November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 52 days remaining until the end of the year.
Holidays Around the World
- Birthday of Muhammad Iqbal (Pakistan)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Dedication of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Cathedral of the Pope (memorial feast day)
- Theodore of Amasea (Roman Catholic Church)
- Vitonus
- Benignus of Armagh
- Margery Kempe (Church of England)
- Martin Chemnitz (Lutheran)
- November 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Skulls or Dia de los ñatitas (Bolivia)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cambodia from France in 1953.
- Inventors’ Day (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
- Schicksalstag (Germany)
- World Freedom Day (United States)
- Anniversary – Kristallnacht
History
In 694, At the Seventeenth Council of Toledo, Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims, sentencing all Jews to slavery.
In 959, Constantine VII, Byzantine emperor (b. 905) died. He was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959. He was the son of the emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, and the nephew of his predecessor, the emperor Alexander.
Most of his reign was dominated by co-regents: from 913 until 919 he was under the regency of his mother, while from 920 until 945 he shared the throne with Romanos Lekapenos, whose daughter Helena he married, and his sons. Constantine VII is best known for his four books, De Administrando Imperio (bearing in Greek the heading Πρὸς τὸν ἴδιον υἱόν Ῥωμανόν), De Ceremoniis (Περὶ τῆς Βασιλείου Τάξεως), De Thematibus (Περὶ θεμάτων Άνατολῆς καὶ Δύσεως), and Vita Basilii (Βίος Βασιλείου).
His nickname alludes to the Purple Room of the Imperial palace, decorated with porphyry, where legitimate children of reigning emperors were normally born. Constantine was also born in this room, although his mother Zoe had not been married to Leo at that time. Nevertheless, the epithet allowed him to underline his position as the legitimized son, as opposed to all others who claimed the throne during his lifetime. Sons born to a reigning Emperor held precedence in the Eastern Roman line of succession over elder sons not born “in the purple”.
In his book, A Short History of Byzantium, John Julius Norwich refers to Constantine VII as “The Scholar Emperor”. Norwich describes Constantine:
He was, we are told, a passionate collector—not only of books and manuscripts but works of art of every kind; more remarkable still for a man of his class, he seems to have been an excellent painter. He was the most generous of patrons—to writers and scholars, artists and craftsmen. Finally, he was an excellent Emperor: a competent, conscientious and hard-working administrator and an inspired picker of men, whose appointments to military, naval, ecclesiastical, civil and academic posts were both imaginative and successful. He did much to develop higher education and took a special interest in the administration of justice
In 1277, Treaty of Aberconwy brings to an end the first of the Welsh Wars.
In 1282, Pope Martin IV excommunicates King Peter III of Aragon.
In 1313, Louis the Bavarian defeats his cousin Frederick I of Austria at the Battle of Gamelsdorf.
In 1330, At the Battle of Posada, the Wallachian Voivode Basarab I defeats the Hungarian army of Charles I Robert.
In 1456, Ulrich II of Celje (Slovene: Ulrik Celjski, German Ulrich von Cilli, Hungarian: Cillei Ulrik), last prince of Celje principality, is assassinated in Belgrade.
In 1494, The Family de’ Medici are expelled from Florence.
In 1520, More than 50 people are sentenced and executed in the Stockholm Bloodbath
In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
In 1688, Glorious Revolution: William of Orange captures Exeter.
In 1697, Pope Innocent XII founds the city of Cervia.
In 1720, The synagogue of Yehudah he-Hasid is burned down by Arab creditors, leading to the expulsion of the Ashkenazim from Jerusalem.
In 1729, Spain, France and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Seville.
In 1764, Mary Campbell, a captive of the Lenape during the French and Indian War, is turned over to forces commanded by Colonel Henry Bouquet.
In 1780, American Revolutionary War: In the Battle of Fishdam Ford a force of British and Loyalist troops fail in a surprise attack against the South Carolina Patriot militia under Brigadier General Thomas Sumter.
In 1791, Foundation of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen.
In 1793, William Carey reaches the Hooghly River. He was an English Christian missionary, Particular Baptist minister, translator, social reformer and cultural anthropologist who founded the Serampore College and the Serampore University, the first degree-awarding university in India.
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte leads the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire ending the Directory government, and becoming one of its three Consuls (Consulate Government).
In 1822, The Action of 9 November 1822 between USS Alligator and a squadron of pirate schooners off the coast of Cuba. This was a naval battle fought between the United States Navy schooner USS Alligator and a squadron of three pirate schooners off the coast of Cuba during the Navy’s West Indies anti-piracy operation. Fifteen leagues from Matanzas, Cuba, a large band of pirates captured several vessels and held them for ransom. Upon hearing of the pirate attacks, Alligator under Lieutenant William Howard Allen rushed to the scene to rescue the vessels and seize the pirates.
