March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). There are 298 days remaining.
Events
- 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).
- 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.
- 1782 - Gnadenhütten massacre: Almost 100 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio had their skulls crushed with a mallet by Pennsylvanian militiamen in a mass murder.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Births
- 1514 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1562)
- 1566 - Don Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (d. 1613)
- 1659 - Isaac de Beausobre, French protestant pastor (d. 1738)
- 1748 - William V of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic
- 1714 - Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, German composer (d. 1788)
- 1822 - Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish inventor (b. 1822)
- 1827 - Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (d. 1875)
- 1841 - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1935)
- 1856 - Tom Roberts, Australian artist (d. 1931)
- 1857 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
- 1859 - Kenneth Grahame, English author (d. 1932)
- 1872 - Anna Held, Polish-born actress and singer (d. 1918)
- 1879 - Otto Hahn, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- 1907 - Constantine Karamanlis, Greek politician (d. 1998)
- 1909 - Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1911 - Alan Hovhaness, American composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
- 1914 - Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d. 1987)
- 1915 - Tapio Rautavaara, Finnish athlete, actor, and singer (d. 1979)
- 1918 - Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
- 1921 - Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer
- 1928 - Gerald Bull, Canadian engineer (d. 1990)
- 1931 - John McPhee, American writer
- 1939 - Robert Tear, Welsh tenor
- 1939 - Jim Bouton, baseball player, author, entrepreneur
- 1939 - Lidia Skoblikova, Russian skater
- 1940 - Susan Clark, Canadian actress
- 1943 - Lynn Redgrave, English actress
- 1944 - Pepé Romero, Spanish guitarist
- 1945 - Jim Chapman, American politician
- 1945 - Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)
- 1945 - Anselm Kiefer, German painter
- 1947 - Carole Bayer Sager, American composer
- 1956 - John Kapelos, Canadian actor
- 1957 - Cynthia Rothrock, American actress and martial artist
- 1958 - Gary Numan, British singer
- 1959 - Aidan Quinn, American actor
- 1961 - Camryn Manheim, American actress
- 1968 - Shawn Mullins, American musician
- 1968 - Michael Bartels, German race car driver
- 1970 - Jason Elam, American football player
- 1972 - Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
- 1976 - Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
- 1977 - James Van Der Beek, American actor
- 1990 - Abigail and Brittany Hensel, American conjoined twins
Deaths
- 1129 - Queen Urraca of Castile (b. 1082)
- 1144 - Pope Celestine II
- 1674 - Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French writer (b. 1597)
- 1702 - King William III of England (b. 1650)
- 1731 - Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1771 - Louis August le Clerc, French-born sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1841 - King Charles XIV 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 and reformer (b. 1813)
- 1889 - John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (b. 1803)
- 1923 - Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1837)
- 1930 - William Howard Taft, President of the United States, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1857)
- 1941 - Sherwood Anderson, American author, (b. 1876)
- 1942 - José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (b. 1888)
- 1961 - Thomas Beecham, English conductor (b. 1879)
- 1971 - Harold Lloyd, American actor (b. 1893)
- 1973 - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American musician (Grateful Dead) (b. 1945)
- 1975 - George Stevens, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1904)
- 1976 - Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (b. 1908)
- 1983 - William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 - Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1988 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
- 1993 - Billy Eckstine, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1998 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (b. 1936)
- 1999 - Joe DiMaggio, baseball player (b. 1914)
- 1999 - Peggy Cass, American actress and comedienne (b. 1924)
- 2001 - Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
- 2003 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)
- 2003 - Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
- 2004 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
- 2005 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen leader (b. 1951)
Holidays and observances
- Catholicism - Feast day of St John of God.
- In many countries, it is International Women's Day
- Ottawa declares this day Alanis Morissette Day, in honor of singer Alanis Morissette, but Morissette refused to accept this honor because March 8 was already International Women's Day
- Albania - Mother's Day
- Syria - The March 8 Revolution
External links
March 7 - March 9 - February 8 - April 8 -- listing of all days