Title: December 9 Content: == Events == === Up to 1950 === * 480 - Odoacer, the first King of Italy, occupies Dalmatia in present-day Croatia. * 536 - Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed. * 1531 - The Virgin of Guadalupe is said to have first appeared to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City. * 1775 – American Revolutionary War: British troops lose in the Battle of Great Bridge and leave Virginia shortly after. * 1793 - New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is created by Noah Webster. * 1824 – Battle of Ayacucho: Peruvian troops defeat the Spanish, who then end their colonial rule over Peru. * 1835 – The Texan Army captures San Antonio, Texas. * 1851 – The YMCA in North America is founded in Montreal. * 1872 – P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African American State Governor in the US, in Louisiana. * 1888 - Statistician Herman Hollerith installs his computing device at the United States Department of War. * 1892 - English football club Newcastle United is created. * 1897 – Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde, in Paris. * 1905 – France passes the law separating church and state. * 1911 – A mine explosion in Briceville, Tennessee kills 84 miners. * 1917 - World War I: Hussein al-Husseyni, Ottoman Mayor of Jerusalem, surrenders the city to the British. * 1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz is confirmed as President of Poland. * 1931 - The Constituent Cortes approves a constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic. * 1935 - American football: The trophy that later becomes the Heisman Trophy is given for the first time. The winner is Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago. * 1937 – In the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese troops launch an assault on the 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, Egypt. * 1941 – World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, the Republic of Korea and the Philippine Commonwealth declare war on Japan. * 1946 – The Constituent Assembly of India meets to write the Constitution. * 1946 - The Doctors' trial begins over physicians believed to have committed Nazi war crimes and medical experiments on people. * 1948 - The Genocide Convention is adopted. * 1950 - Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in prison for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. === From 1951 === * 1953 – Red Scare: General Electric announces the discharge of all Communist employees. * 1956 - Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, killing all 62 people on board. * 1960 – Coronation Street is broadcast for the first time on British television. * 1961 – Tanganyika becomes independent. In 1964 it joins with Zanzibar to form Tanzania. * 1962 – Tanganyika joins the Commonwealth of Nations. * 1962 - The Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona is created. * 1966 – Barbados joins the UN. * 1968 - Douglas Engelbart demonstrates the computer mouse and hypertext. * 1971 – The United Arab Emirates join the UN. * 1973 – Britain and Ireland sign the Sunningdale Agreement. * 1979 – The eradication of Smallpox is announced. * 1990 – Lech Walesa becomes President of Poland. * 1998 - In the Swiss Federal Council, Ruth Dreifuss is chosen to be Switzerland's President for the year 1999, making her the first woman to take up the role, on January 1, 1999. * 2003 – A blast in central Moscow kills 6 people. * 2005 - End of the London Routemaster Red Double-Decker Bus Service. * 2008 – Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is arrested by federal agents on a number of crimes, including trying to sell the United States Senate Seat of Barack Obama, who had been elected president. * 2009 - Carwyn Jones becomes First Minister of Wales, succeeding Rhodri Morgan. * 2016 - President of South Korea Park Geun-hye is impeached by the country's National Assembly, as a result of a major corruption scandal. * 2016 - A suicide bomb attack in Madagali, Nigeria, kills at least 45 people. * 2019 - 2019 Whakaari/White Island eruption: The Whakaari-White Island volcano in New Zealand erupts, killing at least 18 people. * 2019 - A Chilean plane crashes en route from Chile to Antarctica with 38 people on board. