May 9

Pre-1600

 * 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
 * 1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
 * 1386 – England and Portugal formally ratify their alliance with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, making it the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force.
 * 1450 – Timurid monarch 'Abd al-Latif is assassinated.
 * 1540 – Hernando de Alarcón sets sail on an expedition to the Gulf of California.

1601–1900

 * 1662 – The figure who later became Mr. Punch makes his first recorded appearance in England.
 * 1671 – Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.
 * 1726 – Five men arrested during a raid on Mother Clap's molly house in London are executed at Tyburn.
 * 1864 – Second Schleswig War: The Danish navy defeats the Austrian and Prussian fleets in the Battle of Heligoland.
 * 1865 – American Civil War: Nathan Bedford Forrest surrenders his forces at Gainesville, Alabama.
 * 1865  – American Civil War: President Andrew Johnson issues a proclamation ending belligerent rights of the rebels and enjoining foreign nations to intern or expel Confederate ships.
 * 1873 – Der Krach: The Vienna stock exchange crash heralds the Long Depression.
 * 1877 – Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. The date will become recognised as the Independence Day of Romania.

1901–present

 * 1901 – Australia opens its first national parliament in Melbourne.
 * 1915 – World War I: Second Battle of Artois between German and French forces.
 * 1918 – World War I: Germany repels Britain's second attempt to blockade the port of Ostend, Belgium.
 * 1920 – Polish–Soviet War: The Polish army under General Edward Rydz-Śmigły celebrates its capture of Kiev with a victory parade on Khreshchatyk.
 * 1926 – Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett claim to have flown over the North Pole (later discovery of Byrd's diary appears to cast some doubt on the claim.)
 * 1927 – The Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, officially opens.
 * 1936 – Italy formally annexes Ethiopia after taking the capital Addis Ababa on May 5.
 * 1941 – World War II: The German submarine U-110 is captured by the Royal Navy. On board is the latest Enigma machine which Allied cryptographers later use to break coded German messages.
 * 1942 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: The SS executes 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv (Khmelnytska oblast. The Zoludek Ghetto (in Belarus) is destroyed and all its inhabitants executed or deported.
 * 1946 – King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy abdicates and is succeeded by Umberto II.
 * 1948 – Czechoslovakia's Ninth-of-May Constitution comes into effect.
 * 1950 – Robert Schuman presents the "Schuman Declaration", considered by some to be the beginning of the creation of what is now the European Union.
 * 1955 – Cold War: West Germany joins NATO.
 * 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
 * 1969 – Carlos Lamarca leads the first urban guerrilla action against the military dictatorship of Brazil in São Paulo, by robbing two banks.
 * 1974 – Watergate scandal: The United States House Committee on the Judiciary opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
 * 1979 – Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000-strong Jewish community of Iran.
 * 1980 – In Florida, United States, Liberian freighter MV Summit Venture collides with the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, making a 1400 ft section of the southbound span collapse. Thirty-five people in six cars and a Greyhound bus fall 150 ft into the water and die.
 * 1980  – In Norco, California, United States, five masked gunmen hold up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history. Two of the gunmen and one police officer are killed and thirty-three police and civilian vehicles are destroyed in the chase.
 * 1987 – LOT Flight 5055 Tadeusz Kościuszko crashes after takeoff in Warsaw, Poland, killing all 183 people on board.
 * 1988 – New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
 * 1992 – Armenian forces capture Shusha, marking a major turning point in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
 * 1992 – Westray Mine disaster kills 26 workers in Nova Scotia, Canada.
 * 2001 – In Ghana, 129 football fans die in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster. The deaths are caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of tear gas by police personnel at the stadium) that followed a controversial decision by the referee.
 * 2002 – The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem comes to an end when the Palestinians inside agree to have 13 suspected terrorists among them deported to several different countries.
 * 2018 – The historic defeat for Barisan Nasional, the governing coalition of Malaysia since the country's independence in 1957 in 2018 Malaysian general election.
 * 2020 – The COVID-19 recession causes the U.S. unemployment rate to hit 14.9 percent, its worst rate since the Great Depression.
 * 2022 – Russo-Ukrainian War: United States President Joe Biden signs the 2022 Lend-Lease Act into law, a rebooted World War II-era policy expediting American equipment to Ukraine and other Eastern European countries.

