9 May 1558

A Friday in history

Weekday

Friday

Season

Spring (N. Hemisphere)

Century

16th century

Records

267

  1. 2023

    Pakistani protests: Riots broke out following the arrest of former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.

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  2. 2012

    The pilots of a Sukhoi Superjet, ignoring alerts from the terrain warning system, crashed the aircraft into Mount Salak in Indonesia, resulting in the deaths of all 45 people on board.

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  3. 2005

    Pope Benedict XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor Pope John Paul II, waiving the standard five years required after the nominee's death.

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  4. 2001

    Police at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, Ghana, fired tear gas to quell unrest at a football match, leading to a stampede that killed 126 people.

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  5. 1992

    An underground methane explosion occurred at the Westray Mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, killing all 26 Canadian coal miners who were working at the time.

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  6. 1980

    Part of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida collapsed after a pier was struck by MV Summit Venture, killing 35 people.

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  7. 1979

    Prominent Iranian Jew Habib Elghanian was executed after having been convicted by a revolutionary tribunal of various charges, triggering a mass exodus of Jews from Iran.

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  8. 1977

    The Hotel Polen in Amsterdam was destroyed by fire (pictured), leaving 33 people dead.

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  9. 1968

    About 200 students at Bucks County Community College held a protest after the college canceled a planned speech by gay rights activist Dick Leitsch.

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  10. 1964

    Ngô Đình Cẩn, a younger brother and the confidant of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Đình Diệm, was executed by Nguyễn Khánh's military junta.

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  11. 1961

    In a speech to U.S. broadcasters, Newton Minow, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, described commercial television programming as "a vast wasteland".

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  12. 1960

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it would approve the use of Searle's Enovid, the first combined oral contraceptive pill.

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  13. 1949

    Rainier III became Prince of Monaco, beginning a 56-year reign, which would make him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century.

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  14. 1944

    World War II: The Japanese Take Ichi convoy arrived at Halmahera in the Dutch East Indies after losing many ships and thousands of troops to Allied attacks while attempting to carry two divisions of troops from China to New Guinea.

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  15. 1918

    First World War: Germany repelled Britain's second attempt to blockade the Belgian port of Ostend.

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  16. 1915

    World War I: British forces launched the Battle of Aubers, an offensive on the Western Front, as part of the larger Second Battle of Artois.

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  17. 1877

    An earthquake struck northern Chile, leading to the deaths of 2,385 people, mostly victims of the ensuing tsunami, as far away as Hawaii and Fiji.

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  18. 1864

    Second Schleswig War: The Battle of Heligoland (depicted), the last naval engagement fought by squadrons of wooden ships, took place between the Danish and Austro-Prussian fleets.

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  19. 1761

    The inaugural exhibition of the Society of Artists of Great Britain opened at Spring Gardens in London.

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Photo archive

24 historic images from this day — tap to open the gallery.

What was life like?

Prices, jobs, food, music and everyday routine — the world as it felt to live in.

Sources & fact check

Every claim is traced to primary sources, archives, universities and the press — with an explicit confidence rating. Dossiers are generated once and cached permanently.