March 9
is the 68th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (69th in
Leap years). There are 297 days remaining.
*
590 -
Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of
Persia*
1230 -
Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II defeats
Theodore of
Epirus near the village of
Klokotnitsa.
*
1276 -
Augsburg becomes an
Imperial Free City.
*
1566 -
David Rizzio, the private secretary to
Mary I of Scotland, was murdered in the
Palace of Holyroodhouse,
Edinburgh,
Scotland.
*
1765 - After a public campaign by the writer
Voltaire, judges in
Paris posthumously exonerate
Jean Calas of murdering his son. Calas had been tortured and executed in
1762 on the charge, though his son had actually committed suicide.
*
1796 -
Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife,
Joséphine de Beauharnais.
*
1841 - The
Supreme Court of the United States rules in the
Amistad case, concerning captive
Africans who seized control of the slave-trading ship carrying them: the court rules that they had been taken into
slavery illegally.
*
1842 -
Giuseppe Verdi's third opera
Nabucco premieres in
Milan; its success establishes
Verdi as one of
Italy's foremost opera writers.
*
1847 -
Mexican-American War:
United States forces under
General Winfield Scott invade
Mexico near
Vera Cruz.
*
1856 -
Sigma Alpha Epsilon: was founded in the Johnston Mansion House on the University of Alabama
*
1862 -
American Civil War: The first battle between two ironclad
warships - In a five-hour battle near
Hampton Roads,
Virginia the
USS Monitor fights the
CSS Virginia to a draw.
*
1908 -
Inter Milan was founded.
*
1916 -
Pancho Villa leads 1,500
Mexican raiders in an attack against
Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17.
*
1924 -
Italy annexes
Fiume.
*
1932 - The
Egyptian University rector "
Ahmed Lotfy El-Said" resigned to protest against the transfer of Dr.
Taha Hussein without the
University permission. In
2003, an academic group called "March 9" was established in
Egypt to defend academic rights and
university independence.
* 1932 - The first
Ford Flathead engine left the
assembly line at
Ford Motor Company.
*
1933 -
Great Depression: The
U.S. Congress begins its first 100 days of enacting
New Deal legislation.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the
Emergency Banking Act to
Congress.
*
1935 Hitler announced the creation of a new air force.
*
1945 -
World War II:
Bombing of Tokyo -
American B-29 bombers attack
Tokyo,
Japan with
incendiary bombs. The resulting
fire storm kills over 100,000 people.
*
1954 -
McCarthyism:
CBS television broadcasts the
See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator
Joseph McCarthy," produced by
Edward R. Murrow.
*
1957 - The
magnitude 8.6
1957 Andreanof Islands Earthquake and
tsunami occurs.
*
1959 - The
Barbie doll debuts.
*
1964 - The first
Ford Mustang rolls off the
assembly line at
Ford Motor Company.
*
1967 -
Josef Stalin's daughter
Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to the
United States.
*
1975 - Construction of the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.
*
1976 - 42 people die in a
Cavalese cable-car disaster, the worst cable-car accident to date.
*
1977 - Approximately a dozen armed
Hanafi Muslims take over three buildings in
Washington, DC, killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The hostage situation ends two days later.
*
1981 -
Ketchup is declared a vegetable, to help public schools in the USA with the balanced meal plan.
*
1984 - The
Competitive Enterprise Institute in founded in Washington, D.C.
*
1986 -
United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily-damaged crew compartment of the
Space Shuttle Challenger. The bodies of all seven
astronauts were still inside.
*
1987 -
Rock band
U2 release the album
The Joshua Tree.
*
1989 - A strike forces financially-troubled
Eastern Air Lines into
bankruptcy.
*
1990 - Dr.
Antonia Novello is sworn in as
Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and
Hispanic American to serve in that position.
* 1990 -
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind
Newfoundland's approval of the
Meech Lake Accord, effectively killing the
Accord.
*
1991 - Massive demonstrations are held against
Slobodan Milošević in
Belgrade. Two people are killed and
tanks are in the streets.
*
1993 -
Rodney King testifies at the federal trial of four
Los Angeles, California police officers accused of violating King's
civil rights when they beat him during an arrest.
*
1995 -
Kappa Phi Lambda is founded at
Binghamton University.
*
2004 -
John Allen Muhammad is sentenced to death for his part in the
Beltway sniper attacks of
October 2002.
Lee Boyd Malvo is sentenced to life in prison.
* 2004 - A
terrorist attack on a restaurant in
Istanbul kills one and injures 5.
* 2004 - The
US federal building and
courthouse in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was renamed the
Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse.
*
2005 -
Dan Rather presents his final broadcast of the
CBS Evening News.
*
2006 - Liquid Water discovered on
Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of
Saturn.
*
1213 -
Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, French crusader (d.
1271)
*
1285 -
Emperor Go-Nijō of Japan (d.
1318)
*
1454 -
Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer and cartographer (d.
1512)
*
1564 -
David Fabricius, German astronomer (d.
1617)
*
1568 -
Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (d.
1591)
*
1629 - Tsar
Alexis I of Russia (d.
1676)
*
1720 -
Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician (d.
1790)
*
1737 -
Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer (d.
1781)
*
1749 -
Honore Mirabeau, French writer and politician (d.
1791)
*
1753 -
Jean-Baptiste Kleber, French general (d.
1800)
*
1758 -
Franz Joseph Gall, German neuroscientist (d.
1828)
*
1763 -
William Cobbett, English journalist and author (d.
1835)
*
1806 -
Edwin Forrest, American Actor, philanthropist (d.
1872)
*
1814 -
Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet (d.
1861)
*
1825 -
Alexander F. Mozhaiski, Russian aviation pioneer (d.
1890)
*
1839 -
Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer (d.
1908)
*
1856 -
Eddie Foy, American singer and dancer (d.
1928)
*
1887 -
Phil Mead, English cricketeer (d.
1958)
*
1890 -
Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician (d.
1986)
*
1892 -
Vita Sackville-West, English writer and gardener (d.
1962)
*
1894 -
Frank Arnau, German writer (d.
1976)
*
1900 -
Howard Aiken, American computing pioneer (d.
1973)
*
1902 -
Will Geer, American actor (d.
1978)
*
1907 -
Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian of religions and writer (d.
1986)
*
1909 -
Derk Bodde, American sinologist
*
1910 -
Samuel Barber, American composer (d.
1981)
*
1918 -
George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi leader (d.
1967)
* 1918 -
Mickey Spillane, American writer (d. 2006]])
*
1923 -
Walter Kohn, Austrian-born physicist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry*
1929 -
Desmond Hoyte,
Prime Minister and
President of Guyana (d.
2002)
*
1932 -
Keely Smith, American singer
* 1932 -
Walter Mercado, Puerto Rican astrologist and actor
*
1933 -
Mel Lastman, Canadian politician
*
1934 -
Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut (d.
1968)
* 1934 -
Del Close, American actor, improviser, writer, and teacher (d.
1999)
*
1935 -
Andrew Viterbi, American
telecommunications scientist and
business man.
*
1936 -
Tom Sestak, American football player (d.
1987)
* 1936 -
Mickey Gilley, American musician and singer
*
1937 -
Bernard Landry, Premier of Quebec from 2001-2003
*
1938 -
Lill-Babs, Swedish singer
*
1940 -
Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (d.
1994)
*
1941 -
Ernesto Miranda, American litigant (d.
1976)
*
1942 -
John Cale, Welsh musician, (
The Velvet Underground)
* 1942 -
Mark Lindsay, American singer/musician (
Paul Revere & The Raiders)
*
1943 -
Bobby Fischer, American chess player
* 1943 -
Charles Gibson, American television journalist
*
1945 -
Robin Trower, British rock musician
* 1945 -
Dennis Rader, American serial killer
*
1946 -
Jim Cregan, British rock musician
*
1947 -
Keri Hulme, New Zealandic writer
*
1948 -
Jeffrey Osborne, American singer
*
1950 -
Doug Ault, baseball player (d.
2004)
* 1950 -
Danny Sullivan, American race car driver
*
1951 -
Michael Kinsley, American journalist and editor
*
1954 -
Bobby Sands, Irish republican (d.
