This Day in USA History
February 9

What happened in history on this day: February 9? On February 9 in ... 1793 - Congress passes an act regulating legal tender value of foreign coins. 1861 - Tennessee votes against secession. 1909 - First US federal legislation prohibiting narcotics (opium). 1909 - First forestry school is incorporated at Kent, Ohio, USA. 1918 - Army chaplain school organized at Fort Monroe, Virginia. 1926 - Teaching theory of evolution is forbidden in Atlanta, Georgia, USA schools. 1932 - US airship Columbia crashes during storm (Flushing, New York). 1933 - -63 degrees F (-53 degrees C), Moran, Wyoming (state record low). 1934 - -14.3 degrees F (-25.8 degrees C), coldest day in New York City, New York. 1934 - -51 degrees F (-46 degrees C), Vanderbilt, Michigan (state record low). 1942 - In New York harbor, the USS Lafayette (formerly Normandie) is accidentally ignited by a welding torch during conversion for troopship use. While fighting the fire, too much water poured into the ship capsizes it, setting it on its side in the harbor. 1942 - Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in US. 1943 - US President Franklin Roosevelt orders minimal 48 hour work week in war industry. 1953 - General Walter Bedell Smith ends his term as fourth director of the American Central Intelligence Agency. Allen W Dulles becomes acting director. 1955 - US federations of trade unions merge into AFL/CIO. 1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. 1963 - First flight of Boeing 727 jet. 1964 - First appearance of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show (73.7 million viewers, about 40 percent of US population). 1969 - World's largest airplane, Boeing 747, makes first commercial flight. 1971 - Apollo 14 returns to Earth. 1971 - In San Fernando, California, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurs. The earthquake lasts about 60 seconds, kills 65, injures more than 2,000, and causes property damage estimated at $505 million. 1978 - Ted Bundy kills Kimberly Leach, age 12, in Lake City, Florida. 1985 - U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena is kidnapped and murdered in Mexico (his body is discovered March 5). 1987 - Former US national security adviser Robert McFarlane attempts suicide. 1987 - Brownsville, Texas is deluged with seven inches of rain in just two hours; flooding in some parts of the city is worse than that caused by Hurricane Beulah in 1967. 1997 - 11th American Comedy Awards: Debbie Reynolds. 1997 - Fox cartoon series The Simpsons airs 167th episode in the USA, making it the longest-running animated series in cartoon history. 2001 - The submarine USS Greeneville strikes and sinks the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime-Maru near Hawaii. 2002 - (to February 24) The XIX Olympic Winter Games are held in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 2008 - At a Philip Weiss auction, a 24-cent US postage stamp of 1869, Declaration of Independence with inverted-center error sells for US$1.27 million, a new record for a single US stamp. 2009 - New York Yankees' baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez admits to having used performance-enhancing steroids earlier in his career, over a three-year period from 2001 to 2003 with the Texas Rangers. Births on February 9 1831 - Birth of John M. Eckfeldt; US Mint Chief Coiner. 1902 - Birth of Chester H Lauck in Allene, Arkansas, USA; actor (Dreaming Out Loud, Two Weeks to Live). 1914 - Birth of Bill Justice in Ohio, USA; joined Disney studio 1937, animator, programmer, parade designer, Imagineer, designer of attrations at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland, retired 1979, author of Justice for Disney (1992), named a Disney Legend 1996. 1914 - Birth of Ernest Tubb in Texas, USA; guitarist/singer ("I'm Walking the Floor over You"). 1914 - Birth of Ralph Herman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; orchestra leader (Circus Time). 1923 - Birth of Kathryn Grayson in North Carolina, USA; vocalist/actress (Anchors Aweigh, Kiss Me Kate). 1923 - Birth of Norman E Shumway in Michigan, USA; pioneer cardiac transplant surgeon. 