March 8 is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 298 days remaining until the end of the year. [edit] Events - 1126 – Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of Castile and Leon, after the death of his mother Urraca.
- 1655 – John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in what will be the United States.
- 1702 – Anne Stuart, sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
- 1722 – The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at The Battle of Gulnabad, pushing Iran into anarchy.
- 1775 – Thomas Paine's "African Slavery in America," the first article in the U.S. calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery is published.
- 1777 – Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
- 1782 – Gnadenhütten massacre: Ninety-six Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.
- 1817 – The New York 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.
- 1911 – International Women's Day is launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany.
- 1917 – The U.S. Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
- 1921 – Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
- 1924 – The Castle Gate mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
- 1936 – Daytona Beach Road Course holds their first oval stock car race.
- 1942 – World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
- 1957 – Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.
- 1957 – The 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress, which petitions the U.S. Congress to declare the ratification of the 14th & 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution null and void, is adopted by the state of Georgia.
- 1957 – Ghana joins the United Nations.
- 1963 – The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a Coup d'état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
- 1966 – A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.
- 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.
- 1979 – Philips demonstrates Compact Disc publicly for the first time.
- 1980 – The first festival of rock music kicks off in the Soviet Union.
- 1983 – President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an "evil empire."
- 1985 – A failed assassination attempt on Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon, kills at least 45 and injures 175 others.
- 1999 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing.
- 2004 – A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
[edit] 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)
- 1514 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1562)
- 1560 – Don Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (d. 1613)
- 1659 – Isaac de Beausobre, French Protestant pastor (d. 1738)
- 1700 – Anne Bonny Irish-American pirate (d. 1782)
- 1712 – John Fothergill, English physician (d. 1780)
- 1714 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer (d. 1788)
- 1726 – Richard Howe, British admiral (d. 1799)
- 1746 – André Michaux, French botanist (d. 1802)
- 1748 – William V of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic (d. 1806)
- 1783 – Hannah Van Buren, wife of Martin Van Buren (d. 1819)
- 1799 – Simon Cameron, U.S. Secretary of War (d. 1889)
- 1804 – Alvan Clark, American telescope maker and astronomer (d. 1887)
- 1814 – Ede Szigligeti, Hungarian dramatist (d. 1878)
- 1822 – Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish inventor (d. 1882)
- 1827 – Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (d. 1875)
- 1830 – João de Deus, Portuguese poet (d. 1896)
- 1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1935)
- 1856 – Bramwell Booth, the 2nd General of The Salvation Army (d. 1929)
- 1856 – Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist painter (d. 1937)
- 1856 – Tom Roberts, Australian artist (d. 1931)
- 1859 – Kenneth Grahame, English author (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Frederic Goudy, American type designer (d. 1947)
- 1872 – Anna Held, Polish actress and singer (d. 1918)
- 1879 – Otto Hahn, German Nobel laureate (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1972)
- 1891 – Sam Jaffe, American actor (d. 1984)
- 1892 – Mississippi John Hurt, American blues singer and guitarist (d. 1966)
- 1892 – Juana de Ibarbourou, Uruguayan poet (d. 1979)
- 1896 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician (d. 1975)
- 1899 – Elmer Keith, American firearms developer (d. 1984)
- 1902 – Louise Beavers, American actress (d. 1962)
- 1902 – Jennings Randolph, America politician (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Constantine Karamanlis, Greek politician (d. 1998)
- 1910 – Bernard Benjamin, British statistician (d. 2002)
- 1910 – Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1911 – Alan Hovhaness, American composer (d. 2000)
- 1912 – Preston Smith, America politician (d. 2003)
- 1914 – Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d. 1987)
- 1915 – Tapio Rautavaara, Finnish athlete, actor, and singer (d. 1979)
- 1916 – John Seybold, American economist (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Douglass Wallop, American novelist and playwright (d. 1985)
- 1921 – Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
- 1921 – Fritz Luchsinger, Swiss mountaineer (d. 1983)
- 1922 – Ralph H. Baer, German-born American inventor
- 1922 – Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (d. 1989)
