May 9

For the World War II-related holiday in the Eastern Bloc countries, see Victory Day (9 May).

May 9 in recent years

2024 (Thursday)

2023 (Tuesday)

2022 (Monday)

2021 (Sunday)

2020 (Saturday)

2019 (Thursday)

2018 (Wednesday)

2017 (Tuesday)

2016 (Monday)

2015 (Saturday)

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

Events

• 328 adam officially becomes the koolest kid in the world
• 1092 – Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated.
• 1450 – 'Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) is assassinated.
• 1662 – The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England.
• 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.
• 1763 – The Siege of Fort Detroit begins during Pontiac's War against British forces.
• 1864 – Second War of Schleswig: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.
• 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.
• 1877 – A magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru kills 2,541, including some as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
• 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 100 mph (160 km/h).
• 1911 – The works of Gabriele D'Annunzio placed by the Vatican in the Index of Forbidden Books.
• 1915 – World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
• 1918 – World War I: Germans repel the British's second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
• 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.
• 1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
• 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 murders 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) 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: The Channel Islands are liberated by the British after five years of German occupation.
• 1946 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Humbert II.
• 1948 – Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
• 1949 – Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco.
• 1950 – Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, which according to him was 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.
• 1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
• 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration 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.
• 1960 – FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow gives his Wasteland Speech.
• 1964 – Ngo Dinh Can, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngo Dinh Diem before the family's toppling, is executed.
• 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.
• 1977 – Hotel Polen fire: A disastrous fire burns down the Hotel Polen in Amsterdam causing 33 deaths and 21 severe injuries.
• 1979 – Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000 member strong Jewish community of Iran.
• 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.
• 1987 – A Polish LOT Ilyushin IL-62M "Tadeusz Kościuszko" (SP-LBG) crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing 183 people.
• 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.
• 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 terrorists 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 by a land mine under a VIP stage during a World War II memorial victory parade in Grozny, Chechnya.

Births

• 1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1199)
• 1540 – Maharana Pratap,Indian King (d.1597)

• 1740 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (d. 1816)

