What Happened On
Photo Credit: Stevan Kragujević
Photo Credit: Stevan Kragujević
Mad Dog of the Middle East
April 9, 1986
U.S. President Ronald Reagan nicknames Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi "Mad Dog of the Middle East" in response to his terrorist acts.
End of the Beatles
April 9, 1970
The end of the Fab Four is announced by Paul McCartney. The group had grown apart musically, with McCartney still interested in pop music, John Lennon was moving towards experimental, and George Harrison had developed an interest in Indian music and religion.
The dissolution was formalized in December of 1974.
Astrodome in 1965
Astrodome in 1965
First Major U.S. Domed Stadium
April 9, 1965
The Houston Astrodome opens. Mickey Mantle hits the first home run in the Astrodome in an exhibition game between the Astros and Yankees.
Front row, left to right: Walter Schirra, "Deke" Slayton, John Glenn, and Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan Shepard, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and Gordon Cooper
Front row, left to right: Walter Schirra, "Deke" Slayton, John Glenn, and Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan Shepard, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and Gordon Cooper
NASA's First Astronauts
April 9, 1959
NASA picks its first seven astronauts. They became known as the Mercury Seven. The astronauts were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and "Deke" Slayton.
All seven would fly in space.
• Shepard became the first American in space (1961) and the 5th man to walk on the Moon (1971).
• Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth (1962).
• Schirra flew Apollo 7, the first Apollo mission.
• Grissom died with two other later chosen astronauts when Apollo 1 caught fire on the launch pad during a simulation. The other six lived to retire from space service.
• Cooper was the first American to spend an entire day in space and the first to sleep in space.
Dead soldiers on the Bataan Death March
Dead soldiers on the Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March
April 9, 1942
60,000-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war are forced by the Japanese to march 65 miles from Bataan to San Fernando, Philippines. It's estimated that 2,500 Filipinos and 500 Americans died during the march due to starvation and maltreatment by the Japanese. Those too weak to walk were executed. From San Fernando they were transported by overcrowded rail cars to Camp O'Donnell POW camp. Many more died due to the hot and crowded conditions on the rail cars. Another 26,000 Filipinos and 1,500 Americans died at Camp O'Donnell. Of the 22,000 Americans captured by the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula, only about 15,000 returned to the United States.
The commander of the Japanese invasion forces in the Philippines Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu was held responsible for the death march and was executed by firing squad after the war.
First Shopping Cart
April 9, 1940
The patent for the first shopping cart is granted to its inventor Sylvan Goldman, the owner of a Humpty Dumpty Grocery store in Oklahoma City. It was essentially a folding chair with wheels and baskets attached. The carts were initially a flop, as shoppers were reluctant to use them - men found them effeminate and women thought them too much like a baby carriage - so he hired models to shop with them.
Eventually, folding carts became extremely popular and Goldman became a multimillionaire by collecting a royalty on every folding design shopping cart in the United States.
He also invented "nested" shopping carts, where the carts are pushed inside of each other for storage.
Marian Anderson Sings for a Nation
April 9, 1939
Marian Anderson holds a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
When the famous contralto Marian Anderson was invited to sing in Washington by Howard University as part of its concert series, the university needed a venue large enough to accommodate the anticipated crowds. They attempted to book Constitution Hall, however, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) owned the hall and had a "white artists only" policy and refused. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt then sent the DAR a letter of resignation and wrote in her weekly column, "They have taken an action which has been widely criticized in the press… To remain as a member implies approval of that action, and therefore I am resigning." When the DAR still wouldn't relent, a concert was arranged to be held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Over 75,000 people were in attendance with a desegregated crowd that stretched all the way back to the Washington Monument. The DAR later apologized and allowed Anderson to sing at Constitution Hall on several future occasions.
Billy the Kid Found Guilty
April 9, 1881
The notorious outlaw Billy the Kid is found guilty of the murder of Sheriff William J. Brady during the Lincoln County Cattle War. He was later sentenced to hang, but escaped, only to be killed three months later by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
Civil War - Lee Surrenders
April 9, 1865
General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. During the Battle of Appomattox Court House in Virginia, Lee tried to retreat, but realized he was surrounded by heavy troops and had no choice but to surrender.