- 1922 – Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese soldier and Mangaka
- 1922 – Evgeniy Matveyev, Russian actor and film director
- 1925 – Warren Bennis, American educator and author
- 1926 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Dick Hyman, American pianist and composer
- 1930 – Bob Grim, American baseball player (d. 1996)
- 1931 – Neil Adcock, South African Cricket player
- 1931 – John McPhee, American writer and professor
- 1931 – Neil Postman, American cultural critic (d. 2003)
- 1933 – Evelyn Margaret Ay, American beauty pageant winner
- 1933 – Luca Ronconi, Italian theater and opera director
- 1934 – Marv Breeding, American baseball player (d. 2006)
- 1936 – Gábor Szabó, Hungarian guitarist (d. 1982)
- 1937 – Juvénal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
- 1938 – Pete Dawkins, American football player
- 1939 – Jim Bouton, American baseball player and author
- 1939 – Lidia Skoblikova, Russian skater
- 1939 – Robert Tear, Welsh tenor
- 1940 – Susan Clark, Canadian actress
- 1941 – Andrei Mironov, Soviet actor (d. 1987)
- 1942 – Dick Allen, American baseball player
- 1942 – Ann Packer, British athlete
- 1943 – Lynn Redgrave, English actress
- 1944 – Buzz Hargrove, Canadian labour leader
- 1944 – Sergey Nikitin, Russian composer
- 1944 – Palito Ortega, Argentine singer and actor
- 1944 – Pepe Romero, Spanish guitarist
- 1945 – Bruce Broughton, American composer
- 1945 – Jim Chapman, American politician
- 1945 – Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)
- 1945 – Anselm Kiefer, German painter
- 1946 – Randy Meisner, American musician (The Eagles)
- 1947 – Mike Allsup, American musician (Three Dog Night)
- 1947 – Florentino Pérez, Spanish football executive
- 1947 – Carole Bayer Sager, American composer
- 1948 – Peggy March, American pop singer
- 1948 – Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth
- 1949 – Karel Lismont, Belgian athlete
- 1949 – Antonello Venditti, Italian singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Richard Ouzounian, Canadian/American theatre director and critic
- 1952 – George Felix Allen, American politician
- 1953 – Bob Brozman, American musician
- 1953 – Jim Rice, American baseball player
- 1953 – Don Werner, American baseball player
- 1954 – Cheryl Baker, British singer (Bucks Fizz)
- 1954 – David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer
- 1955 – Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1981)
- 1956 – Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (d. 1989)
- 1956 – John Kapelos, Canadian actor
- 1957 – Clive Burr, British musician (Iron Maiden)
- 1957 – John Butcher, American baseball player
- 1957 – Billy Childs, composer/pianist
- 1957 – Cynthia Rothrock, American actress
- 1957 – Bob Stoddard, American baseball player
- 1958 – Nick Capra, American baseball player
- 1958 – Gary Numan, British singer
- 1959 – Aidan Quinn, American actor
- 1959 – Lester Holt, American television journalist
- 1960 – Max Metzker, Australian swimmer
- 1960 – Buck Williams, American basketball player
- 1961 – Camryn Manheim, American actress
- 1961 – Larry Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Mark Salas, American baseball player
- 1963 – Mike Lalor, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1964 – Thomas Bezucha, American screenwriter and director
- 1964 – Lance McCullers, American baseball player
- 1965 – Fátima Lopes, Portuguese fashion designer
- 1965 – Kenny Smith, American basketball player
- 1967 – Joel Johnston, American baseball player
- 1968 – Michael Bartels, German race car driver
- 1968 – Jim Dougherty, American baseball player
- 1968 – Ellen Forney, American cartoonist
- 1968 – Shawn Mullins, American musician
- 1970 – Andrea Parker, American actress, ballet dancer
- 1970 – Jason Elam, American football player
- 1971 – Kit Symons, Welsh footballer
- 1972 – Georgios Georgiadis, Greek footballer
- 1972 – Angie Hart, Australian pop singer
- 1972 – Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
- 1973 – Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer (The Gathering)
- 1973 – Boris Kodjoe, Austrian model
- 1973 – Mark Lukasiewicz, American baseball player
- 1973 – Kurt Mollekens, Belgian racing car driver
- 1973 – Justin Thompson, American baseball player
- 1974 – Mike Moriarty, American baseball player
- 1975 – Fardeen Khan, Indian actor
- 1975 – Peggy Zina, Greek singer
- 1976 – Gaz Coombes, English singer (Supergrass)
- 1976 – Juan Encarnacion, American baseball player
- 1976 – Ryan Freel, American baseball player
- 1976 – Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
- 1976 – Hines Ward, American football player
- 1977 – James Van Der Beek, American actor
- 1977 – Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
- 1978 – Mohammed Bouyeri, Dutch-Moroccan assassin
- 1978 – Nick Zano, American actor
- 1979 – Tom Chaplin, English singer (Keane)
- 1979 – Andy Ross, American guitarist (OK Go)
- 1980 – Charli Delaney, Australian singer (Hi-5)
- 1980 – Stephen Milne, Australian rules footballer
- 1981 – Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
- 1981 – Timothy Jordan II, American musician (The All American Rejects, Jonezetta) (d. 2005)
- 1982 – Nicolas Armindo, French race car driver
- 1982 – Kat Von D, Mexican-born tattoo artist
- 1982 – Leonidas Kabantais, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Craig Stansberry, American baseball player
- 1983 – Mark Worrell, American baseball player.
