1974: Nixon impeachment hearings begin

The House Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings against President Richard M. Nixon today for his involvement in the Watergate cover-up. The committee met in a closed session to review a briefcase of evidence relating to Nixon's role in the scandal.

The Oakland Tribune explained that "the committee would begin its hearings by considering materials relating to the question of President Nixon's responsibility for the Watergate break-in and its subsequent investigation by law enforcement agencies."

NOTE: Instead of facing an impeachment trial, Nixon announced his resignation on national television on August 8, 1974. His resignation did not make him immune to criminal prosecution, but his successor, Gerald Ford, issued a controversial pardon which protected him.

Links to the Past
Committee Begins Historic Inquiry
Florence Morning News, May 10, 1974

Panel Opens Hearing On Impeaching
The Modesto Bee And News-Herald, May 9, 1974

Nixon Impeachment - The Hearings Begin
Oakland Tribune, May 9, 1974

GOP Leader Says Nixon Should Quit
The Edwardsville Intelligencer, May 9, 1974

The Great Patriotic War

Today is the anniversary of the victory of the Soviets over the Germans in the “Great Patriotic War,” the war between the U.S.S.R. and Germany during World War II. The Soviets accepted the German surrender in Berlin on May 9th, 1945, one day after V-E Day for the Allies, because the only Russian signator to the May 8th surrender document did not have the authority to sign it. A separate ceremony was convened on the 9th in Berlin to officially recognize the surrender, where Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov accepted the German capitulation. This day, termed “Victory Day,” is marked with parades and general celebration in Russia and most former Soviet satellite countries.

Links to the Past
Historic Berlin Ceremony Ratifies Unconditional Surrender of Reich
Nevada State Journal, May 9, 1945

German Surrender Ratified
Joplin Globe, May 9, 1945

Allies Proclaim End Of Warfare In Europe; Russians Last…
Morning Herald, May 9, 1945

1970: War protesters rally near White House

About 100,000 war protesters gathered just south of the White House in Washington, D.C., to express their opposition to the Vietnam war. today. "College students angered by U.S. intervention in Cambodia and the killing of four Kent State University students by Ohio National Guardsmen made up the bulk of the thousands," reported The Post Standard on May 9, 1970.

Links to the Past
Nixon Says Peace Also His Goal
The Post Standard, May 9, 1970

Massive War Protest Mounts In Washington
The Daily Times-News, May 9, 1970

1960: FDA approves birth control pill

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first pill for contraceptive use, called Envoid, today. The Syracuse Herald Journal described this new development 35 years later on May 10, 1995: "To imagine just how different American society was when the FDA allowed the birth control pill to be marketed in 1960, there was then no uniform contraceptive law. It was not until 1965 - when the pill's popularity was soaring - that the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the use of contraceptives by married couples as part of their constitutional right to privacy. That right was not extended to individuals until 1972."

Links to the Past
The Pill Turns 35
The Syracuse Herald Journal, May 10, 1995

Birth Control Pill Approved
Reno Evening Gazette, May 9, 1960

1955: West Germany joins NATO

West Germany became the 15th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization today during a ceremony in Paris. "Chancellor Konrad Adenauer took his place at the NATO council table for the first time in a public session in the Palais de Chaillot," explained the Great Bend Daily Tribune on May 9, 1955. "For the 79-year-old West German statesman the ceremony marked a culminating stage in his long and difficult campaign to enroll his countrymen as an equal partner in the ranks of the free world's democracies."

Links to the Past
West Germany Welcomed
Great Bend Daily Tribune, May 9, 1955

West Germany Made Member Of NATO Alliance
The Edwardsville Intelligencer, May 9, 1955

1926: Byrd takes off for the North Pole

Commander Richard Byrd and his companion for the flight, Floyd Bennett, were honored as the first to fly an airplane to the North Pole. However, throughout the years there have been a number of doubts about their true accomplishment. In 1999, the Syracuse Herald Journal reported that archivists found a diary that Byrd kept on the flight, which cast doubt on the calculations that the men used to establish the location of the pole during their flyover.

Links to the Past
Commander Byrd Flies Over North Pole
The Frederick Post, May 10, 1926

Researcher: Byrd short of North Pole
Syracuse Herald Journal, May 9, 1996