Almanac - March 9

Mickey Spillane 1918-2006

Events

• 141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han Dynasty of China.
• 632 – The Last Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of Prophet Muhammad.
• 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
• 1230 – Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II defeats Theodore of Epirus in the Battle of Klokotnitsa.
• 1276 – Augsburg becomes an Imperial Free City.
• 1500 – The fleet of Pedro Alvares Cabral leaves Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet will discover Brazil which lies within boundaries granted to Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
• 1566 – David Rizzio, private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, is murdered in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland.
• 1765 – After a 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 may have actually committed suicide.
• 1796 – Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.
• 1811 – Paraguayan forces defeat Manuel Belgrano at the Battle of Tacuarí.
• 1841 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.
• 1842 – Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, Nabucco, receives its première performance in Milan; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost opera writers.
• 1842 – The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush.
• 1847 – Mexican-American War: The first large-scale amphibious assault in U.S. history is launched in the Siege of Veracruz.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.
• 1896 – Prime Minister Francesco Crispi resigns following the Italian defeat at the Battle of Adowa.
• 1910 – The Westmoreland County Coal Strike, involving 15,000 coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers, begins.
• 1916 – Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico.
• 1925 – Pink's War: The first Royal Air Force operation conducted independently of the British Army or Royal Navy begins.
• 1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to Congress, the first of his New Deal policies.
• 1944 – World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that would last five days.
• 1944 – The Soviet Air Forces conduct heavy bombing on Tallinn, Estonia, killing up to 800 people, mostly civilians.
• 1945 – The Bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces began, one of the most destructive bombing raids in history.
• 1946 – Bolton Wanderers stadium disaster at Burnden Park, Bolton, England, 33 killed and hundreds injured
• 1954 – McCarthyism: CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly.
• 1956 – Soviet military suppresses mass demonstrations in the Georgian SSR, reacting to Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy.
• 1957 – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the Andreanof Islands, Alaska triggers a Pacific-wide tsunami causing extensive damage to Hawaii and Oahu.
• 1959 – The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
• 1960 – Dr. Belding Hibbard Scribner implants for the first time a shunt he invented into a patient, which allows the patient to receive hemodialysis on a regular basis.
• 1961 – Sputnik 9 successfully launches, carrying a human dummy nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, and demonstrating that Soviet Union was ready to begin human spaceflight.
• 1967 – Trans World Airlines Flight 553, a Douglas DC-9-15, crashes in a field in Concord Township, Ohio following a mid-air collision with a Beechcraft Baron, killing 26.
• 1976 – Forty-two people die in the 1976 Cavalese cable-car disaster, the worst cable-car accident to date.
• 1977 – The Hanafi Muslim Siege: In a thirty-nine hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings, killing two and taking 149 hostage.
• 1989 – Financially-troubled Eastern Air Lines filed for 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.
• 1991 – Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Miloševic in Belgrade.
• 1997 – Comet Hale-Bopp: Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day.
• 2010 – The first same-sex marriages in Washington, D.C., take place.
• 2011 – Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights.

