March 8

International Women’s Day

Birthdays:

1960 ~ Jeffrey Kent Eugenides, American author.

1959 ~ Lester Don Holt, Jr., American newscaster, journalist and anchor of the CBS Evening News.

1959 ~ Aiden Quinn, American actor.

1953 ~ Jim Rice (né James Edward Rice), American baseball player who had a long career with the Boston Red Sox.

1948 ~ Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth of England.

1947 ~ Michael Hart (d. Sept. 6, 2011), American digital rebel who invented the e-book.  He was the founder of Project Gutenberg.  He died of a heart attack at age 64.

1947 ~ Carole Bayer Sager, American singer-songwriter.

1945 ~ Micky Dolenz (né George Michael Dolenz, Jr.), American musician and member of The Monkees.

1945 ~ Sylvia Margaret Wiegand, American mathematician.

1943 ~ Lynn Redgrave (d. May 2, 2010), the British pedigreed actress who had the common touch.  She died at age 67 of breast cancer.

1929 ~ Nicodeme Scarfo (d. Jan. 13, 2017), American ruthless mafia don who ruled Philadelphia.  In 1988, he was convicted on racketeering and murder charges.  He was serving a 55-year sentence when he died at age 87.

1924 ~ Georges Charpak (né Jerzy Charpak, d. Sept. 29, 2010), Ukrainain-born physicist and recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics.  He died at age 86.

1922 ~ Cyd Charisse (née Tula Ellice Finklea, d. June 17, 2008), Leggy American dancer and actress who floated across the silver screen.  She died of a heart attack at age 86.

1922 ~ Ralph Baer (né Rudolf Heinrich Baer, d. Dec. 6, 2014), German-born American engineer who became a video game pioneer.  He was known as the Father of Video Games.  His family left Germany to escape from the Holocaust.  He died at age 92 in Manchester, New Hampshire.

1921 ~ Alan Hale, Jr. (né Alan Hale MacKahan, d. Jan. 2, 1990), American actor best known for his role as the Skipper on Gilligan’s Island.  He died of thymus cancer at age 68.

1912 ~ Meldrim Thomson, Jr. (d. Apr. 19, 2001), 73^rd Governor of New Hampshire.  He was Governor from January 1973 until January 1979.  He died at age 89 in Orford, New Hampshire.

1912 ~ Preston Earnest Smith (d. Oct. 18, 2003), 40^th Governor of Texas.  He served as Governor from January 1969 until January 1973.  He died at age 91.

1909 ~ Beatrice Shilling (d. Nov. 18, 1990), British engineer and motorcycle racer.  She invented the “Miss Shilling's orifice” which helped prevent engines flooding in fighter aircraft during World War I.  She died at age 81.

1886 ~ Edward Calvin Kendall (d. May 4, 1972), American chemist and recipient of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  He died at age 86.

1879 ~ Otto Hahn (d. July 28, 1968), German chemist and recipient of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He opposed the actions of the Nazis.  He died at age 89.

1859 ~ Kenneth Grahame (d. July 6, 1932), Scottish author, best known for his children’s novel, The Wind in the Willows.  He died at age 73.

1841 ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., (d. Mar. 6, 1935), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He was appointed to the High Court by President Theodore Roosevelt.  He served on the Court from December 1902 until January 1932.  He died 2 days before his 94^th birthday.

1839 ~ Josephine Garis Cochrane (d. Aug. 14, 1913), American inventor who produced the first commercially successful dishwasher.  She died of exhaustion at age 74.

1822 ~ Ignacy Łukasiewicz (né Jan Józef Ignacy Łukasiewicz, d. Jan. 7, 1882), Polish inventor.  He invented the Kerosene lamp.  He died of pneumonia at age 59.

1799 ~ Simon Cameron (d. June 26, 1889), 26^th United States Secretary of War.  He served under President Abraham Lincoln from March 1861 until January 1862.  He died at age 90.

1783 ~ Hannah Hoes Van Buren (d. Feb. 5, 1819), wife of U.S. President Martin Van Buren.  Even though she died before her husband became president, she is sometimes considered to be a First Lady.  She died of tuberculosis at about a month before her 36^th birthday.

1748 ~ William V, Prince of Orange (d. Apr. 9, 1806).  He died a month after his 58^th birthday.

1702 ~ Anne Bonny (d. 1782), Irish-American pirate.  The actual dates of her birth and death are unknown, but she is believed to have been born on or about March 8.

1495 ~ John of God (d. Mar. 8, 1550), Portuguese priest and saint.  He died on his 55^th birthday.

Events that Changed the World:

2014 ~ Malaysian Flight 370 disappeared in the Indian Ocean on a flight to Australia.  The plane was believed to have crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean.  All 239 people aboard were killed and their remains never found.

1978 ~ The BBC Radio 4 began broadcasting Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

1974 ~ The Charles de Gaulle Airport opened in Paris, France.

1971 ~ In what was billed as the Fight of the Century, a boxing match between Joe Frazier (1944 ~ 2011) and Muhammad Ali (1942 ~ 2016) was held in Madison Square Garden in New York City.  Frazier won the fight in 15 rounds.

1957 ~ The Suez Canal was reopened following the Suez Crisis.

1936 ~ The Daytona Beach Road Course held its first oval stock car race.

1924 ~ One Hundred Seventy-Two coal miners were killed in a mining disaster in Castle Gate, Utah.

