History of Today in India – 09 May

Explore the history of today 09 May in India, including important events, famous personalities, and milestones for UPSC SSC,Banking & PSC exams.

Last updated on 09 May 2026, 04:21 AM

📜 Important Events on 09 May in World History

09 May 2023: The May 9 riots following the arrest of Imran Khan in Pakistan. Read more
09 May 2022: Russo-Ukrainian War: United States President Joe Biden signs the 2022 Lend-Lease Act into law, a rebooted World War II-era policy expediting American equipment to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. Read more
09 May 2020: The COVID-19 recession causes the U.S. unemployment rate to hit 14.9 percent, its worst rate since the Great Depression. Read more
09 May 2018: Barisan Nasional, the coalition that had governed Malaysia since the country's independence in 1957, suffer an historic defeat in the 2018 Malaysian general election. Read more
09 May 2002: The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries. Read more
09 May 2001: In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee. Read more
09 May 1992: Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Read more
09 May 1992: Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada. Read more
09 May 1988: New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens. Read more
09 May 1987: LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board. Read more
09 May 1980: In Florida, United States, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 430-meter (1,400 ft) section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 46 metres (150 ft) into the water and die. Read more
09 May 1980: In Norco, California, United States, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase. Read more
09 May 1979: Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran. Read more
09 May 1974: Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon. Read more
09 May 1969: Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks. Read more
09 May 1960: The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill. Read more
09 May 1955: Cold War: West Germany joins NATO. Read more
09 May 1950: Robert Schuman presents the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union. Read more
09 May 1948: Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect. Read more
09 May 1946: King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II. Read more
09 May 1945: World War II: The Channel Islands are liberated from Nazi occupation. Read more
09 May 1942: The Holocaust in Ukraine: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported. Read more
09 May 1941: World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages. Read more
09 May 1936: Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5. Read more
09 May 1927: The Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, officially opens. Read more
09 May 1926: Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim). Read more
09 May 1920: Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk. Read more
09 May 1918: World War I: Germany repels Britain's second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium. Read more
09 May 1915: World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces. Read more
09 May 1901: Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne. Read more
09 May 1877: Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. The date will become recognised as the Independence Day of Romania. Read more
09 May 1873: Der Krach: The Vienna stock exchange crash begins the Panic of 1873 and heralds the Long Depression. Read more
09 May 1865: American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama. Read more
09 May 1865: American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships. Read more
09 May 1864: Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland. Read more

🎂 Important Births on 09 May in World History

09 May 2000: Trey Lance, American football player Trey Aubrey Lance is an American professional football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Dakota State Bison, winning the Walter Payton and Jerry Rice Awards as a freshman en route to a victory in the 2020 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game. Lance was selected third overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL draft, but limited play and injuries led to him being traded after two seasons to the Dallas Cowboys. Lance spent two seasons as a backup with the Cowboys before signing with the Chargers in 2025. Read more
09 May 1996: Noah Centineo, American actor Noah Gregory Centineo is an American actor. He began his career performing on television, first in roles on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, most notably on Austin & Ally (2011–2012), and later had a breakout role as Jesus Adams Foster in the Freeform drama series The Fosters (2015–2018). He achieved wider recognition by starring in the Netflix romantic comedy films To All the Boys franchise (2018–2021), Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018), and The Perfect Date (2019). Read more
09 May 1995: Tommy Edman, American baseball player Thomas Hyunsu Edman, is an American professional baseball utility player for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals. Edman also represents the South Korean national team in international competition. Read more
09 May 1995: Beth Mead, English footballer Bethany Jane Mead is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Women's Super League (WSL) club Arsenal and the England national team. Prior to her move to Arsenal, she played for Sunderland. A creative and prolific forward, she has all-time most assists and all-time second-most goal contributions in the WSL. At UEFA Women's Euro 2022, she became the Golden Boot winner, Player of the Tournament, and top assist provider, leading England to win a major tournament for the first time. Later that year, she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, becoming the first women's footballer to win the prestigious award; and finished runner-up for the Ballon d'Or and UEFA Player of the Year. She was part of the England squad which won UEFA Euro 2025, having her penalty saved in the shootout of the tournament's final. Read more
09 May 1995: Shaboozey, American rapper and singer-songwriter Collins Obinna Chibueze, known professionally as Shaboozey, is an American singer. His music combines country, Americana and hip-hop. After releasing two albums, Lady Wrangler (2017) and Cowboys Live Forever, Outlaws Never Die (2022), he gained wider recognition through his appearances on the soundtrack to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter (2024). Read more
09 May 1992: Dan Burn, English footballer Daniel Johnson Burn is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Newcastle United and the England national team. Read more
09 May 1991: Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovar judoka Majlinda Kelmendi is a Kosovan-Albanian former judoka and judo coach. Read more
09 May 1989: Ellen White, English footballer Ellen Toni Convery is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. She is the record goalscorer for the England women's national team. Read more
09 May 1989: Daniel Rosenfeld, German musician Daniel Rosenfeld, known professionally as C418, is a German musician, composer, and producer, and sound designer. Known for his minimalistic ambient work, he rose to fame as the original composer and sound designer for the 2011 sandbox video game Minecraft. Acclaimed for its nostalgic value and relaxing quality, his music for the game is considered one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever composed. Read more
09 May 1988: J. R. Fitzpatrick, Canadian racing driver John Ryan Fitzpatrick is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. Fitzpatrick was the youngest driver to ever win the now defunct CASCAR Super Series championship, winning in the series' final season of 2006 at the age of 18. Read more
09 May 1987: Kevin Gameiro, French footballer Kevin Dominique Gameiro is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was a strong striker known for his clinical finishing, which compensated for his relatively light frame. Read more
09 May 1985: Jake Long, American football player Jake Edward Long is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, twice earning consensus All-American honors. Long was selected with the first overall pick by the Miami Dolphins in the 2008 NFL draft. He also played for the St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. Read more
09 May 1984: Prince Fielder, American baseball player Prince Semien Fielder is an American former professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. He was selected in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Brewers out of Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida, and spent the first seven years of his MLB career with the Brewers before signing with the Tigers, in January 2012. In November 2013, Fielder was traded to the Rangers, where he played the remainder of his career. Read more
09 May 1983: Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player Gilles Müller is a Luxembourgish former professional tennis player. He is a two-time major singles quarterfinalist, making him by far the most successful male tennis player in Luxembourgish history. Müller won two titles on the ATP Tour and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 21 on 31 July 2017. He was known for his powerful left-handed serve and net skills. Following his retirement, Müller was appointed as Luxembourg's Davis Cup team captain. Read more
09 May 1980: Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer Grant George Hackett OAM is an Australian swimmer, most famous for winning the men's 1500 metres freestyle race at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This achievement has led him to be regarded as one of the greatest distance swimmers in history. He also collected a gold medal in Sydney for swimming in the heats of the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. He was well regarded for his versatility, and has held the long course world records in the 200 m, 800 m, and 1500 m freestyle events. He dominated the 1500 m event for a decade, being undefeated in the event in finals from 1996 until the 2007 World Aquatics Championships. In total, he won 10 long-course world championship gold medals. Read more
09 May 1979: Rosario Dawson, American actress Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress and activist. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama Kids. Her subsequent film roles include He Got Game (1998), Josie and the Pussycats
(2001), 25th Hour (2002), Men in Black II (2002), The Rundown (2003), Rent (2005), Sin City (2005), Clerks II (2006), Death Proof (2007), Seven Pounds (2008), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), Unstoppable (2010), Zookeeper (2011), Trance (2013), Top Five (2014), Zombieland: Double Tap (2019), Clerks 3 (2022), and Haunted Mansion (2023). Dawson has provided voice-over work for Disney/Marvel, Warner Bros./DC Comics, and Paramount Skydance's Nickelodeon unit. She is also recognized for her portrayal of the live-action Ahsoka Tano in the Star Wars franchise. Read more
09 May 1979: Brandon Webb, American baseball player Brandon Tyler Webb is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Webb pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2003 through 2009, and, after multiple shoulder surgeries, signed with but did not play for the Texas Rangers in 2011. Webb attended the University of Kentucky, where he played college baseball for the Wildcats baseball team. Read more
09 May 1977: Averno, Mexican wrestler Renato Ruíz Cortes, better known by his ring name Averno (Hell), is a Mexican professional wrestler, signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). Ruíz initially worked for (CMLL) as Rencor Latino in 1995, but did not achieve any significant success until he adopted the ring name Averno in June 2001. Under his new ring name, Ruíz went on to become a one–time CMLL World Middleweight, CMLL World Trios Champion, NWA World Middleweight Champion and NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion and a three–time CMLL World Tag Team Champion, and CMLL World Light Heavyweight Champion. His ring name is most commonly translated as "Hell" in English. Read more
09 May 1977: Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer Marek Jankulovski is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a defender. His most notable achievements include winning the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan and being voted the 2007 Czech Footballer of the Year. He earned 77 caps for the Czech Republic, and represented them at three UEFA European Championships, the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Read more
09 May 1977: Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist Svein Tuft is a Canadian former road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2019 for the Symmetrics, Garmin–Transitions, SpiderTech–C10, Mitchelton–Scott and Rally UHC Cycling teams. Tuft was the winner of the 2006–07 UCI America Tour, and was a thirteen-time champion at the Canadian road cycling championships: twice in the road race, and eleven times in the time trial. Read more
09 May 1975: Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development deal with Warner Bros. Records, she was asked by veteran producer Quincy Jones to appear on his album Q's Jook Joint (1995), earning her Grammy Award nominations for their collaboration on "You Put a Move on My Heart" and "Slow Jams". Her self-titled debut album was released in 1998 and followed by a series of successful albums with Elektra Records, including A Nu Day (2000) and More (2004). Several songs from these albums became hit singles on the pop and R&B record charts, including "So Into You", "Stranger in My House", and "Imagination", as well as her collaborations "Into You", "Missing You", and "Spend My Life with You". Read more
09 May 1975: Brian Deegan, American motocross rider Brian Deegan (born May 9, 1974) is an American professional freestyle motocross rider and racing driver. Read more
09 May 1973: Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner Tegla Chepkite Loroupe is a former Kenyan long-distance track and road runner. She is also a global spokeswoman for peace, women's rights and education. Loroupe holds the world records for 25 and 30 kilometers and previously held the world marathon record. She was the first African woman to hold the marathon World Record, which she held from 19 April 1998 until 30 September 2001. She is the three-time World Half-Marathon champion. Loroupe was also the first woman from Africa to win the New York City Marathon, which she has won twice. She has won marathons in London, Rotterdam, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome. Read more
09 May 1970: Doug Christie, American basketball player and coach Douglas Dale Christie is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Read more
09 May 1970: Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer Hao Haidong is a Chinese former international footballer. He holds the record for being China's top goalscorer. Read more
09 May 1970: Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor Dennis David Coles, better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo career with Ironman, which was well received by music critics, in 1996. He has enjoyed continued success in the years that have followed, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and Fishscale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film The Mystery of Chess Boxing. He is the founder of his own record label, Starks Enterprises. Read more
09 May 1968: Graham Harman, American philosopher and academic Graham Harman is an American philosopher. He is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. His work on the metaphysics of objects led to the development of object-oriented ontology. He is a central figure in the speculative realism trend in contemporary philosophy. Read more
09 May 1968: Ruth Kelly, British economist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Maria Kelly is the chair of Water UK, the trade association representing all of the water and wastewater companies of the United Kingdom. Read more
09 May 1968: Marie-José Pérec, French sprinter Marie-José Pérec is a retired French track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 and 400 metres and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. She was born in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and moved to Paris when she was 16 years old. Read more
09 May 1965: Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player and manager Stephen Gregory Yzerman is a Canadian former professional hockey player who is currently the executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, where he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing career. He is a Detroit sports figure and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics. Read more
09 May 1962: Dave Gahan, English singer-songwriter David Gahan is an English singer best known as the co-founder and lead singer of electronic music band Depeche Mode since their formation in 1980. Noted for his commanding stage presence and unique baritone voice, Gahan was ranked at No. 73 on Q magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Singers" and No. 27 on its list of the "100 Greatest Frontmen". As a member of Depeche Mode, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020. Read more
09 May 1962: Paul Heaton, English singer-songwriter Paul David Heaton is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singles including "Happy Hour" and the UK number-one single "Caravan of Love" in 1986, before the band disbanded. Heaton then formed the Beautiful South with the Housemartins' drummer, Dave Hemingway, and the band's debut single, "Song for Whoever", and debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, were released in 1989 to commercial success. They had a series of hits throughout the 1990s, including the number-one single "A Little Time". They disbanded in 2007. Read more
09 May 1961: John Corbett, American actor John Joseph Corbett Jr. is an American actor and country music singer. On television, he is best known for his roles as Chris Stevens on Northern Exposure (1990–1995), Aidan Shaw on Sex and the City (2000–2003) and sequel series And Just Like That… (2023–2025), Max Gregson on United States of Tara (2009–2011), and Seth Holt on Parenthood (2011–2015). In film, he is known for roles in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding franchise, Raising Helen (2004), The Messengers (2007), Sex and the City 2 (2010), Ramona & Beezus (2010), and the To All the Boys film trilogy (2018–2021). Read more
09 May 1960: Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (died 2014) Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr., nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hitting Gwynn won eight batting titles in his career, which is tied for the most in National League (NL) history. He was a 15-time All-Star and won seven Silver Slugger Awards and five Gold Glove Awards. Gwynn stayed with the Padres his entire career and played in the only two World Series appearances in San Diego franchise history. Having hit over .300 for 19 straight seasons, Gwynn retired with a .338 career batting average, the highest mark since Ted Williams retired in 1960; Gwynn also holds the highest adjusted batting average of all time at .342. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 in his first year of eligibility, and is widely considered the best pure hitter of his generation. Read more
09 May 1956: Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress and producer Wendy Jane Crewson is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in the 1991 dramatic film The Doctor. Read more
09 May 1955: Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (died 2012) Meles Zenawi Asres, born Legesse Zenawi Asres was an Ethiopian politician and former rebel militant commander who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 1995 until his death in 2012. Read more
09 May 1955: Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish soprano and actress Anne Sofie von Otter is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs. Read more
09 May 1951: Alley Mills, American actress Allison Mills, also known as Alley Bean, is an American actress, known for her roles on television. She starred as Norma Arnold, in the coming-of-age ABC comedy series, The Wonder Years (1988–1993). In 2006 she began playing the role of Pamela Douglas, the sister of the late Forrester matriarch Stephanie Forrester, on the CBS soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. From 2022 to 2024, Mills also portrayed antagonistic Heather Webber on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital, for which she received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series twice. Read more
09 May 1951: Joy Harjo, American poet, musician, playwright and author, 23rd United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to have served three terms. Harjo is a seventh-generation Monahwee daughter. Additionally, Harjo is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and belongs to Oce Vpofv. She is an important figure in the second wave of the literary Native American Renaissance of the late 20th century. She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, completed her undergraduate degree at University of New Mexico in 1976, and earned an MFA degree at the University of Iowa in its creative writing program. Read more
09 May 1949: Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist William Martin Joel is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his signature 1973 song of the same name, Joel has had a successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s. From 1971 to 1993, he released 12, entirely self written, studio albums spanning the genres of pop and rock, and in 2001 released a one-off studio album of classical compositions. With over 160 million records sold worldwide, Joel is one of the world's best-selling music artists and is the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II, is one of the best-selling albums in the U.S. Read more
09 May 1948: Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and radio host Calvin Jerome Murphy is an American former professional basketball player who after a prolific collegiate career at Niagara University, where he averaged 33.1 points per game over his three years, played in the National Basketball Association as a guard for the San Diego/Houston Rockets from 1970 to 1983. He is currently a member of the Houston Rockets' Space City Home Network broadcast team. Standing at a height of 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), Murphy has the distinction of being the shortest NBA player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and to play in an NBA All-Star Game. Read more
