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March 8
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.
- 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.
- 1983 - President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an evil empire.
- 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.
- 2004 - A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
- 2005 - Mount Saint Helens erupts.
- 2005 - John R. Bolton, politician and diplomat, nominated US Ambassador to the United Nations.
Births
- 1514 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1562)
- 1714 - Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, German composer, son of Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1788)
- 1783 - Hannah Van Buren, would-be First Lady of the United States (d. 1819)
- 1822 - Ignacy Lukasiewicz, inventor of the kerosene lamp and founder of the world petroleum industry.
- 1827 - Wilhelm Bleek, linguist (d. 1875)
- 1841 - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1935)
- 1856 - Tom Roberts, artist (d. 1931)
- 1857 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
- 1859 - Kenneth Grahame, English author (d. 1932)
- 1872 - Anna Held, actress and singer, (d. 1918)
- 1879 - Otto Hahn, German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- 1907 - Constantine Karamanlis, Greek politician (d. 1998)
- 1909 - Claire Trevor, American actress (d. 2000)
- 1911 - Alan Hovhaness, composer
- 1912 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
- 1915 - Tapio Rautavaara, athlete, actor, and singer (d. 1979)
- 1918 - Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
- 1921 - Cyd Charisse, actress, dancer
- 1928 - Gerald Bull, Canadian engineer (d. 1990)
- 1931 - John McPhee, writer
- 1936 - Sue Ane Langdon , American actress
- 1939 - Robert Tear, Welsh tenor
- 1939 - Jim Bouton, American baseball player, author, entrepreneur
- 1940 - Susan Clark , Canadian actress
- 1943 - Lynn Redgrave, English actress
- 1945 - Jim Chapman, American politician
- 1945 - Micky Dolenz, English actor, director, and musician (The Monkees)
- 1945 - Anselm Kiefer, painter
- 1946 - Randy Meisner , American musician (The Eagles)
- 1947 - Carole Bayer Sager, composer
- 1956 - John Kapelos, Canadian actor
- 1957 - Cynthia Rothrock, actress and martial artist
- 1958 - Gary Numan, singer
- 1959 - Aidan Quinn, American actor
- 1961 - Camryn Manheim, actress
- 1968 - Shawn Mullins, musician
- 1970 - Jason Elam, American football player
- 1972 - Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
- 1976 - Freddie Prinze Jr., actor
- 1977 - James Van Der Beek, actor
- 1990 - Abigail and Brittany Hensel, conjoined twins
Deaths
- 1144 - Pope Celestine II
- 1702 - King William III of England (b. 1650)
- 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)
- 1930 - William Howard Taft, President of the United States, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1857)
- 1941 - Sherwood Anderson, author, (b. 1876)
- 1942 - José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (b. 1888)
- 1971 - Harold Lloyd, actor (b. 1893)
- 1973 - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, musician (Grateful Dead) (b. 1945)
- 1975 - George Stevens, director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1904)
- 1983 - William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 - Edward Andrews, American actor
- 1988 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
- 1992 - Red Callender , composer
- 1993 - Billy Eckstine, jazz musician (b. 1914)
- 1998 - Ray Nitschke, American football player
- 1999 - Joe DiMaggio, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1914)
- 1999 - Peggy Cass, American actress and comedienne
- 2001 - Edward Winter, American actor
- 2003 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)
- 2003 - Karen Morley, actress
- 2005 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen leader
Holidays and observances
External links
March 7 - March 9 - February 8 - April 8 -- listing of all days
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