1600s / 17th century history on the 9th of May

1662 : Mr. Punch made his first appearance in England. He later became famous in the Punch and Judy traditional puppet show.

1800s / 19th century history on the 9th of May

1873 : Vienna stock market crash (Der Krach) in Austria signaled the Long Depression.

1900s / 20th century history on the 9th of May

1901 : Australia’s first national parliament was opened, in Melbourne, Victoria.

1927 : Parliament House in Canberra officially opened, as Australia’s national parliament.

1928 : Pancho Gonzales the American tennis player was born Ricardo Alonso González in Los Angeles, California, USA (died in 1995 aged 67).

1949 : Billy Joel the American musician was born William Martin Joel in New York City, USA. Official website : BillyJoel.com

1950: L. Ron Hubbard published Dianetics : The Modern Science of Mental Health. With this book, Hubbard introduced a branch of self-help psychology called Dianetics, which quickly took off, and, over time morphed into a belief system boasting millions of subscribers, known as Scientology. 

1955 : West Germany joined NATO, during the Cold War.

1960 : Enovid became the world’s first approved oral contraceptive pill, with the announcement by The Food and Drug Administration of the approval of birth control as an additional indication for Searle’s Enovid.

1974 : Watergate scandal hearings against President Richard Nixon were opened by the United States House Committee on the Judiciary.

1980 : MV Summit Venture freighter ship hit the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida. over Tampa Bay, A 426 metre (1,400 feet) section of the bridge span collapsed over Tampa Bay. A Greyhound bus and 6 cars fell 45 metres (150 feet) into the water, resulting in the death of 35 people.

1980 : GRANT HACKETT the Australian swimmer was born in Southport, Queensland, Australia. He is regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history, after winning gold at the Olympics twice, in the men’s 1500 metres freestyle race at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Grant Hackett held world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, when he was undefeated in finals from 1996 until the 2007.

1986 : Tenzing Norgay the Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer died of a cerebral haemorrhage aged 71 (born in 1914). He was best known as one of the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which he accomplished with Edmund Hillary in 1953. He was named as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, by Time magazine.

1987 : LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashed after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, resulting in the death of all 183 people on board the flight.

1988 : New Parliament House in Canberra, Australia officially opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The cost to build was over $1.1 billion (Australian dollars).

1992 : Westray Mine disaster in Nova Scotia, Canada, resulted in the death of 26 workers.

2000s / 21st century history on the 9th of May

2001 : Accra Sports Stadium disaster in Ghana, Africa, resulted in the death of 129 football fans, caused by a stampede after a referee made a controversial decision, and the police fired tear gas.

2020 : Little Richard the American musician died due to bone cancer, aged 87 (born in 1932).

see more interesting events on all the other days of MAY (History On This Day @ Azoosh)

This page was last updated on the 9th May 2021

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