TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

March 9, 1933

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

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1796

The future emperor of the French, Napoleon Bonaparte, married Josephine de Beauharnais.

1841

The U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. The Amistad, ruled 7-1 in favor of a group of illegally enslaved Africans who were captured off the U.S. coast after seizing control of a Spanish schooner, La Amistad; the justices ruled that the Africans should be set free.

1862

During the Civil War, the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

1916

More than 400 Mexican raiders led by Pancho Villa attacked Columbus, New Mexico, killing 18 Americans. During the First World War, Germany declared war on Portugal.

1935

The animated cartoon character Porky Pig first appeared in the Warner Bros. animated short “I Haven’t Got a Hat.”

1945

During World War II, U.S. B-29 bombers began launching incendiary bomb attacks against Tokyo, resulting in an estimated 100,000 deaths.

1964

The U.S. Supreme Court, in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, raised the standard for public officials to prove they’d been libeled in their official capacity by news organizations.

1997

Gangsta rapper The Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a stillunsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles; he was 24.

2009

President Barack Obama lifted George W. Bush-era limits on using federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research.