On this date

1784 — John Wesley, the co-founder of Methodism, chartered the first Methodist Church in the United States in Leesburg, Virginia. 1844 — A 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded as the ship was sailing on the Potomac River, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur, Navy Secretary Thomas W. Gilmer and several others. 1861 — The Territory of Colorado was organized. 1917 — The Associated Press reported that the United States had obtained a diplomatic communication sent by German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann to a German official in Mexico proposing a German alliance with Mexico and Japan should the U.S. enter World War I. (Outrage over the telegram helped propel America into the conflict.) 1942 — The heavy cruiser USS Houston and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth were attacked by Japanese forces during the World War II Battle of Sunda Strait; both were sunk shortly after midnight on March 1 with a total loss of more than 1,000 men. 1953 — Scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick announced they had discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. 1958 — A school bus clipped a truck near Prestonburg, Kentucky, and plunged down an embankment into the Big Sandy River; 22 children managed to escape, but 26 other children and the bus driver drowned. 1960 — A day after defeating the Soviets at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California, the United States won its first Olympic hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia, 9-4. 1975 — Forty-two people were killed in London’s Underground when a train smashed into the end of a tunnel. 1988 — The 15th Olympic Winter Games held its closing ceremony in Calgary, Canada. 1996 — Britain’s Princess Diana agreed to divorce Prince Charles. (Their 15-year marriage officially ended in August 1996; Diana died in a car crash in Paris a year after that.)