/year

March 9 in history

208 sourced entries recorded on March 9, from 141 BCE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 141 BCEEmperor Wu of Han ("Martial Emperor") starts to rule the Han dynasty.source
  • 49 BCECaesar advances against Pompeian forces in Spain.source
  • 757A major earthquake strikes Palestine and Syria.source
  • 941The famed Green Dome of the Palace of the Golden Gate at Baghdad collapses, amidst heavy rainfall.source
  • 1024In Bamberg in Germany, the Holy Roman Emperor issues an order to regulate the ongoing dispute between the ministries of Fulda and Hersfeldsource
  • 1226Khwarazmian Empire forces commanded by the Muslim Sultan Jalal al-Din Mangburni capture Tbilisi, capital of the Kingdom of Georgia. After the capture, the massacre of thousands of its Christian inhabitants begins as residents are given the choice between converting to Islam or being put to death.source
  • 1230Battle of Klokotnitsa: Byzantine forces under Theodore Komnenos Doukas invade Bulgaria, breaking the peace treaty with Tsar Ivan Asen II. Theodore gathers a large army, including western mercenaries. The two armies meet near the village of Klokotnitsa. Ivan applies clever tactics and manages to surround the Byzantines. They are completely defeated; only a small force under Theodore's brother Manuel Doukas manages to escape the battlefield. Theodore is taken prisoner and is blinded. In the aftermath, Ivan quickly extends its control over most of Theodore's domains in Thrace, Macedonia and Albania. The Latin Duchy of Philippopolis and the independent principality of Alexius Slav are also captured and annexed into Bulgaria.source
  • 1276Augsburg is granted the status of a free imperial city. Later this year, Ravensburg also receives the status.source
  • 1309Pope Clement V officially transfers the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Pontiff from Rome to the French city of Avignon, his residence and at this time part of the Kingdom of Arles, starting the Avignon Papacy. Since 1305, the papal court had been at Poitiers, and the move is justified by violence in Rome. The papal seat becomes part of the Holy Roman Empire, and its absence from Rome is referred to as the "Babylonian captivity of the Papacy".source
  • 1325Queen Isabella of England, wife of King Edward II of England and sister of King Charles IV of France, departs from England on a mission to Paris to mediate an end to the war between the two kingdoms. She is directed to return to England by midsummer.source
  • 1396King Richard II of England, 29, marries Princess Isabelle of France, the 6-year-old daughter of King Charles VI of France, by proxy. The two will marry in person on October 31 in Calais.source
  • 1414Abu’l-Faḍl Abbas Al-Musta'in, previously forced to abdicate as Sultan of Egypt and replaced by Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh on November 6, 1412, is forced out from his office as Caliph of Cairo. The Sultan Shaykh then designates his own brother, Sulaymān al-Mustakfī, as the new Caliph of Cairo.source
  • 1422In Prague, the Hussite priest Jan Želivský is arrested when he appears at the city hall. Already known for overseeing the killing of Catholic civilians and the pillaging of Catholic towns outside of Prague, is blamed for the Czech Bohemian loss at the August 5 Battle of Brüx. He is sentenced to death and beheaded on the same day.source
  • 1433The Ming Chinese expedition departs from Hormuz Island and begins its four-month voyage home to Beijing.source
  • 1453Carlo Gonzaga, Captain of the People in the Republic of Milan, leads 4,000 soldiers in an invasion of Mantua and the properties of his brother Ludovico III Gonzaga, seizing Castelbelforte and Bigarello. Ludovico responds by assembly his own army with 3,000 cavalry and 500 infantry, forcing Carlos to retreat.source
  • 1500Pedro Álvares Cabral, with a fleet of 13 ships, departs Portugal on a voyage to the New World.source
  • 1513Cardinal Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, the Apostolic Administrator of Amalfi but not ordained as a priest, is selected to succeed the late Pope Julius II as the 217th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. After two days, the selection is announced to the public and Medici takes the name of Pope Leo X, despite a strong challenge by Italian cardinal Raffaele Riario and his group of seniors, or cardinals that were elected by Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII, who are opposed to the relatively newer juniors that includes Medici.source
