Today in History – September 9 in History
What happened on this day in history – September 9 in History around the world
337 | Constantine’s three sons, already Caesars, each take the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans share the west while Constantius II takes control of the east. | |
1087 | William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy and King of England, dies in Rouen while conducting a war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat. | |
1513 | King James IV of Scotland is defeated and killed by English at Flodden. | |
1585 | Pope Sixtus V deprives Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown. | |
1776 | The term “United States” is adopted by the Continental Congress to be used instead of the “United Colonies.” | |
1786 | George Washington calls for the abolition of slavery. | |
1791 | French Royalists take control of Arles and barricade themselves inside the town. | |
1834 | Parliament passes the Municipal Corporations Act, reforming city and town governments in England. | |
1850 | California, in the midst of a gold rush, enters the Union as the 31st state. | |
1863 | The Union Army of the Cumberland passes through Chattanooga as they chase after the retreating Confederates. The Union troops will soon be repulsed at the Battle of Chickamauga. | |
1886 | The Berne International Copyright Convention takes place. | |
1911 | An airmail route opens between London and Windsor. | |
1915 | A German zeppelin bombs London for the first time, causing little damage. | |
1926 | The Radio Corporation of America creates the National Broadcasting Co. | |
1942 | A Japanese float plane, launched from a submarine, makes its first bombing run on a U.S. forest near Brookings, Oregon. | |
1943 | Allied troops land at Salerno, Italy and encounter strong resistance from German troops. | |
1948 | Kim Il-sung declares the establishment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. | |
1956 | Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; cameras focus on his upper torso and legs to avoid showing his pelvis gyrations, which many Americans—including Ed Sullivan—thought unfit for a family show. | |
1965 | US Department of Housing and Urban Development established. | |
1965 | Hurricane Betsy, the first hurricane to exceed $1 billion in damages (unadjusted), makes its second landfall, near New Orleans. | |
1969 | Canada’s Official Languages Act takes effect, making French equal to English as a language within the nation’s government. | |
1970 | U.S. Marines launch Operation Dubois Square, a 10-day search for North Vietnamese troops near DaNang. | |
1971 | Attica Prison Riot; the 4-day riot leaves 39 dead. | |
1976 | Communist Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung dies in Beijing at age 82. | |
1990 | Sri Lankan Army massacres 184 civilians of the Tamil minority in the Batticaloa District of Sri Lanka. | |
1991 | Tajikstan declares independence from USSR. | |
1993 | The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state. | |
2001 | Two al Qaeda assassins kill Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. | |
2001 | A car bomb explodes outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, killing 10 people. | |
Born on September 9 | ||
1585 | Duc Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, French cardinal and statesman who helped build France into a world power under the leadership of King Louis XIII. | |
1828 | Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist (War and Peace, Anna Karenina). | |
1887 | Alfred M. Landon, Republican governor of Kansas who carried only two states in his overwhelming defeat for the presidency by Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. | |
1890 | Colonel Harland Sanders, originator of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast-food restaurants. | |
1900 | James Hilton, British novelist who authored Lost Horizon and Goodbye Mr. Chips and created the imaginary world of “Shangri-La.” | |
1905 | Joseph E. Levine, film producer, founder of Embassy Pictures Corporation, an independent studio and distributor of films such as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far, and The Lion in Winter. | |
1908 | Shigekazu Shimazaki, Japanese commander and pilot who led the second wave of the air attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941; posthumously promoted to admiral in 1945. | |
1922 | Bernard Bailyn, historian, author; received Pulitzer Prize for History (1968, 1987), and National Humanities Medal (2010). | |
1922 | Hoyt Curtin, composer and music producer; primary musical director for Hanna-Barbera animation studio (The Flintstones, Top Cat, The Smurfs). | |
1934 | Sonia Sanchez, poet. | |
1941 | Otis Redding, singer, songwriter, record producer, known as the “King of Soul”; “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” “Respect.” | |
1949 | Joe Theismann, American football player, sports announcer; member of College Football Hall of Fame; winning quarterback, Super Bowl XVII. | |
1949 | Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian general, 6th president of Indonesia. | |
1960 | Hugh Grant, actor, film producer; awards include Golden Globe (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and London Critics Circle’s British Actor of the Year (About a Boy) | |
1966 | Adam Sandler, actor, comedian, screenwriter, film producer (Saturday Night Live, Happy Gilmore). | |
1975 | Michael Buble, multiple Grammy and Juno award–winning singer, songwriter, actor (Crazy Love, It’s Time). | |
1980 | Michelle Williams, Golden Globe–winning actress (My Week with Marilyn). | |
1988 | Jo Woodcock, actress (The Picture of Dorian Gray, Torn TV miniseries). |