From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.
• 1531 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City.
• 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 – The 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, is 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" begin 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.
• 1956 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, killing all 62 people on board.
• 1958 – The John Birch Society was founded in the United States.
• 1960 – The first episode of Britain's longest running television soap opera Coronation Street is broadcast.
• 1961 – The trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Israel ends with verdicts of guilty on 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.
• 1962 – The Petrified Forest National Park is established in Arizona.
• 1965 – The Kecksburg UFO incident: a fireball is seen from Michigan to Pennsylvania; witnesses report something crashing in the woods near Pittsburgh. In 2005 NASA admits that it examined an object.
• 1966 – Barbados joins the United Nations.
• 1968 – NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) is publicly demonstrated for the first time in San Francisco.
• 1971 – The United Arab Emirates join the United Nations.
• 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 wins Poland's first direct presidential election.
• 2000 – The Supreme Court of the United States stays the sixth Florida recount.
• 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 rehabilitation center.
• 2008 – The Governor of Illinois, Rob Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for a number of alleged crimes including attempting to sell the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama's election to the Presidency.
• 2009 – In Denmark, seven of the nine parties of the Danish Parliament declares, that they don't support Tibet as a country.

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)
• 1717 – Johann Joachim Winckelmann, German art historian (d. 1768)
• 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)
• 1845 – Joel Chandler Harris, American writer (d. 1908)
• 1847 – George Grossmith, English actor and writer (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)
• 1883 – Alexander Papagos, Greek General and Prime Minister (d. 1955)
• 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 – Dolores Ibárruri, Spanish political leader (d. 1989)
• 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 (d. 2010)
• 1915 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-born soprano (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Kirk Douglas, American actor
• 1916 – Jerome Beatty Jr., American author (d. 2002)
• 1917 – James Angleton, head of counterintelligence for the CIA (d. 1987)
• 1917 – James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1986)
• 1918 – Joyce Redman, Irish actress
• 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 – Ashleigh Brilliant, American writer (Pot-Shots)
• 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
• 1940 – Clancy Eccles, Jamaican Reggae Musician (d. 2005)
• 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 (d. 2008)
• 1944 – Neil Innes, English singer/songwriter (Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Rutles)
• 1944 – Ki Longfellow, American novelist
• 1944 – Bob O'Connor, American politician (d. 2006)
• 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
• 1957 – Peter O’Mara, Australian jazz guitarist and comopser
• 1958 – Rikk Agnew, American guitarist (The Adolescents)
• 1958 – Nick Seymour, Australian bassist (Crowded House)
• 1960 – Terry Moran, American TV reporter
• 1960 – Stefen Fangmeier, American film director
• 1960 – Dobroslav Paraga,Croatian politician and editor
• 1960 – Juan Samuel, Dominican baseball player
• 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 – Hape Kerkeling, German actor, TV presenter and comedian
• 1964 – Johannes B. Kerner, German TV presenter
• 1964 – Paul Landers, German guitarist (Rammstein)
• 1965 – Joe Ausanio, American baseball player
• 1965 – Vecepia Towery, American Survivor contestant, Winner of Survivor: Marquesas
• 1966 – Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician, junior senator of New York
• 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
• 1968 – Brent Price, American basketball player
• 1969 – Jakob Dylan, American singer (The Wallflowers)
• 1969 – Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer
• 1969 – Allison Smith, American actress
• 1969 – Sebastian Spence, Canadian actor
• 1970 – Kara DioGuardi, American songwriter, record producer, and singer
• 1970 – Lance Krall, American comedian
• 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
• 1973 – Fabio Artico, Italian footballer
• 1974 – Canibus, American rapper
• 1974 – Wendy Dillinger, American footballer 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 – Gaston Gaudio, Argentine tennis player
• 1978 – Jesse Metcalfe, American actor
• 1979 – Chen Hao, Chinese actress
• 1979 – Olivia Lufkin, Japanese singer
• 1979 – Stephen McPhail, Irish footballer
• 1980 – Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian cyclist
• 1980 – Simon Helberg, American actor
• 1981 – Mardy Fish, American tennis player
• 1981 – Dia Mirza, Indian actress
• 1982 – Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist
• 1982 – Nathalie De Vos, Belgian athlete
• 1983 – Jermaine Beckford, English footballer
• 1983 – Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer
• 1984 – Leon Hall, American football player
• 1987 – Mat Latos, American baseball player
• 1989 – Lindsey Evans, American glamor model
• 1990 – LaFee, German singer
• 1991 – Prince Joachim of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este

