The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York

The Barbie doll is an iconic cultural phenomenon that has left an indelible mark on the world of toys and fashion. Created by Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel Inc., the Barbie doll made its debut on March 9, 1959, at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

Ruth Handler got the idea for Barbie from watching her daughter, Barbara, play with paper dolls and imagining them in adult roles. At the time, most dolls on the market were baby dolls or representations of infants. Ruth believed there was a gap in the market for a doll that allowed girls to imagine themselves as adults.

The original Barbie doll was inspired by a German doll called Bild Lilli, which was based on a comic strip character. Barbie was marketed as a teenage fashion model with a variety of outfits and accessories. She had a slim figure, blonde hair, and blue eyes, reflecting the beauty standards of the time.

Despite initial skepticism from retailers and toy industry insiders, Barbie quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Girls were drawn to her aspirational image and the endless possibilities for imaginative play. Over the years, Barbie has evolved to reflect changing cultural attitudes and trends. She has had countless careers, from astronaut to doctor to president, and has been dressed in outfits representing different cultures and time periods.

Barbie’s influence extends beyond the world of toys. She has become a symbol of femininity, fashion, and empowerment. However, she has also faced criticism for promoting unrealistic beauty standards and perpetuating gender stereotypes.

Despite the controversies, Barbie remains one of the most recognizable and beloved toys in the world. She has inspired generations of girls to dream big and imagine themselves in a variety of roles and careers. In recent years, Mattel has made efforts to modernize Barbie and make her more inclusive and diverse, introducing dolls with different body types, skin tones, and abilities.

Trans World Airlines Flight 553 crashes in a field in Concord Township, Ohio following a mid-air collision with a Beechcraft Baron, killing 26 people.

Trans World Airlines Flight 553 was a domestic flight that crashed while attempting to land at Chicago Midway International Airport on December 8, 1972. The crash was caused by a combination of factors, including pilot error and weather conditions.

The flight crew had been cleared to land on runway 31C, but the captain made a decision to switch to runway 31L without clearance from air traffic control. This decision caused the aircraft to approach the runway at a steeper angle and higher speed than necessary. The flight crew also failed to properly set the aircraft’s altimeter to the correct pressure setting for the airport’s altitude, leading to further confusion about the aircraft’s altitude and position.

In addition to pilot error, the weather conditions at the time of the crash were also a contributing factor. The airport was experiencing heavy rain, reduced visibility, and low cloud cover, which made it difficult for the flight crew to see the runway and surrounding terrain.

As the aircraft approached the runway, it struck trees and a light pole before crashing into a residential neighborhood, killing all 45 people on board and two people on the ground.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation determined that the cause of the crash was the flight crew’s decision to switch runways without clearance and their failure to properly set the altimeter. The investigation also noted that the weather conditions were a contributing factor that exacerbated the crew’s errors.

Forty-two people die in the Cavalese cable car disaster, the worst cable-car accident to date

The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.

The Hanafi Siege: In a thirty-nine-hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings

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Napoléon Bonaparte marries Joséphine de Beauharnais, his first wife.

On March 9, 1796, French statesman and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte married his first wife, Josephine de Beauharnais. He was only 26 years old at the time and she was much older than him—a widow at 32 years old. But the two would start one of the most notorious marriages of all time.

The great French emperor
Napoleon Bonaparte is a recognizable name in history, but how much do you really know about the French leader? Shortly after marrying Josephine, he was elected First Consul of France in 1802. He eventually crowned himself emperor of the French in 1804. This coronation brought the first Republic to an end.

During the 10 years of his reign, Bonaparte conquered Spain, Germany, Poland, Austria, and Italy. He instructed the French to follow his new civil code, known as the Code Napoleon. Citizens were required to follow a new set of laws concerning property, colonial affairs, family life, and individual rights.

Meeting Josephine de Beauharnais
Josephine de Beauharnais was known as the “rose” before meeting Bonaparte. But once the pair met, Bonaparte disliked her name and insisted on formally changing it to “Josephine.” Her first marriage, to Alexandre de Beauharnais, ended abruptly when her husband was guillotined during the Reign of Terror.

Josephine had many lovers before meeting Bonaparte. She was in high demand as a suitable wife, but once Bonaparte set his eyes on the 32-year-old widow, the rest was history.

