On this day: may 9th

On this day: may 9th

There are many and several events on this day in history. Read and discover what happened on this day: On this day: may 9th

On this day: may 9th

Events  On this day: may 9th

• Victory Day in Russia is a national holiday commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany during the “Great Patriotic War” (World War II) and honoring the 20 million Russians who died in the war.
• 1429: Joan of Arc defeats the English troops besieging Orleans.
• 1502: Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his fourth and final journey to the New World.
• 1862: During the American Civil War, General David Hunter, Union commander of the Department of the South, issued orders freeing the slaves in South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. He did so without congressional or presidential approval. The orders were countermanded by President Abraham Lincoln ten days later.
• 1901: Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.
• 1960: The first birth control pill is approved. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it would add birth control as a new indication for the drug “Enovid.”.
• 1969: Carlos Lamarca begins his fight against Brazil’s military dictatorship. Lamarca was a member of the communist organization Vanguardia Popular Revolucionária (VPR) and is well known for his urban guerilla actions. Brazilian forces killed him in 1971.
• 1979: Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed. An Islamic revolutionary tribunal had convicted him of “contacts with Israel and Zionism” and “friendship with the enemies of God.”. His execution triggered a Jewish mass exodus from Iran.
• 1997: Pete Peterson becomes the first U.S. ambassador to visit Vietnam after the end of the war. Peterson, a Vietnam veteran, devoted himself to promoting reconciliation between the two countries. About 2.5 million Vietnamese, most of them civilians, were killed during the war.
• 2012: The brand-new Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane crashes. The regional jet was the first airliner produced in Russia since the end of the USSR in 1991. The doomed flight was a demonstration tour carrying potential customers. All 45 people on board perished in the crash, which was caused by a pilot error.

Birthdays On this day: may 9th

• 1800: Abolitionist leader John Brown (1800-1859) was born in Torrington, Connecticut
• 1837: Adam Opel (German engineer who founded the Opel Company)
• 1874: Howard Carter (Archaeologist who discovered King Tut’s tomb)
• 1914: Hank Snow (Singer)
• 1918: Mike Wallace (Journalist)
• 1921: Sophie Scholl (German student, activist)
• 1934: Alan Bennett (English actor, screenwriter, author)
• 1946: Candace Bergen (Actress)
• 1949: Billy Joel (Singer)
• 1960: Tony Gwynn (Baseball player)
• 1965: Steve Yzerman (Hockey player)
• 1984: Prince Fielder (Baseball player)

Deaths On this day: may 9th

• 1707: Dieterich Buxtehude (German/Danish organist, composer)
• 1805: Friedrich Schiller (German poet, playwright, and historian)
• 1976: Ulrike Meinhof (German journalist, activist)
• 1986: Tenzing Norgay (Nepalese mountaineer)
• 2012: Vidal Sassoon (English/American hairdresser)

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