Births

• 1213 – Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, French crusader (d. 1271)
• 1285 – Emperor Go-Nijo 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)
• 1627 – John Bowne, English-born American Quaker (d. 1695)
• 1629 – Tsar Alexis I of Russia (d. 1676)
• 1695 – Martín Sarmiento, Spanish writer and scholar (d.1772)
• 1720 – Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician (d. 1790)
• 1727 – Johann Gottlieb Preller, German cantor, composer, and land surveyor (d. 1786)
• 1737 – Josef Myslivecek, Czech composer (d. 1781)
• 1749 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, 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 and philanthropist (d. 1872)
• 1814 – Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet (d. 1861)
• 1815 – David Davis, American politician and jurist; United States Senator from Illinois and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1886)
• 1820 – Samuel Blatchford, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1893)
• 1825 – Alexander F. Mozhayskiy, Russian aviation pioneer (d. 1890)
• 1833 – Frederick A. Schroeder, industrialist and mayor of Brooklyn (d. 1899)
• 1839 – Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer (d. 1908)
• 1856 – Eddie Foy, American singer and dancer (d. 1928)
• 1856 – Tom Roberts, Australian artist (d. 1931)
• 1887 – Fritz Lenz, German geneticist (d. 1976)
• 1887 – Phil Mead, English cricketer (d. 1958)
• 1890 – Rupert Balfe, Australian footballer (d. 1915)
• 1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician (d. 1986)
• 1891 – José P. Laurel, 3rd President of the Philippines (d. 1959)
• 1892 – Vita Sackville-West, English writer and gardener (d. 1962)
• 1894 – Frank Arnau, German writer (d. 1976)
• 1900 – Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (d. 1948)
• 1902 – Will Geer, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1904 – Paul Klipsch, American engineer (d. 2002)
• 1905 – Gerardus Philippus Helders, Dutch politician
• 1909 – Derk Bodde, American sinologist (d. 2003)
• 1910 – Samuel Barber, American composer (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Johnnie Johnson, British fighter pilot (d. 2001)
• 1918 – George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party (d. 1967)
• 1918 – Mickey Spillane, American writer (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Frank J. Dixon, American immunologist (d. 2008)
• 1921 – Carl Betz, American actor (d. 1978)
• 1921 – Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (d. 1998)
• 1923 – James L. Buckley, American politician
• 1923 – André Courrèges, French fashion designer
• 1923 – Walter Kohn, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel laureate
• 1923 – Nicola Zaccaria, Greek opera singer (bass) (d. 2007)
• 1928 – Gerald Bull, Canadian artillery designer (d. 1990)
• 1929 – Desmond Hoyte, Prime Minister and President of Guyana (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Zillur Rahman, President of Bangladesh.
• 1930 – Ornette Coleman, American musician
• 1930 – Taina Elg, Finnish-American actress and dancer
• 1931 – Thore Skogman, Swedish entertainer (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Walter Mercado, Puerto Rican astrologist and actor
• 1932 – Keely Smith, American singer
• 1933 – Mel Lastman, Canadian politician
• 1933 – Lloyd Price, American singer
• 1934 – Del Close, American actor, writer and teacher (d. 1999)
• 1934 – Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut and the first human in space (d. 1968)
• 1934 – Marlene Streit, Canadian golfer
• 1934 – Joyce Van Patten, American actress
• 1935 – Andrew Viterbi, American scientist and businessman
• 1936 – Mickey Gilley, American musician and singer
• 1936 – Tom Sestak, American football player (d. 1987)
• 1937 – Bernard Landry, Premier of Quebec from 2001-2003
• 1937 – Harry Neale, Canadian ice hockey coach, general manager and commentator
• 1937 – Brian Redman, English racing driver
• 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 musician (Paul Revere & The Raiders)
• 1943 – Bobby Fischer, American chess player (d. 2008)
• 1943 – Charles Gibson, American television journalist
• 1943 – Colin Murdock, American voice actor
• 1943 – Trish Van Devere, American actress
• 1944 – Lee Irvine, South African cricketer
• 1945 – Robert Calvert, English singer (Hawkwind) (d. 1988)
• 1945 – Dennis Rader, American serial killer
• 1945 – Robin Trower, British rock musician
