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ON THIS DAY

On This Day: May 9

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On May 9, 1994, South Africa's newly elected parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.
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On May 9, 1874, Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the Egyptian tomb of King Tutankhamen, was born. Following his death on March 2, 1939, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

1502	Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.
1913	The 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was ratified.
1926	Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made what they claimed was the first airplane flight over the North Pole. (Evidence suggests they may have missed their target by 150 miles.)
1936	Italy annexed Ethiopia.
1961	Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow condemned TV programming as a "vast wasteland" in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters.
1974	The House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
1974	A concert in Cambridge, Mass., prompted rock critic Jon Landau to write, "I saw rock and roll future and it's name is Bruce Springsteen."
1978	The bullet-riddled body of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, who'd been abducted by the Red Brigades, was found in an automobile in the center of Rome.
1994	South Africa's newly-elected parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.
1994	Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, was placed under quarantine after an outbreak of Ebola virus.
2004	Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov and 23 other people were killed in a bombing in the capital Grozny.
2010	Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in major league history, leading the Oakland Athletics in a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
2010	Singer Lena Horne died at age 92.

Current Birthdays

Actress Rosario Dawson turns 32 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni turns 60 years old today.

AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek

1918	Mike Wallace, Broadcast journalist ("60 Minutes"), turns 93
1936	Albert Finney, Actor, turns 75
1936	Glenda Jackson, Actress, turns 75
1937	James L. Brooks, Director, turns 74
1942	John Aschroft, Former attorney general, turns 69
1946	Candice Bergen, Actress ("Murphy Brown"), turns 65
1948	Calvin Murphy, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 63
1949	Billy Joel, Rock singer, musician, turns 62
1950	Tom Petersson, Rock singer, musician (Cheap Trick), turns 61
1951	Alley Mills, Actress ("The Wonder Years"), turns 60
1960	Tony Gwynn, Baseball Hall of Famer, turns 51
1970	Ghostface Killah, Rapper (Wu-Tang Clan), turns 41
1979	Brandon Webb, Baseball player, turns 32
1982	Rachel Boston, Actress ("American Dreams"), turns 29
1984	Prince Fielder, Baseball player, turns 27
1985	Audrina Patridge, TV personality ("The Hills"), turns 26

Historic Birthdays

Howard Carter5/9/1874 - 3/2/1939English archaeologist.Go to obituary »

59	John Brown 5/9/1800 - 12/2/1859 American abolitionist; led raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in 1859
56	Belle Boyd 5/9/1844 - 6/11/1900 American actress and Confederate spy during the Civil War
67	Carl Gustaf Laval 5/9/1845 - 2/2/1913 Swedish scientist, engineer and inventor
77	Sir James Barrie 5/9/1860 - 6/19/1937 Scottish dramatist and novelist; wrote "Peter Pan"
63	Lilian Mary Baylis 5/9/1874 - 11/25/1937 English theatrical manager
85	Henry J. Kaiser 5/9/1882 - 8/24/1967 American industrialist; built dams, bridges and ships
72	Jose Ortega y Gasset 5/9/1883 - 10/18/1955 Spanish philosopher and humanist
76	William du Bois 5/9/1916 - 2/5/1993 American author and illustrator of children's books
67	Pancho Gonzales 5/9/1928 - 7/3/1995 American tennis player; U.S. Open single's champion 8 times between 1953 and 1961