town toward more fire-conscious construction, a pattern repeated in many urban centers of the era.

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WORLD HISTORY1815

Napoleon Returns to Paris for His “Hundred Days”

On March 20, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte entered Paris after escaping exile on the island of Elba and marching through France gathering supporters. King Louis XVIII fled, and Napoleon reclaimed the imperial throne, launching the dramatic period known as the Hundred Days. European powers quickly mobilized against him, leading to the climactic Battle of Waterloo in June. His brief comeback demonstrated both his enduring popularity among many French soldiers and the determination of the rest of Europe to prevent a revived Napoleonic empire.

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ARTS & CULTURE1852

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Is First Published as a Book

On March 20, 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in book form in the United States. The story, which had already appeared in serialized form, brought the brutality of slavery into parlors and pulpits far from the plantations. The book sold widely in the North and abroad, fueling abolitionist sentiment and fierce pro-slavery backlash. Its powerful mix of sentiment, faith, and protest made it one of the most talked-about works of the 19th century and a touchstone in American debates over race and justice.

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U.S. HISTORY1854

Founding Meeting of the Republican Party in Wisconsin

On March 20, 1854, a group of antislavery activists gathered in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin, to form a new political organization that they called the Republican Party. They were responding to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which threatened to expand slavery into western territories. The Ripon meeting is widely recognized as one of the party’s earliest formal origins, laying groundwork for a coalition of former Whigs, Free Soilers, and antislavery Democrats. Within just a few years, this fledgling party would carry Abraham Lincoln to the presidency and become a central force in U.S. politics.

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U.S. HISTORY1861

Colorado Territory Is Organized

On March 20, 1861, the U.S. Congress formally organized the Territory of Colorado, carved from parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, and New Mexico territories. The move followed the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush, which had drawn prospectors, merchants, and speculators into the Rocky Mountains. Territorial status meant a formal government, courts, and representation, even as the nation slid into Civil War. Colorado would continue to grow on mining, ranching, and railroads before achieving statehood in 1876, the nation’s centennial year.

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FAMOUS FIGURES1883

Birth of Janusz Korczak, Pioneer of Children’s Rights

On March 20, 1883, Henryk Goldszmit, better known by his pen name Janusz Korczak, was born in Warsaw. A pediatrician, educator, and writer, he ran progressive orphanages and wrote influential works on respecting children as full human beings. During World War II, he stayed with the children of his Jewish orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto, refusing offers of personal safety. His final march with them to the Treblinka extermination camp turned his advocacy for children’s dignity into a powerful moral legacy.

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WORLD HISTORY1890

Otto von Bismarck Resigns as German Chancellor

On March 20, 1890, Otto von Bismarck, the architect of German unification, resigned as chancellor after a clash of wills with the young Kaiser Wilhelm II. Bismarck had dominated European politics for decades through a mix of diplomacy, war, and careful alliance-building. His departure signaled a shift from his cautious balance-of-power approach to a more assertive, sometimes erratic German foreign policy under Wilhelm. Many historians later traced rising international tensions before World War I in part to the loss of Bismarck’s steady, if often ruthless, hand.

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ARTS & CULTURE1897

First Recognized World Figure Skating Championships Held

On March 20, 1897, the first officially recognized World Figure Skating Championships were held in Saint Petersburg, then capital of the Russian Empire. The competition, organized under what would become the International Skating Union, showcased figure skating as more than just winter recreation. Skaters combined technical skill with artistic presentation, hinting at the sport’s future as a blend of athletics and performance. That early championship set the stage for the elaborate routines and global fan culture that surround figure skating today.

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SCIENCE & INDUSTRY1916

Einstein’s Landmark Paper on General Relativity Appears

On March 20, 1916, the journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein’s paper “Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie” (“The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity”). In it, Einstein laid out the full mathematical framework of general relativity, describing gravity as the curvature of spacetime rather than a conventional force. The work provided new explanations for phenomena like Mercury’s orbit and predicted the bending of light by gravity. Over the decades, observations—from solar eclipses to gravitational waves—have repeatedly confirmed the theory’s core ideas.

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WORLD HISTORY1918

Ferdinand Foch Named Allied Commander on the Western Front

On March 20, 1918, amid a critical phase of World War I, French General Ferdinand Foch was appointed to coordinate Allied operations on the Western Front. The German Spring Offensive was underway, threatening to break Allied lines before American forces could fully arrive. Foch’s role was to unify French, British, and later American efforts that had often been fragmented. His coordination helped stabilize the front and contributed to the successful Allied counteroffensives later that year.

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SCIENCE & INDUSTRY1922

USS Langley, First U.S. Aircraft Carrier, Is Commissioned

On March 20, 1922, the U.S. Navy commissioned USS Langley (CV-1) as its first aircraft carrier. Converted from a collier named USS Jupiter, the ship became a floating laboratory for carrier aviation. Pilots and crews tested takeoff and landing techniques, deck layouts, and arresting gear that would define naval air power. Although Langley was modest compared to later carriers, its experiments helped turn the aircraft carrier into a central element of 20th-century naval strategy.

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U.S. HISTORY1933

Giuseppe Zangara Executed for Attempted Assassination of FDR

On March 20, 1933, Giuseppe Zangara was executed in Florida’s electric chair for killing Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak and attempting to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Zangara had fired shots at Roosevelt during a speech in Miami the previous month, but struck Cermak and several bystanders instead. The swift trial and execution reflected the intense public anxiety of the early Depression years and concerns about political violence. Roosevelt, who was unharmed, went on to be inaugurated and launch the New Deal days later.

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WORLD HISTORY1956

Tunisia Gains Independence from France

On March 20, 1956, Tunisia formally achieved independence from France after decades as a protectorate. Negotiations between French authorities and Tunisian nationalist leaders, including Habib Bourguiba, had intensified following unrest and growing demands for self-rule. The independence agreement transformed Tunisia into a constitutional monarchy, soon to become a republic, and inspired anticolonial movements across North Africa. Bourguiba emerged as the country’s dominant political figure, steering early reforms in education, women’s rights, and modernization.

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U.S. HISTORY1965

Federal Protection Ordered for Selma–Montgomery Marchers

On March 20, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered Alabama’s National Guard into federal service to protect civil rights marchers traveling from Selma to Montgomery. The decision came after the brutal “Bloody Sunday” assault on demonstrators earlier that month and growing national outrage. With federal troops and guard units shielding them, thousands of marchers completed the route, highlighting demands for voting rights. The images from Alabama helped build support for the Voting Rights Act, signed later that year.

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FAMOUS FIGURES1969

John Lennon Marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar

On March 20, 1969, musician John Lennon and artist Yoko Ono were married in Gibraltar, off the southern coast of Spain. The couple quickly turned their union into a platform for peace activism, most famously through their “bed-in” protests against the Vietnam War. Their partnership blurred lines between pop music, conceptual art, and political theater. For fans and critics alike, the wedding marked the beginning of an intensely public and often controversial chapter in both of their lives.

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WORLD HISTORY1974

Territorial Division of Turkish Cyprus Proposed in Geneva

On March 20, 1974, negotiators meeting in Geneva floated proposals for the territorial division of Cyprus, reflecting deep tensions between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. Although these talks did not immediately settle the island’s future, they foreshadowed the partition that would follow a coup and Turkish military intervention later that year. The debates highlighted competing claims over governance, security, and minority rights. The resulting division of Cyprus, still unresolved decades later, continues to shape regional politics in the eastern Mediterranean.

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SCIENCE & INDUSTRY1987

AZT Becomes the First Drug Approved to Treat AIDS

On March 20, 1987, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved zidovudine, better known as AZT, as the first antiretroviral drug to treat AIDS. Approved in a notably rapid review, the medication offered new hope in a crisis that had already claimed many lives and carried heavy stigma. AZT could not cure HIV, and its early dosing regimens had serious side effects, but it marked a crucial turning point in treating the disease. The drug opened the door to combination therapies that would later transform HIV infection from an almost certain death sentence into a manageable chronic condition for many patients.

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WORLD HISTORY2003

U.S.-Led Invasion of Iraq Begins

On March 20, 2003, in the early hours in Iraq, U.S. and coalition forces launched airstrikes and a ground invasion against Saddam Hussein’s government. The operation followed months of diplomatic dispute over alleged weapons of mass destruction and United Nations inspections. Baghdad soon fell, but the conflict evolved into a long and bloody insurgency, sectarian violence, and a prolonged foreign military presence. The war reshaped politics in the Middle East and sparked intense debate about intelligence, intervention, and international law.

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SCIENCE & INDUSTRY2015

Total Solar Eclipse and Supermoon Align on the Equinox

On March 20, 2015, skywatchers in parts of the North Atlantic and Arctic witnessed a total solar eclipse that coincided with a so-called “supermoon” and the March equinox. The Moon passed directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning day to twilight along a narrow path through the Faroe Islands and Svalbard. Astronomers and tourists traveled to remote locations to catch the spectacle, while much of Europe experienced a significant partial eclipse. The rare combination of eclipse, supermoon, and equinox highlighted the precise clockwork of celestial mechanics.

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ARTS & CULTURE2019

Disney’s Acquisition of 21st Century Fox Is Completed

On March 20, 2019, The Walt Disney Company finalized its acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. The deal brought major film and television properties—including the X-Men and Avatar franchises and a controlling stake in Hulu—under Disney’s umbrella. Media analysts noted that the merger significantly reshaped Hollywood’s studio landscape and intensified the race for streaming dominance. Fans, meanwhile, debated everything from potential superhero crossovers to concerns about creative diversity in an increasingly consolidated industry.