TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS SUNDAY, DEC. 9, the 343rd day of 2018. Twenty-two days are left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On this date 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 1608, English poet John Milton was born in London.
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 1962, the Petrified Forest in Arizona was designated a national park.
In 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the first animated TV special featuring characters from the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, premiered on CBS.
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 1990, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa won Poland’s presidential runoff by a landslide.
In 1992, Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. The couple’s divorce became final in Aug. 1996.
In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt in the Florida vote count on which Al Gore pinned his best hopes of winning the White House.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Kirk Douglas is 102. Actress Dame Judi Dench is 84. Actor Beau Bridges is 77. Football Hall-of-Famer Dick Butkus is 76. Singer Joan Armatrading is 68. Actor Michael Dorn is 66. Actor John Malkovich is 65. Country singer Sylvia is 62. Singer Donny Osmond is 61. Rock musician Nick Seymour (Crowded House) is 60. Actress Felicity Huffman is 56. Crown Princess Masako of Japan is 55. Rock musician Brian Bell (Weezer) is 50. Rock singer-musician Jakob Dylan (Wallflowers), TV personality businessperson Lori Greiner (TV: “Shark Tank”) and actress Allison Smith are 49. Actress Reiko Aylesworth and rock musician Tre Cool (Green Day) are 46. Actor Kevin Daniels, actor-writer-director Mark Duplass and rock musician Eric Zamora (Save Ferris) are 42. Rock singer Imogen Heap is 41. Actress Ashleigh Brewer is 28. Olympic gold and silver medal gymnast McKayla Maroney is 23.