  • 1522In Wittenberg, as the first day of Lent arrives, Martin Luther begins preaching the first of his eight "Invocavit sermons", stressing the primacy of core Christian values, such as love, patience, charity, and freedom, and reminding his followers to trust God's word rather than violence to bring about necessary change.source
  • 1522In Zurich in Switzerland, the Affair of the Sausages begins as Pastor Huldrych Zwingli of Grossmünster publicly speaks out against the food restrictions during the Roman Catholic period of fasting during Lent, and advocating that followers of Martin Luther eat sausage, one of the prohibited foods. Zwingli defends his action in the sermon Von Erkiesen und Freiheit der Speisen ("Regarding the freedom of Choice of Foods"), in that the Bible does not prohibit the eating of meat during Lent. The public declaration sparks the Reformation in Zürich.source
  • 1529The Battle of Shimbra Kure is fought in Ethiopia as the Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, with 12,000 men, including special forces armed with matchlock firearms, defeats the 200,000 man army of the Emperor Dawit II.source
  • 1548Le Trung Tong becomes the new Emperor of Dai Viet (corresponding to northern Vietnam) upon the death of his father, Lê Trang Tông.source
  • 1576Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex, is appointed Earl Marshal of Ireland.source
  • 1582Scryer Edward Kelley arrives at John Dee's house in London. They practice angelic magic together and Dee develops the Enochian language.source
  • 1589The Treaty of Bytom and Będzin is signed between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Austria, ending the War of the Polish Succession. Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, renounces his claims to the thrones of Poland and Lithuania and acknowledges Sigismund III Vasa of Sweden as the heir to the throne.source
  • 1611Battle of Segaba in Begemder: Yemana Kristos, brother of Emperor of Ethiopia Susenyos I, ends the rebellion of Melka Sedeq.source
  • 1630The 1630 Crete earthquake occurs.source
  • 1632Thirty Years' War: Battle of Bamberg – Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, commander of the Catholic League, defeats the Swedish army under Gustav Horn, and recaptures the town of Bamberg.source
  • 1640March 8–13 – Siege of Galle: Dutch troops take the strategic fortress at Galle, Sri Lanka from the Portuguese.source
  • 1659Sir Lislebone Long is elected as the Speaker of the House of Commons by the Third Protectorate Parliament after Chaloner Chute becomes seriously ill. Long serves only six days before dying on March 16. Chute remains Speaker but dies on April 14 and is replaced by Thomas Bampfield.source
  • 1659Sir Lislebone Long is elected as Speaker of the House of Commons after Chaloner Chute becomes seriously ill. Long serves only six days before dying on 16 March. Chute remains Speaker but himself dies on 14 April and is replaced by Thomas Bampfield.source
  • 1661Following the death of his mentor, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, who had been Minister of State since before the birth of King Louis XIV, King Louis, now 22, starts to rule independently without need for a regent.source
  • 1693the House of Commons of England presents an address to King William III complaining of mismanagement of Irish affairs. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount Sydney, is recalled on 13 June and administration left in the hands of Lords Justices.source
  • 1696Spanish missionaries in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in North America first learn of plans for a revolt among the Pueblo Indians and send warnings to the governor, asking for Spanish troops. The uprising begins on June 4.source
  • 1697Grand Embassy of Peter the Great: Tsar Peter the Great of Russia sets out to travel in Europe incognito, as Artilleryman Pjotr Mikhailov.source
  • 1715Voting for the British House of Commons concludes, with the liberal Whig Party winning 341 of the 558 seats, and reducing the conservative Tory Party share to 217 seats. Spencer Compton, the Earl of Wilmington, becomes the Speaker of the House of Commons.source
  • 1721John Aislabie imprisoned in the Tower of London, found guilty of corruption for his part in the collapse of the South Sea Company as Chancellor of the Exchequer.source
