THURSDAY IN HISTORY

Today is Thursday, March 9, the 68th day of 2017. There are 297 days left in the year.

Highlight in History:

On March 9, 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court, in United States v. The Amistad, ruled in favor of a group of Africans captured by U.S. authorities after they had seized control of a Spanish schooner, La Amistad, that was transporting them to a life of slavery in Cuba; the justices ruled, 7-1, that the Africans had been illegally enslaved, and should be set free.

On this date:

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, Va.

In 1907, Indiana’s General Assembly passed America’s first involuntary sterilization law, one aimed at “confirmed criminals, idiots, imbeciles, and rapists” in state custody.

In 1916, 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 anestimated 100,000 deaths.

In 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.

In1977, about a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims invaded three buildings in Washington, D.C., killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages.

Ten years ago: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller acknowledged the FBI had improperly used the USA Patriot Act to secretly pry out personal information about Americans.

Five years ago: A high-profile international mission to end the Syrian crisis stumbled before it began as the opposition rejected calls by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan for dialogue with President Bashar Assad.

One year ago: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tangled in an intense debate in Miami over who was the true friend of American Hispanics.

Today’s Birthdays: Former Sen. James L. Buckley, Conservative-N.Y., is 94. Singeractress Keely Smith is 89. Former ABC anchorman Charles Gibson is 74. Rapper C-Murder is 46. Actor Oscar Isaac is 38.

Thought for Today: “Conscience is the perfect interpreter of life.” — Karl Barth, Swiss theologian (1886-1966).