In 1848, Robert Blum, a German revolutionary, is executed in Vienna.
In 1851, Kentucky marshals abduct abolitionist minister Calvin Fairbank from Jeffersonville, Indiana, and take him to Kentucky to stand trial for helping a slave escape.
In 1857, The Atlantic is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1861, The first documented football match in Canada is played at University College, University of Toronto.
In 1862, American Civil War: Union General Ambrose Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, after George B. McClellan is removed.
In 1867, Tokugawa Shogunate hands power back to the Emperor of Japan, starting the Meiji Restoration.
In 1872, The Great Boston Fire of 1872.
In 1880, A large earthquake strikes Zagreb and causes many casualties. One of them is the Zagreb Cathedral.
In 1883, The Royal Winnipeg Rifles of the Canadian Forces (known then as the “90th Winnipeg Battalion of Rifles”) is founded.
In 1887, The United States receives rights to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
In 1888, Mary Jane Kelly is murdered in London, widely believed to be the fifth and final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper. She is widely believed to have been the final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who murdered at least five women in the Whitechapel and Spitalfields districts of London from late August to early November 1888. At the time of Kelly’s death, she was approximately 25 years old, working as a prostitute and living in relative poverty.
Unlike the other four canonical Ripper victims—each of whom had been murdered outdoors and whose mutilations could have been committed within minutes—Kelly was murdered within the sparsely furnished single room she rented at 13 Miller’s Court, affording her murderer an extensive period of time to eviscerate and mutilate her body. Kelly’s body was by far the most extensively mutilated of the canonical victims, with her mutilations taking her murderer approximately two hours to perform.
In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt is the first sitting President of the United States to make an official trip outside the country. He did so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.
In 1907, The Cullinan Diamond is presented to King Edward VII on his birthday.
In 1911, Howard Pyle, American author and illustrator (b. 1853) suffered a kidney infection and died in Florence at the age of 58. He was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.
In 1894 he began teaching illustration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University). After 1900, he founded his own school of art and illustration, named the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. The scholar Henry C. Pitz later used the term Brandywine School for the illustration artists and Wyeth family artists of the Brandywine region, several of whom had studied with Pyle. Some of his more notable students were N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Elenore Abbott, Ethel Franklin Betts, Anna Whelan Betts, Harvey Dunn, Clyde O. DeLand, Philip R. Goodwin, Thornton Oakley, Violet Oakley, Ellen Bernard Thompson Pyle, Olive Rush, Allen Tupper True, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Arthur E. Becher, William James Aylward, and Jessie Willcox Smith. Pyle’s home and studio in Wilmington, where he taught his students, is still standing and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
His 1883 classic publication The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood remains in print, and his other books, frequently with medieval European settings, include a four-volume set on King Arthur. He is also well known for his illustrations of pirates, and is credited with creating what has become the modern stereotype of pirate dress. He published his first novel, Otto of the Silver Hand, in 1888. He also illustrated historical and adventure stories for periodicals such as Harper’s Weekly and St. Nicholas Magazine. His novel Men of Iron was adapted as the movie The Black Shield of Falworth (1954).
In 1913, The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the lakes, destroys 19 ships and kills more than 250 people.
In 1914, SMS Emden is sunk by HMAS Sydney in the Battle of Cocos.
In 1917, Joseph Stalin enters the provisional government of Bolshevik Russia.
In 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates after the German Revolution, and Germany is proclaimed a Republic.
In 1921, The Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF), National Fascist Party, comes into existence.
In 1923, In Munich, Germany, police and government troops crush the Beer Hall Putsch in Bavaria. The failed coup is the work of the Nazis.
In 1924, Henry Cabot Lodge, American historian and politician (b. 1850) suffered a severe stroke on November 5th while recovering in the hospital from surgery for gallstones. He died four days later at the age of 74. He was an American Republican Senator and historian from Massachusetts. A PhD in history from Harvard, he was a long-time friend and confidant of Theodore Roosevelt. Lodge had the role (but not the official title) of the first Senate Majority Leader. He is best known for his positions on foreign policy, especially his battle with President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 over the Treaty of Versailles. Lodge demanded Congressional control of declarations of war; Wilson refused and blocked Lodge’s move to ratify the treaty with reservations. As a result the United States never joined the League of Nations.
In 1890, Lodge co-authored the Federal Elections Bill, along with Sen. George Frisbie Hoar, that guaranteed federal protection for African American voting rights. Although the proposed legislation was supported by President Benjamin Harrison, the bill was blocked by filibustering Democrats in the Senate.
Following American victory in the Spanish–American War, Lodge came to represent the imperialist faction of the Senate, those who called for the annexation of the Philippines. Lodge maintained that the United States needed to have a strong navy and be more involved in foreign affairs.
