153 things happened on 9 October, from AD 768 to 2024. UK stories come first, then the rest of the world.
1676 · 350 years ago
The Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek wrote to the Royal Society in London about tiny creatures he called 'animalcules', or little animals. It is the first known description of protozoa. These are living things made of a single cell, far too small to se…
UK history first: stories from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
UK story
The Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek wrote to the Royal Society in London about tiny creatures he called 'animalcules', or little animals. It is the first known description of protozoa. These are living things made of a single cell, far too small to see with the naked eye. Leeuwenhoek, one of the first scientists to study life through a microscope, is often called 'the Father of Microbiology'.
UK story
The children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends was shown for the first time on ITV. It was based on The Railway Series, a set of books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and Christopher Awdry. The stories follow Thomas and other steam engines that think and talk like people, on the made-up Island of Sodor. The Railway Series has 42 books with 169 stories in total.
UK story
The Phantom of the Opera, a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, opened in London's West End. It is based on a 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux. The story follows a young singer, Christine Daaé, and a mysterious musical genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House. The show later became the longest-running show in the history of Broadway, New York's famous theatre district.
UK story
Roger Williams is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony after religious and policy disagreements.
UK story
War of 1812: In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships: HMS Detroit and HMS Caledonia.
UK story
The Cook Islands become a territory of the United Kingdom.
UK story
Australia's Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 receives royal assent.
The Prague astronomical clock, also called the Prague Orloj, was mentioned in writing for the first time. This medieval clock is attached to the Old Town Hall in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. An astronomical clock shows the positions of things in the sky, such as the Sun and Moon, as well as the time.
A supernova – the huge explosion of a star – appeared in our galaxy, the Milky Way, in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the most recent supernova in the Milky Way that people are certain they saw with the naked eye. It is named after the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who described it in a book.
The Dublin and Kingstown Railway opened, becoming the first public railway on the island of Ireland. Its trains linked Westland Row in Dublin with Kingstown Harbour, also in County Dublin. It was Ireland's first passenger railway, and it opened just five years after the famous Rainhill Trials in England.
The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., officially opened to the public. At the time, it was the tallest building in the world. The 169-metre obelisk – a tall, four-sided pillar with a pointed top – honours George Washington, the first President of the United States. Its outside uses three different kinds of white marble, because the building work was interrupted several times.
American engineer Nick Holonyak gave the first public demonstration of a light-emitting diode, or LED, that glowed with visible light. He was working at a General Electric research laboratory near Syracuse, New York. His device paved the way for the first LEDs that were sold to the public.
A meteorite weighing about 12.6 kg smashed into a parked car in Peekskill, New York, USA. Sixteen separate videos captured it burning through Earth's atmosphere, making it a very well-recorded meteorite fall. The stony space rock is about one-fifth nickel-iron, in the form of tiny flakes.
Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned kings of the Franks.
James I of Aragon founds the Kingdom of Valencia.
Pressed by a food embargo, the five Catholic cantons of Central Switzerland declare war on the Protestant canton of Zurich, starting the Second War of Kappel.
Troops of the Portuguese Empire are defeated on Sri Lanka, bringing an end to the Campaign of Danture.
Allied Imperial and Polish-Lithuanian forces defeat the retreating Ottoman forces in the battle of Parkany.
The Collegiate School of Connecticut (later renamed Yale University) is chartered in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Great Northern War: Russia defeated Sweden at the Battle of Lesnaya on the Russian–Polish border, in present-day Belarus.
Seven Years' War: Russian and Austrian troops briefly occupy Berlin.
French Revolution: After a month-long siege, the leaders of Lyon surrendered, ending their revolt against the National Convention.
Hobart, capital of Tasmania, is founded.
Prussia begins the War of the Fourth Coalition against France.
Late in the Napoleonic Wars, Empress Marie Louise (pictured) issued decrees conscripting tens of thousands of French teenagers, who became known as Marie-Louises.
Guayaquil declares independence from Spain.
Restauration arrives in New York Harbor from Norway, the first organized immigration from Norway to the United States.
Slavery is abolished in the Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy.
American Civil War: Union troops repel a Confederate attempt to capture Fort Pickens in the Battle of Santa Rosa Island.
American Civil War: Union cavalrymen defeat Confederate forces at Toms Brook, Virginia during Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign.
A meeting at the U.S. Naval Academy establishes the U.S. Naval Institute.
The Universal Postal Union, then known as the General Postal Union, was established with the signing of the Treaty of Bern to unify disparate postal services and regulations so that international mail could be exchanged easily.
Following a reduction in pay, textile workers in Little Falls, New York, walked out of their mill, starting a three-month strike.
World War I: The civilian authorities of Antwerp surrendered and allowed the German army to capture the city.
The Finnish Parliament elects Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse as King of Finland, but he never accedes to the throne due to Germany's defeat in World War I.
Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam) begins to generate electricity and transmit it to Los Angeles.
A coup in Panama declares Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia Arango the new president.
World War II: American forces defeated the Japanese at the Third Battle of the Matanikau in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, reversing the Japanese victory a couple of weeks earlier.
Uganda becomes an independent Commonwealth realm.
In Chicago, the National Guard is called in as demonstrations continue over the trial of the "Chicago Eight".
The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.
Pope John Paul II greets the Dalai Lama during a private audience in Vatican City.
President François Mitterrand abolishes capital punishment in France.
Fox Broadcasting Company (FBC) launches as the fourth US television network.
An Amtrak Sunset Limited train is derailed by saboteurs near Palo Verde, Arizona.
North Korea conducts its first nuclear test.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its all-time high of 14,164 points before rapidly declining due to the 2008 financial crisis.
First lunar impact of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program.
Syrian civil war: Turkish forces began an offensive into north-eastern Syria following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.
Hurricane Milton makes landfall in Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 hurricane, causing US$34.3 billion in damage only two weeks after Hurricane Helene impacted the state.
Every answer is somewhere on this page. Have a go, then check!
In which year did this happen: “Leeuwenhoek tells the Royal Society about tiny 'animalcules'”?
B: 1676. 1676 — that’s 350 years ago. Find it on the page
In which year did this happen: “The Phantom of the Opera opens in London's West End”?
B: 1986. 1986 — that’s 40 years ago. Find it on the page
Which of these happened first?
C: Leeuwenhoek tells the Royal Society about tiny 'animalcules'. 1986: The Phantom of the Opera opens in London's West End · 1984: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends first appears on ITV · 1676: Leeuwenhoek tells the Royal Society about tiny 'animalcules' Find it on the page
“John Lennon” happened in 1940. How many years ago was that?
C: 86 years. 2026 − 1940 = 86. Find it on the page
Famous people whose birthday is 9 October.
UK story
John Lennon was an English musician and songwriter who founded the Beatles. He was one of the band's lead singers and played rhythm guitar. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney is the most successful in history. The Beatles' first single, 'Love Me Do', came out in 1962.
UK story
Peter Mansfield was an English physicist and a professor at the University of Nottingham. He shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Lauterbur for discoveries about magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. MRI scanners let doctors see detailed pictures of the inside of the body. Mansfield was knighted, becoming Sir Peter Mansfield.
Well-known people who died on 9 October.
Festivals, holidays and saints’ days celebrated on 9 October somewhere in the world.
World Post Day is held every year on 9 October. It marks the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union, which began in Switzerland in 1874. The Union made it easier to send letters all over the world. The day was first celebrated in 1969, and in some countries post offices hold special stamp exhibitions and open days.
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 “October 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.