Discover what happened on July 9 in history, along with notable events, inventions, milestones, and moments that shaped America and the world.
What Happened on July 9 in History?
Important events on this day include the ratification of the 14th Amendment, the founding of the Bell Telephone Company, the first Wimbledon Championship, the invention of the doughnut cutter, and the debut of Nintendo’s “Donkey Kong”, introducing Mario to the world.
JULY 9 – TODAY IN HISTORY:
1776 – The United States Declaration of Independence was read to Gen. George Washington’s troops in New York.
1850 – President Zachary Taylor died after eating raw fruit and iced milk. Vice President Millard Fillmore became President after Taylor’s passing.
1868 – The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. This amendment granted citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. It prohibits states from denying or abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, depriving any person of his life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denying to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
1872 – John Blondel patented the doughnut cutter.
1877 – Alexander Graham Bell, along with Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Thomas Sanders and Thomas Watson, formed the Bell Telephone Company.
1877 – The very first Wimbledon Tennis Championship was held.
1878 – Henry Tibbe patented the corncob pipe.
1892 – The first concrete road in the U.S. was completed in Bellefontaine, OH. The first asphalt road was laid down in July 1870 in Newark, NJ.
1893 – Daniel Hale Williams performed the first open heart surgery. He later founded Provident Hospital, the first non-segregated hospital in the United States.
1922 – Johnny Weissmuller (who later played “Tarzan”) became the first person to swim the 100 meters freestyle in less than a minute.
1937 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation were destroyed by a vault fire.
1955 – The song “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets hit #1 on Billboard’s Pop charts, marking the first time a rock and roll recording hit #1
1956 – A TV show called “Bandstand”, hosted by Dick Clark debuted in Philadelphia, PA. The show later moved to ABC and the name was changed to “American Bandstand”.
1962 – Andy Warhol opened his first solo art show that included 32 portraits of Campbell’s soup cans.
1968 – The first indoor All-Star baseball game was played at the Astrodome in Houston, TX.
1981 – The Nintendo video game “Donkey Kong” was released. (It was also the debut of “Mario”, Nintendo’s future mascot.)
1977 – Elvis Costello quit his day job as a computer operator at a cosmetic factory.
1978 – Boxer Larry Holmes beat Ken Norton for the heavyweight championship.
1981 – Two iconic video game characters were introduced when Mario battled a big ape in the game “Donkey Kong”.
1983 – The Police’s single “Every Breath You Take” began a nine-week stretch at the #1 spot on the Pop Chart.
1985 – Joe Namath signed a five-year pact with ABC-TV to provide commentary for “Monday Night Football”. He reportedly earned $1 million a year.
1995 – The Grateful Dead gave their last concert with Jerry Garcia at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Garcia died the following month of a heart attack.
1997 – Mike Tyson was banned from boxing for 15 months and fined $3 million for biting the ear of Evander Holyfield during a match.
1999 – The movie “American Pie” premiered in theaters. The film was written by Adam Herz, who grew up in East Grand Rapids, MI.
2003 – The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, “The Curse of the Black Pearl”, premiered in theaters.
2004 – A federal judge denied Martha Stewart’s request for a new trial.
2004 – The movie “Anchorman”, starring Will Ferrell, premiered in theaters.
2005 – Skateboarder Danny Way rode down a large ramp and jumped across the Great Wall of China. In doing so, he became the first person to ever clear the wall without the aid of a motor.
2010 – The animated movie “Despicable Me” was released in theaters.
2018 – Starbucks announced it would stop using plastic straws by 2020, reducing use of more than 1 billion straws a year.
2025 – Earth completed its shortest recorded day due to a slight acceleration in rotation, with July 9 lasting approximately 1.3 to 1.6 milliseconds less than 24 hours.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS ON JULY 9:
Janice Lourie – 96 years old (1930) – Computer scientist and graphic artist
Patricia Newcomb – 96 years old (1930) – Publicist
David Zinman – 90 years old (1936) – Violinist and conductor
John Casper – 83 years old (1943) – Colonel, pilot, and astronaut
Dean Koontz – 81 years old (1945) – Author and screenwriter
Chris Cooper – 75 years old (1951) – Actor
John Tesh – 74 years old (1952) – Pianist, composer, and radio and television host
Thomas Ligotti – 73 years old (1953) – Author
Lindsey Graham – 71 years old (1955) – Lawyer and politician
Jimmy Smits – 71 years old (1955) – Actor and producer
Willie Wilson – 71 years old (1955) – Baseball player and manager
Tom Hanks – 70 years old (1956) – Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Michael Lederer – 70 years old (1956) – Author, poet, and playwright
Tim Kring – 69 years old (1957) – Screenwriter and producer
Kelly McGillis – 69 years old (1957) – Actress
Kevin Nash – 67 years old (1959) – Professional wrestler and actor
Courtney Love – 62 years old (1964) – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
Frank Bello – 61 years old (1965) – Bass player
Pamela Adlon – 60 years old (1966) – Actress and voice artist
Marco Pennette – 60 years old (1966) – Screenwriter and producer
Mark Stoops – 59 years old (1967) – Football player and coach
Trent Green – 56 years old (1970) – Football player and sportscaster
Marc Andreessen – 55 years old (1971) – Software developer, co-founded Netscape
Ara Babajian – 54 years old (1972) – Drummer and songwriter
Kelly Holcomb – 53 years old (1973) – Football player and sportscaster
Shelton Benjamin – 51 years old (1975) – Wrestler
Isaac Brock – 51 years old (1975) – Singer-songwriter and guitarist
Robert Koenig – 51 years old (1975) – Director, producer, and screenwriter
Jack White – 51 years old (1975) – Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
Fred Savage – 50 years old (1976) – Actor, director, and producer
Sarah Ashton-Cirillo – 49 years old (1977) – Journalist
Kara Goucher – 48 years old (1978) – Runner
Junauda Petrus – 45 years old (1981) – Author and performance artist
Alecko Eskandarian – 44 years old (1982) – Soccer player and manager
Simon Dumont – 40 years old (1986) – Skier
Kiely Williams – 40 years old (1986) – Singer-songwriter and dancer
Rebecca Sugar – 39 years old (1987) – Animator, composer, and screenwriter
Mitchel Musso – 35 years old (1991) – Actor and singer
DeAndre Yedlin – 33 years old (1993) – Footballer
Claire Corlett – 27 years old (1999) – Voice actress
DAYS OF THE YEAR FOR JULY 9:
Today's special observances are temporarily unavailable. Please check back soon.
For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.
1 Comment