May 9
Events
Pre-1600
1601–1900
1901–present
- 1901 - Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne.
- 1915 - World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
- 1918 - World War I: Germany repels Britain's Second [Ostend Raid|second attempt] to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
- 1920 - Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.
- 1926 - Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole
- 1927 - The Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, officially opens.
- 1936 - Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
- 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.
- 1942 - The Holocaust in Ukraine: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.
- 1945 - World War II: the Channel Islands are liberated from Nazi occupation.
- 1946 - King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II.
- 1948 - Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
- 1950 - Robert Schuman presents the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
- 1955 - Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
- 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.
- 1969 - Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
- 1974 - Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment in the United States|impeachment] hearings against President Richard Nixon.
- 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.
- 1980 - In Florida, United States, Liberian freighter collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall into the water and die.
- 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.
- 1987 - LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
- 1988 - New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
- 1992 - Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
- 1992 - Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.
- 2001 - In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
- 2002 - The Siege of the [Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem|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.
- 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.
- 2020 - The COVID-19 recession causes the U.S. unemployment rate to hit 14.9 percent, its worst rate since the Great Depression.
- 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.
- 2023 - The May 9 riots following the arrest of Imran Khan in Pakistan.
Births
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1617 - Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege
- 1740 - Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator
- 1746 - Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer
- 1763 - János Batsányi, Hungarian-Austrian poet and author
- 1800 - John Brown, American abolitionist
- 1801 - Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded the town of Fleetwood
- 1814 - John Brougham, Irish-American actor and playwright
- 1823 - Frederick Weld, English-New Zealand politician, 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1824 - Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author
- 1825 - James Collinson, Victorian painter
- 1836 - Ferdinand Monoyer, French ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart
- 1837 - Adam Opel, German engineer, founded the Opel Company
- 1845 - Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman
- 1850 - Edward Weston, English-American chemist
- 1855 - Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer
- 1860 - J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright
- 1866 - Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian economist and politician
- 1870 - Harry Vardon, British golfer
- 1873 - Anton Cermak, Czech-American captain and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago
- 1874 - Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian
- 1882 - George Barker, American painter
- 1882 - Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards
- 1883 - José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, author, and critic
- 1884 - Valdemar Psilander, Danish actor
- 1885 - Gianni Vella, Maltese artist
- 1888 - Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot
- 1888 - Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector
- 1892 - Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
- 1893 - William Moulton Marston, American psychologist and author
- 1894 - Benjamin Graham, British-American economist, professor, and investor
- 1895 - Richard Barthelmess, American actor
- 1895 - Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher
- 1895 - Frank Foss, American pole vaulter
- 1896 - Richard Day, Canadian-American art director and set decorator
- 1900 - Maria Malicka, Polish stage and film actress
1901–present
- 1907 - Jackie Grant, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1907 - Baldur von Schirach, German politician
- 1908 - Billy Jurges, American baseball player and manager
- 1909 - Gordon Bunshaft, American architect, designed the Solow Building
- 1912 - Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor
- 1914 - Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director
- 1914 - J. Merrill Knapp, American musicologist
- 1914 - Hank Snow, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1918 - Mike Wallace, American journalist
- 1921 - Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist
- 1921 - Sophie Scholl, German activist
- 1924 - Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer, poet, and author
- 1927 - Manfred Eigen, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1928 - Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player
- 1928 - Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater
- 1930 - Joan Sims, English actress
- 1931 - Vance D. Brand, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut
- 1932 - Geraldine McEwan, English actress
- 1934 - Alan Bennett, English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist
- 1935 - Nokie Edwards, American guitarist
- 1936 - Albert Finney, English actor
- 1936 - Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician
- 1937 - Dave Prater, American singer
- 1938 - Carroll Cole, American serial killer
- 1938 - Charles Simić, Serbian-American poet and editor
- 1939 - Ion Țiriac, Romanian tennis player and manager
- 1940 - James L. Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1941 - Dorothy Hyman, English sprinter
- 1942 - John Ashcroft, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General
- 1942 - David Gergen, American political consultant
- 1943 - Vince Cable, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
- 1943 - Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic
- 1945 - Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager
- 1946 - Candice Bergen, American actress and producer
- 1947 - Yukiya Amano, Japanese diplomat
- 1948 - Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and radio host
- 1949 - Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1951 - Alley Mills, American actress
- 1951 - Joy Harjo, American poet, musician, playwright and author, 23rd United States Poet Laureate
- 1955 - Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
- 1955 - Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish soprano and actress
- 1956 - Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress and producer
- 1960 - Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach
- 1961 - John Corbett, American actor
- 1962 - Dave Gahan, English singer-songwriter
- 1962 - Paul Heaton, English singer-songwriter
- 1965 - Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1968 - Graham Harman, American philosopher and academic
- 1968 - Ruth Kelly, British economist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
