Today in News History

On July 9, several notable moments in the history of News stand out. In 551, A major earthquake strikes Beirut, triggering a devastating tsunami that affects the coastal towns of Byzantine Phoenicia, causing thousands of deaths. In 1790, The Swedish Navy captures one third of the Russian Baltic fleet. In 1918, In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collides with an outbound express, killing 101 and injuring 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history. In 1956, The 7.7 Mw Amorgos earthquake shakes the Cyclades island group in the Aegean Sea with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock. In 1974, Kārlis Skrastiņš, Latvian ice hockey player (died 2011) was born. In 1979, A car bomb destroys a Renault motor car owned by "Nazi hunters" Serge and Beate Klarsfeld outside their home in France in an unsuccessful assassination attempt. In 1982, Pan Am Flight 759 crashes in Kenner, Louisiana, killing all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground. In 1992, Eric Sevareid, American journalist (born 1912) passed away. In 2006, One hundred and twenty-five people are killed when S7 Airlines Flight 778, an Airbus A310 passenger jet, veers off the runway while landing in wet conditions at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia. In 2013, Markus Büchel, Liechtensteiner politician, 9th Prime Minister of Liechtenstein (born 1959) passed away. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.