9 November in Indian and World History is celebrated, observed, and remembered for various reasons. 9 November is the birth anniversary of Muhammad Iqbal and Chitresh Das.
9 November is also observed as the death anniversary of Dhondo Keshav Karve, Binod Bihari Verma, and Kocheril Raman Narayanan.
Birth Anniversary
9 November in Indian history is celebrated as the birth anniversary of the following personalities:
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 1877 – 21 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, and politician, whose poetry in the Urdu language is considered among the greatest of the twentieth century.
Chitresh Das (9 November 1944 – 4 January 2015) was a classical dancer of the North Indian style of Kathak. Born in Calcutta, Das was a performer, choreographer, composer and educator. He was instrumental in bringing Kathak to the US and is credited with having established Kathak amongst the Indian diaspora in America.
Death Anniversary
9 November in Indian history is observed as the death anniversary of the following personalities:
Dhondo Keshav Karve (18 April 1858 – 9 November 1962), popularly known as Maharshi Karve, was a social reformer in India in the field of women’s welfare. He advocated widow remarriage and he himself married a widow. Karve was a pioneer in promoting widows’ education. He founded the first women’s university in India, the SNDT Women’s University in 1916.
Binod Bihari Verma (3 December 1937– 9 November 2003) was a Maithili writer and military doctor. He is known for Maithili Karna Kayasthak Panjik Sarvekshan, his work on ancient genealogical charts known as Panjis, as well as his depiction of rural poor of the Mithila region. He worked as a medical officer in the Indian Army, as a lecturer in a Dental College, and as a private medical practitioner. He simultaneously carried on his literary career via independent publishing and in the magazines Mithila Mihir and Karnamrit.
Kocheril Raman Narayanan (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the ninth vice president of India from 1992 to 1997 and the tenth president of India from 1997 to 2002.
Notable events on 9 November in Indian and World History
9 November 1897 – Ronald George Wreyford Norrish, a British chemist, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
9 November 1906 – Theodore Roosevelt is the first sitting President of the United States to make an official trip outside the country, doing so to inspect progress on the Panama Canal.
9 November 1907 – The Cullinan Diamond is presented to King Edward VII on his birthday.
9 November 1913 – The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the lakes, reaches its greatest intensity after beginning two days earlier. The storm destroys 19 ships and kills more than 250 people.
9 November 1914 – SMS Emden is sunk by HMAS Sydney in the Battle of Cocos.
9 November 1917 – The Balfour Declaration is published in The Times newspaper.
9 November 1918 – Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicates after the German Revolution, and Germany is proclaimed a Republic.
9 November 1923 – In Munich, police and government troops crush the Nazi Beer Hall Putsch.
9 November 1929 – Imre Kertesz, a Hungarian author, and Nobel Prize Laureate, was born.
9 November 1935 – The Committee for Industrial Organization, the precursor to the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is founded in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by eight trade unions belonging to the American Federation of Labor.
9 November 1936 – Sudama Panday, a renowned Indian poet, was born.
9 November 1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese Army withdraws from the Battle of Shanghai.
9 November 1938 – Kristallnacht occurs, instigated by the Nazis using the killing of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan as justification.
9 November 1940 – Warsaw is awarded the Virtuti Militari by the Polish government-in-exile.
9 November 1953 – Cambodia gains independence from France.
9 November 1960 – Robert McNamara is named president of the Ford Motor Company, becoming the first non-Ford family member to serve in that post. He resigns a month later to join the newly-elected John F. Kennedy administration.
November 9, 1964 – Cecília Meireles was a prominent Brazilian poet, writer, educator, and journalist. Her lyrical poetry and profound contributions to Brazilian literature have earned her a lasting place in the world of poetry.
9 November 1965 – Several U.S. states and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 hours in the Northeast blackout of 1965.
9 November 1965 – A Catholic Worker Movement member, Roger Allen LaPorte, protesting against the Vietnam War, sets himself on fire in front of the United Nations building.
