What happened on this day in history: Emperor Nero dies, Secretariat wins the Triple Crown, and more events that happened on June 9th.
68 C.E.: The Roman Emperor Nero Dies
Public DomainA bust of Nero, one of the most widely disparaged emperors in the history of Rome.
Roman Emperor Nero dies by suicide outside of Rome at the age of 30. He’d risen to power at 17, thanks to the orchestration of his mother, Julia Agrippina. But Nero proved to be a brutal, erratic ruler, unable to handle revolts across the empire. He was eventually sentenced to death, prompting him to take his own life.
1534: Jacques Cartier Sails Into The St. Lawrence River
Jacques Cartier sails into the St. Lawrence River for the first time. A French navigator, Cartier had been tasked by King Francis I of France to seek gold and spices in present-day Canada and to find a potential route to Asia. After his first voyage to the river, he erroneously believed that he had done so.
1856: Handcart Pioneers Head To Salt Lake City
Some 500 Mormon pioneers embark on a 1,000-mile journey to Salt Lake City, Utah, from Iowa City, Iowa, carrying their belongings in handcarts. They were answering the call of Mormon leader Brigham Young, who had established Salt Lake City as the center of Mormonism. He declared: “Let them come on foot with handcarts or wheelbarrows; let them gird up their loins and walk through and nothing shall hinder or stay them.”
1973: The Horse Secretariat Wins The Triple Crown
Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes — and, in the process, the Triple Crown. The three-year-old horse, who ran the one-and-a-half-mile race in a record two minutes and 24 seconds, was the first horse since 1948 to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. He raced six more times after that and “retired” in November 1973.
2013: Maureen Kelly Disappears
Skamania County Sheriff’s DepartmentMaureen Kelly has been missing since 2013.
Maureen Kelly vanishes in Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State while on a hike with friends. The 19-year-old apparently stripped naked and walked into the woods to fulfill a “spiritual quest.” She disappeared and — to date — has not been found.
