On This Day — 9 August
2000s
2024
Voepass Linhas Aéreas Flight 2283 crashes near Vinhedo, São Paulo, killing all 62 people on board.
Voepass Flight 2283
2021
The Tampere light rail officially starts operating.
Tampere light rail
2014
Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male in Ferguson, Missouri, is shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer after reportedly assaulting the officer and attempting to steal his weapon, sparking protests and unrest in the city.
Ferguson, Missouri
2013
Gunmen open fire at a Sunni mosque in the city of Quetta killing at least ten people and injuring 30.
Terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2013
2012
Shannon Eastin becomes the first woman to officiate an NFL game.
Shannon Eastin
2007
Air Moorea Flight 1121 crashes after takeoff from Moorea Airport in French Polynesia, killing all 20 people on board.
Air Moorea Flight 1121
2006
At least 21 suspected terrorists are arrested in the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot that happened in the United Kingdom. The arrests are made in London, Birmingham, and High Wycombe in an overnight operation.
2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
1900s
1999
Russian president Boris Yeltsin fires his prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, and for the fourth time fires his entire cabinet.
Boris Yeltsin
1995
Aviateca Flight 901 crashes into the San Vicente volcano in El Salvador, killing all 65 people on board.
Aviateca Flight 901
1993
The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership.
Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
1991
The Italian prosecuting magistrate Antonino Scopelliti is murdered by the 'Ndrangheta on behalf of the Sicilian Mafia while preparing the government's case in the final appeal of the Maxi Trial.
Antonino Scopelliti
1974
As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first president of the United States to resign from office. Vice President Gerald Ford becomes president.
Watergate scandal
1973
Mars 7 is launched from the USSR.
Mars 7
1971
The Troubles: In Northern Ireland, the British authorities launch Operation Demetrius. The operation involves the mass arrest and internment without trial of individuals suspected of being affiliated with the Irish Republican Army (PIRA). Mass riots follow, and thousands of people flee or are forced out of their homes.
The Troubles
1970
LANSA Flight 502 crashes after takeoff from Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport in Cusco, Peru, killing 99 of the 100 people on board, as well as two people on the ground.
LANSA Flight 502
1969
Tate–LaBianca murders: Followers of Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men's hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.
Tate–LaBianca murders
1965
Singapore is expelled from Malaysia.
Singapore
1960
South Kasai secedes from the Congo.
South Kasai
1945
World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. Thirty-five thousand people are killed outright, including 23,200–28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers.
Nagasaki
1945
The Red Army invades Japanese-occupied Manchuria.
Red Army
1944
The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time.
United States Forest Service
1944
World War II: Continuation War: The Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, the largest offensive launched by Soviet Union against Finland during the Second World War, ends to a strategic stalemate. Both Finnish and Soviet troops at the Finnish front dug to defensive positions, and the front remains stable until the end of the war.
Continuation War
1942
World War II: Battle of Savo Island: Allied naval forces protecting their amphibious forces during the initial stages of the Battle of Guadalcanal are surprised and defeated by an Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser force.
World War II
1942
Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th symphony premiers in a besieged Leningrad.
Dmitri Shostakovich
1936
Summer Olympics: Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal at the games.
1936 Summer Olympics
1925
A train robbery takes place in Kakori, near Lucknow, India, by the Indian independence revolutionaries, against the British government.
Kakori conspiracy
1907
The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in southern England.
Scouting
1902
Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Edward VII
1800s
1897
The first International Congress of Mathematicians is held in Zürich, Switzerland.
International Congress of Mathematicians
1892
Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.
Thomas Edison
1877
American Indian Wars: Battle of the Big Hole: A small band of Nez Percé Indians clash with the United States Army.
American Indian Wars
1862
American Civil War: Battle of Cedar Mountain: At Cedar Mountain, Virginia, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope.
American Civil War
1855
Åland War: The Battle of Suomenlinna begins.
Åland War
1854
American Transcendentalist philosopher Henry David Thoreau publishes his memoir Walden.
Transcendentalism
1842
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
Webster–Ashburton Treaty
1830
Louis Philippe becomes the king of the French following abdication of Charles X.
Louis Philippe I
1814
American Indian Wars: The Creek sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson, giving up huge parts of Alabama and Georgia.
American Indian Wars
1810
Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire.
Napoleon
Before 1800
1610
The First Anglo-Powhatan War begins in colonial Virginia.
Anglo-Powhatan Wars
1500
Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503): The Ottomans capture Methoni, Messenia.
Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503)
1329
Quilon, the first Indian Christian Diocese, is erected by Pope John XXII; the French-born Jordanus is appointed the first Bishop.
Diocese of Quilon
1173
Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete.
Bell tower
378
Gothic War: Battle of Adrianople: A large Roman army led by Emperor Valens is defeated by the Visigoths. Valens is killed along with over half of his army.
Gothic War (376–382)
-48
Caesar's Civil War: Battle of Pharsalus: Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
Caesar's civil war