Historical Events on Sunday, 8th March

08/03/2021

International Women's Day marches in Mexico become violent with 62 police officers and 19 civilians injured in Mexico City alone.

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. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. Spurred by the universal female suffrage movement, International Women's Day originated from labor movements in Europe and North America during the early 20th century.

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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.

The National Unity Consultative Council is an advisory body of the National Unity Government of Myanmar. Formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'etat, the NUCC seeks to overthrow the military dictatorship and build a federal democratic union in Myanmar through collective leadership, political dialogue, and coordination. NUCC is a historic alliance of ethnic armed organizations and the Bamar majority, and is considered one of the most inclusive in modern Burmese history.

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08/03/2018

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.

The Aurat March is a non-violent annual socio-political demonstration in Pakistani cities such as Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Islamabad to observe International Women's Day on 8 March.

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08/03/2017

The Azure Window, a natural arch on the Maltese island of Gozo, collapses in stormy weather.

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. The limestone feature, which was in Dwejra Bay close to the Inland Sea and Fungus Rock, was one of the island's major tourist attractions until it collapsed in stormy weather on 8 March 2017. The arch, together with other natural features in the area, has appeared in a number of international films and media productions.

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08/03/2014

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.

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 planned destination, Beijing Capital International Airport in China. The cause of its disappearance has not been determined. It is widely regarded as the greatest mystery in aviation history and remains the single deadliest case of aircraft disappearance.

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08/03/2010

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. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most recognized wrestlers of all time, Hogan won multiple championships worldwide, most notably being a six-time WWF/WWE Champion. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Hogan also competed in promotions such as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

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08/03/2004

A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.

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. It was signed on March 8, 2004 by the Iraqi Governing Council. It came into effect on June 28, 2004 following the official transfer of power from the Coalition Provisional Authority to a sovereign Iraqi government. The law remained in effect until the formation of the government in May 2006, when it was superseded by the permanent constitution that had been approved by referendum on October 15, 2005.

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08/03/2001

Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-102, carrying the Expedition 2 crew to the International Space Station.

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. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to September 5, 1984. Over 27 years of service it launched and landed 39 times, aggregating more spaceflights than any other spacecraft as of December 2024. The Space Shuttle launch vehicle had three main components: the Space Shuttle orbiter, a single-use central fuel tank, and two reusable solid rocket boosters. Nearly 25,000 heat-resistant tiles cover the orbiter to protect it from high temperatures on re-entry.

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08/03/1994

A collision at Indira Gandhi International Airport kills 9 people.

On 8 March 1994, a Sahara India Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff during a training exercise at Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport, India. The plane slammed into an Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-86, which led to both aircraft being destroyed. All 6 crew members on both planes were killed, along with two other Aeroflot employees on the Ilyushin and one person on the ground. There were no passengers on either aircraft during the crash. The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error.

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08/03/1988

Aeroflot Flight 3379 is hijacked by the Ovechkin family and diverted to Veshchevo in the Soviet Union.

Aeroflot Flight 3739 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Irkutsk to Leningrad with a stopover in Kurgan. On 8 March 1988, after the Tupolev Tu-154 operating the flight had left Kurgan, it was hijacked by the Ovechkin family, whose members sought to defect from the Soviet Union.

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08/03/1985

A supposed failed assassination attempt on Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon kills 80 and injures 200 others.

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 linked to the Central Intelligence Agency. The bombing killed 80 people and injured 200, almost all civilians.

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08/03/1983

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. It began in the aftermath of the Second World War and ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term cold war is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, embargoes, and sports diplomacy.

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08/03/1979

Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.

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. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is still in Eindhoven. The company gained its royal honorary title in 1998.

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Images taken by Voyager 1 prove the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.

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. It was launched 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. It communicates through the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) to receive routine commands and to transmit data to Earth. Real-time distance and velocity data are provided by NASA and JPL. At a distance of 172.59 AU as of March 2026, it is the most distant human-made object from Earth. Voyager 1 is also projected to reach a distance of one light day from Earth in November 2026.

