July 9

Events

• 455 - Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed emperor of the western Roman Empire.
• 1540 - Henry VIII of England annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
• 1749 - Naval settlement of Halifax, Nova Scotia founded as British answer to Louisbourg.
• 1755 - French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition - British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat to French and Indian forces. During the battle, British General Edward Braddock is mortally wounded. Colonel George Washington survives.
• 1789 - In Versailles, the National Constituent Assembly is formed by the French National Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.
• 1790 - Russo-Swedish War: Second Battle of Svensksund - In the Baltic Sea, the Swedish navy captures one third of the Russian fleet.
• 1793 - Act Against Slavery passes in Upper Canada and importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited.
• 1815 - Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Benevente becomes Prime Minister of France
• 1816 - Argentina declares independence from Spain
• 1850 - President Zachary Taylor dies and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States.
• 1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of gold speech.
• 1900 - Victoria of the United Kingdom gives royal assent to an act creating the Commonwealth of Australia thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government.
• 1918 - Great Train Wreck of 1918: In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101.
• 1922 - Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking a world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.
• 1942 - Holocaust: Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
• 1943 - World War II: Operation Husky - Allied forces perform an amphibious invasion of Sicily.
• 1944 - World War II: British and Canadian forces capture Caen.
• 1945 - A forest fire breaks out in the Tillamook Burn, the third fire in that area since 1933.
• 1968 - Official opening of Hayward Gallery on London's South Bank.
• 1982 - A Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 146 on board and eight on the ground.
• 1991 - International Human Rights Federation cites human rights violations committed by police and military personnel during Oka crisis in Quebec.
• 1997 - Mike Tyson's boxing license is suspended for at least a year and he is fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.

Births

• 1764 - Ann Radcliffe, writer (+ 1823)
• 1856 - Nikola Tesla
• 1819 - Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine (+ 1867)
• 1900 - Ida Ehre, actress (+ 1989)
• 1901 - Dame Barbara Cartland, romance novelist, step-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales (+ 2000)
• 1908 - Paul Brown
• 1916 - Edward Heath, politician
• 1925 - Peter Ludwig, entrepreneur and art collector (+ 1996)
• 1927 - Susan Cabot, actress
• 1927 - Ed Ames, actor
• 1929 - King Hassan II of Morocco, (+ 1999)
• 1937 - David Hockney, artist (Pop art)
• 1938 - Brian Dennehy, actor
• 1942 - Richard Roundtree, actor
• 1943 - Jon Casper, US astronaut
• 1946 - Bon Scott, singer: AC/DC (+ 1980)
• 1947 - O. J. Simpson, football player, actor
• 1952 - John Tesh, composer
• 1956 - Tom Hanks, actor
• 1956 - Marc Almond, singer
• 1958 - Jimmy Smits, actor
• 1965 - Frank Bello, bassist in the Anthrax rock band
• 1965 - Courtney Love, musician
• 1976 - Fred Savage, actor

Deaths

• 1797 - Edmund Burke, British philosopher and statesman
• 1850 - Mírzá 'Alí-Muhammad, also known as the Báb, founder of the Babi Faith
• 1850 - Zachary Taylor, 12th US president (* 1784)
• 1856 - Amedeo Avogadro, chemist
• 1937 - Oliver Law, first African American commander of US troops, killed in battle during the Spanish Civil War.
• 1974 - Earl Warren, former governor of California, former Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
• 1979 - Cornelia Otis Skinner, actress, author
• 1992 - Eric Sevareid, reporter
• 1996 - Melvin Belli, attorney
• 2002 - Rod Steiger, actor

Holidays and observances

• Argentina - Independence Day
• Palau - Constitution Day
• Bahá'í Faith:Holy Day - Martyrdom of the Báb

July 8 - July 10 - June 9 - August 9 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Referenced By