On December 9th...

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1565 Pope Pius IV died.

1608 Poet John Milton was born.

1669 Pope Clement IX died.

1688 King James II's wife and son fled England for France.

1814 Inventor Joseph Bramah died.

1848 Author Joel Chandler Harris was born.

1851 The first Young Men's Christian Association in North America was established in Montreal, Canada.

1854 Alfred Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade* was published.

1861 The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was established by the U.S. Congress.

1868 Chemist Fritz Haber was born.

1869 The Noble Order of Knights of Labor was founded in Philadelphia.

1874 Ezra Cornell, founder of Western Union and Cornell University, died.

1878 Joseph Pulitzer bought the St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500.

1884 Levant Richardson patented the ball-bearing skate (aka roller skate).

1886 Clarence Birdseye, inventor of the method for quick freezing food, was born.

1898 Emmett Kelly, famous for his long-time portrayal of the clown character "Weary Willie," was born.

1902 Actress Margaret Hamilton was born.

1903 The Norwegian parliament voted unanimiously for female suffrage.

1905 The French National Assembly voted for separation of church and state.

1907 The first Christmas Seals* were sold, at the Wilmington, Delaware, Post Office.

1909 The first U.S.-built monoplane was flown by Henry W. Walden*.
1909 Actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., was born.

1911 Actor Broderick Crawford was born.

1912 U.S. Congressman Tip O'Neill was born.

1916 Actor Kirk Douglas was born.

1917 British troops captured Jerusalem.

1922 Comedian Redd Foxx was born.

1928 Actor Dick Van Patten was born.

1930 Comedian Buck Henry was born.

1931 Spain became a republic.

1934 Actress Judi Dench was born.

1941 The United States declared war on Japan.
1941 China declared war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
1941 Actor Beau Bridges was born.

1942 Football player Dick Butkus was born.

1947 U.S. Senator Tom Daschle was born.

1950 Singer Joan Armatrading was born.

1952 Actor Michael Dorn was born.

1957 Singer Donny Osmond was born.

1958 The John Birch Society was formed.

1960 "Coronation Street"* premiered on British ITV.

1961 Tanganyika gained independence from Britain and renamed itself Tanzania.

1962 Actress Felicity Huffman was born.

1964 Poet Edith Sitwell died.

1965 "A Charlie Brown Christmas"* aired for the first time, on CBS-TV.

1967 Nicolae Ceauçescu became President of Romania.

1971 American diplomat Ralph Bunche died.

1978 Pioneer Venus 2 dropped five probes into the atmosphere of Venus.

1979 Fulton J. Sheen, America's first televangelist, died.

1982 Leon Jaworski, Watergate Special Prosecutor, died.

1990 Lech Walesa won Poland's first direct presidential election.

1992 U.S. Marines landed in Somalia.

1995 Douglas Corrigan, American aviator who "accidentally" made a solo transatlantic flight, died.

1996 Anthropologist Mary Leakey died.

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This page was last updated on October 30, 2018.