What Happened On
The Burning Bed
March 9, 1977
Battered housewife Francine Hughes kills her husband by pouring gasoline on him and setting fire to his bed while he was sleeping in their home. She had suffered thirteen years of physical abuse by him. She then drove her children to the police station and confessed. She was tried for first degree murder and found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
Farrah Fawcett starred in the 1984 critically-acclaimed TV movie, The Burning Bed, based on these events.
Very first Mustang sold to the public
Photo Credit: Alvintrusty
Very first Mustang sold to the publicPhoto Credit: Alvintrusty
Ford Mustang
March 9, 1964
Ford begins production of its new sports car, the Mustang. At a base price of $2,368, it sold an industry record of 417,000 units in its first year. It was originally intended to be a mid-engine two-seater roadster, but that changed when the sales of the Thunderbird increased after adding a back seat.
Barbie (Barbara Millicent Roberts)
March 9, 1959
Mattel introduces the doll that would become an American icon. Barbie was the first mass-produced toy doll in the U.S. with adult features. Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
Firebombing raid and its aftermath
Firebombing raid and its aftermath
Bombing of Tokyo - Most Destructive Bombing in History
March 9, 1945
Over the night of March 9-10, 1945, the U.S. executes a firebombing raid over Tokyo. This is regarded as the single most destructive bombing raid in human history, with 16 square miles (41 km2) of central Tokyo destroyed, 267,171 buildings destroyed, an estimated over 100,000 civilians killed, and over 1 million left homeless. Tokyo's industrial output was cut in half due to the bombing.
The raid consisted of 334 B-29s dropping 1,665 tons of bombs on Tokyo. The first firebombs were dropped to form a large X pattern over Tokyo's working class district. The following planes aimed for this large flaming X. High winds caused the fires to spread quickly and turn into major blazes.
American casualties consisted of 96 airmen killed or missing, 6 wounded or injured, and twelve B-29s shot down.
This was the highest death toll of any air raid during the war, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa Raids New Mexico
March 9, 1916
The Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa leads 1500 guerrillas into New Mexico killing 17 Americans and about 80 of Villa's men. Villa opposed U.S. support of the newly elected Mexican president and had led the raid in order to obtain military supplies to aid in his fight against the Mexican president. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson responded by sending 7,000 U.S. troops to invade Mexico with orders to capture Villa dead or alive. They pursued Villa until February of 1917, killing 190 of his men, but Villa survived the assault. The pursuit also conducted the first U.S. air combat mission.
Battle of the Ironclads and the End of Wooden Warships
March 9, 1862
This was the first combat of ironclad warships ships, bringing about the end of wooden warships. The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia engage in battle off the coast of Virginia during the U.S. Civil War, ending in a standoff. The Confederate navy created the CSS Virginia by adding iron plates to the captured Union steam frigate USS Merrimac.
Two months later, the Virginia was trapped by Union forces, so its crew blew it up rather than allow it to fall into Union hands.
The Monitor sank in a storm off the coast of North Carolina the following December.
Kissing in Public Punishable by Death
March 9, 1562
Naples, Italy makes it a crime to kiss in public, punishable by death.
The Heart of Juliet Jones
March 9, 1953
The Heart of Juliet Jones comic strip premieres.
Twenty-Three People Killed at Soccer Game
March 9, 1946
Metal barriers collapsed during a soccer game in England causing a stampede.
Grant Commissioned Lieutenant-General
March 9, 1864
Ulysses S. Grant is commissioned Lieutenant-General, the highest rank in the army. He assumed command of the Union Army the following day.
First Confederate Currency
March 9, 1861
The first Confederate currency is authorized, in denominations of $50, $100, $500, $1,000.
The French Foreign Legion
March 9, 1831
The French Foreign Legion is established.
Birthdays
First Man in Space
Yuri A. Gagarin
Born March 9, 1934 d. 1968
Soviet cosmonaut. In 1961, he became the first man in space aboard the Soviet Vostok 1. The craft orbited the Earth for 108 minutes, making Gagarin also the first human to orbit the Earth. Gagarin's response of "Let's go!", shortly before launch, became a phrase in the Eastern Bloc referring to the beginning of the Space Age.
For his accomplishments, he was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union. This was his only spaceflight.
He and a flight instructor died in a plane crash during a routine training mission.
Vespucci's first encounter with Native Americans in Honduras, 1497
Vespucci's first encounter with Native Americans in Honduras, 1497
For Whom America is Named
Amerigo Vespucci
Born March 9, 1451 d. 1512
Italian explorer. For whom America is named, and one of the first to recognize North and South America as new continents.
Emmanuel Lewis
Born March 9, 1971
American actor. TV: Webster (1983-89, title role). At an adult height of 4 foot 3 inches (1.3 m), he is classified as a dwarf, although the medical cause of his dwarfism is undetermined. Lewis is popular in Japan where he has released two music singles, with his debut single City Connection reaching #2 on the Japanese charts.
Jaime Lyn Bauer
Born March 9, 1949
American actress. TV: The Young and the Restless (Lauralee Brooks Prentiss).
Bobby Fischer (Robert James Fischer)
Born March 9, 1943 d. 2008
American chess champion. He was the first American to win the world chess championship (1972) in what was called the "Chess Match of the Century".
Raul Julia
Born March 9, 1940 d. 1994
Puerto Rican actor. Film: Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and The Addams Family (1991, Gomez).
Mickey Gilley
Born March 9, 1936 d. 2022
American country singer. In 1971, he opened Gilley's in Houston, the world's largest nightclub. Gilley's and its mechanical bull El Toro were the focus of the movie Urban Cowboy (1980). Music: Room Full of Roses (1974, #1) and Don't the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time (1976, #1).
Carl Betz
Born March 9, 1921 d. 1978
American Emmy-winning actor. TV: The Donna Reed Show (Donna's husband) and Judd for the Defense (the tough Texas lawyer).
Mickey Spillane (Frank Morrison)
Born March 9, 1918 d. 2006
American author. Creator of the hardboiled detective Mike Hammer. He sold over 100 million books and inspired several TV series and movies. He started out as a comic book writer, working on titles such as Captain America, Human Torch, and Submariner. Writings: I, the Jury (1947), Kiss Me, Deadly (1952), and The Deep (1961).
Molotov (left) and soldier with Molotov Cocktail
Molotov (left) and soldier with Molotov Cocktail
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (V.M. Skryabin)
Born March 9, 1890 d. 1986
Soviet Communist leader, Soviet foreign minister (1939-49, 1953-56), and for whom the Molotov cocktail is named. He and Joseph Stalin founded the party newspaper Pravda (1912).
The term "Molotov cocktail" was coined by the Finns during the Winter War as pejorative reference to Molotov. Molotov declared on Soviet state radio that bombing missions over Finland were actually airborne humanitarian food deliveries for their starving neighbors. The Finns then called the Soviet cluster bombs "Molotov bread baskets". When the hand-held bottle firebomb was developed to attack Soviet tanks, the Finns called it the "Molotov cocktail", as "a drink to go with his food parcels".
R.B. Fuller (Ralph Briggs Fuller)
Born March 9, 1890 d. 1963
American cartoonist. Created Oaky Doaks (1935).
Leland Stanford
Born March 9, 1824 d. 1893
American politician, railroad builder, philanthropist, president of the Central Pacific Railroad (1863-93), president of the Southern Pacific Railroad (1885-90), and founder of Stanford University (1885).
Deaths
Photo Credit: Life
Photo Credit: Life
Glenn McDuffie
Died March 9, 2014 b. 1927
American sailor. He claims to be the sailor kissing the nurse in Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous Times Square photo on V-J Day. It is believed that Edith Shain was the nurse in the photo.
George Burns (Nathan Birnbaum)
Died March 9, 1996 b. 1896
American actor, comedian. He partnered with his wife Gracie Allen.
Quote: "In my youth, they called me a rebel. When I was middle aged, they called me eccentric. Now that I'm old, I'm doing the same thing I've always done and they're calling me senile."
Film: The Sunshine Boys (1975) and Oh, God! (1977).
TV: The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950-58).
Radio: The Burns and Allen Show (1937-50).
Roy Brown (left) and Red Baron
Roy Brown (left) and Red Baron
Credited With Shooting Down the Red Baron
Roy Brown
Died March 9, 1944 b. 1893
Canadian World War I flying ace. Roy Brown was the pilot originally credited with shooting down the Red Baron (1918), although evidence shows that the Red Baron was probably killed by ground fire.
When Brown saw a fellow pilot being chased by the Red Baron, he dived in pursuit firing at the Red Baron. Brown eventually had to pull out of the dive and lost sight of the pair. It is believed that the Red Baron turned and while flying low was shot and killed by Australian Army ground fire and crashed near the Australian trenches. Although Brown marked his initial report of the fight as "indecisive", his commanding officer changed it to "decisive" and he was credited with the kill.
The Red Baron shot down 80 enemy aircraft. In the month of April, 1917 alone, the Red Baron shot down 22 British aircraft, including four in a single day.
Robert Blake as Baretta and Little Beaver
Robert Blake as Baretta and Little Beaver
Robert Blake (Michael James Vincenzo Gubitosi)
Died March 9, 2023 b. 1933
American Emmy-winning actor. In 2001 his second wife was shot to death while sitting in her car outside of a restaurant. Blake was tried and acquitted of the crime. However, he was found liable in a civil case for the murder and ordered to pay USD $15 million. He then declared bankruptcy.
Film: The Little Rascals (1939-44, Mickey Gubitosi), Red Ryder western movies (1944-47, Little Beaver), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948, Mexican boy who sells Humphrey Bogart the winning lottery ticket), and In Cold Blood (1967, killer Perry Wilson). TV: Baretta (1975-78, Emmy, title role).
Roger Mudd
Died March 9, 2021 b. 1928
American Emmy-winning TV newscaster.
Fernando Rey (Fernando Casado Arambillet)
Died March 9, 1994 b. 1917
Spanish actor. He was one of Spain's best-known actors. Film: The French Connection (1971, the French drug king) and Elisa, Vida mia (1977, Cannes Best Actor).
Bard of Beer and Broads
Charles Bukowski (Heinrich Karl Bukowski)
Died March 9, 1994 b. 1920
German-born American poet, novelist. Known as the "Bard of Beer and Broads". His heavy drinking and hard living provided the setting for the film Barfly (1987). Writings: Flowers, Fist and Bestial Wall (1959) and Ham on Rye (1982).
Quote: "The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence".
Quote: "Find what you love and let it kill you".
Northcote Parkinson
Died March 9, 1993 b. 1909
British author, historian, creator of Parkinson's Law (work expands to fill the time available for its completion).
Carrie Lane Chapman Catt
Died March 9, 1947 b. 1859
American women's rights leader, founder of the National League of Women Voters (1919). Her efforts contributed greatly to the passing of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.