• 1946 – Jim Cregan, British rock musician
• 1947 – Keri Hulme, New Zealand writer
• 1947 – Chris Thompson, British rock musician
• 1948 – Emma Bonino, Italian politician
• 1948 – Jeffrey Osborne, American singer
• 1949 – Jamie Lyn Bauer, American actress
• 1949 – Tapani Kansa, Finnish singer
• 1950 – Doug Ault, American baseball player (d. 2004)
• 1950 – Danny Sullivan, American race car driver
• 1951 – Zakir Hussain, Tabla player and Musician
• 1951 – Michael Kinsley, American journalist and editor
• 1951 – Helen Zille, South African politician
• 1952 – Bill Beaumont, English rugby player
• 1954 – Bobby Sands, IRA member (d. 1981)
• 1955 – Teo Fabi, Italian racing driver
• 1955 – Ornella Muti, Italian actress
• 1955 – Józef Pinior, Polish politician
• 1956 – Mark Dantonio, American football coach
• 1956 – Shashi Tharoor, Indian author & United Nations Under-Secretary General
• 1956 – David Willetts, UK Minister of State for Universities and Science (Conservative)
• 1957 – Faith Daniels, American journalist
• 1957 – Mark Mancina, American composer
• 1957 – Mona Sahlin, Swedish politician
• 1958 – Linda Fiorentino, American actress
• 1958 – Martin Fry, English pop singer (ABC)
• 1958 – Jack Kenny, American television writer and producer
• 1961 – Mike Leach, American football coach
• 1961 – Rick Steiner, American wrestler
• 1961 – Darrell Walker, American basketball player
• 1962 – Jan Furtok, Polish footballer
• 1963 – Terry Mulholland, American baseball player
• 1963 – David Pogue, Technology columnist and musician
• 1963 – Jean-Marc Vallée, Canadian film director and screenwriter
• 1964 – Juliette Binoche, French actress
• 1964 – Herbert Fandel, German football referee
• 1964 – Phil Housley, American ice hockey player
• 1964 – Valérie Lemercier, French actress
• 1964 – Steve Wilkos, American police officer and talk show host
• 1965 – Brian Bosworth, American football player
• 1965 – Benito Santiago, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1966 – Brendan Canty, American musician (Fugazi)
• 1966 – Tony Lockett, Australian footballer
• 1966 – Michael Patrick MacDonald, American memorist
• 1968 – Youri Djorkaeff, French footballer
• 1968 – Brian Heidik, American reality-show contestant
• 1968 – Johnny Kelly, American drummer (Type O Negative)
• 1969 – Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, American basketball player
• 1969 – Rob Dukes, American musician (Exodus)
• 1969 – Stefie Shock, Canadian singer and songwriter
• 1970 – Martin Johnson, English rugby player
• 1970 – Shannon Leto, American drummer and actor (30 Seconds to Mars)
• 1970 – David Guido Pietroni, Italian director and producer
• 1971 – Emmanuel Lewis, American actor
• 1971 – C-Murder, American rapper
• 1971 – Diego Torres, Argentine singer
• 1972 – Spencer Howson, Australian broadcaster
• 1972 – Jean Louisa Kelly, American actress
• 1972 – Kerr Smith, American actor
• 1973 – Aaron Boone, American baseball player
• 1975 – Roy Makaay, Dutch footballer
• 1975 – Didiayer Snyder, Australian television personality
• 1975 – Chaske Spencer, American actor
• 1975 – Juan Sebastián Verón, Argentine footballer
• 1976 – Thor Halvorssen Mendoza, Venezuelan human rights activist
• 1976 – Ben Mulroney, Canadian television host
• 1977 – Yamila Diaz-Rahi, Argentine supermodel
• 1977 – Radek Dvorák, Czech ice hockey player
• 1978 – Lucas Neill, Australian footballer
• 1979 – Melina Perez, American professional wrestler
• 1980 – Chingy, American rapper
• 1980 – Trent Croad, Australian rules footballer
• 1980 – Matthew Gray Gubler, American actor
• 1981 – Antonio Bryant, American football player
• 1981 – Anders Nøhr, Danish footballer
• 1981 – Clay Rapada, American baseball player
• 1983 – Clint Dempsey, American footballer
• 1983 – Ioannis Masmanidis, German footballer
• 1983 – Maite Perroni, Mexican singer (RBD)
• 1983 – Wayne Simien, American basketball player
• 1984 – Abdoulay Konko, French footballer
• 1984 – Julia Mancuso, American skier
• 1985 – Jesse Litsch, American baseball player
• 1985 – Parthiv Patel, Indian cricket player
• 1986 – Brittany Snow, American actress
• 1987 – Bow Wow, American rapper and actor
• 1988 – Alodia Gosiengfiao, Filipina cosplay artist and model
• 1989 – Taeyeon (Kim Tae-yeon), South Korean singer (Girls' Generation)
• 1990 – Bilel Ifa, Tunisian footballer
• 1990 – Aras Özbiliz, Turkish footballer
• 1996 – Darsheel Safary, Indian actor