  • 1723The Mapuche Uprising begins in Chile as the indigenous Mapuche people, commanded by Toqui (war chief) Vilumilla, leading an attack against the city of Tucapel. The war lasts until February 13, 1726.source
  • 1730General Nader Khan of Persia opens the first campaign of the Ottoman–Persian War (1730–1735), guiding the Persian Army from Shiraz and starting the Western Persia Campaign against the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1741War of the Austrian Succession: Prussian troops bring down the Austrian fortress of Glogau (modern-day Głogów in Poland).source
  • 1761Hexham Riot ("Bloody Monday"): a crowd protesting at enlistment to the militia in Hexham (Northumberland) is fired on by members of the North Yorkshire Militia with around 45 killed and many more wounded.source
  • 1765After a public 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 committed suicide.source
  • 1770Haggis is served on board Captain James Cook's ship HMS Endeavour, anchored off New Zealand, in celebration of the birthday of a Scottish officer on board, Cook himself having a Scottish father.source
  • 1773March 9–19 – Second voyage of James Cook: Tobias Furneaux in HMS Adventure explores the coast of Van Diemen's Land.source
  • 1776Scottish economist Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations in London.source
  • 1796Widow Joséphine de Beauharnais marries General Napoleon Bonaparte.source
  • 1796Widow Joséphine de Beauharnais marries General Napoléon Bonaparte.source
  • 1797Last invasion of Britain: HMS St Fiorenzo, under the command of Sir Harry Neale and Captain John Cooke's HMS Nymphe, capture La Resistance and La Constance in the Irish Sea.source
  • 1803Aargau becomes a Swiss canton.source
  • 1814War of the Sixth Coalition – Treaty of Chaumont signed by four Allied powers, deepening their alliance against France.source
  • 1814The USS Enterprise reaches Wilmington, North Carolina, returning from the Caribbean.source
  • 1814The Assembly vote 2,000 pounds, for impeachment of Chief Justices Sewell and Monk. The council will not pass the item.source
  • 1820King Ferdinand VII of Spain accepts the new constitution, beginning the Trienio Liberal.source
  • 1824The Netherlands Trading Society (Netherlandsche Handel-Maatschappij), predecessor of the Dutch bank ABN AMRO, is founded.source
  • 1825the Unlawful Societies (Ireland) Act proscribes both the Catholic Association and the Orange Order.source
  • 1828an English gang make off with £28,350 after holding up the Glasgow branch of the Greenock Bank.source
  • 18349 March or 20 March – The United Tribes of New Zealand choose a design for their flag.source
  • 1839The Pastry War between France and Mexico ends.source
  • 1839Prussia imposes the Child Labor Law of 1839, becoming the first nation in the world to place restrictions on child labor.source
  • 1839The Anti-Corn Law League is founded in Manchester, England.source
  • 1840The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is completed, from Wilmington, North Carolina to Weldon, North Carolina. At 161.5 mi, it is the world's longest railroad.source
  • 1840The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is completed from Wilmington, North Carolina to Weldon, North Carolina. At 161.5 miles, it was the world's longest railroad at the time.source
  • 1841The first known photograph is taken in Wales, of Margam Castle by Calvert Jones.source
  • 1841United States v. The Amistad: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the case, that the Africans who seized control of the ship had been taken into slavery illegally.source
  • 1841Amistad: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the case that the Africans who seized control of the ship had been taken into slavery illegally.source
  • 1842First documented discovery of gold in California, by Francisco Lopez at Placerita Canyon in Rancho San Francisco, sparking a small-scale gold rush, mainly of Mexicans from Sonora.source
  • 1842Giuseppe Verdi's third opera Nabucco premieres at La Scala in Milan; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost operatic composers.source
  • 1844Giuseppe Verdi's opera Ernani debuts at Teatro La Fenice, Venice.source
  • 1846The First Anglo-Sikh war ends with the signing of the Treaty of Lahore. Kashmir is ceded to the British East India Company, and the Koh-i-Noor diamond is surrendered to Queen Victoria.source
