TODAY IN HISTORY

On Dec. 9, 1892, "Widowers' Houses," Bernard Shaw's first play, opened at the Royalty Theater in London.

On this date:

In 1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," was published in England.

In 1917, British forces captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks.

In 1935, the Downtown Athletic Club of New York honored college football player Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago with the DAC Trophy, which later became known as the Heisman Trophy.

In 1940, British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II.

In 1942, the Aram Khachaturian ballet "Gayane," featuring the surging "Sabre Dance," was first performed by Russia's Kirov Ballet.

In 1958, the anti-communist John Birch Society was formed in Indianapolis.

In 1962, the Petrified Forest in Arizona was designated a national park.

In 1965, Nikolai V. Podgorny replaced Anastas I. Mikoyan as chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, a job he would hold for almost 12 years. "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the first animated TV special featuring characters from the "Peanuts" comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, premiered on CBS.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan- authorization that officials of New York City and State said would prevent a city default.

In 1984, the five- day- old hijacking of a Kuwaiti jetliner that claimed the lives of two Americans ended as Iranian security men seized control of the plane, which was parked at Tehran airport.

In 1987, the first Palestinian intefadeh, or uprising, began as riots broke out in Gaza and spread to the West Bank, triggering a strong Israeli response.

In 1992, Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. (The couple's divorce became final in Aug. 1996.)

Ten years ago: A young man once affiliated with a missionary school shot nine people at the school near Denver and a megachurch in Colorado Springs; four of the victims died and the gunman killed himself. A British Columbia pig farmer accused of being Canada's worst serial killer was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder; he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.