/year

August 9 in history

186 sourced entries recorded on August 9, from 324 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 324(guiyou day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of the Tai'ning era) In Jin dynasty China, the rebel warlord Wang Dun succumbs to illness as the armies of the Emperor Ming of Jin are approaching his camp.source
  • 378Battle of Adrianople: Valens leads an elite Roman army to Thrace to confront revolts, but is defeated.source
  • 1123Battle of Al-Dimas: An Italo-Norman campaign in North Africa ends with their troops being massacred by Zirid forces near Mahdia (modern Tunisia).source
  • 1300After crossing the River Dee in Scotland and reaching Twynholm, King Edward I and his English troops receive new provisions from the English Navy and fights a brief skirmish with the Scots.source
  • 1313In the town of Horsens in Denmark, Eric of Jutland reaches a settlement with King Eric VI Menved and receives the Duchy of Schleswig in return for renouncing all claims to Langeland.source
  • 1318Treaty of Leake: Edward II signs an agreement with the "Middle Party" led by his cousin, Earl Thomas of Lancaster, and his court followers at East Leake in Nottinghamshire.source
  • 1345Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Derby arrives in Bordeaux with 500 men-at-arms, 500 mounted archers and 1,000 English and Welsh foot archers.source
  • 1373John of Gaunt's chevauchée of 1373: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, launches an English military raid of France. Despite the devastation caused by the raid over its five month period, it was a failure for the English crown because of the weak military and political results, and the enormous losses.source
  • 1382King Richard II summons the English Parliament for the third time in the year, directing the Lords and members of Commons to assemble at Westminster on October 6.source
  • 1434After fighting 166 jousts, and sustaining injuries over a month, Quiñones and his men end the Passo Honroso.source
  • 1471Cardinal Francesco della Rovere, who received no votes in the initial round of balloting in the papal conclave, receives 13 votes and is elected as the new Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. He takes the regnal name of Pope Sixtus IV to become the 212th pope.source
  • 1500The Ottoman Empire defeats the Venetians and capture Modon and Coron, the "two eyes of the Republic".source
  • 1526Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón of Spain founded the failed colony, San Miguel de Gualdape in present-day Winyah Bay, Georgetown County, South Carolina. It was the first European settlement, as well as the first documented occurrence of enslavement of African peoples in what would later become the continental United States.source
  • 1563Northern Seven Years' Warsource
  • 1588The Duke of Medina Sidonia, commander of the Spanish Armada, decides to return the fleet to Spain after two days of trying to reach the coast of Flanders to meet up with the army of the Duke of Parma.source
  • 1591The Khan of the Crimean Tatara, Ğazı II Giray, is wounded by the defenders against his siege of Moscow. Gazi's brother, Fetih I Giray, continues the siege, which is finally settled with a peace agreement and payment of 10,000 rubles in 1594.source
  • 1592English explorer John Davis, commander of the Desire, probably discovers the Falkland Islands.source
  • 1610Anglo-Powhatan Wars: The English launch a major attack on the Paspahegh village, capturing and executing the native queen and her children, burning houses and chopping down the corn fields; the subsequent use of the term "Paspahegh" in documents refers to their former territory.source
  • 1615Swedish troops led by King Gustavus Adolphus begin the siege of the Russian city of Pskov, but fail to take the fortress after 12 weeks. The siege ends on October 27.source
  • 1655Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell divides England into 11 districts, under major-generals.source
  • 1655the Rule of the Major-Generals, a period of direct military government, begins.source
  • 1656King Sanpet's uncle, Prince Si Suthammaracha, stages a coup d'etat and becomes the new King of Ayutthaya, now Thailand. Suthammaracha appoints another nephew, Prince Narai, as his chief minister and former King Sanpet is executed two days later on August 11. Suthammaracha's reign lasts less than three months.source
  • 1673Dutch forces under Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest recapture New York from the English; the city is known as New Orange until regained by the English in 1674.source
  • 1711John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough with an army of 30,000 besieges Bouchain in the War of the Spanish Succession. The siege lasts 34 days and results in the last major victory for Churchill.source
  • 17119 August–12 September – Siege of Bouchain (War of the Spanish Succession): the Duke of Marlborough breaks through the French lines.source
  • 1722State funeral of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, takes place in London, where he is initially buried in the Henry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey.source
