Today in History for 9th June 2026

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Historical Events

1534 - French explorer Jacques Cartier is the 1st European to sail into mouth of St Lawrence River
1572 - William of Orange leads his army into Gelderland and occupies the province during the Dutch Revolt, expanding rebel control in the Low Countries
1970 - Harry Blackmun is sworn in as a US Supreme Court Justice
1985 - French Open Men's Tennis: Sweden's Mats Wilander wins 4th career Grand Slam title; beats Czech star Ivan Lendl 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
2007 - French Open Women's Tennis: Justine Henin wins her 3rd consecutive French singles crown; beats Ana Ivanović of Serbia 6-1, 6-2

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Famous Birthdays

1916 - Robert McNamara, American United States Secretary of Defense (1961-68), played major role in US escalation in Vietnam, born in San Francisco, California (d. 2009)
1922 - Peter Beazley, British politician (C) (European Parliament), born in Chale, Isle of Wight (d. 2004)
1922 - John Gillespie Magee Jr., Anglo-American Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and war poet, born in Shanghai, Republic of China (d. 1941)
1938 - Charles Wuorinen, American contemporary classical pianist, conductor, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (Time's Encomium; Marimba Variations; Brokeback Mountain), born in New York City (d. 2020)
1939 - Ileana Cotrubaş, Romanian soprano, born in Galați, Romania

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Famous Deaths

1716 - Banda Bahadur, Sikh military commander, executed in Delhi by Mughal forces at 45
1870 - Erik Drake, Swedish composer (Royal Swedish Academy of Music), dies at 82
1954 - Alain LeRoy Locke, African-American writer and philosopher “Father of the Harlem Renaissance”, dies at 68
1973 - Erich von Manstein, German Nazi-military commander convicted of war crimes, dies from stroke at 85
2022 - Julee Cruise, American singer (Falling) and stage actress, takes her own life at 65

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