December 9th

+Scandinavia (specifically 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 Tanganyika from Britain, 1961)

Births*:
1608 – John Milton, English poet
1886 – Clarence Birdseye, American frozen food manufacturer (d. 1956)
1898 – Emmett Kelly, American circus clown (d. 1979)
1909 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (d. 2000)
1912 – Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
1916 – Kirk Douglas, American actor
1922 – Redd Foxx, American comedian (d. 1991)
1928 – Dick Van Patten, American actor
1934 – Judi Dench British actress
1941 – Beau Bridges, American actor
1942 – Dick Butkus, American football player
1947 – Tom Daschle, American politician
1953 – John Malkovich, American actor
1957 – Donny Osmond, American singer and actor
1962 – Felicity Huffman, American actress
1968 – Brian Bell, American guitarist (Weezer)
1969 – Jakob Dylan, American singer (The Wallflowers)
1976 – Imogen Heap, British singer and songwriter

Events*:
+536 – Byzantine General Belisarius enters in Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city, returning the old capital to its empire.
+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.
+1835 – The Republic of Texas captures San Antonio.
+1851 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal, Quebec.
+1872 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first serving African-American governor of a U.S. state.
+1897 – Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde in Paris.
+1905 – In France, the law separating church and state is passed.
+1941 – World War II: The Republic of China, Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and Cuba declare war on Germany and Japan.
+1958 – Red Scare: The John Birch Society founded in the United States.
+1965 – Kecksburg UFO incident
+1969 – Groundbreaking of Washington, D.C.’s Metrorail system.
+1990 – Lech WaÅ‚Ä™sa becomes the first directly elected president of Poland.
+1992 – The separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales is announced

AND December 9th, 2006, MY sister is getting married in a simple ceremony at our family home. Congratulations Elizabeth & Seth! (To all family members reading this, invitations will be sent. The whole thing was decided last night, so it’s very spur-of-the-moment!)

(*Heavily edited list of births & events.)