May 9 β Some important events on this day
1386 ππΌ Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England (oldest diplomatic alliance in the world still in force)
1502 ππΌ Christopher Columbus leaves Spain on his 4th and final trip to the New World
1671 ππΌ In London, Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer better known as βCaptain Blood,β is captured attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. βοΈ READ THE ARTICLE!
1768 ππΌ Statesman John Hancock pays duties on 25 pipes of wine, only one fourth of his shipβs carrying capacity. British officials accuse him of unloading the rest during the night to avoid paying duties on the entire cargo.
1865 ππΌ President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation declaring armed resistance in the South is virtually at an end; this is the commonly accepted end date of the American Civil War.
1877 ππΌ Mihail KogΔlniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day becomes the Independence Day of Romania π·π΄
1901 ππΌ The First Australian Parliament opens in Melbourne, though the first working session will not be until 21 May.
The first Australian parliament with Edmund Barton as Prime Minister, was opened in Melbourne by Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York, later King George V. It followed elections at the end of March after the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Barton headed a coalition government composed of his own Protectionist Party but with crucial support from the Australian Labour Party (in photo).
The official opening was attended by 14,000 people and had to be held in the Royal Exhibition Hall to accommodate them. The parliament then sat in Parliament House, home of the Parliament of Victoria until 1927 when new parliament buildings were opened in Canberra.
1914 ππΌ US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Motherβs Day
1926 ππΌ 1st flight over the North Pole claimed by Richard E. Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett. Later discovery of Byrdβs diary suggests they may have turned back 150 miles short of the pole due to an oil leak.
1936 ππΌ 1st KLM airplane to land on Bonaire βοΈ
1941 ππΌ British intelligence at Bletchley Park breaks German spy codes after capturing Enigma machines aboard the weather ship Muenchen
1945 ππΌ World War II: The Soviet Union marks Victory Day
1945 ππΌ Czechoslovakia liberated from Nazi occupation (National Day)
1960 ππΌ US becomes the first country to legalize the birth control pill
1981 ππΌ The Motherland Monument at 62 m high is opened in Kiev, Ukraine in ceremony attended by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
The Monument is part of a museum commemorating Soviet victories in the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet name for WWIIβs eastern front. The statue holds a sword in one hand and a shield with the emblem of the USSR in the other.
It was designed by the Ukrainian sculptor Vasiliy Boroday, who originally wanted it to be covered in gold leaf before stainless steel was chosen instead. There are two impressive viewing platforms over the city of Kiev from inside the statue.
2012 ππΌ Mark Rothkoβs βOrange, Red, Yellowβ becomes the most expensive contemporary art piece to be sold at auction for $86.9 million dollars
2018 ππΌ Historic win in Malaysian general election by opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan led by 92 year old former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, defeating Prime Minister Najib Razak and ending 61 years of rule by the Barisan Nasional coalition.