January 9, 1941 – On this date, the Avro Lancaster made its first flight.  The Lancaster would go on to be one of the premier heavy bombers of the second world war and the workhorse of the Royal Air Force’s bombing campaigne against Nazi Germany.

January 9, 1945 – Armed forces of the United States invade Luzon, in the Philippines, fulfilling the vow made by General Douglas MacArthur when hs famously said “I shall return.”