Historical Events on June 9

68 Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditos to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging

1075 Battle at Homburg/Unstrut: German King Henry IV beats Saksen

1531 Pope Clemens VII and Francois I sign secret treaty against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

1534 Jacques Cartier 1st sails into mouth of St Lawrence River

1803 British explorer Matthew Flinders arrives in Sydney becoming the first person to circumnavigate Australia, proving it is one continent [1]

1869 Charles E. Hires sells his 1st root beer, in Philadelphia

1870 US President Ulysses S. Grant meets with Sioux Chief Red Cloud at The White House in Washington, D.C.

1891 French painter Paul Gauguin arrives in Papeete, Tahiti

1898 British Open Men's Golf, Prestwick GC: Harry Vardon of Jersey wins 2nd title by 1 stroke from dual champion Willie Park Jr

1899 American boxer James J. Jeffries KOs defending champion Bob Fitzsimmons of England in 11th round in Brooklyn, New York to win the lineal World Heavyweight title

1905 British Open Men's Golf, St Andrews: Scotsman James Braid wins his 2nd Open title 5 strokes ahead of runners-up Rowland Jones and J.H. Taylor

1908 King Edward VII of Great Britain visits Tsar Nicholas II at Reval, Russia, where the two discuss the growing power of Germany and British plans for reform in Macedonia

1914 Pittsburgh Pirate baseball shortstop Honus Wagner is 2nd player to get 3,000 hits

1915 William Jennings Bryan quits as US Secretary of State

1915 US President Woodrow Wilson sends 2nd Lusitania note to Germany protesting sinking of the Lusitania and refuting German claim British blockade illegal

1923 55th Belmont: Earl Sande riding Zev wins in 2:19

1930 Paavo Nurmi runs world record 6 mile (29:36.4)

1930 Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Lingle is killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by the Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 USD gambling debt owed to Al Capone.

1931 First rocket-powered aircraft design patented by Robert Goddard

1933 Walter Johnson takes over as Cleveland manager

1940 General Charles de Gaulle's 1st meeting with Winston Churchill

1945 71st Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Hoop Jr scores his third of record 5 Derby wins

1945 Following an 8-7 win over the Phils, Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher is arrested on a complaint by a fan that Durocher slugged him

1946 Bhumibol Adulyadej becomes King of Thailand after the death of his brother King Ananda Mahidol

1946 Joe Louis KOs Billy Conn in 8 for heavyweight boxing title

1953 Milton Berle's TV show "Texaco Star Theater" last airs on NBC-TV

1954 Joseph Welch asks US Senator Joseph McCarthy "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" during Senate-Army hearings

1958 HM Queen Elizabeth II officially opens London Gatwick Airport, (LGW), Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom.

1962 Singer Tony Bennett makes his Carnegie Hall concert debut, NYC

1963 Barbra Streisand appears, for her third time, on "The Ed Sullivan Show"

1966 5 Minnesota Twins (Rich Rollins, Zolio Versailes, Tony Oliva, Don Michner, & Harmon Killebrew) all homer in 7th inning to beat A's 9-4

1968 Yugoslav president Tito promises reforms

1968 French Open Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Ken Rosewall beats Rod Laver 6-3, 6-1, 2-6, 6-2; first Grand Slam of Open Era allowing professional players to compete

1970 Bob Dylan given honorary Doctorate of Music at Princeton University

1971 Paul McCartney's album "Ram" goes gold

1972 Bruce Springsteen signs a record deal with Columbia Records

1978 Johannes Gutenberg's Bible, the first book produced using the printing press, (1 of 21 complete versions) sells for $2.4 million, London

1978 Larry Holmes beats Ken Norton in 15 for heavyweight boxing title

1980 14th Music City News Country Awards: Statler Brothers & Loretta Lynn win

1980 Comedian Richard Pryor suffers severe burns from free basing cocaine

1982 General Efraín Rios Montt declares himself President of Guatemala

1983 Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party wins British parliamentary election

1984 Weird Al Yankovic gives a live performance at Starlight Amphitheater

1984 French Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert 6-3, 6-1; 2nd women in Open Era to hold all 4 Grand Slam titles at once

1985 NBA Championship, Boston Garden: Los Angeles Lakers beat Boston Celtics, 111-100 for a 4 games to 2 series victory; Finals MVP: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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

1986 In a clash of future Baseball Hall of Fame starting pitchers California Angel Don Sutton (298 wins) beats Tom Seaver of the Chicago WS (306 wins), 3-0 at Comiskey Park

1990 Dodger Eddie Murray ties Mickey Mantle with baseball's switch hit HRs in 10 games

1990 Michael Jackson is hospitalized with inflamed rib cartilage, in California

1990 French Open Women's Tennis: Monica Seles of Yugoslavia wins her first Grand Slam singles title; beats Steffi Graf 7-6, 6-4

1990 Red Hot Organization releases music album "Red Hot + Blue" featuring contemporary pop stars (including U2; Annie Lennox; Thompson Twins; Sinéad O'Connor; Tom Waits) performing songs of Cole Porter to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV

1991 French Open Men's Tennis: Jim Courier wins first career Grand Slam title; beats fellow American Andre Agassi 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4