TODAY INHISTORY
Today isWednesday, Dec. 9.
TODAY’SHIGHLIGHT
OnDec. 9,2000, the U-S SupremeCourt ordered a temporary halt in the Florida vote count onwhichAl Gore pinned his best hopes of winning theWhite House.
ONTHISDATE
In1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s famouspoem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade,”was published in England.
In 1911, an explosion inside the CrossMountain coal mine near Briceville, Tennessee, killed84workers. (Fivewere rescued.)
In 1940, British troops opened their first major offensive in NorthAfrica duringWorldWar II.
In1958, the anti-communist John BirchSocietywas formedin Indianapolis. In1962, thePetrified Forest in Arizonawasdesignated a nationalpark.
In 1965, theJames Bond film“Thunderball,”starring Sean Connery, had itsworld premiere inTokyo.
In1987, the firstPalestinian intefadeh, or uprising, began as riots broke out in Gaza and spreadto theWest Bank, triggering a strong Israeli response.
In1992, Britain’sPrince Charles andPrincess Diana announced theirseparation. (The couple’s divorce becamefinal inAug. 1996.)
In 2001, the UnitedStates disclosed the existence ofa videotape in whichOsama bin Laden said hewas pleasantly surprisedby the extent ofdamage fromthe Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In2013, scientists revealed thatNASA’s Curiosityrover haduncoveredsignsofan ancient freshwaterlakeon Mars.
In2014, U.S. Senate investigators concluded the UnitedStates had brutalized scores of terrorsuspects with interrogation tactics that turned secret CIA prisons into chambers of suffering and did nothing to makeAmericans saferafter theSept. 11,2001 attacks. Tenyears ago: In Britain’s worst political violence in years, student protesters rained sticks and rocks on riot police, vandalized government buildings and attacked a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, after lawmakers approved a controversial hike in university tuition fees. Fiveyearsago: Chicago MayorRahmEmanuel apologizedforthe2014 policeshootingofaBlack teenagerduringaspecial CityCouncilmeeting that hecalled todiscussapolice abusescandalat thecenter ofthebiggestcrisisof his administration, andpromised “completeandtotal”reform torestoretrust in the police. Oneyearago: At a hearing by the HouseJudiciary Committee, Democrats outlined the impeachment case againstPresident DonaldTrumpby saying his push to get Ukraine to investigateJoe Biden while withholdingU.S. military aid ran counter to U.S. policyand benefited Russia aswell as himself. A long-awaited report from theJusticeDepartment’s internalwatchdog said the FBIwas justified in opening its investigation into tiesbetween theTrump presidential campaign and Russia. Avolcano onNew Zealand’sWhite Island eruptedas47people visited the touristdestination; the eruption killed 13 people initiallyand eightmore died later fromsevere burns.