Unix Timestamp: 1236902400
Friday, March 13. 2009, 12:00:00 AM UTC

After 244 years since its first publication, the "Encyclopædia Britannica" discontinues its print edition.

"Encyclopaedia Britannica", the oldest encyclopedia still in print in the English language, announces that it will no longer be producing printed versions but continuing online editions. //au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/13162123/encyclopaedia-brittanica-ends-print-goes-digital/ (Reuters via Yahoo 7 Australia)

The U.S. dollar, after repeatedly testing 100 yen in Asian dealings and early European action, breaks through to touch 99.75, its lowest level since November 1995. //www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUST24480320080313 (Reuters)

Human evolution: The journal "Nature" reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints had been found in Italy.

Dunblane massacre: Unemployed former shopkeeper Thomas Hamilton walks into the Dunblane Primary School in Scotland and opens fire, killing 16 infant school pupils and one teacher before fatally shooting himself.

David Daliberti and William Barloon, two Americans working for a military contractor in Kuwait, are arrested after straying into Iraq.

Australian federal election, 1993: The Australian Labor Party stays in power despite poor economic results.

March 15 ndash The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Quebec it reportedly kills 184.

In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registering a surface wave magnitude of 6.8, kills over 500.

After 16 years in prison for allegedly bombing a public house in a Provisional Irish Republican Army attack, the Birmingham Six are freed when a court determines that the police fabricated evidence.

March 19–26 ndash President of Poland Lech Wałęsa becomes the first Polish president to ever visit the U.S.

Four Los Angeles, California police officers are indicted for the videotaped March 3 beating of Rodney King during an arrest.

Germany formally regains complete independence after the four post-World War II occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union) relinquish all remaining rights.

In a national referendum, the people of the Soviet Union vote in favor of keeping the 15 Soviet republics together, with the pro-unity position gaining 77% of the vote.

The United States Department of Justice announces that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

The United States and Albania resume diplomatic relations for the first time since 1939.

Duke defeats Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball by the score of 72 - 65 to claim the NCAA Division I Basketball Chionship.

The Emir of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, returns to Kuwait after seven months of exile while his country was occupied by Iraq.

In the Finnish parliamentary election, the Centre Party wins 55 of 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland, ending 25 years of dominance by the Social Democratic Party of Finland.

Cold War: The Soviet Union announces that Lithuania's declaration of independence is invalid.

Twelve paintings, collectively worth $100 to $300 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts by 2 thieves posing as police officers. This is the largest art theft in US history, and the paintings () have not been recovered.

Fernando Collor de Mello takes office as President of Brazil, Brazil's first democratically elected president since 1961. The next day he announces a currency freeze and freezes large bank accounts for 18 months.

Cold War: East Germany holds its first free elections.

Iraq hangs British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying. Daphne Parish, a British nurse, is sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment as an accomplice.

The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approves changes to the Constitution of the Soviet Union to create a strong U.S.-style presidency. Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to a five-year term as the first-ever President of the Soviet Union on March 15.

Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union.

Christian General Michel Aoun declares a 'War of Liberation' to rid Lebanon of Syrian forces and their allies.

A geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. Six million people are left without power for 9 hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and aurorae are seen as far as Texas.

Gun control: U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States.

Eritrean War of Independence – Battle of Afabet: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on 3 sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).

Milltown Cemetery Attack: During the funeral of three Provisional IRA members in Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ulster Defence Association (UDA) member Michael Stone attacked the crowd with grenades and pistols, killing three and wounding over sixty. They were murdered because they were likely to be Catholics.

The Halabja poison gas attack is carried out by Iraqi government forces.

Iran-Contra Affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border, killing 143.

First RepublicBank of Texas fails and enters FDIC receivership, the largest FDIC assisted bank failure in history.

Gallaudet University, a Deaf university in Washington D.C. elects Dr. I King Jordan as the first deaf president in its history. This event is a turning point in the deaf civil rights movement.

Maurice Bishop leads a successful coup in Grenada.

Mozambique recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

Vietnam War: South VietnamPresident Nguyen van Thieu orders the Central Highlands evacuated. This turns into a mass exodus involving troops and civilians (the "Convoy of Tears").

Golda Meir becomes the first female prime minister of Israel.

