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

Historical Events in March 2021

  • Mar 1 Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy is sentenced to three years for trying to bribe a judge

COVID-19 Pandemic

Mar 2 Dolly Parton receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine she gave $1 million to help develop

  • Mar 2 Governors of Texas and Mississippi both announce they are lifting mask mandates and COVID-19 health measures despite CDC warnings of complacency

Event of Interest

Mar 2 Six books by Dr. Seuss will cease publication because of racist and insensitive imagery according to Dr. Seuss Enterprises

  • Mar 3 38 people shot and killed by security forces in anti-coup protests in Myanmar
  • Mar 3 Australian attorney general Christian Porter denies rape allegation involving 16-year-old girl in 1988
  • Mar 3 Great apes at San Diego Zoo reported given experimental COVID-19 vaccine designed for animals after earlier outbreak among the gorillas (San Diego, California) [1]
  • Mar 3 Sarah Everard is kidnapped, raped and murdered by a UK policeman after being arrested under false pretenses in London

COVID-19 Pandemic

Mar 3 US President Joe Biden criticizes lifting of COVID-19 restrictions by Texas and Mississippi as "Neanderthal thinking"

Meeting of Interest

Mar 6 On his first visit to Iraq, Pope Francis meets with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the Shiite cleric's home in Najaf

COVID-19 Pandemic

Mar 6 Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama is vaccinated against COVID-19 in Dharamsala, India and urges others to do so

  • Mar 6 US Senate passes $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill the American Rescue Plan
  • Mar 7 Explosions at a military base in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, likely from faulty storage of dynamite, kills at least 98 and injures over 400 [1]

Sports History

Mar 7 NBA All-Star Game, State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA: Team LeBron beats Team Durant, 170-150; MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks F

Event of Interest

Mar 7 NY Governor Andrew Cuomo says "no way I resign' amid accusations of sexual assault and his office concealing nursing home deaths

Film & TV History

Mar 7 Oprah Winfrey interview with Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex broadcast on CBS, alleges Meaghan was made suicidal and subject to racist treatment by the palace

Event of Interest

Mar 8 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says COVID-9 pandemic has had an "extremely unfair" effect on income and economic opportunities for women

  • Mar 9 Brazil records its highest daily COVID-19 death toll to date of 1,972 deaths with 168,370 deaths overall
  • Mar 9 China and Russia agree to build a research station on or around the Moon and collaborate on lunar missions, in move that could start another space race

Event of Interest

Mar 9 Queen Elizabeth II publicly expresses "concern" after Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex interview, saying allegations including of racism with be dealt with privately

Film & TV History

Mar 9 UK TV host Piers Morgan leaves ITV's "Good Morning" after 41,000 complaints made about him saying he did not believe Meghan, Duchess of Sussex's statement about her mental health

Appointment of Interest

Mar 10 Merrick Garland confirmed as US Attorney General by US Senate

  • Mar 10 Video gaming platform Roblox goes public on the New York Stock Exchange, valued at $45 billion

Event of Interest

Mar 11 British Prince William says the royal family is “very much not a racist family” in first public comments since interview by his brother Harry and wife Meghan

  • Mar 11 Digital art work "Everydays: The First 5,000 Days" a digital college by Beeple, with a non-fungible token, sells for record $69.3 million in online auction by Christie's [1]

Italy Imposes New Restrictions

Mar 12 Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi imposes new COVID restrictions warning of a new wave as cases again exceed 25,000 a day

  • Mar 12 Researchers say world has likely reached 'peak twin' with more twin births than ever before - 1.6 million twins born per year (1 in 42) [1]

Grammy Awards

Mar 14 63rd Grammy Awards: Beyoncé breaks record for most Grammys won by a singer (28), Taylor Swift wins Album of the Year and Billie Eilish Record of the Year

  • Mar 14 Myanmar opposition leader Mahn Win Khaing Than calls for a revolution "This is the darkest moment of the nation and the moment that the dawn is close," as protester death toll over 120
  • Mar 14 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: American Justin Thomas edges Lee Westwood of England by 1 stroke; Thomas wins $2.7m winner's share of the $15m purse
  • Mar 14 UK police officer charged with the death of Sarah Everard, who disappeared walking home in south London, and whose death sparked debate about violence against women
  • Mar 15 Armed attackers kill at least 58 people in the Tillabery region, southwest Niger, government declares three days of mourning
  • Mar 15 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine halted in Germany, France and Italy joining some other countries despite little evidence of unusual blood clotting
  • Mar 15 Deb Haaland confirmed as US Secretary of the Interior by the Senate, 1st Native American to lead a cabinet agency
  • Mar 15 Largest sandstorm in northern China in a decade engulfs Beijing turning air pollution levels hazardous
  • Mar 15 Mass March 4 Justice rallies held across Australia to protest against violence and discrimination towards women
  • Mar 15 Vatican issues judgement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions, that God “does not and cannot bless sin”

