Calendar date · December

What happened on December 9

On December 9, 536: Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital.

Events

54

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Sagittarius

Featured moment · 536

Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital.

The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily, and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic wars against the Byzantine Empire. The war had its roots in Justinian's ambition to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost to invading barbarian tribes during the Migration Period.

People

Born on December 9

Ni-Ki 2005– Japanese singer (born 2005)
Yuna 2003– South Korean rapper and singer (born 2003)
Diāna Ņikitina 2000– Latvian figure skater
Harvey Barnes 1997– English footballer (born 1997)
Mackenzie Blackwood 1996– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1996)
Kyle Connor 1996– American ice hockey player (born 1996)
MyKayla Skinner 1996– American artistic gymnast (born 1996)
AleXa 1996– American singer (born 1996)
Simone Fontecchio 1995– Italian basketball player (born 1995)
Show 9 more — notable births on December 9
McKayla Maroney 1995– American artistic gymnast (born 1995)
Kelly Oubre Jr. 1995– American basketball player (born 1995)
Ryan Lomberg 1994– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1994)
Cem Ince 1993– German politician (born 1993)
Mark McMorris 1993– Canadian snowboarder (born 1993)
Laura Smulders 1993– Dutch racing cyclist (born 1993)
Langston Galloway 1991– American basketball player (born 1991)
Choi Min-ho 1991– South Korean entertainer (born 1991)
Ashleigh Brewer 1990– Australian actress (born 1990)

People

Died on December 9

Nikki Giovanni American poet, writer and activist (1943–2024)
Jovit Baldivino Filipino singer and actor (1993–2022)
Speedy Duncan American football player (1942–2021)
Demaryius Thomas American football player (1987–2021)
Soshana Afroyim Austrian painter (1927–2015)
Norman Breslow American statistician and medical researcher
Juvenal Juvêncio Brazilian lawyer and football manager (1934–2015)
Julio Terrazas Sandoval Bolivian cardinal (born 1936)
Sacvan Bercovitch Canadian literary and cultural critic
Show 9 more — notable deaths on December 9
Jane Freilicher American painter (1924–2014)
Jorge María Mejía Argentine cardinal
Mary Ann Mobley American actress (1937–2014)
Blagoje Paunović Serbian footballer and manager
Jože Toporišič Slovenian linguist and author (born 1926)
Hristu Cândroveanu Aromanian editor, literary critic and writer
John Gabbert California Court of Appeal justice
Barbara Hesse-Bukowska Polish pianist (1930–2013)
Eleanor Parker American actress (1922–2013)

Timeline

Every December 9 on record

  1. 536 Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flees the capital.

    Byzantine–Gothic war in Italy

    The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily, and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic wars against the Byzantine Empire. The war had its roots in Justinian's ambition to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost to invading barbarian tribes during the Migration Period.

  2. 730 Battle of Marj Ardabil: The Khazars annihilate an Umayyad army and kill its commander, al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami.

    730 battle of the Second Arab-Khazar War

    The Battle of Marj Ardabil was a military engagement between the Umayyads and the Khazars in AD 730. A Khazar army led by Barjik, the Khazar Khagan, inflicted a catastrophic defeat on the Umayyads, killing the majority of the army and its leader, al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah. Afterwards, the Khazars sacked Azerbaijan freely at will.

  3. 1432 The first battle between the forces of Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis is fought near the town of Oszmiana (Ashmyany), launching the most active phase of the Lithuanian Civil War.

    Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432

    Švitrigaila was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432. He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousins Vytautas and Sigismund Kęstutaitis.

  4. 1531 The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.

    Marian apparitions in December 1531

    Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe and as La Virgen Morena, is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle Juan Bernardino reported in December 1531, when the Mexican territories were part of the Spanish Empire.

  5. 1636 The Qing dynasty of China, led by Emperor Hong Taiji, invades Joseon.

    Manchu-led dynasty of China (1644–1912)

    The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, also known as the Qing Empire or Qing China, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia which existed from 1636/1644 to 1912. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. At its height of power, the empire stretched from the Sea of Japan in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west, and from the Mongolian Plateau in the north to the South China Sea in the south.

  6. 1775 American Revolutionary War: British troops and Loyalists, misinformed about Patriot militia strength, lose the Battle of Great Bridge, ending British rule in Virginia.
  7. 1822 French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, in a memoir read to the Academy of Sciences, coins the terms linear polarization, circular polarization, and elliptical polarization, and reports a direct refraction experiment verifying his theory that optical rotation is a form of birefringence.
  8. 1824 Patriot forces led by General Antonio José de Sucre defeat a Royalist army in the Battle of Ayacucho, putting an end to the Peruvian War of Independence.
  9. 1835 Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captures San Antonio following the Siege of Béxar.
  10. 1851 The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal.
  11. 1856 The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.
  12. 1861 American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by Congress.
  13. 1868 The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
  14. 1872 In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African American governor of a U.S. state following the impeachment of Henry C. Warmoth.
  15. 1893 National Assembly bombing by Auguste Vaillant during the Ère des attentats (1892–1894).
Show 15 earlier entries from December 9
  1. 1905 In France, a law separating church and state is passed.
  2. 1911 A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee, kills 84 miners despite rescue efforts led by the United States Bureau of Mines.
  3. 1917 World War I: Field Marshal Allenby captures Jerusalem from the Ottoman Empire.
  4. 1917 World War I: The Kingdom of Romania signs the Armistice of Focșani with the Central Powers.
  5. 1922 Gabriel Narutowicz is elected the first president of Poland.
  6. 1931 The Constituent Cortes approves a constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.
  7. 1935 Student protests occur in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, and are subsequently dispersed by government authorities.
  8. 1935 Walter Liggett, an American newspaper editor and muckraker, is killed in a gangland murder.
  9. 1937 Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Yasuhiko Asaka launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanking.
  10. 1940 World War II: Operation Compass: British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.
  11. 1941 World War II: China, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Philippine Commonwealth declare war on Germany and Japan.
  12. 1946 The subsequent Nuremberg trials begin with the Doctors' Trial, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.
  13. 1946 The Constituent Assembly of India meets for the first time to write the Constitution of India.
  14. 1948 The Genocide Convention is adopted.
  15. 1950 Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

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