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MMVIII

December 9 in recent years

2008 (Tuesday)

2007 (Sunday)

2006 (Saturday)

2005 (Friday)

2004 (Thursday)

2003 (Tuesday)

2002 (Monday)

2001 (Sunday)

2000 (Saturday)

December 9 is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 22 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city, returning the old capital to its empire.
• 1425 - The Catholic University of Leuven is founded.
• 1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster.
• 1824 - Patriot forces led by General Antonio José de Sucre defeat a Royalist army in the Battle of Ayacucho, putting an end to the Peruvian War of Independence.
• 1835 - The Republic of Texas captures San Antonio, Texas.
• 1851 - The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec.
• 1856 - The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces.
• 1861 - American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress.
• 1872 - In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African-American governor of a U.S. state.
• 1875 - Massachusetts Rifle Association "America's Oldest Active Gun Club" is founded.
• 1888 - Statistician Herman Hollerith installs his computing device at the United States War Department.
• 1897 - Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde in Paris.
• 1905 - In France, the law separating church and state is passed.
• 1917 - In Palestine, Field Marshal Edmund Allenby captures Jerusalem.
• 1922 - Gabriel Narutowicz is announced the first president of Poland.
• 1931 - The Constituent Cortes approves the constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic.
• 1935 - Walter Liggett American newspaper editor and muckraker killed in gangland murder.
• 1937 - Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanjing - Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing.
• 1940 - World War II: Operation Compass - British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt.
• 1941 - World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and the Philippine Commonwealth, declare war on Germany and Japan.
• 1941 - World War II: The 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon.
• 1946 - The "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" began with the "Doctors' Trial", prosecuting doctors alleged to be involved in human experimentation.
• 1950 - Harry Gold is sentenced to thirty years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
• 1953 - Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company.
• 1958 - Red Scare: The John Birch Society was founded in the United States.
• 1960 - The first episode of Britain's longest running soap opera Coronation Street is broadcast.
• 1961 - The trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Israel ends with him being found guilty of 15 criminal charges, including charges of crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and membership of an outlawed organization.
• 1961 - Tanganyika becomes independent from Britain.
• 1968 - NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) is publicly demonstrated for the first time in San Francisco.
• 1979 - The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first and to date only human disease driven to extinction.
• 1987 - Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
• 1988 - The Michael Hughes Bridge in Sligo, Ireland is officially opened.
• 1990 - Lech Wałęsa becomes the first directly elected president of Poland.
• 2003 - A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more.
• 2006 - Moscow suffers its worst fire since 1977, killing 45 women in a drug rehabitational center.

