March 2

Pre-1600

• 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off.
• 986 – Louis V becomes the last Carolingian king of West Francia after the death of his father, Lothaire.
• 1331 – Fall of Nicaea to the Ottoman Turks after a siege.
• 1444 – Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhë.
• 1458 – George of Poděbrady is chosen as the king of Bohemia.
• 1476 – Burgundian Wars: The Old Swiss Confederacy hands Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, a major defeat in the Battle of Grandson in Canton of Neuchâtel.
• 1484 – The College of Arms is formally incorporated by Royal Charter signed by King Richard III of England.
• 1498 – Vasco da Gama's fleet visits the Island of Mozambique.

1601–1900

• 1657 – The Great Fire of Meireki begins in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, causing more than 100,000 deaths before it exhausts itself three days later.
• 1776 – American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia units attempt to prevent capture of supply ships in and around the Savannah River by a small fleet of the Royal Navy in the Battle of the Rice Boats.
• 1791 – Claude Chappe demonstrates the first semaphore line near Paris.
• 1797 – The Bank of England issues the first one-pound and two-pound banknotes.
• 1807 – The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.
• 1811 – Argentine War of Independence: A royalist fleet defeats a small flotilla of revolutionary ships in the Battle of San Nicolás on the River Plate.
• 1815 – Signing of the Kandyan Convention treaty by British invaders and the leaders of the Kingdom of Kandy.
• 1836 – Texas Revolution: The Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico is adopted.
• 1855 – Alexander II becomes Tsar of Russia.
• 1859 – The two-day Great Slave Auction, the largest such auction in United States history, begins.
• 1865 – East Cape War: The Völkner Incident in New Zealand.
• 1867 – The U.S. Congress passes the first Reconstruction Act.
• 1877 – Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the 1876 U.S. presidential election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote.
• 1882 – Queen Victoria narrowly escapes an assassination attempt by Roderick Maclean in Windsor.

1901–present

• 1901 – United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.
• 1901 – The U.S. Congress passes the Platt Amendment limiting the autonomy of Cuba, as a condition of the withdrawal of American troops.
• 1903 – In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.
• 1917 – The enactment of the Jones–Shafroth Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship.
• 1919 – The first Communist International meets in Moscow.
• 1932 – Finnish president P. E. Svinhufvud gives a radio speech, which four days later finally ends the Mäntsälä Rebellion and the far-right Lapua Movement that started it.
• 1937 – The Steel Workers Organizing Committee signs a collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, leading to unionization of the United States steel industry.
• 1939 – Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the name Pius XII.
• 1941 – World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joins the Axis Pact.
• 1943 – World War II: During the Battle of the Bismarck Sea Allied aircraft defeated a Japanese attempt to ship troops to New Guinea.
• 1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas, after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.
• 1955 – Norodom Sihanouk, king of Cambodia, abdicates the throne in favor of his father, Norodom Suramarit.
• 1962 – In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup d'état.
• 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.
• 1965 – The US and Republic of Vietnam Air Force begin Operation Rolling Thunder, a sustained bombing campaign against North Vietnam.
• 1968 – Baggeridge Colliery closes marking the end of over 300 years of coal mining in the Black Country.
• 1969 – In Toulouse, France, the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted.
• 1970 – Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.
• 1972 – The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.
• 1977 – Libya becomes the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as the General People's Congress adopted the "Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People".
• 1978 – Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28.
• 1978 – The late iconic actor Charlie Chaplin's coffin is stolen from his grave in Switzerland.
• 1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.
• 1989 – Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
• 1990 – Nelson Mandela is elected deputy president of the African National Congress.
• 1991 – Establishment of Kuwait Democratic Forum, center-left political organization in Kuwait.
• 1991 – Battle at Rumaila oil field brings an end to the 1991 Gulf War.
• 1992 – Start of the war in Transnistria.
• 1992 – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, all of which (except San Marino) were former Soviet republics, join the United Nations.
• 1995 – Researchers at Fermilab announce the discovery of the top quark.
• 1998 – Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.
• 2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).
• 2004 – War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.
• 2012 – A tornado outbreak occurs over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.
• 2017 – The elements Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson are officially added to the periodic table at a conference in Moscow, Russia.
• 2022 – Russian forces capture the city of Kherson during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which subsequently began the start of the Russian occupation and military-civilian administration in Kherson. Kherson is the only regional capital in Ukraine that Russia captured.

