March 8

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  1618: Mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.

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  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.

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  1879: Chemist and academic Otto Hahn born. He will pioneer the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry, winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944 for the discovery and the radiochemical proof of nuclear fission.

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  1914: Physicist, astronomer, and cosmologist Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich born. He will play a crucial role in the development of the Soviet Union's nuclear bomb project, studying the effects of nuclear explosions.

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  1971: Peace activists led break into the FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, stealing over 1,000 classified documents. The activists mailed these documents anonymously to several US newspapers to expose numerous illegal FBI operations infringing on the First Amendment rights of American citizens.

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  Desperately Hanging Chad2001: Premiere of , an American comedy documentary film about punched cards and electoral reform.