History of 9 June
1923 – Bulgaria’s government was overthrown by the military.
1931 – Robert H. Goddard patented a rocket-fueled aircraft design.
1934 – Donald Duck made his debut in the Silly Symphonies cartoon “The Wise Little Hen.”
1940 – Norway surrendered to the Nazis during World War II.
1943 – The withholding tax on payrolls was authorized by the U.S. Congress.
1945 – Japanese Premier Kantaro Suzuki declared that Japan would fight to the last rather than accept unconditional surrender.
1946 – Mel Ott (with the New York Giants) became the first manager to be ejected from a doubleheader (both games).
1959 – The first ballistic missile carrying submarine, the USS George Washington, was launched.
1965 – Michel Jazy ran the mile in 3 minutes, 53.6 seconds. He broke the record set by Peter Snell in 1964.
1973 – Secretariat won the 105th Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths and ran the fastest 1 1/2 miles on dirt at 2:24.
1978 – Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints struck down a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men from the Mormon priesthood.
1980 – Richard Pryor was severely burned by a “free-base” mixture that exploded. He was hospitalized for more than two months.
1985 – Thomas Sutherland, an American educator, was kidnapped in Lebanon. He was not released until November 1991.
1986 – The Rogers Commission released a report on the Challenger disaster. The report explained that the spacecraft blew up as a result of a failure in a solid rocket booster joint.
1999 – NATO and Yugoslavia signed a peace agreement over Kosovo.
2000 – Canada and the United States signed a border security agreement. The agreement called for the establishment of a border-enforcement team.
2000 – The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal gift and estate taxes. The bill called for the taxes to be phased out over 10 years.
2001 – Patrick Roy (Colorado Avalanche) became the first National Hockey League (NHL) player to win three Conn Smythe Trophies. The award is given to the playoff’s Most Valuable Player.
2011 – The world’s first artificial organ transplant was performed. It was an artificial windpipe coated with stem cells.
Celebrating Birthday Today
- 1981 – Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress
- 1982 – Parinya Charoenphol, Thai boxer, model, and actress
- 1982 – Yoshito Okubo, Japanese footballer
- 1982 – Christina Stürmer, Austrian singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Firas Al-Khatib, Syrian footballer
- 1983 – Josh Cribbs, American football player
- 1983 – Dwayne Jones, American basketball player
- 1983 – Danny Richar, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1984 – Yulieski Gourriel, Cuban baseball player
- 1984 – Jake Newton, Guyanese footballer
- 1984 – Asko Parade, Estonian basketball player
- 1984 – Masoud Shojaei, Iranian footballer
- 1984 – Wesley Sneijder, Dutch footballer
- 1985 – Richard Kahui, New Zealand rugby player
- 1985 – Sonam Kapoor, Indian model, and actress
- 1985 – Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
- 1986 – Doug Legursky, American football player
- 1986 – Yadier Pedroso, Cuban baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1986 – Ashley Postell, American gymnast
- 1987 – Jaan Molder, Estonian race car driver
- 1988 – Jason Demers, Canadian ice hockey defenseman
- 1988 – Sara Isakovic, Slovenian swimmer
- 1989 – Dídac Vilà, Spanish footballer
- 1990 – Matthias Mayer, Austrian skier
- 1992 – Zach Hyman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Yannick Agnel, French swimmer
- 1992 – Boyd Cordner, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – George Jennings, Australian rugby league player