Tuesday, March 09th
The 068th day of 2010.
There are 297 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
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On March 9, 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclads Monitor and Virginia (formerly Merrimac) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Va. (Go to article.)
On March 9, 1934, Yury Gagarin, the world's first man in space, was born. Following his death on March 27, 1968, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On March 9, 1867, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about black Americans. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1796 Napoleon Bonaparte, the future emperor of France, married Josephine de Beauharnais.
1916 Mexican raiders led by Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, N.M., killing more than a dozen people.
1933 Congress, called into special session by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, began its 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation.
1945 U.S. B-29 bombers launched incendiary bomb attacks against Japan during World War II, causing widespread devastation.
1954 CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow critically reviewed Wisconsin Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy's anti-Communism campaign on "See It Now."
1959 Mattel's Barbie doll, created by Ruth Handler, made its public debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
1975 Work began on the Alaskan oil pipeline.
1977 About a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invaded three buildings in Washington D.C., killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The siege ended two days later.
1981 Dan Rather made his debut as principal anchorman of "The CBS Evening News;" he signed off for the last time on the same date in 2005.
1989 The Senate rejected President George H.W. Bush's nomination of John Tower to be defense secretary on a 53-47 vote.
1992 Former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin died at age 78.
1996 Comedian George Burns died at age 100.
1997 Gangsta rapper The Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at age 24.
2004 Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death in Virginia.
2006 Bowing to ferocious opposition in Congress, a Dubai-owned company relinquished its quest to take over operations at U.S. ports.
2007 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller acknowledged the FBI improperly used the Patriot Act to secretly pry out personal information about Americans.
2009 President Barack Obama lifted limits on using federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research that President George W. Bush had put in place.
Current Birthdays
Charles Gibson turns 67 years old today.
AP Photo/Stephen Chernin Broadcast journalist Charles Gibson turns 67 years old today.
76 Joyce Van Patten
Actress
74 Mickey Gilley
Country singer
74 Marty Ingels
Actor, comedian
65 Robin Trower
Rock musician (Procol Harum)
59 Michael Kinsley
Broadcast journalist
50 Linda Fiorentino
Actress
46 Juliette Binoche
Actress
39 Emmanuel Lewis
Actor ("Webster")
30 Chingy
Rapper
Historic Birthdays
Yuri Gagarin
3/9/1934 - 3/27/1968
Russian cosmonaut, first space traveler
(Go to obit.)
42 Modest Mussorgsky
3/9/1839 O.S. - 3/16/1881 O.S.
Russian composer who wrote "Boris Godunov"
71 Eddie Foy
3/9/1856 - 2/16/1928
American vaudevillian comedian
84 Gustav Stickley
3/9/1858 - 4/21/1942
American designer and maker of Mission furniture
70 Ernest Bevin
3/9/1881 - 4/14/1951
English statesman and trade unionist
93 Tamara Karsavina
3/9/1885 - 5/26/1978
Russian-English ballerina
75 Robert Eichelberger
3/9/1886 - 9/26/1961
American general during World War II
70 Vita Sackville-West
3/9/1892 - 6/2/1962
English novelist and poet
76 Edward Durell Stone
3/9/1902 - 8/6/1978
American architect
81 Rex Warner
3/9/1905 - 6/24/1986
English novelist, poet and critic
70 Samuel Barber
3/9/1910 - 1/23/1981
American composer
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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