The way it was: Today in history, March 3

Throwback Thursday: A look back at events in history on March 3, including the Rodney King beating and the first solo non-stop flight around the world.

Here, Rodney King shows the injuries he received in a beating by Los Angeles police officers on March 3, 1991. The photo, taken three days after the attack, was one of three introduced into evidence by the prosecution in the trial of four LAPD officers in a Simi Valley, California courtroom on March 24, 1992.

The police officers caught King after a high speed chase, dragged him from his car and brutally beat him. An amateur cameraman, George Holliday, took video which was broadcast nationally of what happened. The officers were indicted for assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force, but after a three-month trial three officers were acquitted by an all-white jury and a mistrial was declared for the fourth. The result sparked what became known as the L.A. riots. More than 50 people were killed during the explosive riots. Nine years later two of the officers were found guilty of of civil rights violations and sentenced to prison.

Charlie Chaplin

Comedic actor Charlie Chaplin and Premier Ramsay MacDonald out for a walk on the road to Chequers, the country residence of the British Prime Minister, in England on March 3, 1931, following his arrival in his native country after an absence of 10 years.

Presidential yacht - USS Sequoia

The USS Sequoia is seen in Washington, D.C. on March 3, 1932. The craft has been assigned to the White House, becoming the fifth Presidential yacht, and its new home will be the Washington Navy Yard. In the background at left is the Washington Monument.

Spring training - DiMaggio & McCarthy

New York Yankees rookie Joe DiMaggio, left, discusses batting tips with manager Joe McCarthy on the field during spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida., March 3, 1936.

The 21-year-old DiMaggio made his major league debut two months later and had an incredible rookie season earning a .323 batting average, 44 double, 15 triples and 29 home runs. The Yankees won the pennant by 19 1/2 games going on to beat the New York Giants to become World Series champs.

Jimmy Stewart & Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers and Jimmy Stewart hold the Oscars they won for Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively, at the 13th Annual Academy Awards, March 3, 1941, in Los Angeles. Rogers was chosen for her portrayal in "Kitty Foyle"; Jimmy Stewart in the "The Philadelphia Story."

London Blitz

Direct hits were made on Paddington Station by high explosives and a large incendiary, March 3, 1944 in London. One bomb exploded on platforms six and seven making a forty deep. Workmen clearing the debris and filling in the crater on platforms six and seven at Paddington Station by the evening all obstruction lines were restored.

Joe McCarthy

Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis), chairman of the Senate Investigations Subcommittee, holds a news conference in Washington on March 3, 1954, a short time after President Eisenhower held his. The president in a statement hit out at "disregard for standards of fair play" in congressional investigations.

John Glenn

Astronaut John H. Glenn Jr., winding up busy days in New York on March 3, 1962, rides in a car with his family from the Waldorf Towers en route to Newark airport in Newark, N.J. Glenn and his family were flying to his home town in New Concord, Ohio, for another welcoming ceremony. With Glenn and his wife is their son, David.

Glenn was honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York City on March 1 after his successful 3-orbital flight around Earth.

Unknown Michelangelo masterpiece

An unknown masterpiece by Michelangelo, a wooden figure of Christ on the Cross, was put on display in Florence, Italy, March 3, 1964 for the first time.

The sculpture was discovered in a forgotten corner of a Florence monastery, covered by layers of paint daubed later on the sculpture. A German art historian Margrit Lisner, came across the work in 1962 and claimed the statue had been carved by Michelangelo, a theory later confirmed by Florence experts. Michelangelo carved the figure out of several pieces of wood glued together; he was only only 17 years old at that time.

Angela Davis

Rodger McAfee (L), a Fresno, California area farmer who put up 405 acres of farmland to assure revolutionary Angela Davis' release on $102,500 bail last week, brought his family to San Jose to meetDavis (C), March 3, 1972.

Davis is seen being hugged by Adam, 8, and Andrew, 6. Behind her is Mark, 10. They are outside the Santa Clara County courthouse where she is being tried on murder, conspiracy and kidnap charges. The civil rights activist and academic had close relations with the Black Panther Party. She was acquitted on the charges related to the 1970 armed-takeover of a Marin County, California courtroom. Four people died in the take-over.

Standoff at Wounded Knee

Oscar Bear Runner stands guard as members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) set up a tepee south of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on March 3, 1973, for negotiations to end the standoff between the American Indian Movement (AIM) and federal authorities.

The standoff began February 27 when AIM followers and around 200 Oglala Lakota occupied the town of Wounded Knee, the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. The occupiers wanted to impeach the a tribal president for corruption and abuse and were angry with the federal government for its failure to fulfill obligations to native Americans.

George Steinbrenner

New York Yankees primary owner George Steinbrenner relaxes in St. Petersburg, Florida, March 3, 1976. Steinbrenner's suspension from baseball was lifted after 16 months of a two year term. Suspension came after indictment in charges of illegally contributing to President Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign.

Dr. Seuss' birthday

Children's book author and illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, signs a copy of his new book "The Butter Battle Book" during a party honoring Geisel's 80th birthday at the New York Public Library on March 3, 1984. Geisel was born March 2, 1904.

Queen Elizabeth & Ronald Reagan

President Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth II raise their glasses in a toast during a state dinner at the M. H. de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, March 3, 1983.

Olof Palme remembered

At the opening of the Nordic Council in the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen on March 3, 1986, the place of the late Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was empty and decorated with white and red carnations. Danish Prime Minister Paul Schulte is standing behind Palme's seat.

Palme was assassinated with a single bullet in the back by a lone gunman February 28, 1986 in Stockholm while out walking with his wife. His murder remains unsolved.

Ryan White

AIDS victim Ryan Wayne White, left, chats with Jill Stewart during a hearing of the Presidential Commission on AIDS in Washington, March 3, 1988.

Stewart is the student council president of Hamilton Heights High School in Cicero, Indiana, the school that White attends. Stewart helped White, allowing him to return to the school. The teenager, a hemophiliac, became infected because of a blood treatment. Because AIDS was still little understood and a relatively new problem White was expelled from school out of fears that he would spread the disease. A long legal battle resulted thrusting White into the national limelight as an AIDS activist. White died April 1990, just one month shy of graduating from high school.

Tawana Brawley case

Lawyer C. Vernon Mason, left, gestures during a press conference during a bitter attack on New York Governor Mario Cuomo and the state's handling of the Tawana Brawley case March 3, 1988 in Queens, New York. Joining Mason, who is one of Brawley's lawyers are, from left, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Glenda Brawley, mother and Ralph King stepfather of Miss Brawley and two year old Trice whose relationship to Miss Brawley was not stated.

Brawley accused six white men of rape. A grand jury concluded a rape did not happen and evidence was falsified. The case received national attention.

Steve Fossett's GlobalFlyer

Steve Fossett's GlobalFlyer passes over the Grand Canyon in Arizona Thursday, March 3, 2005, making the first solo non-stop flight around the world without refueling after taking off from Salina, Kan. March 1. Sixty-year-old Fossett completed the 67 hour and two minute flight on March 7.