March 9

Cartographer and explorer Amerigo Vespucci born (1454); First person in space Yuri Gagarin born (1934); Barbie doll debuts at American Toy Fair (1959); Rapper Notorious BIG is shot and killed (1997).

March 8

First stock car race held in Daytona Beach (1936); International Women's Day becomes official United Nations holiday (1977); Baseball player Joe DiMaggio dies (1999); Sam Simon, director and codeveloper of "The Simpsons," dies (2015).

March 7

Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone (1876); Actor Bryan Cranston born (1956); Bloody Sunday as 600 civil rights protesters attacked by police in Selma, Alabama (1965); American poet Amanda Gorman born (1998); Director Stanley Kubrick dies (1999).

March 6

Michelangelo born (1475); Davy Crockett and 186 others are killed at the Battle of the Alamo (1836); Aspirin is patented (1899); Shaquille O’Neal born (1972); Artist Georgia O’Keeffe dies (1986).

March 5

Five American colonists shot by British troops in Boston Massacre (1770); Josef Stalin dies (1953); Singer Patsy Cline dies (1963); Actress Eva Mendes born (1974); Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez dies (2013).

March 2

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Jones born (1919); Former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev born (1931); Wilt Chamberlain sets all-time NBA record with 100 points in a single game (1962); English actor Daniel Craig born (1968). 

March 1

Articles of Confederation are ratified, go into effect in the US (1781); Writer Ralph Ellison born (1914); Singer Harry Belafonte born (1927); The Peace Corps is established (1961); Actress Lupita Nyong'o born (1983); Justin Bieber born (1994).