On This Day — 9 September

2025

Six people are killed when Israel carries out an airstrike on Doha in a failed attempt to decapitate the Hamas leadership.

Israel

2025

Several Russian drones incur on Polish airspace and are subsequently shot down, marking the first time a NATO member has engaged Russian military assets.

2025 Russian drone incursion into Poland

2016

The government of North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act, with South Korea calling it "maniacal recklessness".

North Korea

2015

Elizabeth II becomes the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.

Elizabeth II

2014

The album Songs of Innocence by U2 is digitally released at no charge to all customers of the iTunes Music Store, appearing automatically in the "purchased" section of over 500 million users worldwide.

Songs of Innocence (U2 album)

2012

The Indian space agency puts into orbit its heaviest foreign satellite yet, in a streak of 21 consecutive successful PSLV launches.

ISRO

2012

A wave of attacks kills more than 100 people and injure 350 others across Iraq.

9 September 2012 Iraq attacks

2009

The Dubai Metro, the first urban train network in the Arabian Peninsula, is ceremonially inaugurated.

Dubai Metro

2006

Space Shuttle Program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-115 to resume assembling the International Space Station. It is the first ISS assembly mission after the Columbia disaster back in 2003.

Space Shuttle Atlantis

2001

Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance, is assassinated in Afghanistan by two al-Qaeda assassins who claimed to be Arab journalists wanting an interview.

Ahmad Shah Massoud

1994

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-64.

Space Shuttle program

1993

Israeli–Palestinian peace process: The Palestine Liberation Organization officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state.

Israeli–Palestinian peace process

1991

Tajikistan declares independence from the Soviet Union.

Tajikistan

1990

Batticaloa massacre: Massacre of 184 Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan Army in Batticaloa District.

1990 Batticaloa massacre

1988

Vietnam Airlines Flight 831 crashes in Khu Khot, Thailand, while on approach to Don Muang International Airport, killing 76.

Vietnam Airlines Flight 831

1976

Two Aeroflot flights collide in mid-air over Anapa, Soviet Union, killing 70.

1976 Anapa mid-air collision

1972

In Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, a Cave Research Foundation exploration and mapping team discovers a link between the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems, making it the longest known cave passageway in the world.

Kentucky

1971

The four-day Attica Prison riot begins, eventually resulting in 39 dead, most killed by state troopers retaking the prison.

Attica Prison riot

1970

A British airliner is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and flown to Dawson's Field in Jordan.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

1969

In Canada, the Official Languages Act comes into force, making French equal to English throughout the Federal government.

Official Languages Act (Canada)

1969

Allegheny Airlines Flight 863 collides in mid-air with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana, killing all 83 people on board both aircraft.

Allegheny Airlines Flight 853

1966

The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act is signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act

1965

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is established.

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

1965

Hurricane Betsy makes its second landfall near New Orleans, leaving 76 dead and $1.42 billion ($10–12 billion in 2005 dollars) in damages, becoming the first hurricane to cause over $1 billion in unadjusted damage.

Hurricane Betsy

1956

Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.

Elvis Presley

1954

The 6.7 Mw  Chlef earthquake shakes northern Algeria with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). At least 1,243 people were killed and 5,000 were injured.

1954 Chlef earthquake

1948

Kim Il Sung is appointed as premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). This is celebrated annually as its national holiday.

Kim Il Sung

1947

First case of a computer bug being found: A moth lodges in a relay of a Harvard Mark II computer at Harvard University.

Software bug

1945

Second Sino-Japanese War: The Empire of Japan formally surrenders to China.

Second Sino-Japanese War

1944

World War II: The Fatherland Front takes power in Bulgaria through a military coup in the capital and armed rebellion in the country. A new pro-Soviet government is established.

Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)

1943

World War II: The Allies land at Salerno and Taranto, Italy.

Allies of World War II

1942

World War II: A Japanese floatplane drops incendiary bombs on Oregon.

Empire of Japan

1940

George Stibitz pioneers the first remote operation of a computer.

George Stibitz

1940

Treznea Massacre in Transylvania.

Treznea massacre

1939

World War II: The Battle of Hel begins, the longest-defended pocket of Polish Army resistance during the German invasion of Poland.

World War II

1939

Burmese national hero U Ottama dies in prison after a hunger strike to protest Britain's colonial government.

U Ottama

1936

The crews of Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Afonso de Albuquerque and destroyer Dão mutinied against the Salazar dictatorship's support of General Franco's coup and declared their solidarity with the Spanish Republic.

Portuguese Navy

1924

Hanapepe massacre occurs on Kauai, Hawaii.

Hanapepe massacre

1923

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, founds the Republican People's Party.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

1922

The Greco-Turkish War effectively ends with Turkish victory over the Greeks in Smyrna.

Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

1914

World War I: The creation of the Canadian Automobile Machine Gun Brigade, the first fully mechanized unit in the British Army.

World War I

1892

Amalthea becomes the last moon to be discovered without the use of photography.

Amalthea (moon)

1863

American Civil War: The Union Army enters Chattanooga, Tennessee.

American Civil War

1855

Crimean War: The Siege of Sevastopol comes to an end when Russian forces abandon the city.

Crimean War

1850

The Compromise of 1850 transfers a third of Texas's claimed territory to federal control in return for the U.S. federal government assuming $10 million of Texas's pre-annexation debt.

Compromise of 1850

1850

California is admitted as the thirty-first U.S. state.

California

1845

Possible start of the Great Famine of Ireland.

Great Famine (Ireland)

1839

John Herschel takes the first glass plate photograph.

John Herschel

1801

Alexander I of Russia confirms the privileges of Baltic provinces.

Alexander I of Russia

1796

Grenelle camp affair, a failed uprising by supporters of Gracchus Babeuf against the French Directory

Grenelle camp affair

1791

Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington.

Washington, D.C.

1776

The Continental Congress officially names its union of states the United States.

Continental Congress

1739

Stono Rebellion, the largest slave uprising in Britain's mainland North American colonies prior to the American Revolution, erupts near Charleston, South Carolina.

Stono Rebellion

1588

Thomas Cavendish in his ship Desire enters Plymouth and completes the first deliberately planned voyage of circumnavigation.

Thomas Cavendish

1561

The ultimately unsuccessful Colloquy of Poissy opens in an effort to reconcile French Catholics and Protestants.

Colloquy of Poissy

1543

Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is crowned "Queen of Scots" in the central Scottish town of Stirling.

Mary, Queen of Scots

1513

James IV of Scotland is defeated and dies in the Battle of Flodden, ending Scotland's involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai.

James IV

1499

The citizens of Lisbon celebrate the triumphal return of the explorer Vasco de Gama, completing his two-year journey around the Cape of Good Hope to India.

Vasco da Gama

1493

Battle of Krbava Field, a decisive defeat of Croats in Croatian struggle against the invasion by the Ottoman Empire.

Battle of Krbava Field

1493

Christopher Columbus, with 17 ships and 1,200 men, sails on second voyage from Cadiz.

Christopher Columbus

1488

Anne becomes sovereign Duchess of Brittany, becoming a central figure in the struggle for influence that leads to the union of Brittany and France.

Anne of Brittany

1320

In the Battle of Saint George, the Byzantines under Andronikos Asen ambush and defeat the forces of the Principality of Achaea, securing possession of Arcadia.

Battle of Saint George

1141

Yelü Dashi, the Liao dynasty general who founded the Qara Khitai, defeats the Seljuq and Kara-Khanid forces at the Battle of Qatwan.

Yelü Dashi

1000

Battle of Svolder during the Viking Age.

AD 1000

337

Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti.

337