Pre-1600

• 480 – Benedict of Nursia, Italian Christian saint (d. 543 or 547)
• 1316 – Robert II of Scotland (d. 1390)
• 1409 – Jean II, Duke of Alençon (d. 1476)
• 1432 – Countess Palatine Margaret of Mosbach, countess consort of Hanau (d. 1457)
• 1453 – Johannes Engel, German doctor, astronomer and astrologer (d. 1512)
• 1459 – Pope Adrian VI (d. 1523)
• 1481 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight (d. 1523)
• 1545 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (d. 1613)
• 1577 – George Sandys, English traveller, colonist and poet (d. 1644)

1601–1900

• 1628 – Cornelis Speelman, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1684)
• 1651 – Carlo Gimach, Maltese architect, engineer and poet (d. 1730)
• 1705 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish lawyer, judge, and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1793)
• 1740 – Nicholas Pocock, English naval painter (d. 1821)
• 1760 – Camille Desmoulins, French journalist and politician (d. 1794)
• 1769 – DeWitt Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of New York (d. 1828)
• 1770 – Louis-Gabriel Suchet, French general (d. 1826)
• 1779 – Joel Roberts Poinsett, American physician and politician, 15th United States Secretary of War (d. 1851)
• 1793 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)
• 1800 – Yevgeny Baratynsky, Russian-Italian poet and philosopher (d. 1844)
• 1810 – Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903)
• 1816 – Alexander Bullock, American lawyer and politician, 26th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1882)
• 1817 – János Arany, Hungarian journalist and poet (d. 1882)
• 1820 – Multatuli, Dutch writer (d. 1887)
• 1824 – Bedřich Smetana, Czech pianist and composer (d. 1884)
• 1829 – Carl Schurz, German-American general, lawyer, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1906)
• 1836 – Henry Billings Brown, American lawyer and judge (d. 1913)
• 1842 – Carl Jacobsen, Danish brewer, art collector, and philanthropist (d. 1914)
• 1846 – Marie Roze, French soprano (d. 1926)
• 1849 – Robert Means Thompson, American commander, lawyer, and businessman (d. 1930)
• 1859 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (d. 1916)
• 1860 – Susanna M. Salter, American activist and politician (d. 1961)
• 1862 – John Jay Chapman, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1933)
• 1869 – Julien Félix, French military officer and aviator (d. 1914)
• 1876 – James A. Gilmore, American businessman and baseball executive (d. 1947)
• 1876 – Pope Pius XII (d. 1958)
• 1886 – Willis H. O'Brien, American animator and director (d. 1962)
• 1886 – Kurt Grelling, German logician and philosopher (d. 1942)
• 1900 – Kurt Weill, German-American pianist and composer (d. 1950)

