Today is Friday, March 9, the 69th day of 2012. There are 297 days left in the year.
1452 ― Pope Nicolaas I crowns Frederik III Roman Catholic-German emperor
1496 ― Jews expelled from Carintha Austria
1497 ― Nicolaus Copernicus 1st recorded astronomical observation
1522 ― Marten Luther preaches his Invocavit
1617 ― Sweden and Russia sign the Peace of Stolbowa
1697 ― Czar Peter the Great begins a tour of West Europe
1796 ― Napoleon Bonaparte marries Josephine de Beauharnais
1820 ― The Philippines chases out foreigners; about 125 die
1841 ― The U.S. Supreme Court rules Negroes are free (Amistad Incident)
1916 ― Germany declares war against Portugal
1918 ― The Russian Bolshevik Party becomes the Communist Party
1918 ― Ukrainian mobs massacre Jews of Seredino Buda
1936 ― Babe Ruth turns down Reds to make a comeback as a player
1945 ― Japanese proclaim the "independence" of Indo-China
1953 ― Josef Stalin buried in Moscow
1962 ― Egyptian President Nasser declares Gaza belongs to Palestinians
1979 ― France performs a nuclear test at Muruora Island
1984 ― John Lennon's "Borrowed Time" is released
1989 ― Eastern Airlines files for bankruptcy
1995 ― Mexican peso worth 7.55 pesos to a dollar (record)