09 May 1947: Yukiya Amano, Japanese diplomat (died 2019) Yukiya Amano was a Japanese diplomat, who served as the Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1 December 2009 until his death on 18 July 2019. Previously, Amano served as an international civil servant for the United Nations and its subdivisions. Read more
09 May 1946: Candice Bergen, American actress and producer Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as the title character on Murphy Brown. She is also known for her role as Shirley Schmidt on the ABC drama Boston Legal (2005–2008). In films, Bergen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Starting Over (1979) and for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Gandhi (1982). Read more
09 May 1945: Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager Josef "Jupp" Heynckes is a German retired professional footballer and manager. For the majority of his playing career he was as a striker for Borussia Mönchengladbach in its golden era of the 1960s and '70s, when they won many national championships and the DFB-Pokal, as well as the UEFA Cup. During this period the team played in its only European Cup final in 1977, losing to Liverpool. He is the fourth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Bundesliga, with 220 goals. He was a member of the West Germany national team that won the UEFA Euro 1972 and the 1974 FIFA World Cup titles. Read more
09 May 1943: Vince Cable, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Sir John Vincent Cable is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade from 2010 to 2015. Read more
09 May 1943: Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (died 2014) Colin Trevor Pillinger, was an English planetary scientist. He was a founding member of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute at The Open University in Milton Keynes; he was also the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and worked on a group of Martian meteorites. Read more
09 May 1942: John Ashcroft, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General John David Ashcroft is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and former politician who served as the 79th United States attorney general under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. A Republican from Missouri, Ashcroft represented the state in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2001, and held statewide office as the 29th auditor (1973–1975), 38th attorney general (1976–1985), and 50th governor of Missouri (1985–1993). He later founded The Ashcroft Group, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm. Read more
09 May 1942: David Gergen, American political consultant (died 2025) David Richmond Gergen was an American political commentator and longtime presidential adviser who served during the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. He was later a senior political analyst for CNN and a professor of public service and the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Gergen was also the former editor at large of U.S. News & World Report and a contributor to CNN and Parade Magazine. He was twice a member of election coverage teams that won Peabody awards: in 1988 with MacNeil–Lehrer, and in 2008 with CNN. Read more
09 May 1941: Dorothy Hyman, English sprinter Dorothy Hyman is an English retired sprinter. She competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m events, winning three medals. She also won individual 100 m gold and 200 m silver at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade and, representing England, completed the 100 yd/220 yd sprint double at the 1962 Commonwealth Games. Read more
09 May 1940: James L. Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter, and the founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons and directed the films Terms of Endearment (1983), Broadcast News (1987), and As Good as It Gets (1997). He received numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, 22 Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. Read more
09 May 1939: Ion Țiriac, Romanian tennis player and manager Ion Țiriac
(Romanian pronunciation: [iˈon t͡siriˈak]; born 9 May 1939), also known as the "Brașov Bulldozer", is a Romanian businessman, former professional tennis and ice hockey player and current president of the Romanian Tennis Federation. Read more
09 May 1938: Carroll Cole, American serial killer (died 1985) Carroll Edward "Eddie" Cole was an American serial killer who was executed in Nevada in 1985 for killing two women by strangulation. He was also convicted of murdering three other women in Texas and is believed to have murdered dozens between 1947 and 1980. Read more
09 May 1938: Charles Simić, Serbian-American poet and editor (died 2023) Dušan Simić, known as Charles Simic, was a Serbian American poet and poetry co-editor of The Paris Review. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1990 for The World Doesn't End and was a finalist of the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Selected Poems, 1963–1983 and in 1987 for Unending Blues. He was appointed the fifteenth United States Poet Laureate in 2007. Read more
09 May 1937: Dave Prater, American singer (died 1988) David Prater Jr. was an American Southern soul and rhythm & blues singer and musician, who was the deeper baritone/tenor vocalist of the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 until his death in 1988. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1992), the Grammy Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame (1997), and he was a Grammy Award–winning (1967) and multiple Gold Record award-winning recording artist. Read more
09 May 1936: Albert Finney, English actor (died 2019) Albert Finney was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for film acting during the early 1960s, debuting with The Entertainer (1960), directed by Tony Richardson, who had previously directed him in theatre. He maintained a successful career on stage and screen. Read more
09 May 1936: Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (died 2023) Glenda May Jackson was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting." Her other accolades include two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award. A member of the Labour Party, she served continuously as a Member of Parliament (MP) for 23 years, first for Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, and then, following boundary changes, for Hampstead and Kilburn from 2010 to 2015. Read more
09 May 1935: Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (died 2018) Nole Floyd "Nokie" Edwards was an American musician and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was primarily a guitarist, best known for his work with The Ventures, and was known in Japan as the 'King of Guitars'. Edwards was also an actor, who appeared briefly on Deadwood, an American Western drama television series. Read more
09 May 1934: Alan Bennett, English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist Alan Bennett is an English playwright, author, actor and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Society of London Theatre Special Award. Read more
09 May 1932: Geraldine McEwan, English actress (died 2015) Geraldine McEwan was an English actress, who had a long career in film, theatre and television. Michael Coveney described her, in a tribute article, as "a great comic stylist, with a syrupy, seductive voice and a forthright, sparkling manner". Read more
09 May 1931: Vance D. Brand, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut Vance DeVoe Brand is a retired American naval officer, aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He served as command module pilot during the first U.S.-Soviet joint spaceflight in 1975, and as commander of three Space Shuttle missions. Read more
09 May 1930: Joan Sims, English actress (died 2001) Irene Joan Marion Sims was an English actress and comedienne, best remembered for her roles in the Carry On franchise, appearing in 24 of the films. Read more
09 May 1928: Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (died 1995) Ricardo Alonso "Pancho" González, known sometimes as Richard Gonzales, was an American tennis player. He won 15 major singles titles, including two U.S. National Championships in 1948 and 1949, and 13 Professional majors. He also won three Tournament of Champions professional events in 1957, 1958, and 1959. Gonzales was ranked as the amateur world No. 1 in 1948 by Ned Potter and in 1949 by Potter and John Olliff. Read more
09 May 1928: Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater (died 2012) Barbara Ann Scott was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time Canadian national champion in ladies' singles. Known as "Canada's Sweetheart", she is the only Canadian to have won the Olympic ladies' singles gold medal, the first North American to have won three major titles in one year and the only Canadian to have won the European Championship (1947–48). During her forties, she was rated among the top equestrians in North America. She received many honours and accolades, including being made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 and a member of the Order of Ontario in 2008. Read more
09 May 1927: Manfred Eigen, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2019) Manfred Eigen was a German biophysical chemist who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on measuring fast chemical reactions. Read more
09 May 1924: Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer, poet, and author (died 1997) Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist, and singer-songwriter of Georgian-Armenian ancestry. He was one of the founders of the Soviet genre called "author song", or "guitar song", and the author of about 200 songs, set to his own poetry. His songs are a mixture of Russian poetic and folk song traditions and the French chansonnier style represented by such contemporaries of Okudzhava as Georges Brassens. Though his songs were never overtly political, the freshness and independence of Okudzhava's artistic voice presented a subtle challenge to Soviet cultural authorities, who were thus hesitant for many years to give him official recognition. Read more
09 May 1921: Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist (died 2016) Daniel Joseph Berrigan was an American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, Christian pacifist, playwright, poet, and author. Read more
09 May 1921: Sophie Scholl, German activist (died 1943) Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active in the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. Read more
09 May 1918: Mike Wallace, American journalist (died 2012) Myron Leon Wallace was an American broadcast journalist, and television personality. Known for his investigative journalism, he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspondents featured on CBS news program 60 Minutes, which debuted in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full-time correspondent in 2006, but still appeared occasionally on the series until 2008. He is the father of Chris Wallace. Read more
09 May 1914: Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (died 2005) Carlo Maria Giulini was an Italian conductor.
