On this day: March 8
The New York Stock Exchange is founded, Frazier outlasts Ali, the compact disc makes its debut, and Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio dies, all on this day.
1702: England's Queen Anne takes the throne upon the death of her brother-in-law and cousin, King William III.
1702: England's Queen Anne takes the throne upon the death of her brother-in-law and cousin, King William III.
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.
1783: Hannah Van Buren, who became the first lady as the wife of U.S. President Martin Van Buren in 1837, is born Hannah Hoes in Kinderhook, N.Y.
1817: The New York Stock & Exchange Board is founded. The exchange called a rented room at 40 Wall Street home until that location was destroyed in the Great Fire of New York in 1835. From then on it moved to a couple of different locations before opening at its current location in 1902, by which time it had changed its name to the New York Stock Exchange.
1862: The iron-clad CSS Virginia, built from the scuttled USS Merrimack, is launched at Hampton Roads, Va.
1874: Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States from 1850 to 1853, dies of the aftereffects of a stroke at the age of 74 in Buffalo, N.Y.
1910: French aviator Raymonde de Laroche becomes the first woman to receive a pilot's license.
1913: The Internal Revenue Service begins to levy and collect income taxes. Only those with incomes of $3,000 or more were instructed to file and initially only 1 percent of all Americans paid some sort of income tax.
1917: Ferdinand Adolf August Heinrich Count von Zeppelin, the German inventor and aviation pioneer who built the first rigid dirigible airships, named Zeppelins, dies at the age of 78 in Berlin, Germany.
1921: Actor Alan Hale Jr., best known for playing The Skipper on the sitcom "Gilligan's Island," is born in Los Angeles, Calif.
1922: Actress and dancer Cyd Charisse, best known for roles in movies such as "Singin' in the Rain," "The Band Wagon" and "Silk Stockings," is born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas.
1930: William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and later the 10th chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, dies at the age of 72 in Washington, D.C. He is the only person to have served in both of these offices.
1943: Actress Lynn Redgrave, known for such movies as "Tom Jones," "Georgy Girl," "Shine" and "Gods and Monsters," is born in London, England. Redgrave, who earned Oscar nominations for "Georgy Girl" and "Gods and Monsters," was a member of the famous British acting family, including her sister, Vanessa Redgrave, and her nieces, Joely Richardson and Natasha Richardson. Redgrave, seen here in 2005, died of breast cancer on May 2, 2010.
1945: Musician, singer-songwriter and actor Micky Dolenz, best known as a member of The Monkees (seen here on the far left), is born in Los Angeles, Calif.
1953: Hall of Fame left fielder Jim Rice, who played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox from 1974 to 1989, is born in Anderson, S.C. An eight-time American League All-Star, he was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1978 after becoming the first major league player in 19 years to hit for 400 total bases.
1959: Actor Aidan Quinn, best known for his movie roles in "Desperately Seeking Susan," "The Mission," "Stakeout," "Benny and Joon" and "Legends of the Fall," is born in Chicago, Ill.
1971: Actor and film producer Harold Lloyd, most famous for his silent comedies, dies of prostate cancer at the age of 77 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Some of his best known films include "Grandma's Boy," "The Freshman," "Welcome Danger" and "Safety Last!," the last of which features the iconic scene in which Lloyd's character hangs from the hands of a clock high above the street.
1971: In what becomes known as the "Fight of the Century," Joe Frazier defeats the previously unbeaten Muhammad Ali by unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Early in the 15th and final round, Frazier landed a left hook that put Ali on his back for only the third time in his career. The fight was the first of three bouts between the heavyweight rivals. Ali would exact some revenge in January 1974, beating Frazier by unanimous decision, before scoring a TKO when Frazier's trainer refused to let Frazier come out for the 15th round of their October 1975 match known as the "Thrilla in Manila."
1975: Film director and producer George Stevens, best known for movies such as "A Place in the Sun," "Shane," "Giant," "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told," dies of a heart attack at the age of 70 in Lancaster, Calif. Stevens won Academy Awards for Best Director for "A Place in the Sun" and "Giant" and was nominated for Oscars another eight times in his career, including six Best Picture nominations.
1976: Actor Freddie Prinze Jr., best known for roles in movies such as "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "She's All That," "Summer Catch" and "Scooby-Doo," is born in Los Angeles, Calif.
1977: Actor James Van Der Beek, best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in TV series "Dawson's Creek," is born in Cheshire, Conn.
1979: Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
1993: "Beavis and Butt-head" premieres on MTV as a series. The show, originating from a 1992 short film by creator Mike Judge titled "Frog Baseball," would become a hit, running for 200 episodes over five seasons and spawning a feature film before ending in 1997. It would make a comeback with new episodes for one season in 2011.
1996: The crime film "Fargo," starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, and produced, directed and written by the Coen Brothers, premieres in theaters. The film would go on to win two Academy Awards: Best Actress for McDormand and Best Original Screenplay for the Coens. It was also nominated for five more Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Macy.
1998: Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, who played his entire career from 1958 to 1972 for the Green Bay Packers, dies of a heart attack at the age of 61 in Venice, Fla. Nitschke was the anchor of a disciplined defense that helped the Packers win five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls in the 1960s.
1999: The Supreme Court of the United States rejects Timothy McVeigh's appeal, upholding his murder convictions for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He would be executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Ind.
1999: Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, who only played for the New York Yankees during his 13-year career and is best known for his 56-game hitting streak during the 1941 season, dies of lung cancer at the age of 84 in Hollywood, Fla. Joining the Yankees in 1936, he would help the team to World Series titles in each of his first four seasons with them and add five more championships before he retired in 1951.
