1575– Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi. 1857– Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China . 1861– Alexander II of Russia signs the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs and granting them the full rights of free citizens. 1887– Anne Sullivan begins teaching 6-year-old blind-deaf Helen Keller. 1915 – Director D.W. Griffith’s controversial Civil War epic The Birth of a Nation opens in New York City on March 3, 1915, a few weeks after its West Coast premiere in Los Angeles. 1917– 1st major strike of the Russian “February Revolution” starts at the giant Putilov factory in Petrograd. 1918 – Bolshevik Russia signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers, abandoning the Allied war effort and granting independence to its Polish and Baltic territories, the Ukraine, and Finland. 1921– Toronto’s Dr Banting & Dr Best announce the discovery of insulin. 1923 – The first issue of the American weekly newsmagazine Time was published. 1939– Mahatma Gandhi begins a fast in Mumbai (Bombay) to protest against the autocratic rule in India. 1943– Battle of the Bismarck Sea: Australian and American air forces devastate Japanese navy convoy. 1945 – Finland, under increasing pressure from both the United States and the Soviet Union, finally declares war on its former partner, Germany. 1991– Los Angeles police officers severely beat motorist Rodney King, the beating is famously captured on amateur video and later leads to riots when the police officers are acquitted. 2005– American adventurer Steve Fossett became the first person to complete a solo nonstop circumnavigation of the globe without refuelling when he landed in Kansas after more than 67 hours in flight.
Births & Deaths: 1911 – American actress Jean Harlow, who was considered the original “Blonde Bombshell,” was born. 1996 – Marguerite Duras—one of the leading figures of the French post–war literary scene who frequently wrote about obsession and impossible love—died in Paris. 2012 – American conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie—who contributed to a number of classic movies, notably helping to create the appearance of Darth Vader in the Star Wars series—died in Berkeley, California.
Music: 1875– Georges Bizet’s last and greatest opera “Carmen” premieres in Paris.
Film: 1985– “Moonlighting” with Cybill Shepard & Bruce Willis premieres on ABC TV in the US.