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08/03/1966

Nelson's Pillar in Dublin, Ireland, is destroyed by a bomb.

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. Completed in 1809 when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, it survived until March 1966, when it was severely damaged by explosives planted by Irish republicans. Its remnants were later destroyed by the Irish Army.

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08/03/1965

Vietnam War: US Marines arrive at Da Nang.

The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until US forces were withdrawn in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.

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Aeroflot Flight 513 crashes during takeoff from Kuybyshev Airport, killing 30 and injuring 9.

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 crew. It was the first fatal accident involving a Tupolev Tu-124.

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08/03/1963

The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d'état.

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, also known simply as the Baʽth Party, was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology mixing Arab nationalist, pan-Arab, Arab socialist, and anti-imperialist interests. Ba'athism calls for the unification of the Arab world into a single state. Its motto, "Unity, Freedom, Socialism", refers to Arab unity and freedom from non-Arab control and interference as well as supporting socialism.

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08/03/1962

A Turkish Airlines Fokker F27 Friendship crashes into Mount Medetsiz in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, killing all 11 people on board.

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. The airline serves more destinations non-stop from a single airport than any other airline in the world and flies to 131 countries, more than any other airline. With an operational fleet of 24 cargo aircraft, the airline's cargo division Turkish Cargo serves 82 destinations. The airline also owns a low-cost subsidiary, AJet.

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08/03/1950

The iconic Volkswagen Type 2 "Bus" begins production.

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 as their second mass-production light motor vehicle series, and inspired by an idea and request from then-Netherlands-VW-importer Ben Pon.

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08/03/1949

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.

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. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the position is the highest office in France. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, in addition to their relation with the prime minister and government of France, have over time differed with the various constitutional documents since the Second Republic.

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08/03/1942

World War II: The Dutch East Indies surrender Java to the Imperial Japanese Army.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

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World War II: Imperial Japanese Army forces capture Rangoon, Burma from the British.

Yangon, sometimes romanised in English as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the military government relocated the administrative functions to the purpose-built capital city of Naypyidaw in north central Myanmar. With over five million people, Yangon is Myanmar's most populous city and its most important commercial centre.

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08/03/1937

Spanish Civil War: The Battle of Guadalajara begins.

The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans were loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic and included socialists, anarchists, communists, and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 for what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

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08/03/1936

Daytona Beach and Road Course holds its first oval stock car race.

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). It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set.

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08/03/1924

A mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.

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. All of the 171 men working in the mine were killed in the series of three violent explosions. One worker, the leader of the rescue crew, died from carbon monoxide inhalation while attempting to reach the victims shortly after the explosion.

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08/03/1921

Spanish Prime Minister Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while on his way home from the parliament building in Madrid.

Eduardo Dato e Iradier was a Spanish political leader during the Spanish Restoration period. He served three times as Spanish prime minister: from 27 October 1913 to 9 December 1915, from 11 June 1917 to 3 November 1917, and from 28 April 1920 until his assassination by Catalan anarchists. He also held eleven cabinet ministries, and was four times president of the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

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08/03/1917

International Women's Day protests in Petrograd mark the beginning of the February Revolution (February 23 in the Julian calendar).

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. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. Spurred by the universal female suffrage movement, International Women's Day originated from labor movements in Europe and North America during the early 20th century.

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The United States Senate votes to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.

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. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the Constitution to make and pass or defeat federal legislation.

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08/03/1916

World War I: A British force unsuccessfully attempts to relieve the siege of Kut (present-day Iraq) in the Battle of Dujaila.

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. Major areas of conflict included Europe and the Middle East, as well as parts of Africa and the Asia-Pacific. The war saw important developments in weaponry including tanks, aircraft, artillery, machine guns, and chemical weapons. One of the deadliest conflicts in history, it resulted in an estimated 15 to 22 million military and civilian casualties and genocide. The movement of large numbers of people was a major factor in the deadly Spanish flu pandemic.

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08/03/1910

French aviatrix Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot's license.