  • 1729Brita Alverns witch trail, one of the last witch trials in Scandinavia.source
  • 1742The Swedish forces in Finland surrender to the Russian army in Helsingfors (Helsinki).source
  • 1757August 3–9 – French and Indian War: A French army under Louis-Joseph de Montcalm forces the English to surrender Fort William Henry. The French army's Indian allies slaughter the surviving men, women and children.source
  • 1765Russian Empress Catherine II issues a decree authorizing the new way to produce vodka (by freezing).source
  • 1780American Revolutionary War: Spanish admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova captures a British convoy totalling 55 vessels amongst Indiamen, frigates and other cargo ships off Cape St. Vincent.source
  • 1780American Revolutionary War: Spanish admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova captures a British convoy totalling 55 vessels amongst Indiamen, frigates and other cargo ships off Cape St. Vincent.source
  • 1787South Carolina cedes to the United States its claims to a 12-mile wide strip of land that runs across northern Alabama and Mississippi.source
  • 1794Napoleon is arrested and put under house arrest at Nice for his association with the Robespierres during their fall in the Thermidorian Reaction. He is later taken to Antibes and detained in a military fort.source
  • 1796The Wearmouth Bridge in England, designed by Rowland Burdon in cast iron, opens to traffic. Its span of 72 m makes it the world's longest single-span vehicular bridge extant at this date.source
  • 1796opening to traffic of Wearmouth Bridge, designed by Rowland Burdon in cast iron. Its span of 237 feet (72 m) makes it the world's longest single-span vehicular bridge extant at this date.source
  • 1814Creek War – The Treaty of Fort Jackson is signed, ending the Creek War.source
  • 1822August 5–13 – A sequence of earthquakes occurs in the northern part of the Ottoman Empire, causing severe damage from Gaziantep to Antakya in modern Turkey and from Aleppo to Khan Sheikhun in modern Syria. At least 20,000 people are killed.source
  • 1823The Arikara War breaks out between the Arikara nation and the United States, the first American military conflict with the Plains Indians.source
  • 1823Reverend Marsden, in person, delivers the letter sacking Thomas Kendall from the Church Missionary Society. (see 1822)source
  • 1828The Chilean Constitution is promulgated.source
  • 1830Louis Philippe, the "Citizen King", becomes King of the French.source
  • 1832Leopold I of Belgium marries the daughter of the French king Louise of Orléans in a dynastic marriage at the Château de Compiègnesource
  • 1842The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed between the United States and United Kingdom, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.source
  • 1842The Webster–Ashburton Treaty ends the Aroostook War, settling once and for all the Maine–New Brunswick border dispute.source
  • 1842The Webster–Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.source
  • 1845The Aberdeen Act is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, empowering the British Royal Navy to search Brazilian ships, as part of the abolition of the slave trade from Africa.source
  • 1849Hungarian Revolution of 1848 – Battle of Temesvár: The main Russo-Austrian forces, led by Julius Jacob von Haynau, win a decisive victory against the Hungarians, led by Józef Bem.source
  • 1852Earthquake causing casualties in São Miguel Island.source
  • 1854Walden first published.source
  • 1854Johann succeeds to the throne of Saxony, on the death of his brother.source
  • 1859Modeste Decroix (in religion Fr François) and Louis-Joseph Miroux (in religion Br François), both of Scourmont Priory, condemned to twenty years and ten years hard labour respectively on multiple counts of sexual assault.source
  • 1862Battle of Cedar Mountain – Confederate General Stonewall Jackson narrowly defeats Union forces under General John Pope at Cedar Mountain, Virginia.source
  • 1862Theater Baden-Baden opens with Béatrice et Bénédict.source
  • 1869August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht found the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP).source
  • 1869Debtors Act 1869 abolishes indefinite imprisonment for civil debt in England and Wales with effect from 1870.source
  • 1871One of the few known major hurricanes to strike Hawaii causes significant damage on the islands of Hawaii and Maui.source
  • 1875Joe Borden throws a 4 hit shoutout against future baseball hall of famer Pud Galvin and the St. Louis Brown Stockings 16–0source
  • 1877American Indian Wars: Battle of the Big Hole – Near Big Hole River, Montana, a small band of Nez Perce people who refuse government orders to move to a reservation, clash with the United States Army. The army loses 29 soldiers, and the Indians lose 89 warriors, in an Army victory.source
  • 1878The Wallingford Tornado of 1878, the deadliest tornado in Connecticut history, destroys the town of Wallingford, killing 34 people and injuring more than 70.source
