# On this day: March 9

March 9 is the 68th day of the year (69th in leap years), with 297 days left until the end of the year.

## March 9 in one line

Headline entries for March 9, from Wikipedia: in 1776, Scottish philosopher Adam Smith published his book The Wealth of Nations, the first classical treatise on political economy; born 1934: Yuri Gagarin, Russian colonel, pilot, and cosmonaut, first human in space (died 1968); died 1994: Charles Bukowski, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (born 1920). In 2026 it is a Monday, in 2027 a Tuesday.

## Events on March 9

- 141 BC Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Wu_of_Han)
- 1009 The first recorded use of the name of Lithuania appeared in Latin in the Annals of Quedlinburg, written in Saxony-Anhalt, present-day Germany. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Lithuania)
- 1500 The fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral leaves Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet will discover Brazil which lies within boundaries granted to Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas)
- 1776 Scottish philosopher Adam Smith published his book The Wealth of Nations, the first classical treatise on political economy. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations)
- 1796 Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9phine_de_Beauharnais)
- 1842 Awaking from a nap under a tree at Rancho San Francisco, Francisco López made the first popularly documented discovery of gold in California. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancho_San_Francisco)
- 1842 Nabucco, an opera by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi that established his reputation, premiered at La Scala in Milan. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabucco)
- 1847 Mexican–American War: The Siege of Veracruz began, the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Veracruz)
- 1862 American Civil War: In the world's first battle between two ironclad warships, USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fought to a draw near the mouth of Hampton Roads in Virginia. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hampton_Roads)
- 1891 Kaʻiulani was appointed the heir apparent to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka%CA%BBiulani)
- 1908 Inter Milan is founded on Football Club Internazionale, following a schism from A.C. Milan. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_Milan)
- 1910 A seventeen-month-long strike, which at its peak involved 15,000 coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers across 65 mines, began in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, U.S. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910%E2%80%931911_Westmoreland_County_coal_strike)
- 1925 The Royal Air Force began a bombardment and strafing campaign against the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South Waziristan, present-day Pakistan. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink's_War)
- 1927 Former Royal Air Force officer Vivian Stranders was convicted of industrial espionage by a French court. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Stranders)
- 1932 Éamon de Valera, a dominant political figure in 20th-century Ireland, became President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89amon_de_Valera)
- 1933 U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt submitted the Emergency Banking Act to the United States Congress, the first of his New Deal policies. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal)
- 1944 World War II: As part of the Battle of Narva, the Soviet Air Forces heavily bombed Tallinn, Estonia, killing up to 800 people, mostly civilians. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tallinn_in_World_War_II)
- 1946 Thirty-three people were killed in a human crush at Burnden Park, a football stadium in Bolton, England. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnden_Park_disaster)
- 1956 In Tbilisi, Georgia, soldiers suppressed mass demonstrations against Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's policy of de-Stalinization. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Georgian_demonstrations)
- 1957 The Andreanof Islands earthquake struck Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands, causing more than $5 million in damage from ground movement and a destructive tsunami. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_Andreanof_Islands_earthquake)
- 1959 The popular fashion doll Barbie debuted at the American International Toy Fair in New York City. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie)
- 1967 Svetlana Alliluyeva, the daughter of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, defected to the United States. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svetlana_Alliluyeva)
- 1977 Twelve gunmen seized three buildings in Washington, D.C., and took 149 hostages in a 39-hour standoff that ended in two deaths. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Washington%2C_D.C.%2C_attack_and_hostage_taking)
- 1997 Comet Hale–Bopp: Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia)
- 2011 Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-133)
- 2015 Two Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil helicopters collide in mid-air over Villa Castelli, Argentina, killing all 10 people on board both aircraft, including French athletes Florence Arthaud, Camille Muffat and Alexis Vastine, as well as producers and guests for the French TV show Dropped. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Villa_Castelli_mid-air_collision)