From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome at the age of 16. Initially, he studied the viola and conducting; then, following an audition, he won a place in the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Read more
09 May 1914: J. Merrill Knapp, American musicologist (died 1993) John Merrill Knapp was an American musicologist and academic. He was considered an authority on the life and works of George Frideric Handel. Born in New York City, Knapp graduated from the Hotchkiss School before entering Yale University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1936 and was a member of Skull and Bones. He then taught briefly at The Thacher School in Ojai, California before returning to Yale to assume the post of assistant director of the Yale Glee Club. He left there to pursue graduate studies at Columbia University where he earned a Master of Music degree. He served as an operations officer in the Third Fleet of United States Navy during World War II (1942-1946); earning two service stars and a commendation ribbon. Read more
09 May 1914: Hank Snow, Canadian-American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1999) Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian country music guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on the Billboard country charts between 1950 and 1980. Snow had success on country music record charts with his songs including: "I'm Moving On", "The Golden Rocket", "The Rhumba Boogie", "I Don't Hurt Anymore", "Let Me Go, Lover!", "I've Been Everywhere", and "Hello Love". Read more
09 May 1912: Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (died 1963) Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings was a Mexican and American actor. With the actresses Dolores del Río and María Félix, he was one of the best-known Latin American movie stars of the 1940s and 1950s. He won the Ariel Award for Best Actor twice, for The Pearl (1948) and Soledad's Shawl (1952). Read more
09 May 1909: Gordon Bunshaft, American architect, designed the Solow Building (died 1990) Gordon Bunshaft was an American architect, a leading proponent of modern design in the mid-twentieth century. A partner in Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Bunshaft joined the firm in 1937 and remained with it for more than 40 years. His notable buildings include Lever House in New York, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the National Commercial Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 140 Broadway, and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Branch Bank in New York, the first post-war "transparent" bank on the East Coast. Read more
09 May 1908: Billy Jurges, American baseball player and manager (died 1997) William Frederick Jurges was an American shortstop, third baseman, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in the Bronx, New York. During the 1930s, he was central to three National League champion Chicago Cubs teams. In July 1932, Jurges recovered from gunshot wounds—suffered when a distraught former girlfriend tried to kill him—to help lead the Cubs to the pennant. Read more
09 May 1907: Jackie Grant, Trinidadian cricketer (died 1978) George Copeland "Jackie" Grant was a West Indian cricketer who captained the West Indies in Test cricket between 1930 and 1935. He was later a missionary in South Africa and Rhodesia. Read more
09 May 1907: Baldur von Schirach, German politician (died 1974) Baldur Benedikt von Schirach was a German politician who was the leader (Reichsjugendführer) of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. From 1940 to 1945, he was the Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Vienna. Read more
09 May 1900: Maria Malicka, Polish stage and film actress (died 1992) Maria Malicka was a Polish stage and film actress. She appeared in ten films between 1927 and 1966. Read more
09 May 1896: Richard Day, Canadian-American art director and set decorator (died 1972) Richard Day was a Canadian art director in the film industry. He won seven Academy Awards and was nominated for a further 13 in the category of Best Art Direction. He worked on 265 films between 1923 and 1970. He was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and died in Hollywood, California. Read more
09 May 1895: Richard Barthelmess, American actor (died 1963) Richard Semler Barthelmess was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) and was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. The following year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two films: The Patent Leather Kid and The Noose. Read more
09 May 1895: Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (died 1961) Lucian Blaga was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He is one of the most important philosophers and poets of Romania, and a prominent philosopher of the interwar period in Eastern Europe who, due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his career, is barely known to the outside world. Read more
09 May 1895: Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (died 1989) Frank Kent Foss was an American pole vaulter. He won a gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics, while breaking his own unofficial world record. Read more
09 May 1894: Benjamin Graham, British-American economist, professor, and investor (died 1976) Benjamin Graham was an English-American financial analyst, economist, accountant, investor and professor. He is widely known as the "father of value investing", and wrote two of the discipline's founding texts: Security Analysis (1934) with David Dodd, and The Intelligent Investor (1949). His investment philosophy stressed independent thinking, emotional detachment, and careful security analysis, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing the price of a stock from the value of its underlying business. Read more
09 May 1893: William Moulton Marston, American psychologist and author (died 1947) William Moulton Marston, also known by the pen name Charles Moulton, was an American psychologist who, with his wife Elizabeth Holloway, invented an early prototype of the polygraph. He was also known as a self-help author and comic book writer who created the character Wonder Woman. Read more
09 May 1892: Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (died 1989) Zita of Bourbon-Parma was the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, in addition to other titles. She ascended to these titles when her husband, Charles I, became the last monarch of Austria-Hungary. She was declared Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI. Read more
09 May 1888: Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot (died 1918) Francesco Baracca was Italy's top fighter ace of World War I. He was credited with 34 aerial victories. The emblem he wore side by side on his plane of a black horse prancing on its two rear hooves inspired Enzo Ferrari to use it on his racing car and later in his automotive company. Read more
09 May 1888: Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector (died 1964) Rolf de Maré, sometimes called Rolf de Mare, was a Swedish art collector and leader of the Ballets Suédois in Paris in 1920–25. In 1931 he founded the world's first research center and museum for dance in Paris. Read more
09 May 1885: Gianni Vella, Maltese artist (died 1977) Gianni Vella was a Maltese artist. After studying in Rome, he produced many religious works which can be found in many churches in the Maltese Islands, but he also produced some secular works, including landscape paintings, cartoons and a stamp design. Read more
09 May 1884: Valdemar Psilander, Danish actor (died 1917) Valdemar Einar Psilander was a Danish silent film actor, who was the highest-paid performer of his period and received critical acclaim as the greatest male lead during the golden era of Danish cinema. Read more
09 May 1883: José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, author, and critic (died 1955) José Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. His philosophy has been characterized as a "philosophy of life" that "comprised a long-hidden beginning in a pragmatist metaphysics inspired by William James and with a general method from a realist phenomenology imitating Edmund Husserl, which served both his proto-existentialism and his realist historicism, which has been compared to both Wilhelm Dilthey and Benedetto Croce." Read more
09 May 1882: George Barker, American painter (died 1965) George Barker was a portrait and landscape painter from the United States. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, much of his work was done in Southern California. While teaching at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in the late 1920s, he mentored several art students that later went on to being accomplished artist themselves. Among them were John Williams, Sueyo Serisawa and Alan Woods. Read more
09 May 1882: Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards (died 1967) Henry John Kaiser was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, Kaiser was involved in the construction industry; his company was one of those that built the Hoover Dam. He established the Kaiser Shipyards, which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care for his workers and their families. He led Kaiser-Frazer followed by Kaiser Motors, automobile companies known for the safety of their designs. Kaiser was involved in large construction projects such as civic centers and dams, and invested in real estate, later moving into television broadcasting with Kaiser Broadcasting. Read more
09 May 1874: Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (died 1939) Howard Carter was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who became known for discovering the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings. Read more
09 May 1873: Anton Cermak, Czech-American captain and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (died 1933) Anton Joseph Cermak was an American politician who served as the 44th Mayor of Chicago from 1931 until he was fatally wounded in 1933 by Giuseppe Zangara, who was trying to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Read more
09 May 1870: Harry Vardon, British golfer (died 1937) Henry William Vardon was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the 1900 U.S. Open. Known as "the Stylist," Vardon's success, as well as his contributions to technique and the sport's fashion, made him golf's first international star and significantly elevated the prestige of the professional golfer. With his total of seven, Vardon holds the most major championships of any golfer from the British Isles. Read more
