May 9
1662 - Mr. Punch, of
Punch and Judy, makes his first recorded appearance.
1763 - Chief
Pontiac's
siege of Fort Detroit begins.
1877 - An
8.8 earthquake off Peru kills 2,541 people, some as far away as Hawaii, and Japan.
1887 –
Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.
1941 – World War II: The
German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest
Enigma machine.
1945 – World War II: Ratification in Berlin-Karlshorst of the
German unconditional surrender of May 8 in Rheims, France.
The
Channel Islands are liberated by the British after five years of German occupation.
1958 – The film "
Vertigo" has its world premiere in San Francisco.
1960 – The United States FDA announced it would approve the use of Searle's
Enovid for birth control, making it the first oral contraceptive pill.
1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter
MV Summit Venture collides with the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.
Births
1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood; 1837 – Adam Opel; 1860 – J. M. Barrie; 1873 – Anton Cermak; 1874 – Howard Carter (found King Tut's tomb); 1882 – Henry J. Kaiser; 1918 – Mike Wallace "The Grand Inquisitor"; 1921 – Daniel Berrigan; 1936 – Terry Downes, Albert Finney, Glenda Jackson; 1937 – Sonny Curtis, Dave Prater (Sam & Dave); 1940 – James L. Brooks ("The Simpsons" producer); 1942 – John Ashcroft, Tommy Roe; 1944 – Richie Furay; 1945 – Steve Katz; 1946 – Candice Bergen; 1949 – Billy Joel; 1950 – Tom Petersson; 1960 – Tony Gwynn; 1962 – Dave Gahan; 1984 – Prince Fielder
Deaths
1914 – C. W. Post (cereal guy); 1968 – Harold Gray (created "Little Orphan Annie"); 2010 – Lena Horne; 2012 – Vidal Sassoon; 2013 – George M. Leader (36th Governor of Pennsylvania)