On this day: March 8

Events on March 8

• 1262 Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop of Strasbourg. Wikipedia
• 1558 The city of Pori (Swedish: Björneborg) is founded by Duke John on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. Wikipedia
• 1576 A Spanish colonial officer wrote a letter to King Philip II containing the first known mention of the Maya ruins of Copán in present-day Honduras. Wikipedia
• 1655 The court of Northampton County, Virginia, issued a ruling that made John Casor the first person of African descent in the Thirteen Colonies to be declared a slave for life as a result of a civil suit. Wikipedia
• 1722 The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at the Battle of Gulnabad. Wikipedia
• 1782 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. Wikipedia
• 1844 The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is reopened after 45 years of closure. Wikipedia
• 1916 World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempts to relieve the siege of Kut (present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila. Wikipedia
• 1917 International Women's Day protests in Petrograd mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23 in the Julian calendar). Wikipedia
• 1921 Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while on his way home from the parliament building in Madrid. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces capture Rangoon, Burma from the British. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: The Dutch East Indies surrender Java to the Imperial Japanese Army. Wikipedia
• 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. Wikipedia
• 1963 The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d'état. Wikipedia
• 1965 Vietnam War: US Marines arrive at Da Nang. Wikipedia
• 1983 Cold War: In a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, U.S. president Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire". Wikipedia
• 1983 Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an "evil empire". Wikipedia
• 1985 A supposed failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon kills 80 and injures 200 others. Wikipedia
• 1988 Aeroflot Flight 3379 is hijacked by the Ovechkin family and diverted to Veshchevo in the Soviet Union. Wikipedia
• 2001 Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-102, carrying the Expedition 2 crew to the International Space Station. Wikipedia
• 2004 A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council. Wikipedia
• 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, with aircraft debris subsequently washing ashore a few years later in the Indian Ocean. Wikipedia
• 2014 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. Wikipedia
• 2017 The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather. Wikipedia
• 2018 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. Wikipedia
• 2021 International Women's Day marches in Mexico become violent with 62 police officers and 19 civilians injured in Mexico City alone. Wikipedia

Born on March 8

• 1714 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German pianist and composer (died 1788) Wikipedia
• 1822 Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Polish inventor and businessman, invented the Kerosene lamp (died 1882) Wikipedia
• 1841 Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., American lawyer and jurist (died 1935) Wikipedia
• 1859 Kenneth Grahame, British author (died 1932) Wikipedia
• 1879 Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968) Wikipedia
• 1886 Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1972) Wikipedia
• 1907 Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek lawyer and politician, President of Greece (died 1998) Wikipedia
• 1910 Claire Trevor, American actress (died 2000) Wikipedia
• 1914 Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Belarusian-Russian physicist and astronomer (died 1987) Wikipedia
• 1922 Cyd Charisse, American actress and dancer (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1922 Ralph H. Baer, German-American video game designer, created the Magnavox Odyssey (died 2014) Wikipedia
• 1924 Anthony Caro, English sculptor and illustrator (died 2013) Wikipedia
• 1931 Neil Postman, American author and social critic (died 2003) Wikipedia
• 1937 Juvénal Habyarimana, Rwandan politician, President of Rwanda (died 1994) Wikipedia
• 1943 Lynn Redgrave, English-American actress and singer (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1945 Anselm Kiefer, German painter and sculptor Wikipedia
• 1947 Michael S. Hart, American author, founded Project Gutenberg (died 2011) Wikipedia
• 1949 Teofilo Cubillas, Peruvian footballer Wikipedia
• 1976 Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1977 James Van Der Beek, American actor (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1990 Petra Kvitová, Czech tennis player Wikipedia
• 1990 Asier Illarramendi, Spanish footballer Wikipedia

Died on March 8

• 1137 Adela of Normandy, by marriage countess of Blois (born c. 1067) Wikipedia
• 1403 Bayezid I, Ottoman sultan (born 1360) Wikipedia
• 1702 William III of England (born 1650) Wikipedia
• 1723 Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St. Paul's Cathedral (born 1632) Wikipedia
• 1844 Charles XIV John of Sweden (born 1763) Wikipedia
• 1869 Hector Berlioz, French composer, conductor, and critic (born 1803) Wikipedia
• 1874 Millard Fillmore, American lawyer and politician, 13th President of the United States (born 1800) Wikipedia
• 1923 Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1837) Wikipedia
• 1930 William Howard Taft, American politician, 27th President of the United States (born 1857) Wikipedia
• 1932 Minna Craucher, Finnish socialite and spy (born 1891) Wikipedia
• 1942 José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (born 1888) Wikipedia
• 1971 Harold Lloyd, American actor, director, and producer (born 1893) Wikipedia
• 2014 Leo Bretholz, Austrian-American Holocaust survivor and author (born 1921) Wikipedia
• 2020 Max von Sydow, Swedish actor (born 1929) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Edward King (Church of England) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Felix of Burgundy Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: John of God Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Philemon the actor Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: March 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• International Women's Day, and its related observances: International Women's Collaboration Brew Day Wikipedia

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “March 8” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-09 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. We picked the 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths with the widest coverage across Wikipedia's language editions (counted from Wikidata) and sorted them by year; the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures.