What happened on March 2 ?

1316 - King Robert II of Scotland, (d. 1390)

1409 - John II of Alençon, French soldier (d. 1476)

1459 - Pope Adrian VI (d. 1523)

1545 - Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and library founder (d. 1613)

1578 - George Sandys, English colonist and poet (d. 1644)

1705 - William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician (d. 1793)

1770 - Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (d. 1826)

1779 - Joel Roberts Poinsett, American statesman and botanist (d. 1851)

1793 - Sam Houston, President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)

1800 - Evgeny Baratynsky, Russian poet (d. 1844)

1810 - Pope Leo XIII, (d. 1903)

1820 - Multatuli, Dutch writer (d. 1887)

1824 - Bedrich Smetana, Czech composer (d. 1884)

1829 - Carl Schurz, German revolutionary and American statesman (d. 1906)

1849 - Robert Means Thompson, U.S. naval officer (d. 1930)

1859 - Sholom Aleichem, Russian Yiddish novelist (d. 1916)

1860 - Susanna M. Salter, Mayor of Argonia, Kansas (d. 1961)

1862 - Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (d. 1916)

1876 - Pope Pius XII, (d. 1958)

1900 - Kurt Weill, German composer (d. 1950)

1902 - Moe Berg, baseball player and spy (d. 1972)

1904 - Dr. Seuss, American author (d. 1991)

1908 - Walter Bruch, German engineer (d. 1990)

1909 - Mel Ott, baseball player (d. 1958)

1913 - Godfried Bomans, Dutch author and television personality (d. 1971)

1914 - Martin Ritt, American director (d. 1990)

1917 - Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born actor, bandleader, and musician (d. 1986)

1919 - Jennifer Jones, American actress

1923 - Robert H. Michel, American politician

1926 - Murray Rothbard, American economist (d. 1995)

1930 - John Cullum, American actor and singer

1931 - Mikhail Gorbachev, Leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, President of the Soviet Union, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize

1931 - Tom Wolfe, American author

1935 - Al Waxman, Canadian actor (d. 2001)

1937 - Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria

1938 - Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile

1940 - Tony Croatto, Italian-born singer and composer (d. 2005)

1942 - John Irving, American author

1942 - Lou Reed, American singer and guitarist

1943 - Peter Straub, American author

1943 - Zygfryd Blaut, Polish football player

1944 - Uschi Glas, German actress

1948 - Rory Gallagher, Irish guitarist (d. 1995)

1948 - Jeff Kennett, Australian politician

1949 - Eddie Money, New York police officer and singer

1949 - JPR Williams, Welsh rugby player

1949 - Gates McFadden, American actress

1950 - Karen Carpenter, American singer and drummer (d. 1983)

1952 - Mark Evanier, American writer

1952 - Laraine Newman, American actress and comedian

1953 - Russ Feingold, American politician

1955 - Shoko Asahara, Japanese religious leader

1956 - Mark Evans, Australian bassist (AC/DC)

1958 - Ian Woosnam, Welsh golfer

1961 - Simone Young, Australian conductor

1962 - Morioka Hiroyuki, Japanese writer

1962 - Jon Bon Jovi, American singer, songwriter, and actor

1964 - Megan Leigh, American pornstar (d. 1990)

1968 - Daniel Craig, English actor

1972 - Amber Smith, American actress and model

1973 - Trevor Sinclair, English footballer

1974 - Monika Niederstätter, Italian athlete

1977 - Chris Martin, British musician (Coldplay)

1977 - Heather McComb, American actress

1977 - Andrew Strauss, English cricketer

1979 - Damien Duff, Irish footballer

1981 - Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress

1982 - Kevin Kurányi, German footballer

1982 - Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish hockey player for the New York Rangers

1982 - Ben Roethlisberger, American football player

1982 - Corey Webster, American football player

1985 - Robert Iler, American actor

1985 - Reggie Bush, American football player

1989 - Will Makar, American Idol contestant