On This Day, March 9: Supreme Court rules in Amistad case

March 9 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, with one dissent, that the enslaved Africans who seized control of the Amistad slave ship had been illegally forced into slavery and thus were free under U.S. law. Some 150 years later, a copy of the Bible given to former President John Quincy Adams as a thank you gift for representing the defendants in the case, was stolen and later returned.

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 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.

File Photo by Library of Congress/UPI

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 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. The public wasn't notified until more than a month later.

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 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.

File Photo by Patrick D. McDermott/UPI

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 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of genocide after Kyiv officials said Kremlin bombed a children's hospital and a maternity ward in Mariupol, leaving children and women under the debris.

In 2023, the United Nations announced plans to purchase a decaying, oil-filled supertanker that had been sitting off the coast of Yemen since the start of the country's civil war in 2015. At risk of causing a major environmental disaster, the U.N. offloaded more than 1.14 million barrels of oil in July and August 2023.