May 9
is the 129th day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar (130th in
leap years). There are 236 days remaining.
*
328 -
Athanasius is elected
Patriarch bishop of
Alexandria.
*
1092 -
Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.
*
1450 -
'Abd al-Latif Mirza (
Timurid monarch) assassinated.
*
1502 -
Christopher Columbus leaves
Spain for his fourth and final journey to the "
New World".
*
1671 -
Thomas Blood, disguised as a
clergyman, attempts to steal the
Crown Jewels from the
Tower of London. He is immediately caught because he is too drunk to run with the loot. He is later condemned to death and then mysteriously pardoned and exiled by
King Charles II.
*
1726 - Five men arrested during a raid on
Mother Clap's
molly house in
London are executed at
Tyburn.
*
1868 - The city of
Reno, Nevada, is founded.
*
1874 - The first horse-drawn
omnibus made its début in the city of
Mumbai, plying on two routes.
*
1887 -
Buffalo Bill Richardot's Wild West Show opens in
London.
*
1901 -
Australia opens its first
parliament in
Melbourne.
*
1914 -
J.T. Hearne becomes the first
bowler to take 3000
first-class wickets.
*
1915 -
World War I:
Second Battle of Artois between
German and
French forces.
*
1920 -
Polish-Soviet War: The
Polish army under
General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrated their
capture of Kiev with a
victory parade on
Khreschatyk.
*
1926 -
Admiral Richard E. Byrd and
Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the
North Pole (later discovery of his diary seems to indicate that this did not happen).
*
1927 - The
Australian Parliament first convenes in
Canberra.
*
1936 -
Italy formally annexes
Ethiopia after taking the capital
Addis Ababa on
May 5.
*
1940 -
World War II: The
German submarine U-9 sinks
French coastal submarine
Doris near
Den Helder.
*
1941 -
World War II: The
German submarine
U-110 is captured by the
Royal Navy. On board is the latest
Enigma cryptography machine which
Allied cryptographers later use to break coded
German messages.
*
1942 -
World War II:
Belgrade becomes the first
Axis-conquered city to murder or eliminate its
Jewish Population, largely with the help of
Serbian collaborators.
*
1945 -
World War II: The final
German surrender to
Marshal Georgy Zhukov at
Berlin-Karlshorst is signed by
Colonel-General Hans-Jürgen Stumpff as the representative of the
Luftwaffe,
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as the
Chief of Staff of
OKW, and
Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg as
Commander-in-Chief of the
Kriegsmarine.
*
1945 -
World War II:
Hermann Göring is captured by the
United States Army.
*
1945 -
World War II:
Vidkun Quisling is arrested in
Norway.
*
1945 -
World War II:
Red Army enters
Prague (capitulation of
Nazi occupation troops).
*
1945 -
World War II: The
Soviet Union marks
Victory Day.
*
1945 -
World War II: The
Channel Islands are formally
liberated by the
British.
*
1946 - King
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by
Humbert II.
*
1949 -
Rainier III of Monaco becomes
Prince of
Monaco.
*
1950 -
Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized
Europe, indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "
Schuman declaration", is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the
European Union.
*
1950 -
L. Ron Hubbard publishes his book on
Dianetics, entitled "
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.
*1955 - Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
*1955 - Sam and Friends debuts on a local U.S. television channel, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and the Muppets.
*1956 - First ascent of Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain.
*1960 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves sale of the birth control pill.
*1965 - Pianist Vladimir Horowitz gave his first public recital since 1953, at Carnegie Hall.
*1970 - Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protestors peacefully demonstrate behind a barricaded White House.
*1974 - Watergate Scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard M. Nixon.
*1980 - In Florida, Liberian freighter SS Summit Venture'' hits the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge over
Tampa Bay sending 35 people (most in a bus) to a watery death as a 1,400-foot section of the bridge collapses.
*
1980 - The first meeting of
Pope John Paul II and the
Archbishop of Canterbury takes place in
Ghana.