Laughing Gas
April 9, 1800
Laughing gas (nitrous oxide) is first suggested for use as an anesthetic, by English scientist Humphry Davy.
The word anesthesia is from the Greek for "without sensation".
Davy also discovered potassium, sodium (1807), barium, strontium, calcium (1808), the first electric light (1808), and invented the safety lamp for miners (1815).
Unicorn Hoax
April 9, 1985
The four "unicorns" at the Ringling Bros. circus are revealed to be goats with surgically altered horns. The unicorns were created by surgically altering a kid less than a week old. At that time their horn buds are still part of the skin and not connected to the skull. The horn buds are moved close to each other and stitched together so that as they grow together into a single horn. Oberon Zell, who created the unicorns, patented the procedure.
Dried Milk
April 9, 1872
Samuel R. Percy is issued a patent for dried milk.
Civil Rights Act
April 9, 1866
Passed by the U.S. Congress, over U.S. President Andrew Johnson's veto, granting citizenship to all persons born in the U.S., except Indians not taxed, and declaring equal rights for all citizens.
La Salle
April 9, 1682
Robert de La Salle enters the mouth of the Mississippi at the Gulf of Mexico, naming the region Louisiana and claiming it for France.
Birthdays
Hugh Hefner
Born April 9, 1926 d. 2017
American publisher, playboy. Founder of Playboy magazine (1953).
ENIAC
ENIAC
John Presper Eckert, Jr.
Born April 9, 1919 d. 1995
American computer pioneer. He was co-inventor with John William Mauchly of first all-purpose stored-program computer (1945, ENIAC). He and Mauchly also started the first computer company (1947).
The Mouse That Roared
Leonard Wibberley
Born April 9, 1915 d. 1983
Irish author. Writings: The Mouse That Roared (1955, movie 1959). His novel was about a tiny country that believes the only way to help their economy is to declare war on the U.S. and lose, and then receive financial aid, much like the U.S. did with Germany at the end of WWII. Quote: "There isn't a more profitable undertaking for any country than to declare war on the United States and to be defeated."
Eadweard James Muybridge (Edward James Muggeridge)
Born April 9, 1830 d. 1904
English-born pioneer in motion photography. His photographic studies of animal motion laid the foundation for modern motion pictures. He was hired by Leland Stanford to determine if a horse ever lifts all four hooves from the ground while galloping. Muybridge's work proved they did, though this occurs only when the feet are beneath the body, not when the fore and hindlimbs are extended, as sometimes depicted in older paintings.
The famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin responded to the contradiction of how horses are portrayed in artwork as opposed to how they actually gallop, "It is the artist who is truthful and it is photography which lies, for in reality time does not stop."
Eric Harris
Born April 9, 1981 d. 1999
American mass murderer. He and Dylan Klebold perpetrated the Columbine High School Massacre (1999), killing twelve students and a teacher, wounding twenty-four others, before committing suicide.
Dennis Quaid
Born April 9, 1954
American actor. Film: The Right Stuff (1983), Enemy Mine (1985), and Great Balls of Fire (1989).
Michael Learned
Born April 9, 1939
American Emmy-winning actress. TV: The Waltons (1972-81, Olivia Walton). She has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (tied for the record of most wins with Tyne Daly).
Schreiber (left) with Jack Burns
Schreiber (left) with Jack Burns
Avery Schreiber
Born April 9, 1935 d. 2002
American comedian, of the comedy team, Burns and Schreiber. He was famous for his Doritos ads in the 1970s. TV: The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour (1973, co-host).
Jean-Paul Belmondo
Born April 9, 1933 d. 2021
French superstar actor. Film: Breathless (1960), That Man from Rio (1964), and Pierrot le Fou (1965).
Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett
Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett
Frankie Thomas
Born April 9, 1921 d. 2006
American actor. He played the title role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950-55).
The series is one of only six shows to appear on all four TV networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, DuMont). The others series were The Arthur Murray Party; Down You Go; The Ernie Kovacs Show; Pantomime Quiz; and The Original Amateur Hour.
Ward Bond
Born April 9, 1903 d. 1960
American actor. TV: Wagon Train (Major Adams).
