Human Saga

On March 8

On March 8, the Human Saga records one pivotal event: Ferdowsi completes the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of Kings (1010).

On this day

8 March 1010 CEFerdowsi completes the Shahnameh, the Persian Book of KingsCulture, arts & philosophy

On 8 March 1010 CE the poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi completed the Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), the national epic of Greater Iran, after roughly three decades of work begun around 977 CE in his native Tus in the Khorasan region.

Also this week in history (Mar 5 – Mar 11)

9 March 1776Adam Smith's The Wealth of NationsEconomy & trade

On 9 March 1776 Adam Smith published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the founding text of classical economics.

1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroikaPolitics & governance

Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 11 March 1985 and launched two interlinked reform programmes.

11 March 2020The COVID-19 pandemicSocial & demographic

The COVID-19 pandemic was the deadliest global disease outbreak in a century, killing an estimated seven million or more people and upending economies, health systems, and daily life worldwide.

6 March 1869 (O.S.)Mendeleev presents the periodic tableScience, technology & invention

On 6 March 1869 (Old Style; 18 March by the Gregorian calendar) a paper by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev on 'The Dependence between the Properties of the Atomic Weights of the Elements' was read to the Russian Chemical Society in St…

5 March 1946Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech at FultonPolitics & governance

Speaking at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on 5 March 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered an address officially titled "The Sinews of Peace." In it he warned that "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste…

6 March 1957Independence of GhanaPolitics & governance

On 6 March 1957 the Gold Coast became the independent state of Ghana, the first sub-Saharan African colony to win majority-rule independence from a European power.

9–15 March 2016AlphaGo defeats Lee Sedol, a milestone of the deep-learning revolutionScience, technology & invention

Between 9 and 15 March 2016 in Seoul, South Korea, AlphaGo, a program developed by the London-based DeepMind, defeated the world-class player Lee Sedol four games to one in the ancient board game Go.

On 11 March 2018 China's National People's Congress voted overwhelmingly, 2,958 in favour with only two opposed, to amend the constitution and remove the two-term limit on the presidency, clearing the way for Xi Jinping to remain in office…

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