The Longhope, Orkneylifeboat in Scotland is lost the entire crew of 8 die.

Apollo program: "Apollo 9" returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.

The first Rotaract club is chartered in North Charlotte, North Carolina.

Nine executives of the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal are charged for breaking German drug laws because of thalidomide.

Moise Tshombe, ex-prime minister of Congo, is sentenced to death in absentia.

The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.

In a notorious incident, 38 of her neighbors in Queens, New York City fail to respond to the cries of Kitty Genovese, 28, as she is being stabbed to death.

Elvis Presley releases his first Gold Album titled "Elvis Presley".

French troops begin the battle against the Viet Minh in Dien Bien Phu.

The United Nations Security Council nominates Dag Hammarskjöld as United Nations Secretary General.

John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and their gang rob the First National Bank in Mason City, Iowa.

All the police forces in Germany come under the command of Heinrich Himmler.

The Great Hakodate fire kills at least 2,166 people in southern Hokkaido, Japan.

Fritz Lang's culturally influential film "Metropolis" premieres in Germany.

Prince of Wales Edward inaugurates the "Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College" in Dehradun, India, marking a capitulation of the British Empire to growing pressure for the Indianization of the Officer Cadre of the British Indian Army.

March 17 ndash Wolfgang Kapp fails in his coup attempt in Germany due to public resistance and a general strike.

Mexican Revolution: Pancho Villa returns to Mexico from his self-imposed exile in the United States.

San Diego State University is founded.

Ernest Louis, a grandson of Queen Victoria, becomes Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine on the death of his father, Grand Duke Louis IV.

Chester Greenwood patents earmuffs.

The siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins (ends on January 26, 1885).

Alexander II of Russia is killed near his palace when a bomb is thrown at him. He is succeeded by his son, Alexander III.

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria, marries Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia.

American Civil War: The Confederate States of America agrees to the use of African American troops.

American Civil War: The U.S. federal government forbids all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.

The "Violin Concerto" by Felix Mendelssohn premieres in Leipzig, with Ferdinand David as soloist.

Battle of Lissa: The British fleet defeats the French.

Peninsular War

A military coup ousts Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden he is confined in Gripsholm Castle.

King Gustav IV Adolf of Swedenabdicates and is later exiled.

At the Diet of Porvoo, Finland's four Estates pledge allegiance to Alexander I of Russia, commencing the secession of the future Grand Principality of Finland from Sweden. The Emperor in return, promises to retain and uphold former laws and privileges as well as the dominant Lutheran religion. His pledge is later interpreted by the Finns as a confirmation of constitutional laws, which had, effectively, established Finland as a separate state in real union with the Russia.

Battle of Medellín at Extremadura: massive Spanish casualties in a rout by French cavalry under Marshal Victor.

First Battle of Porto: 18,000 Portuguese soldiers are drowned in a rout after defeat by the French under Marshal Soult.

Upon the death of Christian VII, Frederick VI becomes king of Denmark. The next day (March 14), Denmark declares war on Sweden.

Sir William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus. Originally he calls it "Georgium Sidus" (George's Star) in honour of King George III of England.

First English Civil War ndash First Battle of Middlewich: The Roundheads rout the Cavaliers at Middlewich in Cheshire, England.

Harvard University is named for clergyman John Harvard.

May ndash The first of the Bishops\\' Wars breaks out between Charles I and Scotland. Charles arrives with his army at Berwick-on-Tweed.

May ndash The first of the Bishops' Wars breaks out between Charles I and Scotland. Charles arrives with his army at Berwick-on-Tweed.

Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi Dynasty led by Judar Pasha defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.

Battle of Jarnac: Royalist troops under Marshal Gaspard de Tavannes surprise and defeat the Huguenots under the Prince of Condé, who is captured and murdered. A substantial proportion of the Huguenot army manages to escape under Gaspard de Coligny.

Charles II becomes Duke of Savoy at age 1 his mother Blanche of Montferrato is regent.

Recognized date for the founding of Tenochtitlan on a small island in Lake Texcoco by the Mexica empire at the dawn of the day. The Aztec capital becomes Mexico City in 1521.

Cardinal Gregory is elected anti-pope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.

The bones of Saint Nicephorus are interred in the Church of the Apostles, Constantinople.