March 8 in History

Historical Events on March 8

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.

1777 Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.

1862 American Civil War: The Naval Battle of Hampton Roads begins.

1937 Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.

1942 World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces gave ultimatum to Dutch East Indies Governor General Jonkheer Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer and KNIL Commander in Chief Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, to unconditionally surrender.

1942 World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces captured Rangoon, Burma from British.

1957 Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.

1965 Thirty-five hundred United States Marines are the first American land combat forces committed during the Vietnam War.

2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying a total of 239 people, disappears en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

All Events

Famous Birthdays on March 8

1841 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

1879 Otto Hahn

1952 George Allen (U.S. politician)

1990 Petra Kvitová

All Births

Famous Deaths on March 8

1869 Hector Berlioz

1874 Millard Fillmore

1930 William Howard Taft

1942 José Raúl Capablanca

All Deaths

Choose Another Date