On This Day — 9 May

2023

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

May 9 riots

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.

Russo-Ukrainian war

2020

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

COVID-19 recession

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.

Barisan Nasional

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.

Siege of the Church of the Nativity

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.

Ghana

1992

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

Armenia

1992

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

Westray Mine

1988

New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.

Parliament House, Canberra

1987

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

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 5055

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.

Florida

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.

Norco, California

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.

Iranian Jews

1969

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

Carlos Lamarca

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.

Food and Drug Administration

1955

Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.

Cold War

1950

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

Robert Schuman

1948

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

Czechoslovakia

1946

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

Victor Emmanuel III

1945

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

World War II

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.

The Holocaust in Ukraine

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.

World War II

1936

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

Ethiopian Empire

1927

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

Old Parliament House, Canberra

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).

Richard E. Byrd

1920

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

Polish–Soviet War

1918

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

Second Ostend Raid

1915

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

World War I

1901

Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne.

Parliament of Australia

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.

Mihail Kogălniceanu

1873

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

Panic of 1873

1865

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

American Civil War

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.

Andrew Johnson

1864

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

Second Schleswig War

1761

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

Exhibition of 1761

1726

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

Margaret Clap

1671

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

Thomas Blood

1662

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

Punch and Judy

1645

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

Cavalier

1540

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

Hernando de Alarcón

1502

Christopher Columbus sets off from Cádiz for his fourth voyage.

Christopher Columbus

1450

Timurid monarch 'Abd al-Latif is assassinated.

Timurid dynasty

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.

England

1310

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

Nephon I of Constantinople

1009

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

Norman conquest of southern Italy

328

Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.

Athanasius of Alexandria