Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
This Day in History — May 9
Billy Joel
News
May 9, 2019

This Day in History — May 9

Today is the 129th day of 2019. There are 236 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

1960: The US Food and Drug Administration approves use of a birth control pill.

OTHER EVENTS

1509: Christopher Columbus sails from Cadiz on his fourth and last voyage to the New World, one that ends with his ships beached on Jamaica.

1688: Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I signs a treaty with Transylvania, transferring the province from Turkish to Hungarian rule.

1788: Britain passes parliamentary motion abolishing slave trade.

1914: Mother’s Day is proclaimed in the United States.

1926: US Navy Commander Richard E Byrd and Floyd Bennett become first men to make aeroplane flight over North Pole.

1933: In Berlin, 25,000 books are thrown into a bonfire in the first of Nazi book burnings.

1944: Soviet forces liberate Sevastopol in the Crimea in World War II.

1946: Italy’s King Victor Emmanuel III abdicates and Umberto II proclaims himself king.

1955: West Germany is admitted into North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

1967: India’s Vice-President Zakir Hussain is named president, becoming the first Muslim to hold that office.

1974: The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

1980: Liberian freighter rams the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, killing 35 motorists and causing a section of the bridge to collapse.

1991: Between 100,000 and 400,000 protesters march in Seoul demanding the resignation of South Korean President Roh Tae-woo.

1992: Police and inmates of Lima’s top-security prison exchange gunfire as the Government tries to retake a cell block held by Maoist rebels.

1994: South Africa’s newly elected Parliament chooses Nelson Mandela to be the country’s first black president.

1998: In an effort to get concessions on Kosovo, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and Japan freeze Yugoslav Government assets and halt investment in Yugoslavia.

1999: NATO launches new attacks on Yugoslav army positions in Kosovo despite outrage over the mistaken bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade the day before.

2000: In a landmark human rights trial, 13 Indonesian soldiers admit they were following orders when they dragged 26 student activists into a field in Aceh province and killed them.

2001: While in Iran, Cuban leader Fidel Castro receives a hero’s welcome and calls the United States an “imperialist king” that would fall just as the shah fell in 1979.

2002: Maryland Governor Parris Glendening orders a moratorium on executions pending completion of a study to determine whether racial bias affected death penalty decisions.

2003: The United States, Britain and Spain offer a draft UN Security Council resolution that would lift sanctions against Iraq and establish US-led control of Iraq’s post-war reconstruction for at least one year.

2009: Jacob Zuma takes power in the culmination of an extraordinary political comeback, pledging to Nelson Mandela and the nation to renew the spirit of commitment and hope of South Africa’s first black presidency.

2010: Experts say North Korea’s submarine fleet is technologically backward, prone to sinking or running aground, and all but useless outside its own coastal waters.

2011: Two major credit agencies signal their concern about Greece’s massive debt, lending new credence to the view that European authorities must do more to help the country a year after it barely avoided bankruptcy with a bailout.

2013: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who has irked Washington with his frequent criticism of American military operations in his country, says that his Government is now ready to let the US have nine bases across Afghanistan after most foreign troops withdraw in 2014.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer (1740-1816); James Pollard Espy, pioneering US meteorologist (1785-1860); John Brown, US anti-slavery activist (1800-1859); Sir James V Barrie, English dramatist (1860-1937); Albert Finney, English actor (1936- ); Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (1936- ); Candice Bergen, US actress (1946- ); Billy Joel, US pop singer (1949- )

— AP

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

Man dies in Manchester Road crash
Latest News, News
Man dies in Manchester Road crash
July 30, 2026
MANCHESTER, Jamaica — A man succumbed to injuries he sustained in a two-vehicle crash on Manchester Road in Mandeville Thursday night. Preliminary rep...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Jamaicans encouraged to support Denbigh Agricultural Show
Latest News, News
Jamaicans encouraged to support Denbigh Agricultural Show
July 30, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) is inviting Jamaicans across the country to attend the 72nd staging of the Denbigh Agricult...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
WATCH: Mother and infant escape injury after highway crash
Latest News, News
WATCH: Mother and infant escape injury after highway crash
July 30, 2026
ST THOMAS, Jamaica — A female driver and her infant daughter escaped serious injuries this afternoon after the car they were travelling crashed into a...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Damian Marley featured on Barack Obama’s summer playlist 2026
Entertainment, Latest News
Damian Marley featured on Barack Obama’s summer playlist 2026
July 30, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Reggae artiste Damian ‘Jr Gong’ Marley was one of dozens of artistes  featured on Former United States President Barack Obama’s su...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Hamas officials confirm deal reached with Israel
International News, Latest News
Hamas officials confirm deal reached with Israel
July 30, 2026
CAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) —  Senior Hamas officials confirmed Friday that they have reached a deal to end the conflict with Israel, aft...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Apple beats expectations on strong iPhone sales
International News, Latest News
Apple beats expectations on strong iPhone sales
July 30, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Apple beat market expectations in its latest results, capping what is expected to be Tim Cook's final earnings re...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Sunshine Girls set up Commonwealth Games semis against Australia
Latest News, Sports
Sunshine Girls set up Commonwealth Games semis against Australia
July 30, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls beat Wales by 46 goals (74-28) to complete their first round schedule in Pool B of the 23rd Commonwealth ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Beverage brands creating experiences at Dream Weekend
Entertainment, Latest News
Beverage brands creating experiences at Dream Weekend
July 30, 2026
ST JAMES, Jamaica — As Dream Weekend returns for its 17th staging in Montego Bay from July 30 to August 3, beverage brands are expected to play a bigg...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct