On this day: 9 July

The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman emperor Theodosius I.

The elderly noble Avitus is proclaimed Roman emperor by Gothic king Theoderic II in Toulouse.

Odoacer makes a night assault with his Heruli guardsmen, engaging Theoderic the Great in Ad Pinetam. Both sides suffer heavy losses, but in the end Theodoric forces Odoacer back into Ravenna.

Silla forces under general Kim Yu-sin defeat the army of Baekje at the Battle of Hwangsanbeol.

The 8.4–9.0 Mw Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland.

The Fatimid general Jawhar leads the Friday prayer in Fustat in the name of Caliph al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, thereby symbolically completing the Fatimid conquest of Egypt.

Emperor Charles IV assists in laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.

The Old Swiss Confederacy makes great strides in establishing control over its territory by soundly defeating the Duchy of Austria in the Battle of Sempach.

Timur attacks the Jalairid Sultanate and destroys Baghdad.

Bohemia is granted freedom of religion through the Letter of Majesty by the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II.

A Bourbon force under Nicolas Catinat withdraws from a smaller Habsburg force under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the Battle of Carpi.

Safavid Iran captures Ganja from the Ottoman Empire after defeating them in the battle of Yeghevārd.

War of the Austrian Succession: French victory at the Battle of Melle enabled their subsequent capture of Ghent from the Austrian Netherlands.

The Braddock Expedition is soundly defeated by a smaller French and Native American force in its attempt to capture Fort Duquesne in what is now downtown Pittsburgh.

Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III.

The Mozart family grand tour began, presenting the child prodigies Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus across Western Europe.

In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution.

Russo-Swedish War: During the Battle of Svensksund in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish Navy captured a third of the Russian fleet.

The Act Against Slavery in Upper Canada bans the importation of slaves and will free those who are born into slavery after the passage of the Act at 25 years of age.

Financier James Swan pays off the $2,024,899 US national debt that had been accrued during the American Revolution.

The second Treaty of Tilsit is signed between France and Prussia, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.

Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland as part of the First French Empire.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord becomes the first Prime Minister of France.

Argentina declares independence from Spain.

American Civil War: The Siege of Port Hudson ends in a Union victory and, along with the fall of Vicksburg five days earlier, gives the Union complete control of the Mississippi River.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, including the Citizenship Clause and the Equal Protection Clause, was ratified by the minimum required twenty-eight states.

The Herzegovina Uprising against Ottoman rule begins, which would last until 1878 and have far-reaching implications throughout the Balkans.

Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performs the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia.

Politician William Jennings Bryan made his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism, considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history.

The Federation of Australia is given royal assent.

Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds, breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'.

Chiang Kai-shek accepts the post of commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, marking the beginning of the Northern Expedition to unite China under the rule of the Nationalist government.

The state of São Paulo revolts against the Brazilian Federal Government, starting the Constitutionalist Revolution.

Nitrate film being stored in a 20th Century Fox facility spontaneously combusted, destroying more than 40,000 reels of negatives and film prints.

World War II: Continuation War: Finland wins the Battle of Tali–Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in northern Europe. The Red Army withdraws its troops from Ihantala and digs into a defensive position, thus ending the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive.

Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell (pictured) and nine other preeminent intellectuals and scientists issued the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, calling for a conference to assess the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction.

An earthquake struck Lituya Bay, Alaska; the subsequent megatsunami, the largest in modern times, reached an elevation of 1,720 ft (524 m).

Greece becomes the first member state to join the European Economic Community by signing the Athens Agreement, which is later suspended in 1967 during the Greek junta.

In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile organises the youth event of Acto de Chacarillas, a ritualised act reminiscent of Francoist Spain.

Nintendo released the arcade game Donkey Kong, which featured the debut of Mario, one of the most famous characters in video-game history.

The New Zealand Parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand.

The Parliament of Canada passes the Nunavut Act leading to the 1999 creation of Nunavut, dividing the Northwest Territories into arctic (Inuit) and sub-arctic (Dene) lands based on a plebiscite.

Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran.

The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization's first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.

The Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence is released by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, casting doubt on the rationale for the Iraq War.

Italy won their fourth FIFA World Cup title, defeating France 5–3 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time (players pictured).

Under the belief that Israel and the United States were planning to attack its nuclear program, Iran conducted the Great Prophet III missile test and war games.

South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan.

Earth completes its shortest recorded day due to a slight acceleration in rotation, with July 9 lasting approximately 1.3 to 1.6 milliseconds less than 24 hours.