January 9: Martyrs' Day (Panama), Balloon Ascension Day

sheeza · Extreme Poster Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 2487 Gender:

January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 356 days remaining until the end of the year (357 in leap years).

Events

475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople.
1349 - The Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing bubonic plague, is rounded up and incinerated.
1431 - Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
1760 - Afghans defeat Marathas in Battle of Barari Ghat.
1768 - Philip Astley stages the first modern circus (London).
1788 - Connecticut becomes the fifth state to join the United States.
1793 - Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
1799 - British Prime Minister William Pitt introduces income tax to raise funds for the war against Napoleon.
1806 - Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.
1816 - Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
1822 - The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese king João VI, starting the Brazilian independence process.
1839 - The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
1857 - The Fort Tejon earthquake of California occurs, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9.
1858 - Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
1861 - American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War".)
1861 - Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
1863 - The first section of the London Underground Railway opens -- between Paddington and Farringdon Street.
1863 - American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman occurs in Arkansas.
1878 - Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
1880 - The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow.
1882 - Oscar Wilde gives his first lecture on "The English Renaissance of Art" in New York.
1894 - New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
1900 - S.S. Lazio is founded in Rome, Italy.
1903 - Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the famous poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
1905 - According to the Julian Calendar which was used at the time, Russian workers stage a march on the Winter Palace that ends in the massacre by Tsarist troops known as Bloody Sunday, setting off the Russian Revolution of 1905.
1914 - Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. is founded on the campus of Howard University.
1916 - The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Çanakkale, as the last British troops are evacuated.
1917 - World War I: the Battle of Rafa occurs near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
1923 - Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
1941 - First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
1941 - World War II: The Greek Triton (S.112) sinks the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto.
1945 - The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.
1947 - Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.
1951 - The United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City.
1964 - Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the US-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between US military and Panamanian civilians.
1968 - The only known snowfall occurs in Mexico City, additional snow falls on Jan. 10 and 11.
1972 - RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
1986 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak exits the instant camera business.
1991 - The Soviets storm Vilnius to stop Lithuanian independence.
1997 - A Comair Embraer EMB 120 crashes during approach into Detroit Metro Airport, killing 29 people.
2001 - Shenzhou 2, an unmanned Chinese spacecraft, is launched.
2002 - The United States Department of Justice announces it is going to pursue a criminal investigation of Enron.
2005 - The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, commonly known as the Naivasha Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya
2005 - Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh.
2006 - The Phantom of the Opera surpasses the record set by Cats for the title of longest running show on Broadway.
2007 - An AerianTur-M Antonov An-26 crashes in Balad, Iraq. The Islamic Army in Iraq claims to have shot it down.

