Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

Historical Events in March 2005

The Massacre

Mar 3 American rapper 50 Cent releases his album “The Massacre” (2005 Billboard Album of the Year, Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album 2006)

  • Mar 3 Mayerthorpe Incident: James Roszko murders four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables during a drug bust in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then commits suicide. Deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 North-West Rebellion.
  • Mar 3 Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the world solo without any stops without refueling - a journey of 40,234 km/25,000 mi completed in 67 hours and 2 minutes.
  • Mar 4 The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by US soldiers in Iraq, causing the death of an Italian Secret Service Agent and injuring two passengers.
  • Mar 4 United Nations warns that about 90 million Africans could be infected by HIV in the future without further action against the spread of the disease.
  • Mar 5 The Burkinabé Party for Democracy and Socialism holds its first National Convention.
  • Mar 7 Mass protest outside the National Assembly of Kuwait building for women's voting rights in Kuwait
  • Mar 11 Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, co-founder of the Cali Cartel, is extradited to the United States
  • Mar 12 26th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: Syracuse beats West Virginia, 68-59
  • Mar 12 Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, steps down from his post after his resignation is approved by the Chinese central government.
  • Mar 13 46th SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Florida beats Kentucky, 70-53
  • Mar 13 52nd ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: #3 Duke beats Georgia Tech, 69-64

Film & TV History

Mar 13 Bob Iger is named CEO of Walt Disney International, succeeding Michael Eisner

  • Mar 13 Terry Ratzmann shoots and kills six members of the Living Church of God and the minister at Sheraton Inn in Brookfield, Wisconsin before killing himself.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Mar 14 20th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Buddy Guy; The O'Jays; The Pretenders; Percy Sledge; U2; Frank Barsalona; and Seymour Stein

  • Mar 14 Cedar Revolution, where over a million Lebanese march in the streets of Beirut to demonstrate against the Syrian military presence in Lebanon, and against the government, following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
  • Mar 16 Israel officially hands over Jericho to Palestinian control.

Music Premiere

Mar 17 John Du Prez and Eric Idle's musical "Spamalot", based on the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," and starring Tim Curry and David Hyde Pierce, opens at the Shubert Theatre, NYC; runs for 1575 performances, winning 3 Tony Awards

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody

Mar 18 "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" premieres on the Disney Channel, starring Dylan and Cole Sprouse

  • Mar 18 Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is removed at the request of her husband
  • Mar 19 Wales beats Ireland, 32-20 at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to win the Six Nations Rugby Championship and become the 1st team to complete a Grand Slam playing more games away than at home
  • Mar 20 A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits Fukuoka, Japan, its first major quake in over 100 years. One person is killed, hundreds are injured and evacuated.
  • Mar 23 Major explosion and fire at the BP's Texas City Refinery kills 15 workers in Texas City, Texas
  • Mar 23 The United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube

The Office

Mar 24 US version of "The Office" created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, developed by Greg Daniels, starring Steve Carell and John Krasinski premieres on NBC

  • Mar 25 36th NAACP Image Awards: "Ray" wins Outstanding Motion Picture

Doctor Who

Mar 26 "Doctor Who" returns to BBC TV after 16 years with the debut of Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose

  • Mar 26 The Taiwanese government calls on 1 million Taiwanese to demonstrate in Taipei, in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China. Around 200,000 to 300,000 attend the walk.

Golf Major

Mar 27 Kraft Nabisco Championship Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Annika Sörenstam of Sweden wins event for the 3rd time, 8 strokes ahead of American Rosie Jones

Grey's Anatomy

Mar 27 TV medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" created by Shonda Rhimes starring Ellen Pompeo and Sandra Oh debuts on ABC

PGA Players Championship

Mar 28 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: 48-year old Fred Funk becomes oldest event winner, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Luke Donald, Tom Lehman, and Scott Verplank

  • Mar 28 The 2005 Sumatran earthquake rocks Indonesia, and at magnitude 8.7 is the second strongest earthquake since 1960.

We Belong Together

Mar 29 "We Belong Together" single is released by Mariah Carey (Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance 2006, Billboard Song of the Year 2005)