January 9th, 2009

Today in History

1977:
Super Bowl XI: Oakland Raiders defeat Minnesota Vikings, 32-14.

1903:
Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the famous poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia

1894:
New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.

1861:
Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union, preceding the American Civil War.

1793:
Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first to fly in a balloon in the United States.