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March
1 March 2005 — In a major capital punishment case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to execute convicts who were under age 18 at the time of their crimes.
2 March 1986 — The Queen signed the Australia Act in Canberra. The Act resolved the anomalous power of the United Kingdom's parliament to legislate over the individual Australian states, a power that it had exercised since colonial times.
3 March 1284 — The Statute of Rhuddlan (also known as the Statutes of Wales) was enacted 'On This Day'. It introduced the English common law system to Wales, allowing the King to appoint royal officials such as sheriffs, coroners and bailiffs to collect taxes and administer justice.
3 March 1284 — The Statute of Rhuddlan (also known as the Statutes of Wales) was enacted 'On This Day'. It introduced the English common law system to Wales, allowing the King to appoint royal officials such as sheriffs, coroners and bailiffs to collect taxes and administer justice.
4 March 1681 — King Charles II granted a Royal Charter to William Penn, entitling him to establish a colony in North America called Pennsylvania.
5 March 1133 — The birth of King Henry II, who was to become the first Plantagenet king of England.
6 March 1957 — Ghana became independent, the first British colony to do so, under the Ghana Independence Act 1957.
7 March 1876 — Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone. Check out the patent here.
8 March 1701 — Anne ascended the British throne, the last Stuart monarch of Great Britain, having earlier accepted the Act of Settlement 1701
9 March 1841 — US Supreme Court ruled in favour of the slavery victims in the Armistad case.
10 March 1931 — Nevada legalised gambling, through the Assembly Bill 98, which paved the way for what became Las Vegas.
11 March 1907 — Lord Wilberforce was born. He was the great-great-grandson of the abolitionist William Wilberforce. You might know him from Anne v Merton London Borough Council [1978] AC 728 where a two-stage test was developed to establish duty of care in negligence.
12 March 1933 — American lawyer Janet Reno was sworn in as U.S attorney general, becoming the first woman to hold the office.
13 March 1764 — The Birth of Charles Earl Grey, british PM. He is linked with the Earl Grey tea, after a blended tea was supplied to him as a gift and the sample was copied.
14 March 1964 — The first courtroom verdict televised in the US was aired, featuring the sentencing of the killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of U.S President John F. Kennedy
15 March 1672 — Charles II enacted ‘Declaration of Indulgence’, the first step at establishing freedom of religion in England. The following year the Cavalier Parliament compelled him to withdraw it. When his successor, James II, attempted a similar declaration, it led to the Glorious Revolution.
17 March 1766 — Parliament in London votes to repeal the controversial Stamp Act in an attempt to stifle rebellion in the American colonies – “Taxation without representation is tyranny”
16 March 1935 — The first driving test pass slip was presented to Mr. R. Beene of Kensington, a pupil of the British School of Motoring. Tests were introduced on a voluntary basis and became compulsory in June under the Road Traffic Act 1934.
18 March 1949 — NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was proposed. The aim was to safeguard the freedom and security of its 26 member countries.
19 March 1649 — House of Commons passed an act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it ‘useless and dangerous to the people of England’
20 March 1653 — Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, dissolves the Long Parliament.
21 March 1804— Napoleonic Code comes into effect.
22 March 1824 — The British Parliament voted to purchase 38 paintings at a cost of £57,000, to establish a national collection which is now housed in the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London.
23 March 2020 — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation and told them they were only permitted to leave their homes for essential needs, in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
24 March 1603 — Crowns of England and Scotland were united when King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne.
25 March 1807 — The Slave Trade Act receives Royal Assent, brining an end to the slave trade. The 1833 Slavery Abolition Act outlawed slavery itself throughout the British Empire but slaves did not gain their final freedom until 1838.
26 March 1973 — Women stockbroker were allowed, for the first time in its 200 year history, on the floor of the London Stock Exchange.
27 March 1871 — First international rugby match, played by Scotland and England. Set a precedent for the formalisation and regulation of international sports.
28 March 1800 — The Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union with England. They formed a single kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and lasted until 1922.
29 March 2014 — Same sex weddings in England and Wales became legal, following the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
30 March 1775 — British parliament passed an act forbidding its North American colonies from trading with anyone other than Britain.
31 March 1924 — The First British National Airline, Imperial Airways, was founded at Croydon Airport.