In 1935, The Congress of Industrial Organizations is founded in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by eight trade unions belonging to the American Federation of Labor.
In 1937, Japanese troops take control of Shanghai, China.
In 1938, The Nazi German diplomat Ernst vom Rath dies from the fatal gunshot wounds of Jewish resistance fighter Herschel Grynszpan, an act which the Nazis used as an excuse to instigate the 1938 national pogrom, also known as Kristallnacht (Crystal Night).
In 1940, Neville Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1869) died of bowel cancer on 9 November 1940 at the age of 71. His funeral service took place at Westminster Abbey (due to wartime security concerns, the date and time were not widely publicised), and his ashes were interred there next to those of Andrew Bonar Law. Churchill eulogised Chamberlain in the House of Commons three days after his death. “Whatever else history may or may not say about these terrible, tremendous years, we can be sure that Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights and strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were powerful, to save the world from the awful, devastating struggle in which we are now engaged. This alone will stand him in good stead as far as what is called the verdict of history is concerned.”
He was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the German-populated Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. However when Adolf Hitler continued his aggression by invading Poland, Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, and Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of World War II.
In 1940, Warsaw is awarded the Virtuti Militari.
In 1953, Cambodia gains independence from France.
In 1953, Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and author (b. 1914) died in a visit in New York. Post mortem gave the primary cause of death as pneumonia, with pressure on the brain and a fatty liver as contributing factors. He was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “And death shall have no dominion“, the “play for voices”, Under Milk Wood, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child’s Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became popular in his lifetime and remained so after his premature death in New York. In his later life he acquired a reputation, which he encouraged, as a “roistering, drunken and doomed poet”.
Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales, in 1914. An undistinguished pupil, he left school at 16, becoming a journalist for a short time. Although many of his works appeared in print while he was still a teenager, it was the publication of “Light breaks where no sun shines”, in 1934, that caught the attention of the literary world. While living in London, Thomas met Caitlin Macnamara, whom he married in 1937. Their relationship was defined by alcoholism and was mutually destructive. In the early part of his marriage, Thomas and his family lived hand-to-mouth, settling in the Welsh fishing village of Laugharne.
Although Thomas was appreciated as a popular poet in his lifetime, he found earning a living as a writer difficult, which resulted in his augmenting his income with reading tours and broadcasts. His radio recordings for the BBC during the latter half of the 1940s brought him to the public’s attention and he was used by the Corporation as a populist voice of the literary scene. In the 1950s, Thomas travelled to America, where his readings brought him a level of fame, though his erratic behaviour and drinking worsened. His time in America cemented Thomas’ legend, where he recorded to vinyl works such as A Child’s Christmas in Wales. During his fourth trip to New York in 1953, Thomas became gravely ill and fell into a coma from which he did not recover. Thomas died on 9 November 1953 and his body was returned to Wales where he was buried at the village churchyard in Laugharne.
Despite writing exclusively in the English language, Thomas has been acknowledged as one of the most important Welsh poets of the 20th century and noted for his original, rhythmic and ingenious use of words and imagery. Thomas’ position as one of the great modern poets has been much discussed, though this has not tarnished his popularity amongst the public, who find his work accessible.
In 1960, Robert McNamara is named president of Ford Motor Co., the first non-Ford to serve in that post. A month later, he resigned to join the administration of newly elected John F. Kennedy.
In 1963, At Miike coal mine, Miike, Japan, an explosion kills 458, and hospitalises 839 with carbon monoxide poisoning.
In 1965, Several U.S. states and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 hours in the Northeast Blackout of 1965.
In 1965, The Catholic Worker Movement member Roger Allen LaPorte, protesting against the Vietnam War, sets himself on fire in front of the United Nations building.
In 1967, Apollo program: NASA launches the unmanned Apollo 4 test spacecraft atop the first Saturn V rocket from Cape Kennedy, Florida.
In 1967, The first issue of Rolling Stone Magazine is published.
In 1970, Charles de Gaulle, French general and politician, 18th President of France (b. 1890) died from a ruptured blood vessel.
He was the dominant military and political leader of France for much of the period from 1940-1969. Refusing to accept his government’s armistice with the German invaders in 1940, he set up his base in London, proclaimed himself the incarnation of France, and created the Free French movement. During the war he rallied the overseas colonies (especially in Africa), organized the Resistance from abroad, and struggled to gain full recognition from the British and Americans. A firm proponent of democracy, he became the leader of the Provisional Government of France following its liberation in 1944 and destroyed the vestiges of the authoritarian Vichy regime. He retired from office in 1946, but returned in 1958 as France verged on civil war over the Algerian crisis. As president (1958-69) during the new Fifth Republic, he revised the constitution to provide for presidential control of foreign and military policy, granted independence to Algeria and the African colonies, stabilized politics, and restored the nation’s economic health. Forging a close bond with West Germany, he sought to dominate the European Common Market by vetoing British entry and keeping the United States at arms’ length. Exhausted politically and emotionally, he finally left office in 1969. His reputation as the strongest and greatest of French leaders since Napoleon continues into the 21st century.
