It happened today – this day in history – September 9

1087: Death of William The Conqueror aged 59.

1513: The English defeat James IV of Scotland at the Battle of Flodden Fields.

1543: At nine months old, Mary Stuart is crowned Queen of Scots in Stirling.

1675: New England colonies declare war on Wampanoag indians.

1776: Congress officially renames the country as the United States of America (from the United Colonies).

1828: Birth if novelist Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia.

1850: The territories of New Mexico and Utah are created.

1932: The Spanish Cortes grants Catalonia autonomy.

1939: The German army reaches Warsaw.

1944: Allied forces liberate Luxembourg.

1946: The Red Army supports a coup in Bulgaria, instituting a new Communist government.

1950: Mass arrests of communists in France.

1958: Race riots in Notting Hill, London.

1963: Alabama governor George Wallace is served a federal injunction to stop him ordering state police to bar black students from enrolling in white schools.

1965: The Hollywood reporter runs the advertisement; ‘Madness folk & roll musicians, singers wanted for acting roles in new TV show. Parts for 4 insane boys. 437 people apply to be one of The Monkees. On the same day, Tibet is made an autonomous region of China.

1967: The first successful test flight of a Saturn V rocket. On the same day, Uganda declares independence from Britain.

1969: Rod Laver seals a record second Grand Slam by beating fellow Australian Tony Roche at the US Open 7-9, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

1971: British Ambassador, Geoffrey Jackson, is released eight months after being captured by extreme left-wing guerrillas in Uruguay. On the same day, 1000 convicts riot and seize Attica Prison in New York.

1973: A fourth place finish in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza is enough to clinch Jackie Stewart his third Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.

1976: The leader of the Chinese revolution Chairman Mao Zedong dies at the age of 82.

1978: A day after his followers where fired on, Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an uprising in the Iranian army.

1979: South African Ferrari driver Jody Scheckter wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza to clinch the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.

1984: Singles chart:

1. I Just Called To Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder
2. Careless Whisper – George Michael
3. Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr
4. Agadoo – Black Lace
5. Like To Get To Know You Well – Howard Jones
6. Passengers – Elton John
7. Dr Beat – Miami Sound Machine
8. Pride (In The Name Of Love) – U2
9. Big In Japan – Alphaville
10. Self Control – Laura Branigan

Album chart:

1. Now That’s What I Call Music 3 – Various Artists
2. Powerslave – Iron Maiden
3. Diamond Life – Sade
4. Private Dancer – Tina Turner
5. Parade – Spandau Ballet
6. Can’t Slow Down – Lionel Richie
7. Eliminator – ZZ Top
8. The Works – Queen
9. Legend – Bob Marley & The Wailers
10. Purple Rain – Prince & The Revolution

1985: US President Ronald Reagan orders sanctions against South Africa. On the same day, a race riot breaks out in Birmingham.

1988: An England cricket tour to India is cancelled when Graham Gooch and seven others selected for the squad are refused visas for previously going to play in South Africa.

1990: George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Helsinki and urge Iraq to leave Kuwait.

1997: Death of actor Burgess Meredith aged 88.

1999: A report urges sweeping reform of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

2000: Lorry drivers begin to blockade petrol depots in protest at an increase in fuel duty.

2003: Physicist and father of the hydrogen bomb, Edward Teller, dies aged 95.

2005: Liverpool City Council confirmed it was to demolish Ringo Starr’s birthplace because it had “no historical significance.”

2008: Elbow won the Mercury Music Prize for their album ‘The Seldom Seen Kid.’

2010: A court in the Philippines orders Imelda Marcos to repay the government almost $280,000 for funds taken from the National Food Authority by her husband President Ferdinand Marcos, in 1983.

2012: Actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively marry in South Carolina.

2014: Primal Scream guitarist Robert “Throb” Young died at the age of 49.

2015: Queen Elizabeth II becomes Britain’s longest-reigning monarch at 63 years and seven months, beating the previous record set by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.

2017: “The Shape of Water” directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Sally Hawkins wins the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

2018: Russian police detain over 1000 people amid nationwide protests against pension reform.

BIRTHDAYS: (Chaim) Topol, actor, 85; Inez Foxx, singer-songwriter, 78; Dave Stewart, musician/songwriter/producer (Eurythmics) 68; Angela Cartwright, actress, 68; Jeffrey Combs, actor, 66; Hugh Grant, actor, 60; Adam Sandler, comedy actor, 54; Julia Sawalha, actress, 52; Henry Thomas, actor, 49; Natasha Kaplinsky, newsreader, 48; Goran Višnjić, actor, 48; Gok Wan, TV presenter, 46; Michael Buble, singer, 45; Michelle Williams, actress, 40; Luka Modric, footballer, 35.

It happened today – this day in history – September 8