September 9: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

The tomb of a goldsmith family dating back 3,500 years was discovered near Luxor, Egypt.

Queen Elizabeth II became Great Britain’s longest-reigning monarch in history.

Elizabeth became Queen at age 25 after her father's death, King George VI, on February 6, 1952.

HBO first aired the American war drama miniseries “Band of Brothers” by Steven Spielberg.

Naughty Dog released their first 3D video game, Crash Bandicoot, for the PlayStation.

As the game was in development, Crash's name was initially set as "Willy the Wombat", although this was an in-studio joke and was never going to make it to release.

NASA’s Discovery Space Shuttle launched from Florida on its 19th mission, STS-64.

Tajikistan declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

The Handsworth riots began in Birmingham, England, after a man was arrested near Acapulco Café, Lozells.

The arrest caused racial friction between ethnic minorities and the police. Two men were burned to death, dozens of shops were looted, and 35 people were injured.

John Lennon released his second album, “Imagine.”

President Lyndon B signed the National Traffic and Motor Safety Act, which set new standards for vehicles and drivers.

Grace Hopper fell victim to the first-ever computer bug after removing a moth from her Harvard Mark II computer.

With a record time of 2:52:29, Armas Toivonen was the first European to win gold for a marathon at the European Athletics Championships.

American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard discovered Jupiter’s fifth moon.

The moon was most commonly referred to as Jupiter V until 1976, when the International Astronomical Union adopted Amalthea as its name, after the Roman mythological nymph of the same name. It's the third in distance from Jupiter, is reddish in color, and irregularly shaped.

California became the 31st state to join the United States of America.

Congress changed the official name from United Colonies to the United States of America.

The New England Confederation declared war on the Wampanoag Indians.

After a summer of fighting between colonials and natives known as the Siege of Brookfield, the military alliance decided to declare war, which became known as King Philip's War.