March 8 in History

An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes "African Slav

1775 — An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes "African Slavery in America", the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery

March 8 spans 45 recorded events across recorded history, from 1010 to 2021. Below is a curated digest of the most significant moments tied to this date.

By · — Wikipedia

Historical Events 45 events 1010 – 2021

More major events on March 8

The featured story and these ranked highlights form a quick summary. Every recorded event remains available in the chronology below.

  1. 2021 Twenty-eight political institutions in Myanmar establish the National Unity Consultative Council, a historic alliance of ethnic armed organizations and democratically elected leaders, in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. Source
  2. 1949 President of France Vincent Auriol and ex-Vietnamese emperor Bảo Đại sign the Élysée Accords, giving Vietnam greater independence from France and creating the State of Vietnam to oppose Viet Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Source
  3. 1983 Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an "evil empire". Source

Did you know

In 1775, An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes "African Slavery in America", the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery. This featured entry focuses on the immediate decision and its direct historical impact.

Did you know

Thomas Paine was an English-born American Founding Father, inventor, political philosopher, and statesman. This helps explain why the event mattered beyond the initial announcement.

Did you know

His pamphlets Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783) framed the Patriot argument for independence from Great Britain at the outset of the American Revolution. This clarifies the institutional and public response around the event.

Did you know

Paine advanced Enlightenment-era arguments for human rights that shaped revolutionary discourse on both sides of the Atlantic. This shows how the event shaped policy and public communication in the same period.

Did you know

In 1775, An anonymous writer, thought by some to be Thomas Paine, publishes "African Slavery in America", the first article in the American colonies calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery had consequences that extended beyond the first headline. The key context is the institutions involved, the policy shift, and how the public response evolved afterward.