Births

• 1447 - Chenghua, Emperor of China (d. 1487)
• 1508 - Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555)
• 1561 - Sir Edwin Sandys, English-born Virginian colonist (d. 1629)
• 1571 - Metius (Adriaan Adriaanszoon), Dutch mathematician and astronomer (d. 1635)
• 1579 - Martin de Porres, Peruvian saint (d. 1639)
• 1594 - Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (d. 1632)
• 1608 - John Milton, English poet (d. 1674)
• 1610 - Baldassare Ferri, Italian castrato (d. 1680)
• 1652 - Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician (d. 1723)
• 1667 - William Whiston, English mathematician (d. 1752)
• 1748 - Claude Louis Berthollet, French chemist (d. 1822)
• 1751 - Maria Luisa of Parma, queen of Charles IV of Spain (d. 1819)
• 1787 - John Dobson, English architect (d. 1865)
• 1806 - Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician and Patriote (d. 1838)
• 1837 - Émile Waldteufel, French composer (d. 1915)
• 1842 - Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (d. 1921)
• 1847 - George Grossmith, English actor (d. 1912)
• 1850 - Emma Abbott, American soprano (d. 1891)
• 1868 - Fritz Haber, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1934)
• 1871 - Joe Kelley, American baseball player (d. 1943)
• 1876 - Berton Churchill, American actor (d. 1940)
• 1882 - Joaquín Turina, Spanish composer (d. 1949)
• 1883 - Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician (d. 1950)
• 1886 - Clarence Birdseye, American frozen food manufacturer (d. 1956)
• 1887 - Tim Moore, American actor and vaudevillian (d. 1958)
• 1889 - Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner (d. 1966)
• 1891 - Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet (d. 1917)
• 1895 - Conchita Supervía, Spanish opera singer (d. 1936)
• 1897 - Hermione Gingold, English actress (d. 1987)
• 1898 - Emmett Kelly, American circus clown (d. 1979)
• 1899 - Jean de Brunhoff, French author (d. 1937)
• 1900 - Albert Weisbord, American labor organizer (d. 1977)
• 1901 - Carol Dempster, American actress (d. 1991)
• 1901 - Ödön von Horváth, Hungarian-born writer (d. 1938)
• 1901 - Jean Mermoz, French pilot (d. 1936)
• 1902 - Margaret Hamilton, American actress (d. 1985)
• 1904 - Robert Livingston, American actor (d. 1988)
• 1905 - Dalton Trumbo, American writer (d. 1976)
• 1906 - Grace Hopper, American computer pioneer (d. 1992)
• 1909 - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (d. 2000)
• 1911 - Broderick Crawford, American actor (d. 1986)
• 1911 - Ryūzō Sejima, Japanese educator (d. 2007)
• 1912 - Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1994)
• 1914 - Frances Reid, American actress
• 1915 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-born soprano (d. 2006)
• 1916 - Kirk Douglas, American actor
• 1917 - James Angleton, head of counterintelligence for the CIA (d. 1987)
• 1917 - James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)
• 1918 - Jerome Beatty Jr., American author
• 1919 - William Lipscomb, American chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1920 - Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic
• 1922 - Redd Foxx, American comedian (d. 1991)
• 1925 - Dina Merrill, American actress
• 1926 - Henry Way Kendall, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1999)
• 1926 - Jan Křesadlo, Czech writer (d. 1995)
• 1927 - Pierre Henry, French composer
• 1928 - André Milhoux, Belgian racing driver
• 1928 - Dick Van Patten, American actor
• 1929 - John Cassavetes, American actor and director (d. 1989)
• 1929 - Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia
• 1930 - Buck Henry, American actor
• 1931 - William Reynolds, American actor
• 1931 - Ladislav Smoljak, Czech actor
• 1932 - Edd Wheeler, American singer-songwriter
• 1933 - Morton Downey Jr., American talk show host (d. 2001)
• 1933 - Monique Miller, French Canadian actress
• 1933 - Orville Moody, American golfer (d. 2008)
• 1934 - Dame Judi Dench, English actress
• 1934 - Junior Wells, American musician (d. 1998)
• 1937 - Darwin Joston, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1938 - David Houston, American country singer (d. 1993)
• 1938 - Deacon Jones, American football player
• 1941 - Beau Bridges, American actor
• 1941 - Dan Hicks, American musician
• 1942 - Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (d. 1997)
• 1942 - Dick Butkus, American football player
• 1943 - Pit Martin, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1944 - Neil Innes, English singer (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Rutles)
• 1944 - Ki Longfellow, American novelist
• 1944 - Bob O'Connor, American politician
• 1945 - Matti Mäntylä, Finnish actor
• 1945 - Michael Nouri, American actor
• 1946 - Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born Indian politician
• 1946 - Shatrughan Sinha, Indian actor
• 1947 - Tom Daschle, American politician
• 1947 - Jaak Jõerüüt, Soviet-born Estonian politician
• 1948 - Dennis Dunaway, American musician
• 1948 - Marleen Gorris, Dutch film director
• 1949 - Tom Kite, American golfer
• 1949 - Nando Parrado, Uruguayan plane crash survivor
• 1950 - Joan Armatrading, St. Kitts-born English singer
• 1952 - Liaqat Baloch, Pakistani politician
• 1952 - Michael Dorn, American actor
• 1953 - World B. Free, American basketball player
• 1953 - John Malkovich, American actor
• 1954 - Herman Finkers, Dutch comedian
• 1955 - Chamras Saewataporn, Thai composer and musician
• 1957 - Donny Osmond, American singer and actor
• 1958 - Rikk Agnew, American guitarist (The Adolescents)
• 1958 - Nick Seymour, Australian bassist (Crowded House)
• 1960 - Terry Moran, American TV reporter
• 1960 - Juan Samuel, Dominican baseball player
• 1960 - Dobroslav Paraga,Croatian politician and editor
• 1961 - David Anthony Higgins, American actor
• 1961 - Joe Lando, American actor
• 1962 - Felicity Huffman, American actress
• 1963 - Dave Hilton, Jr., Canadian boxer
• 1963 - Masako, Crown Princess of Japan
• 1964 - Paul Landers, German guitarist (Rammstein)
• 1965 - Joe Ausanio, American baseball player
• 1965 - Vecepia Towery, American Survivor contestant
• 1966 - Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician
• 1966 - Toby Huss, American actor
• 1967 - Joshua Bell, American violinist
• 1967 - Jason Dozzell, English footballer
• 1967 - Gheorghe Popescu, Romanian footballer
• 1968 - Kurt Angle, American wrestler
• 1968 - Brian Bell, American guitarist (Weezer)
• 1968 - Dave Harold, English snooker player
• 1969 - Jakob Dylan, American singer (The Wallflowers)
• 1969 - Allison Smith, American actress
• 1969 - Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer
• 1969 - Sebastian Spence, Canadian actor
• 1970 - Kara DioGuardi, American songwriter, record producer, and singer
• 1971 - Petr Nedvěd, Czech ice hockey player
• 1972 - Reiko Aylesworth, American actress
• 1972 - Tre Cool, German-born American drummer (Green Day)
• 1972 - Fabrice Santoro, Tahitian-born French tennis player
• 1974 - Canibus, American rapper
• 1974 - Wendy Dillinger, American female soccer player and coach
• 1976 - Chris Booker, American baseball player
• 1977 - Saskia Garel, Canadian actress
• 1977 - Shayne Graham, American football player
• 1977 - Imogen Heap, English singer-songwriter
• 1978 - Jesse Metcalfe, American actor
• 1979 - Olivia Lufkin, Japanese singer
• 1979 - Stephen McPhail, Irish footballer
• 1980 - Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian cyclist
• 1981 - Mardy Fish, American tennis player
• 1981 - Diya Mirza, Indian actress
• 1982 - Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist
• 1982 - Vincent Accardi, American guitarist Brand New
• 1982 - Nathalie De Vos, Belgian athlete
• 1983 - Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer
• 1983 - Jermaine Beckford, English footballer
• 1990 - LaFee, German singer

