So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

March 1st
- Beer Day, marked the end of beer prohibition in (Iceland)

- Earliest day on which Casimir Pulaski Day can fall, while March 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in March. (Illinois)

- Earliest day on which Laetare Sunday can fall, while April 4 is the latest; celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
Carnaval de la Laetare (Stavelot)

- Christian Feast Day:

- Mothering Sunday (United Kingdom)

- Eight Hours Day (Tasmania)

- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992.

- Labour day (Western Australia)

- March 1st Movement Remembrance Day or Samiljeol; ??? (South Korea)

- Martenitsa (Bulgaria)

- M?r?i?or (Romania and Moldova)

- National Pig Day, a minor observance (United States)

- Roman New Year observances:

- Saint David's Day or Dydd G?yl Dewi Sant (Wales and Welsh communities)

- Self Injury Awareness Day

- The final day (fourth or fifth) of Ayyám-i-Há (Bahá'í Faith)


March 1st
- 2008 - The Armenian police clashed with peaceful opposition rally protesting against allegedly fraudulent presidential elections 2008 killing at least 10 people.

- 2007 - Tornadoes break out across the southern United States, killing at least 20; eight of the deaths are at a high school in Enterprise, Alabama.

- 2007 - "Squatters" are evicted from Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, Denmark, provoking the March 2007 Denmark Riots.

- 2006 - English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station.

- 2004 - Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum becomes President of Iraq.

- 2003 - Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.

- 2003 - The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.

- 2002 - U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins in eastern Afghanistan.

- 2002 - The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500 kilograms (9.5 tons).

- 2002 - The peseta is discontinued as official currency of Spain and is replaced by the euro (€).

- 2000 - The Constitution of Finland is rewritten.

- 2000 - Hans Blix assumes the position of Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC.

- 1995 - Prime Minister of Poland Waldemar Pawlak resigns from parliament and is replaced by ex-communist Józef Oleksy.

- 1995 - Yahoo! was incorporated.

- 1992 - Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

- 1990 - Steve Jackson Games is raided by the United States Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

- 1989 - The United States becomes a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

- 1981 - Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.

- 1974 - Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.

- 1973 - Black September storms the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, resulting in the assassination of three Western hostages.

- 1972 - The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani province.

- 1971 - A bomb explodes in a men's room in the United States Capitol: the Weather Underground claims responsibility.

- 1971 - President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.

- 1966 - Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.

- 1966 - The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria.

- 1964 - Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe.

- 1962 - American Airlines Flight 1 crashes on take off in New York.

- 1961 - President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.

- 1961 - Uganda becomes self-governing and holds its first elections.

- 1958 - Samuel Alphonsus Stritch is appointed Pro-Prefect of the Propagation of Faith and thus becomes the first American member of the Roman Curia.

- 1956 - The International Air Transport Association finalizes a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet for the International Civil Aviation Organization.

- 1956 - Formation of the National People's Army

- 1954 - Nuclear testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.

- 1954 - Puerto Rican nationalists attack the United States Capitol building, injuring five Representatives.

- 1953 - Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses. He dies four days later.

- 1950 - Cold War: Klaus Fuchs is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union by disclosing top secret atomic bomb data.

- 1947 - The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations.

- 1946 - The Bank of England is nationalised.

- 1943 - World War II: Battle of Bismarck Sea begins.

- 1941 - World War II: Bulgaria signs the Tripartite Pact, allying itself with the Axis powers.

- 1941 - W47NV (now known as WSM-FM) begins operations in Nashville, Tennessee becoming the first FM radio station in the U.S..

- 1939 - A Japanese Imperial Army ammunition dump explodes at Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, killing 94.

- 1939 - Trans-Canada Air Lines (forerunner of Air Canada) begins transcontinental operations (between Vancouver and Montreal).

- 1936 - The Hoover Dam is completed.

- 1936 - A strike occurs aboard the S.S. California, leading to the demise of the International Seamen's Union and the creation of the National Maritime Union.

- 1932 - The son of Charles Lindbergh, Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, is kidnapped.

- 1921 - The Australian cricket team of Warwick Armstrong becomes the first team to completed a whitewash of The Ashes, something that would not be repeated for 86 years.

- 1919 - March 1st Movement begins in Korea.

- 1917 - The U.S. government releases the unencrypted text of the Zimmermann Telegram to the public.

- 1914 - The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union.

- 1912 - Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from a moving airplane.

- 1910 - The worst avalanche in United States history buries a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington, killing 96 people.

- 1896 - Battle of Adowa: an Ethiopian army defeats an outnumbered Italian force, ending the First Italo–Ethiopian War.

- 1896 - Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity.

- 1893 - Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.

- 1886 - The Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore is founded by Bishop William Oldham.

- 1873 - E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York begins production of the first practical typewriter.

- 1872 - Yellowstone National Park is established as the world's first national park.

- 1870 - Marshal F.S. López dies during the Battle of Cerro Corá thus marking the end of the War of the Triple Alliance.

- 1867 - Nebraska becomes the 37th U.S. state; Lancaster, Nebraska is renamed Lincoln and becomes the state capital.

- 1854 - German psychologist Friedrich Eduard Beneke disappears; two years later his remains are found in a canal near Charlottenburg.

- 1852 - Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

- 1847 - The state of Michigan formally abolishes capital punishment.

- 1845 - President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.

- 1840 - Adolphe Thiers becomes prime minister of France.

- 1836 - A convention of delegates from 57 Texas communities convenes in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas, to deliberate independence from Mexico.

- 1815 - Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba.

- 1811 - Leaders of the Mameluke dynasty are killed by Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali.

- 1805 - Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.

- 1803 - Ohio is admitted as the 17th U.S. state.

- 1790 - The first United States census is authorized.

- 1781 - The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation.

- 1700 - Sweden introduces its own Swedish calendar, in an attempt to gradually merge into the Gregorian calendar, reverts to the Julian calendar on this date in , and introduces the Gregorian Calendar on this date in .

- 1692 - Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.

- 1642 - Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine), becomes the first incorporated city in the United States.

- 1633 - Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu.

- 1628 - Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.

- 1593 - The Uppsala Synod is summoned to confirm the exact forms of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.

- 1565 - The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.

- 1562 - 23 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.

- 1457 - The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination.

- 752 - 752 BC – Romulus, first king of Rome, celebrates the first Roman triumph after his victory over the Caeninenses, following The Rape of the Sabine Women.

- 317 - Crispus and Constantine II, sons of Roman Emperor Constantine I, and Licinius Iunior, son of Emperor Licinius, are made Caesares

- 293 - Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian appoint Constantius Chlorus and Galerius as Caesares, thus beginning the Tetrarchy.

- 286 - Roman Emperor Diocletian raises Maximian to the rank of Caesar.

- -86 - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.


March 1st
- 2001 - Ramona Marquez, English child actress

- 1994 - Justin Bieber, Canadian pop/R&B singer

- 1990 - Harry Eden, English actor

- 1989 - Anjo Buckman, German rugby player

- 1989 - Sonya Kitchell, American singer

- 1989 - Daniella Monet, American actress

- 1989 - Carlos Vela, Mexican footballer

- 1988 - Trevor Cahill, American baseball player

- 1988 - Katija Pevec, American actress

- 1987 - Ke$ha, American singer

- 1987 - Sammie, American singer

- 1986 - Jonathan Spector, American soccer player

- 1985 - J Leman, American football player

- 1985 - Andreas Ottl, German footballer

- 1984 - Naima Mora, American model

- 1984 - Alexander Steen, Canadian-born Swedish ice hockey player

- 1984 - Jacob Lillyman, Australian rugby league footballer

- 1984 - Anthony Tupou, Australian rugby league footballer

- 1983 - Chris Hackett, English footballer

- 1983 - Blake Hawksworth, Canadian baseball player

- 1983 - Daniel Carvalho, Brazilian footballer

- 1983 - Elan Sara DeFan, Mexican singer-songwriter

- 1982 - Shalva Didebashvili, Georgian-born German rugby player

- 1981 - Ana Hickmann, Brazilian supermodel

- 1981 - Adam LaVorgna, American actor

- 1981 - Will Power, Australian racing driver

- 1981 - Brad Winchester, American ice hockey player

- 1980 - Shahid Afridi, Pakistani cricketer

- 1980 - Abdur Rehman, Pakistani cricketer

- 1980 - Djimi Traoré, Malian footballer

- 1978 - Jensen Ackles, American actor

- 1978 - Donovan Patton, Guamanian television star

- 1978 - Alicia Leigh Willis, American actress

- 1977 - Rens Blom, Dutch athlete

- 1977 - Esther Cañadas, Spanish actress and supermodel

- 1976 - Peter F. Bell, Australian rules footballer

- 1976 - Dave Malkoff, American TV news reporter

- 1975 - Francesco Mazzariol, Italian rugby player

- 1975 - Maya Kulenovic, Canadian painter

- 1974 - Mark-Paul Gosselaar, American actor

- 1974 - Stephen Davis, American football player

- 1974 - Shane Harwood, Australian cricketer

- 1973 - Jack Davenport, English actor

- 1973 - Ryan Peake, Canadian guitarist (Nickelback)

- 1973 - Carlo Resoort, Dutch DJ

- 1973 - Chris Webber, American basketball player

- 1973 - Anton Gunn, American politician

- 1971 - Tyler Hamilton, American cyclist

- 1969 - Javier Bardem, Spanish actor

- 1969 - Doug Creek, American baseball player

- 1969 - Dafydd Ieuan, Welsh drummer (Super Furry Animals)

- 1969 - József Szabó, Hungarian swimmer

- 1968 - Salil Ankola, Indian cricketer and TV actor

- 1967 - Yelena Afanasyeva, Russian athlete

- 1967 - George Eads, American actor

- 1967 - Aron Winter, Dutch footballer

- 1966 - Susan Auch, Canadian speed-skater

- 1965 - Stewart Elliott, Canadian jockey

- 1965 - Booker Huffman, American professional wrestler

- 1965 - Mary Lou Lord, American singer/songwriter

- 1964 - Paul Le Guen, French football manager

- 1964 - Clinton Gregory, American musician

- 1963 - Rob Affuso, American drummer

- 1963 - Thomas Anders, German singer (Modern Talking)

- 1963 - Maurice Benard, American actor

- 1963 - Ron Francis, Canadian ice hockey player

- 1963 - Dan Michaels, American musician and record producer

- 1963 - Russell Wong, American actor

- 1962 - Melanie Moore, American actress

- 1960 - William Bennett, English musician (Whitehouse)

- 1959 - Nick Griffin, British far right politician

- 1959 - Diamanto Manolakou, Greek politician

- 1958 - Bertrand Piccard, Swiss balloonist and psychiatrist

- 1958 - Nik Kershaw, English musician

- 1958 - Chosei Komatsu, Japanese conductor

- 1957 - Peter Athans, American mountaineer

- 1956 - Timothy Daly, American actor

- 1956 - Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania

- 1954 - Catherine Bach, American actress

- 1954 - Ron Howard, American actor and director

- 1952 - Steven Barnes, American writer

- 1952 - Leigh Matthews, former Australian Rules footballer and coach

- 1952 - Martin O'Neill, Northern Irish footballer and manager

- 1952 - Brian Winters, American basketball player and coach

- 1951 - Sergei Kourdakov, former KGB agent

- 1948 - Burning Spear, Jamaican singer and musician

- 1947 - Alan Thicke, Canadian actor and songwriter

- 1946 - Lana Wood, American actress

- 1946 - Gerry Boulet, French-Canadian singer (d. 1990)

- 1946 - Elvin Bethea, American football player

- 1945 - Dirk Benedict, American actor (The A-Team, Battlestar Galactica)

- 1944 - John Breaux, American politician, former U.S. Senator from Louisiana

- 1944 - Mike d'Abo, English singer (Manfred Mann)

- 1944 - Roger Daltrey, English musician (The Who)

- 1943 - Gil Amelio, American venture capitalist

- 1943 - Akinori Nakayama, Japanese gymnast

- 1943 - Richard H. Price, American physicist

- 1943 - Rashid Sunyaev, Russian physicist

- 1943 - José Ángel Iribar, Spanish footballer

- 1942 - Richard Bowman Myers, American soldier, 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

- 1941 - Joo Hyun, South Korean actor

- 1941 - Donnie Walsh, American basketball coach and executive

- 1940 - David Broome CBE, Welsh showjumper

- 1940 - Robert Grossman, American illustrator

- 1939 - Leo Brouwer, Cuban composer and guitarist

- 1937 - Jed Allan, American actor

- 1936 - Monique Bégin, French-Canadian politician

- 1936 - Jean-Edern Hallier, French author (d. 1997)

- 1935 - Robert Conrad, American actor

- 1933 - Gerry Bron, British record producer

- 1930 - Gastone Nencini, Italian cyclist (d. 1980)

- 1929 - Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident (d. 1978)