09 May 1866: Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian economist and politician (died 1915) Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an Indian political leader and a social reformer during the Indian independence movement, and political mentor of Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and the founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale campaigned for Indian self-rule and social reforms. He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress that advocated reforms by working with existing government institutions, and a major member of the Poona Association or the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha. Read more
09 May 1860: J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (died 1937) Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet was a British novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens, then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a 1904 West End "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. Read more
09 May 1855: Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer (died 1932) Julius Engelbert Röntgen was a German-Dutch composer of classical music. He was a friend of Liszt, Brahms and Grieg. Read more
09 May 1850: Edward Weston, English-American chemist (died 1936) Edward Weston was an English-born American chemist and engineer noted for his achievements in electroplating and his development of the electrochemical cell, named the Weston cell, for the voltage standard. Weston was a competitor of Thomas Edison in the early days of electricity generation and distribution. Read more
09 May 1845: Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (died 1913) Karl Gustaf Patrik de Laval was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and centrifugal separation machinery for dairy. Read more
09 May 1837: Adam Opel, German engineer, founded the Opel Company (died 1895) Adam Opel was a German entrepreneur who founded the company Adam Opel AG, then a manufacturer of bicycles and sewing machines. Read more
09 May 1836: Ferdinand Monoyer, French ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart (died 1912) Ferdinand Monoyer was a French ophthalmologist, known for introducing the dioptre in 1872. Read more
09 May 1825: James Collinson, Victorian painter (died 1881) James Collinson was a Victorian painter who was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood from 1848 to 1850. Collinson was known for the paintings,The Renunciation of St Elizabeth of Hungary, To Let and For Sale. Engaged at one time to the poet Christina Rossetti, their broken engagement also influenced many of her poems. Read more
09 May 1824: Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author (died 1896) Jacob ben Moses Bachrach was a noted apologist of Rabbinic Judaism. He was descended from Rabbi Yair Chayim Bacharach, and in turn from the Maharal of Prague. Read more
09 May 1823: Frederick Weld, English-New Zealand politician, 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand (died 1891) Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld, was an English-born New Zealand politician and colonial administrator of various British colonies and territories located in Oceania and Southeast Asia. He was the sixth Prime Minister of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasmania, and Governor of the Straits Settlements. Read more
09 May 1814: John Brougham, Irish-American actor and playwright (died 1880) John Brougham was an Irish and American actor, dramatist, poet, theatre manager, and author. As an actor and dramatist he had most of his career in the United States, where he was celebrated for his portrayals of comic Irish characters. Read more
09 May 1801: Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded the town of Fleetwood (died 1866) Sir Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, 1st Baronet, was an English landowner, developer and Member of Parliament who founded the town of Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England. Born Peter Hesketh, he changed his name by Royal assent to Hesketh-Fleetwood, incorporating the name of his ancestors, and was later created Baronet Fleetwood. Predeceased by an older brother, he inherited estates in west Lancashire in 1824. Inspired by the transport developments of the early 19th century, he decided to bring the railway to the Lancashire coast and develop a holiday resort and port. He hired architect Decimus Burton to design his new town, which he named Fleetwood; construction began in 1836. Hesketh-Fleetwood was instrumental in the formation of the Preston and Wyre Railway Company and with his financial support, a railway line was built between Preston and Fleetwood which opened in 1840. Read more
09 May 1800: John Brown, American abolitionist (died 1859) John Brown was an American abolitionist in the decades preceding the Civil War. First reaching national prominence in the 1850s for his radical abolitionism and fighting in Bleeding Kansas, Brown was captured, tried, and executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for a raid and incitement of a slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. Read more

🕊️ Important Deaths on 09 May in World History

09 May 2024: Sean Burroughs, American baseball player (born 1980) Sean Patrick Burroughs was an American professional baseball third baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 to 2005 and 2011 to 2012 for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Minnesota Twins. He won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Read more
09 May 2024: Roger Corman, American film director, producer, and actor (born 1926) Roger William Corman was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", “King of the Beatnik Movies”, "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Read more
09 May 2024: Rex Murphy, Canadian political commentator (born 1947) Rex Murphy was a Canadian commentator and author, primarily on Canadian political and social matters. He was the regular host of CBC Radio One's Cross Country Checkup, a nationwide call-in show, for 21 years before stepping down in September 2015. He wrote for the National Post and had a YouTube channel called RexTV. Read more
09 May 2022: John Leo, American a writer and journalist (born 1935) John Patrick Leo was an American writer and journalist. He was noted for authoring columns in the National Catholic Reporter and U.S. News & World Report, as well as for his reporting with The New York Times and Time magazine. He later became editor-in-chief of "Minding the Campus", a web site focusing on America's colleges and universities. After retiring from journalism, he joined the Manhattan Institute as a senior fellow in 2007. Read more
09 May 2022: Rieko Kodama, Japanese game developer (born 1963) Rieko Kodama , also known as Phoenix Rie, was a Japanese video game artist, director, and producer employed by Sega from 1984 until her death. She is primarily known for her work on role-playing video games including the original Phantasy Star series, the 7th Dragon series, and Skies of Arcadia (2000). She is often recognized as one of the first successful women in the video game industry. Read more
09 May 2020: Little Richard, American singer, songwriter, and pianist (born 1932) Richard Wayne Penniman, better known by his stage name Little Richard, was an American singer-songwriter and pianist. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Referred to as the "Architect of Rock and Roll", Richard's most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding backbeat and powerful raspy vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll. Richard's innovative emotive vocalizations and uptempo rhythmic music played a key role in the formation of other popular music genres, including soul and funk. He influenced singers and musicians across musical genres and his music helped shape rhythm and blues for generations. Read more
09 May 2019: Freddie Starr, English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor (born 1943) Freddie Starr was an English stand up comedian, impressionist, singer and actor. Starr was the lead singer of Merseybeat rock and roll group the Midniters during the early 1960s, and came to prominence in the early 1970s after appearing on Opportunity Knocks and the Royal Variety Performance. In the 1990s, he starred in several television shows, including Freddie Starr (1993–1994), The Freddie Starr Show (1996–1998) and two episodes of An Audience with… in 1996 and 1997. In 1999, he presented the game show Beat the Crusher. Read more
09 May 2018: Per Kirkeby, Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor (born 1938) Per Kirkeby was a Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. His works have been exhibited worldwide and are represented in many important public collections, including the Tate, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Pompidou. Read more
09 May 2017: Robert Miles, a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ (born 1969) Roberto Concina, known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician, and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children" sold more than five million copies and topped the charts worldwide. Read more
09 May 2015: Edward W. Estlow, American football player and journalist (born 1920) Edward Walker Estlow was a journalist and businessman, best known as CEO at the E. W. Scripps Company from 1976 to 1985. The Edward W. and Charlotte A. Estlow International Center for Journalism and New Media at the University of Denver, and the Edward Estlow Printing Plant of the Denver Newspaper Agency, were both named after him. Estlow was also known as a college football player. Read more
09 May 2015: Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (born 1917) Ahmet Kenan Evren was a Turkish military officer who served as the 7th president of Turkey from 1982 to 1989. He assumed the post by leading the 1980 military coup. Read more
09 May 2015: Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (born 1921) Elizabeth Welter Wilson was an American actress whose career spanned nearly 60 years in film and television. In 1972 she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Sticks and Bones. Wilson was also a Primetime Emmy Award and BAFTA Award nominee, and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2006. Read more
09 May 2014: Giacomo Bini, Italian priest and missionary (born 1938) Giacomo Bini was a Franciscan priest. Ordained in 1964, he worked as a missionary in Africa, and was appointed Minister General of the Order of the Friars Minor (OFM) for the period 1997–2003. He was fluent in Italian, French, English, Spanish, and Kiswahili. Read more
09 May 2014: Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (born 1927) Harlan Mathews was an American politician who was an appointed interim Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee from 1993 to 1994. He previously served in the executive and legislative branches of state government in Tennessee for more than 40 years beginning in 1950. Read more
