Pierre Abélard, a French philosopher, dies.
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What Happened Today in History on March 9
Explore the historical events that shaped our world on March 9th. From major milestones to cultural achievements, see what happened on this day in history. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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Emperor Takakura of Japan abdicates the throne in favor of his son, Emperor Antoku.
Pope Clement V, accedes to the demands of French King Philip IV and moves the papal seat from Rome to Avignon on March 9, 1309; beginning the period known as the "Avignon Papacy" between 1309–1377, when seven successive popes resided in Avignon, all under the influence of the French Crown.
The Council of Basel is convened to address reforms within the Catholic Church.
Henry VIII recognized as Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Johannes Fabricius, a practicing physician in Osteel, who devoted much of his spare time to astronomical observations using the telescope observes sunspots through a telescope for the first time contributing to early astronomy studies.
Napoleon Bonaparte marries Josephine de Beauharnais in a civil ceremony in Paris. Napoleon was an up-and-coming general at the time, while Josephine was a wealthy widow with two children.
More than three hundred American bombers drop incendiary bombs on Tokyo during a three-hour raid A firestorm greater than that in Dresden erupts, killing 130,000 and displacing a million people. The raid was one of over a hundred such raids that eventually laid waste to sixty percent of the city's total area. More
The Kepler space observatory, designed to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars, is launched by NASA.
"The Hunger Games" film adaptation, based on Suzanne Collins' novel, is released in theaters, becoming a box office success.