March 9 : Don't be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.

On this day, 09 Mar....

1500 - Pedro Cabral departs from Portugal with 13 ships to India.

1562 - Kissing in public was banned in Naples and made punishable by death. (Physical affection has been categorized into seven different types including holding hands, cuddling/holding, backrubs/massages, caressing/stroking, kissing on the face, hugging, and kissing on the lips. Five of these behaviors, with the exception of caressing/stroking and holding hands, have been significantly positively associated with relationship and partner satisfaction).

1611 - Johannes Fabricius, a Dutch astronomer, observed the rising sun through his telescope and observed several dark spots on it. This was perhaps the first ever observation of sunspots.

1822 - Charles M. Graham was issued the first U.S. patent for artificial teeth. False teeth had been used since Colonial years, with various attempts to replace rotten teeth, which were extracted to avoid illness. George Washington had at least four sets of false teeth (though none were wooden, despite a myth to that effect). His first dentures were made using human teeth set into carved ivory. In 1789, dentist John Greenwood of New York made Washington a complete set from hippopotamus ivory, gold wire springs and brass screws holding human teeth. His one natural remaining tooth was a molar, and a hole was left for it.

1858 - The system of street mailboxes was first started in the US. The initial boxes had a central hole for the shaft of a lamp post, lids covering the drop hole to exclude so a carrier could see if any letters had been deposited, and a small door secured with a lock for the carrier to empty the box.

1897 - Indian Fans start calling the team 'Indians' (in 1915 it became official).

1931 - The Tories decide not to attend future roundtable talks on India in London.

1959 - Barbie, the popular girls' doll, debuted, over 800 million sold. (American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. It is named after her daughter Barbara).

1976 - 1st female cadets accepted to West Point Military Academy, US.

Born

1951 - Ustad Zakir Hussain, famous Tabla player.

1985 - Parthiv Patel, cricketer.

1996 - Darsheel Safary, an Indian child actor. He played the lead role in the National award winning movie 'Taare Zameen Par' and became the youngest to win a Filmfare award.

RIP

1650 - Saint Tukaram Maharaj, the famous saint of Maharashtra.

1994 - Devika Rani Roerich, the first lady of the Indian screen. She married Himanshu Rai in 1929. The couple worked together in their first talkie, the 1933 film ‘Karma’. The film also featured the first kiss on the Indian screen between the lead pair.

2000 - Usha Kiran, actor.

2012 - Joy Mukherjee, actor.

Titbits

2015 - A small treasure of 2,300-year-old coins and jewelry is found in a cave in the Galilee region of Israel; the items date from the time of Alexander the Great.

You may have known....

The Indian sixth five-year plan marked a watershed in the development process which was initiated three decades ago with the commencement of the first plan. Although considerable growth was achieved during the first five plans, much thought could not be given to quality, cost competitiveness or needs of modernization. Thus high cost, low-quality production structure had emerged.