On this day

March 19, 2008

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from March 19, 2008

Easter Is for Baking, Too

By Florence Fabricant

Easter baking in Switzerland means custard tarts, with rice, lemon and almonds in the filling. In Italy, it’s pies and savory pizza rusticas.

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2. Ubuntu

By Frank Bruni

WHEN I set out to sample more than a dozen of the most promising new restaurants around the country, I knew that I’d have some special meals, and I suspected that I’d want to pack up a few of the restaurants and bring them back to New York.

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of March 19, 2008, covering March 19, 2008.

  1. 1
    Album cover for Good Time by Alan Jackson

    Good Time

    Alan Jackson

    Last week
    —
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    1
  2. 2
    Album cover for Sleep Through The Static by Jack Johnson

    Sleep Through The Static

    Jack Johnson

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    5
  3. 3
    Album cover for Discipline by Janet

    Discipline

    Janet

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    2
  4. 4
    Album cover for Float by Flogging Molly

    Float

    Flogging Molly

    Last week
    —
    Peak
    4
    Weeks
    1
  5. 5
    Album cover for Warpaint by The Black Crowes

    Warpaint

    The Black Crowes

    Last week
    —
    Peak
    5
    Weeks
    1

Notable Deaths

Arthur C. Clarke

2008Arthur C. Clarke, English science fiction writer (born 1917)[†]

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.

Hugo Claus

2008Hugo Claus, Belgian author, poet, and playwright (born 1929)[†]

Hugo Maurice Julien Claus was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, novels, and poetry; he also left a legacy as a painter and film director. He wrote primarily in Dutch, although he also wrote some poetry in English. He won the 2000 International Nonino Prize in Italy.

Paul Scofield

2008Paul Scofield, English actor (born 1922)[†]

David Paul Scofield was an English actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award for his work. Scofield established a reputation as one of the greatest Shakespearean performers. He declined the honour of a knighthood, but was appointed CBE in 1956 and became a CH in 2001.

Historical Events

GRB 080319B

2008GRB 080319B: A cosmic burst that is the farthest object visible to the naked eye is briefly observed.[†]

GRB 080319B was a gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected by the Swift satellite at 06:12 UTC on March 19, 2008. The burst set a new record for the farthest object that was observable with the naked eye: it had a peak visual apparent magnitude of 5.8 and remained visible to human eyes for approximately 30 seconds. The magnitude was brighter than 9.0 for approximately 60 seconds. If viewed from 1 AU away, it would have had a peak apparent magnitude of −67.57. It had an absolute magnitude of −38.6, beaten by GRB 220101A with −39.4 in 2023.

Historical Context for March 19, 2008

In 2008, the world population was approximately 6,844,457,662 people[†]