3rd March 1996 (23 Years)
Marguerite Duras, a French writer of award-winning books such as L'Amant and film director, dies. 20 years.
4th March 1193 (826 Years)
Saladin, Iraqi-Egyptian sultan who led the Muslim opposition to the Crusaders in the Levant, died. 825 years.
4th March 1493 (526 Years)
Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, aboard his ship Niña from his voyage to what is now The Bahamas and other islands in the Caribbean. 525 years.
4th March 1890 (129 Years)
The longest bridge in Great Britain, the Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland, measuring 1,710 feet (520 m) long, is opened by the Prince of Wales, who later becomes King Edward VII. 130 years.
4th March 1913 (106 Years)
Woodrow Wilson inaugurated as 28th president of the United States. 110 years.
4th March 1916 (103 Years)
Franz Marc, a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of the German Expressionist movement and a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter, died in France. 100 years.
4th March 1917 (102 Years)
Jeannette Rankin, first woman elected to hold national office in the United States: "I may be the first woman member of Congress but I won’t be the last.". 100 years.
4th March 1917 (102 Years)
Jeannette Rankin, first woman elected to hold national office in the United States: "I may be the first woman member of Congress but I won’t be the last.". 100 years.
4th March 1918 (101 Years)
The USS Cyclops departs from Barbados and is never seen again, lost in the Bermuda Triangle. 100 years.
4th March 1922 (97 Years)
Release of Nosferatu, a German Expressionist horror film, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire Count Orlok. 95 years.
4th March 1932 (87 Years)
Miriam Makeba, South African singer-songwriter, actress, and activist, was born. 85 years.
4th March 1936 (83 Years)
German airship Hindenburg made its first flight. It was destroyed by fire in May 1937. 80 years.
4th March 1952 (67 Years)
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis got married in Los Angeles, California. 65 years.
4th March 1980 (39 Years)
Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister. 35 years.
5th March 1817 (202 Years)
The Rt Hon Sir Austen Henry Layard, English traveller, archaeologist, cuneiformist, art historian, best known as the excavator of Nimrud and Niniveh was born. 200 years.
5th March 1827 (192 Years)
Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist known for inventing the battery, dies. 190 years.
5th March 1850 (169 Years)
The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened. 350 years.
5th March 1868 (151 Years)
Mefistofele, an opera by Arrigo Boito receives its première performance at La Scala. 150 years.
5th March 1936 (83 Years)
The Supermarine Spitfire, the prototype of a British single-seat fighter aircraft took off on its first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport). 80 years.