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 1392 - Peter, Duke of Coimbra, Portuguese prince (d. 1449) * 1447 – Chenghua Emperor of China (d. 1487) * 1508 – Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and mapmaker (d. 1555) * 1571 – Metius, Dutch mathematician and astronomer (d. 1635) * 1579 - Martín de Porres, Peruvian saint (d. 1639) * 1594 – King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (d. 1632) * 1608 – John Milton, English poet (d. 1674) * 1610 - Baldassare Ferri, Italian singer and actor (d. 1680) * 1652 - Augustus Quirinus Rivenus, German physician and botanist (d. 1723) * 1667 - William Whiston, English mathematician, historian and theologian (d. 1752) * 1748 – Claude Louis Berthollet, French chemist (d. 1822) * 1751 – Maria Luisa of Parma, Queen of Spain (d. 1819) * 1787 - John Dobson, English architect (d. 1865) * 1842 – Peter Kropotkin, Russian anarchist and writer (d. 1921) * 1845 - Joel Chandler Harris, American journalist and author (d. 1908) * 1850 – Emma Abbott, American soprano (d. 1891) * 1863 - John Burnet, Scottish classical philologist (d. 1928) * 1868 – Fritz Haber, German chemist (d. 1934) * 1872 - Thomas W. Hardwick, American politician, Governor of Georgia (d. 1944) * 1873 - Henry S. Caulfield, American politician, 37th Governor of Missouri (d. 1966) * 1876 - Berton Churchill, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1940) * 1877 - Mart Kuusik, Russian-Estonian rower (d. 1964) * 1882 - Joaquin Turina, Spanish composer (d. 1949) * 1883 - Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician, theorist and academic (d. 1950) * 1883 – Alexander Papagos, Greek general and Prime Minister (d. 1955) * 1883 - Joseph Pilates, German-American fitness expert (d. 1967) * 1886 – Clarence Birdseye, American frozen food manufacturer (d. 1956) * 1887 - Tim Moore, American actor (d. 1958) * 1889 – Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner (d. 1966) * 1890 - Laura Salverson, Canadian author (d. 1970) * 1896 - Goodwin Knight, American politician, 31st Governor of California (d. 1970) * 1897 - Hermione Gingold, English-American actress and singer (d. 1987) * 1898 - Emmett Kelly, American clown (d. 1979) * 1900 - Albert Weisbord, American activist (d. 1977) === 1901 1950 === * 1901 - Jean Mermoz, French pilot (d. 1936) * 1901 – Carol Dempster, American actress (d. 1991) * 1901 – Odon von Horvath, Austro-Hungarian writer (d. 1938) * 1902 - Rab Butler, British politician (d. 1982) * 1902 - Margaret Hamilton, American actress (d. 1985) * 1906 – Grace Hopper, American computer scientist (d. 1992) * 1909 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (d. 2000) * 1911 - Broderick Crawford, American actor (d. 1986) * 1912 – Tip O'Neill, American politician (d. 1994) * 1914 - Max Manus, Norwegian resistance activist (d. 1996) * 1915 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German soprano (d. 2006) * 1916 – Kirk Douglas, American actor (d. 2020) * 1917 – James Rainwater, American physicist (d. 1986) * 1919 – William Lipscomb, American chemist (d. 2011) * 1920 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, former President of Italy (d. 2016) * 1924 - Manlio Sgalambro, Italian philosopher and poet (d. 2014) * 1926 - Erhard Eppler, German politician (d. 2019) * 1926 – Henry Way Kendall, American physicist (d. 1999) * 1928 - Dick Van Patten, American actor (d. 2015) * 1929 – Bob Hawke, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (d. 2019) * 1929 – John Cassavetes, American director and actor (d. 1989) * 1930 - Edoardo Sanguineti, Italian writer (d. 2010) * 1930 - Buck Henry, American actor, director and writer (d. 2020) * 1931 - William Reynolds, American actor * 1933 - Milt Campbell, American