9 November 1967 – Apollo program: NASA launches the unmanned Apollo 4 test spacecraft, atop the first Saturn V rocket, from Florida’s Cape Kennedy.
9 November 1970 – Vietnam War: The Supreme Court of the United States votes 6–3 against hearing a case to allow Massachusetts to enforce its law granting residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.
9 November 1979 – Cold War: Nuclear false alarm: The NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early-warning radars, the alert is cancelled.
9 November 1985 – Garry Kasparov, 22, of the Soviet Union, becomes the youngest World Chess Champion by beating fellow Soviet Anatoly Karpov.
9 November 1989 – Cold War: Fall of the Berlin Wall: East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel to West Berlin.
9 November 1993 – Stari Most, the “old bridge” in the Bosnian city of Mostar, built in 1566, collapses after several days of bombing by Croat forces during the Croat–Bosniak War.
9 November 1994 – The chemical element darmstadtium is discovered.
9 November 1998 – A U.S. federal judge, in the largest civil settlement in American history, orders 37 U.S. brokerage houses to pay US$1.03 billion to cheated NASDAQ investors to compensate for price fixing.
9 November 1998 – Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, already abolished for murder, is completely abolished for all remaining capital offenses.
9 November 1999 – TAESA Flight 725 crashes after takeoff from Uruapan International Airport in Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico, killing all 18 people on board.
9 November 2000 – Uttarakhand officially becomes the 27th state of India, formed from thirteen districts of northwestern Uttar Pradesh.
9 November 2004 – Firefox 1.0 is released.
9 November 2005 – The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
9 November 2005 – Suicide bombers attack three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing at least 60 people.
2012 – A train carrying liquid fuel crashes and bursts into flames in northern Myanmar, killing 27 people and injuring 80 others.
9 November 2012 – At least 27 people are killed and dozens are wounded in conflicts between inmates and guards at Welikada prison in Colombo.
9 November 2014 – A non-binding self-determination consultation is held in Catalonia, asking Catalan citizens their opinion on whether Catalonia should become a state and, if so, whether it should be an independent state.
9 November 2019 – KSI defeats Logan Paul in their much anticipated rematch via split decision.
9 November 2020 – Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: An armistice agreement is signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.
9 November Historical Significance
November 9 holds significant historical importance due to several notable events that have occurred on this date. One of the most significant events took place in 1989 when the Berlin Wall, which had divided East and West Berlin since 1961, was opened by the East German government. This event marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War and paved the way for the reunification of Germany. Additionally, on November 9, 1938, the infamous Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, occurred in Nazi Germany. This state-sponsored pogrom targeted Jewish communities, resulting in the widespread destruction of synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses, and homes, as well as the arrest of thousands of Jewish men. November 9 also marks the anniversary of the fall of the Bavarian monarchy in Germany in 1918, leading to the establishment of the Weimar Republic. Overall, November 9 stands as a day of both liberation and tragedy, symbolizing significant shifts in history.
Important Days of 9 November in History
The Inventors’ Day: (German: Tag der Erfinder) in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland is celebrated on 9 November, the birthday of the Austrian-born inventor and Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr whose main invention was the frequency-hopped spread spectrum in 1942.
World Freedom Day: is a United States federal observance declared by then-President George W. Bush to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communist rule in Central and Eastern Europe. It started in 2001 and is celebrated on November 9.
Iqbal Day: is the birthday of Muhammad Iqbal on 9 November. The day was a public holiday in all provinces and federal administrative areas of Pakistan until 2018. The Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Again restored public holiday in 2022. Iqbal, a poet and philosopher, was a great inspiration for the Pakistan Movement.
Cambodia Independence Day: also known as National Day, is celebrated on November 9th each year. This significant national holiday commemorates the country’s independence from France, which was officially recognized on November 9th, 1953. Cambodia’s struggle for independence was a pivotal moment in its history, marking the end of its status as a French protectorate.