Saturday, March 7, 1693

A series of four explosions at a military barracks in Bata, Equatorial Guinea caused at least 107 deaths.

The Kepler space telescope (depicted), designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, was launched.

Dissident Irish republican campaign: Two off-duty British Army soldiers were shot dead by Real IRA paramilitaries outside Massereene Barracks in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The charity single "We Are the World" by the supergroup USA for Africa was released, and went on to sell more than 20 million copies.

Vietnam War: The United States and South Vietnam began Operation Truong Cong Dinh to sweep the area surrounding the Mekong Delta town of Mỹ Tho to root out Viet Cong forces in the area.

Unarmed civil rights activists marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, were attacked by police (pictured) on "Bloody Sunday".

World War II: At the beginning of the Battle of Remagen, Allied forces unexpectedly captured the Ludendorff Bridge, which possibly hastened the war's conclusion.

The German submarine U-47, one of the most successful U-boats of World War II, disappeared with 45 men on board.

Nazi German forces re-occupied the demilitarized Rhineland, violating both the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties that were signed after World War I.

The German ocean liner SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first ship to send a wireless telegraph message to an onshore receiver.

José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco, began a four-year premiership as Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil, the longest in the state's history.

United States senator Daniel Webster (pictured) delivered a speech advocating compromise on slavery, which proved to be unpopular with abolitionists in his home state.