Deaths

• 1165 – King Malcolm IV of Scotland (b. 1141)
• 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)
• 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 (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)
• 1906 – Ferdinand Brunetière, French writer and critic (b. 1849)
• 1916 – Natsume Sōseki, Japanese novelist (b. 1867)
• 1924 – Bernard Zweers, Dutch composer and music teacher (b. 1854)
• 1930 – Rube Foster, American baseball player (b. 1879)
• 1935 – Walter Liggett, American newspaper editor (b. 1886)
• 1937 – Nils Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1869)
• 1941 – Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Russian writer and philosopher (b. 1865)
• 1943 – Georges Dufrénoy, French post-impressionnist painter (b. 1870)
• 1952 – Abe Manley, Negro League Baseball owner (b. 1885)
• 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 (b. 1898)
• 1970 – Artem Mikoyan, Soviet aircraft designer (b. 1905)
• 1970 – Sir Feroz Khan Noon, Pakistani politician (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 (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 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 and sculptor (b. 1944)
• 2002 – Stan Rice, American painter and poet (b. 1942)
• 2003 – Paul Simon, American politician (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)
• 2006 – Koula Agagiotou, Greek actress (b. 1915)
• 2007 – Thore Skogman, Swedish entertainer (b. 1931)
• 2007 – Gordon Zahn, American sociologist and pacifist (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Ibrahim Dossey, Ghanaian football player (b. 1972)
• 2008 – Yuri Glazkov, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1939)

Holidays and observances

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

• Calendar of saints:
  • Conception of the Virgin Mary by her mother Anne (Orthodox Church)
  • Saint Leocadia; Saint Nectarius of Auvergne; 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)
• United Nations – International Anti-Corruption Day
• Asatru - Day of Remembrance for Egil Skallagrimsson
• National Heroes Day (formerly V.C. Bird Day); Antigua and Barbuda

External links

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

From Wikiquote

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2003

If your morals make you dreary, depend upon it, they are wrong. I do not say give them up, for they may be all you have, but conceal them like a vice lest they spoil the lives of better and simpler people. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

• selected by Kalki

2004

Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

• selected by Kalki

2005

We take men for what they are worth — and that is why we hate the government of man by man, and that we work with all our might — perhaps not strong enough — to put an end to it. ~ Peter Kropotkin (born 9 December 1842)

• proposed by Kalki

2006

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to my conscience, above all liberties. ~ John Milton (born 9 December 1608)

• proposed by UDScott

2007

Man is appealed to to be guided in his acts, not merely by love, which is always personal, or at the best tribal, but by the perception of his oneness with each human being. In the practice of mutual aid, which we can retrace to the earliest beginnings of evolution, we thus find the positive and undoubted origin of our ethical conceptions; and we can affirm that in the ethical progress of man, mutual support not mutual struggle — has had the leading part. ~ Peter Kropotkin

• proposed by InvisibleSun

2008

A ship in port is safe; but that is not what ships are built for. Sail out to sea and do new things. ~ Grace Hopper

• proposed by Zarbon

2009

A different conception of society, very different from that which now prevails, is in process of formation. ... Acknowledging, as a fact, the equal rights of all its members to the treasures accumulated in the past ... it seeks to establish a certain harmonious compatibility in its midst — not by subjecting all its members to an authority that is fictitiously supposed to represent society, not by trying to establish uniformity, but by urging all men to develop free initiative, free action, free association. ~ Peter Kropotkin

• proposed by Kalki

2010 

Rank or add further suggestions…

Quotes by people born this day, already used as QOTD:

• The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven. ~ John Milton
  • used 6 March 2004, selected by Kalki

• As good almost kill a man as kill a good book. Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye. ~ John Milton in Areopagitica
  • used 23 November 2005, proposed by UDScott

• One single war — we all know — may be productive of more evil, immediate and subsequent, than hundreds of years of the unchecked action of the mutual-aid principle may be productive of good. ~ Peter Kropotkin
  • used 8 February 2007, proposed by Fys

Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.

