On this day: April 9

Events on April 9

• 193 Year of the Five Emperors: Septimius Severus was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops at Carnuntum in modern-day Austria. Wikipedia
• 475 Basiliscus issued the Enkyklikon, a circular letter to bishops supporting the Monophysitism position. Wikipedia
• 1241 Battle of Liegnitz: Mongol forces defeat the Polish and German armies. Wikipedia
• 1388 Despite being vastly outnumbered, forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Näfels. Wikipedia
• 1860 Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded himself singing "Au clair de la lune" on his phonautograph, producing the oldest known recording of an audible human voice. Wikipedia
• 1917 First World War: The Canadian Corps began the first wave of attacks of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in Vimy, France. Wikipedia
• 1939 After being denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, African-American singer Marian Anderson gave an open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia
• 1940 World War II: During the German invasion of Norway, Vidkun Quisling attempted to seize power in the first coup to be broadcast over radio. Wikipedia
• 1942 World War II: Japanese forces defeated Allied troops at the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines before beginning to forcibly transfer more than 90,000 prisoners of war to prison camps in the Bataan Death March. Wikipedia
• 1945 The German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, the most successful capital-ship surface raider of the Second World War, was sunk by British bombers in port in Kiel. Wikipedia
• 1945 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor and anti-Nazi dissident, is executed by the Nazi regime. Wikipedia
• 1947 Sixteen white and black men began a two-week journey in the American South, acting in defiance of local laws that enforced segregated seating on public buses. Wikipedia
• 1947 The Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes killed 181 people and injured 970 others in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Wikipedia
• 1948 Palestine war: Fighters from the Zionist paramilitary groups Irgun and Lehi attacked the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, killing more than 100 Palestinian Arabs. Wikipedia
• 1957 The Suez Canal in Egypt is cleared and opens to shipping following the Suez Crisis. Wikipedia
• 1959 NASA announced the selection of the Mercury Seven, the first astronauts in Project Mercury. Wikipedia
• 1967 The Boeing 737 took its maiden flight, eventually becoming the most produced commercial passenger jet airliner in the world. Wikipedia
• 1976 The first EMD F40PH, Amtrak's most widespread diesel locomotive for many years, entered into service. Wikipedia
• 1980 Iraqi philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Amina were executed by the regime of Saddam Hussein. Wikipedia
• 1989 Tbilisi massacre: An anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strike in Tbilisi, demanding restoration of Georgian independence, is dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Wikipedia
• 1993 Iranian filmmaker Morteza Avini was killed by a land mine in Fakkeh while producing a documentary. Wikipedia
• 1999 Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, President of Niger, was shot dead by soldiers in Niamey. Wikipedia
• 2003 Invasion of Iraq: Coalition forces captured Baghdad and the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled. Wikipedia
• 2005 Charles, Prince of Wales, married Camilla Parker Bowles in a civil ceremony at the Windsor Guildhall. Wikipedia
• 2021 Myanmar civil war: Burmese military and police forces killed at least 82 civilians in the Bago massacre, including people protesting a recent coup d'état. Wikipedia
• 2021 Prince Philip, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II, died at Windsor Castle aged 99. Wikipedia

Born on April 9

• 1802 Elias Lönnrot, Finnish physician and philologist (died 1884) Wikipedia
• 1806 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English engineer, designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge (died 1859) Wikipedia
• 1821 Charles Baudelaire, French poet and critic (died 1867) Wikipedia
• 1830 Eadweard Muybridge, English photographer and cinematographer (died 1904) Wikipedia
• 1835 Leopold II of Belgium (died 1909) Wikipedia
• 1865 Erich Ludendorff, German general and politician (died 1937) Wikipedia
• 1872 Léon Blum, French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 1950) Wikipedia
• 1898 Paul Robeson, American singer, actor, and activist (died 1976) Wikipedia
• 1906 Victor Vasarely, Hungarian-French painter (died 1997) Wikipedia
• 1918 Jørn Utzon, Danish architect, designed the Sydney Opera House (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1926 Hugh Hefner, American publisher, founded Playboy Enterprises (died 2017) Wikipedia
• 1933 Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor and producer (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1938 Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian businessman and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Russia (died 2010) Wikipedia
• 1948 Jaya Bachchan, Indian actress and politician Wikipedia
• 1954 Dennis Quaid, American actor Wikipedia
• 1967 Sam Harris, American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist Wikipedia
• 1971 Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian race car driver Wikipedia
• 1974 Jenna Jameson, American actress and pornographic performer Wikipedia
• 1986 Leighton Meester, American actress Wikipedia
• 1990 Kristen Stewart, American actress Wikipedia
• 1998 Elle Fanning, American actress Wikipedia
• 1999 Lil Nas X, American rapper Wikipedia

Died on April 9

• 491 Zeno, emperor of the Byzantine Empire (born 425) Wikipedia
• 715 Constantine, pope of the Catholic Church (born 664) Wikipedia
• 1024 Benedict VIII, pope of the Catholic Church (born 980) Wikipedia
• 1483 Edward IV, king of England (born 1442) Wikipedia
• 1553 François Rabelais, French monk and scholar (born 1494) Wikipedia
• 1626 Francis Bacon, English jurist and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (born 1561) Wikipedia
• 1754 Christian Wolff, German philosopher and academic (born 1679) Wikipedia
• 1882 Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (born 1828) Wikipedia
• 1904 Isabella II, Spanish queen (born 1830) Wikipedia
• 1945 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor and theologian (born 1906) Wikipedia
• 1959 Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (born 1867) Wikipedia
• 1961 Zog I of Albania (born 1895) Wikipedia
• 2011 Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1924) Wikipedia
• 2021 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of the United Kingdom, Prince of Greece and Denmark, Consort of Queen Elizabeth II (born 1921) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Christian feast day: Acacius of Amida Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Casilda of Toledo Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Demetrius of Thessaloniki Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Anglicanism, Lutheranism) Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Gaucherius Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Materiana Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Blessed Thomas of Tolentino Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: Waltrude Wikipedia
• Christian feast day: April 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Baghdad Liberation Day (Iraqi Kurdistan) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Kosovo) Wikipedia
• Day of National Unity (Georgia) Wikipedia
• Day of Valor or Araw ng Kagitingan (Philippines) Wikipedia
• Feast of the Second Day of the Writing of the Book of the Law (Thelema) Wikipedia
• Martyr's Day (Tunisia) Wikipedia
• Mikael Agricola Day, also known as Day of the Finnish Language (Finland) Wikipedia
• National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day (United States) Wikipedia
• Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (The Troth) Wikipedia
• Vimy Ridge Day (Canada) Wikipedia
• Valour Day (CRPF) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “April 9” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/April 9” — the anniversaries editors chose for the date and the article each one is about (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikidata — in how many language editions each entry's own article exists, used to fill the lists (CC0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• vacanza/holidays (open-source holiday rules, MIT licence) — holiday rules used to build the lists (checked 2026-10-15)

The events, births, deaths and observances above are from the English Wikipedia article “April 9” and the articles it links to (authors and history), retrieved 2026-10-15 through the Wikimedia “On this day” feed. They are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; this selection is shared under the same licence. Every anniversary that Wikipedia's editors selected for April 9 stays on the list; the remaining places, up to 26 events, 22 births and 14 deaths, go to the entries whose own article — about the event itself, or else the person or thing it is about — appears in the most language editions (counted from Wikidata); an article about a person or thing, which covers far more than one day, counts half. An entry with no article of its own counts, also at half, by the least covered article it links, and one that links only places counts for nothing. Each list runs by year, and the wording is unchanged apart from removing references to pictures, audio and video.