09 May 2014: Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Indian politician, 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (born 1935) Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy was an Indian politician from Andhra Pradesh. A member of the Indian National Congress, he represented the Visakhapatnam constituency in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian legislature. From 1990 to 1992, he served as 12th chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. His wife, Nedurumalli Rajyalakshmi, was a minister in the Government of Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2014. Read more
09 May 2014: Mary Stewart, British author and poet (born 1916) Mary, Lady Stewart was a British novelist who developed the romantic mystery genre, featuring smart, adventurous heroines who could hold their own in dangerous situations. She also wrote children's books and poetry, but may be best known for her Merlin series, which straddles the boundary between the historical novel and fantasy. Read more
09 May 2013: Ramón Blanco Rodríguez, Spanish footballer and manager (born 1952) Ramón Blanco Rodríguez was a Spanish football defensive midfielder and manager. Read more
09 May 2013: George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (born 1918) George Michael Leader was an American politician. He served as the 36th governor of Pennsylvania from January 18, 1955, until January 20, 1959. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and a native of York County, Pennsylvania. He was the only person from that county ever to be elected governor of the state until the election of Tom Wolf in 2014. Read more
09 May 2013: Humberto Lugo Gil, Mexican lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Hidalgo (born 1933) Humberto Alejandro Lugo Gil
was a Mexican politician from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He served in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and as the interim governor of Hidalgo. Read more
09 May 2013: Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (born 1921) Ottavio Missoni was an Italian businessman, founder of the Italian fashion label Missoni and an Olympic hurdler who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics. Along with his wife Rosita, he was part of the group of designers who launched Italian ready-to-wear in the 1950s, thereby ensuring the global success of Italian fashion. Read more
09 May 2012: Bertram Cohler, American psychologist, psychoanalyst, and academic (born 1938) Bertram Joseph Cohler was an American psychologist, psychoanalyst, and educator primarily associated with the University of Chicago, the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, and Harvard University. He advocated a life course approach to understanding human experience and subjectivity, drawing on insights from psychoanalysis, developmental psychology, personology, psychological anthropology, narrative studies, and the interdisciplinary field of human development. Cohler authored or co-authored over 200 articles and books. He contributed to numerous scholarly fields, including the study of adversity, resilience and coping; mental illness and treatment; family and social relations in normal development and mental illness; and the study of personal narrative in social and historical context. He made particular contributions to the study of sexual identity over the life course, to the psychoanalytic understanding of homosexuality., and to the study of personal narratives of Holocaust survivors. Other than his graduate study at Harvard, Cohler spent his career at the University of Chicago and affiliated institutions, where he was repeatedly recognized as an educator and a builder of bridges across disciplines. He was treated for esophageal cancer in 2011, but became ill from a related pneumonia and died on 9 May 2012 not far from his home in Hyde Park, Chicago. Read more
09 May 2012: Geoffrey Henry, Cook Islander lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (born 1940) Sir Geoffrey Arama Henry was a Cook Island politician who was twice the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He was leader of the Cook Islands Party (CIP) from 1979 to 2006. Read more
09 May 2012: Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (born 1928) Vidal Sassoon was a British hairstylist and businessman. He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the five-point cut, worn by fashion designers including Mary Quant and film stars such as Mia Farrow, Goldie Hawn, Cameron Diaz, Nastassja Kinski and Helen Mirren.‍ Read more
09 May 2011: Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (born 1984) Wouter Weylandt was a Belgian professional cyclist for UCI ProTeam Quick-Step–Davitamon and later for Leopard Trek. His first major win was the 17th stage of the 2008 Vuelta a España. He also won the third stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia. He died in a crash during the third stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia. Read more
09 May 2010: Lena Horne, American singer, actress, and activist (born 1917) Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theater. Read more
09 May 2010: Otakar Motejl, Czech lawyer and politician (born 1932) Otakar Motejl was a Czech lawyer and politician. He served as the first ombudsman of the Czech Republic from 2000 until his death in 2010. In 1998–2000 he served as the Minister of Justice. Read more
09 May 2009: Chuck Daly, American basketball player and coach (born 1930) Charles Jerome Daly was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to two consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) championships in 1989 and 1990—during the team's "Bad Boys" era—and the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team to the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Read more
09 May 2008: Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (born 1929) John Arthur Gibson OAM was an Australian rugby league coach, player, and commentator. He is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the sport's history, Nicknamed 'Supercoach', he was highly regarded not only for his coaching record but also for his thirst for innovation. Read more
09 May 2008: Baptiste Manzini, American football player (born 1920) Baptiste John "Bap" Manzini was a professional American football center and high school football coach. Read more
09 May 2008: Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist and producer (born 1942) Nuala Brigid Anne O'Faolain was an Irish journalist and writer. Her debut memoir, Are You Somebody?, published when she was in her mid-fifties, became a sensation in Ireland and a worldwide bestseller. Read more
09 May 2008: Pascal Sevran, French singer, television host, and author (born 1945) Pascal Sevran was a French TV presenter and author. Read more
09 May 2007: Dwight Wilson, Canadian soldier (born 1901) Percy "Dwight" Wilson was the second-last surviving Canadian veteran of the First World War. Read more
09 May 2004: Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen cleric and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic (born 1951) Akhmat-Khadzhi Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov was a Russian politician and revolutionary who served as Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War. At the outbreak of the Second Chechen War he switched sides, offering his service to the Russian government, and later became the President of the Chechen Republic from 5 October 2003, having acted as head of administration since July 2000. Read more
09 May 2004: Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1927) Alan King was an American comedian, actor and satirist known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. He was also a serious actor who appeared in a number of films and television shows. King wrote several books, produced films, and appeared in plays. In his later years, he helped many philanthropic causes. Read more
09 May 2004: Brenda Fassie, South African singer (born 1964) Brenda Nokuzola Fassie was a South African singer, songwriter, dancer and activist. Affectionately called MaBrrr by her fans, she is also known as the "Queen of African Pop" or the "Madonna of the Townships". Fassie was a legendary figure in the South African music industry, celebrated for her powerful voice, captivating stage presence, and commitment to social justice, often called one of the most influential and greatest musicians on the African Continent. She produced songs that contributed to the influence of music genres such as pop and kwaito, with some of her work addressing social issues in South Africa. Despite her outrageous and controversial stage presence, her name, Nokuzola, means "quiet", "calm", or "peace". Read more
09 May 2003: Russell B. Long, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (born 1918) Russell Billiu Long was an American Democratic politician and United States senator from Louisiana from 1948 until 1987. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1966 to 1981, Long was instrumental in the implementation of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and War on Poverty programs. Long also served as Assistant Majority Leader from 1965 to 1969. Read more
09 May 1998: Alice Faye, American actress and singer (born 1915) Alice Faye was an American actress and singer. A musical star of 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Faye starred in such films as On the Avenue (1937) and Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938). She is often associated with the Academy Award–winning standard "You'll Never Know", which she introduced in the 1943 musical film Hello, Frisco, Hello. Read more
09 May 1998: Talat Mahmood, Indian singer and actor (born 1924) Talat Mahmood was an Indian playback singer who is considered one of the greatest and most popular Indian male film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a great deal in acting. Read more
09 May 1997: Rawya Ateya, Egyptian captain and politician (born 1926) Rawya Ateya[I] was an Egyptian woman who became the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world in 1957. Read more
09 May 1997: Marco Ferreri, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1928) Marco Ferreri was an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor, who began his career in the 1950s directing three films in Spain, followed by 24 Italian films before his death in 1997. He is considered one of the greatest European cinematic provocateurs of his time and had a constant presence in prestigious festival circuit – including eight films in competition in Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Bear win in 1991 Berlin Film Festival. Three of his films are among 100 films selected for preservation for their significant contribution to Italian cinema. Read more
09 May 1994: Elias Motsoaledi, South African activist (born 1924) Elias Mathope Motsoaledi OMSG was a South African anti-apartheid activist. He was Accused No.9 in the Rivonia Trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 1963 with a group of anti-Apartheid revolutionaries which included Nelson Mandela who was Accused No.1. Read more
