March 6: Independence Day in Ghana (1957), Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom (2005), Laetare Sunday in Western Christianity (2005)
- 1447 - Tomaso Parentucelli became Pope Nicholas V.
- 1521 - Ferdinand Magellan and his crew became the first Europeans to reach Guam of the Mariana Islands.
- 1857 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott Case, a landmark decision that led to several constitutional amendments.
- 1869 - Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first Periodic Table of Elements to the Russian Chemical Society.
- 1987 - British ferry M/S Herald of Free Enterprise capsized while leaving the harbour of Zeebrugge, Belgium, killing 193 on board.