Today in history...
June 9, 2008
* 53 – Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia
* 62 – Claudia Octavia commits suicide
* 68 – Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, after Homer's Iliad.
* 721 – Odo of Aquitaine defeats the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse.
* 1310 – Duccio's Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, is unveiled and installed in the Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.
* 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to discover the Saint Lawrence River.
* 1650 – The Harvard Corporation, the more powerful of the two administrative boards of Harvard, is established. It is the first legal corporation in the Americas.
* 1667 – The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet begins. It lasts for five days and results in a decisive victory by the Dutch over the English in the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
* 1732 – James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia.
* 1772 – The British ship Gaspee is burned off the coast of Rhode Island.
* 1815 – End of the Congress of Vienna: New European political situation is set.
* 1856 – Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa and head west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts.
* 1863 – American Civil War: the Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia.
* 1873 – Alexandra Palace burns down after being open for only 16 days.
* 1909 – Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, becomes the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, in fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York, to San Francisco, California.
* 1915 – William Jennings Bryan resigns as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.
* 1922 – First ringing of the Harkness Memorial Chime at Yale University.
* 1923 – Bulgaria's military takes over the government in a coup.
* 1928 – Charles Kingsford Smith completes the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross.
* 1930 – Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle is killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by the Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a 100,000 USD gambling debt owed to Al Capone.
* 1934 – Donald Duck makes his debut in The Wise Little Hen.
* 1944 – World War II: the Soviet Union invades East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941.
* 1946 – King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascends to the throne of Thailand. He is currently the world's longest reigning monarch.
* 1953 – Flint-Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: a tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hits in Worcester, Massachusetts killing 94.
* 1954 – McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism has infiltrated the Army – giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
* 1957 – First ascent of Broad Peak (the world's 12th highest mountain).
* 1958 – Queen Elizabeth II officially opens London Gatwick Airport, (LGW), Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom.
* 1959 – The USS George Washington is launched. It is the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
* 1967 – Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria
* 1968 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
* 1973 – Secretariat wins the Triple Crown.
* 1974 – Portugal and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations.
* 1978 – The Church of of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy excluding black men.
* 1979 – The Ghost Train Fire at Luna Park, North Sydney, kills seven.
* 1985 – Thomas Sutherland is kidnapped in Lebanon (he is not released until 1991).
* 1986 – The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
* 1999 – Kosovo War: the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization sign a peace treaty.
* 2008 – In the town of Lake Delton, Wisconsin, Lake Delton drained as a result of heavy flooding breaking the dam holding the lake back.
Birthdays today...
* 1508 – Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer (d. 1586)
* 1580 – Daniel Heinsius, Flemish scholar (d. 1655)
* 1588 – Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (d. 1666)
* 1595 – King Wladislaus IV of Poland (d. 1648)
* 1640 – Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1705)
