2 March 1918 (France): Lloyd Andrews Hamilton becomes the first American to receive a commission in the British Royal Flying Corps when he is assigned as Lieutenant with No. 3 Squadron in France.

2 March 1933 (USA): Kohler Aviation Corporation extends airmail service from Muskegon, Michigan, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2 March 1933 (USA): Northwest Airways, Inc., extends airmail service from Bismarck, North Dakota, to Billings, Montana.

2 March 1936 (Germany): During spin testing, the Heinkel He.112-V2 prototype crashes.

2 March 1940 (UK/France): The United Kingdom and France promise to send 100 bombers with crews and bombs to assist Finland at once, but do not follow through on the promise.

2 March 1943 (South Pacific): In the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, U. S. Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force aircraft attack a convoy of eight Japanese cargo ships escorted by eight destroyers carrying troops from Rabaul, New Britain, to Lae, New Guinea, as it transits an unnamed body of water soon to be named the Bismarck Sea. For the loss of five aircraft, they sink all eight cargo ships and four of the destroyers, damage the other four destroyers, and shoot down 20 to 30 Japanese fighters attempting to provide air defense. About 3,000 Japanese troops are killed.

2 March 1945 (Philippines): United States airborne troops recapture Corregidor in the Philippines.

2 March 1949 (Global Flight): Commanded by Capt. James G. Gallagher, the crew of 14 aboard the Strategic Air Command Boeing B-50A Superfortress ‘Lucky Lady II’ of the Forty-third Bombardment Group, USAF, completes the first nonstop round-the-world flight of 94 hours 1 min. Flying a distance of 23,452 miles the Boeing B-50A is refueled four times by Boeing KB-29 tankers before landing back at Carswell AFB, Texas.

2 March 1944 (Italy): The Allied air forces make their largest attacks of the Anzio campaign, with 241 Consolidated B-24 Liberators and 100 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses escorted by 113 Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and 63 Republic P-47 Thunderbolts dropping thousands of fragmentation bombs around Castello di Cisterna, Velletri, and Carroceto, Italy. Almost the same number of Allied medium and light bombers and fighter-bombers strike German tanks, artillery positions, and assembly areas around the Anzio beachhead, especially along the Castello di Cisterna-Campoleone highway.

2 March 1949 (USA): Two USMC Reserve Grumman F6F-5N Hellcats (BuNo. 94202, c/n A-11954, ’WF 9’, and BuNo. 94182, ’WF 14’), out of MCAS El Toro, crash into the 9,500 foot level of the south slope of Mt. Baldy, in Southern California. Wreckage discovered on 6 March. Also this date, Vought F4U-4B Corsair (BuNo 97448, ’AB 16’), is reported missing since 1430 hrs., last reporting in that it was near Santa Cruz Island. Its wreckage and the body of its dead pilot are found on the island on 5 March.

2 March 1951 (North Korea): U. S. Navy Douglas AD Skyraiders of Attack Squadron 195 (VA-195) from the aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CV-37) begin a lengthy series of raids against a railroad bridge across a deep ravine south of Kilchu, Korea. By the time the raids end in early April, the bridge will have been destroyed and enemy attempts to repair it will have been defeated.

2 March 1953 (France): First flight of the SNCASO SO.9000 Trident was a mixed power French prototype interceptor aircraft of the 1950s. Capable of supersonic flight the project was cancelled in July 1957 after only 12 examples had been built.

2 March 1954 (Pacific Ocean): McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee loses partial power while in landing pattern for the USS Oriskany (CV-34), dropping below glide path. Unable to boost the jet back on slope, the Banshee suffers ramp strike, fuselage breaks in two, fuel tanks erupt in orange fireball, aft end of plane falls into the sea, forward fuselage and cockpit rolls down deck, pilot miraculously surviving unhurt.

2 March 1955 (France): First flight of the Dassault Super Mystère single-engine single-seat swept low-wing supersonic fighter/bomber.

2 March 1956 (France): Four members of the RCAF Sky Lancers Aerobatic Team killed in crash of their Canadair F-86 Sabres at Strasbourg, France.

2 March 1963 (Canada): 439 and 441 Squadrons became the last Air Div units to reform on Lockheed CF-104 Starfighters. Eight squadrons now online.

2 March 1965 (North Vietnam): Operation Rolling Thunder begins, a massive air campaign against North Vietnam by the United States.

2 March 1969 (France): After a lengthy succession of taxi and runway tests, the first prototype Concorde 001 (F-WTSS) makes its first flight, with Andre Turcat at the controls. The flight lasts 29 minutes.

2 March 1971 (South Vietnam): The U. S. Marine Corps begins combat testing of the Bell AH-1J Sea Cobra in South Vietnam. It is the first attack helicopter specifically designed for use aboard ships.

2 March 1972 (USA): The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.

2 March 1981 (Japan): Japan Air Lines is the first airline to use a computerized flight simulator to train its crews.

2 March 1986 (USA): The United States Navy disbands United States Naval Reserve Light Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 206 (VFP-206), its last squadron equipped with specialized photographic reconnaissance aircraft and the last equipped with any version of the Vought F-8 Crusader.

2 March 1995 (USA): Launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-67 at 05:22:04 am UTC. Mission highlights: ASTRO-2.

2 March 1998 (Jupiter): Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter’s moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice.

2 March 2002 (Mediterranean Sea): A Grumman F-14B-145-GR Tomcat (BuNo 162923) of VF-143, ’AG’, from the carrier USS John F. Kennedy crashes into the Mediterranean near the Greek island of Crete, killing its pilot. Aircraft was launching from the carrier when the nose gear disintegrated, both crew eject but the pilot was outside the envelope and was killed.

2 March 2010 (South Korea): An Republic of Korea Air Force Northrop F-5E Tiger II and Northrop F-5F Tiger II crashed into Mount Hwangbyeong, about 20 kilometers (12 mi) west of the city of Gangneung, Gangwon. The pilot of the Northrop F-5E Tiger II and the two pilots of the Northrop F-5F Tiger II were killed.

2 March 2012 (USA): The last departure of an official Continental Airlines flight takes place at 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time as Continental Flight 1267 departs Phoenix, Arizona, bound for Cleveland, Ohio. On 3 March, Continental Airlines disappears into United Airlines, completing the two airlines’ 2010 merger. Continental had operated since 1934.