  • 1846the Treaty of Lahore was a peace treaty marking the end of the First Anglo-Sikh War. As a result, Maharaja Ranjit Singh ceded Kashmir to the British East India Company.source
  • 1847Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz.source
  • 1847Mexican–American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Veracruz in the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by U.S. military forces.source
  • 1850Xianfeng Emperor succeed Daoguang Emperor as Emperor of the Qing dynastysource
  • 1851Robert Eden is consecrated as first Bishop of Moray and Ross in the Scottish Episcopal Church, an office he will hold until his death in 1886.source
  • 1857March 8 – 12 – Spirit Lake Massacre, near Okoboji and Spirit lakes in the northwestern territory of Iowa near the Minnesota border.source
  • 1859The army of the Kingdom of Sardinia mobilizes against Austria, beginning the crisis which will lead to the Austro-Sardinian War.source
  • 1867The Republican army, commanded by General Porfirio Díaz, laid siege to the Imperial forces in Puebla. Díaz established his headquarters on Cerro de San Juan, while the Imperial defenders held the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe.source
  • 1872Alfred B. Miller and Elmer Crockett found the South Bend Tribune newspaper in the United States.source
  • 1875The settlement of Deán Funes, Córdoba, is founded, when the Deán Funes, Córdoba when the Ferrocarril Central Norte (railway) from Córdoba reaches the area.source
  • 1875the Advocates Library in Edinburgh suffers a serious fire.source
  • 1883Demonstration of 9 March 1883 : Parisian anarchists, unemployed and carpenters narrowly miss the Presidential palace during a violent protest; first use of the black flag as a symbol of anarchism by Louise Michel.source
  • 18881888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia: The "English Footballers" embark for the first British rugby union tour of Australasia.source
  • 1891March 9–12 – The Great Blizzard of 1891 in the south and west of England leads to extensive snow drifts and powerful storms off the south coast, with 14 ships sunk, and approximately 220 deaths attributed to the weather conditions.source
  • 1896Responding to national outrage at the defeat at Adwa, Italian Prime Minister Francesco Crispi resigns.source
  • 1898March 9 Kiautschou Bay concession leasing Qingdao to German Empire "on 6 March 1898 the German Empire retreated from outright cession of the area and accepted a leasehold of the bay for 99 years, or until 1997"source
  • 1899Japan promulgates its commercial code, the Shōhō, to take effect on June 16.source
  • 1908Football Club Internazionale is founded in Milan, Italy.source
  • 1910The 17-month-long Westmoreland County coal strike of 1910–11, which at its peak will involve 15,000 coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers across 65 mines, begins in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.source
  • 1916March 8–9 – Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa leads about 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, killing 12 U.S. soldiers. A garrison of the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment fights back and drives them away.source
  • 1921Cilicia Peace Treaty is signed between the French Third Republic and the Turkish National Movement in an attempt to end the Franco-Turkish War.source
  • 1923Vladimir Lenin suffers his third stroke, which renders him bedridden and unable to speak; consequently he retires from his position as Chairman of the Soviet government.source
  • 1925May 1 – Pink's War: The British Royal Air Force bombards mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South Waziristan.source
  • 19291929 Arthur's Pass earthquake: A quake of Richter Magnitude 7.1 in the Arthur's Pass area causes extensive landslips and damage to roads and railways. There are no injuries.source
  • 1936Pro-democratic militarist Keisuke Okada steps down as Prime Minister of Japan and is replaced by radical militarist Kōki Hirota.source
  • 1942Executive order 9082 (February 28, 1942) comes into effect, reorganizing the United States Army into three major commands: Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and Services of Supply, later redesignated Army Service Forces, with Henry H. Arnold as Commanding General of the United States Army Air Forces.source
