History is everything. If you want to wipe the memory of a people, get rid of their history first. That’s why having some knowledge of past occurrences is imperative. 9th May is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years). 236 days remain until the end of the year. Find out some of the important events that occurred on this day, 9th May, in history.

 

Historical events

328 — Athanasius elected Patriarch bishop of Alexandria.

1450 — ‘Abd al-Latif (Timurid monarch) assassinated.

1502 — Explorer of the New World Christopher Columbus leaves Spain on his 4th and final trip to the New World.

1671 — Colonel Thomas “Captain” Blood steals England’s crown jewels from the Tower of London on this day. The King not only forgives him for it but also gives him a reward.

1689 — English King William III declares war on France.

1754 — The first newspaper cartoon in America-divided snake “Join or Die”.

1785 — British inventor Joseph Bramah patents beer-pump handle.

1788 — British parliament accepts the abolition of slave trade.

 

9th May in the 19th Century

1816 — Romantic poet Lady Caroline Lamb publishes “Genarvon”. It is a thinly disguised account of her affair with Lord Byron, also depicting her husband, British Prime Minister William Lamb.

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, plying two routes.

1877 — Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day becomes the Independence Day of Romania.

1896 — The first horseless carriage show in London. It features 10 models.

1899 — John Burr patents an improved rotary blade lawn mower in the US.

 

9th May in the 20th Century

1901 — The first Australian Parliament opens in Melbourne, though the first working session will not be until 21st May.

1904 — The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine to exceed 100 miles per hour.

1914 — US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother’s Day.

1922 — The International Astronomical Union formally adopts astronomer Annie Jump Cannon’s stellar classification system, which with only minor changes, is still used today.

1925 — Cornerstone for Hebrew University, Jerusalem, laid.

1926 — Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett became the first men to fly an airplane over the North Pole. Later the discovery of Byrd’s diary suggests they may have turned back 150 miles short of the pole due to an oil leak.

1932 — WOC-AM in Davenport Iowa merges with WHO to become WHO-WOC.

1944 — The first eye bank opens in New York.

1956 — First ascent of Manaslu, the world’s eighth-highest mountain.

1958 — “Vertigo”, American film noir psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak, is released.

1960 — Nigeria becomes a member of the British Commonwealth.

1960 — The US becomes the first country to legalise the birth control pill. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves it for sale.

1962 — A laser beam successfully bounces off the Moon for the first time.

1971 — Friends of Earth return 1500 non-returnable bottles to Schweppes.

1989 — Journalist petition the Chinese government for freedom of the press.

1994 — Nelson Mandela chosen to be South Africa’s first black president.

 

9th May in the 21st Century

2002 — Bahrain allows people to vote for representatives for the first time in nearly 30 years. Women can vote for the first time in the country’s history.

2005 — Liberal commentary website The Huffington Post launches.

2012 — 44th United States President Barack Obama officially states his support for same-s*x marriage.

2013 — Everton Manager David Moyes announced as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at Manchester United. He only lasts 10 months.

2017 — Fossil of Chinese feathered baby dinosaur formally identified as Beibeilong Sinensis (baby dragon in Chinese).