What are the important events that happened on February 9? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

February 9: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 9 is the 40^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 326 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Friday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is January 27, 2024 – a Friday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,457,280 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘tetracontagon’ day.

Aquarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there is one day remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,067 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 9 Historical Events

• 1885 –
  The first Japanese government-approved immigrants arrive in Hawaii.
• 1889 –
  President Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.
• 1895 –
  William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
• 1945 –
  World War II: The Battle of the Atlantic – HMS Venturer sinks U-864 off the coast of Fedje, Norway, in a rare instance of submarine-to-submarine combat.
• 1950 –
  Second Red Scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accuses the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.
• 1967 –
  New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Fire Sheep in Chinese astrology.
• 1969 –
  First test flight of the Boeing 747.
• 1971 –
  Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.
• 1975 –
  The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.
• 2001 –
  The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally strikes and sinks the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training vessel operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.

Who were born on February 9?

• 1865 –
  Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, geophysicist, and polar scientist (d. 1949)
• 1871 –
  Howard Taylor Ricketts, American bacteriologist. (d. 1910)
• 1901 –
  James Murray, American actor (d. 1936)
• 1909 –
  Harald Genzmer, German composer (d. 2007)
• 1919 –
  John Abramovic, American basketball player (d. 2000)
• 1929 –
  Clement Meadmore, Australian-born sculptor (d. 2005)
• 1946 –
  Eamon Duffy, Irish academic, Cambridge University
• 1949 –
  Judith Light, American actress
• 1975 –
  Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican baseball player
• 1979 –
  David Gray, English snooker player

Who died on February 9?

• 1675 –
  Gerhard Douw, Dutch painter (b. 1613)
• 1777 –
  Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (b. 1706)
• 1874 –
  Jules Michelet, French historian (b. 1798)
• 1966 –
  Sophie Tucker, Russian-born actress (b. 1884)
• 2002 –
  Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (b. 1930)
• 2004 –
  Claude Ryan, Canadian newspaper director and politician (b. 1925)
• 2005 –
  Tyrone Davis, American soul singer (b. 1938)
• 2006 –
  Nadira, Indian actress (b. 1932)
• 2006 –
  Sir Freddie Laker, British airline entrepreneur (b. 1922)
• 2009 –
  Eluana Englaro, an Italian woman who lived in a persistent vegetative state for 17 years (b. 1970)