Election of Interest

Mar 16 Declassified US intelligence report says Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized efforts to aid re-election of Donald Trump [1]

  • Mar 16 French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal win the Pritzker Prize for architecture
  • Mar 16 Gunman shots and kills eight people at three different spas in Atlanta, Georgia
  • Mar 16 Israeli researchers reveal re-discovery of 2,000 year-old Dead Sea Scrolls, 1st found in 60 years, left by Jews fleeing Romans in "Horror Cave", Israel

America's Cup

Mar 17 America's Cup, Auckland: Emirates Team New Zealand beats Italian yacht Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli by 46s in race 10 for a 7-3 series victory and retain the cup

  • Mar 18 US House Judiciary Committee hearing begins on rise of violence and discrimination against Asian-Americans with report saying 3,800 hate incidents recorded over 12 months [1]
  • Mar 18 US President Joe Biden agrees Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "killer" in ABC News interview. Putin responds "It takes one to know one" a day later.
  • Mar 18 US Senate confirms William Joseph Burns as new CIA Director
  • Mar 19 Icelandic volcano Fagradalsfjall erupts for the first time in 800 years and after more than 50,000 earthquakes
  • Mar 20 Miami Beach imposes a state of emergency and a curfew as large crowds descend on the area for spring break
  • Mar 20 Overseas spectators will not be allowed to attend the Tokyo Summer Olympics due to the pandemic Japanese organizers confirm
  • Mar 20 Severe one-in-a-hundred-year flooding in Sydney and the surrounding state of New South Wales prompts evacuation orders
  • Mar 21 45 crushed to death in a crowd paying respects to the late President John Magufuli at a stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • Mar 22 10 people shot dead at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, by 21 year-old gunman
  • Mar 22 Evanston, Illinois, votes to become first US city to pay reparations to Black residents for past discriminations and effects of slavery, giving $400,000 to each household
  • Mar 22 Sanctions imposed on Chinese officials over rights abuses against Uighurs in China by EU, UK, US and Canada
  • Mar 22 World's largest painting "The Journey of Humanity" by British artist Sacha Jafri sells in Dubai for $62m to raise funds for children's charities

Brazil Battles COVID-19

Mar 23 Brazil's daily COVID-19 death toll passes 3,000 (3,251) for the first time (298,676 total deaths reported) as country's Supreme Court blocks President Jair Bolsonaro overturning local restrictions [1]

  • Mar 23 Cargo ship Ever Given gets stuck in the Suez Canal, Egypt, a 400m megaship it completely blocks the shipping canal

Event of Interest

Mar 23 First ever tweet by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey "just setting up my twttr" sells for $2.9 million in digitally autographed version

  • Mar 25 Renaissance masterpiece The Ghent Altarpiece (1432) by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck goes on display, after seven-year restoration, in Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium [1]
  • Mar 25 Republican-led Georgia State Senate passes restrictive changes to state voting. President Joe Biden calls it "Jim Crow in the 21st Century" and "a blatant attack on the Constitution".
  • Mar 25 US President Joe Biden announces a new goal of 200 million vaccinations in his administration's first 100 days (previously 100 million)
  • Mar 26 Scotland beats France 27-23 at Saint-Denis to confirm Wales' 28th Six-Nations Rugby Championship title; Welsh also claim Triple Crown
  • Mar 27 114 people including children killed in one day by armed forces in Myanmar, with more than 420 killed since protests began against the military coup [1]
  • Mar 27 Iran and China sign major agreement guaranteeing Chinese investment of $400 billion and Iranian oil supply in return in Tehran [1]
  • Mar 27 Militants attack the town of Palma, northern Mozambique, killing dozens in an escalation of violence in the area
  • Mar 28 Mexico revises its COVID-19 death toll up by 60% to more than 321,000 giving it the second highest COVID death toll in the world [1]
  • Mar 29 Megaship Ever Given freed after nearly a week stuck in and blocking the Suez Canal, with at least 369 vessels waiting to pass though

Murder of Interest

Mar 29 Trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd begins in Minneapolis

  • Mar 31 Alfred Aho and Jeffrey Ullman win computing's Turing Award for their work inventing computer program compilers

Event of Interest

Mar 31 French President Emmanuel Macron announces a new pandemic lockdown, closing schools for three weeks with new national restrictions

  • Mar 31 New York state legalizes recreational use of marijuana in legislation signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo (sales not legal for 18 months)

Music History

Mar 31 Paul Simon sells his entire songwriting catalog of over 400 songs to Sony Music Publishing for an undisclosed sum

  • Mar 31 US President Joe Biden overturns Trump's restrictions on transgender people serving in the armed forces
  • Mar 31 US President Joe Biden unveils " the American Jobs Plan" one of the largest infrastructure plans in US history- worth $2 trillion