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What Happened on March 8

A speech by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman helps spark the Bangladesh war of independence
On March 7, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the Awami League in Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan), gave a passionate speech to a crowd of thousands in Dhaka. The speech, in which Rahman called for independence from Pakistan, was met with overwhelming support from the crowd.

Police brutally attack civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama
Civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, were brutally attacked by police officers while attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The march, known as “Bloody Sunday,” was part of a larger campaign for voting rights for African Americans.

The first two-way transatlantic telephone takes placeic
On March 7, 1956, the first two-way transatlantic telephone call was made between President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the United States and Prime Minister Anthony Eden in the United Kingdom. The call, which lasted for about five minutes, was made using a special transatlantic telephone cable that had been laid the previous year.

The U.S. Constitution is put into effect
The United States Constitution was officially put into effect, creating the world’s first modern democracy. The Constitution, which had been ratified by nine of the 13 states, established a strong federal government and defined the rights and responsibilities of the citizens of the new nation.

  • 1970 Rachel Weisz
    English actress
  • 1960 Ivan Lendl
    Czech tennis player
  • 1944 Townes Van Zandt
    American singer-songwriter, guitarist
  • 1902 Heinz Rühmann
    German actor
  • 1875 Maurice Ravel
    French composer
  • 2006 Ali Farka Touré
    Malian singer-songwriter, guitarist
  • 1999 Stanley Kubrick
    American director
  • 1975 Mikhail Bakhtin
    Russian philosopher
  • 1952 Paramahansa Yogananda
    Indian guru
  • 1274 Saint Thomas Aquinas
    Italian priest, philosopher

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