March 2
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Featured Event
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Wilt Chamberlain sets new NBA record
On this day in 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scored a record 100 points in a single NBA game—a record that has not been surpassed to this day. His Philadelphia Warriors (later the Golden State Warriors) defeated the New York Knicks 169–147. He set numerous other records during his time in the NBA: Chamberlain was the first player to score more than 4,000 points during a season, and he set a record for total career rebounds that still stands. [Read today’s edition of Today in History > >]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
From The Bird of Time by Sarojini Naidu, 1912
Activist and poet Sarojini Naidu, who died this day in 1949, was the first Indian woman to serve as president of the Indian National Congress, and her celebrated poetry earned her the nickname “the Nightingale of India.”
Famous Birthdays
More on March 2
© Joshua Boucher/Pool—USA Today Network/Imagn Images
2023
After a six-week trial, a jury deliberated for three hours and found former lawyer Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie Murdaugh, and his youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, at the family’s estate in South Carolina. [Learn more about the Murdaugh family.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
2009
President João Bernardo Vieira of Guinea-Bissau was assassinated by government soldiers following years of unrest between Vieira and the military. [Learn more about the intricacies of west Africa.]
© Dezo Hoffmann/REX/Shutterstock.com
1999
Dusty Springfield died at age 59. The singer made her mark during the 1960s beat boom that resulted in the British Invasion, recording such hits as “Son of a Preacher Man.” [Take our musicians quiz.]
Courtesy of Fermilab
1995
Researchers at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, announced the discovery of the top quark (subatomic particle), the sixth and most massive quark. [How much do you know about physics?]
© 2006 Sony Pictures Entertainment. All rights reserved.
1968
Daniel Craig, the sixth actor to assume the role of British spy James Bond, was born in Chester, England. [What other actors have played Bond?]
Courtesy of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
1965
The Sound of Music, a film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical play, premiered; the movie, which was based on the real-life story of the Trapp family of Austria, was a commercial success and won an Oscar for best picture. [Learn about the iconic actress who plays Maria in the Sound of Music.]
© hnoversa/Fotolia
1956
The North African country of Morocco proclaimed independence from France. The sultan Muhammad V formed its first government.
National Institutes of Health
1941
Physician David Satcher, who was the first Black man to serve as U.S. surgeon general (1998–2002), was born in Anniston, Alabama. [How much do you know about African American history?]
© 1933 RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
1933
The landmark monster movie King Kong had its world premiere; in addition to pioneering special effects by Willis O’Brien, it was the first significant feature film to star an animated character. [Take our quiz about 20th-century monsters.]
Boris Yurchenko/AP Images
1931
Mikhail Gorbachev, who instituted reforms that led to the end of the Cold War while serving as the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985–91) and president of the Soviet Union, was born. [Why did the Soviet Union collapse?]
Elliott and Fry Collection/Bassano Studios
1930
D.H. Lawrence died in Vence, France. (His ashes were moved in 1935 to Taos, New Mexico, where he had once lived.) [Match the opening line to the literary work.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1917
The Jones-Shafroth Act designated Puerto Rico a territory of the United States, “organized but unincorporated.” It also gave Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship. [Why is Puerto Rico’s political status so complicated?]
Gene Lester—Archive Photos/Getty Images
1904
Theodor Seuss Geisel—who, under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss, wrote and illustrated such hugely popular children’s books as How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat—was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. [Take our quiz about classic children’s books.]
German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 146-2005-0119
1900
Kurt Weill, who created a revolutionary kind of opera of sharp social satire in collaboration with the writer Bertolt Brecht, was born in Germany. [Test your knowledge of music composers.]
Collection of David J. and Janice L. Frent
1877
Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the disputed presidential election of 1876 after a special Electoral Commission awarded him all contested electoral votes; he was sworn into office the following day. [What were other remarkably close U.S. presidential elections?]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1867
Radical Republicans in Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act over U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson’s veto, forbidding the president to remove civil officers without senatorial consent. The dispute set the stage for Johnson’s impeachment in 1868. [Do you know which U.S. presidents have been impeached?.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1865
Confederate forces under General Jubal A. Early suffered a decisive defeat at Waynesboro, Virginia, that ended Southern resistance in the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. The Confederacy collapsed the following month. [How much do you know about the Civil War?]
© Dagli Orti/REX/Shutterstock.com
1498
Vasco da Gama and his fleet reached the Island of Mozambique on their first voyage to India. [Take our exploration and discovery quiz.]