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.