Pre-1600

 * 1147 – Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japanese shōgun (d. 1199)
 * 1151 – al-Adid, last Fatimid caliph (d. 1171)
 * 1540 – Maharana Pratap, Indian ruler (d. 1597)
 * 1555 – Jerónima de la Asunción, Spanish Catholic nun and founder of the first monastery in Manila (d. 1630)
 * 1594 – Louis Henry, Prince of Nassau-Dillenburg, military leader in the Thirty Years' War (d. 1662)

1601–1900

 * 1617 – Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse-Eschwege (d. 1655)
 * 1740 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (probable; d. 1816)
 * 1746 – Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (d. 1818)
 * 1763 – János Batsányi, Hungarian-Austrian poet and author (d. 1845)
 * 1800 – John Brown, American activist (d. 1859)
 * 1801 – Peter Hesketh-Fleetwood, English politician, founded the town of Fleetwood (d. 1866)
 * 1814 – John Brougham, Irish-American actor and playwright (d. 1880)
 * 1823 – Frederick Weld, English-New Zealand politician, 6th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1891)
 * 1824 – Jacob ben Moses Bachrach, Polish apologist and author (d. 1896)
 * 1825 – James Collinson, Victorian painter (d. 1881)
 * 1836 – Ferdinand Monoyer, French ophthalmologist, invented the Monoyer chart (d. 1912)
 * 1837 – Adam Opel, German engineer, founded the Opel Company (d. 1895)
 * 1845 – Gustaf de Laval, Swedish engineer and businessman (d. 1913)
 * 1850 – Edward Weston, English-American chemist (d. 1936)
 * 1855 – Julius Röntgen, German-Dutch composer (d. 1932)
 * 1860 – J. M. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright (d. 1937)
 * 1866 – Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Indian economist and politician (d. 1915)
 * 1870 – Harry Vardon, British golfer (d. 1937)
 * 1873 – Anton Cermak, Czech-American captain and politician, 44th Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)
 * 1874 – Howard Carter, English archaeologist and historian (d. 1939)
 * 1882 – George Barker, American painter (d. 1965)
 * 1882  – Henry J. Kaiser, American shipbuilder and businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards (d. 1967)
 * 1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, author, and critic (d. 1955)
 * 1884 – Valdemar Psilander, Danish actor (d. 1917)
 * 1885 – Gianni Vella, Maltese artist (d. 1977)
 * 1888 – Francesco Baracca, Italian fighter pilot (d. 1918)
 * 1888  – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector (d. 1964)
 * 1892 – Zita of Bourbon-Parma, last Empress of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (d. 1989)
 * 1893 – William Moulton Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1947)
 * 1894 – Benjamin Graham, British-American economist, professor, and investor (d. 1976)
 * 1895 – Richard Barthelmess, American actor (d. 1963)
 * 1895  – Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet, playwright, and philosopher (d. 1961)
 * 1895  – Frank Foss, American pole vaulter (d. 1989)
 * 1896 – Richard Day, Canadian-American art director and set decorator (d. 1972)
 * 1900 – Maria Malicka, Polish stage and film actress (d. 1992)