*
1987 - A
Polish LOT Ilyushin IŁ 62M "Tadeusz Kościuszko" (SP-LBG). crashes after takeoff in
Warsaw, Poland, killing 183 people.
*
1992 - At 5:18 a.m. ADT The
Westray Mine in
Plymouth, Nova Scotia experiences a methane explosion killing all 26 miners who were working.
*
1994 -
Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as
South Africa's first black
president.
*
2002 - The 38-day stand-off in the
Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem comes to an end when the
Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries.
*
2002 - In
Kaspiysk,
Russia, a remote-controlled
bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.
*
2004 -
Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov is killed in a
landmine bomb blast under a
VIP stage during a
World War II memorial victory parade in
Grozny,
Chechnya.
*
2004 - The
Canadian national team wins the
World Ice Hockey Championship in
Prague.
*
2005 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is selected as the successor of Pope John Paul II.
*
2006 - 2 miners,
Todd Russell and
Brant Webb were freed after 14 days trapped underground in a goldmine at
Beaconsfield, Tasmania,
Australia.
*
2006 -
Estonia ratifies the
European Constitution.
*
1147 -
Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shogun (d.
1199)
*
1439 -
Pope Pius III (d.
1503)
*
1741 -
Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (d.
1816)
*
1800 -
John Brown, American abolitionist (d.
1859)
*
1837 -
Adam Opel, German engineer and industrialist (b.
1895)
*
1860 -
J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (d.
1937)
*
1873 -
Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (d.
1933)
*
1874 -
Howard Carter, British archaeologist (d.
1939)
*
1882 -
George Barker, American painter (d.
1965)
* 1882 -
Henry J. Kaiser, American ship-builder (d.
1967)
*
1883 -
José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (d.
1955)
*
1892 -
Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria-Hungary (d.
1989)
*
1893 -
William Moulton Marston, American psychologist, writer (co-creator,
Wonder Woman)
*
1895 -
Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d.
1963)
* 1895 -
Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d.
1961)
*
1907 -
Baldur von Schirach, Nazi official (d.
1974)
*
1907 -
Kathryn Kuhlman, famed evangelist (d.
1976)
*
1912 -
Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (d.
1963)
* 1912 -
Per Imerslund, "The aryan idol" (d.
1943)
*
1914 -
Hank Snow, Canadian-born musician (d.
1999)
*
1918 -
Mike Wallace, American journalist
* 1918 -
Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d.
2003)
*
1920 -
Richard Adams, English author
* 1920 -
William Tenn, American author
*
1921 -
Sophie Scholl, resistance fighter in Nazi Germany (d.
1943)
* 1921 -
Mona Van Duyn, American poet (d.
2004)
*
1924 -
Bulat Okudzhava, Russian writer and musician (d.
1997)
*
1927 -
Manfred Eigen, German biophysicist, recipient of the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry*
1928 -
Colin Chapman, English engineer and automobile manufacturer (d.
1982)
* 1928 -
Pancho Gonzalez, American tennis player (d.
1995)
* 1928 -
Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater
*
1930 -
Joan Sims, British actress (d.
2001)
*
1934 -
Alan Bennett, British author
*
1936 -
Albert Finney, British actor
* 1936 -
Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
*
1937 -
José Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect
*
1939 -
Ralph Boston, American athlete
* 1939 -
Ion Ţiriac, Romanian tennis player and businessman
*
1940 -
James L. Brooks, American film producer and writer
*
1942 -
John Ashcroft,
United States Attorney General*
1944 -
Richie Furay, American musician (
Poco and
Buffalo Springfield)
*
1946 -
Candice Bergen, American actress
*
1949 -
Billy Joel, American musician
*
1955 -
Anne-Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
*
1960 -
Tony Gwynn, Hall of Fame Baseball Player
*
1962 -
David Gahan, English singer (
Depeche Mode)
*
1963 -
Sanja Doležal, Croatian singer (
Novi Fosili)
*
1964 -
Kevin Saunderson, American music producer and disc jockey
*
1965 -
Steve Yzerman, Canadian hockey player
*
1968 -
Marie-José Perec, French athlete
*
1970 -
Ghostface Killah, American rapper
*
1972 -
Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and artist
* 1972 -
Daniela Silivaş, Romanian gymnast
*
1975 -
George Boateng, Dutch footballer
*
1976 -
Tamia, Canadian R&B singer
*
1977 -
Maggie Dixon, Women's college basketball coach (d.
