Paracultural calendar for March 9

[Mark Thibodeau]

On this day in *632*, the Last Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of *Prophet
Muhammad *is delivered.

***

On this day in *1765*, after a campaign by the writer *Voltaire*, judges in
Paris posthumously exonerate *Jean Calas* of murdering his son. Calas had
been tortured and executed in 1762 on the charge, though his son may have
actually committed suicide.

***

On this day in *1796*, *Napoléon Bonaparte* marries his first wife, *Joséphine
de Beauharnais*.

***

On this day in *1841*, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the United
States v. *The
Amistad* case that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship
carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.
***

On this day in *1842*, the first documented discovery of gold in California
occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the *California Gold Rush*.

***

On this day in *1847*, the first large-scale amphibious assault in U.S.
history is launched in the Siege of Veracruz.

***

On this day in *1933*, President *Franklin D. Roosevelt* submits the
Emergency Banking Act to Congress, the first of his New Deal policies.

***

On this day in *1954*, CBS television broadcasts the *See It Now* episode,
"A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by *Fred Friendly*.

***

On this day in *1959*, the Barbie doll makes its debut at the American
International Toy Fair in New York.
***

On this day in *1976*, 42 people die in the 1976 Cavalese cable car
disaster, the worst cable-car accident to date.

***

On this day in *1991*, massive demonstrations are held against *Slobodan
Milošević* in Belgrade.

***

On this day in *1997*, observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are
treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits *comet Hale-Bopp* to
be seen during the day.
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