On this day in History - May 9

• 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC) between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh. It is the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
• 0328 - Athanasius elected bishop of Alexandria.
• 1092 - Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.
• 1147 - Minamoto no Yoritomo was born (d. 1199). Japanese shogun.
• 1315 - Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy dies (b. 1282).
• 1386 - Treaty of Windsor is signed by Richard II (England) and John I (Portugal) / Assinada a Aliança Luso-Britânica, a mais antiga existente. Ratificação do Tratado de Windsor, entre D. João I de Portugal e Ricardo II de Inglaterra.
• 1429 - Joan of Arc defeats the English troops besieging Orléans.
• 1439 - Pope Pius III was born (d. 1503).
• 1446 - Mary of Enghien dies (b. 1368). Queen of Naples.
• 1450 - 'Abd al-Latif Mirza (Timurid monarch) assassinated.
• 1502 - Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his fourth and final journey to the "New World".
• 1657 - William Bradford dies (b. 1590). Governor of Plymouth Colony.
• 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 would later be condemned to death and then mysteriously pardoned and exiled by King Charles II.
• 1707 - Dietrich Buxtehude dies. German composer
• 1726 - Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
• 1736 - Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real dies. Portuguese diplomat and statesman.
• 1741 - Giovanni Paisiello was born (d. 1816). Italian composer.
• 1745 - Tomaso Antonio Vitali dies (b. 1663). Italian violinist and composer.
• 1747 - John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair dies (b. 1673). Scottish soldier and diplomat.
• 1748 - Gaspard Monge was born (d. 28 Jul 1818). French mathematician who was one of the founders of descriptive geometry.
• 1760 - Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf dies (b. 1700). German religious and social reformer.
• 1789 - Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval dies (b. 1715). French artillery specialist.
• 1790 - William Clingan dies. American delegate to the Continental Congress
• 1791 - Francis Hopkinson dies (b. 1737). American author and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
• 1800 - John Brown was born in Torrington, Connecticut. (d. 1859). American abolitionist.
• 1803 - Costa Cabral was born (d. 1889). Portuguese stateman.
• 1805 - Friedrich Schiller dies (b. 1759). German poet and historian.
• 1837 - Adam Opel was born. German engineer and industrialist.
• 1844 - Belle Boyd spy in the Civil War.
• 1845 - Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval was born (d. 2 Feb 1913). Swedish scientist, engineer, and inventor who pioneered in the development of high-speed turbines.
• 1850 - Edward Weston was born (d. 20 Aug 1936). British-born American electrical engineer and industrialist who founded the Weston Electrical Instrument Company
• 1858 - Ricardo Jorge was born. Portuguese professor and writer.
• 1860 - James M. Barrie was born (d. 1937). Scottish author.
• 1861 - Peter Ernst von Lasaulx dies (b. 1805). German philosopher and writer.
• 1866 - Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born (d. 1915). Leader of Indian Independence Movement.
• 1868 - The city of Reno, Nevada is founded.
• 1873 - Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds Long Depression.
• 1873 - Anton Cermak was born (d. 1933). Mayor of Chicago.
• 1874 - The first horse-drawn omnibus made its début in the city of Mumbai, plying on two routes.
• 1874 - Howard Carter was born (d. 1939). English archaeologist (Egyptologist).
• 1877 - Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
• 1882 - George Barker was born (d. 1965). American painter.
• 1882 - Henry J. Kaiser was born (d. 1967). American shipbuilder.
• 1883 - José Ortega y Gasset was born (d. 1955). Spanish philosopher.
• 1886 - Francis Biddle was born. United States Attorney General
• 1887 - Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show opens in London.
• 1887 - Sir Ernest de Silva was born (d. 1957). Sri Lankan Philanthropist.
• 1888 - Rolf de Maré was born (d. 1964). Swedish art collector and museum director.
• 1889 - William S. Harney dies (b. 1800). American general.
• 1892 - Zita of Bourbon-Parma was born (d. 1989). Empress of Austria-Hungary.
• 1893 - William Moulton Marston was born. American psychologist, writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman)
• 1895 - Richard Barthelmess was born (d. 1963). American actor.
• 1895 - Ascenso Ferreira was born in Palmares (d. 1865). Brazilian poet.
• 1895 - Lucian Blaga was born. Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher.
• 1898 - André Rebouças dies (b. 1838). Brasilien engineer.
• 1901 - Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.
• 1903 - Paul Gauguin dies (b. 1848). French painter.
• 1904 - The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine to exceed 100mph.
• 1905 - Anna Jarvis dies (b. 1832). The model for Mother's Day.
• 1907 - Baldur von Schirach was born (d. 1974). Nazi official.
• 1907 - Kathryn Kuhlman was born (d. 1976). Famed evangelist.
