From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

May 9 is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 236 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 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.
• 1012 BC – Solar Eclipse seen at Ugarit, 6:09–6:39 PM.
• 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch bishop of Alexandria.
• 1092 – Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.
• 1450 – 'Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is 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 England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
• 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.
• 1873 – Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds the Long Depression.
• 1874 – The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, traveling two routes.
• 1877 – Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
• 1887 – Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.
• 1901 – Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.
• 1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100mph.
• 1911 – The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio placed by the Vatican in the Index of Forbidden Books.
• 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 celebrates its 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 Byrd's diary seems to indicate that this did not happen).
• 1927 – The Australian Parliament first convenes in Canberra.
• 1933 – About 25,000 books, including at least one copy of the Bible, burned by the Nazis in Germany.
• 1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
• 1937 – Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy took to the airwaves becoming an overnight radio sensation.
• 1940 – World War II: The German submarine U-9 sinks the 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 – Holocaust: The SS murder 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto is destroyed and all its inhabitants murdered or deported.
• 1945 – World War II: Ratification in Berlin-Karlshorst of the German unconditional surrender of May 8 in Rheims, France, with the signatures of Marshal Georgy Zhukov for the Soviet Union, and for the Western Headquarters Sir Arthur Tedder, British Air Marshal and Eisenhower’s deputy, and for the German side of 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: General Alexander Löhr, commander of German Army Group E in Topolšica signs the unconditional surrender of German occupying forces in former Yugoslavia ending World War II in Slovenia.
• 1945 – World War II: Partisans liberate Ljubljana.
• 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: The 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's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is released.
• 1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
• 1955 – Sam and Friends debuts on a local United States 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 FDA announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
• 1961 – Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.
• 1969 – Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
• 1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.
• 1974 – Watergate Scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
• 1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. 35 people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.
• 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 gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
• 1980 – The first meeting of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury takes place in Ghana.
• 1987 – A Polish LOT Ilyushin IL-62M "Tadeusz Kościuszko" (SP-LBG) crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing 183 people.
• 1988 – The new Australian Parliament House opens in Canberra.
• 1992 – Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the Karabakh War.
• 2001 – In Ghana 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium Disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium)that followed a controversial decision by the referee handling a crucial match between arch-rivals Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
• 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 land mine bomb blast under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya.
• 2006 – Estonia ratifies the European Constitution.