## Born on March 9

- 1454 Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer, namesake of the Americas (died 1512) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_Vespucci)
- 1534 Joseph of Anchieta, Spanish Jesuit saint and missionary (died 1597) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_of_Anchieta)
- 1568 Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint, namesake of Gonzaga University (died 1591) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloysius_Gonzaga)
- 1749 Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (died 1791) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_Gabriel_Riqueti%2C_comte_de_Mirabeau)
- 1814 Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet and playwright (died 1861) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Shevchenko)
- 1890 Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician and diplomat, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1986) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyacheslav_Molotov)
- 1892 Mátyás Rákosi, Hungarian politician (died 1971) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1ty%C3%A1s_R%C3%A1kosi)
- 1910 Samuel Barber, American pianist and composer (died 1981) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Barber)
- 1923 Walter Kohn, Austrian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2016) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kohn)
- 1929 Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (died 2013) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zillur_Rahman)
- 1930 Ornette Coleman, American saxophonist, violinist, trumpet player, and composer (died 2015) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornette_Coleman)
- 1934 Yuri Gagarin, Russian colonel, pilot, and cosmonaut, first human in space (died 1968) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin)
- 1942 John Cale, Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cale)
- 1943 Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author (died 2008) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer)
- 1959 Takaaki Kajita, Japanese physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takaaki_Kajita)
- 1964 Juliette Binoche, French actress [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliette_Binoche)
- 1968 Youri Djorkaeff, French footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youri_Djorkaeff)
- 1975 Juan Sebastián Verón, Argentine footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Sebasti%C3%A1n_Ver%C3%B3n)
- 1979 Oscar Isaac, Guatemalan-American actor [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Isaac)
- 1983 Clint Dempsey, American soccer player [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Dempsey)
- 1990 Daley Blind, Dutch footballer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daley_Blind)
- 1993 Suga, South Korean rapper, songwriter and record producer [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suga)

## Died on March 9

- 1444 Leonardo Bruni, Italian humanist (born c. 1370) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Bruni)
- 1661 Cardinal Mazarin, Italian-French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (born 1602) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Mazarin)
- 1847 Mary Anning, English paleontologist (born 1799) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Anning)
- 1851 Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist, discovered electromagnetism and the element aluminium (born 1777) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_%C3%98rsted)
- 1888 William I, German Emperor (born 1797) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_I)
- 1895 Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (born 1836) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_von_Sacher-Masoch)
- 1918 Frank Wedekind, German author and playwright (born 1864) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Wedekind)
- 1974 Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1915) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Wilbur_Sutherland_Jr.)
- 1983 Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulf_von_Euler)
- 1988 Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German lawyer, politician and Chancellor of Germany (born 1904) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Georg_Kiesinger)
- 1992 Menachem Begin, Belarusian-Israeli soldier, politician and Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1913) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menachem_Begin)
- 1994 Charles Bukowski, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (born 1920) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bukowski)
- 1996 George Burns, American comedian, actor, and writer (born 1896) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Burns)
- 1997 The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper, songwriter, and actor (born 1972) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notorious_B.I.G.)

## Holidays and observances

- Christian feast day: Catherine of Bologna [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Bologna)
- Christian feast day: Forty Martyrs of Sebaste [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Martyrs_of_Sebaste)
- Christian feast day: Frances of Rome [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_of_Rome)
- Christian feast day: Pacian [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacian)
- Christian feast day: Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria (Coptic Orthodox Church) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Cyril_VI_of_Alexandria)
- Christian feast day: Gregory of Nyssa (Episcopal Church (United States)) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_of_Nyssa)
- Christian feast day: March 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_9_(Eastern_Orthodox_liturgics))
- Teachers' Day or Eid Al Moalim (Lebanon) [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Teachers'_Days)

## Sources

- [Wikipedia — “March 9”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_9) — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/March 9”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Selected_anniversaries/March_9) — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/) — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
- [vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence)](https://github.com/vacanza/holidays) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article [“March 9”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_9) and the articles it links to ([authors and history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_9?action=history)), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/); this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for March 9 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.

## March 9 in the calendar

| Year | Weekday | ISO week | Moon (UTC) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | Monday | 2026-W11 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous |
| 2027 | Tuesday | 2027-W10 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |
| 2028 | Thursday | 2028-W10 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous |
| 2029 | Friday | 2029-W10 | 🌘 Waning Crescent |
| 2030 | Saturday | 2030-W10 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent |

Moon phases are for the day in UTC; at the edges of a phase your local date can differ.

## Public holidays on March 9

- [🇵🇭 Philippines](https://whathappen.today/holidays/philippines/): Eid al-Fitr (estimated) (2027)
- [🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates](https://whathappen.today/holidays/united-arab-emirates/): Eid al-Fitr (estimated) (2027)

[Today's holidays in 28 countries →](https://whathappen.today/holidays/)

## Nearby dates

[← March 8](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/march-8/) · [March 10 →](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/march-10/)

[All 366 days](https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/)

Last updated: 15 October 2026

---

Web page: https://whathappen.today/on-this-day/march-9/