An aircraft pilot, or aviator, is an individual who controls an aircraft's flight by operating its directional controls. Other aircrew members, such as navigators and flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they assist in operating the aircraft’s navigation and engine systems. Aircrew members like drone operators, flight attendants, mechanics, and ground crew are not classified as aviators.

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08/03/1868

Sakai incident: Japanese samurai kill 11 French sailors in the port of Sakai, Osaka.

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, Japan. It is also known as the Senshū Sakai incident (泉州堺事件) or the Myōkoku-ji incident (妙国寺事件), and was one of three major diplomatic incidents involving attacks on foreigners in Japan in 1868, the others being the Kobe Incident and the attempted assassination of Harry Parkes.

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08/03/1844

King Oscar I ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway.

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.

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The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is reopened after 45 years of closure.

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, although the Tynwald is the oldest continuous legislature in the world, because the Althing was disbanded in 1800 and restored in 1845.

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08/03/1801

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.

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 and various German monarchies. Prussia did not join the coalition, while Spain supported France.

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08/03/1782

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.

The Gnadenhutten massacre, also known as the Moravian massacre, was the killing of 96 pacifist Moravian Christian Indians by U.S. militiamen from Pennsylvania, under the command of David Williamson, on March 8, 1782, at the Moravian missionary village of Gnadenhutten, Ohio Country, during the American Revolutionary War.

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08/03/1775

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.

Thomas Paine was an English-born American Founding Father, French Revolutionary, inventor, political philosopher, and statesman. 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. Paine advanced Enlightenment-era arguments for human rights that shaped revolutionary discourse on both sides of the Atlantic.

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08/03/1736

Nader Shah, founder of the Afsharid dynasty, is crowned Shah of Iran.

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 rebellion. He fought numerous campaigns throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia, emerging victorious from the battles of Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevārd, Khyber Pass, Karnal, and Kars. Nader belonged to the Turkoman Afshars, one of the seven Qizilbash tribes that helped the Safavid dynasty establish their power in Iran.

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08/03/1722

The Safavid Empire of Iran is defeated by an army from Afghanistan at the Battle of Gulnabad.

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. It was ruled by the Safavid dynasty from 1501 to 1736, albeit others place the end on the year 1722, when Isfahan fell to the Afghans. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires.

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08/03/1702

Queen Anne, the younger sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

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 death in 1714.

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08/03/1658

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.

The Treaty of Roskilde was negotiated at Høje Taastrup Church and was concluded on 26 February (OS) or 8 March 1658 (NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde. After a devastating defeat, Denmark–Norway was forced to give up a third of its territory to save the rest, the ceded lands comprising Blekinge, Bornholm, Bohuslän, Scania and Trøndelag, as well as Halland.

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08/03/1558

The city of Pori (Swedish: Björneborg) is founded by Duke John on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia.

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. The population of Pori is approximately 83,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 128,000. It is the 10th most populous municipality in Finland, and the eighth most populous urban area in the country.

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08/03/1262

Battle of Hausbergen between bourgeois militias and the army of the bishop 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. The battle marked the release of the 'burghers' (citizens) of Strasbourg from episcopal authority and gave the bourgeoisie control over politics and commerce. The battle occurred on the fields of Hausbergen, an area of countryside a few miles northwest of the city of Strasbourg. It resulted in the decisive victory of the townsmen over the forces of the Bishop of Strasbourg, Walter of Geroldseck and the granting of free imperial city status by King Philip of Swabia to Strasbourg.

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08/03/1126

Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.

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. She is considered to be the first European queen to reign in her own right.

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08/03/1010

Ferdowsi completes his epic poem Shahnameh.

Abolqasem Mansour bin Hassan Tusi (940–1025), better known by his pen name Ferdowsi, was a Persian poet and the author of Shahnameh, which is one of the world's longest epic poems created by a single poet, and the greatest epic of Persian-speaking countries. Ferdowsi is celebrated as one of the most influential figures of Persian literature and one of the greatest in the history of literature.

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