Births

• 1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1199)
• 1741 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (d. 1816)
• 1800 – John Brown, American abolitionist (d. 1859)
• 1837 – Adam Opel, German engineer and industrialist (d. 1895)
• 1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (d. 1937)
• 1866 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Leader of Indian Independence Movement (d. 1915)
• 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 shipbuilder (d. 1967)
• 1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (d. 1955)
• 1886 – Francis Biddle, United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
• 1887 – Sir Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan Philanthropist (d. 1957)
• 1892 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria-Hungary (d. 1989)
• 1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist, writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman) (d. 1947)
• 1895 – Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)
• 1895 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
• 1888 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector and museum director (d. 1964)
• 1907 – Kathryn Kuhlman, famed evangelist (d. 1976)
• 1907 – Baldur von Schirach, Nazi official (d. 1974)
• 1907 – Fred Warngård, Swedish athlete (d. 1950)
• 1908 – Mary Goldsmith, American ceramist (d. 2007)
• 1909 – Don Messer, Canadian country musician (d. 1973)
• 1912 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (d. 1963)
• 1912 – Per Imerslund, Norwegian writer (d. 1943)
• 1914 – Denham Fouts, American male prostitute and socialite (d. 1948)
• 1914 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian musician and conductor (d. 2005)
• 1914 – Hank Snow, American country music singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek member of the World War II resistance
• 1918 – Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist
• 1919 – Arthur English, English actor and comedian (d. 1995)
• 1920 – Richard Adams, English author
• 1920 – William Tenn, American author
• 1921 – Daniel Berrigan, American peace activist
• 1921 – Sophie Scholl, resistance fighter in Nazi Germany (d. 1943)
• 1921 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet (d. 2004)
• 1923 – Johnny Grant, American radio personality, television producer (d. 2008)
• 1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian writer and musician (d. 1997)
• 1927 – Manfred Eigen, German biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
• 1928 – Ralph Goings, American painter
• 1928 – Pancho Gonzalez, American tennis player (d. 1995)
• 1928 – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater
• 1929 – Kay Dotrice, British actress (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Joan Sims, British actress (d. 2001)
• 1930 – Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan writer and linguist
• 1931 – Vance Brand, American astronaut
• 1932 – Geraldine McEwan, English actress
• 1933 – Jessica Steele, English romance novelist
• 1934 – Alan Bennett, British author
• 1935 – Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (The Ventures)
• 1935 – Roger Hargreaves, English children's author (Mr. Men) (d. 1988)
• 1936 – Albert Finney, British actor
• 1936 – Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
• 1937 – José Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect
• 1937 – David Prater, American singer (Sam & Dave) (d. 1988)
• 1938 – Charles Simic, Yugoslavian-born poet, 15th Poet Laureate of the United States
• 1939 – Ralph Boston, American athlete
• 1939 – Pierre Desproges, French humorist (d. 1988)
• 1939 – Ion Ţiriac, Romanian tennis manager
• 1940 – James L. Brooks, American film producer and writer
• 1942 – John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
• 1942 – Tommy Roe, American singer and songwriter
• 1943 – Anders Isaksson, Swedish journalist, writer, and historian (d. 2009)
• 1944 – Richie Furay, American musician (Poco and Buffalo Springfield)
• 1944 – Laurence Owen, American figure skater (d.1961)
• 1945 – Steve Katz, American musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
• 1946 – Candice Bergen, American actress
• 1946 – Clint Holmes, English-born American singer and songwriter
• 1948 – Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician
• 1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player
• 1949 – Billy Joel, American musician
• 1951 – Alley Mills, American actress
• 1953 – Bruno Brokken, Belgian high jumper
• 1955 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1955 – Anne-Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
• 1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
• 1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
• 1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player
• 1961 – Sean Altman , singer (Rockapella)
• 1962 – John Corbett, American actor
• 1962 – David Gahan, English singer (Depeche Mode)
• 1962 – Paul Heaton, English singer/songwriter (Beautiful South)
• 1963 – Sanja Doležal, Croatian singer (Novi fosili)
• 1964 – Kevin Saunderson, American music producer and disc jockey
• 1965 – Ken Nomura, Japanese racing driver
• 1965 – Janu Tornell, American model and Survivor contestant
• 1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1968 – David Benoit, American basketball player
• 1968 – Marie-José Perec, French athlete
• 1969 – Amber, Dutch musician
• 1969 – Hudson Leick, American actress
• 1970 – Doug Christie, American basketball player
• 1970 – Ghostface Killah, American rapper
• 1971 – Paul McGuigan, English bassist (Oasis)
• 1972 – Dana Perino, former White House press secretary
• 1972 – Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and artist
• 1972 – Daniela Silivaş, Romanian gymnast and Olympic Champion
• 1973 – Chu Sang-mi, South Korean actress
• 1975 – Brian Deegan, freestyle motocross innovator
• 1975 – Chris Diamantopoulos, Canadian actor
• 1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer
• 1977 – Choi Jeong-yoon, South Korean actress
• 1977 – Maggie Dixon, American college basketball coach (d. 2006)
• 1977 – Iñigo Landaluze, Spanish cyclist
• 1978 – Leandro Damián Cufré, Argentine footballer
• 1978 – Aaron Harang, American baseball player
• 1979 – Dionysis Boukouvalas, Greek composer, pianist and musicologist
• 1979 – Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
• 1979 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
• 1979 – Matt Morris, American singer-songwriter
• 1979 – Andrew W.K., American musician
• 1979 – Brandon Webb, American baseball player
• 1980 – Jo Hyeon-jae, South Korean actor
• 1980 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
• 1980 – Angela Nikodinov, American figure skater
• 1980 – Tony Schmidt, German racing driver
• 1981 – Bill Murphy, American baseball player
• 1981 – Yu Yokoyama, Japanese actor and singer
• 1982 – Rachel Boston, American actress
• 1983 – Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
• 1983 – Ryuhei Matsuda, Japanese actor
• 1983 – Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
• 1984 – Prince Fielder, American baseball player
• 1985 – Jake Long, American football player
• 1985 – Audrina Patridge, American actress
• 1988 – Skye Regan, Canadian actress and writer
• 1988 – John Ryan Fitzpatrick, Canadian race truck driver
• 1992 – Chris Gutierrez, Filipino actor
• 1993 – Ryosuke Yamada, Japanese actor and singer
• 1997 – Zane Huett, American actor

