Almanac - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

TOP TEN LISTS

World's Most Dangerous Animals

Deadliest animals in the world ranked by estimated number of human fatalities per year

Best Selling Musicians

Top selling musicians of all time ranked by estimated number of albums sold

Best Selling Books of All-Time

Best selling novels worldwide ranked by estimated number of copies sold

Fastest Manned Aircraft in the World

Fastest manned aircraft (excluding spacecraft) ranked by top speed

World's Most Practiced Religions

Major religions of the world ranked by estimated number of followers

Worst Genocides of the Twentieth Century

The ten worst genocides of the 20th century listed by dictators responsible; ranked by number of deaths

World's Fastest Land Animals

The fastest land animals in the world ranked by maximum speed

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Today in History

Friday, 09 January 2026

2005

Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group in Naivasha, Kenya.

Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh.

1964

Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.

1951

The United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City.

1947

Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, is last seen alive.

1945

World War II: The United States invades Luzon in the Philippines.

1941

World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.

World War II: The Greek ''Triton'' (S.112) sinks the Italian submarine ''Neghelli'' in Otranto.

1923

Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.

1918

Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.

FACTOIDS

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime.

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever lived.

Gold

Every ton of seawater contains approximately 1 milligram of dissolved gold.

Mosquito

Studies show that mosquitoes prefer biting blondes to brunettes.

Timelines

People's Republic of China

Afghanistan