Title: April 9 Content: == Events == === Up to 1900 === *193 - Septimius Severus is proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army in Illyricum. *1241 - Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol Empire forces defeat the German and Polish armies. *1388 - Despite being outnumbered 16 to 1, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy are victorious over the Archduchy of Austria in the Battle of Nafels. *1413 - King Henry V of England is crowned. *1440 - Christopher of Bavaria is appointed King of Denmark. *1454 - The Treaty of Lodi is signed, establishing a balance of power among the northern Italian city states for almost 50 years. *1511 - Saint John's College, Cambridge, receives its charter. *1609 - Eighty Years' War: Spain and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of Antwerp. *1682 - Robert Cavelier de La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi River. *1860 - On his phonautograph machine, Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest- known recording of an audible human voice. *1865 – The American Civil War ends, as Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. *1867 – By a single vote, the United States Senate approves the treaty with Russia for the purchase of Russian America, present-day Alaska. === 1901 2000 === *1914 - Mexican Revolution: One of the world's first naval/air skirmishes takes place off the coast of western Mexico. *1916 – World War I: Battle of Verdun - German forces launch their third offensive of the battle. *1917 - World War I: Battle of Arras - The battle begins when Canadian corps execute a massive assault on the Vimy Ridge. *1918 - The National Council of Bessarabia, in present-day Moldova, proclaims a union with Romania. *1939 – Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial, after being denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall. *1940 – World War II: The Nazis invade Denmark and Norway. *1940 - World War II: Vidkun Quisling seizes power in Norway. *1942 - World War II: Bataan Death March - US forces surrender on the Bataan Peninsula. *1945 – World War II: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends. *1945 - The United States Atomic Energy Commission is formed. *1947 - The Glazier-Higgins-Woodward tornadoes kill 181 people in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. *1948 - President of Colombia Jorge Eliecer Gaitan is assassinated. *1948 - Fighters from the Irgun and Lehi Zionist paramilitary groups attack the Arab village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing over 100 people. *1952 - Hugo Gallivan's government is overthrown by the Bolivian National Revolution. *1957 – The Suez Canal opens to shipping. *1959 - Project Mercury: NASA announces the selection of the first seven US astronauts. *1961 - The Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles ends operations. *1963 – Winston Churchill becomes an honorary US citizen, becoming the first non-American to be given this honour. *1965 - The first indoor game of baseball is played. *1967 – The Boeing 737 makes its first flight. *1969 - The "Chicago Eight" plead not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. *1975 - The first game of the Philippine Basketball Association is played. *1981 - United States Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington (SSBN-598) accidentally collides with Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it. *1989 – April 9 tragedy: In Tbilisi, in the then-Soviet Republic of Georgia, a peaceful pro-independence demonstration is broken up by the Soviet army, killing 20 people, and injuring hundreds. *1991 – The Republic of Georgia, under Zviad Gamsakhurdia, declares independence from the Soviet Union. *1992 – The British Conservative Party under John Major, wins a fourth term in office in the United Kingdom, defeating Neil Kinnock of the Labour Party. Kinnock resigns shortly after. *1992 - A US Federal Court finds Panama's former military leader Manuel Noriega guilty of drug and racketeering offences. *1999 – Niger's President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara is overthrown, and killed at Niamey airport. === From 2001 === *2003 – Baghdad falls to US forces, as Saddam Hussein's regime crumbles, while a statue of him is torn down in the centre of the city. *2005 – Charles, Prince of Wales marries Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Their wedding had been postponed from the previous day, for the funeral of Pope John Paul II. *2009 – In Tbilisi, 60,000 people gather to protest against the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. *2011 – Seven people, including the gunman, are killed in a shooting at a mall, in Alphen an den Rijn, in the Netherlands. *2013 - Thirteen people are shot dead in a shooting rampage in a village south of Belgrade, Serbia. *2013 - Uhuru Kenyatta is formally sworn in as President of Kenya. *2017 - 2017 Palm Sunday church bombings occur in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, killing 45 people. *2019 - An election is held for the Israeli Knesset, with Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking for a record fifth term in office. == Births == === Up to 1900 === *1283 – Margaret, Maid of Norway (d. 1290) *1336 – Tamerlane, also known as Timur, Turkic conqueror, in Transoxiana (d. 1405) *1498 - Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine (d. 1550) *1597 - John Davenport, English clergyman (d. 1670) *1686 - James Craggs the Younger, British politician (d. 1721) *1770 - Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist (d. 1831) *1773 – Étienne Aignan, translator, political writer, librettist, playwright, member of the Académie française (d. 1824) *1794 – Theobald Boehm, inventor of the modern flute. *1802 – Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and writer (d. 1884) *1806 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (d. 1859) *1816 - Charles-Eugene Delaunay, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1872) *1817 - Alexander Thomson, Scottish architect (d. 1895) *1821 – Charles Baudelaire, French poet (d. 1867) *1830 – Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer, movie pioneer (d. 1904) *1834 - Edmond Laguerre, French mathematician (d. 1886) *1835 – King Leopold II of Belgium (d. 1909) *1846 - Paolo Tosti, Italian composer (d. 1916) *1848 – Helene Lange, German teacher (d. 1930) *1865 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, German-born engineer and mathematician (d. 1923) *1865 - Adela Florence Nicolson, English poet (d. 1904) *1865 – Erich Ludendorff, German general in World War I (d. 1937) *1867 – Chris Watson, third Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1941) *1867 - Charles Winckler, Danish tug of war competitor (d. 1932) *1869 - Élie Cartan, French mathematician (d. 1951) *1872 – Léon Blum, Prime Minister of France (d. 1950) *1880 - Jan Letzel, Czech architect (d. 1925) *1882 - Frederick Francis IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (d. 1945) *1883 - Frank King, American cartoonist (d. 1969) *1888 – Sol Hurok, American impresario (d. 1974) *1889 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russian violinist (d. 1985) *1893 - Charles E. Burchfield, American painter (d. 1967) *1893 - Rahul Sankrityanan, Indian travel writer and scholar (d. 1962) *1895 - Michel Simon, French actor (d. 1975) *1897 – John B. Gambling, radio talk-show host (d. 1974) *1897 - Fred G. Aandahl, 23rd Governor of North Dakota (d. 1966) *1898 – Paul Robeson, American singer and political activist (d. 1976) *1898 – Curly Lambeau, American football coach, executive (d. 1965) === 1901 1950 === *1902 - Theodore Monod, French naturalist, explorer and scholar (d. 2000) *1903 – Ward Bond, actor (d. 1960) *1904 – Sharkey Bonano, jazz musician (d. 1972) *1905 – J. William Fulbright, former Senator from Arkansas (d. 1995) *1906 - Hugh Gaitskell, British politician (d. 1963) *1906 - Rafaela Aparicio, Spanish actress (d. 1996) *1906 – Antal Dorati, Hungarian conductor (d. 1988) *1908 – Victor Vasarely, painter (d. 1997) *1910 – Abraham Ribicoff, American politician (d. 1998) *1912 – Lev Kopelev, Russian writer and humanist (d. 1997) *1914 - Koichi Oita, Japanese footballer (d. 1996) *1915 - Daniel Johnson, Sr., Canadian politician, 20th Premier of Quebec (d. 1968) *1917 – Brad Dexter, American actor (d. 2002) *1917 - Johannes Bobrowski, German poet (d. 1965) *1917 - Rolf Kauka, German comics creator and publisher (d. 2000) *1918 – Jørn Utzon, Danish architect (d. 2008) *1919 – J. Presper Eckert, inventor of the ENIAC computer (d. 1995) *1920 - Jorge Pacheco Areco, President of Uruguay (d. 1998) *1921 - Yitzhak Navon, 5th President of Israel (d. 2015) *1921 - Frankie Thomas, American actor (d. 2006) *1925 – Heinz Nixdorf, industrialist (d. 1985) *1925 - Virginia Gibson, American actress, singer and dancer (d. 2013) *1925 - Art Kane, American photographer (d. 1995) *1926 – Hugh Hefner, American editor and publisher (d. 2017) *1928 – Tom Lehrer, American musician, mathematician and satirist *1928 - Aubrey Woods, American actor and singer (d. 2013) *1929 - Manuel Jiménez de Parga, Spanish politician (d. 2014) *1930 - Wallace McCain, Canadian businessman (d. 2001) *1930 - Alphonse Alley, President of Benin (d. 1987) *1930 - Nathaniel Branden, Canadian-American psychologist (d. 2014) *1931 - Leone Frollo, Italian comic book artist (d. 2018) *1931 - Richard Hatfield, Canadian politician, 26th Premier of New Brunswick (d. 1991) *1932 – Carl Perkins, country and rockabilly musician (d. 1998) *1932 – Jim Fowler, American naturalist *1933 – Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor *1933 - René