On March 3, 1831, George M. Pullman, the Chicago railroad-car magnate, was born in Brocton, N.Y.
In 1837 Congress increased the membership of the U.S. Supreme Court from seven to nine justices.
In 1851 $250 was appropriated for President Millard Fillmore to buy books to start a White House library.
In 1875 “Carmen,” the opera by Georges Bizet, premiered in Paris.
In 1885 the Post Office began offering special delivery for first-class mail.
In 1931 “The Star-Spangled Banner” was formally designated the national anthem.
In 1962 Olympic track and field medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee was born in East St. Louis, Ill.
In 1981 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, while mathemathical formulas and computer programs cannot be patented, manufacturing processes that rely on them can be.
In 1985, after a year on strike, British coal miners returned to work, ending the longest and most violent walkout in the nation’s history.
In 1986 Illinois celebrated Casimir Pulaski Day as a holiday for the first time.
In 1987 comedian Danny Kaye died in Los Angeles at the age of 74.
In 1991 Allied military commanders met with Iraqi commanders to arrange the terms for a formal cease-fire in the Persian Gulf war.
In 1992 an underground coal mine explosion in Kozlu, Turkey, claimed 270 lives.
In 1993 Dr. Albert Sabin, the inventor of the oral polio vaccine, died in Washington at 86.
In 1998 Larry Doby, the former White Sox outfielder and manager, was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by its veterans committee. Also in 1998 former CBS News President Fred Friendly died at age 82 in New York.