Deaths

• 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
• 1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer(b. 1663)
• 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)
• 1914 – C.W. Post, American food manufacturer (b. 1854)
• 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)
• 1965 – Leopold Figl, Austrian politician (b. 1902)
• 1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b. 1893)
• 1968 – Finlay Currie, British actor (b. 1878)
• 1968 – Marion Lorne, American actress (b. 1885)
• 1970 – Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
• 1970 – Walter Reuther, American labor leader (b. 1907)
• 1976 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
• 1976 – Ulrike Meinhof, German revolutionist (b. 1934)
• 1977 – James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)
• 1978 – Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
• 1979 – Cyrus Eaton, Canadian-American businessman and industrialist (b. 1883)
• 1981 – Ralph Allen, English footballer (b. 1906)
• 1985 – Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915)
• 1986 – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa and 1st sherpa to climb Mt. Everest (b. 1914)
• 1989 – Keith Whitley, American country music singer (b. 1955)
• 1993 – Jacques Dextraze, French Canadian military officer (b. 1919)
• 1994 – Elias Motsoaledi, South African freedom fighter (b. 1924)
• 1997 – Marco Ferreri, Italian film director (b. 1928)
• 1998 – Alice Faye, American actress (b. 1915)
• 2001 – James E. Myers, American songwriter (Rock Around the Clock) and producer (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Dan Devine, American football coach (b. 1924)
• 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)
• 2007 – Dwight Wilson, second-to-last Canadian WWI veteran (b. 1901)
• 2007 – Edith Rodriguez, hospital emergency room refused to treat (b. 1964)
• 2008 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league footballer and coach (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist (b. 1942)
• 2009 – Chuck Daly, American basketball coach (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Evgenios Spatharis, Greek shadow theatre artist (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances

• Armenia: Victory Day to simultaneously mark the capture of Shusha in the Karabakh War and the victorious end of World War II.
• Europe Day, commemorating the Schuman Declaration.
• Guernsey, Jersey: Liberation Day (commemorating the end of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II).
• Romania: Independence Day
• Roman Empire – Feast of the Lemures (See Lemures).
• Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Moldova and other Post-Soviet states: Victory Day (also observed by many Russophones in other parts of the world)
• Scientology: Anniversary of Dianetics
• Eastern Orthodox Church: Saint Christopher (Αγιος Χριστόφορος)
• Beatus of Lungern
• Beatus of Vendome
• Saint Gerontius (d. 501)
• Saint Pachomius (d. 346)
• Saint Tudi
• Saint George Preca (d. 1962)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

From Wikiquote

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. ~ George Washington (Mother's Day 2004)

• selected by Kalki

2005

Life is a long lesson in humility. ~ J. M. Barrie (born 9 May 1860)

• selected by Kalki

2006

The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us. ~ Nelson Mandela (inaugurated as President of the Republic of South Africa, 9 May 1994)

• selected by Kalki

2007

Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did. ~ Sophie Scholl of the White Rose

• selected by Kalki

2008

Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. ~ J. M. Barrie (born 9 May 1860)

• proposed by Zarbon

2009

The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it. ~ J. M. Barrie

• proposed by Zarbon

2010

Suggestions

Power is what spoils people. Yes, it seems to me that the seeking after power is the great danger and the great corruptor of mankind. ~ Baldur von Schirach (born May 9)

• 3 and lean toward a 4, because power can corrupt anyone. Zarbon 04:49, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 06:21, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Aphaia 08:57, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 17:16, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

What we do we do not merely with our hands and brains, but with our hearts and souls. This has often become a tragic fate for us. ~ Baldur von Schirach (born May 9)

• 3 Zarbon 04:49, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
• 1 InvisibleSun 06:21, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Aphaia 08:57, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 17:16, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Standards always are out of date. That is what makes them standards. ~ Alan Bennett (born May 9, 1934)

• 3 InvisibleSun
• 4 Aphaia 08:57, 8 May 2008 (UTC) Witty, isn't it?
• 1 Zarbon 12:38, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 17:16, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

The best moments in reading are when you come across something — a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things — that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it's as if a hand has come out, and taken yours. ~ Alan Bennett (from The History Boys, for which Bennett wrote both the play and the screenplay)

• 3 InvisibleSun 06:21, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 12:38, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 17:16, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

I am fully persuaded that I am worth inconceivably more to hang than any other purpose. ~ John Brown (born May 9, 1800)

• 3 InvisibleSun 06:21, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Aphaia 08:57, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Zarbon 12:38, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 09:03, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

It is not enough that we have a guilty defendant. We must have an innocent system as well. - John Ashcroft

• 4 because though Justice remains blind, the scales of Lady Justice must always remain balanced. This is a very symbolic reference. Zarbon 02:38, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:58, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 09:03, 9 May 2009 (UTC) I can agree with the statement fully, but don't find it all that impressive as a quote.