1928 - Birth of Roger Mudd in Washington DC, USA; news anchor (CBS Weekend News, NBC Evening News). 1934 - Birth of John A Ziegler Jr in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA; fourth NHL president (1977-92). 1940 - Birth of Ronnie Claire Edwards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; actress (Corabeth - The Waltons, Eight Seconds, Sweet Bird of Youth). 1942 - Birth of Carole King [Klein], in Brooklyn, New York, USA; pianist/singer (Tapestry). 1943 - Birth of James King in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; basketball player (Olympics-gold-1968). 1943 - Birth of Joe Pesci in Newark, New Jersey, USA; actor (Half Nelson, Goodfellas). 1943 - Birth of Squire Fridell in Oakland, California, USA; actor (Rosetti and Ryan). 1945 - Birth of Mia (Maria) Farrow in Los Angeles, California, USA; actress (Rosemary's Baby, Purple Rose of Cairo). 1947 - Birth of Joe Ely in Amarillo, Texas, USA; country vocalist (Honky Tonk Masquerade). 1949 - Birth of Judith Light in Trenton, New Jersey, USA; actress (Angela - Who's The Boss?, One Life to Live). 1950 - Birth of Lloyd Weldon Keasor in Pumphrey, Maryland, USA; wrestler (Olympics-silver-1976). 1951 - Birth of Penny Peyser in Irvington, New York, USA; actress (Rich Man Poor Man, Knots Landing). 1955 - Birth of James Jackson "Jm J" Bullock in Casper, Wyoming, USA; actor (Monroe - Too Close for Comfort). 1956 - Birth of Philip Jackson Ford Jr in North Carolina, USA; basketball player (Olympics-gold-1976). 1963 - Birth of Bonnie Levin in Miami Beach, Florida, USA; WPVA volleyball player. 1963 - Birth of Travis Tritt in Marietta, Georgia, USA; country vocalist ("Country Club"). 1966 - Birth of James "Rachel" Bolan in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, USA; rocker (Skid Row-Psycho Love). 1967 - Birth of Kate Golden in Beaumont, Texas, USA; LPGA golfer (1992 Ping/Welch-5th). 1967 - Birth of Todd Pratt; US baseball catcher (Philadelphia Phillies). 1968 - Birth of Marcus Meloan in Agana, Guam; Canadian Tour golfer (1992 US Amateur Champion). 1968 - Birth of Paul Claxton in Vidalia, Georgia, USA; Nike golfer (NIKE Central Georgia Open-38th). 1969 - Birth of Todd Lyght; US football quarterback (Saint Louis Rams). 1971 - Birth of Ken Felder; US baseball outfielder (Milwaukee Brewers). 1971 - Birth of Sharon Case in Detroit, Michigan, USA; actress (Sharon Collins - The Young and the Restless). 1973 - Birth of Amber Valletta in Phoenix, Arizona, USA; model (Face, House of Style, Bazaar). 1985 - Birth of David Gallagher; American actor. 1985 - Birth of Rachel Melvin; American actress. 1996 - Birth of Jimmy Bennett, American actor. Deaths on February 9 1892 - Death of John Jay Knox, Comptroller of Currency. 1966 - Sophie Tucker, Russian/US singer/actress (My Yiddish Mama), dies at age 79. 1973 - Max Yasgur, owner of Woodstock-festival farmland, dies at age 53. 1981 - Bill Haley, American vocalist ("Rock Around Clock"), dies of heart attack at age 55 (born 1925). 1988 - Death of Kurt Adler, conductor, in Ross, California (born in Vienna, Austria). 1994 - Jarmila Novotna, Czechoslovakia/US soprano (Madame Butterfly), dies at age 86. 1994 - Louis Kaufman, US violinist/conductor (Gone With the Wind), dies at age 88. 1994 - Death of Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1934). 1995 - David Wayne [Wayne Mcmeekan], US actor (Dallas), dies at age 81. 1995 - J William Fulbright, American politician (Senator-Democrat-Arkansas)/anti-Vietnam War, dies at age 89. 2000 - Death of Beau Jack, American boxer (born 1921). 2001 - Death of Herbert Simon, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916). 2010 - Death of Francine Irving Neff; US Treasurer (1974-77).         Your Ad Here You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history. Bookmark this URL:   http://thisdayinhistoryinfo.info/usa/   and revisit each day. (this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events) Or, visit my Timelines of History page. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of the United States of America Today in Disney History Today in Sports History Chronology of World War II Chronology of Personal Computers