July 9th. TODAY IN HISTORY

July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 175 days remaining until the end of the year.


455 – Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

491 – Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theodoric the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna.

869 – A magnitude 8.6Ms earthquake and subsequent tsunami strikes the area around Sendai in the northern part of Honshu, Japan.

1357 – Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.

1386 – The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.

1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.

1572 – Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs in the Dutch town of Gorkum.

1701 – War of the Spanish Succession: Austrians defeat France in the Battle of Carpi.

1745 – War of the Austrian Succession: French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after.

1755 – French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition – British troops and colonial militiamen are ambushed and suffer a devastating defeat by French and Native
American forces.

1776 – George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence to be read out loud to members of the Continental Army in New York, New York for the first time.

1789 – In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent 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 – The Act Against Slavery is passed in Upper Canada and the importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited.

1807 – The Treaties of Tilsit are signed by Napoleon I of France and Alexander I of Russia.

1810 – Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire.

1811 – Explorer David Thompson posts a sign at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers (in modern Washington state, US), claiming the land for the United Kingdom.

1815 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France.

1816 – Argentina declares independence from Spain.

1821 – 470 prominent Cypriots including Archbishop Kyprianos are executed in response to Cypriot aid to the Greek War of Independence

1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies and Millard Fillmore becomes the 13th President of the United States.

1850 – The Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia.

1863 – American Civil War: the Siege of Port Hudson ends.

1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.

1875 – Outbreak of the Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans

1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championships opens.

1896 – William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech publicly condemning the 'New World Order' totalitarian schemes at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

1900 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gives Royal Assent to an Act creating Australia thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government.

1900 – Boxer Rebellion: The Governor of Shanxi province in North China orders the execution of 45 foreign Christian missionaries and local church members, including children.

1918 – Great Train Wreck of 1918: in Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.

1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.

1932 – The state of São Paulo revolts against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution

1943 – World War II: Operation Husky – Allied forces perform an amphibious invasion of Sicily.

1944 – World War II: Battle of Normandy – British and Canadian forces capture Caen, France.

1944 – World War II: Battle of Saipan – American forces take Saipan in the Mariana Islands.

1944 – World War II: Battle of Tali-Ihantala – Finland wins the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.

1955 – The Russell–Einstein Manifesto is released by Bertrand Russell in London, England, United Kingdom.

1958 – Lituya Bay is hit by a megatsunami. The wave is recorded at 524 meters high, the largest in recorded history.

1961 – Turkish voters approve the Turkish Constitution of 1961 in a referendum.

1962 – The Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test is conducted by the United States.

1962 – Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opens at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

1972 – The Troubles: In Belfast, British Army snipers shoot 5 civilians dead in the Springhill Massacre.

1979 – A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by famed "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claims responsibility.

1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana killing all 145 people on board and 8 others on the ground.

1986 – The Parliament of New Zealand passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.

1995 – The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.

1999 – Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.

2006 – At least 122 people are killed after a Sibir Airlines Airbus A310 passenger jet, carrying 200 passengers veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.

2008 – Iran conducts the Great Prophet III missile test and war games exercise.

2011 – South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.