• 1907 - Fred Warngård was born (d. 1950). Swedish athlete.
• 1908 - Mary Goldsmith was born (d. 2007). American ceramist.
• 1909 - Don Messer was born (d. 1973). Canadian country musician.
• 1910 - Barbara Woodhouse was born (d. 1988). Animal trainer.
• 1912 - Pedro Armendáriz was born (d. 1963). Mexican actor.
• 1912 - Per Imerslund was born (d. 1943). "The aryan idol"
• 1914 - J.T. Hearne becomes the first bowler to take 3000 first-class wickets.
• 1914 - Hank Snow was born (d. 1999). Canadian-born musician.
• 1914 - Carlo Maria Giulini was born (d. 2005). Italian musician and conductor.
• 1914 - C.W. Post dies (b. 1854). American food manufacturer.
• 1915 - World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
• 1915 - François Faber dies (b. 1887). Luxembourgish cyclist.
• 1918 - Portugal - Sidónio Pais is elected President.
• 1918 - Mike Wallace was born. American journalist
• 1918 - Orville L. Freeman was born (d. 2003). American politician.
• 1918 - Moisis Michail Bourlas was born. Greek member of the World War II resistance.
• 1918 - George Coşbuc dies (b. 1866). Romanian poet.
• 1919 - Arthur English was born (d. 1995). English actor and comedian.
• 1920 - Polish-Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrated their capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreschatyk.
• 1920 - Richard Adams was born. English author.
• 1920 - William Tenn was born. American author.
• 1921 - Mona Van Duyn was born (d. 2004). American poet.
• 1921 - Sophie Scholl was born (d. 1943). Resistance fighter with White Rose in Nazi Germany.
• 1923 - Johnny Grant was born (d. 2008). American radio personality, television producer.
• 1924 - Bulat Okudzhava was born (d. 1997). Russian writer and musician.
• 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.
• 1927 - Juan José Pizutti was born. Famous Argentine football goal scorer and manager of Racing.
• 1927 - Manfred Eigen was born. German biochemist and physicist who was awarded a share of the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (with Ronald Norrish and George Porter) "for their studies of extremely fast chemical reactions, effected by disturbing the equlibrium by means of very short pulses of energy.
• 1928 - Pancho Gonzalez was born (d. 1995). American tennis player.
• 1928 - Barbara Ann Scott was born. Canadian figure skater.
• 1928 - Colin Chapman was born (d. 1982). English engineer, founder of Lotus Cars.
  
• 1928 - Ralph Goings was born. American painter.
• 1930 - Joan Sims was born (d. 2001). British actress.
• 1931 - Vance Brand was born. American astronaut.
• 1931 - Albert Abraham Michelson dies (b. 19 Dec 1852). German-born American physicist who accurately measured the speed of light and received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physics "for his optical precision instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations".
• 1934 - Allan Bennett was born. British author.
• 1935 - Nokie Edwards was born. American guitarist (The Ventures).
• 1936 - Albert Finney was born. British actor.
• 1936 - Glenda Jackson was born. English actress and politician.
• 1936 - Dedé Santana was born. Brazilian humourist.
• 1936 - Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
• 1936 - Humfry (Gilbert Garth) Payne dies (b. 19 Fev 1902) . English archaeologist who studied Mediterranean archaeology and is known for his book Necrocorinthia (1931), a significant work on Corinthian pottery.
• 1937 - José Rafael Moneo was born. Spanish architect.
• 1937 - David Prater was born (d. 1988). American singer (Sam & Dave).
• 1938 - Charles Simic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. American poet.
• 1938 - Thomas B. Thrige dies (b. 1866). Danish industrialist.
• 1939 - Pierre Desproges was born (d. 1988). French humorist.
• 1939 - Ralph Boston was born. American athlete
• 1939 - Ion Ţiriac was born. Romanian tennis player and businessman
• 1940 - World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks French coastal submarine Doris near Den Helder.
• 1940 - James L. Brooks was born. American film producer and writer.
• 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.
• 1942 - Holocaust: German SS murder 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The victims were shot with machine gun in ravine on the order from Gebietskomissar Eggers and Chief of Gendarmerie Busse.
• 1942 - John Ashcroft was born. United States Attorney General.
• 1942 - Tommy Roe was born. American singer and songwriter.
• 1944 - Richie Furay was born. Musician ("Poco", "Buffalo Springfield").
• 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: Vidkun Quisling is arrested in Norway.
• 1945 - World War II: Red Army enters Prague (capitulation of Nazi occupation troops).
• 1945 - World War II: Partisans liberated Ljubljana.
• 1945 - World War II: Hermann Göring is captured by the United States Army.
• 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.
