March 7, 1936: Germany violated the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Pact under the authority of Adolf Hitler.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Allied Nations and Germany in 1919 and formally ended World War I. Under the treaty, the German territory known as the Rhineland, which bordered France, Belgium and the Netherlands, was demilitarized. The Locarno Pact was made in 1925 as a guarantee of peace between European powers. Adolf Hitler violated both in 1936 when he sent German troops into the Rhineland as a prologue to his invasions of Austria and Poland. 

March 8, 1892: Uruguayan Poet Juana de Ibarbourou was born.

Juana de Ibarbourou’s poetry mostly focused on love and nature. She was known for the erotic, passionate works of her youth as well as her later works, which drew on her life experiences to comment on age, despair and loss. Ibarbourou passed away in 1976 at age 84. She is remembered as one of Latin America’s greatest writers. 

March 9, 141 BCE: Emperor Wu of Han ascended to the throne of China.

Emperor Wu of Han, also known as Wudi, was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty, ruling from 141 BCE to 87 BCE after ascending to the throne at age 15. He is remembered as one of ancient China’s greatest rulers, best known for his expansion of Chinese territory and foreign influence, as well as for sponsoring Confucianism. The Han Dynasty went on to govern China until its fall in 220 CE. 

March 10, 1913: Abolitionist Harriet Tubman died.

Harriet Tubman’s exact birthdate is unknown, as she was born into slavery on a plantation in Maryland. The general consensus is that she died at around 90 years of age, surrounded by friends and family. During the American Civil War, Tubman was a part of the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom in the northern United States — as she did in 1849. Her work with the Underground Railroad was perilous and exhausting, yet she led an estimated 100 to 300 people to freedom. She is remembered as a hero and African-American icon. 

March 11, 1426 BCE: Pharaoh Thutmose III died.

Thutmose III was king of Egypt from around 1479 to 1426 BCE and is remembered as one of Ancient Egypt’s most legendary Pharaohs. During his reign, he led military campaigns that greatly expanded the territory and power of Egypt. He sponsored the building of many temples and monuments essential to archeologists today. Thutmose III is also remembered for his hatred of his predecessor Hatshepsut, Egypt’s only female Pharaoh, and for attempting to destroy all evidence of her reign and existence. 

March 12, 1946: American Star Liza Minnelli was born.

Liza Minnelli was born to Judy Garland and Vicente Minnelli on March 12, 1946. She went on to lead a spectacular career as an actress, singer and dancer. A star of the stage and the screen, she is perhaps best known for her role in the 1972 film “Cabaret.” Minnelli most recently appeared at the 2022 Academy Awards. She is among the few artists awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

March 13, 1781: Astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus.

William Herschel was an 18th-century German-born British astronomer. King George III of Britain appointed him court astronomer following his discovery of the seventh planet, Uranus. Originally, Herschel believed he was observing a comet, but after identifying it as a planet, he sought to name it after George III. However, the planet was named Uranus after the Greek god of the sky — the only planet besides Earth to not be named after a Roman deity.

March 14, 1879: Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born.

Albert Einstein was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Ulm, Germany, which was then part of the Kingdom of Wurttemberg in the German Empire. Einstein’s work in relativity and quantum mechanics was essential to the development of modern physics. He is perhaps best known for his General Theory of Relativity and his mass-energy equivalence formula, E=mc^2. However, Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the photoelectric effect. He passed away on April 18, 1955, in Princeton, New Jersey, where he had lived since becoming a U.S. citizen in 1940.