Today In History

Associated Press

Today in History: Wednesday, December  09, 2015
AP Highlight in History:
On Dec. 9, 1990, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was elected president of Poland.
AP Photo
On this date in:
1608 Poet John Milton was born in London.
1854 The poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was published in England.
1907 Christmas seals went on sale for the first time, at the Wilmington, Del., post office. The proceeds went to fight tuberculosis.
1912 Longtime House Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill was born in Cambridge, Mass.
1940 British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II.
1941 China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.
1958 The anti-Communist John Birch Society was formed in Indianapolis.
1975 President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default.
1992 Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. (They divorced in 1996.)
1993 The Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.
AP Photo/Cliff Schiappa
1995 Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., was chosen to head the NAACP.
AP Photo/Reginald Pearman
2000 The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a temporary halt in the Florida presidential vote count.
2002 United Airlines filed the biggest bankruptcy in aviation history after losing $4 billion in the previous two years.
2004 Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was constitutional.
2008 Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on suspicion of scheming to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat for cash or a job for himself in the new administration. (Blagojevich was convicted of lying to the FBI; he awaits re-trial on 23 other charges.)
Today’s Birthdays:
Actor Kirk Douglas turns 99 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Name Profession Age
Dick Van Patten Actor (“Eight is Enough”) 87
Buck Henry Actor, writer 85
Judi Dench Actress 81
Beau Bridges Actor 74
Dick Butkus Football Hall of Famer 73
Tom Daschle Former U.S. senator, D-S.D. 68
Tom Kite Golfer 66
Joan Armatrading Rock singer 65
John Malkovich Actor 62
Donny Osmond Singer 58
Mario Cantone Comedian 56
Felicity Huffman Actress (“Desperate Housewives”) 53
Jakob Dylan Rock musician (Wallflowers) 46
Kara DioGuardi Songwriter, TV personality (“American Idol”) 45
Tre Cool Rock musician (Green Day) 43
Canibus Rapper 41
Jesse Metcalfe Actor 37
Simon Helberg Actor (“The Big Bang Theory”) 35
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., turns 49 years old today.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

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