December 9

Events

1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster
1824 - Battle of Ayacucho - Peru defeats Spain
1835 - The Army of the Republic of Texas captures San Antonio
1851 - First YMCA in North America established in Montreal, Quebec
1861 - Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War created by the United States Congress
1872 - P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African American governor of a U.S. state
1888 - Herman Hollerith installs his computing device at the United States War Department
1931 - Spain becomes a republic
1937 - Battle of Nanjing begins.
1940 - British Army attacks Italian forces in North Africa
1941 - China declares war on Japan, Germany, and Italy.
1950 - Harry Gold sentenced to thirty years in jail for stealing United States nuclear weapon secrets for the Soviet Union
1953 - General Electric announces that all Communist employees will be discharged from the company
1958 - John Birch Society founded.
1961 - Adolf Eichmann found guilty of war crimes in Israel
1962 - Tanganyika becomes a republic
1963 - Zanzibar becomes independent
1987 - First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank
1990 - Lech Walesa becomes the first directly elected president of Poland.
1992 - Separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales is announced
1992 - US Marines land in Somalia

Births

1594 - King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (d. 1632)
1608 - John Milton, poet, writer (d. 1674)
1842 - Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist (d. 1921)
1848 - Joel Chandler Harris, author (d. 1908)
1876 - Berton Churchill, pioneer Hollywood actor (d. 1940)
1878 - Grand Duke Michael Romanov, Russian royalty (d. 1918)
1882 - Joaqun Turina, composer (d. 1949)
1885 - Grete Wiesenthal, dancer and choreographer (d. 1970)
1886 - Clarence Birdseye, frozen food pioneer (d. 1956)
1889 - Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner
1897 - Hermione Gingold, actress (d. 1987)
1898 - Emmett Kelly, circus clown (d. 1979)
1899 - Jean de Brunhoff, author (d. 1937)
1901 - dn von Horvth, dramatist and narrator (d. 1938)
1902 - Margaret Hamilton, actress (d. 1985)
1905 - Dalton Trumbo, writer, member of the "Hollywood Ten" (d. 1976)
1906 - Grace Murray Hopper, computer pioneer (d. 1992)
1909 - Douglas Fairbanks Jr., actor (d. 2000)
1911 - Broderick Crawford, actor (d. 1986)
1911 - Lee J. Cobb, actor
1912 - Tip O'Neill, former speaker of the United States House of Representatives (d. 1994)
1915 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, opera singer
1916 - Kirk Douglas, actor and film producer
1922 - Redd Foxx, comedian, actor (d. 1991)
1927 - Pierre Henry, composer
1928 - Dick Van Patten, actor
1929 - John Cassavetes, actor and film director (d. 1989)
1929 - Bob Hawke, twenty-third Prime Minister of Australia
1930 - Buck Henry, actor, comedian, writer, director, producer
1933 - Morton Downey Jr., talk show host (d. 2001)
1934 - Dame Judi Dench actress
1934 - Junior Wells, musician (d. 1998)
1938 - Deacon Jones, American football star
1941 - Beau Bridges, actor
1941 - Dan Hicks, musician
1942 - Dick Butkus, American football player
1943 - Rick Danko, musician (The Band) (d. 1999)
1947 - Steve Owens, football player
1947 - Tom Daschle, American politician
1950 - Joan Armatrading, singer
1953 - John Malkovich, actor
1957 - Donny Osmond, entertainer
1962 - Marcus Vasconcellos, engineer
1967 - Joshua Bell, violinist
1968 - Kurt Angle, Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, now WWE professional wrestler
1969 - Jakob Dylan, musician
1972 - Tre Cool, musician (Green Day)

Deaths

1565 - Pope Pius IV
1669 - Pope Clement IX
1930 - Andrew "Rube" Foster, pioneer of Negro League baseball
1937 - Nils Gustaf Daln, engineer, physicist
1965 - Dame Edith Sitwell, poet
1965 - Branch Rickey, baseball commissioner
1971 - Ralph Bunche, diplomat
1972 - Louella Parsons, gossip columnist
1996 - Mary Leakey, archeologist, anthropologist
1998 - Archie Moore, boxer
2003 - Paul Simon, U.S. Senator from Illinois (75 years)