May 9
1502 - Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.
1712 - The Carolina Colony was officially divided into two entities: North Carolina and South Carolina.
1914 - Mother's Day becomes a public holiday.
1926 - Explorers Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett few over the North Pole.
1936 - Fascist Italy annexed Ethiopia.
1945 - With World War II in Europe at an end, Soviet forces liberated Czechoslovakia from Nazi occupation. U.S. officials announced that a midnight entertainment curfew was being lifted immediately.
1951 - The U.S. conducted its first thermonuclear experiment as part of Operation Greenhouse by detonating a 225-kiloton device on Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific nicknamed “George.”
1961 - Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow condemned TV programming as a "vast wasteland" in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters.
1962 - Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology succeeded in reflecting a laser beam off the surface of the moon.
1962 - The Beatles signed their first recording contract and hired George Martin to be their producer.
1970 - President Richard Nixon made a surprise and impromptu pre-dawn visit to the Lincoln Memorial, where he chatted with a group of protesters who’d been resting on the Memorial steps after protests against the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings.
1974 - The House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. (The committee ended up adopting three articles of impeachment against the president, who resigned before the full House took up any of them.)
1974 - A concert in Cambridge, Mass., prompted rock critic Jon Landau to write, "I saw rock and roll future and it's name is Bruce Springsteen."
1978 - The body of slain former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro was found in an automobile in Rome.
1980 - Thirty-five people were killed when a freighter rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, causing a 1,400-foot section of the southbound span to collapse.
1994 - The South African parliament chose Nelson Mandela as president.
1994 - Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, was placed under quarantine after an outbreak of Ebola virus.
2004 - Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader, Akhmad Kadyrov, was killed in a bombing. Six others were killed and another 60 wounded.
2011 - Dallas Wiens, the nation’s first full face transplant recipient, joined surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in his first public appearance since the 15-hour procedure in March 2011.
2012 - President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage three days after Vice President Joe Biden spoke in favor of such unions on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
2019 - Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.
2020 - The Food and Drug Administration approved a coronavirus antigen test that could quickly detect virus proteins from swabs that were swiped inside the naval cavity.
2020 - Rock 'n roll pioneer Little Richard died at age 87.
Birthdays
25 - Mary Mouser (actress)
35 - Grace Gummer (actress)
36 - Audrina Patridge (reality star)
39 - Rachel Boston (actress)
42 - Rosario Dawson (actress)
43 - Daniel Franzese (actor)
57 - Sonja Sohn (actress)
59 - Dave Gahan (singer)
60 - John Corbett (actor)
65 - Wendy Crewson (actress)
68 - Amy Hill (actress)
70 - Alley Mills (actress)
72 - Billy Joel (singer)
74 - Anthony Higgins (actor)
75 - Candice Bergen (actress)
79 - Tommy Roe (singer)
87 - Alan Bennett (actor)
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Today in Sports History - May 9
1945 - In the U.S., the wartime government ban on horse racing was lifted.
1961 - Jim Gentile (Baltimore Orioles) set a major league baseball record when he hit a grand slam home run in two consecutive innings. The game was against the Minnesota Twins.
1973 - Johnny Bench hit three homeruns in a game. It was the second time he had achieved the feat.
1984 - It took the Chicago White Sox 25 innings, eight hours, and six minutes, over two days, to finally defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6. It was the longest game (in elapsed time) in major-league history.
1987 - Eddie Murray (Baltimore Orioles) became the first player to switch hit homeruns in two consecutive games.
1993 - The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-104 in overtime to become the first NBA team to lose two playoff games at home and then come back to win three straight.
1995 - The Cleveland Indians tied a record when they recorded 8 runs before making an out. They beat the Minnesota Twins 10-0.
1997 - The San Diego Padres retired Randy Jones' #35.
1999 - Marshall McDougall of Florida State set NCAA records when he hit six consecutive home runs and recorded 16 RBIs in a 25-2 win over Maryland.
2001 - In Accra, Ghana, at least 120 people died in a stampede at a soccer match.
2010 - Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in major league history, leading the Oakland Athletics in a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
1502 - Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.