Burri, Swiss photographer (d. 2014) *1935 – Avery Schreiber, actor (d. 2002) *1935 – Josef Fritzl, Austrian criminal *1936 - Valerie Solanas, American feminist writer (d. 1988) *1937 - Valerie Singleton, British television presenter *1937 – Marty Krofft, children's television producer *1938 - Aziz Asli, Iranian footballer (d. 2015) *1938 – Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian politician (d. 2010) *1939 – Michael Learned, American actress *1940 - Jimmy Roberts, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2015) *1941 - Hannah Gordon, Scottish actress *1942 – Brandon De Wilde, American actor (d. 1972) *1942 - Petar Nadoveza, Croatian footballer *1945 – Peter Gammons, American baseball sportswriter, journalist *1945 - Steve Gadd, American musician *1946 - Sara Parkin, Scottish activist and politician *1948 - Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress and politician *1948 - Michel Parizeau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach *1948 - Patty Pravo, Italian singer === 1951 1975 === *1952 - Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Polish politician (d. 2010) *1953 – Hal Ketchum, American country musician *1954 – Dennis Quaid, actor (The Right Stuff, Any Given Sunday, Traffic) *1954 – Iain Duncan Smith, British politician *1955 - Yanina Benguigui, French director and politician *1956 - Michael Hashim, American saxophonist *1956 - Miguel Angel Russo, Argentine footballer and coach *1956 - Marina Zueva, Russian ice dancer and coach *1957 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (d. 2011) *1958 - Nigel Slater, English chef and cookery writer *1959 - Bernard Jenkin, English politician *1962 - Jeff Turner, American basketball player and broadcasting announcer *1963 - Marc Jacobs, American fashion designer *1964 - Doug Ducey, American politician, 23rd Governor of Arizona *1964 - Akihiro Nagashima, Japanese footballer *1965 - Paulina Porizkova, Czech-American actress and model *1965 – Jeff Zucker, American television executive *1965 - Mark Pellegrino, American actor *1966 - John Hammond, English weather presenter *1966 – Cynthia Nixon, American actress *1967 - Sam Harris, American philosopher and writer *1970 - Tricia Penrose, English actress and singer *1971 – Jacques Villeneuve, French- Canadian racing driver *1972 - Alain Berset, Swiss politician *1972 - Neve McIntosh, Scottish actress *1973 - Spencer Rice, Canadian actor, director, producer and screenwriter *1974 – Alexander Pichushkin, Russian serial killer *1974 – Jenna Jameson, American pornographic actress *1975 – Robbie Fowler, English footballer (soccer) *1975 - Balzhinima Tsyrempilov, Russian archer === From 1976 === *1977 – Gerard Way, American rock band frontman (My Chemical Romance) *1978 – Jorge Andrade, Portuguese footballer *1978 – Rachel Stevens, English singer *1979 – Keshia Knight Pulliam, American actress (Rudy Huxtable, The Cosby Show) *1979 – Mario Matt, Austrian skier *1979 - Albert Hammond, Jr., American guitarist (The Strokes) *1980 – Jerko Leko, Croatian footballer *1980 - Isabelle Severino, French gymnast and actress *1980 - Rachel Specter, American actress *1981 - Ireneusz Jelen, Polish footballer *1981 – Eric Harris, one of the gunmen at Columbine (d. April 20 1999) *1981 - Albin Pelak, Bosnian footballer *1982 - Jay Maruchel, Canadian actor, filmmaker and musician *1985 - Antonio Nocerino, Italian footballer *1985 – Nichole Arsenault, model *1986 - Leighton Meester, American actress *1986 - Brian Larsen, American singer, musician and record producer *1987 – Jesse McCartney, American actor and singer *1990 – Kristen Stewart, American actress *1998 – Elle Fanning, American actress *1999 - Isaac Hempstead Wright, English actor *2000 – Jackie Evancho, American singer == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === *585 - Emperor Jimmu of Japan *93 - Yuan An, Chinese statesman *436 - Tan Daoji, Chinese statesman *491 – Zeno, Byzantine Emperor *654 - Matei Basarab, Romanian prince (b. 1588) *715 – Pope Constantine *1024 – Pope Benedict VIII *1137 – William X, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1099) *1483 – King Edward IV of England (b. 1442) *1484 – Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales (b. 1473) *1492 - Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian statesman (b. 1449) *1553 – François Rabelais, French writer *1557 – Mikael Agricola, Finnish scholar (b. 1510) *1626 – Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher, statesman, and essayist (b. 1561) *1693 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French writer (b. 1618) *1739 – Nicolas Saunderson, English scientist and mathematician (b. 1682) *1747 – Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, Scottish clan chief *1754 – Christian Wolff, German philosopher (b. 1679) *1761 – William Law, English minister (b. 