Portal:Belgium/Anniversaries/October/October 9

The "Boekentoren" (Library Tower) of the Ghent University, designed by Henry Van de Velde

• 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