decathlete (d. 2012) * 1933 - Morton Downey, Jr., American singer-songwriter, actor and talk show host (d. 2001) * 1934 – Judi Dench, English actress * 1941 - Beau Bridges, American actor * 1942 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (d. 1997) * 1942 - Germain Gagnon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014) * 1942 - Joe McGinniss, American writer (d. 2014) * 1943 - Joanna Trollope, English writer * 1944 - Bob O'Connor, American politician, 57th Mayor of Pittsburgh * 1944 - Neil Innes, English musician and composer (d. 2019) * 1944 - Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, 80th Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (d. 2020) * 1945 - Michael Nouri, American actor * 1946 - Mervyn Davies, Welsh rugby player (d. 2012) * 1946 – Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born Indian politician * 1948 – Dennis Dunaway, American musician * 1949 – Tom Kite, American golfer * 1949 – Nando Parrado, Uruguayan plane crash survivor * 1950 – Joan Armatrading, British musician and singer- songwriter. === 1951 1975 === * 1952 - Michael Dorn, American actor and director * 1953 – John Malkovich, American actor * 1954 – Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg * 1954 - Phil Bryant, American politician, 63rd Governor of Mississippi * 1954 - Mary Fallin, American politician, Governor of Oklahoma * 1954 - Henk ten Cate, Dutch footballer and manager * 1954 - Kip Hanrahan, American musician and producer * 1955 - Otis Birdsong, American basketball player * 1956 – Jean- Pierre Thiollet, French author * 1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer and actor * 1960 – Caroline Lucas, English politician, MP for and former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales * 1960 - Juan Samuel, Dominican-American baseball player and manager * 1961 - John Anthony Higgins, American actor * 1961 - Joe Lando, American actor * 1962 – Felicity Huffman, American actress * 1963 – Empress Masako of Japan * 1963 – Zurab Zhvania, Prime Minister of Georgia (d. 2005) * 1964 – Hape Kerkeling, German comedian, actor and television presenter * 1964 – Johannes B. Kerner, German television presenter * 1964 – Paul Landers, German guitarist * 1964 - Michael Müller, German politician, Governing Mayor of Berlin * 1966 – Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician * 1966 - Spencer Rochfort, American-Canadian actor * 1966 - Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli lawyer and politician * 1966 - Shane Scott, American director, producer, cinematographer and screenwriter * 1967 - Gheorghe Popescu, Romanian footballer * 1968 – Kurt Angle, American professional wrestler * 1969 – Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer * 1970 - Lance Krall, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter * 1971 - Geoff Barrow, English drummer, DJ, composer and producer * 1972 - Michael Corcoran, American singer- songwriter and producer * 1972 – Fabrice Santoro, Tahitian-French tennis player * 1972 – Tré Cool, American musician (Green Day) === From 1976 === * 1976 - Booba, French rapper * 1977 – Imogen Heap, English singer-songwriter * 1978 – Jesse Metcalfe, American actor * 1981 - Gemma Fay, Scottish footballer * 1981 – Mardy Fish, American tennis player * 1981 - Dia Mirza, Indian model, actress and producer * 1983 – Jermaine Beckford, English footballer * 1983 – Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer * 1987 - Hikaru Nakamura, Japanese-American chess player * 1987 - Adam Szalai, Hungarian footballer * 1988 - Kwadwo Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer * 1989 – Lindsey Evans, American glamour model * 1990 – LaFee, German singer * 1991 – Prince Joachim of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este * 1991 - Choi Minho, South Korean singer, dancer and actor * 1995 - McKayla Maroney, American gymnast == Deaths == === Up to 1950 === * 638 - Sergius I of Constantinople * 1165 – King Malcolm IV of Scotland (b. 1141) * 1437 – Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1368) * 1565 – Pope Pius IV (b. 1499) * 1625 - Ubbo Emmius, Dutch historian and geographer (b. 1547) * 1641 – Anthony van Dyck, Flemish painter (b. 1599) * 1669 – Pope Clement XI (b. 1600) * 1706 – King Peter II of Portugal (b. 1648) * 1718 - Vincenzo Coronelli, Italian monk, cosmographer and cartographer (b. 1650) * 1830 - Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher, Danish surgeon, botanist and academic (b. 1757) * 1858 - Robert Baldwin, Canadian politician (b. 1804) * 1916 – Natsume Soseki, Japanese novelist (b. 1867) * 1930 - Rube Foster, American baseball player and manager (b. 1879) * 1937 – Nils Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist (b. 1869) * 1941 - Dmitry Merezhovsky, Russian author, poet and philosopher (b. 1865) === 1951 2000 === * 1955 – Hermann Weyl, German mathematician (b. 1885) * 1964 – Edith Sitwell, English poet (b. 1887) * 1967 - Charles Leon Hammes, Luxembourgish lawyer and judge (b. 1898) * 1970 - Artem Mikoyan, Armenian- Russian engineer and businessman (b. 1905) * 1970 - Feroz Khan Noon, 7th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1893) * 1971 – Ralph Bunche, American diplomat (b. 1904) * 1972 - Louella Parsons, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1881) * 1975 - William A. Wellman, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1896) * 1977 - Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian writer (b. 1920) * 1979 - Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (b. 1895) * 1981 – Daniel Faulkner, Philadelphia police officer (b. 1955) * 1982 – Asmundur Sveinsson, Icelandic sculptor (b. 1893) * 1991 – Berenice Abbott, American photographer (b. 1898) * 1993 - Danny Blanchflower, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1926) * 1995 - Douglas Corrigan, American pilot (b. 1907) * 1996 – Mary Leakey, British archaeologist and anthropologist (b. 1913) * 1996 - Alain Poher, French politician (b. 1909) * 1998 – Archie Moore, American boxer (b. 1913) === From 2001 === * 2004 – Lea De Mae, Czech actress (b. 1976) * 2005 – György Sándor, Hungarian pianist (b. 1912) * 2009 – Gene Barry, American actor (b. 1919) * 2010 – James Moody, American jazz musician (b. 1925) * 2012 - Jenni Rivera, American singer-songwriter, producer and actress (b. 1969) * 2012 - Patrick Moore, English astronomer, writer and broadcaster (b. 1923) * 2012 - Charles Rosen, American pianist and musicologist (b. 1927) * 2013 - Eleanor Parker, American actress (b. 1922) * 2014 - Mary Ann Mobley, American actress (b. 1939) * 2014 - Jane Freilicher, American painter (b. 1924) * 2014 - Karl Otto Pöhl, German economist (b. 1929) * 2015 - Rusty Jones, American jazz drummer (b. 1942) * 2017 - James Joseph Brady, American judge (b. 1944) * 2017 - Leonid Bronevoy, Ukrainian-Russian actor (b. 1928) * 2017 - Lando Fiorini, Italian actor (b. 1938) * 2017 - Grant Munro, Canadian animator, filmmaker and actor (b. 1923) * 2017 - Joe Newton, American track and field coach (b. 1929) * 2018 - Yigal Bashan, Israeli singer and composer (b. 1950) * 2018 - Robert Bergland, American politician (b. 1928) * 2018 - William Blum, American author and historian (b. 1933) * 2018 - Riccardo Giacconi, Italian- American astrophysicist (b. 1931) * 2018 - Bob Giggie, American baseball player (b. 1933) * 2018 - Gordon Scholes, Australian politician (b. 1931) * 2018 - Dick Van Orden, American rear admiral (b. 1921) * 2019 - John R. Broxson, American politician (b. 1932) * 2019 - Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer (Roxette) (b. 1958) * 2019 - Omar Graffigna, Argentine air force officer (b. 1926) * 2019 - William Luce, American writer (b. 1931) * 2019 - Veijo Puhjo, Finnish politician (b. 1948) * 2019 - Imre Varga, Hungarian sculptor and painter (b. 1923) == Observances == * National holiday in Tanzania, celebrating independence of Tanganyika in 1961 * Anna's Day (Sweden and Finland) * Armed Forces Day (Peru) * International Anti-Corruption Day December 09