  • 1888The Oaths Act permits the oath of allegiance taken to the Sovereign by Members of Parliament (MPs) to be affirmed, rather than sworn to God, thus confirming the ability of atheists to sit in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.source
  • 1888A fire destroys the Main Building, the heart of Wells College in Aurora, New York, causing a loss of $130,000.source
  • 1892Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph.source
  • 1900Funeral of King Umberto I; he was buried in the Pantheon in Rome.source
  • 1902Coronation of Edward VII as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India at Westminster Abbey in London.source
  • 1902coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra at Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Frederick Temple.source
  • 1904A magnitude 7.0-7.2 earthquake strikes Cape Turnagain, causing one death.source
  • 1905The peace conference to end the Russo-Japanese War between Russia and Japan begins at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.source
  • 1911Raunds, Northamptonshire, records a temperature of 98 °F (36.7 °C), the highest UK temperature until 1990.source
  • 1913A diplomat from Austria-Hungary told representatives from Italy and Germany that his Empire intended to plan an invasion of Serbia. The private discussion would be revealed on December 5, 1914, by Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti, who said that Italy refused to participate. Austria-Hungary and Italy strongly opposed the arrival of Serbian army on the Adriatic Sea because they perceived it as a threat to their domination of the Adriatic and feared that Serbian Adriatic port could become a Russian base.source
  • 1914World War I: British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Birmingham rams and sinks German submarine U-15 off Fair Isle, the first U-boat lost in action.source
  • 1916Lassen Volcanic National Park is established in California.source
  • 1923Cape – Belmont to Douglas, 53 mi 22 ch.source
  • 1924August 9–17 – the 2nd World Scout Jamboree is held in Ermelunden, Denmark.source
  • 1930The cartoon character Betty Boop debut in the Fleischer Studios short film Dizzy Dishes.source
  • 1931A referendum in Prussia for dissolving the Landtag ends with the "yes" side winning 37% of the vote, which is insufficient for calling the early elections. The elections are intended to remove the Social Democratic Party (SPD) government of Otto Braun. Supporting the "yes" side were the NSDAP, the DNVP and the Communist Party (KPD), while supporting the "no" side were the SPD and Zentrum.source
  • 1931Referendum in Prussia for dissolving the Landtag ends with the "yes" side winning 37% of the vote, which is insufficient for calling the early elections. The elections are intended to remove the Social Democratic Party (SPD) government of Otto Braun, which is one of the strongest forces for democracy in Germany. Supporting the "yes" side are the NSDAP, the DNVP and the Communist Party (KPD), while the SPD and Zentrum support the "no" side.source
  • 1932Potempa Murder of 1932: In the eastern town of Potempa, five Nazi "Brownshirts" break into the house of Konrad Pietrzuch, a Communist miner, and proceed to castrate and beat him to death in front of his mother.source
  • 1935establishment of Mineokasankei Prefectural Natural Park, Kujūkuri Prefectural Natural Park, Takagoyama Prefectural Natural Park and Yōrō Keikoku Okukiyosumi Prefectural Natural Park.source
  • 1937The Polish Operation of the NKVD (1937–38) is signed by Nikolai Yezhov as a continuation of the Great Purge.source
  • 1941Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet on board ship at Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. The Atlantic Charter (released August 14), setting goals for postwar international cooperation, is created as a result.source
  • 1942August 3–15 – WWII: Operation Pedestal – A British convoy of 14 merchant ships with a massive escort of two battleships, 4 aircraft carriers, 7 cruisers, 32 destroyers and smaller ships commanded by Admiral Edward Neville Syfret, sets sail to Malta under relentless attacks by day and night from enemy submarines, aircraft and Axis surface forces. The 55,000 tons of food and fuel (particularly from oil tanker SS Ohio) delivered by this convoy saves Malta from surrender and allows Malta-based aircraft and submarines to resume their attacks against Rommel's supply lines, although over 500 British sea- and airmen are killed and many ships (including carrier HMS Eagle (1918)) are lost.source
  • 1942Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in Bombay, by British forces.source
  • 1942Leningrad première of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7, with the city still under siege.source
  • 1945The Soviet–Japanese War opens: The Soviet Union begins its army offensive against Japan, in the northern part of the Japanese-held puppet region of Manchuria, including the 25th Army (Soviet Union)'s advance into the northern peninsula of Korea.source
  • 19459 August to 7 September – Ramadan leads to a temporary reduction of military operations.source
  • 1945Atomic bombing of Nagasaki: United States B-29 Bockscar drops a plutonium-239 atomic bomb, codenamed "Fat Man", on the Japanese city of Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m. local time, resulting in between 39,000 and 80,000 deaths.source