3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.

2 : Good - some desire to see it used.

1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.

0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.

Suggestions

It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A
It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A
They have everything for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys ~ Y-M-C-A, The Village People in honor of the first YMCA established in North America, this day on 1851

• 2 ~ UDScott 23:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
• 2 ~ Kalki 19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 0 Zarbon 16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 0 Lyle 21:35, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 InvisibleSun 23:14, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
• Comment is this so much of the song that there is a potential copyvio issue? Matchups 15:34, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

When we ask for the abolition of the State and its organs we are always told that we dream of a society composed of men better than they are in reality. But no; a thousand times, no. All we ask is that men should not be made worse than they are, by such institutions! ~ Peter Kropotkin (born December 9, 1842)

• 3 InvisibleSun 05:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 2 Zarbon 16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Matchups 15:34, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

With thee conversing I forget all time,
All seasons, and their change; all please alike.
Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds.
~ John Milton (born December 9, 1608)

• 3 InvisibleSun 05:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Freely we serve,
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall.
~ John Milton

• 3 InvisibleSun 05:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
• 1 Zarbon 16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Lyle 21:35, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Accuse not Nature: she hath done her part;
Do thou but thine.
~ John Milton

• 3 InvisibleSun 05:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC) with a lean toward 4.
• 2 Zarbon 16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Lyle 21:35, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise
(That last infirmity of noble mind)
To scorn delights, and live laborious days;
But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
And think to burst out into sudden blaze,
Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorrèd shears,
And slits the thin-spun life.
~ John Milton

• 3 InvisibleSun 05:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting
Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lillies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair;
Listen for dear honor's sake,
Goddess of the silver lake,
Listen and save.
~ John Milton

• 3 InvisibleSun 05:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 19:29, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 16:01, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

For never can true reconcilement grow, Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep. ~ John Milton

• 3 Zarbon 06:28, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 00:20, 8 December 2008 (UTC) I might rank this higher if extended for more context, or trimmed of its initial "For".
• 2 Antiquary 21:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 23:14, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Games released on December 9.

From Familypedia

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 in Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city, returning the old capital to its empire.
• 1425 - The Catholic University of Leuven is founded.
• 1531 - First apparition of the Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Guadalupe) to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on Tepeyac Hill
• 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.
• 1851 - The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal.
• 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.
• 1892 - The football clubs Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End merge to form Newcastle United F.C.
• 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, 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.
• 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 attack Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon.
• 1946 - The "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" 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 founded in the United States.
• 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.

Shuttle Discovery after launch of STS-116.

• 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
• 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 addict rehabitational center.

