January 9

Events

Pre-1600

400 – Aelia Eudoxia is officially crowned empress of the Eastern Roman Empire.

475 – Verina, the Eastern Roman dowager Empress, instigates a riot in Constantinople and persuades emperor Zeno, her son-in-law, to flee. The Byzantine senate, however, acclaims Basiliscus as emperor and not her lover Patricius.

681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.

1038 – An earthquake in Dingxiang, China kills an estimated 32,300.

1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song period.

1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.

1431 – The trial of Joan of Arc begins in Rouen.

1601–1900

1693 – Sicily earthquake: The first of two earthquakes destroys parts of Sicily and Malta. After the second quake on 11 January, the death toll is estimated at between 60,000 and 100,000 people.

1760 – Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.

1787 – The nationally known image of the Black Nazarene in the Philippines is transferred from what is now Rizal Park to its present shrine in the minor basilica of Quiapo Church. This is annually commemorated through its Traslación (solemn transfer) in the streets of Manila and is attended by millions of devotees.

1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the United States Constitution.

1792 – Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92.

1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.

1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.

1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.

1816 – Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.

1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.

1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.

1901–present

1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.

1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.

1914 – The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is founded by African-American students at Howard University in Washington D.C., United States.

1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.

1917 – World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.

1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.

1920 – Ukrainian War of Independence: The All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee outlaws the Makhnovshchina by decree, igniting the Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict.

1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.

1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.

1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.

1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.

1939 – The Kingdom of Italy would officially the coastal areas of its Colony of Libya as an integral part of the country itself, becoming the nation's Fourth Shore.

Births

Pre-1600

1304 – Hōjō Takatoki, Japanese shikken of the Kamakura bakufu (died 1333)

1418 – Juan Ramón Folch III de Cardona, Aragonese admiral (died 1485)

1554 – Pope Gregory XV (died 1623)

1571 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy, French commander (died 1621)

1590 – Simon Vouet, French painter (died 1649)

1601–1900

1606 – William Dugard, English printer (died 1662)

1624 – Empress Meishō of Japan (died 1696)

1645 – Sir William Villiers, 3rd Baronet, English noble and politician (date baptized; (died 1712)

1674 – Reinhard Keiser, German composer (died 1739)

1685 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (died 1766)

1728 – Thomas Warton, English poet, historian, and critic (died 1790)

1735 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (died 1823)

1745 – Caleb Strong, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Massachusetts (died 1819)

1753 – Luísa Todi, Portuguese soprano and actress (died 1833)

1773 – Cassandra Austen, English painter and illustrator (died 1845)

1778 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish Ney player and composer (died 1846)

1811 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English journalist and author (died 1856)

1818 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (died 1881)

1819 – James Francis, English-Australian businessman and politician, 9th Premier of Victoria (died 1884)

1822 – Carol Benesch, Czech-Romanian architect, designed the Peleș Castle (died 1896)

1901–present

1901 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-American actress (died 1991)

1902 – Rudolf Bing, American impresario and businessman (died 1997)

1902 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint, founded Opus Dei (died 1975)

1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and author (died 1986)

1909 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese lawyer and politician, 1st President of Malta (died 2008)

1909 – Patrick Peyton, Irish-American priest, television personality, and activist (died 1992)

1912 – Basil Langton, English actor, director, photographer, and teacher (died 2003)

1912 – Ralph Tubbs, English architect, designed the Dome of Discovery (died 1996)

1913 – Richard Nixon, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (died 1994)

1914 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (died 1985)

1915 – Fernando Lamas, Argentinian-American actor, singer, and director (died 1982)

1915 – Anita Louise, American actress (died 1970)

1918 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and golfer (died 2005)

1919 – William Morris Meredith, Jr., American poet and academic (died 2007)

Deaths

Pre-1600

710 – Adrian of Canterbury, abbot and scholar

1150 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (born 1119)

1282 – Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, Minorcan ruler (born 1204)

1283 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (born 1236)

1367 – Giulia della Rena, Italian saint (born 1319)

1450 – Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester

1463 – William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent, English soldier (born 1405)

1499 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (born 1455)

1511 – Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Greek scholar and academic (born 1423)

1514 – Anne of Brittany, queen of Charles VIII of France and Louis XII of France (born 1477)

1529 – Wang Yangming, Chinese Neo-Confucian scholar (born 1472)

1534 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (born 1477)

1543 – Guillaume du Bellay, French general and diplomat (born 1491)

1561 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (born 1514)

1571 – Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French admiral (born 1510)

1598 – Jasper Heywood, English poet and scholar (born 1553)

1601–1900

1612 – Leonard Holliday, Lord Mayor of London (born 1550)

1622 – Alix Le Clerc, French Canoness Regular and foundress (born 1576)

1757 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French author, poet, and playwright (born 1657)

1762 – Antonio de Benavides, colonial governor of Florida (born 1678)

1766 – Thomas Birch, English historian and author (born 1705)

1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (born 1718)

1800 – Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (born 1762)

1805 – Noble Wimberly Jones, American physician and politician (born 1723)

1833 – Adrien-Marie Legendre, French mathematician and theorist (born 1752)

1843 – William Hedley, English engineer (born 1773)

1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (born 1750)

1856 – Neophytos Vamvas, Greek cleric and educator (born 1770)

1858 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician; 4th President of the Republic of Texas (born 1798)

1873 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (born 1808)

1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and activist (born 1801)

1901–present

1901 – Richard Copley Christie, English lawyer and academic (born 1830)

1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, illustrator, and painter (born 1832)

1908 – Abraham Goldfaden, Russian actor, playwright, and author (born 1840)

1911 – Edwin Arthur Jones, American violinist and composer (born 1853)

1911 – Edvard Rusjan, Italian-Slovene pilot and engineer (born 1886)

1917 – Luther D. Bradley, American cartoonist (born 1853)

1918 – Charles-Émile Reynaud, French scientist and educator, invented the Praxinoscope (born 1844)

1923 – Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and essayist (born 1888)

1924 – Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sri Lankan civil servant and politician (born 1853)

1927 – Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German philosopher and author (born 1855)

1930 – Edward Bok, Dutch-American journalist and author (born 1863)

1931 – Wayne Munn, American football player and wrestler (born 1896)

1936 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1899)

1939 – Johann Strauss III, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (born 1866)

Holidays and observances

Christian feast day:

Adrian of Canterbury

Blessed Alix Le Clerc

Berhtwald

Blessed Giulia della Rena

Feast of the Black Nazarene (Manila, Philippines)

Julia Chester Emery (Episcopal Church (USA))

Stephen (old calendar Eastern Orthodox)

January 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Start of Hōonkō (Nishi Honganji) January 9–16 (Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism)

Martyrs' Day (Panama)

Non-Resident Indian Day (India)

Day of Republika Srpska (Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, result of 2016 Republika Srpska National Day referendum) (note: not celebrated and disputed in wider Bosnia and Herzegovina, having been declared unconstitutional in 2015)