09 May 1993: Penelope Gilliatt, English novelist, short story writer, and critic (born 1932) Penelope Gilliatt was an English novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and film critic. As one of the main film critics for The New Yorker magazine in the 1960s and 1970s, Gilliatt was known for her detailed descriptions and evocative reviews. A writer of short stories, novels, non-fiction books, and screenplays, Gilliatt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971). Read more
09 May 1989: Keith Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1954) Jackie Keith Whitley was an American country music and bluegrass singer and songwriter. During his career, he released only two albums, but charted 12 singles on the Billboard country charts, and seven more after his death. Read more
09 May 1987: Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (born 1909) Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo was a Nigerian politician and statesman who served as the first Premier of the Western region of Nigeria. He was known as one of the key figure towards Nigeria's independence movement from 1957 to 1960. Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe Omo Oduduwa as well as the Premier of the Western Region under Nigeria's parliamentary system from 1952 to 1959. He was the official opposition leader in the federal parliament to the Balewa government from 1959 to 1963. Read more
09 May 1986: Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese mountaineer (born 1914) Tenzing Norgay, born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest, as part of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition. Time named Norgay one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Read more
09 May 1985: Edmond O'Brien, American actor and director (born 1915) Eamon Joseph O'Brien, known professionally as Edmond O'Brien, was an American actor of stage, screen, and television, and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Read more
09 May 1983: Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer (born 1891) Brigadier Henry Bachtold, was an Australian soldier and railway engineer. He fought during the First World War as an engineer with the 1st Field Company at the Gallipoli Campaign, where he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Military Cross. He commanded the 14th Field Company at the Battle of Polygon Wood, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. Bachtold commanded the engineers of the 5th Australian Division in 1917–18 and the engineers of the 3rd Australian Division in 1918. He was mentioned in despatches four times during the First World War and ended the war as a lieutenant colonel. During 1942 and 1943, Bachtold was the Chief Engineer of II Corps, after which he was placed in reserve with the honorary rank of brigadier. Bachtold retired from the Department of Railways New South Wales in 1962 and died on 9 May 1983. Read more
09 May 1981: Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer (born 1909) Nelson Algren was an American writer. His 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Read more
09 May 1981: Rolf Just Nilsen, Norwegian singer and actor (born 1931)

Rolf Just Nilsen was a Norwegian singer, impressionist and actor. He was particularly known for his imitations of famous comedians at the time. He worked for the theatres Studioteatret, Chat Noir, Edderkoppen Theatre, Oslo Nye Teater and Det Norske Teatret, and for radio and television. Read more
09 May 1980: Kate Molale, South African activist (born 1928) Kate Molale OMSS was a South African political activist, between 1970 and 1975 she represented the ANC Women's League/Women's Section in the Women's International Democratic Federation. Read more
09 May 1979: Cyrus S. Eaton, Canadian-American banker, businessman, and philanthropist (born 1883) Cyrus Stephen Eaton Sr. was a Canadian-American investment banker, businessman and philanthropist, with a career that spanned 70 years. Read more
09 May 1979: Eddie Jefferson, American singer and lyricist (born 1918) Eddie Jefferson was an American jazz vocalist and lyricist. He is credited as an innovator of vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Jefferson himself claims that his main influence was Leo Watson. Perhaps Jefferson's best-known song is "Moody's Mood for Love" which was recorded in 1952 by King Pleasure and catapulted the contrafact into wide popularity. Jefferson's recordings of Charlie Parker's "Parker's Mood" and Horace Silver's "Filthy McNasty" were also hits. Read more
09 May 1978: Giuseppe Impastato, Italian journalist and activist (born 1948) Giuseppe "Peppino" Impastato, was an Italian political activist who opposed the Mafia, which ordered his murder in 1978. Read more
09 May 1978: Aldo Moro, Italian lawyer and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (born 1916) Aldo Moro was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy for five terms from December 1963 to June 1968 and from November 1974 to July 1976. Read more
09 May 1977: James Jones, American novelist (born 1921) James Ramon Jones was an American novelist renowned for his explorations of World War II and its aftermath. He won the 1952 National Book Award for his debut novel, From Here to Eternity, which was adapted for film a year later and made into a television series a generation later. Read more
09 May 1976: Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright (born 1920) Jens Ingvald Bjørneboe was a Norwegian writer whose work spanned a number of literary formats. He was also a painter and a Waldorf school teacher. Bjørneboe was a harsh and eloquent critic of Norwegian society and Western civilization as a whole. He led a turbulent life and his uncompromising opinions cost him both an obscenity conviction as well as long periods of heavy drinking and bouts of depression, which in the end led to his suicide. Read more
09 May 1976: Ulrike Meinhof, German militant, co-founded the Red Army Faction (born 1934) Ulrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing militant, journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author of The Urban Guerilla Concept (1971). The manifesto acknowledges the RAF's "roots in the history of the student movement"; condemns "reformism" as "a brake on the anti-capitalist struggle"; and invokes Mao Zedong to define "armed struggle" as "the highest form of Marxism-Leninism". Read more
09 May 1970: Walter Reuther, American union leader (born 1907) Walter Philip Reuther was an American leader of organized labor and civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of the most progressive labor unions in American history. He considered labor movements not as narrow special interest groups but as instruments to advance social justice and human rights in democratic societies. He leveraged the UAW's resources and influence to advocate for workers' rights, civil rights, women's rights, universal health care, public education, affordable housing, environmental stewardship, profit-sharing for employees, and nuclear nonproliferation around the world. He believed in Swedish-style social democracy and societal change through nonviolent civil disobedience. He cofounded the AFL-CIO in 1955 with George Meany. He survived two attempted assassinations, including one at home where he was struck by a 12-gauge shotgun blast fired through his kitchen window. He was the fourth and longest serving president of the UAW, serving from 1946 until his death in 1970. Read more
09 May 1968: Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright (born 1893) Mercedes de Acosta was an American poet, playwright, and novelist. Although she failed to achieve artistic and professional distinction, de Acosta is known for her many lesbian affairs with celebrated Broadway and Hollywood personalities including Alla Nazimova, Isadora Duncan, Eva Le Gallienne, and Marlene Dietrich. Her best-known involvement was with Greta Garbo with whom, in 1931, she began a sporadic and volatile romance. Her 1960 memoir, Here Lies the Heart, is considered part of gay history insofar that it hints at the lesbian element in some of her relationships. Read more
09 May 1968: Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (born 1894) Harold Lincoln Gray was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the newspaper comic strip Little Orphan Annie. Read more
09 May 1968: Marion Lorne, American actress (born 1883) Marion Lorne MacDougal or MacDougall, known professionally as Marion Lorne, was an American actress on stage, film, and television. After a career in theatre in New York and London, Lorne made her first film in 1951, and for the remainder of her life played small roles in films and television. Her recurring role as Aunt Clara in the comedy series Bewitched, between 1964 and her death in 1968, brought her widespread recognition, and she was posthumously awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Read more
09 May 1968: Finlay Currie, British actor (born 1878) William Finlay Currie was a Scottish actor of stage, screen, and television. He received great acclaim for his roles as Abel Magwitch in the British film Great Expectations (1946), as Saint Peter in Quo Vadis (1951) and as Balthazar in the American film Ben-Hur (1959). Read more
09 May 1965: Leopold Figl, Austrian engineer and politician, 18th Chancellor of Austria (born 1902) Leopold Figl was an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and the first Chancellor after World War II. As foreign minister, he subsequently took part in the negotiations on the Austrian State Treaty, which he signed in 1955. Read more
09 May 1959: Bhaurao Patil, Indian activist and educator (born 1887) Bhaurao Patil, was a social activist and educator in Maharashtra, India. A strong advocate of mass education, he founded the Rayat Education Society. Bhaurao played an important role in educating backward castes and low income people by coining the philosophy earn and learn. He was a prominent member of Satyashodhak Samaj, founded by Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. The people of Maharashtra honoured him with the sobriquet Karmaveer and the Government of India awarded him with Padma Bhushan in 1959 in India. Read more
09 May 1957: Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan banker and businessman (born 1887) Sir Albert Ernest de Silva was a Ceylonese business magnate, banker, barrister and public figure, considered to be the most prominent Ceylonese philanthropist of the 20th century. A wealthy and influential polymath, he was the founder-chairman of the largest bank in Ceylon, the Bank of Ceylon, the founder-governor of the State Mortgage Bank and chairman of the Ceylon All-Party committee. He made many contributions to Ceylonese society and is also considered to be the preeminent philatelist in the history of Ceylon. Upon Ceylon's independence, he was asked to become the first Ceylonese Governor General, an honour he declined for personal reasons.
