9 April
1859-Samuel Clemens, who later gained fame under the pseudonym Mark Twain, was issued a steamboat pilot's certificate.
1867- The Senate ratified a treaty to purchase Alaska from Russia. The cutter Lincoln was dispatched at once with LT George W. Moore, USRM, as the first U.S. agent in the territory.
1941- The U.S. and Denmark signed an "agreement relating to the defense of Greenland." The Coast Guard, because of its experience in the Arctic environment, was the principal service to carry out the agreement. The first action seen by U.S. forces in World War II was the seizure of a Nazi weather station and the seizure of a Nazi vessel by the cutter Northland just before the United States officially entered the war.
Semper Paratus
