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On this day in history - March 9

What Happened On This Day – March 9

  • 2011 Space Shuttle Discovery completes its final mission

    The shuttle touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after its journey to the International Space Station (ISS).

  • 1976 The deadliest cable car accident in history occurs in Italy

    43 people died when the cable car plunged 160 ft (50 meters) to the ground after the steel cable had snapped. 14-year-old Alessandra Piovesana was the only survivor.

  • 1961 Ivan Ivanovich, a human dummy, travels into space

    On its test flight on board the Soviet spacecraft Korabl-Sputnik 4 (also known as Sputnik 9), the mannequin was accompanied by a dog, reptiles, mice, and guinea pigs.

  • 1959 The Barbie doll goes on sale

    The American toy company Mattel claims that more than one billion Barbie dolls have been sold so far, with about 3 dolls being sold every second.

  • 1931 The electron microscope is invented

    German physicist Ernst Ruska is credited with the invention of the microscope. His first instrument allowed a resolution of 50 nanometers (billionths of a meter).

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
March 9

  • 1964 Juliette Binoche

    French actress, dancer

  • 1943 Bobby Fischer

    American chess player

  • 1934 Yuri Gagarin

    Russian pilot, astronaut

  • 1915 Johnnie Johnson

    English pilot

  • 1890 Vyacheslav Molotov

    Soviet politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs fr the Soviet Union

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
March 9

  • 1997 The Notorious B.I.G.

    American rapper

  • 1996 George Burns

    American actor

  • 1994 Charles Bukowski

    American poet

  • 1992 Menachem Begin

    Israeli politician, 6th Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate

  • 1825 Anna Laetitia Barbauld

    English poet, author, critic