On this day: July 9

Events on July 9

• 551 An estimated 30,000 people died when a massive earthquake struck the Roman province of Phoenice. Wikipedia
• 660 Silla forces under general Kim Yu-sin defeat the army of Baekje at the Battle of Hwangsanbeol. Wikipedia
• 1540 King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Wikipedia
• 1640 The Virginia Governor's Council made John Punch the first legally recognized slave in England's North American colonies. Wikipedia
• 1745 War of the Austrian Succession: French victory at the Battle of Melle enabled their subsequent capture of Ghent from the Austrian Netherlands. Wikipedia
• 1762 Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III. Wikipedia
• 1763 The Mozart family grand tour began, presenting the child prodigies Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus across Western Europe. Wikipedia
• 1776 George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island. Wikipedia
• 1790 Russo-Swedish War: During the Battle of Svensksund in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captured a third of the Russian fleet. Wikipedia
• 1811 British explorer David Thompson posted a notice at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers (in modern Washington state, U.S.), claiming the area for Great Britain. Wikipedia
• 1850 Following Zachary Taylor's death, Millard Fillmore became president of the United States, the last member of the Whig Party to hold that office. Wikipedia
• 1868 The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, including the Citizenship Clause and the Equal Protection Clause, was ratified by the minimum required twenty-eight states. Wikipedia
• 1877 The inaugural Wimbledon Championship, the world's oldest tennis tournament, began in London. Wikipedia
• 1896 Politician William Jennings Bryan made his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism, considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history. Wikipedia
• 1937 Nitrate film being stored in a 20th Century Fox facility spontaneously combusted, destroying more than 40,000 reels of negatives and film prints. Wikipedia
• 1943 World War II: The Battle of Saipan concluded after a mass Japanese suicide attack was repelled by American forces. Wikipedia
• 1955 Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell and nine other preeminent intellectuals and scientists issued the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, calling for a conference to assess the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction. Wikipedia
• 1958 An earthquake struck Lituya Bay, Alaska; the subsequent megatsunami, the largest in modern times, reached an elevation of 1,720 ft (524 m). Wikipedia
• 1962 The United States conducted the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test, the largest nuclear explosion in outer space. Wikipedia
• 1962 In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. Wikipedia
• 1981 Nintendo released the arcade game Donkey Kong, which featured the debut of Mario, one of the most famous characters in video-game history. Wikipedia
• 1982 A British man named Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace and entered Queen Elizabeth II's bedroom when she was asleep. Wikipedia
• 1995 Sri Lankan civil war: After advising civilians to take shelter in places of worship, the Sri Lanka Air Force bombed a church in Navaly, killing at least 147 people. Wikipedia
• 2002 The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization's first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa. Wikipedia
• 2006 Italy won their fourth FIFA World Cup title, defeating France 5–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time. Wikipedia
• 2008 Under the belief that Israel and the United States were planning to attack its nuclear program, Iran conducted the Great Prophet III missile test and war games. Wikipedia

Born on July 9

• 1578 Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1637) Wikipedia
• 1764 Ann Ward, English author and poet (died 1823) Wikipedia
• 1834 Jan Neruda, Czech journalist and poet (died 1891) Wikipedia
• 1858 Franz Boas, German-American anthropologist and linguist (died 1942) Wikipedia
• 1894 Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1984) Wikipedia
• 1901 Barbara Cartland, English author (died 2000) Wikipedia
• 1911 John Archibald Wheeler, American physicist and author (died 2008) Wikipedia
• 1916 Edward Heath, English colonel and politician; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1970-74 (died 2005) Wikipedia
• 1926 Ben Roy Mottelson, American-Danish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2022) Wikipedia
• 1929 Hassan II of Morocco (died 1999) Wikipedia
• 1932 Donald Rumsfeld, American captain and politician, 13th United States Secretary of Defense (died 2021) Wikipedia
• 1933 Oliver Sacks, English-American neurologist, author, and academic (died 2015) Wikipedia
• 1935 Mercedes Sosa, Argentine singer and activist (died 2009) Wikipedia
• 1937 David Hockney, English painter and photographer (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1947 O. J. Simpson, American football player and actor (died 2024) Wikipedia
• 1950 Viktor Yanukovych, Ukrainian engineer and politician, 4th President of Ukraine Wikipedia
• 1955 Lindsey Graham, American lawyer and politician (died 2026) Wikipedia
• 1956 Tom Hanks, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Wikipedia
• 1964 Courtney Love, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress Wikipedia
• 1964 Gianluca Vialli, Italian footballer and coach (died 2023) Wikipedia
• 1985 Ashley Young, English footballer Wikipedia
• 1990 Rafael, Brazilian footballer Wikipedia

Died on July 9

• 518 Anastasius I Dicorus, Byzantine emperor (born 430) Wikipedia
• 1441 Jan van Eyck, Dutch painter (born 1359) Wikipedia
• 1746 Philip V of Spain (born 1683) Wikipedia
• 1797 Edmund Burke, Irish-English philosopher, academic, and politician (born 1729) Wikipedia
• 1850 Zachary Taylor, American general and politician, 12th President of the United States (born 1784) Wikipedia
• 1850 Báb, Persian religious leader, founded Bábism (born 1819) Wikipedia
• 1856 Amedeo Avogadro, Italian chemist and academic (born 1776) Wikipedia
• 1962 Georges Bataille, French philosopher, novelist, and poet (born 1897) Wikipedia
• 1977 Alice Paul, American activist (born 1885) Wikipedia
• 2002 Rod Steiger, American actor (born 1925) Wikipedia
• 2019 Fernando de la Rúa, 43rd President of Argentina (born 1937) Wikipedia
• 2019 Rip Torn, American actor (born 1931) Wikipedia
• 2019 Ross Perot, American businessman and politician (born 1930) Wikipedia
• 2024 Jerzy Stuhr, Polish actor (born 1947) Wikipedia

Holidays and observances

• Arbor Day (Cambodia) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Amandina of Schakkebroek (one of Martyrs of Southern Hunan) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Blessed Marija Petković Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Everilda Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Blessed Giovanna Scopelli Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Gregorio Grassi (one of Martyrs of Shanxi) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Martyr Saints of China Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Martyrs of Gorkum Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Our Lady of Itatí Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Our Lady of Peace, Octave of the Visitation Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury (Anglican commemoration) Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: Veronica Giuliani Wikipedia
• Christian Feast Day: July 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Australia) Wikipedia
• Constitution Day (Palau) Wikipedia
• Constitutionalist Revolution Day (São Paulo) Wikipedia
• Day of the Employees of the Diplomatic Service (Azerbaijan) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the declaration of independence of the United Provinces of South America by the Congress of Tucumán in 1816. (Argentina) Wikipedia
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011. Wikipedia
• Nunavut Day (Nunavut) Wikipedia

Sources

• Wikipedia — “July 9” — events, births, deaths and observances (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) (checked 2026-10-15)
• Wikipedia — “Selected anniversaries/July 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 “July 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 July 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.