Births

1554 - Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
1571 - Karel Bonaventura Buquoy, French soldier (d. 1621)
1589 - Ivan Gundulic, Croatian poet (d. 1638)
1624 - Empress Meishō (d. 1696)
1685 - Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist (d. 1766)
1728 - Thomas Warton, English poet (d. 1790)
1773 - Cassandra Austen, English watercolorist and sister of Jane Austen (d. 1845)
1790 - Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Swedish poet (d. 1855)
1811 - Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (d. 1856)
1823 - Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (d. 1908)
1829 - Thomas William Robertson, English playwright (d. 1871)
1829 - Adolf von Schlagintweit, German explorer (d. 1857)
1832 - Félix-Gabriel Marchand, journalist, author and politician, Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
1848 - Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
1849 - John Hartley, English tennis player, double winner of Wimbledon (d. 1935)
1854 - Jennie Jerome, American society beauty and mother of Winston Churchill (d. 1921)
1856 - Anton Aškerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
1859 - Carrie Chapman Catt, American suffragist leader (d. 1947)
1864 - Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician (d. 1926)
1868 - S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist (d. 1939)
1870 - Joseph B Strauss, American civil engineer (d. 1938)
1873 - Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Hebrew poet (d. 1934)
1875 - Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American socialite (d. 1942)
1879 - John Broadus Watson, American psychologist (d. 1958)
1881 - Lascelles Abercrombie, British poet and critic (d. 1938)
1881 - Edouard Beaupré, horse lifter (d. 1904)
1881 - Giovanni Papini, Italian writer (d. 1956)
1890 - Karel Čapek, Czech writer (d. 1938)
1890 - Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist (d. 1935)
1892 - Eva Bowring, American politician (d. 1985)
1897 - Karl Löwith, German philosopher (d. 1973)
1898 - Vilma Bánky, Hungarian actress (d. 1991)
1898 - Gracie Fields, English vaudeville performer (d. 1979)
1899 - Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian composer (d. 1977)
1900 - Maria of Romania, Queen Consort of Yugoslavia (d. 1961)
1901 - Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
1902 - Rudolph Bing, Austrian-born opera manager (d. 1997)
1902 - Saint Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish Catholic priest and founder of Opus Dei (d. 1975)
1903 - Hem Vejakorn, Thai illustrator (d. 1969)
1904 - George Balanchine, Russian dancer/choreographer (d. 1983)
1908 - Simone de Beauvoir, French author (d. 1986)
1909 - Herva Nelli, Italian-born soprano (d. 1994)
1912 - Ralph Tubbs, British architect (d. 1996)
1913 - Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
1914 - Kenny (Klook) Clarke, American jazz drummer and composer (d. 1985)
1915 - Fernando Lamas, Argentine actor (d. 1982)
1916 - Vic Mizzy, American orchestra leader
1916 - Peter Twinn, English World War II code-breaker (d. 2004)
1920 - Clive Dunn, British actor
1920 - Hakim Mohammed Said, Pakistani scholar
1921 - Lister Sinclair, Canadian broadcaster and playwright (d. 2006)
1922 - Har Gobind Khorana, Nobel laureate
1922 - Ahmed Sékou Touré, President of Guinea (d. 1984)
1924 - Sergei Parajanov, Armenian film director (d. 1990)
1925 - Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
1926 - Giannis Christou, Greek composer (d. 1970)
1926 - Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian politician, Lieutenant governor of Quebec (d. 2002)
1928 - Judith Krantz, American author
1928 - Domenico Modugno, Italian singer and songwriter (d. 1994)
1929 - Brian Friel, Irish dramatist
1929 - Heiner Muller, German dramatist (d. 1995)
1929 - Dorothea Puente, American serial killer
1931 - Algis Budrys, American author
1933 - Robert Garcia, American politician
1934 - Bart Starr, American football player
1935 - Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
1935 - Dick Enberg, American sportscaster
1935 - Earl G. Graves, Sr., African-American Publisher
1936 - Anne Rivers Siddons, American writer
1940 - Jimmy Boyd, American actor and singer
1940 - Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
1940 - Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss politician
1941 - Joan Baez, American singer and activist
1941 - Gilles Vaillancourt, Quebec politician
1942 - K Callan, American actress
1942 - Lee Kun-hee, Korean industrialist, chairman of Samsung
1942 - Susannah York, British actress
1943 - Elmer MacFadyen, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
1943 - Freddie Starr, English comedian and singer
1943 - Scott Walker, American singer
1944 - Jimmy Page, English guitarist (Led Zeppelin)
1947 - Ronnie Landfield, American artist
1948 - Bill Cowsill, American singer (The Cowsills) (d. 2006)
1948 - Cassie Gaines Backup Singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 1977)
1950 - David Johansen American singer
1950 - Rio Reiser, German singer (d. 1996)
1951 - M.L. Carr, basketball player and coach
1951 - Crystal Gayle, American singer
1952 - Hugh Bayley, British politician
1955 - J. K. Simmons, American actor
1956 - Kimberly Beck, American actress
1956 - Imelda Staunton, British actress
1956 - Mike Walczewski, American Public Address Announcer at Madison Square Garden
1957 - Phil Lewis, lead singer of L.A. Guns
1958 - Mehmet Ali Ağca, Turkish attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II
1958 - Stephen Neale, British philosopher
1959 - Mark Martin, American race car driver
1959 - Rigoberta Menchú, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
1959 - Cristi Minculescu, Romanian musician
1959 - Otis Nixon, American baseball player
1961 - Oliver Goldstick, American screenwriter
1963 - Michael Everson, expert in writing systems and Unicode
1965 - Darren Bennett, Australian-born American football player
1965 - Muggsy Bogues, American basketball player
1965 - Iain Dowie, English football manager
1965 - Eric Erlandson, American musician
1965 - Joely Richardson, British actress
1967 - Carl Bell, American musician
1967 - Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
1967 - Steven Harwell, American singer and musician (Smash Mouth)
1967 - Dave Matthews, South African singer and musician
1968 - Jimmy Adams, West Indian cricketer
1968 - Joey Lauren Adams, American actress
1968 - Al Schnier, American rock guitarist
1970 - Lara Fabian, Belgian singer
1970 - Alex Staropoli, Italian keyboardist
1971 - Daniel Dumile, American hip hop artist
1971 - Scott Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
1971 - Yusuke Naora, Japanese game art director
1972 - Sarah Beeny, British TV personality
1972 - Jay Powell, baseball player
1973 - Angela Bettis, American actress
1974 - Farhan Akhtar, Indian Bollywood Director, Actor, Producer, Singer.
1975 - Kiko Calero, Puerto Rican baseball player
1975 - Kimberley Ann Scott Mathers, former wife of Eminem
1976 - Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
1976 - Todd Grisham, American professional wrestling interviewer
1978 - Mathieu Garon, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 - Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer
1978 - Chad Johnson, American football player
1978 - AJ McLean, American singer
1978 - Maggie Rizer, American model and AIDS activist
1979 - Tomiko Van, Japanese singer
1980 - Sergio García, Spanish golfer
1981 - Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
1982 - Kate Middleton, girlfriend of Prince William of England
1987 - Sam Bird, English racing driver
1987 - Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer/songwriter
1987 - Pablo Santos, Mexican actor (d. 2006)
1989 - Michaella Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
1997 - Lauryn McClain, American actress and singer