I'm convinced that faith is a matter of inspiration, not a matter of imposition. It is something a person models rather than mandates. Faith does not impose itself on other people. Imposition usually sacrifices somebody else; it seeks to injure or extort others. ~ John Ashcroft

• 3 Zarbon 02:38, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 22:58, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 09:03, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Through it all, I've learned to trust that God does indeed have a plan and purpose for me. Trust doesn't come into play when you can figure everything out; that's mere reason. Trust operates when you can't understand why circumstances or events happen. That's where it takes faith to believe that God knows what is best for our lives. ~ John Ashcroft

• 3 Zarbon 02:38, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:58, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 09:03, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

This day had been a nightmare, and I had not yet been asleep. ~ John Ashcroft

• 3 Zarbon 02:38, 7 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:58, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 09:03, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Doing what is right in the face of adversity is not always easy or popular. Critics may assail you, but the critics don't always realize what they don't know or don't understand, because they don't have access to all the information. ~ John Ashcroft

• 3 Zarbon 20:15, 24 March 2009 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 22:58, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 09:03, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Articles detailing events that are related to May 9. This may include the release of games or systems, the founding of a video game related company or some other important event.

From Familypedia

May 9 is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 236 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo 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.
• 328 - Athanasius is elected Patriarch bishop of Alexandria.
• 1092 - Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.
• 1450 - 'Abd al-Latif (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 England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
• 1726 - Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
• 1868 - The city of Reno, is founded.
• 1873 - Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds Long Depression .
• 1874 - The first horse-drawn omnibus made its début in the city of Mumbai, plying on two routes.
• 1877 - Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania
• 1887 - Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.
• 1901 - Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.
• 1904 - The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine to exceed 100mph.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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. FDA announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
• 1961 - Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.
• 1965 - Pianist Vladimir Horowitz gave his first public recital since 1953, at Carnegie Hall.
• 1965 - Bob Dylan played the first of two sold-out performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
• 1970 - Vietnam War: In Washington, 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the 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 - In Norco, 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 one police officers was killed while thirty-three police and civilian vehicles were destroyed in the chase.
• 1980 - The first meeting of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury takes place in Ghana.
• 1987 - A Polish LOT Ilyushin IL-62M "Tadeusz Kościuszko" (SP-LBG). crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, killing 183 people.
• 1988 - The new Australian Parliament House opens in Canberra.
• 1992 - At 5:18 a.m. ADT The Westray Mine in Plymouth 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.
• 1999 - On Mother's Day, a bus carrying 43 mostly elderly passengers to a Mississippi casino crashes on Interstate 610 in New Orleans when the driver apparently passes out. Twenty-two passengers die.
• 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, Australia.
• 2006 - Estonia ratifies the European Constitution.