1901–present

 * 1907 – Jackie Grant, Trinidadian cricketer (d. 1978)
 * 1907  – Baldur von Schirach, German politician (d. 1974)
 * 1908 – Billy Jurges, American baseball player and manager (d. 1997)
 * 1909 – Gordon Bunshaft, American architect, designed the Solow Building (d. 1990)
 * 1912 – Pedro Armendáriz, Mexican-American actor (d. 1963)
 * 1914 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (d. 2005)
 * 1914  – J. Merrill Knapp, American musicologist (d. 1993)
 * 1914  – Hank Snow, American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
 * 1918 – Mike Wallace, American journalist (d. 2012)
 * 1921 – Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and activist (d. 2016)
 * 1921  – Sophie Scholl, German activist (d. 1943)
 * 1924 – Bulat Okudzhava, Russian singer, poet, and author (d. 1997)
 * 1927 – Manfred Eigen, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
 * 1928 – Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (d. 1995)
 * 1928  – Barbara Ann Scott, Canadian figure skater (d. 2012)
 * 1930 – Joan Sims, English actress (d. 2001)
 * 1931 – Vance D. Brand, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut
 * 1932 – Geraldine McEwan, English actress (d. 2015)
 * 1934 – Alan Bennett, English screenwriter, playwright, and novelist
 * 1935 – Nokie Edwards, American guitarist (d. 2018)
 * 1936 – Albert Finney, English actor (d. 2019)
 * 1936  – Glenda Jackson, English actress and politician (d. 2023)
 * 1937 – Dave Prater, American singer (d. 1988)
 * 1938 – Carroll Cole, American serial killer (d. 1985)
 * 1938  – Charles Simić, Serbian-American poet and editor (d. 2023)
 * 1939 – Ion Țiriac, Romanian tennis player and manager
 * 1940 – James L. Brooks, American director, producer, and screenwriter
 * 1941 – Dorothy Hyman, English sprinter
 * 1942 – John Ashcroft, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General
 * 1943 – Vince Cable, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
 * 1943  – Colin Pillinger, English astronomer, chemist, and academic (d. 2014)
 * 1945 – Jupp Heynckes, German footballer and manager
 * 1946 – Candice Bergen, American actress and producer
 * 1947 – Yukiya Amano, Japanese diplomat (d. 2019)
 * 1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player and radio host
 * 1949 – Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter and pianist
 * 1951 – Alley Mills, American actress
 * 1951 – Joy Harjo, American poet, musician, playwright and author, 23rd United States Poet Laureate
 * 1955 – Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (d. 2012)
 * 1955  – Anne Sofie von Otter, Swedish soprano and actress
 * 1956 – Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress and producer
 * 1960 – Tony Gwynn, American baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
 * 1961 – John Corbett, American actor
 * 1962 – Dave Gahan, English singer-songwriter
 * 1962  – Paul Heaton, English singer-songwriter
 * 1965 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
 * 1968 – Graham Harman, American philosopher and academic
 * 1968  – Ruth Kelly, British economist and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
 * 1968  – Marie-José Pérec, French sprinter
 * 1970 – Doug Christie, American basketball player and coach
 * 1970  – Hao Haidong, Chinese footballer
 * 1970  – Ghostface Killah, American rapper and actor
 * 1973 – Tegla Loroupe, Kenyan runner
 * 1975 – Tamia, Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
 * 1975  – Brian Deegan, American motocross rider
 * 1977 – Averno, Mexican wrestler
 * 1977  – Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer
 * 1977  – Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist
 * 1979 – Rosario Dawson, American actress
 * 1979  – Brandon Webb, American baseball player
 * 1980 – Grant Hackett, Australian swimmer
 * 1983 – Gilles Müller, Luxembourgian tennis player
 * 1984 – Prince Fielder, American baseball player
 * 1985 – Jake Long, American football player
 * 1987 – Kevin Gameiro, French footballer
 * 1988 – J. R. Fitzpatrick, Canadian racing driver
 * 1989 – Ellen White, English footballer
 * 1989 – Daniel Rosenfeld, German musician
 * 1991 – Majlinda Kelmendi, Kosovar judoka
 * 1992 – Dan Burn, English footballer
 * 1995 – Tommy Edman, American baseball player
 * 1995  – Beth Mead, English footballer

Pre-1600

 * 480 – Julius Nepos, Western Roman Emperor
 * 729 – Osric, king of Northumbria
 * 893 – Shi Pu, warlord of the Tang Dynasty
 * 909 – Adalgar, archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
 * 934 – Wang Sitong, Chinese general and governor (b. 892)
 * 1280 – Magnus VI of Norway
 * 1315 – Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1282)
 * 1329 – John Drokensford, Bishop of Bath and Wells
 * 1443 – Niccolò Albergati, Italian Cardinal and diplomat (b. 1373)
 * 1446 – Mary of Enghien (b. 1368)
 * 1590 – Charles de Bourbon French cardinal and pretender to the throne (b. 1523)

