NOW & THEN
MARCH 3
1802: Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was published.
1813: Britain signed Treaty of Stockholm with Sweden, which agreed to supply army in return for British subsidies and promised not to oppose union with Norway.
1842: Mendelssohn’s third (“Scottish”) Symphony, inspired during a walk through the ruins of Holyrood Chapel at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, premiered in Leipzig Gewandhaus.
1857: The United Kingdom and France declared war on China (the Second Opium War).
1875: The first performance of Bizet’s Carmen took place in Paris. The audience jeered Bizet as he fled from the theatre, and critics dubbed it “painful, noisy, blatant” and “eminently repulsive”. Bizet died, broken-hearted, three months later.
1875: The first recorded indoor ice hockey match took place at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal, Canada, between two teams made up of members of the Victoria Skating club, using a wooden puck.
1891: The penalty kick was introduced into the rules of Association Football, but didn’t come into effect until the start of the following season when, on August 22, Alex Mccall of Renton FC scored the first-ever penalty against Leith Athletic.
1894: Gladstone resigned as prime minister, and Lord Rosebery took over. Gladstone had seen his Home Rule Bill for Ireland rejected by a majority of 378 in the House of Lords.
1923: The first issue of Time magazine was published.
1931: The Star Spangled Banner, written by Francis Scott Key, was designated the US national anthem by Act of Congress.
1943: 173 people, including 62 children, died in a crush on stairs at Bethnal Green Tube station in London when people rushed to enter the station after an air raid warning. News of the tragedy was not released at the time because it was felt that it would affect war-time morale.
1969: Apollo 9 spacecraft launched, with James Mcdivitt, David Scott and Russell Schweickart aboard.
1982: The Barbican Arts Centre in London opened.
1986: Protestant militants went on car-burning rampage in Belfast in protest against Britishirish Agreement.
1988: Political clashes left 11 people dead and more than 300 injured in Bangladesh as accusations of vote fraud marred elections.
1991: Latvians and Estonians voted in favour of independence from the Soviet Union.
2002: Switzerland voted in favour of becoming a member of the United Nations.
2004: Belgian brewer Interbrew and Brazilian rival Ambev agreed to merge in a $11.2 billion deal that formed Inbev, the world’s largest brewer.
2005: Steve Fossett became the first person to fly an aeroplane non-stop around the world solo without refuelling.
2009: Masked gunmen attacked a convoy carrying Sri Lanka’s cricket team in the city of Lahore, killing six policemen escorting the Sri Lankans and a driver, and wounding seven players and an assistant coach.