1901–present

• 1901 – Grete Hermann, German mathematician and philosopher (d. 1984)
• 1902 – Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy (d. 1972)
• 1902 – Edward Condon, American physicist and academic (d. 1974)
• 1904 – Dr. Seuss, American children's book writer, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991)
• 1905 – Marc Blitzstein, American composer and songwriter (d. 1964)
• 1905 – Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic (d. 1985)
• 1908 – Walter Bruch, German engineer (d. 1990)
• 1909 – Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1958)
• 1912 – Henry Katzman, American pianist, composer, and painter (d. 2001)
• 1913 – Godfried Bomans, Dutch television host and author (d. 1971)
• 1913 – Mort Cooper, American baseball player (d. 1958)
• 1914 – Martin Ritt, American actor and film director (d. 1990)
• 1915 – John Burton, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon (d. 2010)
• 1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1986)
• 1917 – David Goodis, American author and screenwriter (d. 1967)
• 1917 – Jim Konstanty, American baseball player and coach (d. 1976)
• 1919 – Jennifer Jones, American actress (d. 2009)
• 1919 – Eddie Lawrence, American actor, singer, and playwright (d. 2014)
• 1919 – Tamara Toumanova, Russian-American ballerina and actress (d. 1996)
• 1921 – Kazimierz Górski, Polish footballer and coach (d. 2006)
• 1921 – Ernst Haas, Austrian-American photographer and journalist (d. 1986)
• 1922 – Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, American saxophonist (d. 1986)
• 1922 – Bill Quackenbush, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1999)
• 1922 – Frances Spence, American computer programmer (d. 2012)
• 1923 – Basil Hume, English cardinal (d. 1999)
• 1923 – Robert H. Michel, American soldier and politician (d. 2017)
• 1923 – Dave Strack, American basketball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Cal Abrams, American baseball player (d. 1997)
• 1924 – Renos Apostolidis, Greek philologist, author, and critic (d. 2004)
• 1926 – Bernard Agré, Ivorian cardinal (d. 2014)
• 1926 – Murray Rothbard, American economist and historian (d. 1995)
• 1927 – Roger Walkowiak, French cyclist and economist (d. 2017)
• 1930 – John Cullum, American actor and singer
• 1930 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author (d. 2018)
• 1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2022)
• 1932 – Gun Hägglund, Swedish journalist and translator (d. 2011)
• 1933 – Leo Dillon, American illustrator (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Howard Cassady, American football player (d. 2019)
• 1934 – Dottie Rambo, American singer-songwriter (d. 2008)
• 1935 – Gene Stallings, American football player and coach
• 1936 – Haroon Ahmed, Pakistani-English engineer and academic
• 1936 – John Tusa, Czech-English journalist and academic
• 1937 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Algerian soldier and politician, 5th President of Algeria (d. 2021)
• 1938 – Clark Gesner, American author and composer (d. 2002)
• 1938 – Ricardo Lagos, Chilean economist, lawyer, and politician, 33rd President of Chile
• 1938 – Lawrence Payton, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1997)
• 1939 – Jan Howard Finder, American author and academic (d. 2013)
• 1940 – Billy McNeill, Scottish footballer (d. 2019)
• 1941 – John Cornell, Australian actor, director, and producer (d. 2021)
• 1941 – David Satcher, American admiral and physician, 16th Surgeon General of the United States
• 1942 – John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter
• 1942 – Claude Larose, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1942 – Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Iranian architect and politician, 79th Prime Minister of Iran
• 1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (d. 2013)
• 1942 – Derek Woodley, English footballer (d. 2002)
• 1943 – George Layton, English actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1943 – Peter Straub, American author and poet (d. 2022)
• 1943 – Robert Williams, American painter and cartoonist
• 1945 – Derek Watkins, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2013)
• 1947 – John Dawkins, Australian politician
• 1947 – Nelson Ned, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
• 1947 – Harry Redknapp, English footballer and manager
• 1948 – Larry Carlton, American guitarist and songwriter
• 1948 – Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1995)
• 1948 – Jeff Kennett, Australian journalist and politician, 43rd Premier of Victoria
• 1948 – Carmen Lawrence, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Western Australia
• 1950 – Karen Carpenter, American singer (d. 1983)
• 1952 – Mark Evanier, American author and screenwriter
• 1952 – Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian
• 1953 – Russ Feingold, American lawyer and politician
• 1953 – Kazuo Kitagawa, Japanese politician
• 1954 – Ed Johnstone, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1955 – Dale Bozzio, American pop-rock singer-songwriter
• 1955 – Jay Osmond, American singer, drummer, actor, and TV/film producer
• 1955 – Ken Salazar, American lawyer and politician, 50th United States Secretary of the Interior
• 1955 – Steve Small, Australian cricketer
• 1956 – John Cowsill, American musician, songwriter, and producer
