It happened today – on this day in history – February 9
- Man charged with murder of 85-year-old woman in Ilford - 11/04/2021
- Man charged in connection with 2017 Brentwood incident - 11/04/2021
- Woman critically injured in Ilford axe incident - 11/04/2021
1540: The first recorded race meet in England at Roodee Fields, Chester.
1554: Sir Thomas Wyatt is is defeated and his rebellion against Queen Mary crushed.
1555: The Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake for heresy.
1742: Sir Robert Walpole becomes First Earl of Orford.
1788: Austria declares war on Russia.
1801: France and Austria sign the Peace of Luneville.
1822: Haiti invades the newly founded Dominican Republic.
1825: John Quincy Adams is elected president of the America by the House of Representatives.
1881: Death of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky aged 59.
1886: US President Grover Cleveland declares a state of emergency in Seattle because of anti-Chinese violence.
1893: Guiseppe Verdi’s opera “Falstaff” premieres in Milan.
1895: Volleyball is invented by W G Morgan in Massachusetts.
1900: Dwight Davis establishes the Davis Cup in Tennis.
1932: The US airship Columbia crashes during a storm.
1940: Joe Louis beats Arturo Godoy in 15 rounds for the heavyweight boxing title.
1941: British troops conquer El Agheila.
1943: Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal.
1964: The Beatles make their US television debut on The Ed Sulivan Show to a nationwide audience of 73.7 million – three quarters of the total adult audience in the United States.
1966: Death of singer/actress Sophie Tucker aged 79.
1967: Canadian conductor Percy Faith died aged 67.
1969: The first flight of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
1971: Apollo 14 returns to Earth.
1972: The government declares state of emergency after month-long miners’ strike.
1981: Bill Haley died of a heart attack at his home in Texas, aged 55.
1984: Death of Yuri Andropov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, aged 69.
1993: Broadcaster Bill Grundy died of a heart attack aged 69.
1994: Israeli minister Shimon Perez signs accord with the PLO’s Yasser Arafat.
1995: Irish music and dance show “Riverdance” opens in Dublin with Michael Flatley.
1996: The IRA declares the end of its 18 month ceasefire..
1997: Singer Brian Connolly of The Sweet died of kidney and liver failure aged 51. On the same day, Delta blues singer and guitarist Jack Owens died aged 92.
1998: Failed assassination attempt on Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.
2002: Death of Princess Margaret aged 71.
2018: The 23rd Winter Olympic Games open in PyeongChang, South Korea.
BIRTHDAYS: Barry Mann, songwriter, 81; Brian Bennett, drummer (The Shadows) 80; Carole King, singer/songwriter, 78; Joe Pesci, actor, 77; Mia Farrow, actress, 75; Joe Ely, country singer, 73; Bernard Gallacher, golfer, 71; Gordon Strachan, former footballer, 63; Sandy Lyle, golfer, 62; Holly Johnson, singer (Frankie Goes To Hollywood) 60; Dave Rotheray, musician (The Beautiful South) 57; Darren Ferguson, football manager, 48; Charlie Day, actor, 44; Tom Hiddlestone, actor, 39; Michael B Jordan, actor 33; Rose Leslie, actress, 33.