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).
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
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