• 1956 – Mark Evans, Australian rock bass player
• 1957 – Mark Dean, American inventor and computer engineer
• 1957 – Hossein Dehghan, Iranian general and politician, Iranian Minister of Defense
• 1957 – Dito Tsintsadze, Georgian film director and screenwriter
• 1958 – Kevin Curren, South African-American tennis player
• 1958 – Ian Woosnam, English-Welsh golfer
• 1959 – Larry Stewart, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1961 – Simone Young, Australian conductor, director, and composer
• 1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
• 1962 – Paul Farrelly, English journalist and politician
• 1962 – Tom Nordlie, Norwegian footballer and coach
• 1962 – Brendan O'Connor, Australian politician, Australian Minister for Employment
• 1962 – Raimo Summanen, Finnish ice hockey player and coach
• 1962 – Gabriele Tarquini, Italian race car driver
• 1963 – Anthony Albanese, Australian politician, 31st Prime Minister of Australia
• 1963 – Alvin Youngblood Hart, American singer and guitarist
• 1964 – Laird Hamilton, American surfer and actor
• 1964 – Mike Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1987)
• 1965 – Ron Gant, American baseball player and journalist
• 1965 – Lembit Öpik, Northern Irish politician
• 1966 – Ann Leckie, American author
• 1966 – Simon Reevell, English lawyer and politician
• 1968 – Daniel Craig, English actor and producer
• 1970 – James Purnell, English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
• 1970 – Ciriaco Sforza, Swiss footballer and manager
• 1970 – Wibi Soerjadi, Dutch pianist and composer
• 1971 – Roman Čechmánek, Czech ice hockey player (d. 2023)
• 1971 – Dave Gorman, English comedian, author and television presenter
• 1971 – Method Man, American rapper, record producer and actor
• 1972 – Mauricio Pochettino, Argentinian footballer and manager
• 1973 – Dejan Bodiroga, Serbian basketball player
• 1973 – Trevor Sinclair, English footballer and manager
• 1974 – Hayley Lewis, Australian swimmer and television host
• 1975 – Daryl Gibson, New Zealand rugby player
• 1977 – Dominique Canty, American basketball player and coach
• 1977 – Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter (Coldplay)
• 1977 – Heather McComb, American actress
• 1977 – Stephen Parry, English swimmer and sportscaster
• 1977 – Andrew Strauss, South African-English cricketer
• 1978 – Jim Chalmers, Australian politician
• 1978 – Gabby Eigenmann, Filipino actor and singer
• 1978 – Lee Hodges, English footballer and manager
• 1978 – Sebastian Janikowski, Polish gridiron football player
• 1978 – Tomáš Kaberle, Czech ice hockey player
• 1979 – Damien Duff, Irish footballer
• 1979 – Jim Troughton, English cricketer
• 1979 – Nicky Weaver, English footballer
• 1980 – Chris Barker, English footballer and manager (d. 2020)
• 1980 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress and screenwriter
• 1981 – Lance Cade, American wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1981 – Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress
• 1982 – Kevin Kurányi, German footballer
• 1982 – Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1982 – Joel Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1982 – Ben Roethlisberger, American football player
• 1982 – Corey Webster, American football player
• 1983 – Deuce, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1983 – Lisandro López, Argentine footballer
• 1983 – Jay McClement, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Glen Perkins, American baseball player
• 1983 – Ryan Shannon, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Jonathan Ericsson, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1985 – Reggie Bush, American football player
• 1985 – Robert Iler, American actor
• 1985 – Suso Santana, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Jonathan D'Aversa, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Jason Smith, American basketball player
• 1987 – Jonas Jerebko, Swedish basketball player
• 1988 – Édgar Andrade, Mexican footballer
• 1988 – James Arthur, English singer-songwriter
• 1988 – Laura Kaeppeler, American beauty queen, Miss America 2012
• 1988 – Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
• 1988 – Dexter Pittman, American basketball player
• 1988 – Geert Arend Roorda, Dutch footballer
• 1989 – Toby Alderweireld, Belgian footballer
• 1989 – Alemão, Brazilian footballer
• 1989 – Nathalie Emmanuel, English actress
• 1989 – Marcel Hirscher, Austrian skier
• 1989 – André Bernardes Santos, Portuguese footballer
• 1989 – Shane Vereen, American football player
• 1989 – Chris Woakes, English cricketer
• 1990 – Rauno Alliku, Estonian footballer
• 1990 – Malcolm Butler, American football player
• 1990 – Luke Combs, American singer-songwriter
• 1990 – Tiger Shroff, Indian actor
• 1991 – Nick Franklin, American baseball player
• 1992 – Charlie Coyle, American ice hockey player
• 1993 – Nicolás Brussino, Argentine-Italian basketball player
• 1993 – Adolis García, Cuban baseball player
• 1995 – Miguel Andújar, Dominican baseball player
• 1995 – Max Domi, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1995 – Ange-Freddy Plumain, French footballer
• 1997 – Becky G, American singer and actress
• 1997 – Arike Ogunbowale, American basketball player
• 1998 – Tua Tagovailoa, American football player
• 1999 – Isiah Pacheco, American football player
• 2016 – Prince Oscar, Duke of Skåne

