March 8

Events
Up to 1900
1010 - Persian poet Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.
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).
1655 - John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in North America.
1658 - Sweden reaches its greatest extent after the Peace of Roskilde.
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.
1775 - An anonymous letter, thought by some to have been written by Thomas Paine, calls for the end of slavery in the North American colonies.
1782 - Gnadenhutten 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 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.
1868 - Sakai incident: Japanese samurai kill 11 French sailors in the port of Sakai, near Osaka.
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.
1901 2000
1906 - Moro Crater Massacre: US troops occupying the Philippines massacre about 600 men, women and children taking refuge in a crater.
1910 - Raymonde de Laroche of France becomes the first woman to be given a pilot's license.
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.
1920 - The Arab Kingdom of Syria is created.
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.
1935 - Hachiko, a Japanese Akita dog revered for its loyalty, is found dead in Tokyo.
1936 - The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1937 - Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.
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 on the island of 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.
1958 - South Yemen joins the United Arab Republic.
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.
1963 - The Ba'ath Party takes power in a coup in Syria.
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.
From 2001
2003 - A referendum on EU membership is held in Malta, with a narrow majority supporting the proposal.
2004 - A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
2011 - Observances are held to work the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.
2014 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, goes missing in the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board.
2017 - The famous "Azure Window" feature on the coast of the Maltese island of Gozo collapses into the sea.
2017 - A bomb attack on a military hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, kills at least 49 people.
2017 - At least 30 people are killed in a bomb attack in Tikrit, Iraq.
2017 - FC Barcelona come back from a 4-0 deficit from the first leg of their UEFA Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain F.C. to win 6-1 on the night and 6-5 overall.
2018 - US President Donald Trump agrees to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Births
Up to 1900
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)
1566 - Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (d. 1613)
1617 - Tito Livio Burattini, Italian architect, historian and engineer (d. 1681)
1702 - Anne Bonny, Irish-American pirate (d. 1782)
1712 - John Fothergill, English physician (d. 1780)
1714 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer (d. 1788)
1746 - Andre Michaux, French botanist (d. 1802)
1748 - William V of Orange, Dutch ruler (d. 1806)
1761 - Jan Potocki, Polish historian, diplomat and explorer (d. 1815)
1783 - Hannah Van Buren, wife of Martin Van Buren (d. 1819)
1799 - Simon Cameron, 26th United States Secretary of War (d. 1889)
1804 - Alvan Clark, American telescope maker and astronomer (d. 1887)
1822 - Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish inventor (d. 1882)
1825 - Jules Barbier, French poet, writer and opera librettist (d. 1901)
1827 - Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (d. 1875)
1830 - Joao de Deus, Portuguese poet (d. 1896)
1839 - Josephine Cochrane, American inventor (d. 1913)
1841 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., American jurist (d. 1935)
1847 - John Lister, British politician (d. 1933)
1848 - LaMarcus Adna Thompson, American developer of the roller coaster (d. 1917)
1856 - Bramwell Booth, 2nd General of the Salvation Army (d. 1929)
1859 - Kenneth Grahame, British writer (d. 1932)
1865 - Frederic Goudy, American type designer (d. 1947)
1872 - Anna Held, Polish actress and singer (d. 1918)
1879 - Otto Hahn, German chemist (d. 1968)
1886 - Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist (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, 46th Mayor of Ottawa (d. 1975)
1899 - Eric Linklater, Scottish writer (d. 1974)
1900 - Howard H. Aitken, American computer pioneer (d. 1973)
1900 - Henry Abel Smith, British Governor of Queensland, Australia (d. 1993)
1901 1925
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 40th Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
1912 - Meldrim Thomson, Jr., American politician and 73rd Governor of New Hampshire (d. 2001)
1914 - Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d. 1987)
1915 - Tapio Rautavaara, Finnish athlete (d. 1979)
1916 - John W. Seybold, American businessman (d. 2004)
1917 - Leslie Fiedler, American literary critic (d. 2003)
1917 - Ernst von Glasersfeld, German-born American philosopher (d. 2010)
1918 - Jacques Baratier, French director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1921 - Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