1010 Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.
Persian poet (940–1025)
Abolqasem Mansour bin Hassan Tusi (940–1025), better known by his pen name Ferdowsi, was a Persian poet who is notable for being the author of the Shahnameh, which is one of the world's longest epic poems created by a…
Wikipedia source
1126 Urraca_of_León_and_Castile
Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
Queen of León, Castile, and Galicia from 1109 to 1126
Urraca, called the Reckless (La Temeraria), was Queen of León, Castile and Galicia from 1109 until her death. She claimed the imperial title as suo jure Empress of All Spain and Empress of All Galicia.
Wikipedia source
1262 Battle_of_Hausbergen
Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg.
1262 conflict to free the city of Strasbourg
The Battle of Hausbergen was a historic military engagement that took place in the Alsace region of northeastern France on 8 March 1262.
Wikipedia source
1558 Pori
The city of Pori (Swedish: Björneborg) is founded by Duke John on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia.
City in Satakunta, Finland
Pori is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia.
Wikipedia source
1658 Treaty_of_Roskilde
Treaty of Roskilde: After a devastating defeat in the Northern Wars (1655–1661), Frederick III, the King of Denmark–Norway is forced to give up nearly half his territory to Sweden.
1658 territorial settlement between Denmark–Norway and Sweden
The Treaty of Roskilde was negotiated at the parsonage of Høje Taastrup Church and was concluded on 26 February (OS) or 8 March 1658 (NS) in the Danish city of Roskilde during the Second Northern War between Frederick…
Wikipedia source
1702 Anne,_Queen_of_Great_Britain
Queen Anne, the younger sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1702 to 1714
Anne was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 8 March 1702, and Queen of Great Britain and Ireland following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707 merging the kingdoms of England and Scotland, until her…
Wikipedia source
1722 Safavid_Iran
The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at the Battle of Gulnabad.
Iran under the Safavid dynasty from 1501 to 1736
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires.
Wikipedia source
1736 Nader_Shah
Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, is crowned Shah of Iran.
Shah of Iran from 1736 to 1747
Nader Shah Afshar was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as the emperor of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was assassinated during a…
Wikipedia source
1782 Gnadenhutten_massacre
Gnadenhutten 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 Indian tribes.
1782 killing of Christian Lenape by American soldiers during the Revolutionary War
The Gnadenhutten massacre, also known as the Moravian massacre, was the killing of 96 pacifist Moravian Christian Indians by U.S.
Wikipedia source
1801 War_of_the_Second_Coalition
War of the Second Coalition: At the Battle of Abukir, a British force under Sir Ralph Abercromby lands in Egypt with the aim of ending the French campaign in Egypt and Syria.
Second war on revolutionary France by European monarchies
The War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802) was the second war between revolutionary France and a coalition of European monarchies, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples…
Wikipedia source
1844 Oscar_I_of_Sweden
King Oscar I ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.
King of Sweden and Norway from 1844 to 1859
Oscar I was King of Sweden and Norway from 8 March 1844 until his death. He was the second monarch of the House of Bernadotte.
Wikipedia source
1844 Althing
The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is reopened after 45 years of closure.
National legislature of Iceland
The Alþingi is the national legislature of Iceland, which is also known in the English language as the Icelandic Parliament or as the Parliament of Iceland. Established in 930, it is the oldest legislature in the world.
Wikipedia source
1868 Sakai_incident
Sakai incident: Japanese samurai kill 11 French sailors in the port of Sakai, Osaka.
1868 killing of French sailors by samurai in Japan
The Sakai incident was a diplomatic incident that occurred on March 8, 1868, in Bakumatsu period Japan involving the deaths of eleven French sailors from the French corvette Dupleix in the port of Sakai near Osaka,…
Wikipedia source
1910 Aircraft_pilot
French aviatrix Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot's license.
Person controlling an aircraft in flight
An aircraft pilot is an individual who controls an aircraft's flight by operating its directional controls.
Wikipedia source
1916 World_War_I
World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempts to relieve the siege of Kut (present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila.
Global conflict from 1914 to 1918
World War I, or the First World War, also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Central Powers.
Wikipedia source
1917 International_Women's_Day
International Women's Day protests in Petrograd mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23 in the Julian calendar).
Day to promote women's rights worldwide
International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement.
Wikipedia source
1917 United_States_Senate
The United States Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
Upper house of the US Congress
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, and the U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house.
Wikipedia source
1921 Eduardo_Dato
Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while on his way home from the parliament building in Madrid.
Spanish politician (1856–1921)
Eduardo Dato e Iradier was a Spanish political leader during the Spanish Restoration period.
Wikipedia source
1924 Castle_Gate_Mine_disaster
A mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
1924 coal mine explosion in Utah, US
The Castle Gate mine disaster occurred on March 8, 1924, in a coal mine near the town of Castle Gate, Utah, located approximately 90 miles (140 km) southeast of Salt Lake City.
Wikipedia source
1936 Daytona_Beach_and_Road_Course
Daytona Beach and Road Course holds its first oval stock car race.
Motorsport track in the United States
The Daytona Beach and Road Course was a motorsport race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
Wikipedia source
1937 Spanish_Civil_War
Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.
1936–1939 civil war in Spain
The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels.
Wikipedia source
1942 World_War_II
World War II: The Dutch East Indies surrender Java to the Imperial Japanese Army.
Global conflict (1939–1945)
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers.
Wikipedia source
1942 Yangon
World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces capture Rangoon, Burma from the British.
Largest city of Myanmar
Yangon, also romanized in English as Rangoon, is the capital city of the Yangon Region and the most populous city of Myanmar.
Wikipedia source
1949 President_of_France