1601–1900

 * 1657 – William Bradford, English-American politician, 2nd Governor of Plymouth Colony (b. 1590)
 * 1707 – Dieterich Buxtehude, German-Danish organist and composer (b. 1637)
 * 1736 – Diogo de Mendonça Corte-Real, Portuguese judge and politician (b. 1658)
 * 1745 – Tomaso Antonio Vitali, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1663)
 * 1747 – John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish field marshal and diplomat, British Ambassador to France (b. 1673)
 * 1760 – Nicolaus Zinzendorf, German bishop and saint (b. 1700)
 * 1789 – Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French general and engineer (b. 1715)
 * 1790 – William Clingan, American politician (b. 1721)
 * 1791 – Francis Hopkinson, American judge and politician (b. 1737)
 * 1805 – Friedrich Schiller, German poet, playwright, and historian (b. 1759)
 * 1850 – Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist and physicist (b. 1778)
 * 1850  – Garlieb Merkel, Estonian author and activist (b. 1769)
 * 1861 – Ernst von Lasaulx, German philologist and politician (b. 1805)
 * 1864 – John Sedgwick, American general and educator (b. 1813)
 * 1889 – William S. Harney, American general (b. 1800)

1901–present

 * 1906 – Oscar von Gebhardt, German theologian and academic (b. 1844)
 * 1911 – Thomas Wentworth Higginson, American abolitionist (b. 1823)
 * 1914 – C. W. Post, American businessman, founded Post Foods (b. 1854)
 * 1915 – François Faber, Luxembourgian-French cyclist and soldier (b. 1887)
 * 1915 – Anthony Wilding, New Zealand tennis player and cricketer (b. 1883)
 * 1918 – George Coșbuc, Romanian journalist and poet (b. 1866)
 * 1931 – Albert Abraham Michelson, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
 * 1933 – John Arthur Jarvis, English swimmer (b. 1872)
 * 1935 – Ernst Bresslau, German zoologist (b. 1877)
 * 1938 – Thomas B. Thrige, Danish businessman (b. 1866)
 * 1942 – Józef Cebula, Polish priest and saint (b. 1902)
 * 1944 – Han Yong-un, Korean poet and social reformer (b. 1879)
 * 1949 – Louis II, Prince of Monaco (b. 1870)
 * 1950 – Esteban Terradas i Illa, Spanish mathematician and engineer (b. 1883)
 * 1957 – Ernest de Silva, Sri Lankan banker and businessman (b. 1887)
 * 1957  – Ezio Pinza, Italian actor and singer (b. 1892)
 * 1959 – Bhaurao Patil, Indian activist and educator (b. 1887)
 * 1965 – Leopold Figl, Austrian engineer and politician, 18th Chancellor of Austria (b. 1902)
 * 1968 – Mercedes de Acosta, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1893)
 * 1968  – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (b. 1894)
 * 1968  – Marion Lorne, American actress (b. 1883)
 * 1968  – Finlay Currie, British actor (b. 1878)
 * 1970 – Walter Reuther, American union leader (b. 1907)
 * 1976 – Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1920)
 * 1976  – Ulrike Meinhof, German militant, co-founded the Red Army Faction (b. 1934)
 * 1977 – James Jones, American novelist (b. 1921)
 * 1978 – Giuseppe Impastato, Italian journalist and activist (b. 1948)
 * 1978  – Aldo Moro, Italian lawyer and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1916)
 * 1979 – Cyrus S. Eaton, Canadian-American banker, businessman, and philanthropist (b. 1883)
 * 1979  – Eddie Jefferson, American singer and lyricist (b. 1918)
 * 1980 – Kate Molale, South African activist (b. 1928)
 * 1981 – Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1909)
 * 1981  – Rolf Just Nilsen, Norwegian singer and actor (b. 1931)
 * 1983 – Henry Bachtold, Australian soldier and railway engineer (b. 1891)
 * 1985 – Edmond O'Brien, American actor and director (b. 1915)
 * 1986 – Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese mountaineer (b. 1914)
 * 1987 – Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
 * 1989 – Keith Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1954)
 * 1993 – Penelope Gilliatt, English novelist, short story writer, and critic (b. 1932)
 * 1994 – Elias Motsoaledi, South African activist (b. 1924)
 * 1997 – Rawya Ateya, Egyptian captain and politician (b. 1926)
 * 1997  – Marco Ferreri, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1928)
