March 9, 1959
"BARBIE" DOLL ON DISPLAY AT TOY FAIR
What is 11 inches tall & has blonde hair? The answer is the new "Barbie" doll displayed for the 1st time today at the American Toy Fair in New York City.
The doll is the brainchild of co-founder of the Mattel Toy Company, Ruth Handler.
She named the doll after her daughter, Barbara.*
*The Barbie was advertised to kids on the "Mickey Mouse Club" TV show. By 1961, Mattel released Barbie's "boyfriend", Ken. In 1963, they produced Barbie's best friend, Midge & in 1964 came sister Skipper. By 1993, 800 million Barbies had been sold worldwide.
March 9, 1961
JFK PRESENTED MEDAL FOR HIS NEWS CONFERENCES
President Kennedy, who pioneered live televised news conferences for the President of the United States shortly after his inauguration in January, was awarded a medal today by the Radio & Television Executives Society.
The medal is for his "outstanding contribution to broadcasting."
JFK Library, Boston
March 9, 1961
JFK APPEARS IN FILM ON PEACE CORPS
President Kennedy today was filmed speaking in the Red Room of the White House for a brief motion-picture on the Peace Corps.
JFK says in the film: "(Peace Corps volunteers)....will learn as much as they will teach...."
The Red Room, The White House
March 9, 1961
SOVIETS LAUNCH SPUTNIK 9
In their preliminaries to manned spaceflight, the Soviet Union today launched Sputnik 9 which carries a human dummy nicknamed "Ivan Ivanovich."
Ivan Ivanovich
March 9, 1961
JFK MAKES APPEARANCE AT THE MAYFLOWER
This evening President Kennedy appeared briefly at a dinner honoring the 20th anniversary of the Truman Committee held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The Truman Committee, created on March 1, 1941, was 1st chaired by Senator Harry S Truman of Missouri.
The Senate committee was charged with ending "waste, corruption & profiteering" in the U.S. defense industry. It held hundreds of hearings & saved taxpayers millions of dollars.
JFK "mingled" with the guests & talked with former President Truman who had met with JFK in the White House earlier today.
The Truman Committee in session
March 9, 1954
PRESIDENT EISENHOWER WRITES LETTER CRITICAL OF SENATOR JOE McCARTHY
On this day President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote a private letter to his friend, Paul Helms, critical of the methods & tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy who is in the process of tracking down communists inside the federal government.
Earlier today, Senator Ralph Flanders publicly censured McCarthy for "persecuting Americans".
This evening, Edward R. Murrow warned in his newscast that Senator McCarthy is "treading a fine line" in his investigative procedures.
Senator Joseph McCarthy
March 9, 1862
"IRONCLADS" DO BATTLE FOR 1st TIME IN HISTORY
Off Hampton Roads, Virginia today, two warships clad in iron fought each other to a draw.
The Monitor of the US Navy & the Virginia of the CS Navy began their duel at 9 o'clock this morning.
The battle, which lasted 4 hours, ended with neither ship gaining an advantage or sustaining serious damage.
The Virginia, originally a Union frigate called the Merrimack that had been captured & converted to an ironclad by the Confederates, is a stark contrast to the Monitor, designed by Swedish engineer John Ericsson, which has a flat iron deck with a cylindrical turret in the middle.*
*This eyewitness statement is by S. Dana Green published in Century Magazine in 1888:
"The fight continued with the exchange of broadsides as fast as the guns could be served.....at very short range."
The "Battle of the Ironclads" ushered in a new era in naval warfare & signaled the beginning of the end of wooden warships.
The Monitor (U.S. Navy, 1862)
The Virginia, CS Navy (1862)