December 9
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.
1940 - British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II.
1941 - China declared war against Japan, Germany and Italy during World War II.
1958 - The anti-Communist John Birch Society was formed.
1962 - The Petrified Forest in Arizona was designated a national park.
1965 - "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiered.
1975 - President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default.
1990 - Lech Walesa was elected president of Poland.
1992 - Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. (They divorced in 1996.)
1993 - U.S. astronauts completed a spacewalk to perform repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope.
1993 - The Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.
2000 - The United States Supreme Court voted, 5 to 4, to temporarily stop the presidential vote counting in Florida, on which Vice President Al Gore pinned his best hopes of winning the White House.
2001 - The United States disclosed the existence of a videotape in which Osama bin Laden said he was pleasantly surprised by the extent of damage from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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.)
2013 - Scientists revealed that NASA’s Curiosity rover had uncovered signs of an ancient freshwater lake on Mars.
2014 - U.S. Senate investigators concluded the United States had brutalized scores of terror suspects with interrogation tactics that turned secret CIA prisons into chambers of suffering and did nothing to make Americans safer after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
2019 - At a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee, Democrats outlined the impeachment case against President Donald Trump by saying his push to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden while withholding U.S. military aid ran counter to U.S. policy and benefited Russia as well as himself. A long-awaited report from the Justice Department’s internal watchdog said the FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.
2019 - The Supreme Court left in place a Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and show images to patients before abortions.
2019 - Former college baseball player Pete Frates, whose battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease helped inspire the ice bucket challenge, died at 34. (The challenge raised more than $200 million worldwide for research into ALS.)
Birthdays
23 - Alexi Blue (singer)
25 - McKayla Maroney (gymnast)
30 - Ashleigh Brewer (actress)
33 - Joshua Sasse (actor)
37 - Jolene Purdy (actress)
40 - Simon Helberg (actor)
42 - Jesse Metcalfe (actor)
44 - Mark Duplass (actor)
44 - Kevin Daniels (actor)
50 - David Kersh (country singer)
51 - Allison Smith (actress)
51 - Lori Greiner (TV personality)
52 - Kurt Angle (professional wrestler)
58 - Felicity Huffman (actress)
59 - Joe Lando (actor)
59 - David Anthony Higgins (actor)
63 - Donny Osmond (singer)
67 - John Malkovich (actor)
68 - Michael Dorn (actor)
71 - Tom Kite (golfer)
75 - Michael Mouri (actor)
78 - Dick Butkus (football player)
79 - Beau Bridges (actor)
86 - Judi Dench (actress)
===================================
Today in Sports History - December 9
1926 - The United States Golf Association legalized the use of steel-shafted golf clubs.
1934 - The New York Giants defeated the Chicago Bears 30-13 in the NFL Championship Game.
1935 - The first Heisman Trophy was awarded to University of Chicago running back Jay Berwanger.
1941 - Minnesota running back Bruce Smith wins the Heisman Trophy.
1949 - The NFL adds the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts from the AAFC.
1951 - Bob Waterfield (Los Angeles Rams) became the first professional football player to kick five field goals in one game.
1973 - Jim Bakken (St. Louis Cardinals) kicked six field goals against the Atlanta Falcons.
1978 - The first game of the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL) was played between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does.
1982 - The World Boxing Council (WBC) becomes the first major sanctioning organization to reduce the length of championship bouts from 15 to 12 rounds and allowed referees to order standing 8-counts for fighters in trouble.
1984 - Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams became just the second player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, joining O.J. Simpson in the exclusive club, and moving to 2,015 yards on the season.
1985 - Jerry Rice (San Francisco 49ers) began a streak of 100+ consecutive games with receptions.
1991 - Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins) reached the 20 touchdown mark for an NFL record ninth season.
1995 - Ohio State running back Eddie George wins the Heisman Trophy.
2004 - NHL officials and union leaders held talks for the first time since summer. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman imposed a lockout on September 16 due to an impasse in contract negotiations.
2006 - Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith wins the Heisman Trophy.
2013 - The Chicago Bears retire Mike Ditka's #89.
2017 - Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield wins the Heisman Trophy.
2018 - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady breaks Peyton Manning's record for most touchdown passes in NFL history with 582.
2018 - Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers breaks Tom Brady's NFL record with his 359th straight pass without an interception.
2019 - The World Anti-Doping Agency bans Russia from all major sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2020 World Cup in Qatar for manipulating laboratory data.
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.
1940 - British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II.
1941 - China declared war against Japan, Germany and Italy during World War II.
