May 9 in history — What Happened Today in History

In Norco, California, United States, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.

Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.

Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.

Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.

The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.

Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.

Robert Schuman presents the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.

Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.

King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II.

World War II: The Channel Islands are liberated from Nazi occupation.

The Holocaust in Ukraine: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.

World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.

Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.

The Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, officially opens.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim).

Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.

World War I: Germany repels Britain's second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.

World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.

Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne.

Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. The date will become recognised as the Independence Day of Romania.

Der Krach: The Vienna stock exchange crash begins the Panic of 1873 and heralds the Long Depression.

American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama.

American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.

Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.

Exhibition of 1761, the inaugural exhibition of the Society of Artists of Great Britain, opens at Spring Gardens in London.

Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.

Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

The figure who later became Mr. Punch makes his first recorded appearance in England.

Prince Fielder, American baseball player

Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player

Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer

Rosario Dawson, American actress

Brandon Webb, American baseball player

Averno, Mexican wrestler

Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer

Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist

Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress

Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner

Doug Christie, American basketball player and coach

Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer

Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor

Giacomo Bini, Italian priest and missionary (born 1938)

Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (born 1927)

Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Indian politician, 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (born 1935)

Mary Stewart, British author and poet (born 1916)

Ramón Blanco Rodríguez, Spanish footballer and manager (born 1952)

George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (born 1918)

Humberto Lugo Gil, Mexican lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Hidalgo (born 1933)

Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (born 1921)

Bertram Cohler, American psychologist, psychoanalyst, and academic (born 1938)

Geoffrey Henry, Cook Islander lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (born 1940)

Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (born 1928)

Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (born 1984)

Lena Horne, American singer, actress, and activist (born 1917)