137 things happened on 9 January, from AD 400 to 2022. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1806 · 220 years ago
Admiral Horatio Nelson was given a state funeral and buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London. A state funeral is a grand public ceremony to honour a person of great importance to the nation. Nelson was a Royal Navy officer who led Britain to many important vi…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduced an income tax in Great Britain to help pay for the war against France. Income tax is money people pay to the government from what they earn. Pitt's tax was two shillings in every pound, which is one-tenth, because a shilling was one-twentieth of a pound. In 1801 Pitt became the first prime minister of the United Kingdom.
UK story
Admiral Horatio Nelson was given a state funeral and buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London. A state funeral is a grand public ceremony to honour a person of great importance to the nation. Nelson was a Royal Navy officer who led Britain to many important victories at sea during the wars against France. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest admirals in history.
UK story
Humphry Davy's new safety lamp was tested at Hebburn Colliery, a coal mine. In mines, flammable gases such as methane, called firedamp, could explode if they met an open flame. Davy's lamp kept the flame inside a mesh screen to reduce the danger. Davy was a British chemist who was also the first to separate the elements sodium and potassium.
UK story
During the Nimrod Expedition, Ernest Shackleton and his team planted the British flag about 180 kilometres from the South Pole. No one had ever been so far south. They did not reach the pole, but it was by far the longest journey towards a pole that anyone had made. The expedition also made the first climb of Mount Erebus, a volcano in Antarctica.
UK story
The Avro Lancaster, a British four-engine heavy bomber, made its first flight. It was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. The Lancaster joined the Royal Air Force in 1942. It became the RAF's main heavy bomber of the Second World War and was nicknamed the 'Lanc'.
UK story
British forces finally defeat Rajab Ali Khan of Chittagong.
UK story
Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
UK story
First World War: Troops of the British Empire defeated Ottoman forces at the Battle of Rafa on the Sinai–Palestine border.
UK story
British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
UK story
British authorities announce they have uncovered the Soviet Portland spy ring in London.
UK story
Seawise University, formerly RMS Queen Elizabeth (pictured), an ocean liner that sailed the Atlantic for Cunard Line, caught fire in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
The French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype, an early way of taking photographs. It was the second photographic process ever made available to the public. Daguerreotypes were widely used from the 1830s to the 1850s. The word 'daguerreotype' also means a picture made using this process.
Spanish engineer Juan de la Cierva made the first successful flight in his autogyro, a stable aircraft with spinning blades. An autogyro has a rotor on top like a helicopter, but its rotor is not driven by the engine. Instead, the air turns the blades as a normal propeller pushes the aircraft forward.
NASA announced plans to build a huge rocket, then called the 'Advanced Saturn', to carry people to the Moon. It became the Saturn V, a rocket with three stages. Saturn V rockets launched 24 astronauts towards the Moon on the Apollo missions. In 1969, the Apollo programme landed the first humans on the Moon.
Radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced that they had found two planets orbiting a pulsar called PSR B1257+12. They were the first planets outside our Solar System, called exoplanets, ever to be confirmed. This pulsar spins about 160 times every second. By October 2026, more than 6,000 exoplanets had been confirmed.
Apple's boss, Steve Jobs, introduced the first iPhone at a Macworld event in San Francisco. The smartphone had a 3.5-inch touchscreen that could sense several fingers at once, and a web browser called Safari. It went on sale in the United States on 29 June 2007. In the same year, Apple Computer changed its name to Apple Inc., as it moved beyond computers into other electronics.
Aelia Eudoxia is officially crowned empress of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
The nationally known image of the Black Nazarene in the Philippines is transferred from what is now Rizal Park to its present shrine in the minor basilica of Quiapo Church. This is annually commemorated through its Traslación (solemn transfer) in the streets of Manila and is attended by millions of devotees.
Connecticut becomes the fifth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed, ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92.
Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
War of the First Coalition: The siege of Kehl by Habsburg and Württembergian forces ended when French troops withdrew from their fortifications.
The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
An earthquake registering 7.9 Mw ruptured part of the San Andreas Fault in central and southern California.
American Civil War: "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.
Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
The Phi Beta Sigma fraternity is founded by African-American students at Howard University in Washington D.C., United States.
World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
World War I: A meeting of the German Crown Council decided upon the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare.
Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
Ukrainian War of Independence: The All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee outlaws the Makhnovshchina by decree, igniting the Bolshevik–Makhnovist conflict.
Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
The Kingdom of Italy would officially the coastal areas of its Colony of Libya as an integral part of the country itself, becoming the nation's Fourth Shore.
World War II: The Sixth United States Army begins the invasion of Lingayen Gulf.
President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
The Presidential Council for Minority Rights, an appointed body to review legislation and prevent discrimination against minorities, was created in Singapore.
The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the longest in major American professional team sports.
The Great Storm spawned the first of 45 tornadoes over a three-day period in the Southeastern United States.
Iranian Revolution: Protests took place in Qom after an article insulting Ruhollah Khomeini was published.
Representatives from the United States and Iraq met at the Geneva Peace Conference to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to succeed Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority, replacing interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
Mont-Libre Agile Learning Centre, the province of Quebec's first alternative schooling democratic learning centre to support homeschooled youth, opens in the city of Montreal.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Admiral Nelson is given a state funeral at St Paul's Cathedral”?
A: 1806. 1806 — that’s 220 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “William Pitt the Younger introduces income tax”?
A: 1799. 1799 — that’s 227 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
B: William Pitt the Younger introduces income tax. 1816: Humphry Davy's safety lamp is tested in a coal mine · 1799: William Pitt the Younger introduces income tax · 1806: Admiral Nelson is given a state funeral at St Paul's Cathedral Find it on the page
“Humphry Davy's safety lamp is tested in a coal mine” happened in 1816. How many years ago was that?
A: 210 years. 2026 − 1816 = 210. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 9 January.
UK story
Catherine, Princess of Wales, is a member of the British royal family. She was born in Reading and studied art history at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where she met Prince William. They married at Westminster Abbey in 2011 and have three children: George, Charlotte and Louis. Her charity work focuses on early childhood, addiction and the arts.
Well-known people who died on 9 January.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 9 January somewhere in the world.
Content note: these entries mention things like war, violence, deaths, disasters or crime. They are part of history, but they can be upsetting. Grown-ups and teachers: you may want to read them first. They come straight from Wikipedia and have not been rewritten for children.
Stories with a heading have been written for young readers by A Day in the Past, using the linked articles as sources. Other entries show text from Wikipedia’s “January 9” page and its “On this day” feed, written by Wikipedia contributors and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Each “Read more” link goes to the article an entry is based on. Photos are credited under each picture. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us.