  • 1943Şükrü Saracoğlu forms the new government of Turkey (14th government; Şükrü Saracoğlu had served twice as a prime minister).source
  • 1943March 9–10 – WWII: North Atlantic convoy SC 121 is attacked by U-boats sinking seven ships.source
  • 1944WWII: Soviet Army planes attack Tallinn, Estonia, killing 757 and leaving 25,000 homeless.source
  • 1945March 9–10 – WWII: Bombing of Tokyo: USAAF B-29 bombers attack Tokyo, Japan with incendiary bombs, killing 100,000 citizens in the firebombing. It is the single most destructive conventional air attack of the war.source
  • 1951The Mexico City trolleybus system starts operating.source
  • 1953The Patriarch of All Romania, Justinian, lays flowers on Joseph Stalin's tomb during the funeral of the Soviet leader.source
  • 1954American journalists Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly produce a 30-minute See It Now documentary, entitled A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy.source
  • 1956The Soviet Armed Forces suppress mass demonstrations in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, reacting to Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy.source
  • 1956The British deport Archbishop Makarios from Cyprus to the Seychelles.source
  • 1959Mattel's Barbie doll debuts in the United States.source
  • 19611960-61 Balkans Cup: Albania is defeated 1-0 by Romania at Tractorul, Brașovsource
  • 1962March 8–12 – In Geneva, France and the Algerian FLN begin negotiations.source
  • 1965The "Turnaround Tuesday" march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., stops at the site of "Bloody Sunday", to hold a prayer service and return to Selma, in obedience to a court restraining order. On the same day, White supremacists attack three white ministers, leaving Unitarian Universalist minister James J. Reeb in a coma.source
  • 1967Joseph Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, defects to the United States via the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.source
  • 1975Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.source
  • 1976A cable car disaster occurs when a supporting cable breaks in Cavalese, Italy, resulting in 43 deaths.source
  • 1976March 9–11 – Two coal mine explosions claim 26 lives at the Blue Diamond Coal Co. Scotia Mine, in Letcher County, Kentucky.source
  • 19761976 Cavalese cable car crash: 42 deaths, 1 injured.source
  • 1977Hanafi Siege: Approximately a dozen armed Hanafi Movement members take over 3 buildings in Washington, D.C., killing 1 person and taking 149 hostages (the hostage situation ends 2 days later).source
  • 1983The 3D printer is invented by Chuck Hull.source
  • 1986United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger; the bodies of all seven astronauts are still inside.source
  • 1988Gorbachev meets with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan Karen Demirchyan and Kamran Baghirov in Moscow to discuss the public demands of unification of Armenia and Karabakh.source
  • 1989Revolutions of 1989: The Soviet Union submits to the jurisdiction of the World Court.source
  • 1990Police seal off Brixton in South London after another night of protests against the poll tax.source
  • 1990Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord.source
  • 1991The official establishment of Straits Exchange Foundation in Taipei.source
  • 2002March 2–10 – Afghan and coalition troops carry out Operation Anaconda in the Shah-i-Kot Valley, the largest combat operation against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to that point.source
  • 2004NASA releases the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field image of early galaxies.source
  • 2006NASA's Cassini–Huygens spacecraft announces a geyser-like emission of vapor, dust, and small ice crystals on Saturn's moon Enceladus, possibly indicating the presence of water.source
  • 2007March 8–11 – Edoardo Molinari from Italy wins 2007 Kenya Open golf tournament held in Karen Golf and Country Club, Nairobi. Jacob Okello was the best placed Kenyan golfer. Kenya Open is part of the Challenge Tour.source
  • 2008The first European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, a cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station, launches from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana.source
  • 2011Ice loss from Antarctica and Greenland has accelerated over the past 20 years, according to new research, and will soon become the biggest driver of sea level rise.source
