4 March 1764

A Sunday in history

Weekday

Sunday

Season

Spring (N. Hemisphere)

Century

18th century

Records

679

  1. 2017

    Construction began on a 69-metre (226 ft) statue of the Buddha at Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen in Bangkok.

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  2. 2012

    A series of blasts occurred at an arms dump in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, killing at least 300 people and injuring 2,500 others.

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  3. 2009

    President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan was indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the War in Darfur.

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  4. 2007

    Fourteen-year-old English schoolgirl Charlotte Shaw drowned on Dartmoor, becoming the first person to die in connection with the annual Ten Tors challenge.

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  5. 2000

    Playstation 2 was released in Japan.

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  6. 1990

    College basketball player Hank Gathers died after collapsing during a West Coast Conference tournament semifinal game in Los Angeles.

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  7. 1987

    U.S. president Ronald Reagan made a nationally televised address in which he accepted full responsibility for illegal actions in the Iran–Contra affair.

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  8. 1979

    The space probe Voyager 1 discovered the rings of Jupiter, the third ring system to be discovered in the Solar System, after those of Saturn and Uranus.

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  9. 1966

    During an interview, John Lennon of the Beatles argued that the band had become "more popular than Jesus".

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  10. 1944

    Murder, Inc. leader Lepke Buchalter was executed, becoming the only American mob boss to receive the death penalty after being convicted of murder.

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  11. 1943

    The Holocaust: Almost all Jews in Bulgarian-occupied Western Thrace were deported to Treblinka extermination camp to be killed.

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  12. 1941

    Second World War: British Commandos successfully executed a raid on the Lofoten Islands in German-occupied Norway.

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  13. 1933

    Frances Perkins was appointed United States Secretary of Labor, making her the first female member of the Cabinet.

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  14. 1918

    The United States Navy suffered its largest non-combat loss of life when the collier USS Cyclops set sail from Barbados to Baltimore and was never seen again, presumably disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle.

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  15. 1918

    A case of influenza was recorded at Camp Funston, Kansas, United States, conventionally marking the beginning of the Spanish flu pandemic.

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  16. 1899

    Cyclone Mahina struck Bathurst Bay, Queensland, killing more than 300 people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in Australian history.

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  17. 1890

    The Forth Bridge, a railway bridge connecting Edinburgh to Fife over the Firth of Forth, opened, eventually becoming an internationally recognised Scottish landmark.

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  18. 1848

    King Charles Albert of Sardinia signs the Statuto Albertino, which would later serve as the constitution for the Kingdom of Italy.

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  19. 1837

    Chicago was incorporated as a city.

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  20. 1824

    The Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the British Isles, was founded as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck by author and philanthropist William Hillary.

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  21. 1804

    Irish convicts formerly involved at the Battle of Vinegar Hill during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 began an uprising against British colonial authorities in New South Wales, Australia.

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  22. 1776

    American Revolutionary War: Using artillery transported from Ticonderoga, the Continental Army occupied Dorchester Heights, forcing the British to abandon Boston two weeks later.

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  23. 1773

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart departed Italy after the last of his three journeys there.

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  24. 1681

    King Charles II of England granted Quaker William Penn a charter for the Pennsylvania Colony.

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  25. 1675

    John Flamsteed (pictured) was appointed the first Astronomer Royal by King Charles II of England.

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  26. 1461

    Wars of the Roses: Henry VI, the Lancastrian king of England, was deposed by his Yorkist cousin, who succeeded him as Edward IV.

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  27. 1386

    Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, was crowned King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło (pictured), beginning the Jagiellonian dynasty.

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  28. 852

    Trpimir I, the founder of the Trpimirović dynasty of Croatia, issued a document that contains the first known use of the name Croats.

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  29. 306

    Roman Herculian guard Adrian of Nicomedia, who had converted to Christianity after being impressed with the faith of Christians that he had been torturing, was martyred.

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Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.

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