January 9: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

Lebanon elected former army commander Joseph Aoun as President, ending a two-year presidential vacancy.

Since the former president vacated office in October 2022, Lebanon's parliament had failed to elect a new president on twelve prior occasions. President Aouon pledged to rebuild areas targeted by Israel and indirectly addressed the issue of Hezbollah by emphasizing the state's exclusive right to bear arms.

The European Union’s climate service declared that 2023 was the hottest year on record.

The 79th Annual Golden Globes awards occurred privately, and results were shared on the Golden Globes social media.

Five minutes after take-off, Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashed north of Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 62 passengers.

Steve Jobs announced Apple’s very first smartphone, the iPhone 1.

Steve Jobs said he aimed to "reinvent the phone." And that he did.

Michael Jackson accepted the Artist of the Century award in Los Angeles at the American Music Awards.

Apple announced iTunes at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

NASA’s Columbia Space Shuttle launched from the Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-32.

STS-32, the ninth mission flown by the Columbia Space Shuttle, was the longest shuttle mission to date, lasting an impressive eleven days. The mission had two primary objectives; to launch the Leasat 5 military communications satellite and retrieve a bus-sized space lab called the Long Duration Exposure Facility. The shuttle also ferried an IMAX camera into orbit, with the footage taken making it into the 1990 film Blue Planet.

During WWI, The Battle of Gallipoli concluded with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces were evacuated from the Peninsula.

The French Academy of Science announced the first-ever photograph.

The photo was taken by Louis-Jacques-Mandé in 1938 and showed a busy street in Paris, France.

The first-ever all-female golf tournament was held.

Income tax was introduced in the UK so that prime minister William Pitt could collect funds to beat Napoleon.

Jean Pierre Blanchard flew the first hot air balloon in the US.

Blanchard had already exhibited his hot air balloon around Europe before making his debut flight in the US. On this day, he ascended from Washington Prison Yard, Philadelphia, and landed in Gloucester County, New Jersey.

Connecticut became the 5th state to join the United States of America.

France declared war on Spain, leading to the War of the Quadruple Alliance that lasted two years.

During the Black Death persecutions, 700 Jews were burned alive in their own homes in Basel, Netherlands.