- 1928 - Seymour Papert, South African mathematician

- 1928 - Jacques Rivette, French film director

- 1927 - Harry Belafonte, American musician and activist

- 1927 - Robert Bork, American legal scholar

- 1926 - Robert Clary, French-born actor

- 1926 - Pete Rozelle, American commissioner of the NFL (d. 1996)

- 1926 - Cesare Danova, Italian-born American actor (d. 1992)

- 1924 - Deke Slayton, American astronaut (d. 1993)

- 1923 - Kuczka Péter, Hungarian writer and editor (d. 1999)

- 1922 - William Gaines, American publisher (d. 1992)

- 1922 - Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1995)

- 1921 - Terence Cooke, American cardinal archbishop (d. 1983)

- 1921 - Richard Wilbur, American poet

- 1920 - Max Bentley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)

- 1918 - Roger Delgado, English actor (d. 1973)

- 1918 - João Goulart, President of Brazil (d. 1976)

- 1918 - Gladys Noon Spellman, American politician (d. 1988)

- 1917 - Robert Lowell, American poet (d. 1977)

- 1914 - Harry Caray, American sportscaster (d. 1998)

- 1913 - Ralph Ellison, American writer (d. 1994)

- 1912 - Gerald Emmett Carter, cardinal archbishop of Toronto (d. 2003)

- 1912 - Boris Chertok, Polish-born Russian rocket designer

- 1910 - Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)

- 1910 - David Niven, English actor (d. 1983)

- 1906 - Pham Van Dong, Prime Minister of North Vietnam (d. 2000)

- 1905 - Doris Hare, Welsh actress (d. 2000)

- 1904 - Paul Hartman, American actor (d. 1973)

- 1904 - Glenn Miller, American bandleader (d. 1944)

- 1899 - Erich von dem Bach, Nazi official (d. 1972)

- 1896 - Dimitris Mitropoulos, Greek conductor and composer (d. 1960)

- 1896 - Moriz Seeler, German writer and producer (d. 1942)

- 1893 - Mercedes de Acosta, American socialite (d. 1968)

- 1892 - Ry?nosuke Akutagawa, Japanese writer (d. 1927)

- 1889 - Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (d. 1960)

- 1888 - Ewart Astill, English cricketer (d. 1948)

- 1886 - Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter and poet (d. 1980)

- 1880 - Lytton Strachey, British writer (d. 1932)

- 1876 - Henri de Baillet-Latour, Belgian IOC president (d. 1942)

- 1871 - Ben Harney, American composer and ragtime pianist (d. 1938)

- 1865 - Abe Iso, Japanese politician (d. 1949)

- 1863 - Alexander Golovin, Russian painter (d. 1930)

- 1858 - Georg Simmel, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1918)

- 1852 - Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (d. 1923)

- 1848 - Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Irish-born American sculptor (d. 1907)

- 1842 - Nicholaos Gysis, Greek painter (d. 1901)

- 1837 - William Dean Howells, American writer, historian, and politician (d. 1920)

- 1821 - Joseph Hubert Reinkens, German Catholic bishop (d. 1896)

- 1817 - Giovanni Duprè, Italian sculptor (d. 1882)

- 1812 - Augustus Pugin, English-born architect (d. 1852)

- 1810 - Frédéric Chopin, Polish composer (d. 1849)

- 1807 - Wilford Woodruff, fourth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1898)

- 1781 - Javiera Carrera, Chilean aristoctratic woman, sister of José Miguel Carrera (d. 1862)

- 1769 - François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers, French general (d. 1796)

- 1760 - François Nicolas Leonard Buzot, French revolutionary (d. 1794)

- 1732 - William Cushing, 2nd Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1810)

- 1683 - Caroline of Ansbach, wife of George II of Great Britain (d. 1737)

- 1683 - Tsangyang Gyatso, 6th Dalai Lama (d. 1706)

- 1657 - Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian (d. 1740)

- 1611 - John Pell, English mathematician (d. 1685)

- 1597 - Jean-Charles de la Faille, Flemish mathematician (d. 1652)

- 1547 - Rudolph Goclenius, German philosopher (d. 1628)

- 1474 - Angela Merici, Italian nun (d. 1540)

- 1456 - King Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (d. 1516)

- 1449 - Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian statesman (d. 1492)

- 1445 - Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (d. 1510)

- 1432 - Isabel of Coimbra, queen of Portugal (d. 1455)

- 40 - Martial, Latin poet (d. 102)