Pre-1600

• 274 – Mani, Persian prophet and founder of Manichaeism (b. 216)
• 672 – Chad of Mercia, English bishop and saint (b. 634)
• 968 – William, archbishop of Mainz (b. 929)
• 986 – Lothair, king of West Francia (b. 941)
• 1009 – Mokjong, king of Goryeo (b. 980)
• 1127 – Charles the Good, Count of Flanders (b. 1084)
• 1316 – Marjorie Bruce, Scottish daughter of Robert the Bruce (b. 1296)
• 1333 – Wladyslaw I, king of Poland (b. 1261)
• 1589 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal and diplomat (b. 1520)

1601–1900

• 1619 – Anne of Denmark, queen of Scotland (b. 1574)
• 1729 – Francesco Bianchini, Italian astronomer and philosopher (b. 1662)
• 1755 – Louis de Rouvroy, French duke and diplomat (b. 1675)
• 1791 – John Wesley, English cleric and theologian (b. 1703)
• 1793 – Carl Gustaf Pilo, Swedish-Danish painter and academic (b. 1711)
• 1797 – Horace Walpole, English historian and politician (b. 1717)
• 1829 – Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Mexican revolutionary (b. ca. 1773)
• 1830 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician, anatomist, and anthropologist (b. 1755)
• 1835 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1768)
• 1840 – Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers, German physician and astronomer (b. 1758)
• 1855 – Nicholas I, Russian emperor (b. 1796)
• 1864 – Ulric Dahlgren, American colonel (b. 1842)
• 1865 – Carl Sylvius Völkner, German-New Zealand priest and missionary (b. 1819)
• 1880 – John Benjamin Macneill, Irish engineer (b. 1790)
• 1895 – Berthe Morisot, French painter (b. 1841)
• 1895 – Isma'il Pasha, Egyptian politician (b. 1830)
• 1896 – Jubal Early, American general (b. 1816)