2006)
*
1978 -
Leandro Damián Cufré, Argentine football player
*
1979 -
Rosario Dawson, American actress
* 1979 -
Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician (
Simple Plan)
* 1979 -
Andrew W.K., American Musician
*
1982 -
Rachel Boston, American actress
*
1315 -
Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy (b.
1282)
*
1446 -
Mary of Enghien, Queen of Naples (b.
1368)
*
1657 -
William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony (b.
1590)
*
1707 -
Dieterich Buxtehude, German composer
*
1747 -
John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and diplomat (b.
1673)
*
1760 -
Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German religious and social reformer (b.
1700)
*
1789 -
Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French artillery specialist (b.
1715)
*
1790 -
William Clingan, American delegate to the Continental Congress
*
1791 -
Francis Hopkinson, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b.
1737)
*
1805 -
Friedrich Schiller, German poet and historian (b.
1759)
*
1861 -
Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, German philosopher and writer (b.
1805)
*
1889 -
William S. Harney, U.S. general (b.
1800)
*
1903 -
Paul Gauguin, French painter (b.
1848)
*
1915 -
François Faber, Luxembourgish cyclist (b.
1887)
*
1918 -
George Coşbuc, Romanian poet (b.
1866)
*
1931 -
Albert Abraham Michelson, German-born physicist,
Nobel Prize laureate (b.
1852)
*
1938 -
Thomas B. Thrige, Danish industrialist (b.
1866)
*
1949 - Prince
Louis II of Monaco (b.
1870)
*
1950 -
Esteban Terradas i Illa, Catalan mathematician, scientist, and engineer (b.
1883)
*
1955 -
Kate Booth, the oldest daughter of
William and
Catherine Booth (b.
1858)
*
1957 -
Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (b.
1892)
*
1968 -
Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b.
1893)
*
1970 -
Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (b.
1884)
* 1970 -
Walter Reuther, American labor leader (b.
1907)
*
1976 -
Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (b.
1920)
*
1978 -
Aldo Moro,
Prime Minister of Italy (b.
1916)
*
1981 -
Ralph Allen, English footballer (b.
1906)
*
1985 -
Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b.
1915)
*
1986 -
Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa (b.
1914)
*
1989 -
Keith Whitley, American country music singer (b.
1955)
*
1994 -
Elias Motsoaledi, South African freedom fighter (b.
1924)
*
1998 -
Alice Faye, American actress (b.
1915)
*
2003 -
Russell B. Long, U.S. Senator from Louisiana (b.
1918)
*
2004 -
Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president (b.
1951)
* 2004 -
Alan King, American comedian (b.
1927)
*
2005 -
Nasrat Parsa, Afghani singer (b.
1969)
*
Russia and some other parts of the former
Soviet Union –
Victory Day as the end of the "
Great Patriotic War".
*
European Union –
Europe day, commemorating the "
Schuman declaration".
*
Jersey,
Guernsey –
Liberation Day (
commemorating the end of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II).
*
Roman Empire –
Feast of the Lemures (See
Larvae).
Liturgical feasts
*
Saint Gerontius (died 501)
*
Saint Pachomius (died 346)
*
Saint Tudi*
Our Lady of Flanders*
Saint Carolina*
BBC: On This Day*
The New York Times: On This Day*
ThisDayThatYear.com on May 9May 8 -
May 10 -
April 9 -
June 9 –
listing of all days