Their iconic marriage
Most people know about Bonaparte and de Beauharnais’s marriage, referring to them as Antony and Cleopatra. While Bonaparte was serving in the French Revolutionary War, he would often send her love letters while they were apart. But eventually, their marriage came to an unfortunate end.

Josephine failed to produce an heir. While Bonaparte adopted her children from her previous marriage, they weren’t heirs to his throne. With this in mind, Bonaparte divorced de Beauharnais in 1809 to remarry and produce an heir.

Despite the divorce, Bonaparte remained devoted to his first wife for the rest of his life. When he heard the news of her death in 1814, Bonaparte locked himself inside his bedroom for two days. On his deathbed in 1821, her name would be his final word—never forgetting his first love.

The Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The shuttle Discovery braved the hellish fire of re-entry for the last time Wednesday and glided back to Earth to close out the space plane’s 39th and final voyage, an emotion-charged milestone marking the beginning of the end for America’s shuttle program.

Dropping through a partly cloudy sky, the commander, Steven W. Lindsey, and Col. Eric A. Boe of the Air Force guided Discovery through a sweeping left overhead turn, lined up on Runway 15 and floated to a picture-perfect touchdown at 11:57 a.m. Eastern time to wrap up an extended 13-day space station assembly mission.

As it coasted to a stop under a brilliant noon sun, Discovery had logged some 5,750 orbits covering nearly 150 million miles during 39 flights spanning a full year in space — a record unrivaled in the history of manned rockets.

“And Houston, Discovery, for the final time, wheels stopped,” Mr. Lindsey radioed flight controllers in Houston.

The space shuttle Discovery ended its final mission Wednesday, landing smoothly in Florida.
“Discovery, Houston, great job by you and your crew,” replied Charles Hobaugh, an astronaut in mission control. “That was a great landing in tough conditions, and it was an awesome docked mission you all had.”

Mr. Lindsey and Colonel Boe were joined aboard Discovery by Benjamin Alvin Drew Jr.; Nicole P. Stott; Michael R. Barratt, a physician-astronaut; and Capt. Stephen G. Bowen of the Navy.

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RECENT COMMENTS
FEB March 12, 2011
Not science. Nostalgia.Please provide more real science articles and less paparazzi journalism.

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Schlock!The truly sad part about his is that we hold this pathetic space program in any regard. Poorly made with a poor safety record and…

Dave Huntsman March 11, 2011
As a proud veteran of 20 years on the space shuttle team, I nevertheless want to correct BIll Harwood when he says “But between Atlantis’s…

As support crews swarmed onto the broad runway, engineers in the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building were busy preparing the shuttle Endeavour for rollout. The target date for Endeavour’s 25th and final flight is April 19.

NASA’s remaining orbiter, the Atlantis, is scheduled for liftoff June 28 on the shuttle program’s 135th flight, the final chapter in a post-Apollo initiative that produced what is arguably the most complex, capable and costly manned rockets ever built.

”We’re seeing a program come to a close here, and to see these shuttles, these beautiful, magnificent flying machines, end their service life is obviously a little bit sad for us,” Dr. Barratt said.

“But it is about time — they’ve lived a very long time, they’ve had a fabulous success record,” he added. “We look forward to seeing them retire with dignity and bringing on the next line of spaceships.”

What sort of spaceship might ultimately replace the shuttle is an open question, and it is not yet clear how NASA will fare in the budget debate.

But between Atlantis’s landing this summer and the debut of whatever vehicle replaces it — several years from now at best — the only way for American astronauts to reach orbit will be to hitch rides aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft at $55 million a seat.

That is a bitter pill for the thousands of men and women who have worked on the shuttle fleet over the past three decades, who now face layoffs and the prospect of seeing Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis — the world’s most sophisticated spacecraft — turned into museum displays.

“We won’t do anything nearly as complex with another vehicle for a very long time,” Mr. Drew said. “Five or 10 years from now, they’re going to look back and say ‘How did we ever build a vehicle that could do all these things?’ ”

Correction: March 9, 2011
An earlier version of this article misstated the military standing of the astronaut Benjamin Alvin Drew Jr. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel; he is not a captain in the Air Force.

The Barbie doll makes is first shown at the American International Toy Fair in New York.

The USA starts the bombing of Tokyo.