TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: July 9
0455 Avitus, the Roman military commander in Gaul, becomes Emperor of the West.
1540 England’s King Henry VIII 6-mo marriage to Anne of Cleves annulled
1595 Johannes Kepler inscribes geometric solid construction of universe
1609 Emperor Rudolf II grants Bohemia freedom of worship.
1755 General Edward Braddock was mortally wounded when French and Indian troops ambushed his force of British regulars and colonial militia. He died on July 13.
1789 In Versailles, the French National Assembly declares itself the Constituent Assembly and begins to prepare a French constitution.
1816 Argentina formally declared independence from Spain.
1850 U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies in office at the age of 65. He is succeeded by Millard Fillmore.
1861 Confederate cavalry led by John Morgan captures Tompkinsville, Kentucky.
1868 The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The amendment was designed to grant citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. It did this by prohibiting states from denying or abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
1872 The doughnut cutter was patented by John F. Blondel of Thomaston, Me.
1900 The British Parliament proclaimed that as of Jan. 1, 1901, the six Australian colonies would be united at the Commonwealth of Australia.
1942 Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the attic above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
1951 U.S. President Truman asked Congress to formally end the state of war between the United States and Germany.
1957 Discovery of element 102 (Nobelium) announced
1962 Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans make their debut
1971 The United States turns over complete responsibility of the Demilitarized Zone to South Vietnamese units.
1971 Henry Kissinger visits the People’s Republic of China to negotiate a detente between the US and China
1978 American Nazi Party, holds a rally at Marquette Park, Chicago
1978 Nearly 100,000 demonstrators march on Wash DC for ERA
1980 7 die in a stampede to see Pope John Paul II in Brazil
1981 Donkey Kong is released by Nintendo
1986 Attorney General’s Commission on pornography links hard-core porn to sex crimes
1986 The New Zealand parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Bill legalising consensual sex between men aged 16 and older
1987 Colonel Oliver North admits to shredding Iran-Contra evidence
1989 Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others
1999 Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran
2000 Police fired tear gas at fans during a World Cup qualifying soccer game between Zimbabwe and South Africa, setting off a stampede that killed twelve people in Harare, Zimbabwe
2011 South Sudan becomes the youngest country in the world. The North East African country, formally known as Republic of South Sudan peacefully seceded from Sudan after an independence referendum was passed.
2015 The South Carolina House of Representatives approved taking down the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds. The flag was removed the next day and taken to a state military museum.
REFERENCE: HISTORY.NET, ONTHISDAY.COM, TIMEANDDATE.COM, INFOPLEASE.COM, FACTMONSTER.COM, SCOPESYS.COM, ON-THIS-DAY.COM, THEPEOPLEHISTORY.COM
