TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, Dec. 9, the 343rd day of 2023. There are 22 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history
On Dec. 9, 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the first animated TV special featuring characters from the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, premiered on CBS.
On this date
In 1854, Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s famous poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” was published in England.
In 1911, an explosion inside the Cross Mountain coal mine near Briceville, Tenn., killed 84 workers.
In 1917, British forces captured Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks.
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 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 August 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.
In 2011, the European Union said 26 of its 27 member countries were open to joining a new treaty tying their finances together to solve the euro crisis; Britain remained opposed.
In 2012, Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera, 43, and six others were killed in a plane crash in Mexico.
In 2013, scientists revealed that NASA’s Curiosity rover had uncovered signs of an ancient freshwater lake on Mars.
Today’s birthdays
Actor Dame Judi Dench is 89. Actor Beau Bridges is 82. Actor Michael Nouri is 78. Former Sen. Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., is 76. World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Kite is 74. Singer Joan Armatrading is 73. Actor John Malkovich is 70. Singer Donny Osmond is 66. Musician Nick Seymour (Crowded House) is 65. Actor Joe Lando is 62. Actor Felicity Huffman is 61. Empress Masako of Japan is 60. Musician Brian Bell (Weezer) is 55. TV personality Lori Greiner (“Shark Tank”) is 54. Songwriter and former “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi is 53. Gymnast McKayla Maroney is 28.