• 1946 - Candice Bergen was born. American actress.
• 1946 - Clint Holmes was born. English-born American singer and songwriter.
• 1948 - Calvin Murphy was born. Hall of Fame basketball player.
• 1949 - Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco.
• 1949 - Billy Joel was born. American musician.
• 1949 - Prince Louis II of Monaco dies (b. 1870).
• 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.
• 1950 - Esteban Terradas i Illa dies (b. 1883). Catalan mathematician, scientist, and engineer.
• 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.
• 1955 - Anne-Sofie von Otter was born. Swedish mezzo-soprano.
• 1955 - Kevin Peter Hall was born (d. 1991). American actor.
• 1955 - Meles Zenawi was born. Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
• 1955 - Kate Booth dies (b. 1858). The oldest daughter of William and Catherine Booth.
• 1956 - First ascent of Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest mountain.
• 1957 - Ezio Pinza dies (b. 1892). Italian bass.
• 1960 - The U. S. Food and Drug Administration approves sale of the birth control pill.
• 1960 - Tony Gwynn was born. Hall of Fame baseball player.
• 1961 - Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.
• 1961 - John Corbett was born. American actor.
• 1962 - David Gahan was born. English singer (Depeche Mode).
• 1962 - Paul Heaton was born. English singer/songwriter (Beautiful South).
• 1963 - Sanja Doležal was born. Croatian singer (Novi fosili).
• 1964 - Kevin Saunderson was born. US music producer and DJ.
• 1965 - Pianist Vladimir Horowitz gave his first public recital since 1953, at Carnegie Hall.
• 1965 - Ken Nomura was born. Japanese racing driver.
• 1965 - Janu Tornell was born. American model and Survivor contestant.
• 1965 - Leopold Figl dies (b. 1902). Austrian politician.
• 1965 - Steve Yzerman was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1968 - Marie-José Perec was born. French athlete.
• 1968 - Marion Lorne dies (b. 1885). American actress.
• 1968 - Mercedes de Acosta dies (b. 1893). American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite.
• 1968 - Finlay Currie dies (b. 1878). British actor.
• 1969 - Amber was born. Dutch musician
• 1970 - Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters peacefully demonstrate behind a barricaded White House.
• 1970 - Doug Christie was born. American basketball player.
• 1970 - Ghostface Killah was born. American rapper.
• 1970 - Andrew Watson Myles dies (b. 1884). Canadian politician.
• 1970 - Walter Reuther dies (b. 1907). American labor leader.
• 1971 - Paul McGuigan was born. British bassist (Oasis).
• 1972 - Megumi Odaka was born. Japanese actress and artist
• 1972 - Daniela Silivaş was born. Romanian gymnast.
• 1973 - Chu Sang-mi was born. South Korean actress.
• 1974 - Watergate Scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard M. Nixon.
  
• 1974 - Sam Schmidt was born. American race car driver.
• 1975 - Brian Deegan was born. Freestyle Motocross innovator.
• 1975 - Tamia was born. Canadian singer
• 1976 - Jens Bjørneboe dies (b. 1920). Norwegian author.
• 1976 - Ulrike Meinhof dies (b. 1934). German revolutionist.
• 1977 - Choi Jeong-yoon was born. South Korean actress.
• 1977 - Maggie Dixon was born (d. 2006). Women's college basketball coach.
• 1977 - Iñigo Landaluze was born. Spanish cyclist.
• 1977 - Dan Regan was born. American trombonist (Reel Big Fish).
• 1977 - James Jones dies (b. 1921). American writer.
• 1978 - Leandro Damián Cufré was born. Argentine football player.
• 1978 - Aaron Harang was born. Baseball pitcher.
• 1978 - Leandro Damián Cufré was born. Argentine footballer.
• 1978 - Aldo Moro dies (b. 1916). Prime Minister of Italy.
• 1979 - Rosario Dawson was born in New York. American movie star.
• 1979 - Pierre Bouvier was born. Canadian musician (Simple Plan).
• 1979 - Andrew W.K. was born. American musician.
• 1979 - Brandon Webb was born. American baseball player.
• 1979 - Cyrus Eaton dies (b. 1883). Canadian-American businessman and industrialist.
• 1980 - In Florida, Liberian freighter SS Summit Venture hits the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay sending 35 people (most of whom were 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.
• 1980 - In Norco, California, five masked gunman hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunman and two police officers were killed while thirty-three police and civilian vehicles were destroyed in the chase.
• 1980 - Cho Hyeon Jae was born. South Korean actor.
• 1980 - Grant Hackett was born. Australian swimmer.
• 1980 - Angela Nikodinov was born. American figure skater.
• 1980 - Tony Schmidt was born. German racing driver.
