17th Soul Train Music Awards
Mar 1 17th Soul Train Music Awards: LL Cool J, Mariah Carey & Nelly win
- Mar 1 Legendary Mount St. Mary's basketball head coach Jim Phelan wins final game of 49 year career as Mountaineers win 60-56 over Central Connecticut State; Phelan: 830 wins in NCAA record 1,354 games
- Mar 1 Management of the United States Customs Service and the United States Secret Service move to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
- Mar 1 Nashville's Barry Trotz sets NHL record for most games coached with an expansion team from inception as Predators score a 5-4 OT win over Chicago; his 392nd game, passing Terry Crisp (391 with Tampa Bay)
- Mar 1 World light heavyweight boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. wins a unanimous decision against champion John Ruiz to capture the WBA heavyweight crown in Las Vegas
Alinghi win the America's Cup
Mar 2 America's Cup, Auckland: Swiss yacht Alinghi beats Team New Zealand by 0.44s to sweep series, 5-0; Alinghi's Russell Coutts wins last 14 America's Cup races he's competed in as skipper; most in history
- Mar 2 Fast bowler Andy Bichel takes career best 7 for 20 as Australia beats England by 2 wickets in a Cricket World Cup match in Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Australia unbeaten in record 12 ODI games
- Mar 2 The first International Symposium on Taiwan Sign Language Linguistics is held at Chung Cheng University.
- Mar 5 In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed by a Hamas suicide bomb in the Haifa bus 37 massacre.
- Mar 8 34th NAACP Image Awards: "Antwone Fisher" wins Outstanding Motion Picture
- Mar 10 "My Front Porch Looking In" single released by Lonestar (Billboard Song of the Year 2003)
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Mar 10 18th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: AC/DC; The Clash; Elvis Costello and the Attractions; The Police; The Righteous Brothers; Benny Benjamin; Floyd Cramer; Steve Douglas; and Mo Ostin
- Mar 11 Nicholas Winton (93), former British stockbroker who helped 669 young Jews flee Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Nazi invasion in 1939, receives knighthood from Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace
- Mar 11 The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague.
- Mar 12 Elizabeth Smart found after having been missing for 9 months.
- Mar 12 Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade.
- Mar 13 The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human have been found in Italy
- Mar 14 Start of weekend of protests against war in Iraq that are attended by millions
- Mar 15 24th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: Pittsburgh beats Connecticut, 74-56
Election of Interest
Mar 15 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan becomes Prime Minister of Turkey after his political ban is lifted and he enters parliament by winning a by-election
- Mar 16 44th SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Mississippi State, 64-57
- Mar 16 50th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: #12 Duke beats NC State, 84-77
- Mar 16 The largest coordinated worldwide vigil takes place, as part of the global protests against Iraq war.
- Mar 17 British Cabinet Minister Robin Cook, resigns over government plans for the war with Iraq.
- Mar 18 British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language
- Mar 18 FBI agents raid the corporate headquarters of HealthSouth Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama on suspicion of massive corporate fraud led by the company's top executives.
Invasion of Iraq
Mar 19 Airstrikes by an American and British-led coalition signal the beginning of the Invasion of Iraq, without United Nations support and in defiance of world opinion
Iraqi History
Mar 20 A US-led coalition launches a ground invasion of Iraq after an ultimatum for Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq expires
- Mar 22 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards: "Swept Away" wins
75th Academy Awards
Mar 23 75th Academy Awards: "Chicago" (Best Picture), Adrien Brody (Best Actor - "The Piano") & Nicole Kidman (Best Actress - "The Hours") win
Cricket World Cup
Mar 23 Cricket World Cup, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, RSA: Ricky Ponting scores 140 no as defending champions Australia beat India by 125 runs; Sachin Tendulkar, Player of Series
- Mar 23 ICC Men's Cricket ODI World Cup, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa: Australia retain trophy with 125 run win over India; Player of the Match: Ricky Ponting (AUS) 140 no (121)
- Mar 23 In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company as well as 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom
- Mar 24 The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
Rules of Travel
Mar 25 Capitol/Nashville Records releases "Rules of Travel", the tenth studio album by singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash; produced by husband John Leventhal, it includes a duet with her father Johnny Cash
- Mar 28 In a "friendly fire" incident, two US A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 190th Fighter Squadron attack British tanks participating in the invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull
Sports History
Mar 30 In a final match decider, England beats Ireland 42-6 in Dublin to complete a Grand Slam and win the Six Nations Rugby Championship; Jonny Wilkinson kicks 3 conversions, a penalty and 2 dropped goals for England
Golf Major
Mar 30 Kraft Nabisco Championship Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Patricia Meunier-Lebouc of France wins her only major title, 1 stroke ahead of the 2-time defending champion Annika Sörenstam of Sweden
PGA Players Championship
Mar 30 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Davis Love III shoots a final round 64 to win his 2nd Players title, 6 strokes ahead of runners-up Jay Haas and Pádraig Harrington
WrestleMania
Mar 30 WrestleMania XIX, Safeco Field, Seattle, WA (54,097): Brock Lesnar wins WWE Heavyweight Championship against Kurt Angle
Sports History
Mar 31 Cincinnati Reds open their new home, The Great American Ball Park, with a 10-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates; former President George H. W. Bush throws first ceremonial pitch
Authors
Civil Rights Activists
Inventors
Kings
Revolutionaries
Scientists