• 1800 – John Brown, American abolitionist (d. 1859)
• 1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English Member of Parliament and developer (d. 1866)
• 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)
• 1896 – Richard Day, Canadian film art director (d. 1972)
• 1888 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector and museum director (d. 1964)
• 1904 – Conrad Bernier, French-Canadian organist, composer and teacher (d. 1988)
• 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 – Géza Ottlik, Hungarian writer (d. 1990)
• 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, Canadian-American country music singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
• 1918 – Moisis Michail Bourlas, Greek member of the World War II resistance (d. 2011)
• 1918 – Orville L. Freeman, American politician (d. 2003)
• 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist (d. 2012)
• 1919 – Clifford Chadderton, Canadian World War II veteran, chief executive officer of The War Amps
• 1919 – Arthur English, English actor and comedian (d. 1995)
• 1920 – Richard Adams, English author
• 1920 – William Tenn, American author (d. 2010)
• 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 Gonzales, 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 – Sonny Curtis, American singer, songwriter, guitarist
• 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
• 1941 – Pete Birrell, British bass guitarist
• 1942 – John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
• 1942 – Tommy Roe, American singer and songwriter
• 1942 – Jerry Buchek, American baseball players
• 1943 – Vince Cable, British politician
• 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
• 1946 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (d. 2002)
• 1947 – Paul Brady, Irish singer-songwriter
• 1948 – Hans Georg Bock, German mathematician
• 1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player
• 1948 – Tania Maria, Brazilian jazz vocalist and pianist
• 1949 – Billy Joel, American musician
• 1950 – Tom Petersson, American bass guitarist (Cheap Trick)
• 1950 – James Butts, former American athlete
• 1951 – Alley Mills, American actress
• 1953 – Bruno Brokken, Belgian high jumper
• 1953 – Amy Hill, American actress
• 1953 – Connie Kaldor, Canadian folk singer/songwriter, member of the Order of Canada
• 1954 – Lawrence Dutton, American violist
• 1955 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1955 – Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish mezzo-soprano
• 1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
• 1958 – Graham Smith, Canadian swimmer
• 1959 – Ulrich Matthes, German actor
• 1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player
• 1961 – Sean Altman, American singer (Rockapella)
• 1962 – John Corbett, American actor
• 1962 – Dave Gahan, English singer (Depeche Mode)
• 1962 – Paul Heaton, English singer/songwriter (Beautiful South)
• 1963 – Joe Cirella, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1963 – Sanja Doležal, Croatian singer (Novi fosili)
• 1965 – Ken Nomura, Japanese racing driver
• 1965 – Janu Tornell, American model and Survivor contestant
• 1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Mark Tinordi, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1968 – David Benoit, American basketball player
• 1968 – Marie-José Pérec, 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 – Megumi Odaka, Japanese actress and artist
• 1972 – Dana Perino, former White House press secretary
• 1972 – Daniela Silivaş, Romanian gymnast and Olympic Champion
• 1972 – Lisa Ann, American Pornographic Actress
• 1973 – Chu Sang-mi, South Korean actress
• 1974 – Dylan Lauren,American businesswoman & daughter of fashion designer Ralph Lauren
• 1974 – Stéphane Yelle, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1975 – Brian Deegan, freestyle motocross innovator
• 1975 – Chris Diamantopoulos, Canadian actor
• 1975 – Lane Kiffin, American football coach
• 1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer
• 1976 – Christos Marangos, Greek-Cypriot footballer
• 1977 – Choi Jeong-yoon, South Korean actress
• 1977 – Maggie Dixon, American college basketball coach (d. 2006)
• 1977 – Iñigo Landaluze, Spanish cyclist
• 1977 – Svein Tuft, Canadian road bicycle rider
• 1978 – Leandro Damián Cufré, Argentine footballer
• 1978 – Santiago Dellapè, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
• 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 – Ara Mina, Filipina actress
• 1979 – Brandon Webb, American baseball player
• 1980 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
• 1980 – Jo Hyeon-jae, South Korean actor
• 1980 – Angela Nikodinov, American figure skater
• 1980 – Tony Schmidt, German racing driver
• 1981 – Bill Murphy, American baseball player
• 1981 – Evangelos Tsiolis, Greek footballer
• 1981 – Yu Yokoyama, Japanese actor and singer
• 1982 – Rachel Boston, American actress
• 1983 – Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player
• 1983 – Ryuhei Matsuda, Japanese actor
• 1983 – Leandro Rinaudo, Italian footballer
• 1983 – Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
• 1984 – Prince Fielder, American baseball player
• 1985 – Henrique, Brazilian soccer player
• 1985 – Jake Long, American football player
• 1985 – Audrina Patridge, American actress
• 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
• 1736 – Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Portuguese diplomat and statesman (b. 1658)
• 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, oldest daughter of William and Catherine Booth (b. 1858)
• 1957 – Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (b. 1892)
• 1957 – Sir Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan Philanthropist (b. 1887)
• 1964 – Rico Lebrun, Italian-American painter and sculptor (b. 1900)
• 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 communist militant (b. 1934)
• 1977 – James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)
• 1978 – Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy: 1963-1968, 1974-1976 (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)
• 1987 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian politician and stateman (b. 1909)
• 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 – Rawya Ateya, Egyptian politician and first female parliamentarian in the Arab world (b. 1926)
• 1997 – Marco Ferreri, Italian film director (b. 1928)
• 1997 – Rina Lasnier, French Canadian poet (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Alice Faye, American actress (b. 1915)
• 1998 – Rommie Loudd, former American football player, coach, and executive (b. 1933)
• 1998 – Talat Mahmood, Indian singer (b. 1924)
• 2000 – Arthur Davis, American animator (b. 1905)
• 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, Afghan singer (b. 1969)
• 2007 – Dwight Wilson, second-to-last Canadian World War I veteran (b. 1901)
• 2007 – Edith Rodriguez, woman refused emergency room treatment for gastrointestinal perforation (b. 1964)
• 2008 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league footballer and coach (b. 1929)
• 2008 – Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist (b. 1942)
• 2008 – Pascal Sevran, French TV presenter and author (b. 1945)
• 2009 – Chuck Daly, American basketball coach (b. 1930)
• 2009 – Evgenios Spatharis, Greek shadow theatre artist (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Lena Horne, American singer and actress (b. 1917)
• 2010 – Otakar Motejl, Czechoslvakian politician (b. 1932)
• 2011 – Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (b. 1984)

Holidays and observances

• Anniversary of Dianetics (Church of Scientology)
• Christian Feast Day
  • Beatus of Lungern
  • Beatus of Vendome
  • Christopher (Αγιος Χριστόφορος) (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • George Preca
  • Gerontius of Cervia
  • Pachomius
  • Tudy of Landevennec
  • May 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Europe Day, commemorating the Schuman Declaration. (European Union)
• Independence Day, celebrating the declaration of independence of Romania from the Ottoman Empire in 1877. (Romania)
• Liberation Day, commemorating the end of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II). (Guernsey, Jersey)
• One of the three days of the Feast of the Lemures. (Roman Empire)
• Victory Day observances, celebration of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany (Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan)
  • Victory and Peace Day, mark the capture of Shusha in the Karabakh War and the end of World War II. (Armenia)

External links

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

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