  • 2013Maltese General Election, 2013, with a turnout of 93%. Joseph Muscat defeated Lawrence Gonzi in the election.source
  • 2014At least 42 migrants from the Horn of Africa drown when their boat overturns off the coast of Shabwah Governorate.source
  • 2018President of the United States Donald Trump accepts an invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a meeting in May to discuss the denuclearisation of North Korea.source
  • 2018Princess Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, a UAE princess, escaped Dubai with a group of other people. She was arrested by Indian and UAE authorities, a few kilometers off the coast of India. She was then taken back to the UAE.source
  • 2018March 9-18: Belarus takes part in the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.source
  • 2018March 9–18 – The 2018 Winter Paralympics are held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.source
  • 2019Flooding from the predecessor of Cyclone Idai caused 23 deaths and 11 missing in the south of the country.source
  • 2020International share prices fall sharply in response to a Russo-Saudi oil price war and the impact of COVID-19. The DJIA plunges more than 2,000 points, the largest fall in its history up to that point. Oil prices also plunged by as much as 30% in early trading, the biggest fall since 1991.source
  • 2020Guatemala launches its first satellite, the Quetzal 1.source
  • 2020COVID-19 pandemic: Italy becomes the first country to implement a nationwide quarantine in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.source
  • 20222022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: Russia is condemned by world leaders following an air strike in Mariupol that destroys a hospital including a maternity and children's ward.source
  • 2022March 4 – March 13 – The 2022 Winter Paralympics are held in Beijing, China, making it the first city to host both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.source
  • 2023March 8–21 – The 2023 World Baseball Classic is held in, and won by, Japan.source
  • 2025March 8–17 – The 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games are held in Turin, Italy.source

Births

  • 1213Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, French crusader (died 1271)source
  • 1232Chen Wenlong, Chinese scholar-general (died 1277)source
  • 1285Go-Nijō (or Nijō II), Japanese emperor (died 1308)source
  • 1291Cangrande I della Scala, Italian nobleman (died 1329)source
  • 1421Francesco Sassetti, Italian banker (died 1490)source
  • 1451Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer (died 1512)source
  • 1568Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian Jesuit and saint (died 1591)source
  • 1616Robert Giguère, early pioneer in New France (died 1709)source
  • 1627Thomas Howard, 5th Duke of Norfolk, English noble (died 1677)source
  • 1640Jacques d'Agar, portrait painter (died 1715)source
  • 1654Robert Leke, 3rd Earl of Scarsdale, English earl, politician (died 1707)source
  • 1697Friederike Caroline Neuber, German actress and theatre director (died 1760)source
  • 1721Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken (died 1774)source
  • 1749Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French politician (died 1791)source
  • 1753Jean-Baptiste Kléber, French general (died 1800)source
  • 1758Franz Joseph Gall, German pioneering neuroanatomist (died 1828)source
  • 1763William Cobbett, English journalist, author (died 1835)source
  • 1776Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary, Archduke of Austria (died 1847)source
  • 1814Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet (died 1861)source
  • 1815Richard Kelly, 82, British Army officersource
  • 1817Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Dominican independence activist and founding father of the Dominican Republic (died 1861)source
  • 1824Amasa Leland Stanford, American tycoon, industrialist and politician, 8th Governor of California (died 1893)source
  • 1859Alexandru Averescu, Romanian general and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Romania (died 1938)source
  • 1881Ernest Bevin, British labour leader, politician and statesman (died 1951)source
  • 1890March 9 (new style) – Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (died 1986)source
  • 1907Mircea Eliade, Romanian religious historian, writer (died 1986)source
  • 1915Johnnie Johnson, English WWII pilot (died 2001)source