* 1661 – Tsar Feodor III of Russia (d. 1682)
* 1672 – Tsar Peter I of Russia (d. 1725)
* 1686 – Andrei Osterman, Russian statesman (d. 1747)
* 1768 – Samuel Slater, American industrialist (d. 1835)
* 1781 – George Stephenson, English mechanical engineer (d. 1848)
* 1810 – Otto Nicolai, German composer (d. 1849)
* 1812 – Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer (d. 1910)
* 1843 – Bertha von Suttner, Austrian novelist, Nobel laureate (d. 1914)
* 1845 – Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto (d. 1914)
* 1849 – Michael Peter Ancher, Danish painter (d. 1927)
* 1851 – Charles Joseph Bonaparte, French politician (d. 1921)
* 1865 – Albéric Magnard, French composer (d. 1914)
* 1865 – Carl Nielsen, Danish composer (d. 1931)
* 1875 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1968)
* 1882 – Bobby Kerr, Canadian sprinter (d. 1963)
* 1890 – Leslie Banks, British actor (d. 1952)
* 1891 – Cole Porter, American composer and lyricist (d. 1964)
* 1893 – Irish Meusel, American baseball player (d. 1963)
* 1898 – Luigi Fagioli, Italian racecar driver (d. 1952)
* 1900 – Fred Waring, American bandleader (d. 1984)
* 1906 – Robert Klark Graham, American eugenicist and entrepreneur (d. 1997)
* 1911 – George Webb, British actor (d. 1998)
* 1912 – Ingolf Dahl, American composer (d. 1970)
* 1915 – Les Paul, American guitarist
* 1916 – Robert McNamara, U.S. Defense Secretary and President of the World Bank
* 1921 – Arthur Hertzberg, American scholar (d. 2006)
* 1922 – George Axelrod, American producer, playwright and director (d. 2003)
* 1922 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator (d. 1941)
* 1922 – Fernand Seguin, Canadian biochemist (d. 1988)
* 1924 – Ed Farhat, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
* 1925 – Keith Laumer, American author (d. 1993)
* 1929 – Johnny Ace, American singer (d. 1954)
* 1930 – Barbara, French singer (d. 1997)
* 1931 – Jackie Mason, American comedian
* 1931 – Joe Santos, American actor
* 1931 – Bill Virdon, American baseball player and manager
* 1934 – Jackie Wilson, American singer (d. 1984)
* 1936 – Mick O'Dwyer, Irish footballer and manager
* 1937 – Harald Rosenthal, German biologist
* 1938 – Charles Wuorinen, American composer
* 1939 – Ileana Cotrubaş, Romanian soprano
* 1939 – David Hobbs, English racecar driver and commentator
* 1939 – Dick Vitale, American sportscaster
* 1939 – Charles Webb, American author
* 1941 – Jon Lord, English musician (Deep Purple)
* 1943 – Joe Haldeman, American author
* 1945 – Luis Ocaña, Spanish cyclist (d. 1994)
* 1945 – Nike Wagner, German art festival director
* 1947 – Kiran Bedi, Indian police officer
* 1947 – John Gurda, American historian
* 1948 – Gudrun Schyman, Swedish politician
* 1951 – James Newton Howard, American film composer
* 1951 – Dave Parker, American baseball player
* 1952 – Uzi Hitman, Israeli singer (d. 2004)
* 1954 – Gregory Maguire, American author
* 1954 – George Pérez, American comic book artist
* 1956 – Patricia Cornwell, American author
* 1959 – Christian Wulff, German politician, Prime minister of Lower Saxony
* 1960 – Steve Paikin, Canadian journalist
* 1961 – Michael J. Fox, Canadian-born actor
* 1961 – Aaron Sorkin, American writer
* 1962 – Yuval Banai, Israeli musician and singer
* 1963 – Gilad Atzmon, Israeli jazz musician and author
* 1963 – Johnny Depp, American actor
* 1963 – David Koepp, American screenwriter and director
* 1964 – Gloria Reuben, Canadian actress
* 1964 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player and guitar musician (d. 2009)
* 1964 – Hiroko Yakushimaru, Japanese actress and singer
* 1968 – Niki Bakoyianni, Greek high jumper
* 1969 – Eric Wynalda, American footballer
* 1971 – Gilles De Bilde, Belgian footballer
* 1971 – John McKeown, Scottish musician (Yummy Fur, 1990s)
* 1971 – Rick Renstrom, American guitarist
* 1972 – Tomoe Hanba, Japanese voice actress
* 1972 – Matt Horsley, Australian footballer
* 1973 – Tedy Bruschi, American football player
* 1973 – Frederic Choffat, Swiss film director
* 1973 – Laura Ponte, Spanish model and royal
* 1974 – Samoth, Norwegian guitarist (Emperor, Zyklon)
* 1974 – Tim Shaw, British radio personality
* 1974 – Randy Winn, American baseball player
* 1975 – Otto Addo, German-born footballer
* 1975 – Jeff Saturday, American football player
* 1975 – Andrew Symonds, Australian cricketer
* 1977 – Roopa Mishra, Indian civil servant
