Holidays Calendar for March 8, 2020
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8 every year, is a public holiday in a number of countries as well as a United Nations observance. Originally created to celebrate women’s rights and suffrage, it has transformed into a commercialized celebration of womanhood and feminine beauty in some places.
Revolution Day is one of the important public holidays for Syria. This holiday annually falls on March 8 and it celebrates the seizure of power by Ba'ath Party in 1963.
Birthday of Ali ibn Abi Talib is observed by Muslims on the 13th day of the month of Rajab. It is an official public holiday in Iran.
International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD) is an annual event aimed to unite women brewmasters around the world and to raise awareness of women working in the brewing profession. The event is held on March 8 to coincide with International Women’s Day.
International Day of Planetariums, formerly known as International Day of Planetaria, is celebrated annually on the second Sunday of March. It was inaugurated by the Italian Association of Planetaria (IAP), and is sponsored by the International Planetarium Society.
The second Sunday in March the employees of geodetic and cartographic services of Russia celebrate their professional holiday, Day of Geodesy and Cartography Workers. This holiday was established by Presidential Decree on November 11, 2000.
The Philippine province of Davao de Oro celebrates its founding anniversary on March 8 every year. Davao de Oro Foundation Day (Araw ng Davao de Oro) is a special non-working holiday in the province.
Peanuts are the most favorite nuts in the USA, that can explain a wide variety of sweet peanut treats. March 8 is National Peanut Cluster Day, so we can find a perfect excuse to enjoy this candy.
National Proofreading Day is celebrated annually on March 8. It was created to highlight the importance of proofreading your writing before publishing or submitting it, be it a college assignment, a resume, a contract, or a draft of your debut novel.
Many countries celebrate International Women's Day on March 8. But there are some countries, that celebrate Mother's Day on the same day, for instance, in Laos and Albania.
In some Islamic countries (Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Mauritania), Father's Day is celebrated on the 13th day of the month of Rajab. This date was chosen to honor Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad.
Festivals on March 8, 2020
- Canberra Balloon Spectacular in Canberra, Australia
- Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Carmona, Philippines
- Kaziukas Fair in Vilnius, Lithuania
- Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival in Nottingham, United Kingdom
- WOMAD in Adelaide, Australia
- Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Melbourne, Australia
- North Texas Irish Festival in Dallas, USA
- Brussels Book Fair in Brussels, Belgium
- Crufts Dog Show in Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Moscow Boat Show in Moscow, Russia
- CinemAsia Film Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Tampere Film Festival in Tampere, Finland
- FEST (Belgrade International Film Festival) in Belgrade, Serbia
- Adelaide Festival in Adelaide, Australia
- Enlighten Canberra in Canberra, Australia
This Day in History
- 2021 The National Unity Consultative Council was formed in response to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'etat to build a federal democratic union in Myanmar.
- 2020 Died: Max von Sydow, Swedish actor who had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television series.
- 2017 The Azure Window, a 92-ft- tall natural arch on the island of Gozo in the Maltese Archipelago, collapsed in stormy weather. It used to be a major tourist attraction.
- 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The aircraft is believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean.
- 2004 Born: Kit Connor, English actor who gained recognition for starring as Nick Nelson in the Netflix teen series Heartstopper. He also had a voice role in His Dark Materials.
- 1999 Died: Joe DiMaggio (born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio), American baseball player who played his entire career for the New York Yankees. He was married to Marilyn Monroe.
- 1993 The first episode of the animated sitcom Beavis and Butt-head aired on MTV. The series was created and designed by Mike Judge.
- 1978 The first episode of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was broadcast by BBC Radio 4. It was the first radio comedy program to be produced in stereo.
- 1978 Born: Nick Zano, American actor, producer and television host who is known for his role as Vince in The WB's sitcom What I Like About You, and many more.
- 1977 Born: James Van Der Beek, American actor who is best known for his role as Dawson Leery in The WB's teen drama television series Dawson's Creek.
- 1976 Born: Freddie Prinze, Jr., American actor who rose to fame after starring in the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel released in 1998.
- 1974 Charles de Gaulle Airport opened in Paris, France. It is France's largest international airport and one of the world's principal aviation centers.
- 1957 Born: Clive Burr, English drummer, singer, and songwriter who is best known as a member of the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
- 1942 Died: José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player who is considered one of the greatest players of all time. He was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927.
- 1937 The Battle of Guadalajara began during the Spanish Civil War. On March 23, Italian and Nationalist forces were defeated by the Republican People's Army.
- 1935 Died: Hachikō, an Akita dog who is remembered for his remarkable loyalty to his owner. He had been waiting for return of his dead owner for 9 years.
- 1935 Born: George Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader who is primarily known for his work with Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis in the 1960s.
- 1931 Born: John McPhee, American author who is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999.
- 1930 Died: William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States (from 1909 to 1913) and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (from 1921 to 1930).
- 1923 Died: Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist who was awarded the 1910 Nobel Prize in physics.
- 1920 The Arab Kingdom of Syria was established. It was the first modern Arab state to come into existence. Unfortunately, it only lasted for four months.
- 1917 Died: Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German aircraft manufacturer who founded the Zeppelin airship company and created the first rigid airships.
- 1911 International Women's Day was launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, a German Marxist theorist, activist, and advocate for women's rights.
- 1910 French pilot Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman in the world who received an airplane pilot's license. The Aero-Club of France issued her license #36 of the FAI.
- 1900 Born: Howard H. Aiken, American computer scientist who is best known for having made a significant contribution to the creation of IBM's Harvard Mark I computer.
- 1889 Died: John Ericsson, Swedish-American mechanical engineer and inventor who is best known for designing the iron-hulled steamship USS Monitor.
- 1887 Died: James Buchanan Eads, American civil engineer and inventor. He is known for having designed and built the first road and rail bridge to cross the Mississippi River.
- 1886 Born: Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist who was awarded the 1950 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine along with Philip S. Hench and Tadeus Reichstein.
- 1879 Born: Otto Hahn, German chemist who was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He is often referred to as "the father of nuclear chemistry".
- 1869 Died: Hector Berlioz, French composer of the Romantic period who is best known for his compositions Requiem (Grande Messe des morts) and Symphonie fantastique.
- 1859 Born: Kenneth Grahame, Scottish writer of children's books who is best known for his 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows which is one of the classics of children's literature.
- 1844 Died: Charles XIV John of Sweden, King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death. He founded the House of Bernadotte, the current royal house of Sweden.
- 1817 The New York Stock Exchange, sometimes referred to as the Big Board, was founded. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange.
- 1702 Anne Stuart became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. Her coronation took place on April 23, 1702, St George's Day, in Westminster Abbey.