9 October: On this day in history
What events happened on 9 October in history? We round up the events, births and deaths…
9 October 1192
King Richard I of England left the Holy Land at the end of the Third Crusade. After bad weather drove him ashore near Venice he was seized by Duke Leopold of Austria, before being handed over to German emperor Henry VI, who ransomed the monarch.
9 October 1648
Following the Royalist defeat at Preston, Sir Philip Musgrave is forced to surrender Appleby Castle to Parliamentarian forces under Colonel Ralph Ashton.
9 October 1859
Birth in Mulhouse, Alsace, of Alfred Dreyfus, a French artillery officer of Jewish descent who in 1894 was unjustly convicted of spying for the Germans and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. Evidence identifying the identity of the real spy was soon uncovered but was suppressed by the authorities. The 'affair' divided the French establishment and in 1899, following a campaign fronted by the writer Emile Zola, Dreyfus was given a retrial. He was once again found guilty but received a presidential pardon. The verdict was finally reversed in 1906.
9 October 1911
HMS King George V was launched at Portsmouth. In May 1916 she saw action with the Second Battle Squadron at the battle of Jutland where she was the flagship of Vice-Admiral Jerram.
9 October 1967
Marxist guerilla Ernesto "Che" Guevara is shot dead after being captured by the Bolivian army.
9 October 1940
Musician John Lennon was born in Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, Liverpool, during a German air raid. The only child of merchant seaman Alfred Lennon and cinema usherette Julia, John saw little of his father during his childhood and was chiefly brought up by his aunt, Mimi.
- Previous: 8 October
- Next: 10 October
Get exclusive access to Ruth Goodman’s six-week Academy course on Victorian Life, featuring two live Q&As + a book of your choice when you subscribe to BBC History Magazine
