Today in History: May 9, FDA approves first birth control pill

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Today is Saturday, May 9, the 129th day of 2026. There are 236 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 9, 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conditionally approved Enovid for use as the first oral contraceptive pill.

Also on this date:

In 1754, the famous political cartoon “Join or Die” was first published by Benjamin Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson, acting on a joint congressional resolution, signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

In 1951, the U.S. conducted its first thermonuclear experiment as part of Operation Greenhouse by detonating a 225-kiloton device (nicknamed “George”) on Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee opened public hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. (The committee ultimately adopted three articles of impeachment against the president, who resigned before the full House took up any of them.)

In 1980, 35 people were killed when a freighter rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida, causing a 1,300-foot section of the southbound span to collapse.

In 1992, a buildup of methane gas and coal dust triggered a massive explosion in the Westray Mine in Nova Scotia, Canada, killing 26 coal miners.

In 2019, Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.

In 2023, a jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, awarding her $5 million in damages.

Today’s Birthdays: Producer-director James L. Brooks is 86. Musician-songwriter Sonny Curtis (The Crickets) is 89. Actor Candice Bergen is 80. Musician Billy Joel is 77. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo is 75. Actor John Corbett is 65. Singer Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) is 64. Hockey Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman is 61. Rapper Ghostface Killah is 56. R&B singer Tamia (tuh-MEE’-ah) is 51. Actor Rosario Dawson is 47. TV personality Audrina Patridge is 41. Actor Grace Gummer is 40. Musician Shaboozey is 31. Actor Mary Mouser is 30. Singer-songwriter Kenya Grace is 28. Actor Cree Cicchino is 24.