President of France Vincent Auriol and ex-Vietnamese emperor Bảo Đại sign the Élysée Accords, giving Vietnam greater independence from France and creating the State of Vietnam to oppose Viet Minh-led Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Head of state
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic or president of the Republic, is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces.
Wikipedia source
1950 Volkswagen_Type_2
The iconic Volkswagen Type 2 "Bus" begins production.
Volkswagen panel van
The Volkswagen Transporter, initially the Type 2, is a range of light commercial vehicles, built as vans, pickups, and cab-and-chassis variants, introduced in 1950 by the German automaker Volkswagen.
Wikipedia source
1962 Turkish_Airlines
A Turkish Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship crashes into Mount Medetsiz in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, killing all 11 people on board.
National airline of Turkey
Turkish Airlines, or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. As of June 2024, it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and the Americas.
Wikipedia source
1963 Ba'ath_Party
The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d'état.
Syrian political party (1947–1966)
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, also known simply as the Baʽath Party, was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi.
Wikipedia source
1965 Vietnam_War
Vietnam War: US Marines arrive at Da Nang.
1955–1975 war in Southeast Asia
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies.
Wikipedia source
1965 Aeroflot_Flight_513
Aeroflot Flight 513 crashes during takeoff from Kuybyshev Airport, killing 30 and injuring 9.
1965 aviation accident
Aeroflot Flight 513 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot that crashed during takeoff from Kuybyshev Airport in the Soviet Union on 8 March 1965, resulting in the deaths of 30 passengers and…
Wikipedia source
1966 Nelson's_Pillar
Nelson's Pillar in Dublin, Ireland, is destroyed by a bomb.
Former column and statue in Dublin, Ireland
Nelson's Pillar was a large granite column capped by a statue of Horatio Nelson, built in the centre of what was then Sackville Street in Dublin, Ireland.
Wikipedia source
1979 Philips
Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
Dutch multinational technology company
Koninklijke Philips N.V., simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology and former consumer electronics company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891.
Wikipedia source
1979 Voyager_1
Images taken by Voyager 1 prove the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.
NASA space probe launched in 1977
Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program, to study the outer Solar System and the interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere.
Wikipedia source
1983 Cold_War
Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S.
President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an "evil empire".
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc.
Wikipedia source
1985 1985_Beirut_car_bombings
A supposed failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon kills 80 and injures 200 others.
Failed assassination attempt in Beirut, Lebanon
On 8 March 1985, a car bomb exploded between 9 and 45 metres from the house of Shia cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in a failed assassination attempt by a Lebanese counter-terrorism unit…
Wikipedia source
1988 Aeroflot_Flight_3739_(1988)
Aeroflot Flight 3379 is hijacked by the Ovechkin family and diverted to Veshchevo in the Soviet Union.
1988 aircraft hijacking
Aeroflot Flight 3739 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Irkutsk to Leningrad with a stopover in Kurgan.
Wikipedia source
1994 1994_Indira_Gandhi_Airport_collision
A collision at Indira Gandhi International Airport kills 9 people.
Aviation accident in India
On 8 March 1994, a Sahara India Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashed shortly after takeoff during a training exercise at Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport, India.
Wikipedia source
2001 Space_Shuttle_Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-102, carrying the Expedition 2 crew to the International Space Station.
Space Shuttle orbiter (1984–2011)
Space Shuttle Discovery is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built.
Wikipedia source
2004
A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
2004–2006 provisional constitution of Iraq
The Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, also called the Transitional Administrative Law or TAL, was Iraq's provisional constitution following the 2003 Iraq War.
Wikipedia source
2010 Hulk_Hogan
Headlined by Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, TNA Wrestling moves its flagship program, TNA Impact!, to Monday night.
This effort to go "big time live" failed but is notable in the history of professional wrestling television.
Terry Gene Bollea, better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, was an American professional wrestler and media personality.
Wikipedia source
2014 Malaysia_Airlines_Flight_370
In one of aviation's greatest mysteries, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying a total of 239 people, disappears en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The fate of the flight remains unknown.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared from radar on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its…
Wikipedia source
2017 Azure_Window
The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.
Former natural arch in Gozo, Malta
The Azure Window, also known as the Dwejra Window, was a 28-metre-tall (92 ft) natural arch on the island of Gozo, located just off the shores of Malta.
Wikipedia source
2018 Aurat_March
The first Aurat March (social/political demonstration) is held on International Women's Day in Karachi, Pakistan, since then held annually across Pakistan, and the feminist slogan "Mera Jism Meri Marzi" (My body, my choice), in demand for women's right to bodily autonomy and against gender-based violence, came into vogue in Pakistan.
Annual Pakistani women's rights marches
The Aurat March is a non-violent annual socio-political demonstration in Pakistani cities such as Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar to observe International Women's Day on 8 March.
Wikipedia source
2021 International_Women's_Day
International Women's Day marches in Mexico become violent with 62 police officers and 19 civilians injured in Mexico City alone.
Day to promote women's rights worldwide
International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement.
Wikipedia source
2021
Twenty-eight political institutions in Myanmar establish the National Unity Consultative Council, a historic alliance of ethnic armed organizations and democratically elected leaders, in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.
Governmental body in Myanmar
The National Unity Consultative Council is an advisory body of the National Unity Government of Myanmar.
Wikipedia source

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