On This Day, Feb. 9: Japanese evacuate Guadalcanal in WWII

UPI Staff
·3 min read
Troops from the U.S. Army's 164th Infantry rest at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, in November 1942. On February 9, 1943, in a major World War II strategic victory, the Allies retook Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands from the Japanese. File Photo courtesy the U.S. Navy.
Troops from the U.S. Army's 164th Infantry rest at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, in November 1942. On February 9, 1943, in a major World War II strategic victory, the Allies retook Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands from the Japanese. File Photo courtesy the U.S. Navy.

Feb. 9 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1825, after no presidential candidate won the necessary majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams the sixth president of the United States.

In 1900, the solid silver trophy known as the Davis Cup was first put up for competition when American collegian Dwight Filley Davis challenged British tennis players to compete against his Harvard team.

In 1943, Japanese troops evacuated Guadalcanal, leaving it in Allied possession. The Japanese invaded the Solomon Islands in 1942 as part of World War II and Guadalcanal was home to a strategic airfield.

In 1950, U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., charged the U.S. State Department was infested with communists, touching off the infamous "McCarthy era." The State Department denied the allegation the next day.

On February 9, 1971, Satchel Paige became the first Negro League player voted into baseball's Hall of Fame. Photo by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Inc.
On February 9, 1971, Satchel Paige became the first Negro League player voted into baseball's Hall of Fame. Photo by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Inc.

In 1964, the Beatles appeared on television's The Ed Sullivan Show. An estimated 73 million people watched.

In 1971, Satchel Paige became the first Negro League player voted into baseball's Hall of Fame.

Portrait of U.S. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., taken in 1954. McCarthy charged the U.S. State Department was infested with communists, touching off the infamous "McCarthy era" on February 9, 1950. File Photo/UPI
Portrait of U.S. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., taken in 1954. McCarthy charged the U.S. State Department was infested with communists, touching off the infamous "McCarthy era" on February 9, 1950. File Photo/UPI

In 1984, Soviet President Yuri Andropov, in power 15 months, died at age 69.

UPI File Photo
UPI File Photo
Proponents of a free Lithuania gather on Capitol Hill on June 2, 1990, to urge freedom for the Baltic state. On February 9, 1991, Lithuanians overwhelmingly voted to secede from the Soviet Union. File Photo by Richard Tomkins/UPI
Proponents of a free Lithuania gather on Capitol Hill on June 2, 1990, to urge freedom for the Baltic state. On February 9, 1991, Lithuanians overwhelmingly voted to secede from the Soviet Union. File Photo by Richard Tomkins/UPI

In 1991, Lithuanians overwhelmingly voted to secede from the Soviet Union.

In 2001, the submarine USS Greeneville collided with the Ehime Maru, a Japanese fishery training boat, off the coast of Oahu in Hawaii during a surfacing drill. Nine people on the fishing vessel were killed. The victims included four high school students.

USS Greeneville sits in Dry Dock No. 1 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility for damage assessment and repairs following a February 9, 2001, collision at sea with the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru. File Photo courtesy the U.S. Navy
USS Greeneville sits in Dry Dock No. 1 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility for damage assessment and repairs following a February 9, 2001, collision at sea with the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru. File Photo courtesy the U.S. Navy

In 2008, the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis delivered a $2 billion European-made science lab to the International Space Station, doubling its zero-gravity research capacity.

In 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a memorandum setting up a federal task force to tackle childhood obesity.

Space Shuttle Atlantis "flies" in its new home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on September 3, 2013. On February 9, 2008, Atlantis delivered a $2 billion European-made science lab to the International Space Station, doubling its zero-gravity research capacity. File Photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell/UPI
Space Shuttle Atlantis "flies" in its new home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on September 3, 2013. On February 9, 2008, Atlantis delivered a $2 billion European-made science lab to the International Space Station, doubling its zero-gravity research capacity. File Photo by Joe Marino-Bill Cantrell/UPI
File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI
File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI

In 2020, South Korean film Parasite made history as the first foreign-language movie to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It also won Best International Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Bong Joon-ho.

In 2021, Britain's Princess Eugenie welcomed her first child with her husband, Jack Brooksbank. They named their son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank.

File Photo by Neil Hall/ EPA-EFE
File Photo by Neil Hall/ EPA-EFE