March 9 facts for kids

March 9 is the 68th day of the year (69th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 297 days remain until the end of the year.

Every day is special, and March 9th is no exception! Throughout history, many interesting things have happened on this day, from important discoveries to the birth of famous people. Let's explore some of the exciting events and notable individuals connected to March 9th.

Historic Moments on March 9th

Ancient Times and Middle Ages

• 141 BC – A young prince named Liu Che became the new emperor of China. He is now known as Emperor Wu of Han, one of the most powerful leaders of the Han dynasty.
• 1009 – The country of Lithuania was first mentioned in a written record. This record was found in the old books of a monastery called Quedlinburg.
• 1226 – The city of Tbilisi, which was the capital of Georgia, was taken over by Sultan Jalal ad-Din. He was a powerful ruler from the Khwarazmian dynasty.
• 1230 – In a big battle called the Battle of Klokotnitsa, the Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II defeated Theodore of Epirus. This was an important victory for Bulgaria.
• 1500 – A large fleet of ships led by Pedro Álvares Cabral left Lisbon, Portugal. They were sailing towards the Indies but ended up discovering Brazil. This new land was given to Portugal by an agreement called the Treaty of Tordesillas.

From the 17th to 19th Centuries

• 1701 – After three years, soldiers from Safavid Iran left the city of Basra. This ended their control over the area.
• 1776 – A very important book called The Wealth of Nations was published. It was written by Adam Smith, a Scottish thinker. This book is still studied today for its ideas about how countries become wealthy.
• 1796 – The famous French general Napoléon Bonaparte married his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.
• 1811 – Paraguayan forces won a battle against Manuel Belgrano at the Battle of Tacuarí.
• 1815 – Francis Ronalds created the first clock that ran on batteries. He wrote about his invention in a science magazine.
• 1841 – The highest court in the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court, made a big decision. They ruled that a group of Africans who had taken control of their ship, the Amistad, had been illegally forced into slavery.
• 1842 – The opera Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi was performed for the first time in Milan, Italy. It was a huge success and made Verdi one of Italy's most famous opera composers.
• 1842 – Gold was officially discovered in California for the first time at Rancho San Francisco. This happened six years before the famous California Gold Rush began.
• 1847 – During the Mexican–American War, the U.S. military launched its first large-scale amphibious assault. This was part of the Siege of Veracruz, where soldiers attacked from both land and sea.
• 1862 – In the American Civil War, two special warships fought each other for the first time. The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (which was rebuilt from the USS Merrimack) battled in the Battle of Hampton Roads. Both were ironclad warships, meaning they were covered in metal armor.

20th and 21st Century Events

• 1908 – The famous Italian football club Inter Milan was founded. It was created after a disagreement within another club, A.C. Milan.
• 1916 – During the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa led about 500 Mexican fighters in an attack on the border town of Columbus, New Mexico. This event is known as the Battle of Columbus.
• 1933 – During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the Emergency Banking Act. This was the first of his new policies, known as the New Deal, aimed at helping the country recover.
• 1942 – In World War II, the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) surrendered to Japanese forces. This completed the Dutch East Indies campaign for Japan.
• 1944 – During World War II, Soviet planes bombed Tallinn, Estonia.
• 1945 – World War II: Japanese forces took control in French Indochina, removing the French from power.
• 1945 – World War II: Allied forces carried out a massive firebombing attack over Tokyo. This destroyed much of the capital city and caused many deaths.
• 1946 – A terrible disaster happened at the Bolton Wanderers football stadium in England. The Burnden Park disaster killed 33 people and injured many more.
• 1954 – The television show See It Now aired a special episode about Senator Joseph McCarthy. This broadcast was important in the era of McCarthyism.
• 1956 – Soviet forces stopped large protests in the Georgian SSR. People were protesting against Nikita Khrushchev's new policies.
• 1957 – A very strong earthquake, the Andreanof Islands earthquake, shook the Aleutian Islands. It caused a lot of damage and a destructive tsunami.
• 1959 – The very first Barbie doll was shown to the public at a toy fair in New York.
• 1960 – Dr. Belding Hibbard Scribner used a special device he invented, called a shunt, for the first time. This device helps patients receive regular hemodialysis treatment.
• 1961 – The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 9 into space. It carried a dog and a human dummy, showing that the Soviets were ready for human spaceflight.
• 1967 – Trans World Airlines Flight 553 crashed in Ohio after hitting a smaller plane. This accident killed 26 people.
• 1974 – The Mars 7 spacecraft had a problem and released its landing module too early, missing the planet Mars.
• 1976 – The Cavalese cable car disaster happened, killing 42 people. It was the worst cable car accident in history.
• 1977 – In Washington, D.C., armed Hanafi Muslims took over three buildings in a 39-hour standoff, known as the Hanafi Siege.
• 1978 – The Jagorawi Toll Road was opened in Indonesia. It was the first toll highway in the country, connecting Jakarta, Bogor, and Ciawi.
• 1987 – The car company Chrysler announced that it was buying American Motors Corporation.
• 1997 – People in China, Mongolia, and eastern Siberia saw something amazing. During an eclipse, the bright Comet Hale–Bopp could be seen even during the day!
• 2011 – The Space Shuttle Discovery made its last ever landing after 39 flights into space.
• 2012 – A truce (a temporary peace agreement) began in El Salvador between the government and gangs.
• 2015 – Two helicopters crashed in mid-air over Villa Castelli, Argentina. All 10 people on board died, including famous French athletes Florence Arthaud, Camille Muffat, and Alexis Vastine. They were filming for a TV show called Dropped.

