March 2, 1981 (Monday)
- The asteroids 4923 Clarke and 5020 Asimov were discovered on the same night by astronomer Schelte J. Bus, and named by him in honor of authors Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov.
- Inventors Jim Bornhorst and Rusty Brutsche applied for a patent on Vari-Lite, a "computer controlled lighting system having automatically variable position, color, intensity and beam divergence", which would become a standard feature in concerts and stage productions. The system, which received U.S. Patent #4,392,187, would be unveiled on September 25 during a concert in Barcelona by Genesis in its Abacab tour.
- Pakistani International Airways Flight 326 was hijacked by three gunmen shortly after takeoff from Karachi.
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing announced that he would run for re-election as President of France.
- Born: Bryce Howard, American film actress (Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3, in Los Angeles
- Died: Ahmed Badawi, 54, Egyptian Defense Minister, in a helicopter crash at the Siwa Oasis.
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Famous quotes containing the word march:
“With two thousand years of Christianity behind him ... a man can’t see a regiment of soldiers march past without going off the deep end. It starts off far too many ideas in his head.”
—Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894–1961)