On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll went on display at the American Toy
Fair in New York City.

Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was the first mass-
produced toy doll in the United States with adult features. The woman
behind Barbie was Ruth Handler (below), who co-founded Mattel, Inc. with
her husband in 1945. After seeing her young daughter ignore her baby dolls
to play make-believe with paper dolls of adult women, Handler realized there
was an important niche in the market for a toy that allowed little girls to
imagine the future.

Barbie’s appearance was modeled on a doll named Lilli, based on a German
comic strip character.

Mattell founders Ruth and Elliot Handler with a Barbie doll.

Ruth Marianna Handler(Mosko)
(November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002)

Max von Sydow (Carl Adolf von Sydow)
(April 10, 1929 – March 8, 2020)  

(FoxNews) – Acclaimed actor from “The Exorcist” (1973) “Star Wars” and
“Game of Thrones,” Max von Sydow, has died.

Representatives for the star confirmed to Fox News that the star died 
on Sunday, March 8, 2020 at his home in Provence, France, but did not
comment on any official cause of death.   

1965