Wednesday, March 8, 1656

The Azure Window, a limestone natural arch in Gozo, Malta, collapsed during a stor

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, with aircraft debris subsequently washing ashore a few years later in the Indian Ocean.

Cold War: In a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, U.S. president Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire".

Images taken by Voyager 1 proved the existence of volcanoes on Io (pictured), a moon of Jupiter.

BBC Radio 4 began broadcasting Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a science fiction radio series that was later adapted into novels, a television series, and other formats.

Nelson's Pillar, a large granite pillar topped by a statue of Lord Nelson in Dublin, Ireland, was severely damaged by a bomb.

The Ba'ath Party came to power in a coup d'état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council for the Revolutionary Command.

Three violent explosions at a coal mine near Castle Gate, Utah, killed all 171 miners working there.

During the Egyptian Revolution, British authorities arrested rebel leader Saad Zaghloul and exiled him to Malta.

French aviator Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to receive a pilot's licence.

Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty, was crowned Shah of Iran.

Anne (pictured) became the Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, succeeding her brother-in-law William III.