May 9

Historic Events

2023

The May 9 riots following the arrest of Imran Khan in Pakistan. ›

2022

Russo-Ukrainian war: United States President Joe Biden signs the 2022 Lend-Lease Act into law, a rebooted World War II-era policy attempting to expedite American equipment to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. ›

2020

The COVID-19 recession causes the U.S. unemployment rate to hit 14.9 percent, its worst rate since the Great Depression. ›

2018

Barisan Nasional, the coalition that had governed Malaysia since the country's independence in 1957, suffer a historic defeat in the 2018 Malaysian general election. ›

2002

The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries. ›

2001

In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee. ›

1999

Mother's Day bus crash kills 22 passengers and injures another 22, including the driver in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. ›

1992

Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. ›

1992

Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada. ›

1988

New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens. ›

1987

LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board. ›

1980

In Florida, United States, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 430-meter (1,400 ft) section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 46 metres (150 ft) into the water and die. ›

1980

In Norco, California, United States, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase. ›

1979

Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran. ›

1974

Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon. ›

1969

Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks. ›

1960

The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill. ›

1955

Cold War: West Germany joins NATO. ›

1950

Robert Schuman presents the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union. ›

1948

Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect. ›

1946

King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II. ›

1945

World War II: The Channel Islands are liberated from Nazi occupation. ›

1942

The Holocaust in Ukraine: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported. ›

1941

World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages. ›

1936

Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5. ›

1927

The Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, officially opens. ›

1926

Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim). ›

1920

Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk. ›

1918

World War I: Germany repels Britain's second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium. ›

1915

World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces. ›

1901

Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne. ›

1877

Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. The date will become recognised as the Independence Day of Romania. ›

1873

Der Krach: The Vienna stock exchange crash begins the Panic of 1873 and heralds the Long Depression. ›

1865

American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama. ›

1865

American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships. ›

1864

Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland. ›

1761

Exhibition of 1761, the inaugural exhibition of the Society of Artists of Great Britain, opens at Spring Gardens in London. ›

1726

Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn. ›

1671

Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. ›

1662

The figure who later became Mr. Punch makes his first recorded appearance in England. ›

1645

Scottish Royalist forces under Lord Montrose defeat Covenanter forces under John Urry. ›

1540

Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California. ›

1502

Christopher Columbus sets off from Cádiz for his fourth voyage. ›

1450

Timurid monarch 'Abd al-Latif is assassinated. ›

1386

England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force. ›

1310

Nephon, Bishop of Cyzicus, is consecrated as Patriarch of Constantinople. ›

1009

Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy. ›

328

Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria. ›