March 1: The Turkish passenger ship Uskudar capsizes and sinks at Izmit Bay, Kocaeli, Turkey; at least 300 die.

March 2: A British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition team led by Sir Vivian Fuchs completes the first overland crossing of the Antarctic, using snowcat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams, in 99 days, via the South Pole.

March 8: The USS Wisconsin is decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896 (it is recommissioned October 22, 1988).

March 11: A U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Without a fissile warhead, its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure several people.

March 17: Convention on the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) enters into force, founding the IMCO as a specialized agency of the United Nations.

March 17: The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.

March 19: Monarch Underwear Company fire in New York.

March 24: The U.S. Army inducts Elvis Presley, transforming The King Of Rock & Roll into U.S. private #53310761.

March 25: Canada's Avro Arrow makes its debut flight.

March 26: The United States Army launches Explorer 3. - The 30th Academy Awards ceremony takes place; The Bridge on the River Kwai wins seven awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture.

March 27: Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union. (source: Wikipedia)