By Elinor Evans

Published: Wednesday, 09 February 2022 at 12:00 am


9 February 1098

The Crusaders foil an attempt by Ridwan of Aleppo to break the siege of Antioch by defeating him with their heavy cavalry at the second battle of Harenc.


9 February 1662

Herbert Croft was consecrated bishop of Hereford. During the English Civil War, as dean of Hereford, Croft had risked his life to confront a group of parliamentarian soldiers who had broken into the cathedral.


9 February 1811

Death of Nevil Maskelyne, Britain’s Astronomer Royal for 46 years. Maskelyne argued in favour of the lunar method of determining longitude at sea and oversaw the publication of the Nautical Almanac, a combination of astronomical tables and navigational aids.


9 February 1897

Birth in Brisbane of Australian aviatior Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, the first person to fly the Pacific from west to east.


9 February 1909

Birth in Portugal of Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha. She will move to Brazil shortly after her birth and, under the stage name of Carmen Miranda, the fruit-wearing samba singer will become one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars.


9 February 1910

Birth in Paris of French biologist Jacques Lucien Monod. In 1965 he was joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries concerning the genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis.


9 February 1943

The United States declared victory over Japan in the seven-month WW2 campaign for Guadalcanal and nearby islands in the south-west Pacific.

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