Births

• 1511 – Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg, wife of Christian III of Denmark (d. 1571)
• 1577 – Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, English-born Jamestown colonist (d. 1618)
• 1578 – Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1637)
• 1648 – Arp Schnitger, German organ builder (d. 1719)
• 1654 – Emperor Reigen of Japan (d. 1732)
• 1686 – Philip Livingston, American politician (d. 1749)
• 1689 – Alexis Piron, French epigrammatist and dramatist (d. 1773)
• 1721 – Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet (d. 1781)
• 1753 – William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, English territorial governor (d. 1825)
• 1764 – Ann Radcliffe, English novelist (d. 1823)
• 1775 – Matthew Lewis, English novelist (d. 1818)
• 1786 – Princess Sophie Hélène Béatrice of France, daughter of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette (d. 1787)
• 1800 – Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician (d. 1885)
• 1808 – Alexander William Doniphan, American lawyer and soldier (d. 1887)
• 1819 – Elias Howe, American inventor (d. 1867)
• 1828 – Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano, Italian Catholic churchman (d. 1913)
• 1834 – Jan Neruda, Czech poet (d. 1891)
• 1836 – Camille of Renesse-Breidbach, Belgian nobleman and entrepreneur (d. 1904)
• 1848 – Robert I, Duke of Parma, Italian nobleman (d. 1907)
• 1858 – Franz Boas, German anthropologist (d. 1942)
• 1879 – Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer (d. 1936)
• 1879 – Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician (d. 1934)
• 1887 – James Ormsbee Chapin, American painter and illustrator (d. 1975)
• 1889 – Léo Dandurand, American-born Canadian hockey executive (d. 1964)
• 1893 – George Geary, English cricketer (d. 1981)
• 1894 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
• 1896 – Maria Gomes Valentim, Brazilian supercentenarian (d. 2011)
• 1901 – Dame Barbara Cartland, English novelist (d. 2000)
• 1901 – Konstantinos Kallias, Greek politician (d. 2004)
• 1905 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian hockey executive (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani scholar, orator and philosopher (d. 1973)
• 1911 – Mervyn Peake, British writer and illustrator (d. 1968)
• 1911 – John A. Wheeler, American physicist (d. 2008)
• 1915 – David Diamond, American composer (d. 2005)
• 1916 – Sir Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer (d. 1984)
• 1916 – Edward Heath, British statesman (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, Dutch mathematician, professor emeritus (d. 2012)
• 1918 – Jarl Wahlström, Finnish 12th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1999)
• 1925 – Guru Dutt, Indian filmmaker and actor (d. 1964)
• 1925 – Charles E. Wicks, American academic
• 1926 – Ben Roy Mottelson, American-born physicist; Nobel laureate
• 1927 – Ed Ames, American singer and actor
• 1927 – Susan Cabot, American actress (d. 1986)
• 1927 – Red Kelly, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1928 – Federico Bahamontes, Spanish cyclist
• 1928 – Vince Edwards, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1929 – King Hassan II of Morocco (d. 1999)
• 1929 – Lee Hazlewood, American country singer, songwriter and producer (d. 2007)
• 1929 – Jesse McReynolds, American singer and mandolinist
• 1930 – Buddy Bregman, American musical arranger and conductor
• 1930 – Roy McLean, South African cricketer (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Donald Rumsfeld, 13th and 21st United States Secretary of Defense
• 1932 – Amitzur Shapira, Israeli short-distance runner (d. 1972)
• 1933 – Oliver Sacks, British neurologist and author
• 1934 – Michael Graves, American architect
• 1935 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician (d. 2005)
• 1935 – Michael Williams, English actor (d. 2001)
• 1935 – Mercedes Sosa, Argentine singer (d. 2009)
• 1936 – Floyd Abrams, American attorney and advocate
• 1936 – June Jordan, American poet, writer and teacher (d. 2002)
• 1936 – André Pronovost, French-Canadian ice hockey player
• 1936 – Richard Wilson, Scottish actor and director
• 1937 – David Hockney, English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer
• 1938 – Paul Chihara, Japanese-American composer
• 1938 – Brian Dennehy, American actor
• 1938 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indian actor (d.1985)
• 1940 – Eugene Victor Wolfenstein, American political scientist (d. 2010)
• 1942 – Richard Roundtree, American actor
• 1942 – Edy Williams, American actress
• 1943 – John Casper, American astronaut
• 1943 – Soledad Miranda, Spanish actress (d. 1970)