- 1983 – Austin Brown, Footballer
- 1984 – Dave Moffatt, Canadian musician
- 1984 – Ross Taylor, New Zealand Cricketer
- 1984 – Sasha Vujacic, Slovenian basketball player
- 1985 – Ewa Sonnet, Polish model and pop singer
- 1986 – Princess Tsuguko, Japanese princess
- 1988 – Armanti Edwards, American college football player
- 1988 – Elly Jackson, English singer (La Roux)
- 1990 – Ben Tozer, English footballer
- 1990 – Kristinia DeBarge, American R&B singer
- 1991 – Devon Werkheiser, American actor
- 1992 – Charlie Ray, American actress
[edit] Deaths - 1126 – Urraca of León (b. 1082)
- 1144 – Pope Celestine II
- 1202 – Sverre of Norway
- 1223 – Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish chronicler (b. 1161)
- 1550 – Saint John of God, saint (b. 1495)
- 1641 – Xu Xiake, Chinese adventurer (b. 1587)
- 1674 – Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French writer (b. 1597)
- 1702 – William III of England (b. 1650)
- 1731 – Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1757 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (b. 1701)
- 1771 – Louis August le Clerc, French-born sculptor (b. 1688)
- 1819 – Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American doctor, Massachusetts militia officer, member of the Massachusetts legislature (b. 1739)
- 1844 – Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. 1763)
- 1855 – William Poole, American criminal, member of New York City's Bowery Boys gang (b. 1821)
- 1869 – Hector Berlioz, French composer (b. 1803)
- 1872 – Cornelius Krieghoff, Canadian painter (b. 1815)
- 1874 – Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States (b. 1800)
- 1887 – Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman (b. 1813)
- 1887 – James Buchanan Eads, American engineer (b. 1820)
- 1889 – John Ericsson, Swedish inventor (b. 1803)
- 1917 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German aircraft manufacturer (b. 1838)
- 1923 – Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch Nobel laureate (b. 1837)
- 1923 – Krišjānis Barons, Latvian writer (b. 1835)
- 1930 – William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)
- 1930 – Edward Terry Sanford, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b. 1865)
- 1935 – Hachiko, world-famous dog (b. 1923)
- 1937 – Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
- 1941 – Sherwood Anderson, American author (b. 1876)
- 1942 – José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (b. 1888)
- 1951 – Martha Beck, American convicted murderer (b. 1920)
- 1951 – Raymond Fernandez, American convicted murderer (d. 1914)
- 1957 – Othmar Schoeck, Swiss composer and conductor (b. 1886)
- 1961 – Thomas Beecham, English conductor (b. 1879)
- 1971 – Harold Lloyd, American actor (b. 1893)
- 1972 – Erich von dem Bach, German Nazi official (b. 1899)
- 1973 – Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American musician (b. 1945)
- 1975 – George Stevens, American director (b. 1904)
- 1976 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (b. 1908)
- 1983 – William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
- 1986 – Kersti Merilaas, Estonian author, poet (b. 1913)
- 1988 – Amar Singh Chamkila, Punjabi folk singer (b. 1961)
- 1988 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
- 1988 – Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
- 1993 – Billy Eckstine, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1995 – Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (b. 1965)
- 1996 – Jack Churchill, eccentric British soldier (b.1906)
- 1998 – Ray Nitschke, American football player (b. 1936)
- 1999 – Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)
- 1999 – Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer (b. 1914)
- 1999 – William Wrigley III, President of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (b. 1933)
- 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)
- 2004 – Robert Pastorelli, American actor (b. 1954)
- 2005 – Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen leader (b. 1951)
- 2005 – César Lattes, Brazilian physicist (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Brian Barratt-Boyes, New Zealand heart surgeon (b. 1924)
- 2007 – John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
- 2007 – Viky Vanita, Greek actress (b. 1948)
- 2007 – John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach.. (b. 1947)
- 2008 – Carol Barnes, former ITV news presenter (b. 1944)
- 2009 – Ali Bongo, President of the Magic Circle (b.1929)
- 2009 – Zbigniew Religa, Minister of Health of the Republic of Poland (b. 1938)
[edit] Holidays and observances [edit] External links
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