1958 - The anti-Communist John Birch Society was formed.
1962 - The Petrified Forest in Arizona was designated a national park.
1965 - "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiered.
1975 - President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent New York City from having to default.
1990 - Lech Walesa was elected president of Poland.
1992 - Britain's Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation. (They divorced in 1996.)
1993 - U.S. astronauts completed a spacewalk to perform repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope.
1993 - The Air Force destroyed the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under an arms control treaty.
2000 - The United States Supreme Court voted, 5 to 4, to temporarily stop the presidential vote counting in Florida, on which Vice President Al Gore pinned his best hopes of winning the White House.
2001 - The United States disclosed the existence of a videotape in which Osama bin Laden said he was pleasantly surprised by the extent of damage from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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.)
2013 - Scientists revealed that NASA’s Curiosity rover had uncovered signs of an ancient freshwater lake on Mars.
2014 - U.S. Senate investigators concluded the United States had brutalized scores of terror suspects with interrogation tactics that turned secret CIA prisons into chambers of suffering and did nothing to make Americans safer after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
2019 - At a hearing by the House Judiciary Committee, Democrats outlined the impeachment case against President Donald Trump by saying his push to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden while withholding U.S. military aid ran counter to U.S. policy and benefited Russia as well as himself. A long-awaited report from the Justice Department’s internal watchdog said the FBI was justified in opening its investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.
2019 - The Supreme Court left in place a Kentucky law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and show images to patients before abortions.
2019 - Former college baseball player Pete Frates, whose battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease helped inspire the ice bucket challenge, died at 34. (The challenge raised more than $200 million worldwide for research into ALS.)
Birthdays
23 - Alexi Blue (singer)
25 - McKayla Maroney (gymnast)
30 - Ashleigh Brewer (actress)
33 - Joshua Sasse (actor)
37 - Jolene Purdy (actress)
40 - Simon Helberg (actor)
42 - Jesse Metcalfe (actor)
44 - Mark Duplass (actor)
44 - Kevin Daniels (actor)
50 - David Kersh (country singer)
51 - Allison Smith (actress)
51 - Lori Greiner (TV personality)
52 - Kurt Angle (professional wrestler)
58 - Felicity Huffman (actress)
59 - Joe Lando (actor)
59 - David Anthony Higgins (actor)
63 - Donny Osmond (singer)
67 - John Malkovich (actor)
68 - Michael Dorn (actor)
71 - Tom Kite (golfer)
75 - Michael Mouri (actor)
78 - Dick Butkus (football player)
79 - Beau Bridges (actor)
86 - Judi Dench (actress)
===================================
Today in Sports History - December 9
1926 - The United States Golf Association legalized the use of steel-shafted golf clubs.
1934 - The New York Giants defeated the Chicago Bears 30-13 in the NFL Championship Game.
1935 - The first Heisman Trophy was awarded to University of Chicago running back Jay Berwanger.
1941 - Minnesota running back Bruce Smith wins the Heisman Trophy.
1949 - The NFL adds the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts from the AAFC.
1951 - Bob Waterfield (Los Angeles Rams) became the first professional football player to kick five field goals in one game.
1973 - Jim Bakken (St. Louis Cardinals) kicked six field goals against the Atlanta Falcons.
1978 - The first game of the Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL) was played between the Chicago Hustle and the Milwaukee Does.
1982 - The World Boxing Council (WBC) becomes the first major sanctioning organization to reduce the length of championship bouts from 15 to 12 rounds and allowed referees to order standing 8-counts for fighters in trouble.
1984 - Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams became just the second player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, joining O.J. Simpson in the exclusive club, and moving to 2,015 yards on the season.
1985 - Jerry Rice (San Francisco 49ers) began a streak of 100+ consecutive games with receptions.
1991 - Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins) reached the 20 touchdown mark for an NFL record ninth season.
1995 - Ohio State running back Eddie George wins the Heisman Trophy.
2004 - NHL officials and union leaders held talks for the first time since summer. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman imposed a lockout on September 16 due to an impasse in contract negotiations.
2006 - Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith wins the Heisman Trophy.
2013 - The Chicago Bears retire Mike Ditka's #89.
2017 - Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield wins the Heisman Trophy.
2018 - New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady breaks Peyton Manning's record for most touchdown passes in NFL history with 582.
2018 - Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers breaks Tom Brady's NFL record with his 359th straight pass without an interception.
2019 - The World Anti-Doping Agency bans Russia from all major sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2020 World Cup in Qatar for manipulating laboratory data.
