UPI Almanac for Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Today is Tuesday, March 9, the 68th day of 2021 with 297 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn and Venus. Evening stars are Mars, Neptune and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Pisces. They include explorer Amerigo Vespucci in 1454; Leland Stanford, railroad builder/founder of California's Stanford University, in 1824; English novelist/poet Victoria Sackville-West in 1892; composer Samuel Barber in 1910; detective novelist Mickey Spillane in 1918; actor Joyce Van Patten in 1934 (age 87); Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, in 1934; country singer Mickey Gilley in 1936 (age 85); actor Raul Julia in 1940; actor Trish Van Devere in 1941 (age 80); rock 'n' roll singer Mark Lindsay in 1942 (age 79); former world chess champion Bobby Fischer in 1943; rock musician Robin Trower in 1945 (age 76); actor Linda Fiorentino in 1960 (age 61); actor Juliette Binoche in 1964 (age 56); actor Emmanuel Lewis in 1971 (age 50); actor Oscar Isaac in 1979 (age 42); actor Matthew Gray Gubler in 1980 (age 41); Olympic gold medal skier Julia Mancuso in 1984 (age 37); actor Brittany Snow in 1986 (age 35); rapper/actor Bow Wow, born Shad Gregory Moss, in 1987 (age 34); singer Suga, born Min Yoon-gi, in 1993 (age 28); actor Cierra Ramirez in 1995 (age 26).

On this date in history:

In 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, with one dissent, that the African slaves who seized control of the Amistad slave ship had been illegally forced into slavery and thus were free under U.S. law.

In 1862, a battle between ironclad ships -- the Union's Monitor and the Confederate's Merrimac (renamed the Virginia) -- ended indecisively off Hampton Roads, Va.

In 1864, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was appointed commander in chief of Union forces in the U.S. Civil War.

In 1916, several hundred Mexican guerrillas under the command of Francisco "Pancho" Villa crossed the U.S.-Mexican border and attacked the small border town of Columbus, N.M., killing 17 Americans.

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt presented the first of his New Deal policies, the Emergency Banking Act, to Congress, which promptly passed the legislation.

In 1945, more than 300 American B-29 bombers attacked Tokyo with incendiary bombs, killing about 100,000 people and destroying an estimated 250,000 buildings over 16 square miles.

In 1959, Barbie, which became a perennially popular doll, made its debut in stores. Celebrate Barbie at 25, 30, and 50.

In 1981, dozens of workers at the Japan Atomic Power Company nuclear plant in Tsuruga were exposed to radiation after a sludge tank overflowed. Sixteen tons of the radioactive waste spilled into Wakasa Bay. Officials didn't tell the public until more than a month later.

In 1992, a federal judge in New York announced a final $1.3 billion agreement to settle civil suits growing out of the 1989 collapse of Drexel Burham Lambert, once the most powerful firm on Wall Street.

In 1997, rapper Notorious B.I.G., born Christopher Wallace, died from multiple gunshot wounds after a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. He was 24.

In 2004, John Allen Muhammad was sentenced to death for his part in one of 10 Washington-area sniper killings in 2002. Muhammad was executed in 2009.

In 2005, Dan Rather stepped down as anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News. His departure followed acknowledgment of major flaws in a broadcast about U.S. President George W. Bush's National Guard service.

In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama lifted the U.S. limit on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, calling it an important advancement in the cause of science in the United States.

In 2011, after 39 flights over 27 years of service, the space shuttle Discovery made its final landing at Kennedy Space Center.

In 2020, Italy extended its COVID-19-related lockdown nationwide after recording more than 9,000 cases and 463 deaths.

A thought for the day: "I have come to the conclusion, after many years of sometimes sad experience, that you cannot come to any conclusion at all." -- British writer Vita Sackville-West