  • 1960The government of Laos is overthrown in a coup.source
  • 1963According to Chinese government official confirmed document on 1986, a torrential heavy massive rain, with many dam collapse, flood swept hit in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province, total 5,154 persons were human fatalities.source
  • 1965Proclamation of Singapore: Singapore is expelled from the Federation of Malaysia, which recognises it as a sovereign nation. Lee Kuan Yew announces Singapore's independence and assumes the position of Prime Minister of the new island nation – a position he holds until 1990.source
  • 1965Singapore was expelled from the Federation of Malaysia.source
  • 1965An explosion at an Arkansas missile plant kills 53.source
  • 1965Indonesian president Sukarno collapses in public.source
  • 1969On orders from Charles Manson, members of the Manson Family invade the Los Angeles home of film director Roman Polanski, and murder his pregnant wife, the actress Sharon Tate, and four others.source
  • 1971Internment in Northern Ireland: British security forces arrest hundreds of nationalists and detain them without trial in Long Kesh prison; 20 people die in the riots that follow.source
  • 1974Vice President Gerald Ford becomes the 38th president of the United States upon Nixon's resignation.source
  • 1974Richard Nixon becomes the first president of the United States to resign from office, an action taken to avoid being removed by impeachment and conviction in response to his role in the Watergate scandal. Vice President Gerald R. Ford becomes the 38th president upon Nixon's resignation, taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House.source
  • 1974VLCC Metula oil spillsource
  • 1976The Selous Scouts of the Rhodesian Army conduct a cross-border raid into Nyadzonya, Mozambique in Operation Eland, an action that led to severe political and diplomatic consequences on Rhodesia.source
  • 1977The military-controlled government of Uruguay announces that it will return the nation to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 for a president and Congress.source
  • 1978Olympic Airways Flight 411source
  • 1979Tore Ruud Hofstad, cross-country skiersource
  • 1979Female workers of YH Trading in South Korea held a sit-in protest in response to the company's unilateral shutdown.source
  • 1980July 31–August 11: Hurricane Allen.source
  • 19811981 Major League Baseball strike ends in the United States, and Major League Baseball resumes with the All-Star Game in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.source
  • 1987Hoddle Street massacre in Australia: Julian Knight, 19, goes on a shooting rampage in the Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill, Victoria, killing 7 people and injuring 19 before surrendering to police.source
  • 1989The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, a measure to rescue the United States savings and loan industry, is signed into law by President Bush, launching the largest federal rescue to date.source
  • 1989The asteroid 4769 Castalia is the first directly imaged by radar from Arecibo Observatory.source
  • 1997August 3–11 – Two of the three islands of the Union of the Comoros – Anjouan and Mohéli – attempt to revert to colonial rule by France. The plan fails when the French government of President Jacques Chirac refuses to recolonize them, resulting in the two islands being reintegrated into the Comoros over the next two years.source
  • 2001A Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem is bombed by a Palestinian Hamas terrorist, killing 15 civilians and injuring 130 others.source
  • 2004August 7–13 – Typhoon Rananim causes widespread destruction as it strikes China.source
  • 2007Subprime mortgage crisis: The French global bank BNP Paribas in the United Kingdom blocks withdrawals from three hedge funds heavily committed in subprime lendings, signaling the 2008 financial crisis.source
  • 2008The 17th season of Azerbaijan Premier League has started.source
  • 2014The shooting of Michael Brown, an African American, by a police officer occurs in Ferguson, Missouri, triggering riots.source
  • 2018A Saudi airstrike hit a bus in the Dahyan air strike, Sa'dah, reportedly killing dozens of children.source
  • 2020A presidential election in Belarus which led to incumbent Alexander Lukashenko's reelection sparks protests throughout the country after major opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya rejected the results. Seven days later, the largest political march in Belarusian history takes place, with an estimated 300,000 people in Minsk and 200,000 in other Belarusian cities and towns.source
  • 2021The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report, which concludes that the effects of human-caused climate change are now "widespread, rapid, and intensifying".source
  • 2022August 9 – August 18: Guyana at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Gamessource
