February 9

474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland. 1098 – The army of the First Crusade under the leadership of Bohemond of Taranto wins a battle against Seljuq emir Ridwan of Aleppo during the siege of Antioch 1539 – The first recorded race is held on Chester Racecourse, known as the Roodee. 1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper is burned at the stake. 1621 – Gregory XV becomes Pope, the last Pope elected by acclamation. 1654 – The Capture of Fort Rocher takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War. 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion. 1778 – Rhode Island becomes the fourth US state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. 1788 – The Habsburg Empire joins the Russo-Turkish War in the Russian camp. 1822 – Haiti attacks the newly established Dominican Republic on the other side of the island of Hispaniola. 1825 – After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as sixth President of the United States in a contingent election. 1849 – The new Roman Republic is declared. 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Provisional Confederate Congress at Montgomery, Alabama 1870 – US president Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau. 1889 – US president Grover Cleveland signs a bill elevating the United States Department of Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency. 1893 – Verdi's last opera, Falstaff premieres at La Scala, Milan. 1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball. 1900 – The Davis Cup competition is established. 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Port Arthur concludes. 1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).