 * 1998 – Alice Faye, American actress and singer (b. 1915)
 * 1998  – Talat Mahmood, Indian singer and actor (b. 1924)
 * 2003 – Russell B. Long, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1918)
 * 2004 – Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen cleric and politician, 1st President of the Chechen Republic (b. 1951)
 * 2004  – Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
 * 2004  – Brenda Fassie, South African singer (b. 1964)
 * 2007 – Dwight Wilson, Canadian soldier (b. 1901)
 * 2008 – Jack Gibson, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster (b. 1929)
 * 2008  – Baptiste Manzini, American football player (b. 1920)
 * 2008  – Nuala O'Faolain, Irish journalist and producer (b. 1942)
 * 2008  – Pascal Sevran, French singer, television host, and author (b. 1945)
 * 2009 – Chuck Daly, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
 * 2010 – Lena Horne, American singer, actress, and activist (b. 1917)
 * 2010  – Otakar Motejl, Czech lawyer and politician (b. 1932)
 * 2011 – Wouter Weylandt, Belgian cyclist (b. 1984)
 * 2012 – Bertram Cohler, American psychologist, psychoanalyst, and academic (b. 1938)
 * 2012  – Geoffrey Henry, Cook Islander lawyer and politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Cook Islands (b. 1940)
 * 2012  – Vidal Sassoon, English-American hairdresser and businessman (b. 1928)
 * 2013 – Ramón Blanco Rodríguez, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1952)
 * 2013  – George M. Leader, American soldier and politician, 36th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1918)
 * 2013  – Humberto Lugo Gil, Mexican lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of Hidalgo (b. 1933)
 * 2013  – Ottavio Missoni, Italian hurdler and fashion designer, founded Missoni (b. 1921)
 * 2014 – Giacomo Bini, Italian priest and missionary (b. 1938)
 * 2014  – Harlan Mathews, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
 * 2014  – Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Indian politician, 12th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (b. 1935)
 * 2014  – Mary Stewart, British author and poet (b. 1916)
 * 2015 – Edward W. Estlow, American football player and journalist (b. 1920)
 * 2015  – Kenan Evren, Turkish general and politician, 7th President of Turkey (b. 1917)
 * 2015  – Elizabeth Wilson, American actress (b. 1921)
 * 2017 – Robert Miles, a Swiss-born Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ (b. 1969)
 * 2018 – Per Kirkeby, Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor (b. 1938)
 * 2019 – Freddie Starr, English comedian, impressionist, singer and actor (b. 1943)
 * 2020 – Little Richard, American singer, songwriter, and pianist (b. 1932)
 * 2022 – John Leo, American a writer and journalist (b. 1935)
 * 2022 – Rieko Kodama, Japanese game developer (b. 1963)
 * 2024 – Sean Burroughs, American baseball player (b. 1980)
 * 2024 – Roger Corman, American film director, producer, and actor (b. 1926)
 * 2024 – Rex Murphy, Canadian political commentator (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Beatus of Lungern
 * Beatus of Vendome
 * Christopher (Eastern Orthodox Church)
 * George Preca
 * Gerontius of Cervia
 * Gregory of Nazianzen (The Episcopal Church (US) and traditional Roman Catholic calendar)
 * Nicolaus Zinzendorf (Lutheran)
 * Pachomius the Great
 * Tudy of Landevennec
 * May 9 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Commemoration of the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands related observances:
 * Liberation Day, commemorating the end of the German occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. (Guernsey and Jersey)
 * National Day (Alderney)
 * Europe Day, commemorating the Schuman Declaration. (European Union, Kosovo, Moldova, Ukraine)
 * Victory Day observances, celebration of the Soviet Union victory over Nazi Germany (Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)
 * Victory and Peace Day, marks the capture of Shusha (1992) in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the end of World War II. (Armenia)