Deaths

• 1165 - King Malcolm IV of Scotland
• 1437 - Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1368)
• 1544 - Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (b. 1491)
• 1565 - Pope Pius IV (b. 1499)
• 1603 - William Watson, English conspirator (b. 1559)
• 1625 - Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (b. 1547)
• 1636 - Fabian Birkowski, Polish writer (b. 1566)
• 1640 - Pierre Fourier, Roman Catholic saint and French priest (b.1565)
• 1641 - Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter (b. 1599)
• 1669 - Pope Clement IX (b. 1600)
• 1674 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman and historian (b. 1609)
• 1692 - William Mountfort, English actor and dramatist
• 1706 - King Peter II of Portugal (b. 1648)
• 1718 - Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian cartographer and encylopaedist (b. 1650)
• 1793 - Gabrielle de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac, French aristocrat (b. 1749)
• 1798 - Johann Reinhold Forster, German botanist (b. 1729)
• 1830 - Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher, Danish surgeon, botanist and professor of anatomy (b. 1757)
• 1854 - Almeida Garrett, Portuguese writer (b. 1799)
• 1858 - Robert Baldwin, Canadian politician (b. 1804)
• 1887 - Mahmadu Lamine, Senegalese marabout and military leader
• 1894 - Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (b. 1821)
• 1916 - Natsume Sōseki, Japanese novelist (b. 1867)
• 1930 - Andrew "Rube" Foster, American baseball player and founder of the Negro National League (b. 1879)
• 1935 - Walter Liggett, American crusading newspaper editor and muckraker (b. 1886)
• 1937 - Nils Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1869)
• 1941 - Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Russian writer and philosopher (b. 1865)
• 1955 - Hermann Weyl, German mathematician (b. 1885)
• 1964 - Dame Edith Sitwell, English poet and critic (b. 1887)
• 1965 - Branch Rickey, American baseball executive (b. 1884)
• 1967 - Charles Léon Hammes, Luxembourgian lawyer and President of the European Court of Justice (b. 1898)
• 1970 - Artem Mikoyan, Soviet aircraft designer (b. 1905)
• 1970 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon, Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1893)
• 1971 - Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
• 1971 - Sergey Konenkov, Russian sculptor (b. 1874)
• 1972 - Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist (b. 1881)
• 1975 - William A. Wellman, American movie director (b. 1896)
• 1979 - Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop and television preacher (Life is Worth Living) (b. 1895)
• 1981 - Daniel Faulkner, Philadelphia police officer (b. 1955)
• 1982 - Leon Jaworski, Watergate scandal special prosecutor (b. 1905)
• 1984 - Razzle, English drummer (Hanoi Rocks) (b. 1960)
• 1992 - Vincent Gardenia, American stage, film and television actor (b. 1922)
• 1993 - Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer and manager (b. 1926)
• 1994 - Garnett Silk, Jamaican reggae singer (b. 1966)
• 1995 - Toni Cade Bambara, American author (b. 1939)
• 1995 - Douglas Corrigan, American aviator (b. 1907)
• 1996 - Patty Donahue, American singer (The Waitresses) (b. 1956)
• 1996 - Mary Leakey, English archaeologist and anthropologist (b. 1913)
• 1996 - Alain Poher, French politician (b. 1909)
• 1998 - Shaughnessy Cohen, Canadian politician (b. 1948)
• 1998 - Archie Moore, American boxer (b. 1913)
• 2001 - Michael Carver, British soldier (b. 1915)
• 2002 - Mary Hansen, Australian guitarist and singer (Stereolab) (b. 1966)
• 2002 - Ian Hornak, American Painter, Draughtsman and Sculptor (b. 1944)
• 2002 - Stan Rice, American painter, educator, and poet (b. 1942)
• 2003 - Paul Simon, U.S. Senator from Illinois (b. 1928)
• 2003 - Norm Sloan, American basketball coach (b. 1926)
• 2004 - David Brudnoy, American radio personality (b. 1940)
• 2004 - Lea De Mae, Czech actress (b. 1976)
• 2005 - György Sándor, Hungarian pianist (b. 1912)
• 2005 - Robert Sheckley, American author (b. 1928)
• 2007 - Thore Skogman, Swedish entertainer (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances

Russian World War I poster calling for donations on the Autumn Day of Saint George.

• Calendar of saints:
  • Saint Leocadia; Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin : optional memorial
  • Peter Fourier, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame
  • Autumn Day of Saint George (Russian Orthodox Church)
• Peru: Army Day
• Sweden and Finland: Anna's Day. Recognizes everyone named Anna, and marks the day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on Christmas Eve.
• Tanzania - Independence Day (of Tanganika from Britain, 1961)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada