March 1: Ash Wednesday in Western Christianity ( 2006); Saint David's Day in Wales, Mărţişor in Romania and Moldova, Martenitsa in Bulgaria.

• 1872 - Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, was established.
• 1896 - Ethiopia won the decisive Battle of Adowa over Italy, ending the First Italo-Abyssinian War.
• 1919 - Korea under Japanese rule: The Samil Movement began with numerous peaceful protests in Korea, but was brutally suppressed by the Japanese police and army.
• 1947 - The International Monetary Fund began its financial operations.
• 1954 - The 15- megaton hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo was detonated (pictured) on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in one of the worst cases of radioactive contamination ever caused by nuclear testing.

Recent days: February 28 – February 27 – February 26