18 Esfand 1381 | Sunday 9 March 2003

This day in four calendars

1009 (1017 years ago) First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
1230 (796 years ago) Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen II defeats Theodore of Epirus in the Battle of Klokotnitsa.
1500 (526 years ago) The fleet of Pedro Álvares Cabral leaves Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet will discover Brazil which lies within boundaries granted to Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494.
1796 (230 years ago) Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.
1942 (84 years ago) World War II: Dutch East Indies unconditionally surrenders to the Japanese forces in Kalijati, Subang, West Java, and the Japanese complete their Dutch East Indies campaign.
1977 (49 years ago) The Hanafi Siege: In a 39-hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings.
1978 (48 years ago) President Soeharto inaugurates Jagorawi Toll Road, the first toll highway in Indonesia, connecting Jakarta, Bogor and Ciawi, West Java.
1997 (29 years ago) Comet Hale–Bopp: Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day.

1454 (572 years ago) Amerigo Vespucci, Italian cartographer and explorer, namesake of the Americas (died 1512)
1749 (277 years ago) Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French journalist and politician (died 1791)
1814 (212 years ago) Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet and playwright (died 1861)
1890 (136 years ago) Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician and diplomat, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (died 1986)
1934 (92 years ago) Yuri Gagarin, Russian colonel, pilot, and cosmonaut, first human in space (died 1968)
1942 (84 years ago) John Cale, Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer
1943 (83 years ago) Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author (died 2008)
1964 (62 years ago) Juliette Binoche, French actress

1661 (365 years ago) Cardinal Mazarin, Italian-French academic and politician, Prime Minister of France (born 1602)
1851 (175 years ago) Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist, discovered electromagnetism and the element aluminium (born 1777)
1888 (138 years ago) William I, German Emperor (born 1797)
1895 (131 years ago) Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian journalist and author (born 1836)
1988 (38 years ago) Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German lawyer, politician and Chancellor of Germany (born 1904)
1992 (34 years ago) Menachem Begin, Belarusian-Israeli soldier, politician and Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1913)
1994 (32 years ago) Charles Bukowski, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (born 1920)
1997 (29 years ago) The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper, songwriter, and actor (born 1972)