U.S. Under Nuclear Attack

November 9, 1979

NORAD notified the national security adviser that the Soviet Union had launched 250 ballistic missiles towards the U.S., stating that a decision to retaliate would need to be made by the U.S. President within 3 to 7 minutes. NORAD computers then placed the number of incoming missiles at 2,200. Strategic Air Command was notified and nuclear bombers prepared for takeoff.
However a few minutes later, Satellite and radar systems determined that the attack was a false alarm. A training scenario had accidentally been loaded into an operational computer.

Paul McCartney Dies in a Car Accident?

November 9, 1966

In 1969, using "clues" found in Beatles songs and album covers, a Detroit disc jockey and his radio audience determined that Paul McCartney died on November 9th, 1966 in a car accident. The rumor claimed that McCartney, after an argument with his bandmates, sped off in his car, crashed, and was decapitated. The remaining Beatles then substituted him with an orphan they had trained to impersonate him. Feeling guilty about their actions, they left clues in their songs and album covers.
One of the clues were the words "I buried Paul" spoken by John Lennon at the end of the song Strawberry Fields Forever, which the Beatles recorded in November and December of 1966. Lennon claimed the words were actually "Cranberry sauce".
Other clues came from the Abbey Road album cover, claiming it depicted a funeral procession:
• Lennon, dressed in white, symbolizing the heavenly figure.
• Ringo Starr, dressed in black, symbolized the undertaker.
• George Harrison, in denim, represents the gravedigger.
• McCartney, barefoot and out of step with the others, symbolized the corpse.
• The Volkswagen's license plate was "28IF" which would have been McCartney's age "IF" he had still been alive.
• The left-handed McCartney holds a cigarette in his right hand indicating it was an impostor in the photo.
The rumors were wrong of course.
The book Turn Me On, Dead Man: The Beatles and the "Paul Is Dead" Hoax, documents the hoax.

Centrifugal Birthing Device

November 9, 1965

The U.S. Patent offices issues a patent for a device for "Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force."

The Beatles

November 9, 1961

Brian Epstein goes to hear a new group at Liverpool's famous "The Cavern Club." A month later he became their manager and helped them rocket to stardom. Epstein's initial attempts to get a recording contract for the Beatles were rejected by virtually every label in London, until he secured a contract with EMI, who had also previously turned them down.

World War II - Crystal Night

November 9, 1938

Nazi SA (Brownshirts) and civilians raid and shatter the glass of Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues throughout Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. It was called "Kristallnacht" ("Crystal Night") because of the shards of broken glass that littered the streets afterwards. It is estimated that over 100 Jews were killed, 267 synagogues, and over 7,000 Jewish businesses were either destroyed or damaged.
The riots were in retaliation for the assassination of the Nazi German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a seventeen-year-old German-born Polish Jew living in Paris.

Jack the Ripper

November 9, 1888

The last known murder by the Jack the Ripper is committed. For three months he had murdered and mutilated prostitutes in London's East End. He was never caught.

Central Park Zoo Hoax

November 9, 1874

The New York Herald publishes a front page story claiming that there had been a mass escape of animals from the Central Park Zoo, and that 49 people had been slaughtered by the free-roaming beasts and hundreds more had been injured. The story claimed a rhinoceros had trampled and gored its keeper to death, broke out of its cage and broke down the cages of the other animals allowing them to escape. The escaped animals included a polar bear, a panther, a lion, a jaguar, leopards, wolves, hyenas, a cheetah, a Cape buffalo, a dozen or more monkeys. It even claimed a Bengal tiger had escaped and was shot in the street by the Governor.
Near the end of the article was the notice "Of course the entire story given above is a pure fabrication. Not one word of it is true." But, many readers missed the notice and there was widespread panic around the zoo.
Read full text of article.

Last Shogun of Japan

November 9, 1867

Tokugawa Yoshinobu - 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, which had ruled since 1614 - is forced to abdicate. The Meiji Restoration gave total power to the emperor.

Lou Ferrigno

Born November 9, 1951

American body builder, actor. TV: The Incredible Hulk (1977-82, the angry one). Titles: Pro Mr. America - WBBG, Teen 1st (1971), IFBB Mr. America, Overall Winner (1973), IFBB Mr. Universe, Tall 1st, Overall Winner (1973), IFBB Mr. International (1974), IFBB Mr. Universe, Tall 1st, Overall Winner (1974), and Mr. Olympia, Heavyweight 2nd (1974).

Carl Sagan

Born November 9, 1934 d. 1996

American astronomer. He won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for The Dragons of Eden and published more than 600 scientific papers and articles.
Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer Plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, which were intended to be messages that could be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that found them.
The film Contact (1997) was based on the only novel Sagan wrote.
TV: Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.

Hedy Lamarr (Hedwig Kiesler)

Born November 9, 1914 d. 2000

Austrian actress. Film: Samson and Delilah (1949, Delilah). Considered film's most beautiful actress. In the 1938 film Algiers, she was the recipient of the famous line, "Come with me to the Casbah." And while the line was used in the trailers for the film, it was cut from the actual film itself.
At the beginning of World War II, Lamarr and composer George Antheil developed a secret communication system using spread spectrum and frequency hopping. The principles of their work are now incorporated into modern Wi-Fi, CDMA and Bluetooth technology. For this, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2014).

Tallest Married Couple

Martin Van Buren Bates

Born November 9, 1837 d. 1919

American giant, 7 feet 7.5 inches (2.324 m) tall. He and his wife, Anna Swan at 7 feet 11 inches (2.42 m), were the tallest married couple. They were billed as "The Giants of Seville."

Only U.S. General Killed in the Indian Wars

Edward Richard Sprigg Canby

Born November 9, 1817 d. 1873

American general. General Edward Canby was the only U.S. general killed during the Indian wars. He was killed by Indian leader Captain Jack while negotiating peace talks with the Modoc tribe. The Modoc tribe, who had traditionally lived in Northern California, were forced to move to a reservation in Oregon which they were forced to share with their traditional enemies, the Klamath tribe. When requests to the U.S. government to return to California were refused, war broke out. The Modoc had fought to a stalemate and General Canby was sent to negotiate peace terms. When relocation to California was once again refused, Modoc chief Captain Jack killed Canby. Peace commissioner Reverend Eleazar Thomas was also killed in the confrontation.
Note: Although General George Armstrong Custer was given the temporary rank of major general of the Volunteers during the American Civil War, he was only a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army at the time of his infamous last stand in 1876.