July 9Birthdays & History

On this day: July 9 in history

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

1. 118Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome.Europe
2. 381The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman emperor Theodosius I.Middle EastEurope
3. 455The elderly noble Avitus is proclaimed Roman emperor by Gothic king Theoderic II in Toulouse.Europe
4. 491Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna.Europe
5. 551A major earthquake strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affects the coastal towns of Byzantine Phoenicia, causing thousands of deaths.Middle EastEurope
6. 660Silla forces under general Kim Yu-sin defeat the army of Baekje at the Battle of Hwangsanbeol.Asia
7. 869The 8.4–9.0 Mw Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland.Asia
8. 969The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt.Middle East
9. 1357Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.Europe
10. 1386The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Duchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.EuropeNorth America
11. 1401Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad.Middle East
12. 1540King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.Europe
13. 1572Nineteen Catholics suffer martyrdom for their beliefs, in the Dutch town of Gorkum.Europe
14. 1609Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II.Europe
15. 1701A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi.Europe
16. 1735Safavid Iran captures Ganja from the Ottoman Empire after defeating them in the battle of Yeghevārd.Middle East
17. 1745French victory in the Battle of Melle allows them to capture Ghent in the days after.Europe
18. 1755The Braddock Expedition is soundly defeated by a smaller French and Native American force in its attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in what is now downtown Pittsburgh.EuropeNorth America
19. 1762Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III.Europe
20. 1763The Mozart family grand tour of Europe begins, lifting the profile of son Wolfgang Amadeus.Europe
21. 1776George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island.North AmericaEurope
22. 1789In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.Europe
23. 1790The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet.Europe
24. 1793The Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada bans the importation of slaves and will free those who are born into slavery after the passage of the Act at 25 years of age.North America
25. 1795Financier James Swan pays off the $2,024,899 US national debt that had been accrued during the American Revolution.North America
26. 1807The second Treaty of Tilsit is signed between France and Prussia, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.Europe
27. 1810Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire.Europe
28. 1811Explorer David Thompson posts a sign near what is now Sacajawea State Park in Washington state, claiming the Columbia District for the United Kingdom.North AmericaEurope
29. 1815Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France.Europe
30. 1816Argentina declares independence from Spain.Latin AmericaEurope
31. 1821Four hundred and seventy prominent Cypriots including Archbishop Kyprianos are executed in response to Cypriot aid to the Greek War of Independence.Europe
32. 1850Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia.Middle East
33. 1850U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore.North America
34. 1863American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends in a Union victory and, along with the fall of Vicksburg five days earlier, gives the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.North America
35. 1868The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.North AmericaAfrica
36. 1875The Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule begins, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans.Middle EastEurope
37. 1877The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins.Europe
38. 1893Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performs the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia.North America
39. 1896William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.North America
40. 1900The Governor of Shanxi province in North China orders the execution of 45 foreign Christian missionaries and local church members, including children.Asia
41. 1900The Federation of Australia is given royal assent.Oceania
42. 1918In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.North America
43. 1922Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds, breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.North America
44. 1926Chiang Kai-shek accepts the post of commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, marking the beginning of the Northern Expedition to unite China under the rule of the Nationalist government.Asia
45. 1932The state of São Paulo revolts against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution.Latin America
46. 1937The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation are destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.North America
47. 1943World War II: The Allied invasion of Sicily begins, leading to the downfall of Mussolini and forcing Hitler to break off the Battle of Kursk.Europe
48. 1944World War II: American forces take Saipan, bringing the Japanese archipelago within range of B-29 raids, and causing the downfall of the Tojo government.North AmericaAsia
49. 1944World War II: Continuation War: Finland wins the Battle of Tali–Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into a defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.Europe
50. 1955The Russell–Einstein Manifesto calls for a reduction of the risk of nuclear warfare.Europe
51. 1956The 7.7 Mw Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock.Europe
52. 1958A 7.8 Mw strike-slip earthquake in Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reached 525 m (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay; five people were killed.North America
53. 1961Greece becomes the first member state to join the European Economic Community by signing the Athens Agreement, which is later suspended in 1967 during the Greek junta.Europe
54. 1962Starfish Prime tests the effects of a nuclear explosion at orbital altitudes.North AmericaOceania
55. 1977The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile organises the youth event of Acto de Chacarillas, a ritualised act reminiscent of Francoist Spain.Latin AmericaEurope
56. 1979A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld outside their home in France in an unsuccessful assassination attempt.Europe
57. 1982Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.North America
58. 1986The New Zealand Parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.Oceania
59. 1993The Parliament of Canada passes the Nunavut Act leading to the 1999 creation of Nunavut, dividing the Northwest Territories into arctic (Inuit) and sub-arctic (Dene) lands based on a plebiscite.North America
60. 1995The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees.Asia
61. 1997An explosion aboard a Brazilian airline TAM Fokker 100 launches engineer Fernando Caldeira de Moura Campos into a 2,400 meters free fall.Latin America
62. 1999Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.Middle East
63. 2002The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization's first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.Africa
64. 2004The Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence is released by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, casting doubt on the rationale for the Iraq War.Middle EastNorth America
65. 2006Italy win their fourth World Cup title, defeating France 5–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time.Europe
66. 2006One hundred and twenty-five people are killed when S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310 passenger jet, veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.Europe
67. 2011South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.Africa
68. 2011A rally takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to call for fairer elections in the country.Asia
69. 2025Earth completes its shortest recorded day due to a slight acceleration in rotation, with July 9 lasting approximately 1.3 to 1.6 milliseconds less than 24 hours.World

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