The People History Home

March 1st to 31st Major and Important news items from each day click link to find more news for that day

What Happened on 1st March :

1932 The Lindbergh baby is kidnapped

1936 The Hoover Dam ( Boulder Dam ) is completed

1941 Nashville, Tennessee becomes the home of the very first FM radio station

1961 President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps

1971 The radical left organization Weather Underground / Weatherman bomb the United States Capitol

2005 Dennis Rader, accused of leading a double life as the BTK ( Bind, Torture and Kill, ) serial killer, was charged in Wichita, Kan

What Happened on 2nd March :

1917 Czar Nicholas II Abdicates

1933 The Original King Kong movie has its world premiere in New York

1949 First automatic street lights are installed in New Milford, Connecticut

1965 Operation Rolling Thunder begins Vietnam

1965 Movie version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the lead roles has its world premiere in New York.

1969 British / French joint project, Concorde, has it's maiden flight

2008 Dmitry Medvedev wins the Russian presidential election

What Happened on 3rd March :

1923 The first issue of the weekly periodical, "TIME" appeared on newsstands

1952 Communist Teachers Banned From Public Schools

1991 Rodney King Beating In Los Angeles

What Happened on 4th March :

1902 Triple AAA Founded

1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States



What Happened on 5th March :

1933 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced a four-day "bank holiday"

1956 US Supreme Court upholds a ban on racial segregation in state schools, colleges and universities

1966 A BOAC British Boeing 707 crashed on Mount Fuji, Japan

2004 Martha Stewart is convicted of the felony of obstructing justice

2008 Brett Favre ( 38 ) the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers announced his retirement.

What Happened on 6th March :

1899 The Patent Office in Berlin registers Aspirin Patent

1936 The sleek new prototype (K5054) for what would become the Spitfire Fighter Aircraft takes off on its maiden flight

1951 The Rosenberg Trial Starts

1957 Ghana gains it's independence from Britain

1987 The British ferry, the Herald of Free Enterprise, capsized after leaving Zeebrugges

2007 Lewis ( Scooter ) Libby former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney is convicted

What Happened on 7th March :

1876 Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention the telephone

1932 The Communist Party of America host a "March on Hunger"

1965 Civil Rights March Alabama attacked by Troopers with night sticks

1988 IRA gang shot dead in Gibraltar.

2007 The British House of Lords becomes 100% elected.

Born in March

Glenn Miller
Born: March 1st 1904 Clarinda, Iowa, U.S.
Elaine Paige
Born: March 5th 1948 Barnet, London, England
Rupert Murdoch
Born: 11th March 1931, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Michael Caine
Born: Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14th March 1933 in London, England, United Kingdom
James Madison
Born: March 16, 1751, Port Conway, Virginia
Nat King Cole
Born: Nathaniel Adams Coles, March 17th 1919, Montgomery, Alabama, United States
Queen Latifah
Born: Dana Elaine Owens, March 18th 1970, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Bruce Willis
Born: Walter Bruce Willis, March 19th, 1955, Idar-Oberstein, West Germany
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Born: 22nd March 1948, Kensington, London, England
Elton John
Born: Reginald Kenneth Dwight, 25th March 1947, Pinner, Middlesex, England
Diana Ross
Born: Diane Ernestine Earle Ross, March 26th 1944, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Celine Dion
Born: Celine Marie Claudette Dion, March 30, 1968, Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada

What Happened on 8th March :

1917 The Russian Revolution Starts

1936 Daytona Car Racing Begins

1969 The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the epitome of the American muscle car is introduced.

What Happened on 9th March :

1959 Barbie doll makes debut at the American Toy Fair in New York

1974 Work on the 800 mile long Alaska Oil pipeline connecting oil fields in northern Alaska to the sea port at Valdez begins.

2004 John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death in Virginia ( Beltway Sniper Attacks )

What Happened on 10th March :

1945 B-29 fighter planes firebombed Tokyo

1959 Dalai Lama forced to flee to India who granted him political asylum.

1964 The first Ford Mustang is manufactured ready for release on April 16.

What Happened on 11th March :

1918 Influenza Epidemic Begins in Fort Riley, Kansas

1931 The work on the Boulder Dam Begins

1977 Film director Roman Polanski is charged with four charges including rape, sodomy, child molestation and giving drugs to a minor

What Happened on 12th March :

1912 Girl Scouts of America Founded

1928 St. Francis dam burst flooding into the San Francisquito Canyon in California

1930 Mahatma Gandhi and his followers begin March Against Tax On Salt

1933 President Roosevelt gives his first " fireside chat " radio broadcast

1938 German has forcibly "recruited" Austria to support the Third Reich

1945 Anne Frank, died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp from Typhus

2003 Elizabeth Smart Found Alive and well

What Happened on 13th March :

1925 The Butler Act becomes law

1936 Work on the Boulder Dam is completed

1969 The Love Bug, a popular Disney movie, was released

1996 Dunblane Massacre in kindergarten in Scotland

What Happened on 14th March :

1940 Hitler and Mussolini meet and agree to fight together in war against France and Britain

2010 Drug Gangs Fighting increases over Territory in Mexico

What Happened on 15th March :

1919 The American Legion has it's first meeting

1938 Jews Not Allowed To Vote In Germany

1956 The musical "My Fair Lady" opened on Broadway

1964 Actress Elizabeth Taylor and actor Richard Burton marry for the first time

1998 The Movie Titanic surpassed Star Wars to become the highest grossing film in North American box offices.

100 years of price Change

100 Years Of Price Changes

We spent many hours researching cost of living information for each year and I created this page after being asked a number of times about why I did not include current prices alongside our cost of living information for each year and thought this was the easiest way to make the information available. Includes Average Cost of New Home, Average Wages, New Car cost, Gallon of Gas, and a 1 lb Hamburger Meat, 1920 to 2023.

From our 1955 Toys

Farm Stake Tonka Truck From The 1950s Farm Stake Tonka Truck
Manufacturer: Tonka
Price: $3.98
Realistic in every detail... right down to its rear wheels with mud flaps! Small-fry farmers find it ideal to haul any load. The stake panels come out for the big jobs. Made of tough, heavy gauge metal.

What Happened on 16th March :

1998 Rwanda began mass trials for the country's 1994 genocide of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers

2005 Scott Peterson is sent to death row for the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson.

What Happened on 17th March :

1931 Nevada Legalizes Gambling

1949 The first car with a Porsche badge ( Porsche 356 ) is shown at International Automobile Show in Geneva

1969 Golda Meir becomes first female Prime Minister of Israel

1980 John Wayne Gacy Jr. ( also known as The Killer Clown ) found guilty of the murders of 33 boys and young men

2001 The Eden Project opens in England It is the worlds largest greenhouse

What Happened on 18th March :

1925 Tri-state tornados strikes Missouri, Illinois and Indiana

1965 Soviet cosmonaut known as Lt. Col. Alexei Leonov Becomes First Man to walk in space

1967 The tanker "Torrey Canyon" runs aground on rocks between Land's End and the Scilly Isles

2005 Doctors in Florida, acting on orders of a state judge, removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. (She died 13 days later).

What Happened on 19th March :

1916 The first use of air combat by the US when Eight Curtiss "Jenny" planes of the First Aero Squadron are used in support for the 7,000 U.S. troops who invaded Mexico to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa .

1918 The US Congress approves daylight-saving time.

1932 Sydney Harbor Bridge Opens

1953 The Academy Awards was televised for the first time with Bob Hope as the host.

1982 50 Argentines land at Leith Harbour, on South Georgia a British colony of the Falkland Islands

1987 Televangelist Jim Bakker resigned Over Sex Scandal

2001 California officials order the first of a further two days of rolling blackouts.

2003 President George W. Bush addresses the nation via live television and announces that Operation Iraqi Freedom has begun

2008 Fidel Castro steps down in Cuba

What Happened on 20th March :

1922 The US Postmaster General orders all homes to get mailboxes

1995 Sarin Gas Terrorist Attack with sarin gas Japanese Subway

What Happened on 21st March :

1945 Allied bombers began four days of heavy raids over Germany prior to Allied Forces capture

1960 Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa

1963 Alcatraz federal penitentiary known as "The Rock" Closes

1981 Prince Charles and Diana Wedding

What Happened on 22nd March :