* 1977 – Amisha Patel, Indian actress
* 1977 – Peja Stojakovic, Serbian basketball player
* 1978 – Matthew Bellamy, British musician (Muse)
* 1978 – Michaela Conlin, American actress
* 1978 – Shandi Finnessey, American beauty queen
* 1978 – Miroslav Klose, German footballer
* 1980 – Mike Fontenot, American baseball player
* 1980 – Udonis Haslem, American basketball player
* 1980 – Lehlohonolo Seema, South African footballer
* 1981 – Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress
* 1981 – Anoushka Shankar, English-born sitarist and daughter of Ravi Shankar
* 1981 – Vic Zhou, Taiwanese actor, singer and model
* 1982 – Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer
* 1982 – Andrew Walker, Canadian actor
* 1983 – Alektra Blue, American porn star
* 1983 – Danny Richar, Dominican baseball player
* 1983 – Firas Al Khatib, Syrian football player
* 1983 – Jim Tang, Hong Kong actor
* 1984 – Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player
* 1984 – Kaleth Morales, Colombian singer and songwriter (d. 2005)
* 1984 – Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
* 1984 – Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer
* 1985 – Sonam Kapoor, Indian actress
* 1985 – Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
* 1986 – Kary Ng, Hong Kong singer and actress
* 1986 – Adamo Ruggiero, Canadian actor
* 1988 – Mae Whitman, American actress and voice actress
* 1993 – Danielle Chuchran, American actress
Famous deaths...
* 62 – Claudia Octavia, wife of Nero (b. 40)
* 68 – Nero, Roman Emperor (b. 37)
* 373 – Ephrem the Syrian, Christian hymnodist (b. 306)
* 597 – St. Columba, Christian missionary (b. 521)
* 630 – King Shahrbaraz of Persia
* 1361 – Philippe de Vitry, French composer (b. 1291)
* 1563 – William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, English statesman (b. 1506)
* 1572 – Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre (b. 1528)
* 1583 – Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
* 1656 – Thomas Tomkins, Welsh composer (b. 1572)
* 1716 – Banda Bahadur, Sikh military commander (b. 1670)
* 1717 – Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (b. 1648)
* 1834 – William Carey, English minister and missionary (b. 1761)
* 1870 – Charles Dickens, English author (b. 1812)
* 1875 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist (b. 1795)
* 1892 – Taiso Yoshitoshi, Woodblock print artist (b. 1839)
* 1892 – William Grant Stairs, Canadian explorer (b. 1863)
* 1912 – Ion Luca Caragiale, Romanian writer (b. 1852)
* 1946 – Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII, king of Thailand (b. 1925)
* 1952 – Adolf Busch, German composer (b. 1891)
* 1958 – Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)
* 1959 – Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1876)
* 1961 – Camille Guérin, French scientist (b. 1872)
* 1964 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born tycoon and politician (b. 1879)
* 1968 – Bernard Cronin, Australian author and journalist (b. 1884)
* 1973 – Erich von Manstein, German military commander (b. 1887)
* 1974 – Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1899)
* 1979 – Cyclone Taylor, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1884)
* 1981 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
* 1989 – Rashid Behbudov, Azerbaijani singer and actor (b. 1915)
* 1989 – George Wells Beadle, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
* 1991 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (b. 1903)
* 1993 – Thomas Ammann, Swiss art dealer and collector (b. 1950)
* 1993 – Alexis Smith, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
* 1994 – Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
* 1997 – Stanley Knowles, Canadian politician (b. 1908)
* 2000 – Jacob Lawrence, American painter (b. 1917)
* 2004 – Rosey Brown, American football player (b. 1932)
* 2004 – Brian Williamson, Jamaican activist (b. 1945)
* 2006 – Drafi Deutscher, German Schlager singer (b. 1946)
* 2007 – Frankie Abernathy, American reality TV personality (b. 1981)
* 2008 – Algis Budrys, American writer (b. 1931)
Holidays and observances...
* Germanic Neopaganism: Day of Remembrance for Sigurd the Volsung
* Åland Islands: Autonomy Day
* La Rioja: La Rioja Day
* Murcia: Murcia Day
* Uganda: National Heroes' Day
* Roman Empire: Third day of the Vestalia
Have a good Tuesday.
~Brian
