On This Day - What Happened On January 9 - Encyclopedia Britannica

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1431 Joan of Arc put on trial Nineteen-year-old “Joan the Maid,” as she was referred to in court records, was put on trial in France on this day in 1431. She faced more than 70 accusations, including murder and heresy, and she eventually confessed, resulting in a life sentence that was later escalated to execution. Read today's edition of Today in History >> © G. Dagli Orti—DeAgostini/Getty Images

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Richard M. Nixon president of United States bornJanuary 9, 1913Yorba Linda, CaliforniadiedApril 22, 1994 (aged 81)New York City, New York© Gianni Ferrari—Cover/Getty Images 1982 Catherine, princess of Wales consort of Prince William 1955 J.K. Simmons American actor 1941 Joan Baez American singer and political activist 1913 Richard Nixon president of United States 1908 Simone de Beauvoir French writer See All Biographies On This Day

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2005 Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority.© Rıza Ozel—dia images/Getty Images 2001 Apple introduced iTunes, a digital media player application that, with the year's later debut of the iPod, revolutionized digital music.© Tada Images/stock.adobe.com 1982 Catherine Middleton, who married Prince William in 2011, was born in Reading, Berkshire, England. Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about English royaltyKirsty Wigglesworth/Getty Images 1960 Construction began on the Aswan High Dam in Egypt. Upon completion in 1970 it generated enormous amounts of electric power and allowed for the control of the annual Nile flood. Take our quiz about Egypt since the pharaohsShutterstock.com 1941 Singer and political activist Joan Baez, who was at the forefront of the 1960s folk music revival, was born in Staten Island, New York. Test your knowledge of musiciansRowland Scherman/NARA 1934 Quarterback Bart Starr, who led the Green Bay Packers to victory in the first two Super Bowls, was born in Montgomery, Alabama. How much do you know about the Super Bowl?Focus On Sport/Getty Images 1908 Simone de Beauvoir, a writer and feminist who gave a literary transcription to the themes of existentialism, was born in Paris. Test your knowledge of French writersHulton Archive/Getty Images 1861 Mississippi became the second U.S. state (after South Carolina) to secede from the Union in the run-up to the American Civil War. Read our timeline about the American Civil WarEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1839 Louis Daguerre proclaimed his invention of the daguerreotype, the first commercially successful form of photography. Take our quiz about famous photographersCollection de la Société Francaiçe de Photographie, Paris SIGN UP FOR History's Biggest Headlines Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors. SIGN UP Thanks for signing up for Today in History. Your first newsletter will arrive soon! SIGN UP By clicking "Sign Up" you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.