8 March

Anne Bonny

Josephine Cochrane

Kenneth Grahame

Margot Bryant

Konstantinos Karamanlis

Alan Hale Jr.

Cyd Charisse

Justine Lord

Ann Packer

Lynn Redgrave

Susan Clark

Michael Grade

Micky Dolenz

Carole Bayer Sager

Gyles Brandreth

Cheryl Baker

David Wilkie

Gary Numan

Freddie Prinze Jr.

James Van Der Beek

Kat Von D

1697

 Anne Bonny
Anne Bonny (8 March 1697 – April 25, 1782) was an Irish woman who became a famous pirate, operating in the Caribbean. She was the partner of Jack “Calico Jack” Rackham, captain of the pirate sloop Revenge. Born Anna Cormac in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. (d. 1782)

1839

 Josephine Cochrane
Josephine Cochrane (March 8, 1839 – August 3, 1913) was the inventor of the first commercially successful automatic dishwasher, which she designed in the shed behind her home. Once her patent issued in 28 December 1886, she founded Garis-Cochrane Manufacturing Company to manufacture her machines. Cochrane showed her new machine at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 where nine Garis-Cochran washers were installed in the restaurants and pavilions of the fair. She won the highest prize for “best mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work” at the Fair. Born Josephine Garis in Ashtabula County, Ohio. (d. 1913)

1859

 Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame (8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), one of the classics of children’s literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. (d. 1932)

1897

 Margot Bryant
Margot Bryant (8 March 1897 – 1 January 1988) was an English actress, best known for playing Minnie Caldwell on the soap opera Coronation Street from 1960 to 1976. Born Kathleen Mary Margaret Bryant in Hull. (d. 1988)

1907

 Konstantinos Karamanlis
Konstantinos G. Karamanlis (8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis, was a four-time Prime Minister and twice President of the Third Hellenic Republic, and a towering figure of Greek politics. Born in Proti, Macedonia. (d. 1998)

1921

 Alan Hale Jr
Alan Hale, Jr. (March 8, 1921 – January 2, 1990) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for his role as the “Skipper” on the sitcom Gilligan’s Island, which aired on from 1964 to 1967. Over the course of his 55-year career, Hale appeared in more than 200 television and film roles. Born Alan Hale MacKahan in Los Angeles, California. (d. 1990)

 Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse (March 8, 1921 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer. Her films include Singin’ in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957). She was featured in the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records under “Most Valuable Legs”, because a $5 million insurance policy was reportedly issued on her legs in 1952. Born Tula Ellice Finklea in Amarillo, Texas. (d. 2008)

1937

 Justine Lord
Justine Lord (born 8 March 1937) is an English actress, active on television throughout the 1960s. In the 1960s she made guest appearances in The Avengers, The Saint, The Prisoner (“The Girl Who Was Death”, 1968) and Man in a Suitcase, as well as playing regular roles in Crossroads, Compact, The Troubleshooters and The Doctors. Born Jennifer Schooling in Bromley, Kent, England.

1942

 Ann Packer
Ann Packer MBE (born 8 March 1942) is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for Great Britain. Born Ann Elizabeth Packer in Moulsford, Oxfordshire.

1943

 Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave, OBE (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. A member of the Redgrave family, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By the mid-1960s she had appeared in several films, including Tom Jones (1963), and Georgy Girl (1966) which won her a New York Film Critics Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Born Lynn Rachel Redgrave in Marylebone, London. (d. 2010)

 Michael Grade
Michael Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, CBE (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He was chairman of the BBC from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009. Born Michael Ian Grade in London.

 Susan Clark
Susan Clark (born March 8, 1943) is a Canadian actress. Clark had leading roles in several films, including Coogan’s Bluff with Clint Eastwood in 1968, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here with Robert Redford in 1969, Valdez Is Coming with Burt Lancaster in 1971. Born Nora Golding in Sarnia, Ontario.

1945

 Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz, Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as the drummer and lead singer of the 1960s pop/rock music band the Monkees. Born George Michael Dolenz Jr in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, in Los Angeles, California.

1947

 Carole Bayer Sager
Carole Bayer Sager (born March 8, 1947) is an American lyricist, singer, songwriter and painter. Sager has won an Academy Award for Best Song in 1981 for “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)”, which was the theme song of the movie Arthur, a Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1987 for the song “That’s What Friends Are For”, which she co-wrote with Bacharach, and two Golden Globes. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987. Born Carol Bayer in New York City.

1948

 Gyles Brandreth
Gyles Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English writer, broadcaster, actor, and former Conservative Member of Parliament. He is a former European Monopoly champion, founder of the Teddy Bear museum and is a patron of the National Piers Society. Born Gyles Daubeney Brandreth in Wuppertal, Germany.

1954

 Cheryl Baker
Cheryl Baker (born 8 March 1954) is an English television presenter and singer. She is most famous for being a member of 1980s pop group Bucks Fizz, who won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest. The group had 20 singles reach the UK top 60 between 1981 and 1988, including three number one hits. Born Rita Maria Crudgington in Bethnal Green, London.

 David Wilkie
David Wilkie MBE (born 8 March 1954) is a Scottish former swimmer, who was Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion in the 1970s. He is the only person to have held British, American, Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic swimming titles at the same time. Born David Andrew Wilkie in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

1958

 Gary Numan
Gary Numan (born on 8 March 1958) is an English singer, composer, and musician. Most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” (as Tubeway Army) and “Cars”. Born Gary Anthony James Webb in Hammersmith, England.

1976

 Freddie Prinze Jr
Freddie Prinze Jr. (born March 8, 1976) is an American actor. He rose to fame during the late 1990s and early 2000s, after starring in several Hollywood films aimed at teenage audiences. Born Freddie James Prinze in Los Angeles, California.

1977

 James Van Der Beek
James Van Der Beek (born March 8, 1977) is an American actor, he rose to fame beginning in 1998 for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in the series Dawson’s Creek and for portraying a fictionalized version of himself on the sitcom Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23. Born in Cheshire, Connecticut. Born James David Van Der Beek in Cheshire, Connecticut.

1982

 Kat Von D
Kat Von D (born March 8, 1982) is a Mexican-born American tattoo artist, model, musician and television personality. She is best known for her work as a tattoo artist on the reality television show LA Ink. Born Katherine von Drachenberg in Montemorelos, Nuevo León, Mexico.