Births

• 1447 - Chenghua, Emperor of China (d. 1487)
• 1508 - Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555)
• 1561 - Sir Edwin Sandys, British-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, British architect
• 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, 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)
• 1889 - Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish Olympic gold medalist (d. 1966)
• 1891 - Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet (d. 1917)
• 1895 - Conchita Supervía, Spanish opera singer (d. 1936)
• 1897 - Hermione Gingold, British 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)
• 1905 - Dalton Trumbo, American writer (d. 1976)
• 1906 - Grace Murray Hopper, American computer pioneer (d. 1992)
• 1909 - Douglas Fairbanks, 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 Rainwater, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
• 1918 - Jerome Beatty Jr., American author
• 1919 - William Lipscomb, Nobel Prize 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, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1999)
• 1926 - Jan Křesadlo, Czech writer (d. 1995)
• 1927 - Pierre Henry, French composer
• 1928 - Dick Van Patten, American actor
• 1928 - André Milhoux, Belgian racing driver
• 1929 - John Cassavetes, American actor and director (d. 1989)
• 1929 - Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia
• 1930 - Buck Henry, American actor
• 1931 - Ladislav Smoljak, Czech actor
• 1931 - William Reynolds, American actor
• 1933 - Morton Downey Jr., American talk show host (d. 2001)
• 1934 - Dame Judi Dench, British actress
• 1934 - Junior Wells, American musician (d. 1998)
• 1937 - Darwin Joston, American actor (d. 1998)
• 1938 - Deacon Jones, American football player
• 1938 - David Houston, American country music singer (d. 1993)
• 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, National Hockey League player
• 1944 - Ki Longfellow, American novelist
• 1944 - Neil Innes, British singerBonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
• 1944 - Bob O'Connor, American politician
• 1945 - Matti Mäntylä, Finnish actor
• 1946 - Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born Indian politician
• 1947 - Tom Daschle, American politician
• 1947 - Jaak Jõerüüt, Soviet-born Estonian politician
• 1948 - Dennis Dunaway, American musician
• 1949 - Tom Kite, American golfer
• 1950 - Joan Armatrading, West Indian-born British singer
• 1952 - Michael Dorn, American actor
• 1952 - Liaqat Baloch, Pakistani politician
• 1953 - John Malkovich, American actor
• 1953 - Monique Miller, French Canadian actress
• 1954 - Herman Finkers, Dutch comedian
• 1957 - Donny Osmond, American singer and actor
• 1958 - Rikk Agnew, American guitar player (The Adolescents)
• 1958 - Nick Seymour, Australian bassist (Crowded House)
• 1960 - Juan Samuel, Dominican baseball player
• 1961 - David Anthony Higgins, American actor
• 1961 - Joe Lando, American actor
• 1962 - Felicity Huffman, American actress
• 1963 - Masako
• 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 - 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 - Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer
• 1969 - Sebastian Spence, Canadian actor
• 1971 - Petr Nedved, National Hockey League player
• 1972 - Tre Cool, German-born American drummer (Green Day)
• 1972 - Reiko Aylesworth, American actress
• 1972 - Fabrice Santoro, Tahitian-born French tennis player
• 1974 - Canibus, American rapper
• 1975 - Dino Morea, Indian actor
• 1976 - Chris Booker, American baseball player
• 1977 - Saskia Garel, Canadian actress
• 1977 - Imogen Heap, British singer and songwriter
• 1978 - Jesse Metcalfe, American actor
• 1979 - Olivia Lufkin, Japanese singer
• 1980 - Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian cyclist
• 1981 - Mardy Fish, American tennis player
• 1981 - Diya Mirza, Indian actress
• 1982 - Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist
• 1983 - Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer
• 1983 - Jermaine Beckford, English footballer
• 1990 - LaFee, German singer

Deaths

• 1165 - King Malcolm IV of Scotland
• 1437 - Sigismund (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)
• 1641 - Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter (b. 1599)
• 1669 - Pope Clement IX (b. 1600)
• 1674 - Edward Hyde, 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, 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)
• 1937 - Nils Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
• 1941 - Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Russian writer and philosopher (b. 1865)
• 1955 - Hermann Weyl, German mathematician (b. 1885)
• 1964 - Dame Edith Sitwell, British poet and critic (b. 1887)
• 1965 - Branch Rickey, American baseball commissioner (b. 1884)
• 1970 - Sir Feroz Khan Noon, Prime Minister of Pakistan
• 1971 - Ralph Bunche, American diplomat and Nobel Prize laureate (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 - Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, British drummer (Hanoi Rocks) (b. 1960)
• 1990 - Mike Mazurki, Ukrainian-born professional wrestler and actor (b. 1907)
• 1992 - Vincent Gardenia, American stage, film and television actor (b. 1922)
• 1993 - Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer and football manager (b. 1926)
• 1995 - Toni Cade Bambara, American author (b. 1939)
• 1996 - Patty Donahue, American singer (The Waitresses) (b. 1956)
• 1996 - Mary Leakey, British archeologist and anthropologist (b. 1913)
• 1996 - Alain Poher, French politician (b. 1909)
• 1998 - Shaughnessy Cohen, Canadian politician (b. 1948)
• 1998 - Archie Moore, American boxer and World Light-Heavyweight Champion (b. 1913)
• 2001 - Michael Carver, British Lord Field Marshall and Baron and strong speaker against the Trident program.
• 2002 - Mary Hansen, Australian guitarist and singer (Stereolab) (b. 1966)
• 2002 - Stan Rice, American painter, educator, and poet (b. 1942)
• 2003 - Paul Simon, U.S. Senator from Illinois (b. 1928)
• 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)

Holidays and observances

• Calendar of saints:
  • Saint Leocadia; Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin : optional memorial
  • Peter Fourier, founder of the Congregation of Notre Dame
• Peru: Army Day
• Sweden: 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