Today in history

On March 9, 1661, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the chief minister of France, died, leaving King Louis XIV in full control.

In 1796 the future emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, married Josephine de Beauharnais.

In 1822 Charles Graham of New York was granted a patent for artificial teeth.

In 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclads Monitor and Virginia (formerly known as the Merrimac) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Va.

In 1916 Mexican raiders led by Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, N.M., killing more than a dozen people.

In 1933, Congress, called into special session by President Franklin Roosevelt, began its “100 days” of enacting New Deal legislation.

In 1942, during World War II, the Dutch formally surrendered Java.

In 1945, during World War II, U.S. B-29 bombers launched incendiary bomb attacks against Japan.

In 1959 the original Barbie doll debuted in U.S. stores.

In 1975 work began on the Alaskan oil pipeline.

In 1986 NASA announced they had found remains of the Challenger’s astronauts in the debris of the shuttle’s crew compartment on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, more than a month after the disaster.

In 1992 former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin died in Tel Aviv; he was 78.

In 1994 the U.N. Human Rights Commission condemned anti-Semitism, putting the world body on record for the first time as opposing discrimination against Jews.

In 2004 convicted D.C.-area sniper John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death in Virginia. Also in 2004 former U.N. official Gerard Latortue was named Haiti’s new prime minister.