1921 - Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (d. 2008)
1922 - Yevgeny Matveyev, Russian actor and movie director (d. 2003)
1922 - Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese manga artist (d. 2015)
1923 - Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer (d. 2014)
1923 - Walter Jens, German writer and philologist (d. 2013)
1924 - Anthony Caro, British abstract sculptor (d. 2013)
1924 - Georges Charpak, Polish-born French physicist (d. 2010)
1925 - Warren Bennis, American scholar and writer (d. 2014)
1926 1950
1926 - Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor (d. 2001)
1927 - Dick Hyman, American jazz pianist
1927 - Irene Tinker, American economist
1929 - Hebe Camargo, Brazilian actress, singer and television presenter (d. 2012)
1930 - Yuri Rytkheu, Russian writer (d. 2008)
1930 - Pyotr Bolotnikov, Russian long-distance runner
1930 - Douglas Hurd, English politician
1931 - Neil Adcock, South African cricketer (d. 2013)
1931 - Heinz Mack, German artist
1931 - John McPhee, American writer and professor
1931 - Gerald Potterton, British-Canadian director, producer and animator
1933 - Luca Ronconi, Italian theatre and opera director (d. 2015)
1933 - Evelyn Ay Sempier, American model (d. 2008)
1935 - Akira Kitaguchi, Japanese footballer
1935 - George Coleman, American jazz musician
1936 - Gabor Szabo, Hungarian jazz guitarist (d. 1982)
1936 - Sue Ane Langdon, American actress and singer
1937 - Juvenal Habyarimana, President of Rwanda (d. 1994)
1938 - Giorgio Puia, Italian footballer
1939 - Peter Nicholls, Australian writer (d. 2018)
1939 - Paride Tumburus, Italian footballer (d. 2015)
1939 - Robert Tear, Welsh operatic tenor (d. 2011)
1939 - Lidiya Skoblikova, Russian speed skater and coach
1940 - Susan Clark, Canadian actress
1941 - Alexei Mishin, Russian figure skater
1941 - Wilfrid Napier, South African cardinal
1941 - Norman Stone, British historian and educator
1942 - Jan Vycital, Czech musician
1942 - Ann Packer, British athlete
1943 - Lynn Redgrave, British actress (d. 2010)
1943 - Michael Grade, British television executive
1944 - Sergey Nikitin, Russian composer
1944 - Pepe Romero, Spanish classical guitarist
1945 - Anselm Kiefer, German painter
1945 - Micky Dolenz, American musician (The Monkees)
1946 - Jose Manuel Lara Bosch, Spanish businessman (d. 2015)
1946 - Randy Meisner, American musician
1947 - Carole Bayer Sager, American composer
1947 - Florentino Perez, Spanish businessman, President of Real Madrid C.F.
1948 - Peggy March, American singer
1948 - Gyles Brandreth, British broadcaster and former politician
1948 - Mel Galley, British rock musician (d. 2008)
1948 - Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth of Nations
1948 - Sam Lacey, American basketball player (d. 2014)
1949 - Natalia Kruchinskaya, Soviet-Russian gymnast
1949 - Antonello Venditti, Italian singer-songwriter
1949 - Teofilo Cubillas, Peruvian footballer
1949 - Cho Yang-ho, South Korean businessman (d. 2019)
1951 1975
1952 - George Felix Allen, 67th Governor of Virginia
1954 - David Wilkie, Scottish swimmer
1954 - Cheryl Baker, British singer
1955 - Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player
1956 - Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (d. 1989)
1957 - Clive Burr, British musician (d. 2013)
1957 - Ze Sergio, Brazilian footballer
1958 - Gary Numan, British singer and musician
1959 - Aidan Quinn, American actor
1959 - Brian McGee, Scottish musician
1961 - Camryn Manheim, American actress
1961 - Larry Murphy, Canadian ice hockey player
1962 - Mitsunori Yoshida, Japanese footballer
1963 - Mike Lalor, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 - Julio Cesar Silva, Brazilian footballer
1963 - Sasha Waltz, German choreographer, dancer and opera director
1964 - Yasuharu Sorimachi, Japanese footballer
1964 - Peter Gill, British musician
1964 - Kate Betts, American fashion editor
1964 - Thomas Bezucha, American screenwriter and movie director
1964 - Mark Oaten, British politician
1965 - Satoru Akahori, Japanese writer
1966 - Cheryl James, American singer and rapper
1966 - Anne McLaughlin, Scottish politician
1968 - Michael Bartels, German racing driver
1970 - Andrea Parker, American actress
1972 - Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
1973 - Mark Lukasiewicz, American baseball player
From 1976
1976 - Freddie Prinze, Jr., American actor
1977 - James Van Der Beek, American actor
1977 - Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
1979 - Tom Chaplin, English singer (Keane)
1979 - Andy Ross, American guitarist
1981 - Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
1981 - Timo Boll, German tennis player
1981 - Laura Main, Scottish actress
1982 - Kat Von D, American tattoo artist
1982 - Marjorie Estiano, Brazilian actress and singer
1983 - Andre Santos, Brazilian footballer
1984 - Gyorgy Garics, Austrian footballer
1984 - Rafik Djebbour, Algerian footballer
1984 - Sasha Vujacic, Slovenian basketball player
1985 - Maria Ohisalo, Finnish politician and researcher
1986 - Lassad Nouioui, French-Tunisian footballer
1986 - Princess Tsuguko of Takamado of Japan
1987 - Devon Graye, American actor
1988 - Laura Unsworth, British field hockey player
1989 - Robbie Hummel, American basketball player
