March 8 Events In History

EVENTS

• 1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is founded. The NYSE at 11 Wall Street in New York City is the world’s largest stock exchange.
• 1863 – During the American Civil War, Confederate Colonel John Mosby, leader of Mosby’s Rangers, captured Union General E.H. Stoughton at his headquarters in Fairfax County Courthouse, Virginia.
• 1884 – Susan B. Anthony asks Congress for an amendment allowing women the right to vote.
• 1910 – Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman with a pilot’s license. The French aviatrix was also the first woman to fly solo. She died at the age of 36 when her experimental plane crashed at Le Crotoy airfield in northern France.

  

• 1936 – The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
• 1950 – The Soviet Union first claims to have an atomic bomb.
• 1971 – In the Fight of the Century, Joe Frazier triumphs over Muhammad Ali. Ali had been stripped of his World Heavyweight Champion title in 1967 for refusing to serve in the armed forces. As he was still undefeated, Frazier had to beat him to be recognized as the world champion.
• 1972 – First flight of the Goodyear blimp.
• 1978 – The first episode of the radio comedy “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is broadcast. Douglas Adams’ radio play was a major success with BBC Radio 4 listeners. The book version consisting of five novels – A Trilogy in Five Parts – became a worldwide success.
• 1979 – The compact disc is presented to the public. The CD was developed by Philips and Sony. The companies later collaborated to produce a standard format and CD players.
• 2004 – A new constitution is signed by Iraq’s Governing Council.

BIRTHDAYS

• 1702 – Anne Bonny (Famous female pirate)
• 1841 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (American jurist)
• 1879 – Otto Hahn (German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate)

  

• 1907 – Konstantinos Karamanlis (Greek politician, 3rd President of Greece)
• 1943 – Lynn Redgrave (Actress)
• 1945 – Mickey Dolenz (Singer with the Monkeys)
• 1952 – George Allen (American politician, 67th Governor of Virginia)
• 1959 – Aidan Quinn (Actor)
• 1963 – Kathy Ireland (Model)
• 1976 – Freddie Prinz Jr ((Actor)
• 1977 – James Van Der Beek (Actor)
• 1990 – Petra Kvitová (Czech tennis player)

DEATHS

• 1869 – Hector Berlioz (French composer)
• 1917 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin (German general, businessman)
• 1930 – William Howard Taft (American politician, 27th President of the United States)
• 1942 – José Raúl Capablanca (Cuban chess player)
• 1999 – Joe DiMaggio (American baseball player)