1981)
*
1956 -
David Willetts, UK Shadow Secretary for Education(Conservative)
*
1958 -
Martin Fry, English pop singer (ABC)
*
1960 -
Linda Fiorentino, American actress
*
1961 -
Robert Rechsteiner, US Professional wrestler
*
1963 -
Sean Salisbury, American football player
* 1963 -
Terry Mulholland, American baseball player
*
1964 -
Juliette Binoche, French actress
* 1964 -
Phil Housley, American
ice hockey player
*
1965 -
Brian Bosworth, American football player
* 1965 -
Benito Santiago, Puerto Rican baseball player
*
1968 -
Johnny Kelly, American drummer (
Type O Negative)
* 1968 -
Youri Djorkaeff, French footballer
*
1969 -
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, American basketball player
*
1970 -
Shannon Leto, American drummer and occasional actor
*
1971 -
Emmanuel Lewis, American actor
* 1971 -
C Miller, American rapper
*
1972 -
Kerr Smith, American actor
* 1972 -
Spencer Howson, Australian radio broadcaster
*
1973 -
Aaron Boone, American baseball player
*
1975 -
Roy Makaay, Dutch footballer
* 1975 -
Juan Sebastián Verón, Argentine footballer (soccer player)
*
1976 -
Thor Halvorssen, Human rights activist
*
1977 -
Radek Dvořák, Czech hockey player
* 1977 -
Yamila Diaz, Argentine supermodel
*
1978 -
Lucas Neill, Australian footballer
*
1979 -
Melina Perez, WWE Diva
*
1980 -
Chingy, American rapper
*
1981 -
Antonio Bryant, American football player
*
1982 -
Paul Ballard, English television presenter
*
1983 -
Clint Dempsey, American football (soccer) player
*
1984 -
Julia Mancuso, American Olympic gold medalist
*
1987 -
Bow Wow, American rapper and actor
*
1202 - King
Sverre of Norway*
1422 -
Jan Zelivsky,
Hussite priest (b.
1380)
*
1440 -
St Frances of Rome, Italian nun (b.
1384)
*
1566 -
David Rizzio, Italian secretary of
Mary I of Scotland (b.
1533)
*
1649 -
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Scottish statesman (b.
1606)
* 1649 -
Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland, English soldier (executed) (b.
1590)
*
1661 -
Jules Cardinal Mazarin, French cardinal and statesman (b.
1602)
*
1709 -
Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, English diplomat
*
1808 -
Joseph Bonomi the Elder, architect (b.
1739)
*
1851 -
Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist (b.
1777)
*
1897 -
Sondre Norheim, Norwegian skier (b.
1825)
*
1937 -
Paul Elmer More, American critic and essayist (b.
1864)
*
1954 -
Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (b.
1912)
* 1954 -
V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer (b.
1874)
*
1960 -
Jack Beattie, Northern Irish politician (b.
1886)
*
1964 -
Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (b.
1870)
*
1971 -
Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch (b.
1902)
*
1974 -
Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr., American physiologist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1915)
*
1975 -
Gleb W. Derujinsky, Russian-American sculptor (b.
1888)
*
1983 -
Faye Emerson, American actress (b.
1917)
* 1983 -
Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1905)
*
1989 -
Robert Mapplethorpe, American artist (b.
1946)
*
1992 -
Menachem Begin,
Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the
Nobel Peace Prize (b.
1913)
*
1993 -
C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian and writer (b.
1909)
*
1994 -
Charles Bukowski, American writer (b.
1920)
*
1996 -
George Burns, American actor and singer (b.
1896)
*
1997 -
The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (b.
1972)
*
2000 -
Ivo Robić, Croatian singer and songwriter (b
1923)
*
2003 -
Stan Brakhage, American filmmaker (b.
1933)
* 2003 -
Bernard Dowiyogo,
President of Nauru (b.
1946)
*
2004 -
Albert Mol, Dutch actor (b.
1917)
* 2004 -
Alf Bicknell, British chauffeur (b.
1928)
* 2004 -
Robert Pastorelli, American actor (b.
1954)
*
2005 -
István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (b.
1924)
*
2006 -
John Profumo, British cabinet minister (b.
1915)
* 2006 -
Geir Ivarsøy, Norwegian programmer, co-founder of
Opera Software ASA (b.
1957)
*
Belize -
Baron Bliss Day.
Liturgical feasts
Catholicism Feast day of
*
Saint Gregory of Nyssa*
Saint Frances of Rome.
*
On this day in Canada*
NY Times: On this day*
BBC: On This DayMarch 8 -
March 10 -
February 9 -
April 9 --
Listing of all days
