December 9
Today in America's Present Past
1640 | Civil Rights: Hugh Bewitt was banished from the Massachusetts colony over religious differences.
1775 | War of Independence: General Henry Knox departs Fort Ticonderoga, New York with sized British artillery for a surprise attack on Boston, Massachusetts.
1793 | Noah Webster publishes New York’s first daily newspaper, the “American Minerva.”
1848 | Writer Joel Chandler Harris was born.
1861 | Congress: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was established.
1878 | Joseph Pulitzer bought the St. Louis Dispatch.
1886 | Inventor Clarence Birdseye was born.
1889 | POTUS: Republican President Harrison dedicated the Chicago Auditorium.
1896 | Inventor Games Slayter was born.
1899 | Poet Léonie Adams was born.
1902 | Actress Margaret Hamilton was born.
1906 | Admiral Grace Hopper was born.
1908 | Solider William Harvey Carney died.
1909 | Actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was born.
1912 | Congress: Speaker Tip O’Neill was born.
1916 | Actor Kirk Douglas was born.
1919 | Chemist William Lipscomb was born.
1926 | The Golf Association legalizes steel shaft golf clubs.
1935 | Journalist Walter Liggett was killed in gangland murder.
1941 | WWII: Germany’s dictator orders US ships torpedoed.
1942 | Writer Joe McGinniss was born.
1953 | Cold War: General Electric announces all Communist employees were to be fired.
1953 | Actor John Malkovich was born.
1957 | Entertainer Donny Osmond was born.
1958 | Civil Rights: Robert Welch formed the John Birch Society.
1964 | Music: John Coltrane records “A Love Supreme.”
1965 | TV: “A Charlie Brown Christmas” debuted.
1967 | Civil Rights: Jim Morrison was arrested on stage for disturbing the peace at the New Haven Arena, Connecticut.
1968 | Douglas Engelbart demonstrates in “The Mother of All Demos” showcasing the future of computers.
1971 | Diplomat Ralph Bunche died.
1975 | POTUS: Republican President Ford signed a $2.3 New York City Seasonal Financing Act.
1979 | Cleric Fulton J. Sheen died.
1980 | Actor Simon Helberg was born.
1992 | Operation Restore Hope a U.S. Marine led effort in Mogadishu, Somalia commenced.
1995 | Aviator Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan died.
1997 | Film: “Tomorrow Never Dies” debuted.
2005 | Film “Brokeback Mountain” debuted.