January 9th in History

The Shackleton Expedition plants the British flag 97 miles from the South Pole, the closest anyone had yet come.

Today in History

 

  • Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time (1909)
  • The Battle of Gallipolli ends (1916)
  • Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight (1923)
  • Construction of the Aswan Dam begins (1960)
  • Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone (2007)

Birthdays

  • Karel Capek, Czech playwright, coined the word “robot” (1890)
  • Chic Young, creator of Blondie (1901)
  • Simone de Beauvoir, philosopher (1908)
  • Richard Nixon, 37th US President (1913)
  • Fernando Lamas, actor and singer (1915)
  • Lee Van Cleef, actor (1925)
  • Judith Kranz, novelist (1928)
  • Bart Starr, football player (1934)
  • Bob Denver, actor (1935)
  • Joan Baez, singer-songwriter (1941)
  • Jimmy Page, musician (1944)
  • Crystal Gayle, country singer-songwriter (1951)
  • Joely Richardson, actress (1965)

Deaths

  • Caroline Herschel, astronomer (1848)
  • Napoleon III, French politician (1873)
  • Peter Cook, actor and screenwriter (1995)
  • Walter M. Miller, Jr., author (1996)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Feast of the Black Nazarene (Manila)
  • Hoonko (Shinshu Buddhism)
  • Martyr’s Day (Panama)
  • National Cassoulet Day (US)
  • Non-Resident Indian Day (India)
  • Peace Agreement Day (South Sudan)
  • Republic Day (Republic of Srpska)

January 9 is the ninth day of the year. There are 356 days (357 in leap years) remaining until the end of the year.