1901–present

• 1921 – Champ Clark, American lawyer and politician, 41st Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1850)
• 1930 – D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1885)
• 1938 – Ben Harney, American pianist and composer (b. 1871)
• 1939 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (b. 1874)
• 1943 – Gisela Januszewska, Austrian physician (b.1867)
• 1944 – Ida Maclean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (b. 1877)
• 1945 – Emily Carr, Canadian painter and author (b. 1871)
• 1946 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1895)
• 1946 – George E. Stewart, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1872)
• 1947 – Frans Johan Louwrens Ghijsels, Dutch architect and urban planner (b. 1882)
• 1949 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian poet and activist (b. 1879)
• 1953 – James Lightbody, American runner (b. 1882)
• 1957 – Selim Sırrı Tarcan, Turkish educator and politician (b. 1874)
• 1958 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (b. 1888)
• 1962 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (b. 1866)
• 1967 – José Martínez Ruiz, Spanish author and critic (b. 1873)
• 1972 – Léo-Ernest Ouimet, Canadian director and producer (b. 1877)
• 1977 – Eugénie Brazier, French chef (b. 1895)
• 1979 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (b. 1920)
• 1982 – Philip K. Dick, American philosopher and author (b. 1928)
• 1987 – Randolph Scott, American actor and director (b. 1898)
• 1987 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer and academic (b. 1935)
• 1991 – Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter, actor, and director (b. 1928)
• 1992 – Sandy Dennis, American actress (b. 1937)
• 1994 – Anita Morris, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1943)
• 1999 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (b. 1939)
• 2000 – Sandra Schmirler, Canadian curler (b. 1963)
• 2003 – Hank Ballard, American singer-songwriter (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Malcolm Williamson, Australian pianist and composer (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Cormac McAnallen, Irish footballer (b. 1980)
• 2004 – Mercedes McCambridge, American actress (b. 1916)
• 2004 – Marge Schott, American businesswoman (b. 1928)
• 2005 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (b. 1911)
• 2007 – Thomas S. Kleppe, American soldier and politician, 41st United States Secretary of the Interior (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Clem Labine, American baseball player (b. 1926)
• 2007 – Ivan Safronov, Russian colonel and journalist (b. 1956)
• 2007 – Henri Troyat, Russian-French historian and author (b. 1911)
• 2008 – Jeff Healey, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1966)
• 2009 – João Bernardo Vieira, Bissau-Guinean politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1939)
• 2010 – Winston Churchill, English journalist and politician (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Lawrence Anthony, South African environmentalist, explorer, and author (b. 1950)
• 2012 – Van T. Barfoot, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Norman St John-Stevas, English academic and politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1929)
• 2012 – James Q. Wilson, American political scientist and academic (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Peter Harvey, Australian journalist (b. 1944)
• 2013 – Giorgos Kolokithas, Greek basketball player (b. 1945)
• 2013 – Shabnam Shakeel, Pakistani poet and author (b. 1942)
• 2014 – Ryhor Baradulin, Belarusian poet and translator (b. 1935)
• 2015 – Dean Hess, American minister and colonel (b. 1917)
• 2015 – Dave Mackay, Scottish-English footballer and manager (b. 1934)
• 2015 – Mal Peet, English author and illustrator (b. 1947)
• 2016 – Benoît Lacroix, Canadian priest, historian, and philosopher (b. 1915)
• 2016 – Aubrey McClendon, American businessman (b. 1959)
• 2018 – Billy Herrington, American actor (b. 1969)
• 2018 – Lin Hu, Chinese lieutenant general (b. 1927)
• 2019 – Mike Oliver, British sociologist, disability rights activist (b. 1945)

• Air Force Day (Sri Lanka)
• Baloch Culture Day (Balochistan)
• Christian feast day:
  • Agnes of Bohemia
  • Angela of the Cross
  • Blessed Charles the Good, Count of Flanders
  • Chad of Mercia (Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • John Maron
  • March 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Feast of 'Alá (Loftiness), First day of the 19th month of the Baháʼí calendar (Baháʼí Faith) and first day of the Baháʼí Nineteen Day Fast
• Jamahiriya Day (Libya)
• National Read Across America Day (United States)
• Peasants' Day (Myanmar)
• Texas Independence Day
• Adwa Victory Day (Ethiopia)

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• Historical Events on March 2