On this day

8 March in history.

5 moments from 1010 to 1979: discovery, creativity and courage, each with a source to read more.

5 moments

Raymonde de Laroche (1886 – 1919) posing in front of the her plane

1910

The first woman with a pilot's licence. Raymonde de Laroche, a French aviator, earned a pilot's licence. No woman anywhere had held one before.

Wikipedia: Raymonde de Laroche

Photo: Bain News Service, publisher / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

More from 8 March

  1. Imaginary depiction of the poet Firdausi. Folio from a Khavarannama (The Book of the East) of ibn Husam al-Din, 1476-1486

    1010

    The Book of Kings is finished

    The Persian poet Ferdowsi completed the Shahnameh, an epic of about 50,000 couplets that he had worked on for some 30 years.

    Wikipedia: ShahnamehWikipedia: Ferdowsi

    Photo: ca. 1476–86 artist / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  2. Portrait of Douglas Adams

    1978

    The Hitchhiker's Guide begins

    BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first episode of Douglas Adams's funny science fiction series. It later became books, TV and a film.

    Wikipedia: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyWikipedia: Douglas Adams

    Photo: Michael Hughes / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

  3. Io (moon)

    1979

    Volcanoes on another world

    Voyager 1 pictures showed active volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter, the first ever seen beyond Earth.

    Wikipedia: Volcanism on IoWikipedia: Voyager 1

    Photo: NASA / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  4. Compact Disc wordmark

    1979

    The compact disc is shown

    Philips showed its compact disc to the public for the first time, a shiny disc read by a laser.

    Wikipedia: Compact discWikipedia: Philips

    Photo: Sony and Phillips / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Moments chosen for discovery, creativity and courage. Each one links to a source where you can read more; photos are credited to their owners.