Portal:Belgium/Anniversaries/October/October 9

680: death of Saint Ghislain, confessor and anchorite in the current village Saint-Ghislain
1212: death of Philip I of Namur, margrave of Namur
1623: birth of Ferdinand Verbiest, Jesuit missionary in China, famous as astronomer, scientist and inventor
1817: foundation of the Ghent University
1914: World War I: Siege of Antwerp - Antwerp falls to German troops
1937: death of August de Boeck, impressionist composer
1939: birth of Pierre Mertens, writer
1957: birth of Herman Brusselmans, writer
1977: death of Placide Tempels, missionary, author of Bantu Philosophy
1978: death of Jacques Brel, songwriter and actor, on the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia
1985: death of Ludo Coeck, soccer player, played 46 times for the Belgium national football team