TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, March 9, the 69th day of 2024. There are 297 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history: On March 9, 1997, rapper The Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) was killed in a still-unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles at age 24.
On this date: In 1796,
the future emperor of the French, Napoleon Bonaparte, married Josephine de Beauharnai. (The couple later divorced.)
In 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.
In 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimac) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
In 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.
In 1933, Congress, called into special session by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, began its “hundred days” of enacting New Deal legislation.
In 1945, during World War II, U.S. B-29 bombers began launching incendiary bomb attacks against Tokyo, resulting in an estimated 100,000 deaths.
In 1976, a cable car in the Italian ski resort of Cavalese fell some 700 feet to the ground when a supporting line snapped, killing 43 people.
In 1987, Chrysler Corp. announced it had agreed to buy the financially ailing American Motors Corp.
In 2018, Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical CEO who’d been vilified for jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug, was sentenced in New York to seven years in prison for securities fraud.
Today’s birthdays: Actor Joyce Van Patten is 90. Singer-musician John Cale (The Velvet Underground) is 82. Former ABC anchorman Charles Gibson is 81. TV newscaster Faith Daniels is 67. Actor Linda Fiorentino is 66. Actor Juliette Binoche is 60. Rock musician Shannon Leto (30 Seconds to Mars) is 54. Actor Emmanuel Lewis is 53. Actor Oscar Isaac is 45. Rapper Chingy is 44. Actor Matthew Gray Gubler is 44. Actor Brittany Snow is 38. Rapper Bow Wow is 37.