What Happened Today in History on January 9

King Henry of Trastámara becomes King Henry II of Castile after defeating his half-brother, King Peter, at the Battle of Campo de Montiel.

The Parliament of England convenes in Westminster, focusing on financial matters and reforms.

The trial of Joan of Arc began in Rouen, France, on January 9, 1431, before an ecclesiastical court presided over by Bishop Pierre Cauchon. The trial was conducted by an English-backed church tribunal on charges of heresy, which included wearing men's clothes and acting on what the court claimed were demonic visions.  Expand +

Albert II of Habsburg is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

England and Scotland sign the Treaty of Greenwich, aiming to unite the two kingdoms through the marriage of King Henry VIII's son, Edward, to Mary, Queen of Scots. The Scottish Parliament rejected the treaty in December 1543.

Archbishop William Laud is executed in London for high treason during the English Civil War.

Swedish troops under Charles X Gustav invade Denmark during the Dano-Swedish War.

England's King Charles II grants a trading charter to the Royal African Company to facilitate the Atlantic slave trade.

The British Museum opens its doors to the public in Montagu House, London.

Charles Edward Stuart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, flees to France following his failed Jacobite Rising in Scotland.

The first successful balloon flight in America takes place in Philadelphia, piloted by Jean-Pierre Blanchard.

Connecticut ratifies the Articles of Confederation becoming the fifth State.

The income tax is introduced in Britain to finance the Napoleonic Wars.

Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the American Civil War.

French poet Arthur Rimbaud decides to stop writing at the age of 18.

Record Snow and cold hit the Northern Plains. The winter of 1886–1887, also known as the Big Die-Up, was extremely harsh for much of continental North America, especially the northern plains of the United States where the cattle industry was decimated. The cattle, already weak from lack of forage from the previous dry summer became weaker as they trudged through the deepening snow in search for food. Hundreds of thousands of cattle are said to have died, Montana ranchers alone lost an estimated 362,000 head of cattle, more than half the territory's herd. The disaster led to a major reorganization of ranching and ending the open range era. More

The Russian Revolution of 1905 begins as a peaceful protest by Russian workers in St. Petersburg turns violent.