January 9Birthdays & History

On this day: January 9 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 400Aelia Eudoxia is officially crowned empress of the Eastern Roman Empire.Europe
2. 475Verina, the Eastern Roman dowager Empress, instigates a riot in Constantinople and persuades emperor Zeno, her son-in-law, to flee. The Byzantine senate, however, acclaims Basiliscus as emperor and not her lover Patricius.EuropeMiddle East
3. 681Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.Europe
4. 1038An earthquake in Dingxiang, China kills an estimated 32,300.Asia
5. 1127Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song period.Asia
6. 1349The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.Europe
7. 1431The trial of Joan of Arc begins in Rouen.Europe
8. 1693Sicily earthquake: The first of two earthquakes destroys parts of Sicily and Malta. After the second quake on 11 January, the death toll is estimated at between 60,000 and 100,000 people.Europe
9. 1760Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.Asia
10. 1787The nationally known image of the Black Nazarene in the Philippines is transferred from what is now Rizal Park to its present shrine in the minor basilica of Quiapo Church. This is annually commemorated through its Traslación (solemn transfer) in the streets of Manila and is attended by millions of devotees.Asia
11. 1788Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the United States Constitution.North America
12. 1792Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92.EuropeMiddle East
13. 1793Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.North America
14. 1799British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.Europe
15. 1806Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.Europe
16. 1816Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.Europe
17. 1822The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.EuropeLatin America
18. 1839The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.Europe
19. 1857The 7.9 Mw Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).North America
20. 1858British forces finally defeat Rajab Ali Khan of Chittagong.Europe
21. 1861American Civil War: "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.North America
22. 1861Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.North America
23. 1878Umberto I becomes King of Italy.Europe
24. 1903Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.Oceania
25. 1909Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.Europe
26. 1914The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is founded by African-American students at Howard University in Washington D.C., United States.AfricaNorth America
27. 1916World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.Middle East
28. 1917World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.Middle East
29. 1918Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.North America
30. 1920Ukrainian War of Independence: The All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee outlaws the Makhnovshchina by decree, igniting the Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict.Europe
31. 1921Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.Middle East
32. 1923Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.Europe
33. 1923Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.Europe
34. 1927A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.North America
35. 1939The Kingdom of Italy would officially the coastal areas of its Colony of Libya as an integral part of the country itself, becoming the nation's Fourth Shore.EuropeAfrica
36. 1941World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.Europe
37. 1945World War II: The Sixth United States Army begins the invasion of Lingayen Gulf.North America
38. 1957British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.EuropeMiddle East
39. 1959The Vega de Tera dam fails, triggering a disastrous flood that nearly destroys the town of Ribadelago and kills 144 residents.Europe
40. 1960President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.Middle East
41. 1961British authorities announce they have uncovered the Soviet Portland spy ring in London.Europe
42. 1962Apollo program: NASA announces plans to build the C-5 rocket launch vehicle, then known as the "Advanced Saturn", to carry human beings to the Moon.North America
43. 1964Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.Latin AmericaNorth America
44. 1991Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.North AmericaMiddle EastEurope
45. 1992The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.Europe
46. 1992The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail. They discovered two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12.EuropeNorth America
47. 1996First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.Europe
48. 1997Comair Flight 3272 crashes in Raisinville Township in Monroe County, Michigan, killing 29 people.North America
49. 2003TANS Perú Flight 222 crashes on approach to Chachapoyas Airport in Chachapoyas, Peru, killing 46 people.Latin America
50. 2004An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula en route to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28. This is the second deadliest marine disaster in Albanian history.Europe
51. 2005Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to succeed Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority, replacing interim president Rawhi Fattouh.Middle East
52. 2005The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.Africa
53. 2007Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.North America
54. 2011Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Urmia in the northwest of the country, in icy conditions, killing 78 people.Middle East
55. 2014An explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, kills at least five people and injures 17 others.Asia
56. 2015The perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris two days earlier are both killed after a hostage situation; a second hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurs at a Jewish market in Vincennes.Europe
57. 2015A mass poisoning at a funeral in Mozambique involving beer that was contaminated with Burkholderia gladioli leaves 75 dead and over 230 people ill.Africa
58. 2017Mont-Libre Agile Learning Centre, the province of Quebec's first alternative schooling democratic learning centre to support homeschooled youth, opens in the city of Montreal.North America
59. 2021Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashes north of Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 62 people on board.Asia

Source: Wikipedia "January 9" / CC BY-SA 4.0