De Silva was at the pinnacle of upper-class society and, as the wealthiest Ceylonese of his generation, he defined the island's ruling class. His memorials describe him as highly respected for his integrity and honesty. Read more
09 May 1957: Ezio Pinza, Italian actor and singer (born 1892) Ezio Fortunato Pinza was an Italian opera singer. Pinza possessed a rich, smooth and sonorous voice, with a flexibility unusual for a bass. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas. At the San Francisco Opera, Pinza sang 26 roles during 20 seasons from 1927 to 1948. Pinza also sang to great acclaim at La Scala, Milan, and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. Read more
09 May 1950: Esteban Terradas i Illa, Spanish mathematician and engineer (born 1883) Esteban Terrades i Illa also known as Esteve Terradas, was a Spanish mathematician, scientist and engineer. He researched and taught widely in the fields of mathematics and the physical sciences, working not only in his native Catalonia, but also in the rest of Spain and in South America. He was also active as a consultant in the Spanish aeronautics, electric power, telephone and railway industries. Read more
09 May 1949: Louis II, Prince of Monaco (born 1870) Louis II was Prince of Monaco from 26 June 1922 to 9 May 1949. Read more
09 May 1944: Han Yong-un, Korean poet and social reformer (born 1879) Han Yong-un was a twentieth century Korean Buddhist reformer, poet, and independence activist against colonial rule. This name was his religious name, given by his meditation instructor in 1905, and Manhae (만해) was his art name; his birth name was Han Yu-cheon. Read more
09 May 1942: Józef Cebula, Polish priest and saint (born 1902) Józef Cebula was a Polish priest of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). Read more
09 May 1938: Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (born 1866) Thomas Barfoed Thrige was a Danish entrepreneur, industrialist and businessman. In 1894, he started the company Thomas B. Thrige, a manufacturer of electric motors, now known as T-T Electric. The power station of his factory in Odense is now the Thriges Kraftcentral museum run by Odense City Museums. Read more
09 May 1935: Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist (born 1877) Ernst Ludwig Bresslau was a German zoologist. He was the son of historian Harry Bresslau. Read more
09 May 1933: John Arthur Jarvis, English swimmer (born 1872) John Arthur Jarvis was an English competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in three Olympic Games, and was a well-known amateur athlete of the late 19th century and early 20th century. He participated in Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris and won two gold medals in the 1000-metre and the 4000-metre freestyle events. He also won a gold medal in the water polo tournament. Read more
09 May 1931: Albert Abraham Michelson, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1852) Albert Abraham Michelson was an American experimental physicist known for his work on measuring the speed of light and especially for the Michelson–Morley experiment. In 1907, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, becoming the first American to win the Nobel Prize in a science. He was the founder and the first head of the physics departments of the Case School of Applied Science and the University of Chicago. Read more
09 May 1918: George Coșbuc, Romanian journalist and poet (born 1866) George Coșbuc was a Romanian poet, translator, teacher, and journalist, best remembered for his verses describing, praising and eulogizing rural life, its many travails but also its occasions for joy. In 1916 he was elected titular member of the Romanian Academy. Read more
09 May 1915: François Faber, Luxembourgian-French cyclist and soldier (born 1887) François Faber was a Luxembourgish racing cyclist. He was born in France. He was the first foreigner to win the Tour de France in 1909, and his record of winning 5 consecutive stages still stands. He died in World War I while fighting for France. Faber was known for his long solos; he is the only rider in Tour de France history to lead solo more than 1000 km. Read more
09 May 1915: Anthony Wilding, New Zealand tennis player and cricketer (born 1883) Anthony Frederick Wilding, also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wilding was the son of wealthy English immigrants to Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand and enjoyed the use of private tennis courts at their home. Wilding obtained a legal education at Trinity College, Cambridge and briefly joined his father's law firm. Wilding was a first-class cricketer and a keen motorcycle enthusiast. His tennis career started with him winning the Canterbury Championships aged 17. Read more
09 May 1914: C. W. Post, American businessman, founded Post Foods (born 1854) Charles William Post was an American businessman. He was the founder of what became Post Consumer Brands. Read more
09 May 1911: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, American abolitionist (born 1823) Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who went by the name Wentworth, was an American Unitarian minister, author, abolitionist, politician, and soldier. He was active in abolitionism in the United States during the 1840s and 1850s, identifying himself with disunion and militant abolitionism. He was a member of the Secret Six who supported John Brown. During the Civil War, from 1862 to 1864, he served as colonel of the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, the first federally authorized black regiment. Following the war, he wrote Army Life in a Black Regiment and devoted much of the rest of his life to fighting for the rights of freed people, women, and other disfranchised people. He is also remembered as a mentor to poet Emily Dickinson. Read more
09 May 1906: Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic (born 1844) Oscar Leopold von Gebhardt was a German Lutheran theologian, born in the Baltic German settlement of Wesenberg in the Russian Empire. Read more
09 May 1889: William S. Harney, American general (born 1800) William Selby Harney, otherwise known among the Lakota as "Woman Killer" and "Mad Bear," was an American cavalry officer in the US Army, who became known during the Indian Wars and the Mexican–American War for his brutality and ruthlessness. During his service, Harney personally beat an enslaved mother to death, massacred Native American women and children, and killed dogs. Read more
09 May 1864: John Sedgwick, American general and educator (born 1813) John Sedgwick was an American military officer who served as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was one of the highest-ranking Union officers to be killed in the war, along with Major Generals James B. McPherson, Joseph K. Mansfield and John F. Reynolds. Read more
09 May 1861: Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (born 1805) Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, known as Ernst von Lasaulx was a German philologist and politician. Read more
09 May 1850: Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (born 1778) Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac was a French chemist and physicist. He is known mostly for his discovery that water is made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen by volume, for two laws related to gases, and for his work on alcohol–water mixtures, which led to the degrees Gay-Lussac used to measure alcoholic beverages in many countries. Read more
09 May 1850: Garlieb Merkel, Baltic German author and activist (born 1769) Garlieb Helwig Merkel was a Baltic German writer and activist and an early Estophile and Lettophile. Read more
09 May 1805: Friedrich Schiller, German poet, playwright, and historian (born 1759) Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered to be one of Germany's most important classical playwrights. Read more

Why is 09 May Important in World History?

Several significant political, cultural, educational, and sporting events took place on 09 May, making it an important topic for general knowledge and competitive examinations.

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What happened on 09 May in World history?

On 09 May, several important historical events, notable births, and major milestones occurred in World history.

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