Deaths

• 1202 – King Sverre of Norway
• 1422 – Jan Zelivsky, Hussite priest (b. 1380)
• 1440 – Saint Frances of Rome, Italian nun (b. 1384)
• 1566 – David Rizzio, Italian secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots (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 – Cardinal Mazarin, French cardinal and statesman (b. 1602)
• 1709 – Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, English diplomat (b. 1638)
• 1808 – Joseph Bonomi the Elder, architect (b. 1739)
• 1810 – Ozias Humphrey, English artist (b. 1842)
• 1825 – Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author (b.1743)
• 1851 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist (b. 1777)
• 1888 – William I, German Emperor (b. 1797)
• 1895 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer and journalist (b. 1836)
• 1897 – Jamal-al-Din Afghani, Afghan political activist and Islamic nationalist (b. 1838)
• 1897 – Sondre Norheim, Norwegian skier (b. 1825)
• 1918 – Frank Wedekind, writer (b. 1864)
• 1926 – Usui Mikao, Japanese founder of Reiki (b. 1865)
• 1937 – Paul Elmer More, American critic and essayist (b. 1864)
• 1945 – Margot Frank, German-born Dutch Jewish holocaust victim (b. 1926)
• 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 von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (b. 1870)
• 1966 – Pablo Birger, Argentine racing driver (b. 1924)
• 1969 – Abdul Munim Riad general and chief of staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces (b. 1919)
• 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)
• 1985 – Harry Catterick, English football manager (b. 1919)
• 1988 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German politician (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Robert Mapplethorpe, American artist (b. 1946)
• 1991 – Jim Hardin, former Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves pitcher (b. 1943)
• 1992 – Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1913)
• 1993 – Bob Crosby, American bandleader and vocalist (b. 1913)
• 1993 – C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian and writer (b. 1909)
• 1994 – Charles Bukowski, American writer (b. 1920)
• 1994 – Eddie Creatchman, Canadian wrestler manager (b. 1928)
• 1994 – Maurice Purtill, American Big Band drummer (b. 1916)
• 1994 – Fernando Rey, Spanish-born actor (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Gilbert Rondeau, Canadian politician (b. 1928)
• 1996 – George Burns, American actor and singer (b. 1896)
• 1997 – Jean-Dominique Bauby, French Journalist & Author (b.1952), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• 1997 – Christopher Wallace, American rapper (b. 1972)
• 1997 – Terry Nation, Welsh novelist and screenwriter, creator of the Daleks (b.1930)
• 1999 – Harry Somers, Canadian composer (b. 1925)
• 2000 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer (b. 1908)
• 2000 – Ivo Robic, Croatian singer and songwriter (b. 1923)
• 2001 – Louiza Podimata, Greek actress (b. 1920)
• 2003 – Stan Brakhage, American filmmaker (b. 1933)
• 2003 – Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru (b. 1946)
• 2004 – Gerald Deskin, clinical child psychologist (b. 1929)
• 2004 – Rust Epique, former Crazy Town guitarist and frontman for the band, pre)Thing (b. 1968)
• 2004 – Albert Mol, Dutch actor (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Chris LeDoux, American country singer and rodeo competitor (b. 1948)
• 2005 – Kurt Lotz, German business executive, second postwar CEO of Volkswagen (b. 1912)
• 2005 – István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Jeanette Schmid, Austrian professional whistler (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Geir Ivarsøy, Norwegian programmer, co-founder of Opera Software ASA (b. 1957)
• 2006 – John Profumo, British cabinet minister (b. 1915)
• 2006 – Laura Stoica, Romanian singer, composer and actress (b. 1967)
• 2007 – Brad Delp, American singer (Boston) (b. 1951)
• 2007 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
• 2007 – Jeanne Hopkins Lucas, North Carolina politician (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Willie Davis, American baseball player (b. 1940)
• 2010 – 'Granny D', American political activist (b. 1910)
• 2011 – David Broder, American journalist (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Catherine of Bologna
  • Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
  • Frances of Rome
  • Gregory of Nyssa
  • Pacian
• Teacher's Day or Eid Al Moalim (Lebanon)