TODAY IN HISTORY ― MAY 9

May 9 is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 236 days remaining until the end of the year.

NATIONAL LOST SOCK MEMORIAL DAY 

1092 – Lincoln Cathedral (The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln) is consecrated. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 238 years (1311–1549).

1763 – The Siege of Detroit, also known as the Surrender of Detroit, or the Battle of Fort Detroit, was an early engagement in the Anglo-American War of 1812. A British force under Major General Isaac Brock with with Native American allies under the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, used bluff and deception to intimidate the American Brigadier General William Hull into surrendering the fort and town of Detroit, Michigan, and a dispirited army which nevertheless outnumbered the victorious British and Native Americans.

1865 – American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama. He was one of the few officers in either army to enlist as a private and be promoted to general officer and corps commander during the war. Although Forrest lacked formal military education, he had a gift for leadership, strategy and tactics. 

1865 – American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.

1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100 mph (160 km/h).

1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim.)  When he returned to the United States from the Arctic, Byrd became a national hero. Congress passed a special act on December 21, 1926 promoting him to the rank of commander and awarding both him and Floyd Bennett the Medal of Honor. Bennett was promoted to the warrant officer rank of Machinist. Byrd and Bennett were presented with Tiffany Cross versions of the Medal of Honor on March 5, 1927 at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge. The widespread acclaim from the flight enabled Byrd to secure funding for the subsequent attempt to fly over the South Pole.

1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.

1942 – Holocaust: The German SS murders 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast, Ukraine). The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants murdered or deported. ― From historyholdsthesecrets.wordpress.com

1950 – Robert Schuman presents his proposal on the creation of an organized Europe, which according to him was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations. This proposal, known as the "Schuman Declaration", is considered by some people to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union. Inspired and for the most part drafted by Jean Monnet, this was a proposal to place Franco-German production of coal and steel under one common High Authority. This organization would be open to participation to other European countries. This cooperation was to be designed in such a way as to create common interests between European countries which would lead to gradual political integration

1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.

1970 – Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House. ― From history.com/this-day-in-history

1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.

1980 – In Florida, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1,400-ft. section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft. into the water and die.

1980 – The Norco, California shootout: Five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.

2002 – The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries.

2015 – Russia stages its biggest ever military parade in Moscow's Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day (VE-Day, WWII).

BORN TODAY

1800 – John Brown, American abolitionist and activist, Harper's Ferry (VA) raid (d. 1859)

1821 – William Henry Vanderbilt, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1885)
1845 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman, steam turbine design (d. 1913)

1882 – Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards (d. 1967)

1884 – Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (d. 1972)
1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist, media personality and one-time game show host (d. 2012)

1922 – Mary Q. Steele, American naturalist and author (d. 1992)

1947 – H. Robert Horvitz, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
From Wikipedia and Google (images), ex as noted.