Unix Timestamp: 1204848000
Friday, March 7. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

NASA's Kepler Mission, a space photometer which will search for extrasolar planets in the Milky Way galaxy, is launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA.

A car bomb in Peshawar, Pakistan, kills at least eight people. //news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7929812.stm (BBC)

NASA launches its Kepler spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. //edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/03/06/nasa.kepler.launch.planets/index.html (CNN)

The People's Republic of China announces that its first probe to the Moon, Chang'e 1, will be launched later in 2007, with the eventual goal of landing a man on the moon by 2022. The probe is supposed to orbit the Moon at least three times. (//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6423323.stm BBC)

Canadian Dot com company Zucotto Wireless ceases operations.

The Church of England ordains its first female priests.

A photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, previously touted as 'proof' of the Loch Ness monster, is confirmed to be a hoax.

"Cbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.": The Supreme Court of the United States rules that parodies of an original work are generally covered by the doctrine of fair use.

Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom over Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses".

Operation Flavius: The Special Air Service fatally shoots 3 unarmed Provisional Irish Republican Army members in Gibraltar.

U.S. presidential candidate George Herbert Walker Bush defeats Robert Dole in numerous Republican primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday. The bipartisan primary/caucus calendar, designed by Democrats to help solidify their own nominee early, backfires when none of the 6 competing candidates are able to break out of the pack in the day's Democratic contests. Jesse Jackson, however, wins several Southern state primaries.

Two U.S. Army helicopters collide in Fort Cbell, Kentucky, killing 17 servicemen.

The largest Magnetar (Soft gamma repeater) event is recorded.

The body of teenage heiress Lesley Whittle, kidnapped 7 weeks earlier by the Black Panther, is discovered in Staffordshire, England.

In the 'Border Poll', voters in Northern Ireland vote to remain part of the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists are encouraged to boycott the referendum.

Comet Kohoutek is discovered.

Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs explode in Whitehall and the Old Bailey in England.

Vietnam War: The First Battle of Saigon ends.

Jimmy Hoffa begins his 8-year sentence for attempting to bribe a jury.

Charles De Gaulle asks U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson for negotiations about the state of NATO equipment in France.

Anti-communist demonstrations occur at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.

An Irish Republican Army bomb destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.

Vietnam War: U.S. announces it will substantially increase the number of its troops in Vietnam.

Bloody Sunday: Some 200 Alabama State Troopers clash with 525 civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama.

Ash Wednesday Storm: A snow storm batters the Mid-Atlantic.

The United States Congress approves the Eisenhower Doctrine.

The Broadway musical version of "Peter Pan", which had opened in 1954 starring Mary Martin, is presented on television for the first time by NBC-TV with its original cast, as an installment of "Producers' Showcase". It is also the first time that a stage musical is presented in its entirety on TV almost exactly as it was performed on stage. This program gains the largest viewership of a TV special up to this time, and it becomes one of the first great TV family musical classics.

Juho Kusti Paasikivi becomes president of Finland.

The 18th Academy Awards ceremony is held.

Bolton Wanderers stadium disaster at Burnden Park, Bolton, England, 33 killed and hundreds amongst the injured

Josip Broz Tito forms a government in Yugoslavia.

The Nazi authorities kill 117 Dutch men in reprisal for the attempted murder Hanns Albin Rauter.

WWII: American troops seize the bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany and begin to cross.

In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Nazi Germanyreoccupies the Rhineland.

The new House of Representatives opens in Helsinki, Finland.

A Richter Scale 7.6 magnitude earthquake kills at least 2,925 at Toyooka and Mineyama area, western Honshu, Japan.

WWI: Finland forms an alliance with Germany.

Prince William of Wied arrives in Albania to begin his reign.

The British freighter "Alum Chine", carrying 343 tons of dynamite, explodes in Baltimore harbour.//query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B0CE2D9133BE633A2575BC0A9659C946296D6CF

Second Boer War: South African Boers win their last battle over British forces, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.

A fire at Buckingham Palace destroys part of its roof.

North Carolina State University is established as North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.

The Diocese of Madrid-Alcalá is founded.

Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for an invention he calls the telephone (patent #174,466).

American Civil War: The Battle of Pea Ridge: The Confederates are shut out of Missouri.

United States SenatorDaniel Webster gives his Seventh of March speech in which he endorses the Compromise of 1850 in order to prevent a possible civil war.

Baltimore City College, the third public high school in the United States, is established in Baltimore, Maryland.

Brazilian marines sail up the Rio Negro and attack the temporary naval base of Carmen de Patagones, Argentina they are defeated by the local citizens.

Shrigley Abduction: Ellen Turner, a wealthy heiress in Cheshire, England, is abducted by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the future politician in colonial New Zealand.

Florida State Capitol moves from St. Augustine, Florida to Tallahassee, Florida

Battle of Craonne: Napoleon is victorious against von Blücher.

Napoleon captures Jaffa in Palestine and his troops proceed to kill more than 2,000 Albanian captives.

French forces invade the Papal States and establish the Roman Republic.

France declares war on Spain.

April ndash Fire destroys the Gra Bet (or Left Quarter) of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia.

King William III of England departs from the Netherlands.

A Spanish-led expedition, commanded by Juan de la Cerda, 4th Duke of Medinaceli, overruns the Tunisian island of Djerba.

March 9 ndash Battle of Shimbra Kure: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, with 200 men armed with matchlocks, defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia.

The "Catholicon", a religious Latin dictionary, is completed by John Balbi of Genoa.

Tuoba Heru launched a coup d\'état against his cousin Tuoba Yulü and becomes the new Prince of Dai.

Constantine I assigns convicts to grind Rome's flour in a move to hold back the rising price of food in an empire whose population has shrunk as a result of plague (see 309 AD).

Calcidius translates Plato into Latin.

Emperor Constantine I expels the Goths from the Danube frontier and repairs Trajan\'s Bridge. He leads a expedition into the old province Dacia (modern Romania) and makes peace with the barbarians.

Edict of Constantine I: The "dies Solis Invicti" (Sunday) is proclaimed as the day of rest, trade is forbidden and agriculture is allowed.//projectrestore.com/library/biblereadings/br100.htm Project restore.com Jews continue to observe Sabbath on Saturday, and Constantine himself continues to worship the ancient Roman sun god, Apollo, despite his acceptance of Christianity.

The Roman Catholic church is allowed to hold property.

A synod in Alexandria condemns Arianism.

Roman subjects in Africa revolt against Maximinus and elect Marcus Antonius Gordianus (Africanus) as emperor. He is a rich descendant of the Gracchi and the late emperor Trajan. Gordianus yields to public demand that he succeed Maximinus and rules jointly with his 46-year old son Gordian II.

The weight of a goldpiece, the aureus, is reduced from 7.81 grams under Aurelius to 7.12 grams.

The silver content of the Roman denarius falls to 68 percent under emperor Marcus Aurelius, down from 75 percent under Antoninus Pius.

Gaius' "Institutiones" are published.

Marcus Aurelius, a Spaniard like Trajan and Hadrian, is a stoical, disciple of Epictetus, and an energetic man of action. He pursues the policy of his predecessor and maintains good relations with the Senate. As a legislator, he endeavours to create new principles of morality and humanity, particularly favouring women and slaves.

Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by Marcus Aurelius who shares imperial power with Lucius Verus, although Marcus retains the title Pontifex Maximus.