In 1970, Vietnam War: The Supreme Court of the United States votes 6 to 3 against hearing a case to allow Massachusetts to enforce its law granting residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.
In 1979, Nuclear false alarm: the NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert is cancelled.
In 1985, Garry Kasparov, 22, of the Soviet Union becomes the youngest World Chess Champion by beating Anatoly Karpov, also of the Soviet Union.
In 1989, Cold War: Fall of the Berlin Wall. Communist-controlled East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall allowing its citizens to travel to West Germany. This key event led to the eventual reunification of East and West Germany, and fall of communism in eastern Europe including Russia.
In 1993, Stari most, the “old bridge” in Bosnian Mostar built in 1566, collapses after several days of bombing.
In 1994, The chemical element Darmstadtium is discovered.
In 1998, A US federal judge orders 37 US brokerage houses to pay 1.03 billion USD to cheated NASDAQ investors to compensate for price-fixing. This is the largest civil settlement in United States history.
In 1998, Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offences.
In 2005, The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
In 2005, Suicide bombers attacked three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing at least 60 people.
In 2007, The German Bundestag passes the controversial data retention bill mandating storage of citizens’ telecommunications traffic data for six months without probable cause.
In 2012, A train carrying liquid fuel crashes and bursts into flames in northern Burma, killing 27 people and injuring 80 others.
In 2012, James L. Stone, American colonel, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1922) died in Arlington, Texas, at the age of 89. He was a United States Army officer and a recipient of America’s highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Korean War. He was awarded the medal for his conspicuous leadership during a fight against overwhelming odds, for continuing to lead after being wounded, and for choosing to stay behind after ordering others to retreat, a decision which led to his capture by Chinese forces.
First Lieutenant Stone’s official Medal of Honor citation reads:
1st Lt. Stone, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When his platoon, holding a vital outpost position, was attacked by overwhelming Chinese forces, 1st Lt. Stone stood erect and exposed to the terrific enemy fire calmly directed his men in the defense. A defensive flame-thrower failing to function, he personally moved to its location, further exposing himself, and personally repaired the weapon. Throughout a second attack, 1st Lt. Stone; though painfully wounded, personally carried the only remaining light machine gun from place to place in the position in order to bring fire upon the Chinese advancing from 2 directions. Throughout he continued to encourage and direct his depleted platoon in its hopeless defense. Although again wounded, he continued the fight with his carbine, still exposing himself as an example to his men. When this final overwhelming assault swept over the platoon’s position his voice could still be heard faintly urging his men to carry on, until he lost consciousness. Only because of this officer’s driving spirit and heroic action was the platoon emboldened to make its brave but hopeless last ditch stand.
In 2012, At least 27 people are killed and dozens are wounded in conflicts between inmates and guards at Welikada prison in Colombo.
In 2013, Solid Concepts unveils first 3D-printed metal gun, a full-size .45 ACP 1911. Solid Concepts is taking 3D printing over a threshold with their just-announced 3D printed stainless steel handgun. A 1911, the Solid Concepts pistol is chambered for full-power centerfire .45 ACP cartridges. The company is out to prove a point, that 3D printing has reached a level of maturity and precision that they can make a traditional firearm with the leading-edge technologies. Naturally, they are working with industrial-scale 3D printers, not the types of devices hobbyists have at home.
In 2014, Myles Munroe, Bahamian pastor and author (b. 1954) dies with his wife and 8 others in a private plane crash on 9 November 2014 en route to his leadership conference. He was a Bahamian evangelist and ordained minister avid professor of the Kingdom of God, author, speaker and leadership consultant who founded and led the Bahamas Faith Ministries International (BFMI) and Myles Munroe International (MMI). He was chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the International Third World Leaders Association and president of the International Leadership Training Institute as well as the author of numerous books.
In 2014, Gay marriage supporters in four states where bans on same-sex nuptials were upheld by a federal appeals court said on Friday they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the issue, and officials in two of the states vowed to do the same. Both sides being in agreement that the high court should intervene increases the chances that the nine justices may hear oral arguments in the spring and decide the case by the end of June. Same-sex marriage advocates in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee said they would quickly appeal to the Supreme Court, possibly within the next two weeks.
In 2015, Tennessee became the first state to launch an animal abuse registry.
In 2016, Tennessee’s NAACP leaders on Tuesday distanced the state organization from its national board’s call for a moratorium on charter schools, even calling the charter-reliant work of the state-run school district “a progressive spot” in Memphis.
In 2016, Donald Trump is declared the winner of the US Presidential Election.
In 2020, Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: an armistice agreement is signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.