• 1945 – Dean Koontz, American novelist
• 1945 – Root Boy Slim, American entertainer (d. 1993)
• 1946 – Natasha Pyne, English actress
• 1946 – Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC) (d. 1980)
• 1946 – Gerhard Kramm American atmospheric scientist
• 1947 – Haruomi Hosono, Japanese bassist (Yellow Magic Orchestra)
• 1947 – Mitch Mitchell, English drummer (The Jimi Hendrix Experience) (d. 2008)
• 1947 – O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor
• 1948 – Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesian politician
• 1949 – Jesse Duplantis, American evangelist and author
• 1950 – Adriano Panatta, Italian tennis player
• 1950 – Viktor Yanukovych, President of Ukraine
• 1951 – Chris Cooper, American actor
• 1952 – John Tesh, American composer
• 1953 – Margie Gillis, Canadian dancer and choreographer
• 1953 – Thomas Ligotti, American writer
• 1955 – Steve Coppell, English footballer and manager
• 1955 – Fred Norris, American radio personality
• 1955 – Jimmy Smits, American actor
• 1955 – Willie Wilson, American baseball player
• 1955 – Lindsey Graham, American politician
• 1956 – Tom Hanks, American actor
• 1957 – Tim Kring, American writer and producer
• 1957 – Marc Almond, British singer
• 1957 – Kelly McGillis, American actress
• 1957 – Paul Merton, British comedian
• 1957 – Jim Paxson, American basketball player
• 1959 – Jim Kerr, Scottish singer (Simple Minds)
• 1959 – Kevin Nash, American pro wrestler
• 1959 – Clive Stafford Smith, British lawyer
• 1960 – Marc Mero, American pro wrestler
• 1963 – Klaus Theiss, German footballer
• 1964 – Courtney Love, American singer and guitarist (Hole) and actress
• 1964 – Gianluca Vialli, Italian football player and coach
• 1965 – Frank Bello, American bassist (Anthrax)
• 1965 – Thomas Jahn, German actor and director
• 1965 – David O'Hara, Scottish actor
• 1965 – Jason Rhoades, American installation artist (d. 2006)
• 1965 – Michael Spies, German footballer
• 1966 – Pamela Adlon, American voice actress
• 1966 – Marco Pennette, American television producer
• 1967 – Gunnar Axén, Swedish politician
• 1967 – Mark Stoops, American football coach
• 1968 – Paolo Di Canio, Italian football player
• 1968 – Lars Gyllenhaal, Swedish historian
• 1969 – Jason Kearton, Australian footballer
• 1969 – Mark Lui, Hong Kong composer and producer
• 1970 – Trent Green, American football player
• 1970 – Masami Tsuda, Japanese manga author
• 1971 – Marc Andreessen, American software developer
• 1971 – Scott Grimes, American voice actor (American Dad!)
• 1973 – Kelly Holcomb, American football player
• 1973 – Enrique Murciano, American actor
• 1974 – Siân Berry, British politician
• 1974 – Gary Kelly, Irish football player
• 1974 – Nikola Sarcevic, Swedish bassist and singer (Millencolin)
• 1974 – Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Japanese actor & singer (SMAP)
• 1974 – Dani Behr, English model and TV presenter
• 1975 – Shelton Benjamin, American pro wrestler
• 1975 – Isaac Brock, American singer and musician (Modest Mouse, Ugly Casanova)
• 1975 – Nathaniel Marston, American actor
• 1975 – Craig Quinnell, Welsh rugby player
• 1975 – Jack White, American vocalist and musician (The White Stripes)
• 1976 – Thomas Cichon, German footballer
• 1976 – Christos Harisis, Greek basketball player
• 1976 – Fred Savage, American actor
• 1976 – Jochem Uytdehaage, Dutch speed skater
• 1978 – Kara Goucher, American long distance runner
• 1978 – Linda Park, American (Korean-born) actress
• 1978 – Mark Medlock, German singer
• 1978 – Nuno Santos, Portuguese footballer
• 1979 – Ella Koon, Hong Kong singer and actress
• 1981 – Kimveer Gill, Canadian spree shooter (Dawson College shooting) (d. 2006)
• 1982 – Ashly DelGrosso, American ballroom dancer
• 1982 – Alecko Eskandarian, American footballer
• 1982 – Toby Kebbell, English actor
• 1982 – Maggie Ma, Canadian actress
• 1982 – Sakon Yamamoto, Japanese racing driver
• 1983 – Lucia Micarelli, American violinist (Jethro Tull)
• 1984 – Gianni Fabiano, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Jacob Hoggard, Canadian singer (Hedley)
• 1985 – Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer
• 1985 – Ashley Young, English footballer
• 1986 – Dominic Cervi, American footballer
• 1986 – Simon Dumont, American freestyle skier
• 1986 – Kiely Williams, American singer and actress
• 1990 – Rafael Pereira da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1990 – Fábio Pereira da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1991 – Spencer Elden, American model
• 1991 – Mitchel Musso, American actor
• 1993 – Jake Vargas, Filipino actor
• 1995 – Georgie Henley, English actress

