Today is March 9 2014

National Crabmeat Day: More

• Panic Day: More
  

• In 1454, Amerigo Vespucci was born.
  From Wikipedia: Amerigo Vespucci (Italian March 9, 1454 – February 22, 1512) was an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts as initially conjectured from Columbus' voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate ' landmass hitherto unknown to Afro-Eurasians. Colloquially referred to as the New World, this second super continent came to be termed "America", deriving its name from Americus, the Latin version of Vespucci"s first name".
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• In 1862, The ironclads Monitor and Virginia (formerly Merrimack) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Va., during the Civil War.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Battle of Hampton Roads, often referred to as either the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack (or Virginia) or the Battle of Ironclads, was the most noted and arguably most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies. It was fought over two days, March 8–9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay adjacent to the city of Norfolk. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.
  
  The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships, i.e. the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram Virginia (built from the remnants of the USS Merrimack) and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. On that day, Virginia was able to destroy two ships of the Federal flotilla, USS Congress and USS Cumberland, and was about to attack a third, USS Minnesota, which had run aground. However, the action was halted by darknes and falling tide, so Virginia retired to take care of her few wounded — which included her captain, Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan — and repair her minimal battle damage.
  
  'Determined to complete the destruction of the Minnesota, Catesby ap Roger Jones, acting as captain in Buchanan's absence, returned the ship to the fray the next morning, March 9. During the night, however, the ironclad Monitor had arrived and had taken a position to defend Minnesota. When Virginia approached, Monitor intercepted her. The two ironclads fought for about three hours, with neither being able to inflict significant damage on the other. The duel ended indecisively, Virginia returning to her home at the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs and strengthening, and Monitor to her station defending Minnesota. The ships did not fight again, and the blockade remained in place'.
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• In 1961, The Supremes released their first single, 'I Want A Guy'.
  From Wikipedia: '"I Want a Guy" is a song written by Freddie Gorman, Berry Gordy and Brian Holland and was the debuting single for Motown girl group The Supremes in 1961. It was also recorded by The Marvelettes. Featuring Diana Ross, going by her given name, Diane Ross, in lead, the song was a doo-wop ballad similar to what the Supremes had been recording since forming as "The Primettes" two years earlier.
  
  The songs lyrics tell about a lonely woman who wants a new lover who won't mistreat her and always be loyal to her'.
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• In 1964, The first Ford Mustang is produced.
  From Wikipedia: 'The Ford Mustang is an American automobile manufactured by Ford. It was originally based on the platform of the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. The original 1962 Ford Mustang I two-seater concept car had evolved into the 1963 Mustang II four-seater concept car which Ford used to pretest how the public would take interest in the first production Mustang.
  
