October 9

Today in History
• 1446 - The Hangul (Korean) alphabet is first published in Korea
• 1824 - Slavery is abolished in Costa Rica
• 1837 - Steamboat "Home" sinks off Okracoke, North Carolina, killing 100
• 1855 - American inventor Isaac Singer patents sewing machine motor
• 1876 - 1st 2-way telephone conversation, 1st over outdoor wires
• 1877 - American Humane Association organizes (Cleveland)
• 1930 - 1st transcontinental flight by a woman completed, Laura Ingalls
• 1946 - First electric blanket manufactured; sold for $39.50


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Columbus Day
• Independence of Guayaquil
• Indigenous Peoples' Day
• Lao: Boat Racing Festival
• Leif Erikson Day
• Saint Barthélemy: Abolition Day
• South Korea Hangul Day
• Uganda Independence Day

Birthdays
• 1261 - Denis of Portugal, King of Portugal (1279-1325)
• 1328 - Peter I of Cyprus, King of Cyprus (1358-69)
• 1757 - Charles X, King of France (1824-30)
• 1771 - Frederik Willem, Duke of Brunswick (1813-15)
• 1871 - Gerrit Bolkestein, Dutch minister of Education (1939-45)
• 1879 - Max von Laue, German physicist who discovered the diffraction of X-rays by crystals
• 1895 - Eugene Bullard, 1st African-American military pilot, flew for France in World War I
• 1934 - Jacobo Majluta Azar, 47th President of the Dominican Republic (1978-82)