This Day in History is DUE’s daily dose of trivia for all the history buffs out there. So sit back and take a ride of all the fascinating things that happened today!
People are trapped in history and history is trapped in people, and hence, every day has been a significant one in the foibles of history. Now, let’s take a tour of “This Day in History – 9th March”.
1776: “The Wealth of Nations” is published
“An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, written by Adam Smith, father of Modern Economics was published on this day. It is commonly referred to as “The Wealth of Nations”. The famous term ‘invisible hand’ was brought up in this text with the demonstration of how the fulfilment of individual needs leads to social benefit. This book represents the birth of free-market economics and modern capitalism.
1934: Yuri Gagarin is born
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was born in the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk, whose name was changed to Gagarin after him in 1968. In April 1961, Gagarin became the first human to travel into space, launching to orbit aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1). He even served as the deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union for quite some time. He died in a plane crash and rests in the wall of the Kremlin on Red Square.
1956: Shashi Tharoor is born
Shashi Tharoor, an Indian politician, writer and former international diplomat was born on this day. A renowned alumnus of St. Stephen’s college and a serving Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. Shashi Tharoor holds the credit for adding some quirky words to Indian vocab like floccinaucinihilipilification and sesquipedalian.
1959: First display of Barbie Doll
Barbara Millicent Roberts aka Barbie was for the first time displayed on this day at the American Toy Fair in New York City. It was designed by Ruth Handler and introduced by Mattel Toy Company costing $3. After some years Barbie’s boyfriend and friends were also included in the set. Though it sparked controversies, sales of Barbie-related merchandise continued to soar, topping 1 billion dollars annually by the year, 1993.