  • 1934Yuri Gagarin, Russian cosmonaut, first human in space (died 1968)source
  • 1943Bobby Fischer, American chess player (died 2008)source
  • 1945Llazi Sërbo, movie and theater actor, directorsource
  • 1975Roy Makaay, footballersource

Deaths

  • 32040 Martyrs of Sebastesource
  • 769Alan of Farfa, Aquitanian scholar and hermitsource
  • 886Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, Muslim scholar and astrologer (born 787)source
  • 926Zhu Youqian, Chinese warlordsource
  • 1062Herbert II, French noblemansource
  • 1202Sverre Sigurdsson (or Sverrir), king of Norwaysource
  • 1249Siegfried III, archbishop of Mainz (born 1194)source
  • 1312Beatrice, Countess of Montfort, French noblewoman and co-ruler of Montfort, dies and is succeeded as Countess by her daughter Yolande of Dreux, former Queen consort of Scotland and wife of Arthur II, Duke of Brittany.source
  • 1422Jan Želivský, Hussite priest (executed) (born 1380)source
  • 1440Frances of Rome, Italian Benedictine nun and saint (born 1384)source
  • 1444Leonardo Bruni, Italian humanist (born 1374)source
  • 1463Catherine of Bologna, Italian Roman Catholic nun and saint (born 1413)source
  • 1566David Rizzio, Italian secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots (born 1533)source
  • 1566David Rizzio is murdered in front of Mary, Queen of Scots at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh by a group of nobles led by Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven with the support of Mary's husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.source
  • 1623Amboyna massacre: Ten English merchants in the service of the British East India Company, together with nine Japanese and one Portuguese, are executed by agents of the Dutch East India Company in Ambon, Maluku (Amboyna).source
  • 1649James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Scottish statesman (born 1606)source
  • 1649Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland, English soldier (executed) (born 1590)source
  • 1659Peter Bulkley, English and later American Puritan (born 1583)source
  • 1661Cardinal Mazarin, French cardinal and statesman (born 1602)source
  • 1669Isak Lauritssøn Falck, merchant (born 1601).source
  • 1706Johann Pachelbel, German composer, organist and teacher (born 1653)source
  • 1727The west African Kingdom of Dahomey, ruled by King Trudo Agaja, conquers and annexes the Kingdom of Xwéda, after King Haffon is killed in battle (three years earlier, Agaja conquered the neighboring state of Allada).source
  • 1816Cornelius Faber, Hendrik Prinsloo, Theunis de Klerk, and brothers Stefanus and Abraham Bothma are hanged for the Slagter's Nek Rebellion. The executions were ordered by Colonel Jacob Glen Cuyler. During the public hanging, four of the five ropes broke; the condemned men were forced to wait for some hours amid public agitation before being hanged a second time.source
  • 1847Mary Anning, British paleontologist (born 1799)source
  • 1851Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish scientist (born 1777)source
  • 1857Dominic Savio, Italian adolescent saint (born 1842)source
  • 1866Jakob Joseph Matthys, Swiss Catholic priest (born 1802)source
  • 1886William S. Clark, American chemist, agricultural educator (born 1826)source
  • 1888Year of the Three Emperors in Germany: Wilhelm I dies aged 90 and is succeeded as German Emperor and King of Prussia by his son, the terminally ill Frederick III.source
  • 1888Wilhelm I, German Emperor, King of Prussia (born 1797)source
  • 1889Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia (born 1837)source
  • 1889Battle of Metemma: Yohannes IV, Emperor of Ethiopia, is killed; Sudanese forces, who have been almost defeated, rally and destroy the Ethiopian army. Yohannes is probably the world's last ruler ever to die in battle; on March 25 Menelik II proclaims himself as his successor.source
  • 1897Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani, Iranian teacher, writer (born 1838)source
  • 1952Alexandra Kollontai, Russian revolutionary (born 1872)source
  • 1991Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade; two people are killed, and tanks are deployed in the streets.source
  • 1992Menachem Begin, 78, Israeli politician, prime minister (1977–1983), Nobel Prize recipient (1978), heart attack.source
  • 1997American rapper The Notorious B.I.G. is murdered in Los Angeles.source