February 9

Events474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.1555 - Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake.1621 - Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation.1775 - American Revolutionary War: British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.1788 - The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp.1822 - Haiti invades the Dominican Republic.1825 - After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States.1861 - American Civil War:  Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.1870 - The U.S. Weather Bureau was established.1885 - The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii.1889 - The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is established as a Cabinet-level agency.1895 - William G. Morgan invents volleyball.1900 - Davis Cup competition is established.1904 - Battle of Port Arthur1920 - By the terms of the Svalbard Treaty, international diplomacy recognizes Norwegian sovereignty over Arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designates it as demilitarized.1922 - Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.1934 - The Balkan Entente is formed.1942 - World War II: Top United States military leaders hold their first formal meeting to discuss American military strategy in the war.1942 - Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States.1943 - World War II: Allied authorities declare Guadalcanal secure after Imperial Japan evacuates its remaining forces from the island, ending the Battle of Guadalcanal.1945 - The Battle of the Atlantic the HMS Venturer sinking U-Boat 864 off the coast of Norway.1950 - Second Red Scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States State Department of being filled with Communists.1960 - Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.1962 - Jamaica becomes independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations.1964 - Olympic Games: Winter Olympic Games - The IX Olympic Winter Games close in Innsbruck, Austria.1964 - The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.1965 - Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.1966 - The NHL announces its intended expansion that will double its size.1969 - First test flight of the Boeing 747.1971 - The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.1971 - Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.1973 - Biju Patnaik of the Pragati Legislature Party elected leader of opposition in the state assembly in Orissa, India.1975 - The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.1986 - Comet Halley reaches perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th century.1991 - Voters in Lithuania vote for independence.1994 - Vance-Owen peace plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina is announced.1995 - Space Shuttle astronauts Bernard A. Harris, Jr. and Michael Foale become the first African American and first Briton, respectively, to perform spacewalks.1996 - The Irish Republican Army declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire shortly followed by a large bomb in London's Canary Wharf.2001 - The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.
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