1917 ~ International Women’s Day protests in St. Petersburg, Russia marked the beginning of the February Revolution.  Russia was still using the Julian calendar on this date, hence the term the February Revolution.

1911 ~ Clara Zetkin (1857 ~ 1933), the leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, instituted International Women’s Day in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1910 ~ Raymonde de Laroche (1882 ~ 1919) of France became the first woman to be granted a pilot’s license to fly an airplane.  She was killed at age 36 in a plane crash on July 18, 1919.

1884 ~ Susan B. Anthony (1820 ~ 1906) addressed the US House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee arguing for the right of women to vote.

1844 ~ King Oscar I (1799 ~ 1859) became king of Sweden and Norway.

1817 ~ The New York Stock Exchange was founded.

1681 ~ Johannes Kepler (1571 ~ 1630) discovered the third law of planetary motion.

Good-Byes:

2017 ~ George Andrew Olah (b. May 22, 1927), Hungarian chemist and recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.  He died at age 89.

2016 ~ Sir George Henry Martin (b. Jan. 3, 1926), British experimental recording producer who guided the Beatles.  He was sometimes referred to as the Fifth Beatle because of his involvement in each of the Beatles albums.  He died at age 90.

2014 ~ Gerald Alfons August Mortier, Baron Mortier (b. Nov. 25, 1943), Belgium opera director who defied the elite.  He died of pancreatic cancer at age 70.

2013 ~ Margaret K. Butler (b. Mar. 27, 1924), American mathematician and computer programmer.  She died 19 days before her 89^th birthday.

2013 ~ Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (b. July 10, 1922), German aristocrat who plotted to kill Hitler.  He was involved in a suicide plot to kill Hitler.  The plot failed and he was sent to a concentration camp for the duration of the war.  He died at age 90.

2004 ~ Robert Joseph Pastorelli (b. June 21, 1954), American actor best known for his role as Eldon on Murphy Brown.  He died of a drug overdose that may have been a suicide.  He was 49 years old.

1999 ~ Peggy Cass (née Mary Margaret Cass, b. May 21, 1924), American comedian and game show panelist.  She was a regular on To Tell the Truth.  She was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  She died at age 74.

1999 ~ Joe DiMaggio (né Joseph Paul DiMaggio, b. Nov. 25, 1914), American baseball player and husband of Marilyn Monroe.  He died at age 84.

1993 ~ Billy Eckstein (né William Clarence Eckstein, b. July 8, 1914), American trumpet player and singer.  He died at age 78.

1980 ~ Max Mideinger (b. Dec. 24, 1910), Swiss typeface designer best known for creating the Helvetica typeface in 1957.  He died at age 69.

1971 ~ Harold Lloyd (né Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr., b. Apr. 20, 1893), American silent screen actor.  He died of prostate cancer at age 77.

1941 ~ Sherwood Anderson (b. Sept. 13, 1876), American author.  He is best known for his novel Winesburg, Ohio.  He died in Panama at age 64.

1930 ~ Edward Terry Sanford (b. July 23, 1865), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He served on the High Court from January 1923 until his death on this date 7 years later.  He was appointed to the Court by President Warren Harding.  He died of uremic poisoning following a tooth extraction.  He was 64 years old.

1930 ~ William Howard Taft (b. Sept. 15, 1857), 27^th President of the United States and 10^th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  He served as President from March 1909 until March 1913.  He had previously served as the 42^nd United States Secretary of War, from February 1904 until June 1908.  Following his term as President, he was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Warren Harding.  He served on the Court from July 1921 until Feb. 1930.  He died about a month after his retirement from the High Court.  He was 72 at the time of his death.

1923 ~ Johannes Diderik van der Waals (b. Nov. 23, 1837), Dutch physicist and recipient of the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics.  His name is associated with van der Waals forces.  He died at age 85.

1917 ~ Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (né Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin, b. July 8, 1838), German aircraft manufacture and father of the Zeppelin.  He died at age 78.

1887 ~ Henry Ward Beecher (b. June 24, 1813), American clergyman and social reformer.  He was a strong abolitionist prior to the American Civil War.  He died at age 73.

1874 ~ Millard Fillmore (b. Jan. 7, 1800), 13^th President of the United States.  He was President from July 1850 until March 1853.  He assumed the Presidency upon the death of Zachary Taylor.  He died at age 74.

1872 ~ Priscilla Susan Bury (née Priscilla Susan Falkner, b. Jan. 12, 1799), British botanist and illustrator.  She died at age 73.

1869 ~ Hector Berlioz (né Louis-Hector Berlioz, b. Dec. 11, 1803), French composer.  He died at age 65.

1844 ~ Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. Jan. 26, 1763).  He died at age 81.

1723 ~ Sir Christopher Wren (b. Oct. 30, 1632), English architect and mathematician.  Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, he re-designed many of the city’s churches.  He is best known as being the lead architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  He died at age 90.

1702 ~ King William III of England (b. Nov. 4, 1650).  He was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1689 until his death in 1702.  He reigned with his wife, Mary II, as William and Mary.  He died of pneumonia at age 51.

1550 ~ John of God (b. Mar. 8, 1495), Portuguese priest and saint.  He died on his 55^th birthday.

1466 ~ Francesco Sforza (d. July 23, 1401), Duke of Milan.  He died at age 64.

1144 ~ Pope Celestine II (né Guido di Castello).  He was Pope from September 1143 until his death less than 6 months later.  The exact date of his birth is unknown.