Births

• 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 (d. 1895)
• 1860 - J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (d. 1937)
• 1866 - Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Leader of Indian Independence Movement(d. 1915)
• 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 shipbuilder (d. 1967)
• 1883 - José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (d. 1955)
• 1886 - Francis Biddle, United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
• 1892 - Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Empress of Austria-Hungary (d. 1989)
• 1893 - William Moulton Marston, American psychologist, writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman) (d. 1947)
• 1895 - Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)
• 1895 - Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
• 1888 - Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector and museum director (d. 1964)
• 1907 - Baldur von Schirach, Nazi official (d. 1974)
• 1907 - Kathryn Kuhlman, famed evangelist (d. 1976)
• 1907 - Fred Warngård, Swedish athlete (d. 1950)
• 1909 - Don Messer, Canadian country musician (d. 1973)
• 1912 - Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican actor (d. 1963)
• 1912 - Per Imerslund, "The aryan idol" (d. 1943)
• 1914 - Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian musician and conductor (d. 2005)
• 1918 - Mike Wallace, American journalist
• 1918 - Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1918 - Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek member of the World War II resistance
• 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)
• 1931 - Vance Brand, American astronaut
• 1934 - Alan Bennett, British author
• 1936 - Albert Finney, British actor
• 1936 - Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
• 1937 - José Rafael Moneo, Spanish architect
• 1937 - David Prater, American singer (Sam & Dave) (d. 1988)
• 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
• 1942 - Tommy Roe, American singer and songwriter
• 1944 - Richie Furay, American musician (Poco and Buffalo Springfield)
• 1946 - Candice Bergen, American actress
• 1946 - Clint Holmes, English-born American singer and songwriter
• 1948 - Calvin Murphy, Hall of Fame basketball player
• 1949 - Billy Joel, American musician
• 1955 - Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1955 - Anne-Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
• 1955 - Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
• 1960 - Tony Gwynn, Hall of Fame baseball player
• 1961 - John Corbett, American actor
• 1962 - David Gahan, English singer (Depeche Mode)
• 1962 - Paul Heaton, English singer/songwriter (Beautiful South)
• 1963 - Sanja Doležal, Croatian singer (Novi fosili)
• 1964 - Kevin Saunderson, American music producer and disc jockey
• 1965 - Ken Nomura, Japanese racing driver
• 1965 - Janu Tornell, American model and Survivor contestant
• 1965 - Steve Yzerman, Canadian hockey player
• 1968 - Marie-José Perec, French athlete
• 1969 - Amber, Dutch musician
• 1970 - Doug Christie, American basketball player
• 1970 - Ghostface Killah, American rapper
• 1971 - Paul McGuigan, British bassist (Oasis)
• 1972 - Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and artist
• 1972 - Daniela Silivaş, Romanian gymnast
• 1973 - Chu Sang-mi, South Korean actress
• 1975 - Brian Deegan, Freestyle Motocross innovator.
• 1975 - Tamia, Canadian R&B singer
• 1977 - Choi Jeong-yoon, South Korean actress
• 1977 - Maggie Dixon, Women's college basketball coach (d. 2006)
• 1977 - Iñigo Landaluze, Spanish cyclist
• 1977 - Dan Regan, trombonist, Reel Big Fish
• 1978 - Leandro Damián Cufré, Argentine football player
• 1978 - Aaron Harang, baseball pitcher
• 1979 - Rosario Dawson, American actress
• 1979 - Pierre Bouvier, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
• 1979 - Andrew W.K., American musician
• 1979 - Brandon Webb, American baseball player
• 1980 - Cho Hyeon Jae, South Korean actor
• 1980 - Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
• 1980 - Angela Nikodinov, American figure skater
• 1980 - Tony Schmidt, German racing driver
• 1981 - Bill Murphy, American baseball player
• 1982 - Rachel Boston, American actress
• 1983 - Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
• 1984 - Prince Fielder, American baseball player
• 1988 - John Ryan Fitzpatrick, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Driver

Deaths

• 1315 - Hugh V (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
• 1745 - Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer(b. 1663)
• 1747 - John Dalrymple, 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)
• 1914 - C.W. Post, American food manufacturer (b. 1854)
• 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)
• 1965 - Leopold Figl, Austrian politician (b. 1902)
• 1968 - Mercedes de Acosta, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b. 1893)
• 1968 - Finlay Currie, British actor (b. 1878)
• 1968 - Marion Lorne, American actress (b. 1885)
• 1970 - Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
• 1970 - Walter Reuther, American labor leader (b. 1907)
• 1976 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (b. 1920)
• 1976 - Ulrike Meinhof, German revolutionist (b. 1934)
• 1977 - James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)
• 1978 - Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
• 1979 - Cyrus Eaton, Canadian-American businessman and industrialist (b. 1883)
• 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)
• 1990 - James Chadwick,, Australian train conductor
• 1993 - Jacques Dextraze, French Canadian military officer (b. 1919)
• 1994 - Elias Motsoaledi, South African freedom fighter (b. 1924)
• 1997 - Marco Ferreri, Italian film director (b. 1928)
• 1998 - Alice Faye, American actress (b. 1915)
• 2001 - James E. Myers, American songwriter (Rock Around the Clock) and producer (b. 1919)
• 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)
• 2007 - Dwight Wilson, second-to-last Canadian WWI veteran (b. 1901)

Tony Gwinn

Holidays and observances

• 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 World War II.
• European Union – Europe day, commemorating the "Schuman declaration".
• Romania - Independence Day.
• 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).
• Espertantina, Brazil - Orgasm Day

Liturgical feasts

• Beatus of Lungern
• Beatus of Vendome
• Saint Gerontius (died 501)
• Saint Pachomius (died 346)
• Saint Tudi
• Saint George Preca (born 1880 - died 1962)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day

• On This Day in Canada