• 1980 - Dimitris Diamantidis was born. Greek basketball player.
• 1981 - Bill Murphy was born. American baseball player.
• 1981 - Tyler Lumsden was born. American baseball player.
• 1981 - Ralph Allen dies (b. 1906). English footballer.
• 1982 - Rachel Boston was born. American actress.
• 1983 - Gilles Müller was born. Luxembourgian tennis player.
• 1983 - Tyler Lumsden was born. American baseball player.
• 1984 - Prince Fielder was born. American baseball player.
• 1985 - Jake Long was born. American football player.
• 1985 - Edmond O'Brien dies (b. 1915). American actor.
• 1986 - Tenzing Norgay dies (b. 1914). Nepalese sherpa.
• 1987 - A Polish Ilyushin 62M crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland killing 183 people.
• 1987 - In Brussels, Belgium, Johnny Logan wins the thirty-second Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "Hold Me Now".
• 1987 - A Polish LOT Ilyushin IŁ 62M "Tadeusz Kościuszko" (SP-LBG). crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing 183 people.
• 1988 - The new Australian Parliament House opens in Canberra.
• 1988 - Skye Regan was born. Canadian actress and writer.
• 1988 - Steven "Sven" Rose was born. American Deist, Socialist.
• 1988 - John Ryan Fitzpatrick was born. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Driver.
• 1989 - Keith Whitley dies (b. 1955). American country music singer.
• 1990 - James Chadwick dies. Australian train conductor.
• 1992 - In Malmö, Sweden, Linda Martin wins the thirty-seventh Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland singing "Why Me".
• 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.
• 1992 - Armenian forces capture Shusha in the Karabakh War, marking a major turning point in that conflict.
• 1993 - Jacques Dextraze dies (b. 1919). French Canadian military officer.
• 1994 - Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.
• 1994 - Elias Motsoaledi dies (b. 1921). South African freedom fighter.
• 1996 - Mary Matilyn Mouser was born. American child actress.
• 1997 - Zane Huett was born. American child actor.
• 1997 - Marco Ferreri dies (b. 1928). Italian film director.
• 1998 - In Birmingham, United Kingdom, Dana International wins the forty-third Eurovision Song Contest for Israel singing "Diva".
• 1998 - Alice Faye dies (b. 1915). American actress.
• 1999 - On Mother's Day, a bus carrying 43 mostly elderly passengers to a Mississippi casino crashes on Interstate 610 in New Orleans, LA when the driver apparently passes out. Twenty-two passengers die.
• 2001 - James E. Myers dies (b. 1919). American songwriter (Rock Around the Clock) and producer.
• 2002 - The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agreed to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries. The standoff started on April 2.
• 2002 - In Kaspiysk, Russia, a remote-controlled bomb explodes during a holiday parade killing 43 and injuring at least 130.
• 2002 - Dan Devine dies. Former NCAA and National Football League Head Coach.
• 2003 - Russell B. Long dies. U.S. Senator from Louisiana.
• 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.
• 2004 - Akhmad Kadyrov dies (b. 1951). Chechen president.
• 2004 - Alan King dies (b. 1927). American comedian.
• 2005 - The last episode of the popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond goes on the air.
  Russia and some other parts of the former Soviet Union - Victory Day as the end of the "Great Patriotic War"
• 2005 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is selected as the successor of Pope John Paul II.
• 2005 - Nasrat Parsa dies (b. 1969). Afghani singer.
• 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.
• 2006 - George Preca canonised as the first Maltese saint in history.
• 2007 - Dwight Wilson dies (b. 1901). Second-to-last Canadian WWI veteran.
• 2007 - Edith Rodriguez dies (b. 1964). Hospital emergency room refused to treat.
• 2008 – Jack Gibson dies (b. 1929). Australian rugby league footballer and coach.
• 2008 – Nuala O'Faolain dies (b. 1942). Irish journalist.
• 2009 – Chuck Daly dies (b. 1930). American basketball coach.
  
• 2009 – Evgenios Spatharis dies (b. 1924). Greek shadow theatre artist.
  
• European Union - Europe day, commemorating the "Schuman declaration".
• Roman Empire - Feast of the Lemures (See Larvae)
• Russia and some other parts of the former Soviet Union – Victory Day as the end of the "Great Patriotic War".
• Armenia celebrates Victory Day to simultaneously mark the capture of Shusha in the Karabakh War and the victorious end of WWII.
• Jersey, Guernsey – Liberation Day (commemorating the end of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II).
• Orgasm Day in Esperantina, Piauí, Brazil / Dia do Orgasmo em Esperantina - Piauí - Brasil - Uma Lei municipal cria esse dia para ser fruído na localidade.
• Romania - Independence Day.