November 9
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1960
The Sydney Opera House’s first show (featuring scaffolding)
The Sydney Opera House was still under construction, but on this day in 1960, the venue held its first, albeit unofficial, concert. The entertainment was provided by legendary singer and civil rights activist Paul Robeson. Construction paused while Robeson performed for the workers. What did he perform? Read on (and be sure to follow the link to see and hear Robeson’s stirring performance) to discover more.
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Featured Event
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Opening of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was opened on this day in 1989. It had been built by the East German government beginning in 1961 so as to prevent access to West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. [What Cold War crisis provoked East Germany to build the Berlin Wall?]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
Rollie McKenna
Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Welsh poet and prose writer Dylan Thomas, whose work is known for its comic exuberance, rhapsodic lilt, and pathos and whose personal bouts with drinking were notorious, died this day in 1953 of an alcohol overdose.
Famous Birthdays
More on November 9
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2004
Swedish writer and activist Stieg Larsson died from a heart attack in Stockholm, a year before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first installment in his internationally acclaimed Millennium series, was published. [Take our quiz about authors and poets.]
Scott Harrison/© Archive Photos
1996
Evander Holyfield scored a technical knockout of Mike Tyson to win the heavyweight boxing championship for a third time. [How much do you know about boxing?]
Foto24—Gallo Images/Getty Images
1985
Garry Kasparov, who was 22 years old, defeated Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest male world chess champion. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about chess.]
New Line Cinema
1984
Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street was released in American theaters, introducing moviegoers to the villain Freddy Krueger; considered a horror classic, it spun off a number of sequels. [Take our quiz about scary movies.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1953
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1943
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was created by a 44-nation agreement. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about world organizations.]
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
1938
Beginning on this night, called Kristallnacht (“Crystal Night” or “Night of Broken Glass”), some 48 hours of Nazi-orchestrated anti-Jewish violence erupted throughout Germany and Austria, resulting in the destruction and vandalizing of synagogues and Jewish businesses and the deaths of at least 91 Jews. [Test your knowledge of German history.]
Heinrich Hoffmann, Munich
1923
The Beer Hall Putsch led by Adolf Hitler ended after 16 Nazis were killed on a march toward the Marienplatz in the center of Munich, Germany. [How much do you know about Adolf Hitler?]
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1923
Alice Coachman, the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal, was born. [Test your knowledge of Olympic history.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1922
Albert Einstein was named the winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect; the Nobel committee had delayed awarding the 1921 physics prize until 1922. [Take our quiz about Albert Einstein.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-48211)
1922
American singer and film actress Dorothy Dandridge, the first Black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress, was born. [How much do you know about the Academy Awards?]
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1888
Jack the Ripper’s infamous killing spree in the Whitechapel district of London’s East End came to an end. [Read about seven of history’s most notorious serial killers, including Jack the Ripper.]
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1877
Indian poet and philosopher Sir Muḥammad Iqbāl—who was known for his influential efforts to direct his fellow Muslims toward the establishment of a separate Muslim state, an aspiration that was eventually realized in the country of Pakistan—was born in Sialkot, India (now in Pakistan).
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
1799
The Coup of 18–19 Brumaire began in Paris, marking Napoleon’s rise to power and the end of the French Revolution. [Test your knowledge of Napoleon Bonaparte.]