1686) *1768 - Sarah Fielding, British writer (b. 1710) *1804 – Jacques Necker, French statesman (b. 1732) *1806 – William V of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic *1872 - Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (b. 1794) *1876 - Charles Goodyear, American politician (b. 1804) *1882 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English painter, illustrator and poet (b. 1828) *1889 – Michel Eugène Chevreul, French chemist (b. 1786) === 1901 2000 === *1917 – James Hope Moulton, English scholar of Classical Greek (b. 1863) *1936 – Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist (b. 1855) *1940 – Mrs. Patrick Campbell, English actress (b. 1865) *1944 – Evgeniya Rudneva, Russian World War II heroine (executed) (b. 1920) *1945 - German resistance activists executed: **Wilhelm Canaris, German admiral (b. 1887) **Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian (executed) (b. 1906) **Hans von Dohnanyi, German jurist (b. 1902) **Georg Elser, German carpenter (b. 1903) **Hans Oster, German army general (b. 1887) **Karl Sack, German jurist (b. 1896) *1948 – Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Colombian politician (b. 1903). *1948 - George Carpenter, 5th General of the Salvation Army (b. 1872) *1959 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867) *1961 – King Zog of Albania (b. 1895) *1963 – Eddie Edwards, American jazz trombonist (b. 1891) *1970 - Gustaf Tenggren, Swedish-American illustrator (b. 1896) *1976 – Phil Ochs, American singer (b. 1940) *1980 - Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Iraqi cleric and philosopher (b. 1935) *1982 - Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian conductor (b. 1896) *1988 – Brook Benton, American actor (b. 1931) *1991 – Martin Hannett, record producer (b. 1948) *1996 – Richard Condon, American novelist (b. 1915) *1996 – James W. Rouse, American real estate developer, activist, and philanthropist (b. 1914) *1997 – Laura Nyro, American singer and songwriter (b. 1947) *1999 – Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, Niger politician and general (b. 1949) === From 2001 === *2001 – Willie Stargell, American baseball player (b. 1940) *2002 – Leopold Vietoris, Austrian mathematician (b. 1891) *2002 - Pat Flaherty, American racing driver (b. 1926) *2004 - Harry Babbitt, American singer (b. 1933) *2005 – Andrea Dworkin, American feminist and writer (b. 1946) *2009 - Nick Adenhart, American baseball player (b. 1986) *2010 – Meinhardt Raabe, American actor (b. 1915) *2011 – Sidney Lumet, American movie director (b. 1924) *2011 – Daniel Catan, Mexican composer (b. 1949) *2013 - Paolo Soleri, Italian-American architect (b. 1919) *2014 - A. N. R. Robinson, 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1926) *2014 - Norman Girvan, Jamaican economist, educator and politician (b. 1941) *2014 - Jos Chabert, Belgian politician (b. 1933) *2015 - Nina Companeez, French movie director and screenwriter (b. 1937) *2015 - Paul Almond, Canadian moviemaker (b. 1931) *2015 - Alexander Dalgarno, British physicist (b. 1928) *2015 - John Toohey, Australian judge (b. 1930) *2016 - Arthur Anderson, American voice actor (b. 1922) *2016 - Duane Clarridge, American spy (b. 1932) *2016 - Tony Conrad, American musician, composer, video artist and professor (b. 1940) *2016 - Juris Ekmanis, Latvian academic (b. 1941) *2016 - Will Smith, American football player (b. 1981) *2017 - Knut Borge, Norwegian journalist (b. 1949) *2017 - Peter Hansen, American actor (b. 1921) *2017 - Harry Huskey, American computer scientist (b. 1916) *2017 - Kim Young-ae, South Korean actress (b. 1951) *2017 - Dieter Kottysch, German boxer (b. 1943) *2017 - John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian novelist, actor, screenwriter, comedian and satirist (b. 1948) *2017 - Carme Chacón, Spanish politician (b. 1971) *2017 - Jean Périmony, French actor and theatre director (b. 1931) *2018 - Felix Chen, Taiwanese conductor (b. 1942) *2018 - Edelgard Huber von Gersdorff, German supercentenarian (b. 1905) *2019 - Richard E. Cole, American Air Force officer (b. 1915) *2019 - Nikolai Gorbachev, Belarussian sprint canoeist (b. 1948) *2019 - Leif Haraldseth, Norwegian trade unionist and politician (b. 1929) *2019 - James D. Hudnall, American comic book writer (b. 1957) *2019 - K. M. Mani, Indian politician (b. 1933) *2019 - Marilynn Smith, American golfer (b. 1929) *2019 - Charles Van Doren, American educator, writer and television quiz show contestant (b. 1926) *2021 - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, member of the British royal family and consort of Queen Elizabeth II (b.1921) == Observances == * Martyrs' Day (Tunisia) * Day of National Unity in Georgia * Day of the Finnish language * Day of Valour (Philippines) * Constitution Day (Kosovo) * Vimy Ridge Day (Canada) April 09