Deaths

• 518 – Anastasius I, Byzantine Emperor (b. 430)
• 1228 – Stephen Langton, English clergyman, Archbishop of Canterbury (b.c. 1150)
• 1386 – Duke Leopold III of Austria (b. 1351)
• 1553 – Maurice, Elector of Saxony (b. 1521)
• 1654 – Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans (b. 1633)
• 1706 – Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, French-Canadian sailor and explorer (b. 1661)
• 1737 – Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1671)
• 1742 – John Oldmixon, English historian (b. 1673)
• 1746 – King Philip V of Spain (b. 1683)
• 1747 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian composer (b. 1670)
• 1756 – Pieter Langendijk, Dutch dramatist and poet (b. 1683); other date proposed is July 18 (see)
• 1766 – Jonathan Mayhew, American minister (b. 1720)
• 1771 – Michail Baknanas, Greek trader (birth year unknown)
• 1795 – Henry Seymour Conway, British general and statesman (b. 1721)
• 1797 – Edmund Burke, British philosopher and statesman (b. 1729)
• 1850 – Báb, Persian founder of Bábism (b. 1819)
• 1850 – Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (b. 1784)
• 1852 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American politician (b. 1794)
• 1855 – FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, British military officer (b. 1788)
• 1856 – Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist (b. 1776)
• 1856 – James Strang, American religious figure (b. 1813)
• 1880 – Paul Broca, French physician and anatomist (b. 1824)
• 1882 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean war hero(b. 1848)
• 1903 – Alphonse Francois Renard, Belgian geologist (b. 1842)
• 1927 – John Drew, Jr., American actor (b. 1853)
• 1932 – King C. Gillette, American inventor (b. 1855)
• 1937 – Oliver Law, American military officer (b. 1899)
• 1938 – Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (b. 1870)
• 1947 – Lucjan Żeligowski, Polish general (b. 1865)
• 1949 – Fritz Hart, English-born Australian composer (b. 1874)
• 1951 – Harry Heilmann, American baseball player (b. 1894)
• 1955 – Don Beauman, British racing driver (b. 1928)
• 1959 – Ferenc Talányi, Slovene writer, partisan and painter (b. 1883)
• 1967 – Eugen Fischer, German physician (b. 1874)
• 1972 – Robert Weede, American baritone (b. 1903)
• 1974 – Earl Warren, American jurist (b. 1891)
• 1977 – Alice Paul, American suffragist figure (b. 1885)
• 1979 – Cornelia Otis Skinner, American actress and author (b. 1899)
• 1980 – Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet and lyricist (b. 1913)
• 1983 – Keith Wickenden, British politician (b. 1932)
• 1985 – Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
• 1985 – Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish-born American founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
• 1986 – Nicholas VI, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria (b. 1915)
• 1992 – Kelvin Coe, Australian ballet dancer (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Eric Sevareid, American reporter (b. 1912)
• 1994 – Bill Mosienko, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
• 1996 – Melvin Belli, American attorney (b. 1907)
• 1999 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian politician (b. 1944)
• 2000 – Doug Fisher, English actor (b. 1941)
• 2002 – Laurence Janifer, American writer (b. 1933)
• 2002 – Mayo Kaan, bodybuilder (b. 1914)
• 2002 – Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
• 2004 – Paul Klebnikov, American journalist (b. 1963)
• 2004 – Isabel Sanford, American actress (b. 1917)
• 2004 – Riley Dobi Noel, American convicted murderer (b. 1972)
• 2005 – Chuck Cadman, Canadian politician (b. 1948)
• 2005 – Yevgenij Grishin, Russian speed skater (b. 1931)
• 2005 – Alex Shibicky, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1914)
• 2005 – Kevin Hagen, American actor (b. 1928)
• 2006 – Milan Williams, American keyboardist (Commodores) (b. 1948)
• 2007 – Charles Lane, American actor (b. 1905)
• 2008 – Séamus Brennan, Irish politician (b. 1948)
• 2010 – Jessica Anderson, Australian novelist (b. 1916)
• 2011 – Don Ackerman, American basketball player (b. 1930)
• 2011 – Facundo Cabral, Argentine musician (b. 1937)
• 2011 – Würzel, English musician (b. 1949)