Deaths

1150 - Emperor Xizong of Jin was murdered by Prince Hailing of Jin in a Coup d'état.
1282 - Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd Hakam al Qurashi, ruler of Minorca (b. 1204)
1283 - Wen Tianxiang, Prime Minister of China (executed) (b. 1236)
1499 - Johann Cicero, elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
1514 - Anna, Duchess of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France (b. 1477)
1543 - Guillaume du Bellay, French diplomat and general (b. 1491)
1562 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
1571 - Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French naval officer (b. 1510)
1598 - Jasper Heywood, English translator (b. 1553)
1677 - Aernout van der Neer, Dutch painter (b. 1603)
1757 - Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, French scientist and man of letters (b. 1657)
1757 - Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician (b. 1688)
1766 - Thomas Birch, British historian (b. 1705)
1799 - Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian scientist (b. 1718)
1800 - Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
1805 - Noble Jones, American Continental Congressman (b. 1723)
1848 - Caroline Herschel, German-born astronomer (b. 1750)
1858 - Anson Jones, 5th and last President of Texas (suicide) (b. 1798)
1873 - Emperor Napoleon III of France (b. 1808)
1876 - Samuel Gridley Howe, American abolitionist (b. 1801)
1877 - Alexander Brullov, Russia painter (b. 1799)
1878 - King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
1895 - Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American watch manufacturer (b. 1812)
1901 - Richard Copley Christie, English scholar (b. 1830)
1908 - Wilhelm Busch, German painter (b. 1832)
1908 - Abraham Goldfaden, Russian-born actor (b. 1840)
1911 - Edwin Arthur Jones, American composer (b. 1853)
1911 - Edvard Rusjan, Slovene flight pioneer (b. 1886)
1918 - Émile Reynaud, French scientist (b. 1844)
1923 - Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer (b. 1888)
1931 - Wayne Munn, wrestler (b. 1896)
1936 - John Gilbert, American actor (b. 1899)
1939 - Johann Strauss III, Austrian conductor (b. 1866)
1946 - Countee Cullen, American poet (b. 1903)
1946 - Dimitrios Golemis, Greek athlete (b. 1874)
1947 - Karl Mannheim, German sociologist (b. 1893)
1960 - Elsie J. Oxenham, British children's author (b. 1880)
1961 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1867)
1971 - Giannis Christou, Greek composer (b. 1926)
1971 - Elmer Flick, baseball player (b. 1876)
1972 - Ted Shawn, American dancer (b. 1891)
1975 - Pierre Fresnay, French actor (b. 1897)
1975 - Pyotr Sergeyevich Novikov, Russian mathematician (b. 1901)
1981 - Kazimierz Serocki, Polish composer (b. 1922)
1984 - Wolfgang Staudte, German director (b. 1906)
1985 - Robert Mayer, British businessman and philanthropist (b. 1879)
1987 - Marion Hutton, American singer (b. 1919)
1987 - Arthur Lake, American actor (b. 1905)
1989 - Bill Terry, baseball player (b. 1898)
1990 - Spud Chandler, baseball player (b. 1907)
1992 - Steve Brodie, American actor (b. 1919)
1992 - Bill Naughton, British playwright (b. 1910)
1994 - Johnny Temple, baseball player (b. 1927)
1995 - Peter Cook, British actor and comedian (b. 1937)
1995 - Souphanouvong, President of Laos (b. 1909)
1997 - Edward Osobka-Morawski, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
1997 - Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
1998 - Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (b. 1918)
2000 - Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
2001 - Maurice Prather, American photographer (b. 1926)
2003 - Will McDonough, American sports journalist (b. 1935)
2004 - Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher (b. 1909)
2005 - Gonzalo Gavira, Mexican film sound technician (b. 1925)
2006 - Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
2006 - Mikk Mikiver, Estonian actor, director (b. 1937)
2007 - Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (b. 1977)

Holidays and Observances

Martyrs' Day (Panama) commemorates the 1964 riots over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone
Black Nazarene feast in the Quiapo district, Manila, Philippines
Balloon Ascension Day
January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Religious Feasts

Adrian of Canterbury
Metropolitan Philip II of Moscow
Theophan the Recluse