TODAY IN HISTORY - MARCH 2ND

1717 – The Loves of Mars and Venus is the first ballet performed in England.

1793 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863) is born.

1807 – The U.S. Congress passes the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, disallowing the importation of new slaves into the country.

1836 – Texas Revolution: Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.

1877 – U.S. presidential election, 1876: Just two days before inauguration, the U.S. Congress declares Rutherford B. Hayes the winner of the election even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote on November 7, 1876.

1901 – United States Steel Corporation is founded as a result of a merger between Carnegie Steel Company and Federal Steel Company which became the first corporation in the world with a market capital over $1 billion.

1903 – In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women.

1904 – Dr. Seuss, American author, poet, and illustrator (d. 1991) is born.

1909 – Mel Ott, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 1958) is born.

1917 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1986) is born.

1930 – D. H. Lawrence, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1885) dies.

1931 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, President of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate is born.

1931 – Tom Wolfe, American journalist and author is born.

1933 – The film King Kong opens at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

1942 – John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter is born.

1942 – Lou Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Velvet Underground and Metal Machine Trio) (d. 2013) is born.

1943 – Peter Straub, American novelist and poet is born.

1949 – Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.

1949 – The first automatic street light is installed in New Milford, Connecticut.

1950 – Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (The Carpenters) (d. 1983) is born.

1962 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Bon Jovi) is born.

1962 – Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association by scoring 100 points.

1977 – Chris Martin, English singer-songwriter and producer (Coldplay) is born.

1982 – Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers all-pro quarterback is born.

1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. They had previously been available only in Japan.

2002 – U.S. invasion of Afghanistan: Operation Anaconda begins, (ending on March 19 after killing 500 Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with 11 Western troop fatalities).

2012 – A tornado outbreak occurred over a large section of the Southern United States and into the Ohio Valley region, resulting in 40 tornado-related fatalities.