1990 - Petra Kvitova, Czech tennis player
1990 - Kristinia DeBarge, American singer-songwriter, dancer and actress
1991 - Miriam Bryant, Swedish singer-songwriter
1991 - Devon Werkheiser, American actor and singer
1991 - Alan Pulido, Mexican footballer
1992 - Charlie Ray, American actress
1994 - Dylan Tombides, Australian footballer (d. 2014)
1997 - Jurina Matsui, Japanese singer (AKB48)
Deaths
Up to 1900
1126 - Urraca of Leon (b. 1082)
1144 - Pope Celestine II
1550 - John of God, Portuguese-born friar and saint (b. 1495)
1641 - Xu Xiake, Chinese adventurer (b. 1587)
1702 - William III of England (b. 1650)
1757 - Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (b. 1701)
1771 - Louis August le Clerc, French-Danish sculptor (b. 1688)
1819 - Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, American colonel and politician (b. 1739)
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)
1876 - Louise Colet, French poet (b. 1810)
1887 - Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman (b. 1813)
1887 - James Buchanan Eads, American engineer (b. 1820)
1889 - John Ericsson, Swedish engineer and inventor (b. 1803)
1901 2000
1906 - Suzanne Manet, French pianist and wife of the painter Edouard Manet (b. 1829)
1907 - Marynos Antypas, Greek lawyer and journalist (b. 1872)
1917 - Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German aircraft manufacturer (b. 1838)
1921 - Eduardo Dato, Spanish Premier
1921 - Andrew Watson, Scottish footballer (b. 1856)
1923 - Krisjanis Barons, Latvian writer (b. 1837)
1923 - Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist (b. 1837)
1925 - Juliette Wytsman, Belgian painter (b. 1866)
1930 - William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States (b. 1857)
1935 - Ruan Lingyu, Chinese actress (b. 1910)
1935 - Hachiko, Japanese Akita dog known for its loyalty (b. 1923)
1941 - Sherwood Anderson, American writer (b. 1876)
1942 - Jose Raul Capablanca, Cuban chess player and diplomat (b. 1888)
1961 - Thomas Beecham, English conductor (b. 1879)
1971 - Harold Lloyd, American actor (b. 1893)
1972 - Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, German SS officer (b. 1899)
1973 - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American musician (b. 1945)
1975 - Joseph Bech, Prime Minister of Luxembourg (b. 1887)
1975 - Georg Faehlmann, Estonian sailor (b. 1895)
1975 - George Stevens, American director, screenwriter and producer (b. 1904)
1982 - Rab Butler, British politician (b. 1902)
1983 - Chabuca Granda, Peruvian-American singer-songwriter (b. 1920)
1983 - Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, English politician (b. 1904)
1983 - William Walton, English politician (b. 1902)
1985 - Kim Yong-Sik, Korean footballer (b. 1910)
1988 - Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
1993 - Billy Eckstine, American singer (b. 1914)
1999 - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentine writer (b. 1914)
1999 - Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1914)
1999 - William Wrigley III, American businessman (b. 1933)
From 2001
2003 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)
2004 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (b. 1948)
2005 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen politician (b. 1951)
2007 - John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
2007 - John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach (b. 1947)
2011 - Mike Starr, American musician (b. 1966)
2013 - Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, German army officer and publisher (b. 1922)
2014 - Victor Shem-Tov, Bulgarian-Israeli politician (b. 1915)
2014 - William Guarnere, American sergeant (b. 1923)
2014 - Park Eun-ji, South Korean politician (b. 1979)
2014 - Wendy Hughes, Australian actress (b. 1952)
2014 - Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American Holocaust survivor (b. 1921)
2015 - Sam Simon, American producer and writer (b. 1955)
2015 - Gerardo Sofovich, Argentine actor, director and television presenter (b. 1937)
2015 - Lew Soloff, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1944)
2015 - Inezita Barroso, Brazilian folk singer (b. 1925)
2016 - Richard Davalos, American actor (b. 1930)
2016 - Aldo Ferrer, Argentine economist (b. 1927)
2016 - David S. Johnson, American computer scientist (b. 1945)
2016 - George Martin, English musician, composer, sound engineer and producer (b. 1926)
2016 - Alfred E. Senn, American historian and academic (b. 1932)
2017 - Li Yuan-tsu, Vice President of Taiwan (b. 1923)
2017 - George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-American chemist (b. 1927)
2017 - Dave Valentin, American jazz flutist (b. 1952)
2018 - Ron Franklin, American jockey (b. 1959)
2018 - Wilson Harris, Guyanese writer (b. 1921)
2018 - Milko Kelemen, Croatian composer (b. 1924)
2018 - Peter Temple, Australian writer (b. 1946)
2018 - Togo D. West, Jr., American politician (b. 1942)
2018 - Kate Wilhelm, American writer (b. 1928)
2019 - Kelly Catlin, American cyclist (b. 1995)
2019 - Michael Gielen, Austrian conductor (b. 1927)
2019 - Cedrick Hardman, American football player (b. 1948)
2019 - Ian Lawrence, Australian-New Zealand politician, Mayor of Wellington (b. 1937)
Observances
International Women's Day
March 08