1712 - The Carolina Colony was officially divided into two entities: North Carolina and South Carolina.
1914 - Mother's Day becomes a public holiday.
1926 - Explorers Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett few over the North Pole.
1936 - Fascist Italy annexed Ethiopia.
1945 - With World War II in Europe at an end, Soviet forces liberated Czechoslovakia from Nazi occupation. U.S. officials announced that a midnight entertainment curfew was being lifted immediately.
1951 - The U.S. conducted its first thermonuclear experiment as part of Operation Greenhouse by detonating a 225-kiloton device on Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific nicknamed “George.”
1961 - Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow condemned TV programming as a "vast wasteland" in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters.
1962 - Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology succeeded in reflecting a laser beam off the surface of the moon.
1962 - The Beatles signed their first recording contract and hired George Martin to be their producer.
1970 - President Richard Nixon made a surprise and impromptu pre-dawn visit to the Lincoln Memorial, where he chatted with a group of protesters who’d been resting on the Memorial steps after protests against the Vietnam War and the Kent State shootings.
1974 - The House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. (The committee ended up adopting three articles of impeachment against the president, who resigned before the full House took up any of them.)
1974 - A concert in Cambridge, Mass., prompted rock critic Jon Landau to write, "I saw rock and roll future and it's name is Bruce Springsteen."
1978 - The body of slain former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro was found in an automobile in Rome.
1980 - Thirty-five people were killed when a freighter rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, causing a 1,400-foot section of the southbound span to collapse.
1994 - The South African parliament chose Nelson Mandela as president.
1994 - Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, was placed under quarantine after an outbreak of Ebola virus.
2004 - Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader, Akhmad Kadyrov, was killed in a bombing. Six others were killed and another 60 wounded.
2011 - Dallas Wiens, the nation’s first full face transplant recipient, joined surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in his first public appearance since the 15-hour procedure in March 2011.
2012 - President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage three days after Vice President Joe Biden spoke in favor of such unions on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
2019 - Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.
2020 - The Food and Drug Administration approved a coronavirus antigen test that could quickly detect virus proteins from swabs that were swiped inside the naval cavity.
2020 - Rock 'n roll pioneer Little Richard died at age 87.
Birthdays
25 - Mary Mouser (actress)
35 - Grace Gummer (actress)
36 - Audrina Patridge (reality star)
39 - Rachel Boston (actress)
42 - Rosario Dawson (actress)
43 - Daniel Franzese (actor)
57 - Sonja Sohn (actress)
59 - Dave Gahan (singer)
60 - John Corbett (actor)
65 - Wendy Crewson (actress)
68 - Amy Hill (actress)
70 - Alley Mills (actress)
72 - Billy Joel (singer)
74 - Anthony Higgins (actor)
75 - Candice Bergen (actress)
79 - Tommy Roe (singer)
87 - Alan Bennett (actor)
=======================================
Today in Sports History - May 9
1945 - In the U.S., the wartime government ban on horse racing was lifted.
1961 - Jim Gentile (Baltimore Orioles) set a major league baseball record when he hit a grand slam home run in two consecutive innings. The game was against the Minnesota Twins.
1973 - Johnny Bench hit three homeruns in a game. It was the second time he had achieved the feat.
1984 - It took the Chicago White Sox 25 innings, eight hours, and six minutes, over two days, to finally defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6. It was the longest game (in elapsed time) in major-league history.
1987 - Eddie Murray (Baltimore Orioles) became the first player to switch hit homeruns in two consecutive games.
1993 - The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-104 in overtime to become the first NBA team to lose two playoff games at home and then come back to win three straight.
1995 - The Cleveland Indians tied a record when they recorded 8 runs before making an out. They beat the Minnesota Twins 10-0.
1997 - The San Diego Padres retired Randy Jones' #35.
1999 - Marshall McDougall of Florida State set NCAA records when he hit six consecutive home runs and recorded 16 RBIs in a 25-2 win over Maryland.
2001 - In Accra, Ghana, at least 120 people died in a stampede at a soccer match.
2010 - Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in major league history, leading the Oakland Athletics in a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
