Events 1841 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Amistad case that the Africans who seized control of the ship had been taken into slavery illegally. 1847 - Mexican-American War: United States forces under General Winfield Scott invade Mexico near Vera Cruz. 1862 - American Civil War: The first battle between two ironclad warships - In a five-hour battle near Hampton Roads, Virginia the USS Monitor fights the CSS Virginia to a draw. 1916 - Pancho Villa leads 1,500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17. 1924 - Italy annexes Fiume. 1933 - Great Depression: The United States Congress begins its first 100 days of enacting New Deal legislation. 1945 - World War II: American B-29 bombers attack Japan with incendiary bombs. 1954 - Mccarthyism: CBS broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy," produced by Edward R. Murrow. 1959 - The Barbie doll debuts. 1964 - The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line at Ford Motor Company. 1967 - Josef Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to the United States. 1975 - Construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline begins. 1977 - Approximately a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims take over three buildings in Washington, DC, killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The hostage situation ends two days later. 1986 - United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily-damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger. The bodies of all seven astronauts were still inside. 1989 - A strike forces financially-troubled Eastern Airlines into bankruptcy. 1990 - Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and Hispanic to serve in that position. 1990 - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord, effectively killing the Accord. 1991 - Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade. Two people are killed and tanks are in the streets. 1993 - Rodney King testifies at the federal trial of four Los Angeles, California police officers accused of violating King's civil rights when they beat him during an arrest. Births 1451 - Amerigo Vespucci, voyager and cartographer (+ 1512) 1697 - Friederike Caroline Neuber, actress (+ 1760) 1749 - Honore Mirabeau, politician (+ 1791) 1763 - William Cobbett, journalist and author (+ 1835) 1856 - Edie Foy, singer, dancer, vaudeville performer (+ 1928) 1900 - Howard Aiken, computing pioneer 1902 - Will Geer, actor (+ 1978) 1910 - Samuel Barber, American composer (+ 1981) 1918 - Mickey Spillane, mystery writer 1918 - George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi leader (+ 1967) 1923 - Walter Kohn, physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1998) 1924 - Peter Scholl-Latour, journalist 1934 - Yuri Gagarin, cosmonaut, first human in space (+ 1968) 1937 - Mickey Gilly, country music performer 1940 - John Cale, composer, musician 1940 - Raúl Juliá, actor (+ 1994) 1943 - Bobby Fischer, chess player 1948 - Jeffrey Osborne, singer 1950 - Danny Sullivan, automobile racer 1950 - Doug Ault, Major League Baseball player 1964 - Juliette Binoche, actress 1987 - Lil' Bow Wow, rap musician (Year unknown) - Iris Chacon, famous singer and dancer (Year unknown) - Walter Mercado, actor, astrologer Deaths 1144 - Pope Celestine II 1981 - Max Delbrück, German biologist 1989 - Robert Mapplethorpe, artist 1992 - Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel 1996 - George Burns, actor, singer 1997 - The Notorious B.I.G, rap musician 2003 - Stan Brakhage, filmmaker 2003 - Bernard Dowiyogo, former president of Nauru (*1946) Holidays and observances Catholicism - Feast day of St Frances of Rome. See Also: March 8 - March 10 - February 9 - April 9 -- listing of all days January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
March 8 - March 10 - February 9 - April 9 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December