History of 9 July
1900 – The Commonwealth of Australia was established by an act of the British Parliament, uniting the separate colonies under a federal government.
1922 – Johnny Weissmuller became the first person to swim the 100 meters freestyle in less than a minute.
1935 – Norman Bright ran the two-mile event in the record time of 9 minutes, 13.2 seconds at a meet in New York City.
1943 – American and British forces made an amphibious landing on Sicily.
1947 – The engagement of Britain’s Princess Elizabeth to Lt. Philip Mountbatten was announced.
1951 – U.S. President Truman asked Congress to formally end the state of war between the United States and Germany.
1953 – New York Airways began the first commuter passenger service by helicopter.
1968 – The first All-Star baseball game to be played indoors took place at the Astrodome in Houston, TX.
1971 – The United States turned over complete responsibility of the Demilitarized Zone to South Vietnamese units.
1985 – Herschel Walker of the New Jersey Generals was named the Most Valuable Player in the United States Football League (USFL).
1985 – Joe Namath signed a five-year pact with ABC-TV to provide commentary for “Monday Night Football”.
1997 – Mike Tyson was banned from the boxing ring and fined $3 million for biting the ear of opponent Evander Holyfield.
1999 – Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.
2002 – The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization’s first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
2005 – Danny Way, a daredevil skateboarder, rolled down a large ramp and jumped across the Great Wall of China. He was the first person to clear the wall without motorized aid.
2006 – One hundred and twenty-five people are killed when S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310 passenger jet, veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia.
2011 – South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.
2015 – The South Carolina House of Representatives approved taking down the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds. The flag was removed the next day and taken to a state military museum.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Lee Chun-soo, South Korean footballer
- 1982 – Alecko Eskandarian, American soccer player and manager
- 1982 – Sakon Yamamoto, Japanese race car driver
- 1984 – Chris Campoli, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Gianni Fabiano, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Jacob Hoggard, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1984 – Ave Pajo, Estonian footballer
- 1984 – Piia Suomalainen, a Finnish tennis player
- 1984 – LA Tenorio, Filipino basketball player
- 1985 – Paweł Korzeniowski, a Polish swimmer
- 1985 – Ashley Young, English footballer
- 1986 – Sébastien Bassong, Cameroonian footballer
- 1986 – Simon Dumont, American skier
- 1986 – Kiely Williams, American singer-songwriter and dancer
- 1987 – Gert Jõeäär, Estonian cyclist
- 1987 – Rebecca Sugar, American animator, composer, and screenwriter
- 1988 – Raul Rusescu, Romanian footballer
- 1990 – Earl Bamber, New Zealand race car driver
- 1990 – Fábio Pereira da Silva, Brazilian footballer
- 1990 – Rafael, Brazilian footballer
- 1993 – Mitch Larkin, Australian swimmer
- 1993 – DeAndre Yedlin, American footballer
- 1999 – Claire Corlett, American voice actress