This Day in History- May 9th

[Jiperly]

Yea, I'll just edit this whenever(No promises on a daily post)- I ain't gunna make a new topic each day.....

All my info is from Wikipedia, and I'll just choose the most interesting- so if you want to skip the middle man, just go to Wikipedia

Events

1846 - Mexican-American War: The Battle of Palo Alto ? Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the war.

1861 - American Civil War: Richmond, Virginia, is named the capital of the Confederate States of America.

1877 - At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens (ends May 11).

1886 - Pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton invents a carbonated beverage that would later be named "Coca-Cola".

1902 - In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of St. Pierre and killing over 30,000 people. Only a handful of residents survive the blast.

1914 - Paramount Pictures is formed.

1933 - Mohandas Gandhi begins a 21-day fast in protest of British oppression in India.

1942 - World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea comes to an end. This is the first time in the naval history where two enemy fleets fought without visual contact between warring ships.

1945 - World War II: VE Day. German forces agree to an unconditional surrender.

1984 - Cpl. Denis Lortie enters the Quebec National Assembly and opens fire, killing three and wounding 13. René Jalbert, sergeant-at-arms of the assembly, succeeds in calming him, for which he will later receive the Cross of Valour.

Births

1884 - Harry S. Truman, President of the United States (d. 1972)
1975 - Enrique Iglesias, singer

Holidays and observances

Roman Empire - festival in honour of Mens(Roman God of thought)
Mother's Day - 1988, 1994, 2005, 2011
World Red Cross Day
VE Day

[devist8me]

Nice thread. Its always interesting to read up on what happened on this/that day.

[john8pies]

Agreed, count me in. Also on this day in 1959, one of our friends was born!!!

[Jiperly]

I'll just update this earily.....

May 9th

Events

1429 - Joan of Arc defeats the English troops besieging Orléans.

1502 - Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his fourth and final journey to the "New World".

1671 - Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. He is immediately caught because he is too drunk to run with the loot. He would later be condemned to death and then mysteriously pardoned and exiled by King Charles II.

1868 - The city of Reno, Nevada is founded.

1901 - Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne.

1915 - World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.

1941 - World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma cryptography machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.(the movie U-571 was inspired by this)

1955 - Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.

1960 - Reproductive rights: The Food and Drug Administration of America approves sale of the birth control pill.

1970 - Vietnam War: 75,000 to 100,000 war protestors peacefully demonstrate behind a barricaded White House in Washington, D.C.

1974 - Watergate Scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard M. Nixon.

1980 - The first meeting of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury takes place in Ghana.

1994 - Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.

2002 - The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agreed to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries. The standoff started on April 2.

2005 - The last episode of the popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond goes on the air(currently the seventh most popular show on American Television)

Births

1439 - Pope Pius III (d. 1503)

1800 - John Brown, American abolitionist (d. 1859)

1874 - Howard Carter, British archaeologist (d. 1939)(discovered the Tomb of King Tut)

1907 - Baldur von Schirach, Nazi official (d. 1974)

1940 - James L. Brooks, producer, writer

1942 - John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General

1949 - Billy Joel, American musician

Holidays and observances

Russia and some other parts of the former Soviet Union - Victory Day as the end of the "Great Patriotic War"
European Union - Europe day, commemorating the "Schuman declaration"
Roman Empire - Feast of the Lemures(something about ghosts)
Mother's Day - 1999, 2004, 2010

[Jiperly]

May 10th

Events

1291 - Scottish nobles recognize the authority of King Edward I of England.

1503 - Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands and names them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles there.

1534 - Jacques Cartier discovers Newfoundland.

1774 - Louis XVI becomes King of France.

1775 - American Revolutionary War: Fort Ticonderoga is taken by a small force led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen.

1775 - American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the 13 colonies of the United States meet in Philadelphia and raise the Continental Army to defend the new republic. They place it under command of Cavalier George Washington of Virginia.

1801 - First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States.

1865 - American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia.

1872 - Victoria Woodhull becomes the first woman nominated for President of the United States.

1877 - Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian independence war.

1908 - Mother's Day is observed for the first time (Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virgina, USA).

1924 - J. Edgar Hoover is appointed the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, and remained so until his death in 1972.

1940 - World War II: The first German bombs were dropped on England at Chilham and Petham, in Kent.

1940 - World War II: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

1940 - World War II: Winston Churchill appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1941 - World War II: The House of Commons in London is destroyed by the Luftwaffe in an air raid.

1941 - World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland in order to try and negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.

1954 - Bill Haley and the Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the charts.

1960 - The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.

1994 - Weezer releases their debut, self-titled album.

2002 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling American secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.

Births

1265 - Emperor Fushimi of Japan (d. 1317)

1838 - John Wilkes Booth, actor, assassin of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1865)

1955 - Mark David Chapman, assassin of John Lennon

1960 - Bono, singer of U2

Deaths

1774 - King Louis XV of France (b. 1710)

1818 - Paul Revere, engraver, American patriot (b. 1735)

1863 - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Confederate general (b. 1824)

1829 - Thomas Young, decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphics, including the Rosetta Stone

Holidays and Observances

Mother's Day - 1987, 1998, 2009

Inauguration Day in South Africa

Sita Pujan in Hinduism

Tin Han's Day in China

Dia de la Madre in Mexico

Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina and South Carolina

Constitution Day in the Federated States of Micronesia

Feast Day of Saint Solange, Saint Alphius, Saint Aurelian, Saint William of Pontoise, Saint Calepodius, Saint Cataldus, Saint Comgall, Saint Dioscorides, Saint Epimachus, Saint Gordian and Epimachus, Saint John of Avila, Saint Quaratus and Quintus, and Saint Peter Van in Roman Catholicism

Memorial Day of Blessed Damien of Moloka'i in Christianity