  • 2022Matanzas oil storage facility explosion: Firefighters in Cuba bring a catastrophic fire at an oil terminal in Matanzas under control after it burned out of control for five consecutive days, destroying 40% of the country's main fuel storage facility and causing widespread blackouts.source
  • 2024Indian President Droupadi Murmu makes the first-ever visit by an Indian head of state to Timor-Leste, as part of a tour of Pacific region countries.source
  • 2024Voepass Flight 2283, an ATR 72, crashes near Vinhedo, São Paulo, Brazil, killing all 62 people on board.source
  • 2024Indigenous People's Daysource
  • 2025August 7–17 – The 2025 World Games are held in Chengdu, China.source
  • 2025Indigenous People's Daysource

Births

  • 1201Arnold Fitz Thedmar, English chronicler and writer (died 1274)source
  • 1298Robert Ufford, English nobleman and admiral (died 1369)source
  • 1537Francesco Barozzi, Italian mathematician (died 1604)source
  • 1544Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania (died 1606)source
  • 1565Louis II, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (died 1627)source
  • 1590John Webster, colonial settler and governor of Connecticut (died 1661)source
  • 1593Izaak Walton, English writer (died 1683)source
  • 1611Henry of Nassau-Siegen, German count, officer in the Dutch Army, diplomat for the Dutch Republic (died 1652)source
  • 1663Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany (died 1713)source
  • 1736Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé (died 1818)source
  • 1754Pierre Charles L'Enfant, French architect (died 1825)source
  • 1757Elizabeth Schuyler, wife of Alexander Hamilton, co-founder of New York's first orphanage (died 1854)source
  • 1757Thomas Telford, Scottish-born civil engineer, architect (died 1834)source
  • 1864Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (died 1939)source
  • 1884John S. McCain Sr., American admiral (died 1945)source
  • 1896Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (died 1980)source
  • 1922Philip Larkin, English poet (died 1985)source
  • 1932Anand Panyarachun born in Bangkok.source
  • 1963Whitney Houston, American singer (died 2012)source
  • 1998Panagiotis Retsos, Greek footballersource

Deaths

  • 378Sebastianus, Roman general (magister peditum)source
  • 378Valens, Roman consul and emperor (born 328)source
  • 378Traianus, Roman general (magister militum)source
  • 803Irene of Athens, Byzantine empresssource
  • 833Al-Ma'mun, Muslim caliph (born 786)source
  • 1048Damasus II, pope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 1063Constantine III, Byzantine patriarchsource
  • 1078Peter I, Italian noblemansource
  • 1107Emperor Horikawa dies after a 20-year reign and is succeeded by his 4-year-old son Toba as emperor of Japan.source
  • 1107Horikawa, emperor of Japan (born 1079)source
  • 1122Cuno of Praeneste, German cardinalsource
  • 1134Gilbert Universalis, English bishopsource
  • 1135Wartislaw I, duke of Pomerania (born 1091)source
  • 1173Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Saladinsource
  • 1179Roger of Worcester, English bishop (born 1118)source
  • 1211William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, Norman noblemansource
  • 1260Walter of Kirkham, Bishop of Durhamsource
  • 1296Count Hugh of Brienne, French crusadersource
  • 1303Thomas Maule, Scottish nobleman, captain and knightsource
  • 1341Eleanor of Anjou, queen consort of Sicily (born 1289)source
  • 1354Stephen, Duke of Slavonia, Hungarian prince (born 1332)source
  • 1420Pierre d'Ailly, French theologian and cardinal (born 1351)source
  • 1420Pierre d'Ailly, cardinal (born 1351)source
  • 1447Konrad IV the Elder, Polish priest (born 1380)source
  • 1516August 9 (bur.) – Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch painter (born 1450)source
  • 1534Thomas Cajetan, Italian theologian and cardinal (born 1470)source
  • 1542Margaret FitzGerald, Countess of Ormond, noblewoman.source
  • 1601Prince Michael the Brave of Wallachia (born 1558)source
  • 1611John Blagrave, English mathematician (born 1561)source
  • 1646Margherita Aldobrandini, Parmesan regent (born 1588)source
  • 1677Elisabeth Augusta Lindenov, Countess of Schleswig-Holstein (born 1623)source
  • 1704Richard Bulkeley, 3rd Viscount Bulkeley, about 46, politiciansource
  • 1744James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (born 1673)source
  • 1775Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, Prussian merchant, art dealer and diplomat (born 1710)source
  • 1853Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński, Polish philosopher (born 1776)source
  • 1914Roque Sáenz Peña, president (born 1851)source
  • 1919Ernst Haeckel, German biologist, naturalist and philosopher (born 1834)source
  • 1977Beryl May Dent, English mathematical physicist (born 1900)source
  • 1995Jerry Garcia, 53, American guitarist (The Grateful Dead), heart attack.source
  • 2001Kimberly Rogers, Sudbury woman whose suicide while under house arrest for a disputed welfare fraud conviction led to a major scandal and inquest (born c1961)source
  • 2010Ted Stevens, 86, American politician, Senator from Alaska (1968–2009), inventor of the term series of tubes, victim of 2010 Alaska plane crash.source
  • 2014Michael Brown, 18, American student, shot.source