Gregory Goodwin Pincus
Born April 9, 1903 d. 1967
American endocrinologist whose work led to the development of the first effective oral contraceptive (the pill). He was the first to achieve in-vitro fertilization of rabbits (1934), which paved the way for "test-tube babies."
Howard A. Rusk
Born April 9, 1901 d. 1989
American physician, founder of physical therapy. He developed physical therapy while working with wounded WWII soldiers.
James Smith McDonnell
Born April 9, 1899 d. 1980
American aircraft manufacturer. He founded McDonnell Aircraft Co. (1939), which merged with Douglas Aircraft Co. (1967), and sold the U.S. Navy the first carrier-based jet fighter (1946, FH-1 Phantom).
Frank O. King
Born April 9, 1883 d. 1969
American cartoonist. Creator of Gasoline Alley (1919).
Deaths
Aftermath of Elser's bomb
Photo Credit: Bundesarchiv
Aftermath of Elser's bombPhoto Credit: Bundesarchiv
Tried to Assassinate Hitler
Georg Elser
Died April 9, 1945 b. 1903
German worker, would-be Hitler assassin. He attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1939 by placing a bomb near a podium where Hitler was to give a speech. The speech was Hitler's yearly speech given on the anniversary of his abortive 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. Elser had built a bomb with a 144-hour timer. He then spent several weeks secretly hollowing out a cavity in a stone pillar behind the speaker's platform where he knew Hitler planned on giving his speech. After installing the bomb, he set it to explode at 9:20 p.m., which would be halfway through Hitler's planned speech. However, due to a forecast of fog preventing him from flying back in the morning, Hitler moved his speech from 8:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and shortened it from 2 hours to about one hour so that he could catch a train. He finished the speech and left the building eight minutes before the bomb went off. Eight people were killed and over 60 others were injured, but Hitler was unharmed. Elser was captured that night and spent the next five years in Nazi concentration camps, where he was executed less than a month before Germany surrendered.
There's No Place Like Home
John Howard Payne
Died April 9, 1852 b. 1791
American songwriter. Music: Home, Sweet Home (1822), with the lyrics "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."
Ramsey Clark
Died April 9, 2021 b. 1927
American lawyer, U.S. Attorney General (1967-89). In 2005, he joined the legal team defending Saddam Hussein.
Van Doren (right) on Twenty-One with Vivienne Nearing and Jack Barry
Van Doren (right) on Twenty-One with Vivienne Nearing and Jack Barry
Charles Van Doren
Died April 9, 2019 b. 1926
American game show contestant. He became involved in the quiz show scandal of the 1950s and testified before Congress that he was given the answers for the show Twenty-One. The producers of the show provided him answers so that he could beat the reigning champion, Herb Stempel, in order to boost the ratings that were dropping during Stempel's long reign. Van Doren's winning streak earned him $129,000 ($1,150,759 in today's dollars). His success on Twenty-One also earned him a spot on the cover of Time Magazine and a job on The Today Show, eventually becoming a host. After the scandal broke, he was fired by NBC.
The 1994 movie Quiz Show was based on the Twenty-One scandal.
Maurice Binder
Died April 9, 1991 b. 1925
American film title designer. He created the titles for 14 of the James Bond movies including the first, Dr. No (1962).
Frank Lloyd Wright and Fallingwater
Frank Lloyd Wright and Fallingwater
Frank Lloyd Wright
Died April 9, 1959 b. 1867
American architect, emphasized design that harmonized with the construction materials and landscape. He also coined the word "carport."
Patrick Manson
Died April 9, 1922 b. 1844
British parasitologist, Father of Tropical Medicine. His insect research led to the discovery of how malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes.
Francis Bacon
Died April 9, 1626 b. 1561
English philosopher and statesman, one of principal founders of systematic thought. Some believe he was the true author of Shakespeare's writings, but most modern scholars reject this theory. While stuffing a chicken with snow to test the feasibility of using snow to preserve meat, he contracted a fatal case of pneumonia.
Edward IV
Died April 9, 1483 b. 1442
King of England (1461-83).
Benedict VIII
Died April 9, 1024 b. ????
religious leader, 143rd Pope (1012-24).
Constantine
Died April 9, 715 b. ????
religious leader, 88th Pope (708-715).