On This Day in History: January 9

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 +

France declares war on Spain on January 9, 1719, escalating the War of the Quadruple Alliance.(Austria, Britain, the Dutch Republic (United Provinces), and France, against Spain. A conflict fueled by King Philip V of Spain's attempt to regain lost Italian territories following the War of the Spanish Succession. Expand +

Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats Maratha forces at the Battle of Barari Ghat on January 9, 1760. The victory opened Delhi to the Afghans leading to his decisive triumph over the Marathas at the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761. The weakening of the Maratha power in North India creating a power vacuum eventually filled by the British.

Connecticut ratifies the Articles of Confederation becoming the fifth State.

The first successful balloon flight in America takes place in Philadelphia on January 9, 1793, by French aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Expand +

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

Davy Crockett arrives in Texas, on January 9, 1836 to join the fight for independence from Mexico. Crockett died on March 6, 1836: at the Battle of the Alamo defending the mission.

Mississippi secedes from the Union on January 9, 1861, becoming the second State to do so, 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.

The Aswan High Dam in Egypt construction officially begins  o January 9, 1960, with President Gamal Abdel Nasser detonating dynamite to mark the start of the massive project.  Expand +