March 8
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March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (68th in leap years). There are 298 days remaining.
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[change] Events
- 1576 – Spanish explorer Diego Garcia de Palacio sights the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Copan.
- 1618 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (he soon rejects the idea after some initial calculations were made but later on May 15 confirms the discovery).
- 1669 – Mount Etna on Sicily erupts until July 11, destroying several towns.
- 1702 – Very unexpectedly, Anne Stuart, the sister of the childless Mary II, becomes Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland after the death of William III of Orange from injuries he suffered in a fall from his horse.
- 1736 – Nader Shah of the Afsharid Dynasty becomes the Shah (ruler) of Persia.
- 1782 – Gnadenhütten massacre: Almost 100 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio had their skulls crushed with a mallet by Pennsylvanian militiamen in a mass murder.
- 1817 – The New York City Stock Exchange is founded.
- 1844 – King Oscar I ascends to the throne of Sweden-Norway
- 1862 – American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
- 1884 – Susan B. Anthony testified before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote.
- 1906 – Moro Crater Massacre: US troops occupying the Philippines massacre about 600 men, women and children taking refuge in a crater.
- 1911 – International Women's Day is celebrated for the first time.
- 1917 – The February Revolution breaks out in Russia (February 23 O.S.).
- 1917 – The United States Senate adopts the cloture rule in order to limit filibusters.
- 1918 – The first case of Spanish flu occurs, the start of a devastating pandemic.
- 1921 – Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
- 1924 – The Castle Gate mining disaster in Utah kills 172 coal miners.
- 1936 – The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
- 1942 – World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
- 1942 – World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.
- 1943 – World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
- 1948 – The United States Supreme Court rules that religious instruction in public schools violated the Constitution.
- 1950 – The Soviet Union claims to have an atomic bomb.
- 1952 – Antoine Pinay becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1957 – Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal.
- 1957 – Ghana joins the UN.
- 1959 – Last television appearance of The Marx Brothers, in The Incredible Jewel Robbery
- 1961 – Max Conrad circumnavigates the earth in eight days, 18 hours and 49 minutes setting a new world record.
- 1965 – Vietnam War: 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam.
- 1966 – Vietnam War: Australia announces it is going to substantially increase its number of troops in Vietnam.
- 1966 – A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.
- 1968 – Soviet U-boat K-129 sinks in the Pacific Ocean, killing 86 people on board.
- 1971 – Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in the first of three epic bouts. Frazier defends the world Heavyweight title in a star-studded Madison Square Garden.
- 1972 – The Goodyear blimp flies for the first time.
- 1974 – Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
- 1978 – The first ever radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams is transmitted on BBC Radio 4.
- 1983 – President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an evil empire.
- 1985 – 1985 Beirut Car Bombing is made in front of the mosque killing 45 people and injuring 175.
- 1988 – Two United States Army helicopters collide in Fort Campbell, Kentucky killing 17 servicemen.
- 1999 – Oklahoma City bombing: The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh.
- 2000 – A collision between two Tokyo Metro trains kills 5 people.
- 2004 – A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
[change] Births
- 1286 – John III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1341)
- 1293 – Beatrice of Castile, Queen of Portugal (d. 1359)
- 1495 – John of God, Portuguese-born friar and saint (d. 1550)
- 1702 – Anne Bonny, Irish-American pirate (d. 1782)
- 1712 – John Fothergill, English physician (d. 1780)
- 1714 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer (d. 1788)
- 1748 – William V of Orange, Dutch ruler (d. 1806)
- 1783 – Hannah Van Buren, wife of Martin Van Buren (d. 1819)
- 1822 – Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish inventor (d. 1882)
- 1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American jurist (d. 1935)
- 1847 – John Lister, British politician (d. 1933)
- 1859 – Kenneth Grahame, British author (d. 1932)
- 1872 – Anna Held, Polish actress and singer (d. 1918)
- 1879 – Otto Hahn, German chemist (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist (d. 1972)
- 1892 – Mississippi John Hurt, American blues singer and guitarist (d. 1966)
- 1892 – Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet (d. 1979)
- 1900 – Howard H. Aitken, American computer pioneer (d. 1973)
- 1902 – Jennings Randolph, American politician (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek politician (d. 1998)
- 1911 – Alan Hovhaness, American composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 – Preston Smith, American politician and Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Tapio Rautavaara, Finnish athlete (d. 1979)
- 1916 – John W. Seybold, American businessman (d. 2004)
- 1921 – Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese manga artist
- 1924 – Anthony Caro, British abstract sculptor
- 1924 – Georges Charpak, Polish-born French physicist (d. 2010)
- 1933 – Luca Ronconi, Italian theatre and opera director
- 1937 – Juvenal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
- 1939 – Robert Tear, Welsh operatic tenor (d. 2011)
- 1942 – Jan Vyčítal, Czech musician
- 1943 – Lynn Redgrave, British actress (d. 2010)
- 1944 – Sergei Nitikin, Russian composer
- 1945 – Anselm Kiefer, German painter
- 1945 – Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)
- 1946 – Randy Meisner, American musician
- 1947 – Carole Bayer Sager, American composer
- 1948 – Peggy March, American singer
- 1949 – Teofilo Cubillas, Peruvian footballer
- 1954 – Cheryl Baker, British singer
- 1957 – Clive Burr, British musician
- 1958 – Gary Numan, British singer and musician
- 1959 – Aidan Quinn, American actor
- 1963 – Mike Lalor, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1964 – Peter Gill, British musician
- 1968 – Michael Bartels, German racing driver
- 1972 – Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
- 1973 – Mark Lukasiewicz, American baseball player
- 1976 – Freddie Prinze, Jr., American actor
- 1977 – James Van Der Beek, American actor
- 1977 – Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
- 1979 – Tom Chaplin, English singer (Keane)
- 1981 – Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
- 1983 – Andre Santos, Brazilian footballer
- 1984 – Gyorgy Garics, Austrian footballer
- 1986 – Princess Tsuguko of Takamado of Japan
- 1988 – Elly Jackson, English singer (La Roux)
- 1990 – Petra Kvitova, Czech tennis player
[change] Deaths
- 1126 – Urraca of Leon (b. 1082)
- 1144 – Pope Celestine II
- 1550 – John of God, Portuguese-born friar and saint (b. 1495)
- 1702 – William III of England (b. 1650)
- 1757 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (b. 1701)
- 1844 – King Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. 1763)
- 1869 – Hector Berlioz, French composer (b. 1803)
- 1874 – Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)
- 1887 – Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman (b. 1813)
- 1889 – John Ericsson, Swedish engineer and inventor (b. 1803)
- 1917 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German aircraft manufacturer (b. 1838)
- 1921 – Eduardo Dato, Spanish Premier
- 1923 – Krisjanis Barons, Latvian writer (b. 1837)
- 1923 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist (b. 1837)
- 1930 – William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)
- 1935 – Hachiko, Japanese Akita dog known for its loyalty (b. 1923)
- 1941 – Sherwood Anderson, American author (b. 1876)
- 1942 – Jose Raul Capablanca, Cuban chess player and diplomat (b. 1888)
- 1961 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor (b. 1879)
- 1988 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
- 1999 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)
- 2004 – Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (b. 1948)
- 2007 – John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
- 2011 – Mike Starr, American musician (b. 1966)
[change] Observances
- International Women's Day
