July 9 in history

On July 9:

455 Roman military commander Avitus was proclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

1357  Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor assisted in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.

 

1540 Henry VIII  annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.

1541 Estevão da Gama left Massawa, leaving behind 400 matchlock men and 150 slaves under his brother Christovão da Gama, with orders to help the Emperor of Ethiopia defeat Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi who had invaded his Empire.

1755  French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition – British troops and colonial militiamen were ambushed and defeated by French and Native American forces.

1764 Ann Radcliffe, English writer, was born (d. 1823).

1789  In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstituted itself as the National Constituent Assembly and began preparations for a French constitution.

 

1790 Russo-Swedish War: Second Battle of Svensksund – the Swedish Navy captured one third of the Russian fleet.

1793 The Act Against Slavery was passed in Upper Canada and the importation of slaves into Lower Canada prohibited.

1807 The Treaties of Tilsit were signed by Napoleon I and Alexander I.

 

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

1815  Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Benevente became Prime Minister of France.

1816 Argentina declared independence from Spain.

1836 Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 1908).

1850 President Zachary Taylor died and Millard Fillmore became the 13th President of the United States.

 

1863  American Civil War: the Siege of Port Hudson ended.

1867 An unsuccessful expedition led by E.D Young sets out to search for Dr David Livingstone.

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

1896 William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetalism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention.

 

1900 Queen Victoria gave royal assent to an Act creating the Commonwealth of Australia thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government.

1901 Dame Barbara Cartland, English novelist, was born (d. 2000).

 1916 Sir Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer, was born (d. 1984).

 1916  Sir Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 2005).

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

1922  Johnny Weissmuller swam the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the ‘minute barrier’.

1925 Charles E. Wicks, Professor, co-author of Fundamentals of Momentum, Heat, and Mass Transfer, was born.

1927   Ed Ames, American singer and actor, was born.

1927  Susan Cabot, American actress (d. 1986).

1929 Lee Hazlewood, American country singer, songwriter and producer, was born (d. 2007).

1932 Donald Rumsfeld, 13th & 21st United States Secretary of Defense, was born.

1932  The state of São Paulo revolted against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution.

 

1933 Oliver Sacks, British neurologist and author, was born.

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 captured Caen, France.

 

1944  World War II: Battle of Saipan – Americans took Saipan.

 

1944 – World War II: Finland won the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, Red Army withdrewsits troops from Ihantala and dug into defensive position, which ended the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.

1945 Dean R. Koontz, American author, was born.

1946 Bon Scott, Australian singer (AC/DC), was born.

1947 O.J. Simpson, American football player, actor, was born.

1948 Pakistan issued its first set of Postage stamps, bearing images of the Constituent Assembly, the Jinnah International Airport (Quaid-e-Azam International Airport), and the Shahi Fort.

1955 The Russell-Einstein Manifesto was released by Bertrand Russell in London.

1956 Tom Hanks, American actor, was born.

1958 Lituya Bay was hit by a mega-tsunami – a wave recorded at 524 meters high, making it the largest wave in history.

 

1959 Jim Kerr, Scottish singer (Simple Minds), was born.

1962  Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States of America.

 

1962 Andy Warhol’s  Campbell’s Soup Cans exhibition opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

1975  The National Assembly of Senegal passed a law that paved the way for a (highly restricted) multi-party system.

1979  A car bomb destroyed a Renault motor car owned by famed “Nazi hunters” Serge and Beate Klarsfeld at their home in France. A note purportedly from ODESSA claimed responsibility.

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

1984 York Minster was struck by a lightning bolt and the resulting fire ravaged most of the building.

 

1986 The New Zealand Parliament passed the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality.

1989 Two bombs exploded in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.

1991  South Africa was readmitted into the Olympic movement after 30 years of exclusion.

1995  The Navaly church bombing was carried out by the Sri Lankan Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.

1999  Days of student protests began after Iranian police and hardliners attack eda student dormitory at the University of Tehran.

2002 The African Union was established in Addis Ababa, with the first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.

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

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia