Here’s a brief look back in time on this day, March 8.
In 1782, 96 Native American members of the Delaware tribe are murdered by Pennsylvania militiamen towards the end of the American Revolution in Ohio Country. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, men, women, and children were bludgeoned to death as they prayed for mercy. The militiamen claimed that the group they captured was responsible for raids in the area; so far, this story is unconfirmed. This group in particular were actually part of a Christian pacifist movement, opting to remain neutral as the Revolution took place. The militiamen voted to execute the Natives based on this allegation, later burning their corpses. This is known as the Gnadenhutten Massacre.
In 1917, an uprising in Russia against the autocratic government begins. This was during the conclusion of World War I, where Russian peasants were struggling to find food and survive in an economy ravaged by the country’s mediocre wartime performance. It wasn’t until Tsar Nicholas’ attempt to control the military where matters worsened. His entire government was forced to resign as a new ideology begins to explode in popularity: communism. This is known as the February Revolution.
In 1951, Raymond Martinez Fernandez and Martha Jule Beck are executed by electric chair in Sing Sing prison following their murder convictions. They are both believed to have murdered an upward of 20 women who posted anonymous newspaper ads in “lonely hearts columns”. These essentially predated the modern dating app. The duo would earn the nickname: “The Lonely Hearts Killers”.