It happened today – on this day in history – February 9

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 23^rd 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.