1933 3.2% Beer And Wine Sales Made Legal when Bill signed by President Roosevelt

1963 The Beatles' first album, "Please Please Me," is released in England

1972 The Equal Rights Amendment Passed By U.S. Senate and sent to the states for ratification.

What Happened on 23rd March :

1919 Benito Mussolini establishes the Fascist Party in Italy

1956 The Islamic Republic of Pakistan becomes an independent republic

1983 President Ronald Reagan proposes Strategic Defense Initiative

2001 Mir Space Station Ends 15 yrs in space

2010 The House passes the healthcare reform bill and is signed into law by President Obama

What Happened on 24th March :

1900 Work on the New York subway begins

1973 Pink Floyd release the album "Dark Side of the Moon"

1978 The tanker Amoco Cadiz splits in two off the coast of France

1989 The Exxon Valdez, ran aground on a reef and ripped holes in its hull, spilling crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.

1998 Middle School Murders Jonesboro, Arkansas.

From 1959 Toys

New Exiting Barbie Fashion Dolls Launched in March 1959 From The 1950s Barbie Fashion Dolls
Manufacturer: Mattel
Price: $1.29
These Images are from 1960 sorry could not find any from 1959 the year Barbie Came out but thought I must include Barbie for 1959.

From 1920s Appliances Page

Gyrator Electric Washing Machine 1920s

Late Decade Electric Washing Machine

Price: $81.50

For the latest and best in washing machine design, this easy to move washing machine features the latest gyrator technology with no center post where clothes can be damaged, the attached wringer is made from the finest semi soft rubber.


1925 Frigidaire Electric Refrigerator

1925 Frigidaire

Price: $285.00

I included this Frigidaire Electric as the final Electric Item from the Twenties as it was significant in many ways 1. It was made by General Motors not General Electric. 2. The cost was pretty high and I suspect out of most people's reach and 3. It was sold by a dedicated salesman who visited your home rather than through a shop etc.


What Happened on 25th March :

1957 France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg sign the treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC)

1965 The Alabama Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery

2006 Rallies for immigrants held in Multiple US Cities

What Happened on 26th March :

1953 Dr. Jonas E. Salk, announced Polio Vaccine Success

1958 Great Chinese Famine Begins Lasted 3 years

1964 The musical 'Funny Girl' starring Barbra Streisand Opens On Broadway

1979 Camp David Peace Treaty Signed Between Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin

1982 Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Washington, D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

1997 Heaven's Gate Cult Suicides California

1999 Dr. Jack Kevorkian, was found guilty of second-degree murder

2000 Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia.

What Happened on 27th March :

1909 First Fingerprint Evidence Used in Murder Case

1964 "Good Friday Earthquake," Alaska

1980 Mount St. Helens Erupts

1998 The FDA approves the drug Viagra for use against impotence in men.

What Happened on 28th March :

1930 City of Constantinople name is changed to Istanbul

1939 Spanish civil war ends with control by General Francisco Franco

1942 The Smalll Island Country of Malta awarded the George Cross Medal for Bravery

1979 Three Mile Island Nuclear Disaster

2001 California Electricity Price Increase 46%

What Happened on 29th March :

1943 Rationing of meat, cheese, butter and cooking oils goes into effect in US

1951 Rosenbergs found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage

1951 The 23rd Amendment to the Constitution is ratified

1971 Charles Manson and three of his followers receive the death penalty

1981 first London Marathon organised by Chris Brasher is run

2010 Suicide bombs on the Moscow Metro

What Happened on 30th March :

1867 U.S.A. Buys Alaska for $7.2 million

1909 The Queensboro Bridge also known as the 59th Street Bridge Opens

1964 The Beatles have 10 hits on Billboard's Hot 100 at the same time

2002 The British Queen Mother Dies

What Happened on 31st March :

1943 The musical "Oklahoma!" debuts on Broadway

1949 Newfoundland and Labrador entered the Canadian confederation as the 10th province

1951 The first commercially built U.S. computer The UNIVAC I sold

1959 The spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India seeking asylum

1990 100,000 people take to the streets in Poll Tax Demonstrations in England

2005 Terri Schiavo, the center of the most heavily litigated right-to-die dispute in U.S. history, died