1756 – St. Patrick’s Day is first celebrated in New York City at the Crown & Thistle Tavern.
1845 – Bristol man Henry Jones patents self-rising flour.
1868 – Postage stamp canceling machine patent issued.
1898 – John Philip Holland achieves successful test run from the first modern submarine of Staten Island, submerging for 1 hour 40 minutes.
1926 – Richard Rogers & L Hart’s musical “Girl Friend” premieres in NYC.
1929 – General Motors acquires German auto manufacturer Adam Opel.
1956 – 8th Emmy Awards: “Ed Sullivan Show”, Phil Silvers Show & Lucy Ball win.
1960 – US President Eisenhower forms anti-Castro-exile army under the CIA.
1961 – NY DA arrest professional gamblers who implicate Seton Hall players.
1963 – Boston Celtic guard, Bob Cousy plays his last NBA game.
1983 – 70th hat trick in Islander history-Mike Bossy.
1987 – IBM releases PC-DOS version 3.3.
1988 – Highest scoring NCAA basketball game: Loyola-Marymont 119, Wyoming 115.
1991 – New Jersey raises turnpike tolls 70%.
1993 – 19th People’s Choice Awards: Kevin Costner & Demi Moore win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Tim Allen & Candice Bergen win (TV).
1995 – US approves 1st chicken pox vaccine, Varivax by Merck & Co.
2001 – OPEC decides to cut output by 4% or 1 million barrels per day, effective April 1.
2008 – New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer resigns after a scandal involving a high-end prostitute. David Paterson becomes acting New York governor.
2012 – MESSENGER spacecraft begins its extended mission.
2017 – Live-action remake “Beauty and the Beast” directed by Bill Cordon and starring Emma Watson opens.