  'The Ford Mustang was brought out five months before the normal start of the 1965 production year. The early production versions are often referred to as "1964½ models" but all Mustangs were advertised, VIN coded and titled by Ford as 1965 models, though minor design updates for fall 1965 contribute to tracking 1964½ production data separately from 1965 data (see data below). with production beginning in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964; the new car was introduced to the public on April 17, 1964 at the New York World's Fair'
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• In 1964, The Supreme Court issues the 'New York Times Co. v. Sullivan' decision that public officials must prove malice to claim libel and recover damages.
  From Wikipedia: 'New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that established the actual malice standard, which has to be met before press reports about public officials can be considered to be defamation and libel; and hence allowed free reporting of the civil rights campaigns in the southern United States. It is one of the key decisions supporting the freedom of the press. The actual malice standard requires that the plaintiff in a defamation or libel case prove that the publisher of the statement in question knew that the statement was false or acted in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. Because of the extremely high burden of proof on the plaintiff, and the difficulty of proving the defendant's knowledge and intentions, such cases—when they involve public figures—rarely prevail'.
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• In 1966, The Beach Boys recorded 'God Only Knows'.
  From Wikipedia: '"God Only Knows" is a song written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher for American rock band The Beach Boys, released in May 1966 as the eighth track on the group's album Pet Sounds. Two months later, it was released as the B-side of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in the United States. In other countries, "God Only Knows" was the single's A-side. According to historian John Robert Greene, "God Only Knows" led to the reinvention of the popular love song'.
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• In 1974, The last Japanese soldier (Hiroo Onoda), a guerrilla operating in Philippines, surrenders, 29 years after World War II ended when his old commander returns and relieves him of command fulfilling the parting promise 'whatever happens we'll come back for you'.
  From Wikipedia: 'Hiro Onoda (??? ?? Onoda Hiro?, March 19, 1922 – January 16, 2014) was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and a Japanese holdout who did not surrender in 1945. After Onoda spent nearly 30 years holding out in the Philippines, his former commander traveled from Japan to personally issue orders relieving him from duty in 1974. He held the rank of second lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army'.
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• In 1981, At the 7th People's Choice Awards:
  -- Favorite All-Around Female Entertainer is Carol Burnett.
  -- Favorite All-Around Male Entertainer is Alan Alda.
  -- Favorite Female Musical Performer is Pat Benatar.
  -- Favorite Male Musical Performer is Kenny Rogers.
  -- Favorite New Song 'Lady'.
  -- Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Program is Diana Canova.
  -- Favorite Male Performer in a New TV Program is Tom Selleck.
  -- Favorite Female TV Performer is Carol Burnett.
  -- Favorite Male TV Performer is Alan Alda.
  -- Favorite New TV Comedy Program is 'Too Close for Comfort'.
  -- Favorite New TV Dramatic Program is 'Magnum P.I.'.
  -- Favorite TV Comedy Program is 'M*A*S*H'.
  -- Favorite TV Dramatic Program is'Dallas'.
  -- Favorite TV Mini-Series is 'Shogun'.
  -- >Favorite Young TV Performer is Gary Coleman.
  -- >Favorite Motion Picture is 'The Empire Strikes Back'.
  -- Favorite Motion Picture Actor is Clint Eastwood.
  -- >Favorite Motion Picture Actress is Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn.
  -- >Favorite Young Motion Picture Performer is Brooke Shields.
  - At PeoplesChoice.com: More

Nothing. Looks like I was lazy on this day.

No. 1 song

• I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles: More
  The Beatles have there first hit the No. 1 in the US. This will hold the no. 1 spot until March 21st, when another Beatles song, She Loves You, takes over.

Top movie

• Kissin' Cousins More
  It will be there until the weekend box office of March 22, 1964 when, 'The Pink Panther', takes over.

• FamousBirthdays.com: March 9 Birthdays More
• FamousDaily.com: March 9 History More
• History.com: Historical Events on 9th March More
• HistoryOrb.com: Famous Deaths on 9th March More
• On-This-day.com history 9th March More
• On-This-day.com music history 9th March More
• Wikipedia.com: History March 9 More

National Celery Month, National Flour Month, National Nutrition Month, National Noodle Month, National Peanut Month, National Sauce Month

March is:

March origin (from Wikipedia):
'The name of March comes from Latin Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named for Mars, the Roman god of war who was also regarded as a guardian of agriculture and an ancestor of the Roman people through his sons Romulus and Remus. '

March 'is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is one of seven months that are 31 days long. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20th or 21st marks the astronomical beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where September is the seasonal equivalent of the Northern Hemisphere's March. '

March at Wikipedia: More

If you couldn't afford 90 cents for a movie ticket, 50 years ago, or your 45 RPM record player was broke, you might watch one of these shows on TV.
From this Wikipedia article: More

Best selling books of 1964 More

• Astronomy Picture of the Day: More
• NOAA: - National Hurricane Center - Atlantic Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook: More
• Listen to Old Radio Shows: (streaming mp3 with schedule) More
• NASA TV: (video feed) More
  NASA TV schedule: More
• Public Domain eBook Links

  Sites for downloading or reading free Public Domain eBooks. Available in various formats. More

• Podcast: A Moment of Science. Approximately 1 minute general science facts.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Podcast: The Naked Scientists. Current science, medicine, space and other science
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  RSS: More
• Podcast: Quirks & Quarks. Current science news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Articles and videos: Universe Today. Current space and astronomy news.
  Home page: More
  RSS: More
• Old Picture of the Day - "Each day we bring you one stunning little glimpse of history in the form of a historical photograph."
  Home page: More
  RSS: More

Below, are listed several holiday sites that I reference in addition to other holiday researches.

US Government Holidays

• 2014 Postal Holidays More
• 2014 Official Federal Holidays More

Holidays Worldwide

• List of holidays by country More
• Holidays and Observances around the World More