On This Day - March 9th

On this day in the year 1009 of the common era (CE) the first known written mention of Lithuania is made in the annals of Quedlinburg.

On this day in the year 1497 CE, Nicolaus Copernicus logs his first record of an astronomical observation he has made; four hundred and sixty-two years later, the first known radar contact is made with the planet Venus. Twenty-seven after that, in 1986 CE, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announces that searchers had found the remains of the astronauts who died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster; on this same day the Soviet probe Vega 2 flies by Halley's Comet at a range of 8,030 km. Twenty years after that, in 2006 CE, liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn; five years later, the space shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after thirty-nine flights. Two years after that, in 2013 CE, the asteroid 2013 ET comes within 960,000 km from Earth; eight years later, in 2021 CE, China and Russia agree to build a research station on or around the Moon and collaborate on lunar missions, in a move that could start another space race

On this day in 1522 CE, Martin Luther begins preaching his Invocavit Sermons in the German city of Wittenberg, reminding citizens to trust God's word rather than engage in violence, and helping to bring a (temporary) close to the revolutionary stage of the reformation; two years later, he recants and condemns the peasants of Germany for demanding liberty from their feudal lords as he suggested they might do in a new Christian era, he condemns them to hell and stands by while they are slaughtered. Forty years after that, in 1562 CE, kissing in public is banned in Naples and punishable by death.

In 1617 CE, Sweden and Russia sign the Treaty of Stolbovo, thereby ending the Ingrian War; one hundred and ninety-two years later, a group of conspirators break into Gripsholm Castle and imprison King Gustav IV Adolf and appoint Charles XIII in his place as Regent of Sweden

In 1689 CE, Thomas Shadwell is appointed second English Poet Laureate by William and Mary, after John Dryden refuses to swear oaths of allegiance to the new monarchs.

In 1765 CE, after a public campaign by the writer Voltaire, judges in Paris posthumously exonerate Jean Calas for the crime of murdering his son. Calas had been tortured and executed for the crime, though his son had committed suicide; one year later Adam Smith publishes the influential economics book The Wealth of Nations.

In 1834 CE the French Foreign Legion is founded; one hundred and eight years later United States advisors in South-Vietnam, who had taken over for the French in the 1950’s and had been in the country fighting since at least 1957 CE, officially join the fight….my father was there in the 50’s, serving  with the Recon Rangers as an air traffic controller with the United states Marine Corps.

In 1841 CE in a contentious decision during the years leading up to the American Civil War, the United States Supreme Court rules the kidnapped slaves from the shipwrecked, Spanish schooner Amistad, are free; twenty years later, the first issue of currency was made in the treasonous Confederate states, authorizing worthless notes in denominations of $50, $100, $500, $1,000 increments. One year after that, in 1862 CE, the naval battle between U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Merrimack ensues in Hampton Roads…there is no clear winner, but Merrimack successfully runs enough interference to spare the union fleet; two years later, Ulysses S. Grant is named Commanding General of the United States (Union) Army.

In 1858 CE. Albert Potts of Philadelphia (somebody’s cousin) patents the street mailbox and becomes rich for doing nothing.

In 1860 CE the first Japanese ambassador arrives in San Francisco en route to Washington D.C.; one hundred and fourteen years later, nearly thirty years after the end of the Second World War, Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda finally surrenders…he had been waging his own war from a jungle and the mountains the entire time…no one ever told him the war was over, he didn’t think to ask.

In 1889 CE the state of Kansas passes the first general antitrust law in United States; eighteen years later, the first involuntary sterilization law is enacted in the United States, in the state of Indiana.

In 1897 CE the Cleveland Indian’s fans start calling the team "Indians;" in 1915 CE it becomes official, until the team changed their name to the Guardians in 2021 CE. Thirty-nine years after the chant began, Babe Ruth turns down the Reds to make a comeback as a player; fifty-nine years later, Major league Baseball awards a franchise to Tampa Bay, Florida, and the Devil Rays play ball.

In 1914 CE, United States Senator Albert B. Fall demands the "Cubanization of Mexico;" two years later Germany declares war on Portugal, also on this day, Mexican general Francisco Pancho Villa invades the United States, eighteen people are killed. Two years after that, in 1918 CE, the Russian Bolshevik Party is renamed the All-Russian Communist Party.

In 1925 CE, Pink's War takes place, it is the first the British Royal Airforce operation conducted independently of the Army or Navy; ten years later, Adolf Hitler publicly announces the creation of the new German air force, the Luftwaffe. Ten years after that, in 1945 CE, three hundred and thirty-four, U.S. B-29 Superfortress Bombers attack Tokyo dropping 120,000 fire bombs.

In 1933 CE the United States Congress is called into a special session by president Franklin D. Roosevelt, beginning its "100 days" during which it passes 77 laws.

In 1951 CE. Edward Teller and Stanislaw Ulam submit a classified paper at the Los Alamos research lab, in which they proposed their revolutionary new design of staged implosions, for a practical megaton-range hydrogen bomb; twenty-eight years later, France performs nuclear test at Mururoa Atoll. Ten years after that, the United States, performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

In 1953 CE, Joseph Stalin's funeral is held in Moscow after four days of national mourning; one years later Edward R. Murrow criticizes U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy on his television program, See it Now. Four years after that, Barbie makes her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York, New York…over a billion barbie dolls have been sold worldwide since.

In 1964 CE the first Ford Mustang rolls of the production line; twenty three years later, the Chrysler Corporation offers to buy American Motors for one-billion dollars; on this same day, the United States Supreme Court issues its decision in NY Times vs Sullivan, stating that public officials must prove malice to claim libel and recover damages.

In 1966 CE, Andrew Brimmer becomes the first black governor of the Federal Reserve Board.

In 1971 CE, three off-duty Scottish soldiers are killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA); four thousand shipyard workers take to the streets to demand internment in response; one year later four members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature explosion at a house in Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. Twenty-two years after that, the IRA launch the first of three mortar attacks on London's Heathrow Airport.

In 1981 CE, Dan Rather becomes the primary anchor of CBS Evening News, three years later, John Lennon's single Borrowed Time, is released posthumously. Four years after that, in 1988 CE, Actress Audrey Hepburn is appointed a UNICEF Special Goodwill Ambassador.

In 1989 CE the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics officially (though falsely) submits to the jurisdiction of the World Court; thirty-four years later, the Russian Federation begins major missile attack on Ukrainian cities and their infrastructure, with at least eleven killed and twenty injured…and the war continues.

In 2015 CE, United States president Barack Obama signs an executive order declaring Venezuela a national security threat to the U.S.A.

In 2021 CE Brazil records its highest daily COVID-19 death toll to date of 1,972 deaths with 168,370 deaths total over the course of the pandemic.

In 2022 CE, stolen notebooks belonging to naturalist Charles Darwin, including his famous 'tree of life' sketch, mysteriously returned after going missing from the Cambridge University Library for twenty-two years.

In 2023 CE the Recording Industry Association of America's 2022 year-end report states that vinyl record sales, forty-one million, exceeded compact disk sales, thirty-three million, for the first time since 1987.

In 2025 CE the Colossal squid, Mesonychoteuthis Hamiltoni, a species first identified in 1925 CE, is filmed for the first time by scientists from the Schmidt Ocean Institute; the 30 Cm (11.8 inches) juvenile was captured on video at a depth of 600 meters (1968 feet) near the South Sandwich Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean using SuBastian, a remotely operated vehicle.