- 1968 - Marie-José Pérec, French sprinter
- 1970 - Doug Christie, American basketball player and coach
- 1970 - Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer
- 1970 - Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor
- 1973 - Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner
- 1975 - Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1975 - Brian Deegan, American motocross rider
- 1977 - Averno, Mexican wrestler
- 1977 - Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer
- 1977 - Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist
- 1979 - Rosario Dawson, American actress
- 1979 - Brandon Webb, American baseball player
- 1980 - Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
- 1983 - Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
- 1984 - Prince Fielder, American baseball player
- 1985 - Jake Long, American football player
- 1987 - Kevin Gameiro, French footballer
- 1988 - J. R. Fitzpatrick, Canadian racing driver
- 1989 - Ellen White, English footballer
- 1989 - Daniel Rosenfeld, German musician
- 1991 - Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovar judoka
- 1992 - Dan Burn, English footballer
- 1995 - Tommy Edman, American baseball player
- 1995 - Beth Mead, English footballer
- 1995 - Shaboozey, American rapper and singer-songwriter
- 1996 - Noah Centineo, American actor
- 2000 - Trey Lance, American football player
Deaths
Pre-1600
1601–1900
- 1657 - William Bradford, English-American politician, 2nd Governor of Plymouth Colony
- 1707 - Dieterich Buxtehude, German-Danish organist and composer
- 1736 - Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Portuguese judge and politician
- 1745 - Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer
- 1747 - John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish field marshal and diplomat, British Ambassador to France
- 1760 - Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint
- 1789 - Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French general and engineer
- 1790 - William Clingan, American politician
- 1791 - Francis Hopkinson, American judge and politician
- 1805 - Friedrich Schiller, German poet, playwright, and historian
- 1850 - Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist
- 1850 - Garlieb Merkel, Estonian author and activist
- 1861 - Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician
- 1864 - John Sedgwick, American general and educator
- 1889 - William S. Harney, American general
1901–present
- 1906 - Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic
- 1911 - Thomas Wentworth Higginson, American abolitionist
- 1914 - C. W. Post, American businessman, founded Post Foods
- 1915 - François Faber, Luxembourgian-French cyclist and soldier
- 1915 - Anthony Wilding, New Zealand tennis player and cricketer
- 1918 - George Coșbuc, Romanian journalist and poet
- 1931 - Albert Abraham Michelson, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 - John Arthur Jarvis, English swimmer
- 1935 - Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist
- 1938 - Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman
- 1942 - Józef Cebula, Polish priest and saint
- 1944 - Han Yong-un, Korean poet and social reformer
- 1949 - Louis II, Prince of Monaco
- 1950 - Esteban Terradas i Illa, Spanish mathematician and engineer
- 1957 - Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan banker and businessman
- 1957 - Ezio Pinza, Italian actor and singer
- 1959 - Bhaurao Patil, Indian activist and educator
- 1965 - Leopold Figl, Austrian engineer and politician, 18th Chancellor of Austria
- 1968 - Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright
- 1968 - Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie
- 1968 - Marion Lorne, American actress
- 1968 - Finlay Currie, British actor
- 1970 - Walter Reuther, American union leader
- 1976 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright
- 1976 - Ulrike Meinhof, German militant, co-founded the Red Army Faction
- 1977 - James Jones, American novelist
- 1978 - Giuseppe Impastato, Italian journalist and activist
- 1978 - Aldo Moro, Italian lawyer and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Italy
- 1979 - Cyrus S. Eaton, Canadian-American banker, businessman, and philanthropist
- 1979 - Eddie Jefferson, American singer and lyricist
- 1980 - Kate Molale, South African activist
- 1981 - Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer
- 1981 - Rolf Just Nilsen, Norwegian singer and actor
- 1983 - Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer
- 1985 - Edmond O'Brien, American actor and director
- 1986 - Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese mountaineer
- 1987 - Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician
- 1989 - Keith Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1993 - Penelope Gilliatt, English novelist, short story writer, and critic
- 1994 - Elias Motsoaledi, South African activist
- 1997 - Rawya Ateya, Egyptian captain and politician
- 1997 - Marco Ferreri, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1998 - Alice Faye, American actress and singer
- 1998 - Talat Mahmood, Indian singer and actor
- 2003 - Russell B. Long, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician
- 2004 - Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen cleric and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic
- 2004 - Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 2004 - Brenda Fassie, South African singer
- 2007 - Dwight Wilson, Canadian soldier
- 2008 - Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster
- 2008 - Baptiste Manzini, American football player
- 2008 - Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist and producer
- 2008 - Pascal Sevran, French singer, television host, and author
- 2009 - Chuck Daly, American basketball player and coach
- 2010 - Lena Horne, American singer, actress, and activist
- 2010 - Otakar Motejl, Czech lawyer and politician
- 2011 - Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist
- 2012 - Bertram Cohler, American psychologist, psychoanalyst, and academic
- 2012 - Geoffrey Henry, Cook Islander lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
- 2012 - Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman
- 2013 - Ramón Blanco Rodríguez, Spanish footballer and manager
- 2013 - George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania
- 2013 - Humberto Lugo Gil, Mexican lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Hidalgo
- 2013 - Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni
- 2014 - Giacomo Bini, Italian priest and missionary
- 2014 - Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician
- 2014 - Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Indian politician, 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
- 2014 - Mary Stewart, British author and poet
- 2015 - Edward W. Estlow, American football player and journalist
- 2015 - Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey
- 2015 - Elizabeth Wilson, American actress
- 2017 - Robert Miles, a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ
- 2018 - Per Kirkeby, Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor
- 2019 - Freddie Starr, English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor
- 2020 - Little Richard, American singer, songwriter, and pianist
- 2022 - John Leo, American a writer and journalist
- 2022 - Rieko Kodama, Japanese game developer
- 2024 - Sean Burroughs, American baseball player
- 2024 - Roger Corman, American film director, producer, and actor
- 2024 - Rex Murphy, Canadian political commentator
Holidays and observances