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 869, The 8.4-9.0 Mw Sanriku earthquake strikes the area around Sendai in northern Honshu, Japan. Inundation from the tsunami extended several kilometers inland. In 1850, Persian prophet Báb is executed in Tabriz, Persia. In 1850, Zachary Taylor, American general and politician, 12th President of the United States (born 1784) passed away. In 1955, The Russell-Einstein Manifesto calls for a reduction of the risk of nuclear warfare. In 1958, A 7.8 Mw strike-slip earthquake in Alaska causes a landslide that produces a megatsunami. The runup from the waves reached 525 m (1,722 ft) on the rim of Lituya Bay; five people were killed. 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 1995, The Navaly church bombing is carried out by the Sri Lanka Air Force killing 125 Tamil civilian refugees. In 1997, A Fokker 100 from the Brazilian airline TAM launches engineer Fernando Caldeira de Moura Campos into 2,400 meters of free fall after an explosion that depressurized the aircraft. In 1999, Days of student protests begin after Iranian police and hardliners attack a student dormitory at the University of Tehran. Together, these milestones provide historical context for today's news news and ongoing narratives.