Famous Birthdays on March 9th

Born Before 1900

• 1451 – Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian mapmaker and explorer. The continents of the Americas are named after him. (d. 1512)
• 1564 – David Fabricius, a German astronomer who studied the stars and made maps. (d. 1617)
• 1568 – Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint. (d. 1591)
• 1749 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, a French journalist and politician during an important time in French history. (d. 1791)
• 1758 – Franz Joseph Gall, a German scientist who studied the brain. (d. 1828)
• 1814 – Taras Shevchenko, a very important Ukrainian poet and writer. (d. 1861)
• 1824 – Amasa Leland Stanford, an American businessman and politician. He founded Stanford University. (d. 1893)
• 1856 – Eddie Foy, Sr., a popular American actor and dancer. (d. 1928)
• 1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov, a Russian politician who served as the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs. (d. 1986)
• 1891 – José P. Laurel, a Filipino lawyer and politician who became President of the Philippines. (d. 1959)
• 1892 – Vita Sackville-West, an English author, poet, and gardener. (d. 1962)

Born After 1900

• 1904 – Paul Wilbur Klipsch, an American engineer who started Klipsch Audio Technologies, a company known for sound equipment. (d. 2002)
• 1910 – Samuel Barber, a famous American pianist and composer. (d. 1981)
• 1911 – Clara Rockmore, an amazing musician who played the theremin, a unique electronic instrument. (d. 1998)
• 1918 – Mickey Spillane, a popular American crime novelist. (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Walter Kohn, an Austrian-American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (d. 2016)
• 1928 – Keely Smith, an American singer and actress. (d. 2017)
• 1930 – Ornette Coleman, an American musician who played saxophone, violin, and trumpet. (d. 2015)
• 1934 – Yuri Gagarin, a Russian pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to travel into space! (d. 1968)
• 1940 – Raul Julia, a talented Puerto Rican actor. (d. 1994)
• 1942 – John Cale, a Welsh musician, composer, and singer.
• 1943 – Bobby Fischer, a brilliant American chess player and author. (d. 2008)
• 1948 – Jeffrey Osborne, an American singer and drummer.
• 1954 – Carlos Ghosn, a well-known business executive.
• 1956 – Shashi Tharoor, an Indian politician and diplomat.
• 1958 – Linda Fiorentino, an American actress.
• 1959 – Takaaki Kajita, a Japanese physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his work.
• 1964 – Juliette Binoche, a famous French actress.
• 1965 – Brian Bosworth, an American football player and actor.
• 1968 – Youri Djorkaeff, a French footballer.
• 1969 – Kimberly Guilfoyle, an American lawyer and journalist.
• 1970 – Martin Johnson, an English rugby player and coach.
• 1971 – Emmanuel Lewis, an American actor.
• 1979 – Oscar Isaac, a Guatemalan-American actor.
• 1980 – Chingy, an American rapper.
• 1983 – Clint Dempsey, an American soccer player.
• 1984 – Julia Mancuso, an American skier.
• 1987 – Bow Wow, an American rapper and actor.
• 1989 – Taeyeon, a South Korean singer.
• 1990 – Daley Blind, a Dutch footballer.
• 1993 – Suga, a South Korean rapper, songwriter, and producer.
• 1995 – Cierra Ramirez, an American actress and singer.
• 2000 – Khaby Lame, a Senegalese-Italian social media star.
• 2003 – Sunisa Lee, an American gymnast.

Notable People Who Passed Away on March 9th

Before 1900

• 1202 – Sverre of Norway, who was the king of Norway.
• 1440 – Frances of Rome, an Italian nun and saint. (b. 1384)
• 1444 – Leonardo Bruni, an important Italian scholar and writer. (b. c. 1370)
• 1566 – David Rizzio, a Scottish courtier and politician. (b. 1533)
• 1661 – Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian-French politician who served as Prime Minister of France. (b. 1602)
• 1847 – Mary Anning, an English paleontologist who made important fossil discoveries. (b. 1799)
• 1851 – Hans Christian Ørsted, a Danish physicist and chemist. He discovered electromagnetism. (b. 1777)
• 1888 – William I, German Emperor, the first emperor of a united Germany. (b. 1797)

After 1900

• 1926 – Mikao Usui, a Japanese spiritual leader who founded Reiki. (b. 1865)
• 1974 – Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., an American scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. (b. 1915)
• 1983 – Ulf von Euler, a Swedish scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. (b. 1905)
• 1988 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, a German lawyer and politician who was Chancellor of Germany. (b. 1904)
• 1992 – Menachem Begin, an Israeli soldier and politician who became Prime Minister of Israel. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. (b. 1913)
• 1994 – Charles Bukowski, an American poet and novelist. (b. 1920)
• 1996 – George Burns, a beloved American comedian, actor, and writer. (b. 1896)
• 1997 – The Notorious B.I.G., a very influential American rapper and songwriter. (b. 1972)
• 2010 – Doris Haddock, an American activist and politician. (b. 1910)
• 2015 – James Molyneaux, Baron Molyneaux of Killead, a Northern Irish soldier and politician. (b. 1920)
• 2021 – James Levine, a famous American conductor and pianist. (b. 1943)
• 2023 – Chaim Topol, an Israeli actor. (b. 1935)

Holidays and Observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Catherine of Bologna
  • Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
  • Frances of Rome
  • Pacian
  • Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria (Coptic Orthodox Church)
  • Gregory of Nyssa (Episcopal Church (United States))
  • March 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Teachers' Day or Eid Al Moalim (Lebanon)

See also

In Spanish: 9 de marzo para niños